A number of years ago there was a mental institution outside of Boston that had a little girl locked in a dungeon known as “Little Annie.” She was considered “hopelessly insane” and put her in a cage. However, there was an elderly nurse who was serving in the institution, who felt that no one was beyond the love of God. She took it upon herself to communicate this love to her.
Little Annie was like a wild animal. Sometimes she would attack those who came into her cage. At other times she would act as if they weren’t even there.
The elderly nurse decided to start eating her lunch while sitting beside Annie’s cage in the dungeon. She offered her a brownie, but was ignored. So, she left some beside the cage in the evening. The next morning they were gone. So, every Thursday, she continued to bring her brownies. After a brief time, little Annie was moved “upstairs.” Eventually Little Annie was told she could leave the institution and go out into the world, but she didn’t want to leave. She wanted to stay and help someone else like the nurse had helped her.
The story now shifts to England. Queen Victoria is pinning England’s highest award on a lady named, Helen Keller. She asks her, “How do you account for that fact that even though you were both blind and deaf, you were able to accomplish so much in your life?” Without hesitation Helen said that if it had not been for Anne Sullivan, the world would never have known about Helen Keller.
Probably you have guessed, Anne Sullivan was “Little Annie.” She saw Helen Keller as one who needed God’s love to. She loved her, played with her, disciplined her, pushed her until she became a blessing to the world. Helen Keller influenced millions after her own life was touched by “Little Annie.”
Loving people is what Jesus was all about. One day Lazarus became sick. His disciples told him about it, since Jesus loved Lazarus, Mary and Martha. Jesus however, waited till Lazarus died before going. Why? So his disciples would see something very special. Something that would build their faith.
When Jesus arrived at Bethany, Martha came out to meet Jesus and was wondering why he had not come earlier. Jesus reassures her… all is not lost. You see, Jesus is the resurrection and the life.
It was not all about teaching and building faith though… Jesus loved Lazarus… he loved people.
In John 11:36 it says, “See how he loved him!” How did they know? What does love look like?
Well, if you read the previous verses, you find that Jesus “SAW,” “HE WAS DEEPLY MOVED,” “TROUBLED,” “and he “WEPT.” Loving people like Jesus does involves more than a casual glance as you can see in the story of the Good Samaritan. Love is seen in actions, not just heard in words. Learn how to love like Jesus.

John says “God is love” (I John 4:8). We express his love everyday in the little things we say and do. Yet trying to understand this love has often defied our ability to define it. To some, “lust” is love. To another, “freedom and privilege” is love. Others think “feelings and emotions” are the closest way to understand this love. However, until one looks into the Bible and looks at the life of Jesus, we will never really understand much less be able to define real love.
Though this love, one can overcome all sorts of obstacles and difficulties both personally and in one’s family. Through it ‘bitterness’ can be changed to ‘betterness’. Enemies are overcome by it’s strange power. The ‘fault-line’ we saw in others, disappears and amazingly never fails. By it’s power, ventures are begun and victories are won.
Jesus one day placed a little child in the middle of a crowd, and announced that they had to become like these to know and enter the kingdom of God. Why? Because children understand what love is. They are quick to forgive and put things behind and continue on.
Recently I was reading the “Enquirer” and it had an article on Lisa (8 years old) and Bess (12 years old). When Lisa was asked “What is love?” This is what she said… “Love is something you can’t see, touch or smell. Love is when you make good in school and your parents tell everybody about it!” “Love is when your parents buy you something and go without for themselves.” “Love is seeing your new baby brother for the first time.”
“Love is helping someone or just smiling at them. Love is sharing with someone and forgetting about the time they didn’t share with you.” “Love is forgiving everyone of the things they did to you.” “Love is knowing you are loved and loving everyone back.” “Love is giving… not taking.” “Love for fellowman and love for God go together.”
When Bess was asked this question she said… “Love is like a gift. It can be like a gust of wind, or fragile like a tea cup. It’s always beautiful.” “Love is helping, reaching out, and caring. It is being involved with others and putting their needs before your own.” “Love is raking leaves for a sick neighbor, sharing your last donut, petting a puppy, and getting dad a glass of iced-tea on a hot day.”
It seems like these two young girls are wiser than many of us adults. Perhaps we too could learn from children about what the kingdom of God is really like.
Dad’s definition of love: “Love is the fixed, deliberate decision of the heart that places the concern and needs of someone else above that of your own self. It is not based on emotions but gives rise to the emotions that bring life to your life. You see this love in Jesus… Every time the Bible says, He “saw” or “looked” it follows up with things like “He was moved with compassion”, “He was deeply moved in his heart” and then he ACTED. One time it says, “Jesus wept” and afterwards, Lazarus was raised from the dead!
Much thanks to Lisa and Bess!

Here is an article that dad wrote back in 1974! “A man recently designed a plane that will fly passengers from New York to London in an hour and fifty minutes, and from London to Sydney, Australia in less than three hours. He is also designed some of the first and most successful airplanes. He is NOW in his eighties! Most people die before they are eighty.
“The Bible gives us a ‘rule of thumb’ for how long we have in this life – “three score and ten” (70 years). This is just average of course. In any case, the process of aging is directly tied to how we use our time. One can be young and productive in his eighties, just as others can be old and haggard in their forties!
“Sometimes, age discourages us, since many believe that only the young can have effective new ideas and strength to carry them out.
“Voltaire, the famous French poet and philosopher, wrote over 20,000 letters and 2,000 books and articles, and produced his masterpiece ‘tragedy’ called “Irene” in his eighties, and travelled to Paris to see it before he died at eighty-three.
“Plato, was a student until age fifty and then began a great teaching center.
Phillip Brooks, was most effective in the religious and intellectual world in his sixties.
“Socrates, gave the world his greatest sayings and thoughts when he was sixty-eight.
“Jules Verne, past seventy years old before he gave the world his greatest stories.
“Goethe, of Germany, wrote the first part of “Faust” when he was fifty six and finished it when he was eighty-two.
“Gladstone, the English Statesman was a political figure and educator up into his eighties.
(Dad asked an elderly Christian friend how she lived so long (she was 104). She said, “I just keep on breathing.” Yet there is more to life than to “keep on breathing.”) The important ingredient to “staying young” is creativity! A train conductor maintains a job that doesn’t change… yet with the tremendous power of the mind, one can create in such a task, a genuine joy.
“The greatest challenge of all is in succeeding in one’s family. Raising children is a joy and a challenge… but more important is having a successful relationship with your husband or wife. Children eventually leave… it’s the way it should be.
“Raise your sites in life. Determine that longetivity and creativity can go together. Refuse to be side-tracked or side-lined. Work hard on new ideas. Engage the mind in new productions. Life should always be an adventure.
“You will find that action stops anxiety. Decision brings direction. Determination brings accomplishment. Accomplishment brings a real good feeling, no matter how old you are.
“Get busy, make a difference in this life and in the life of someone else…and occasionally pause and pay your respects to those who pass away.”
“This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalms 118:24)

“He who kills time, kills himself… for time is what life is made of.” Dad said, “To preachers, orators, and young lovers, time is but an illusion.” Yet to all of us, time is very important. How many of us would not give all we have, for more time? Maybe a “do-over.” Jesus said, “As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming when no one can work” (John 9:4). Someone said, “Everything comes to the one who waits, except the time lost in waiting.” Killing time, wasting time… is slow suicide.
We only have a little time on this earth. If you are thirty years old, (all going well), you have approximately 8,000 days left to live with modern medicines and advancements. If you are forty years old, that becomes 6,000. If you are fifty, that leaves you with 4,000 days. Modern advancements in medicine, exercise, healthy living of course may give more time, and hopefully a quality of life. Solomon said, “Teach us to number our days so that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.”
“The clock of life is wound but once,
And no man has the power
To tell just when the hands will stop
At late or early hour.”
Now is the only time you have… Live, love, toil with a will to accomplish. Place no faith in tomorrow.
“Be very careful then, how you live – not as unwise, but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is” (Ephesians 5:15-17). The King James Bible says, “redeeming the time”, which literally means to “buy up opportunities.”
The ancient Greeks saw “opportunity” as a “half-bald-headed” woman. You may grab her by the hair as she comes, but cannot when she comes back and passes you again.
The Hebrews writer says to Christians… “GROW UP!” You should be more advanced, to the point that you can teach others. Lazy Christians who want only to be spoon fed with a spiritual milk bottle instead of growing to the point where they can handle ‘meat’, are wasting time (Hebrews 5:11-14). Here are some more phrases in Hebrews which encourage us to GROW UP, and quit wasting time… “Pay more careful attention” (Hebrews 2:1), “Fix your thoughts on Jesus” (Hebrews 3:1), “Do not harden your hearts” (Hebrews 3:8, 15), “Be careful” (Hebrews 4:1), “Hold firmly to the faith we profess” (Hebrews 4:14), “Approach the throne of grace with confidence” (Hebrews 4:10). Jesus did not waste time! He “learned” and he “became” (Hebrews 5:7-10). He accomplished his mission in about THREE YEARS (or about 1,095 days).
Time is opportunity! Opportunity to learn, to grow, to become, to do, to encourage, to save, to teach… There is nothing we can do about time past except cherish memories, learn lessons. Today we can come to Jesus for the gift of his grace to deal with the past that haunts us. What should we do about tomorrow? If you get a ‘tomorrow’… don’t waste it!

Home life was fun! Dad liked to surprise us and do things on the ‘spur of the moment’. For example he liked to go to watch the planes come in. Occasionally dad took us to a dead end street located near the end of a run-way at the former Dallas Love Field Airport. He would park the car and we would get out and sit on the hood of the car and wait and watch. “Where’s the plane, dad?” we asked impatiently. It wasn’t long before he would say, “Here one comes now”. He pointed at what seemed a gigantic airplane coming in to land. “Hey dad, isn’t that plane coming in to low?!” The giant plane seemed to be floating, as it came in. The noise, as it passed over was loud. (I think this is one reason dad later needed hearing-aides.)
Dad loved doing this, especially as they got bigger. He learned as much as he could about flying, and eventually with his “Three Unusual Days” ministry, he became a ‘million-mile-flyer’. He explained to us, the principles of flight, which we didn’t understand. We just loved to go watch the planes come in. We asked him how something so big, so heavy, could fly. Dad simply said, “It’s what they are made to do.”
Later in life, I worked at Timco as an Interior Mechanic and had an up-close and personal look at how planes fly. When a plane came in for a ‘D-check’ for example, we would take everything out of the plane… even the floor! Everything was ‘tagged’ and ‘bagged’ and put on shelves. Everything was then inspected, cleaned and repaired or replaced, inspected again, put back on the plane, inspected again. The push to do a high quality job and be on time was and still is the challenge. “People are depending on your work” is the motto. Our proud moment was always when at the end of a check, the plane was rolled out… clean and ready to do what it was made to do… FLY.
What are we ‘made to do’? The choices are endless. Sin and its consequences teach us what we are NOT made for.
What are we ‘made to do’? 1) To glorify God. “That God in all things may be glorified” (1 Pet. 4:11). The glory of God is a silver thread which must run through all our actions. So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (I Corinthians 10:31). Sin however, makes this impossible… on our own (Romans 3:9-10; 6:26). God’s love came and ‘walked among us’ in Jesus (John 1:12-14; 3:16). All so we could once and forever understand and enjoy what we are made for… 2) To enjoy a relationship with God through Jesus (Romans 5:8-10; 8:1). 3) Have a home in heaven! Planes are not made to ‘sit on the ground’… we are not made for sin’.

This is why believers say, “I am heaven bound.” The question now is, are you heaven bound? Want to learn more about Jesus? Send me an email… Let’s study!

I was watching “Outnumbered” on Fox News, and they were discussing children getting an ‘allowance’.
A survey which had been taken revealed that the average parent surveyed was giving their children about $1360.00 per year, which is $113.00 per month or $28.00 per week or $4.00 per day as an allowance!!! Some were paying their children $20.00 for every “A” on their report cards.
I remember when I was a teen, dad was making $164.00 per week! As a teenager, we were cleaning up our rooms, making our beds, washing and drying dishes in the evening, cutting the grass and cleaning up the garage, helping plant gardens, helping mom with the dusting, and vacuuming, ironing our clothes and putting away our clothes… or just helping out. It was expected.
What was our allowance? TWENTY FIVE CENTS a week! Back then when gasoline was .50 per gallon and a new Chevrolet Impala was $3500.00, TWENTY FIVE CENTS was pretty good! We never thought of ‘going on strike. We never claimed we were mistreated… but then Eddie, the youngest brother did say, “I want to appeal the Supreme Court.” (Dad told him, “I’m IT son.”) We didn’t say, “You know dad… 3% inflation is eating away at this quarter… we think we deserve more!” $4.00 per day, would have been a major bill for mom and dad. He would have said, “Take it or leave it!” Now one day dad did ‘open the books’ and ask, “How much do you pay for Room and Board? Food? Clothing? Toys? Shoes?” “Nothing” was our answer. Then he said, “So be grateful for what you have and get, and help out!”
Dad wrote a small book called, “How to handle your parents.” One of the chapters is entitled, “Demand your rights”. He points out that kids have the RIGHT to DEMAND that parents allow them to help around the house, make beds, clean rooms, wash dishes etc… and just help carry their weight. Parents have responsibilities… and kids will never learn to be responsible, unless they are taught and allowed to help out.
Times and things have changed… but some things don’t. The dollar isn’t worth what it used to be. Allowances are fine, but don’t try and buy your children’s respect or obedience. We never thought of ourselves as in a position to demand it. We RESPECTED mom and dad, and learned early to say “PLEASE” and “THANK YOU”. We learned to APPRECIATE what we were given… especially our TWENTY FIVE CENTS.
I don’t know how much it cost mom and dad to raise us. A recent survey said the ANNUAL cost for raising a child in 2012 was $12,500 – $14,500, which equals about $225,000.00 over 18 years. You could build a nice house for that! All I know is, I owe mom and dad no matter how old I get… I’ll always be grateful for their love and care.
Paul said, “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (I Thessalonians 5:18).