Lord of the storms
When Hurricane Katrina hit the US coast, Reverend Jones—a retired pastor—and his wife left their home and went to a shelter. The pastor’s daughter pleaded with him to come to Atlanta to stay with her, but the couple didn’t have any money to make the trip because the banks were closed.
In a Tough Place
God doesn’t reject or ignore us when we’re in a tough place. In Isaiah, we read these words: “I, the LORD, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, will never abandon them” (Isaiah 41:17). The Lord is present—listening to our prayers, feeling what we feel, and loving us when no one else seems to care.
x prize
The X Prize Foundation attempts to solve the world’s problems by offering large cash prizes to whatever team can fix them first. Winning teams have built a spacecraft that can fly beyond the earth’s atmosphere twice in 2 weeks and cars that achieve 100 miles per gallon. Other teams are trying to land a robot on the moon, build a machine that can quickly sequence each person’s genome, and create a portable device that can diagnose a patient’s condition. These goals will most likely be met, for people will work hard for $10 million.
abundance
The other day I took my son to a baseball-batting cage and paid for eight sets of 25 pitches. To our pleasant surprise, when the round finished, the balls kept coming—and coming. The machine had malfunctioned, and as a result it kept delivering an abundance of pitches. This reminded me of the time a friend’s 5-year-old daughter woke up and said, “Last night I had the best dream. I was at the beach and more toys than I could ever hope for washed up on the shore for me to have!”
follow Jesus
Grandpa was a gentle but firm primary school principal in Pretoria, South Africa. In my final year as a student teacher, he shared a few trade secrets with me. His advice on how to get a disruptive pupil out of the classroom and into isolation was most helpful: “Look the child in the eye and say with authority, ‘Follow me,’ then turn and walk confidently out of the classroom while not looking back.” I tested his advice when dealing with an unruly adolescent and, though I doubted it would work, I soon heard him reluctantly following me.
Shepherd in the shadows
A fretful parishioner once came to a famous preacher’s office, feeling disturbed and frightened. “Two men are following me everywhere I go,” she said. Because he was aware of the woman’s overactive imagination, the preacher said kindly, “Oh, I know exactly who these men are.” “Who?” she asked. “They are goodness and mercy,” he replied.
gift of your smile
The late film director Krzysztof Kieslowski was once interviewing actors for a film. During an interview, a young actress described to him how she’d go out and walk the streets of Paris when she felt sad.
a sure investment
I sat on the gift-shop bench while my family looked for souvenirs. We had just finished climbing nearly 300 steps of spiral staircase to the top of a towering memorial. As I leaned against the wall, the display nearest me caught my attention. Filled with clear packages of coins and bills, it offered a selection of replicas of dated money no longer in circulation. One particular piece—the triangular two-bit—especially intrigued me. Similar only in color to a current coin, I mused on its worthlessness in today’s market.
in our hearts
After observing the warm fellowship of believers in Jesus, this was the reaction of the unbelieving Greek writer Lucian (AD 120–200): “It is incredible to see the fervor with which the people of that religion help each other in their wants. They spare nothing. Their first legislator [Jesus] has put it in their heads that they are brethren.” Near the same time that Lucian wrote, Tertullian affirmed: “It is our care for the helpless, our practice of lovingkindness, that brands us in the eyes of many of our opponents. ‘Only look!’ they say. ‘Look how they love one another! Look how they are prepared to die for one another.’ ”
love like this
When my son was learning to read, he realized he could decipher street signs—especially speed limit signs. Thrilled with his new skill, he would call out from the backseat, “Mom, the speed limit is 30—it’s 30!” The first couple of times this happened, I thought it was cute. The next few times, I found it tolerable. Each announcement after that became more trying, even though I knew he was attempting to be helpful.
breaking bread
Several years ago, a friend and I were dining in a restaurant’s outdoor seating area. As we neared the end of our dinner, we noticed a man watching us from the sidewalk. His clothes were dirty, his face haggard. He walked up to us and with a cracked voice said, “When you finish your meal, if you have any leftovers, would you mind if I ate them?” We invited him to sit down, and we asked the waitress to bring him a grilled chicken and butter pasta entrée. For the next half hour, he told us bits of his story.
out of season
One year, spring in the US arrived with unseasonably balmy temperatures that broke records and elevated spirits. But the mid-80 temps (30 C) came with a price. Soon a cold snap hit, freezing all the blossoms. The budding flowers withered. Fruit farms were devastated. Food prices rose substantially.
use what you have
In 2008, economists confirmed that the UK was in recession. Sure enough, in time, as many as one in ten people lost their jobs, and the normally bustling “high streets” fell silent as many well-known companies became insolvent.
you choose Q: how do I strengthen my faith?
Q: How do I strengthen my faith in God and totally put my trust in Him—to know that it will all work out (my husband has terminal cancer)? —Ann
A: Faith is strengthened when it is exercised. An athlete can’t strengthen muscles without exercising them. Faith is the same way.
I suspect few of your friends have experienced the death of…
waking to our hunger
When our boys come home from school or return to the house from playing, they utter predictable words amidst moans: “I’m starving. I’m going to die if I don’t eat.” They descend on Miska and me like vultures, insisting they’ll keel over at any moment if food doesn’t arrive. Usually, however, as we list the healthy snacks available to them (nuts, fruit, applesauce, yogurt), they brush each possibility aside. “No, I don’t want that. No, that doesn’t sound good.” Of course, I tell them what every parent throughout human existence has told their children in moments like this: “If you were really starving, you’d eat any of these. Obviously, you’re not that hungry.”
