A Giant Throwing Starfish (The Blind Side)

There was a kids book called “The Giant” that I was facinated with when I was first learning to read!  I checked that same book out numerous times from our school library.  It was about a kid who was a Giant in the world.  It was illustrated with his enormous pictures doing enormous things!  He was relating how it felt as the ocean was his bath tub and the ships were his toys.  He sat there and played with the ships for hours and if he got bored he might stand up and catch an airplane just for his amusement.  The story ends when he wakes up from his “Giant” dream. 

A Giant Doesn’t Have to be big I learned!

I have learned since that ”Giants” don’t have to be big in stature.  The movie “The Blind Side” was a big box office hit and it was based on a true story!  Leigh Anne Tuohy was a well off mother of two.  Her family spotted Michael Oher, a giant of a kid, walking down the road on a cold rainy night with just shorts and a T-shirt on.  She offered Michael a ride and he reluctantly accepted.  Little did she know that Michael’s father had been murdered and his mother was a drug addict.  All she saw was a big kid who seemed to be walking around aimlessly.  Everyone seemed to always pass him by without question or hesitation.  Leigh Anne was not like most people.  She wondered why and because she did the relationship with Michael began to grow. 

Giants

Michael eventually was invited to make his home in their house.  At first he was offered to spend the night with them.  He was so withdrawn that Leigh Anne had a very hard time getting anything out of him.  It seemed that Michael was hurt so much in life that he kept everything inside.  It took someone like Leigh Anne to get him to open up.  Everyone called Michael “Big Mike.”  Since that was what everyone called him Leigh Anne called him that too.  As she was trying to have him open up to the world and her in particular she asked ”Big Mike, is there anything I should know about you?  After hesitating in his usual way he said something very unexpectedly that she didn’t know.  “I don’t like to be called Big Mike.”  “OK”, she said, as she was thrilled with that piece of knowledge, “from now on we will call you Michael!”

For a while Michael slept on their couch downstairs.  One day Leigh Anne announced to Michael that he was going to have his own room.  “The $8,000 dollar couch is getting worn out,” she said in mock disbelief.   She showed him the bed she had purchased for him.  It was much more expensive because it had to be larger to support him.  She also bought him a dresser and had the room just so.  Michael looked at her in that quiet unassuming way he had.  “Is this all mine?”, he asked.  “Yes”, she affirmed, “it is all yours!”   “I never had one of these before,” he went on.  “You mean a room?”, she wondered.  “No, a bed”, he answered.  It was almost too much for her not to break down as she quickly said “Well, you have one now” , wished him goodnight and hurriedly left the room before she lost it completely.

Michael was behind accademically but his grades slowly started to improve.  Because of his massive size the football coach just knew that he would be dominant on the field.  When Michael’s grades improved enough for him to play the coach was anxious to see him take over.  Michael was wired differently than the coach liked however.  He was not a natural battler like some of the smaller kids were.  When Michael was sixteen and came to the Tuoy’s house he heard the story of Ferdinand the Bull for the first time.  The story must have been like looking in the mirror because the same traits Ferdinand had Michael did also.  Ferdinand the bull was the biggest bull in the field.  While the other bulls locked horns and battled for toughness supremecy Ferdinand was content to lay under a cork tree and smell the flowers.  Day after day Ferdinand layed under this tree happy as can be.  One day the people from the bull fights were looking for a ferocios bull that would make a great show.  They visited the bull yard one day and it just so happened that a bee stung Ferdinand and he was in agony.  He was hurting so badly that he started running and smashed over everything in his way including the other bulls.  The men from the bull fighting show chose Ferdinand over all of the other bulls.  When it came time for the show to start and Ferdinand was let into the arena, instead of charging he contently walked out and smelled a flower that was in the ring.  When it was apparent that there was no fight in him they reluctantly took him back to the bull yard.  He found his favorite tree and was content the rest of his days smelling the flowers.  Michael was also content with life and how things were turning out for him.  He was not an aggressive kid and smelling the flowers to him was like enjoying a lot of things in life besides football.

Ferdinand The Bull

Leigh Anne Tuohy knew what button to push.  She had found out months before that Michael was in the lower percentiles in almost every subject.  One that he was at 95% however was protection.  In Michael’s life he had learned to be protective of the ones that he loved and would not let them get hurt.  Leigh Anne used this strength for his advantage on the football field.  She had him envision that the Quarterback and Runningbacks were like his adopted brother and herself.  He was to protect them so that none of the opposition could hurt them.  From that time on Michael turned into an unstoppable force.  He went straight up the radar screen of colleges throughout the land.  He ended up at Mississippi and played so well he became a pro and plays today for the Baltimore Ravens.  Michael’s story had a happy ending and it can be attributed to the moral of another story that follows.

A wise man was walking toward the ocean.  From a distance he saw a figure that appeared to be dancing.  As he got closer he saw that it was a boy.  The boy was not dancing at all but throwing something into the water.  As the wise man got closer he saw that the boy was throwing starfish one by one that had been washed up onto the beach.  As the hot summer sun beat down on the beached starfish they would surely die if left on the beach.  The wise man called out to the boy “There are thousands of them out here, you are wasting your time because you cannot possibly save them all.”  The boy answered back as he threw one back into the water “well I saved that one.”

 

God calls each of us to do what we can.  He does not expect you or I to save the world.  What he does call us to do however is to meet needs.  There is a saying that is widespread called WWJD or What would Jesus do?  I think in this case Jesus would have done exactly what Leigh Anne did.  While others saw Michael and passed on the other side of the road, Leigh Anne didn’t.  She wondered why and offered a helping hand.  In short she saw a need and step by step went in the direction of filling that need.

The movie was called “Blind Side” because Michael ended up playing the position in football of protecting the Quarterback’s blind side.  A right handed Quarterback has his back to the Right Defensive End.  It is Michael’s job to block that Defensive End who is attempting to hit the Quarterback unexpectedly while he is most vulnerable.  The fact is however that all of us have a blind side.  We don’t know what the future holds or what troubles will come our way.  We do have someone who will protect us from all harm if we trust in him!  If we walk in the will of God he gives back far more than we could ever give!  When it was mentioned to Leigh Anne by some of her well to do friends as to how she was changing Michael’s life, she was quick to point out that ”you are wrong, he is changing our lives!”  Leigh Anne realized that by getting involved they entered  into the will of God and by giving to a kid that needed them so much, they had opened themselves up to Gods blessings and peace as he gave back to them in a multitude of ways!

When I read “The Giant” book in elementary school, I pictured myself as “The Giant.”  I envisioned what it would be like to play with ships in the ocean and to catch airplanes if I got bored.  Through the years I learned that who most people thought of as “Giants” are just “Giants” in their dreams.  The real “Giants” are people like Leigh Anne Tuohy.  These are normal looking people that don’t sit around playing in the ocean like the “Dream Giant” in the book did, but walk along the beach, positioned to be useful.  They are opened to God’s leading and desire to be his hands and feet while they are here.  Leigh Anne didn’t start out as a “Giant” because nobody does.  She turned into a “Giant” because she didn’t walk away from the starfish on the beach.  Instead, she picked one up and helped it live again.  It turned out that his name was Michael!

That Monster Machine Is A Wizard!

I don’t think there is anything I enjoy more than just sitting on the couch watching a basketball game with my son!  No matter what NBA or college team we are watching he seems to always know the names and tendencies of the players.  Usually I sit there with a smile on my face as we both find interesting things to talk about concerning the game.  It is always back and forth as one of us comes up with something and the other adds to it!  It doesn’t have to be specifically about the game either.  Sometimes it may be a comment about how that player looks like someone else or anything  that strikes us about what we see as funny!   Usually it is a running commentary that keeps a smile on each others face as we enjoy the game together.  Sometimes one of us makes an odd comment out of the blue and the other will say “I was thinking the same thing!”  So many times one will make a point and a minute or two later the color analyst for the game will make the same point!  When that happens it usually creates additional fun filled commentary as he or I will say “I just said that!”

My son uses descriptions of players after seeing plays that they were amazing in!  I have found myself stealing some of his phrases because they seem so appropriate!  For instance a player like Zach Randolph of the Memphis Grizzlies seems to find a way to put the ball in the basket.  When they throw the ball near the basket to him and he converts my son may say “What a machine!”  A machine in his basketball praise terminology is typically what all machines should be.  You give it a job and it does the job!  It may not be the most flashy thing you see but it is a thing of beauty how consistently the job gets done!  He touches the ball and invariably the ball goes in the basket in his creative yet effecient way!  What a machine

 

We have a printer at work that is sometimes “what a machine!”  Other times it is “what’s wrong with that machine?”   Most of the time it is “what a machine!”  You ask it to print a report and it will efficiently print the report be it one or two hundred pages.  However, there is one report that my co-worker has to run each month that this machine can’t seem to handle.  She may run this report of maybe two hundred pages and the printer will spit out one page.  Maybe fifteen seconds later it may produce another page.  Because of the inefficiency of  this printer she has been forced to print on her smaller printer.  Although the little printer is not designed for large printing orders it plows ahead and does the job that the big printer for some reason won’t do.  Before this printer we had another printer designed to do big jobs.  With this machine you were never quite sure what you would get.  Sometimes it would run a big report without a hitch.  Other times a paper jam would occur and out of necessity we had to become experts on how to unjam the printer.  Frustratingly many times after unjamming the printer and re-ordering the job the same problem would occur.  This was a big machine built for huge results and yet we got to the point that we were afraid to ask it to do anything because of it’s past failures.

The Detroit Pistons have a young player named Andre Drummond.  Andre Drummond is 6’10 and weighs 270 pounds!  Besides being big he has incredible athletic ability!  It seems like he has springs in his legs as he can elevate so high, which is unusual for someone as big as he is!  Besides his jumping skills he has a determination about him.  We’ve seen him somehow get a rebound when he seemed completely out of the play.  We’ve seen him stationed around the free throw line when the rebound goes up and somehow slice through and over players and tip the ball before securing it!  My son will invariably say “What a monster!”  A monster in his praise definition is someone who is almost alien in their abilities!  In other words they stand out so much that they are literally leaps and bounds better than the opposition.  They get balls that nobody thought they could get and they forcefully block the opponents intentions with their unrelentless energy!  Their abilities and desire stand out so much it’s almost like they are super human!

What a monster!

When James Harden of the Houston Rockets zigs and zags all the way down the court dribbling the ball between and around would be defenders and ultimately laying the ball in the basket my son may excitedly say “What a wizard!”  I asked him the other day what he meant by the phrase?  He told me that it is when someone is so amazing that you can’t figure out how they are doing it!  It reminds me of a magic act as the magician pulls out forty things from his hat including a rabbit and your sitting there saying “How did he do that?”  What makes James Harden’s act so special is there are no “magic tricks” involved.  He does it with skill at such a high level that you shake your head in amazement.  As my son states “What a wizard!”

What a wizard!

I always like it when the star of the game gets interviewed when the game is over and right away before a question is asked they give praise where praise is due!  “I’d like to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ because without him I am nothing!”  I know there are many who don’t like this statement and think they are using the situation as pushing religion.   What they are saying though is whatever I am or will become it is all because of God.  He created me and gave me certain abilities and I just want to use my abilities for his glory!  My son describes attributes in players very efficiently with just a phrase, but there is an old Hymn that’s words describe how totally impossible it is to fully describe God’s Love.  The Hymn is called “The Love of God” and some of the lyrics follow:  Could we with ink the ocean fill, and with the sky a parchment make, were every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade, To write the love of God above, would drain the ocean dry, Nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky. What a beautiful way to say that the sky isn’t big enough for describing his love and if the ocean was all ink it would run dry from the task!

Unlike God’s love though, our talents can be explained normally in brief sentences.  We have a copier in our mail room that’s awesomeness can be explained briefly too.  It can run hundreds of copies at a time, do two sided copies, staple documents, and scan items.  I’m sure I left out many other functions this impressive machine does.  It very rarely fails and when it does it is usually when the user accidentily runs something through that doesn’t belong, such as a paper clip.  You could say that this machine is  “What a monster, What a machine, and What a wizard” all rolled up into one!  In our lives we should strive to be as efficient and amazing as this machine.  We can only become like that through the power of God.  We should strive first to be an efficient machine when God calls us.  When he asks us to do something we can’t get jammed up with distractions or do only one of the things he asks, leaving the others undone.  If we do that he will find someone else to do the job we were perfectly equipped to do!  God is looking for people he can count on, not ones who frustrate because they don’t obey his orders.  Let me  strive to be “What a machine.”  I know that with his strength following “What a machine!” will be “What a monster and What a wizard!”  These things will follow if I’m listening to him and doing what he wants!   

As I become this monster and machine God wants me to be, people will take notice and praise the wizard like results they are seeing!  When they do it is imparative that I let them know that “I am just a vessel for God’s use and I want to give all of the praise and glory to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who created me and makes all things that I do possible!”  When God looks down and views us, I hope he has a smile on his face and our actions are pleasing and amazing!  Through his power I pray that he see’s us doing wizard like things!   Much like how my son admiringly has his own language for greatness, I hope however he expresses it, that God is pleased with what he views as he looks down.  I pray that he states with excitement to others watching words meaning ”What a machine!” or “What a monster!”  Much like a kid whose parents are proud of their accomplishments, I’d like to bring joy to my Heavenly Father! I’d like to look up to heaven and thank the one who makes everything that I am or do or ever desire to do possible!  Maybe with my quill I can write my praise of him on the parchment before the sky fills up or the ocean of ink runs dry!

Mama, Dada, Goo-Gle

I had my plans Friday night as I left work.  I was going to the Civic box office to pick up some tickets for a show they have been advertising.  Later I had a softball game and was looking forward to that!  I quickly walked out to my car to get everything started.   To my surprise the key didn’t turn.  I tried again and again and nothing.  It was locked and my key could not turn the ignition switch.  After a few minutes I called home.  My son answered the phone.  I asked him to bring the spare key thinking maybe that my key had worn down and that was the problem.  When he arrived I found that the spare key didn’t work either.  Quickly he pulled out his phone and got on the internet.  Within a couple of minutes he told me to turn the wheel at the same time I turned the key.  Remarkably that was the answer.  The key turned just as it was supposed to and I was on my way!  I haven’t been driving this car very long and I don’t know all of it’s little quirks.  It seems if the wheel is turned the whole thing can get locked up.  The quick remedy my son found was brought to you by Google Search. 

Gentleman, Start Your Engine!

Before I came along my mom and dad were home one day when an encyclopedia salesman came to the door.  They were in the perfect market as they had a little two year old girl.  It made the sales pitch so much easier as the salesman talked about making an investment in her future.  Those were the days of the printed word and families throughout our country were buying the Encyclopedia Britannica volumes for the same reasons my mom and dad bought them.  Years and years passed as the Encyclopedia Britannica made everyone happy including their sales force.  This was before the computer started taking over.  Wickopedia and Google started chipping into their sales.  That chipping with a pic and hammer became more like demolision with a crane and wrecking ball.  Last year Encyclopedia Britannica made a decision that many felt was long overdue.  They would not be printing in hard copy anymore because of their increasing yearly sales losses.

In a way it was kind of a sad day because personally I like books.  I like holding the specific book I am reading as it was written.  I do not own a Kindle even though I will admit it would free up my house from bundles of books.  There was something about the book volume of the encyclopedia too.  You were likely to pick it up and thumb through it finding interesting things you weren’t even looking for.  I remember the research papers we had to write in school.  One of the challenges was going to the library and going through the card catelog.  This little exercise helped me develop skills in problem solving.  Finding the book was not the end of the exercise either.  Going through the book and reading a lot of unrelated stuff was part of the process.  Suddenly finding the information that was needed to make a point for the report was very satisfying.  These days that whole process is watered down.  Finding things on the computer is fast and easy much like the fast food hamburger.  There is no need to dig for information.  It’s much like the gold is waiting to be picked up free of charge!

One of my all time favorite TV shows was “The Wonder Years!”  I liked the show because Kevin (the main character) was about my age so I could relate to things he was going through in that time.  He described his childhood in the late 60′s and early 70′s.  One of my favorite episodes was when Kevin had a disagreement with his best friend Paul.  As kids do they started not speaking to each other and sought out new best friends.  Kevin and Paul would have spirited verbal exchanges when trading their baseball cards.  They both knew the abilities of the players on the cards.  When Kevin tried to replace Paul with this new friend Doug he found the spirited conversation missing.  It came to a head when Doug gladly traded his Willie McCovey card for an unknown player named Don Schwartz.  The challenge was gone in Kevin’s thinking and a short time later Kevin and Paul were back together. 

 Doug-

 

Sometimes in everyday conversation we would find that we disagreed with the other person on some trivial fact.  The conversation might have gotten interesting as we knew that what we were saying was right.  Sometimes after a week or so of research one of the parties could claim victory and report to the wrongly mistaken party their information.  The conversation came up about The Keebler Company the other day.  I knew that they were bought out by Kellogg’s and now made their home in Battle Creek.  I was almost sure that they had been in Grand Rapids at one time.  My son quickly Googled “Keebler” and it never mentioned Grand Rapids.  A quick answer with facts beyond argument and here I sat thinking how life was without Google.  There was a price to pay like “do your chores and then you can go out and play.”  These days a quick visit to Google and the chores are all done!

Sometimes we find out things in normal conversation that we never really thought of.  We were wondering why my son never wears his wristwatch so we asked him last week.  “My generation doesn’t wear wristwatches”, he told us, “if we want to see the time we just pull out our phone.”  I guess some things are generational things,  some things I have to adapt to,  and sometimes I have to accept changes going on around me.

End of the wristwatch?

I suppose someday probably right after a young child utters their first words of “mama” or “dada” they will be uttering “goo-gle.”   I have to admit that in my hour of need with the car problem Google Search came through big time!  I didn’t have the time or the resources to conduct a massive research study to find my problem.  I have concluded that Google (just like the internet) can be bad or good depending on how it is used.  I have also concluded that sometimes when you have to work for something it is more valuable than if it is given to you.

Goo-Gle

Years ago I was talking to a guy at work named Ryan.  Ryan didn’t seem like a deeply spiritual guy but the subject got to the question of our existance.  When the conversation and questions were going in that direction Ryan said in response “You mean the big one?”  As Ryan suggested it is the big question.  It’s a question that people have struggled with through time.  It will not be properly answered by a quick Google Search.  It may take hours and days of deliberation.  One book that will never be outdated is God’s book of the universe.  If ever there is a doubt as to if there is a God all we have to do is look around us.  Look up in the sky at the amazing power of the Sun!  Look around at all of the creation he has provided for us!  Look at yourself and your family and the fact that you and they are miracles in themselves! 

I came across some information while thinking about “the big question”, as Ryan called it.  The late Dr. Arthur E. Wilder-Smith, was an honored scientist with three doctorates!  He was a former Evolutionist until his opinion shifted.  He debated many leading scientists on the subject throughout the years.  He stated that “The Evolutionary model says that it is not necessary to assume the existence of anything, besides matter and energy, to produce life.  That proposition is unscientific.  We know perfectly well that if you leave matter to itself, it does not organize itself – in spite of all the efforts in recent years to prove that it does.”  You might wonder where I got all of this wonderful information about the opinion of this renowned scholar?  I used the good side of the Google Search!

The Hummingbird Inn

Ron told me on the phone as we were making our reservations that he and Sherry were high school sweethearts!  In a world that encourages change it is nice to see commitment.  It is nice to hear about people thats love at a young age has grown stronger through the years.  Ron and Sherry have been married for over forty years and started The Hummingbird Inn eight years ago.  Ron was in construction and the house was constructed on a mountain surrounded by a breathtaking view about twenty years ago!  They have had the idea for a long time that this would make a perfect bed and breakfast place.  After the kids got older their dream became a reality! 

Ron and Sherry Bell

I don’t remember exactly how many weddings he told me they had each year but the total was in the hundreds! What a beautiful start to a marriage this venue is as you can literally see for miles and miles!  With each one the hope is that they will be as happy as Ron and Sherry, and that the breathtaking view that is seen from their beautiful home may be a sign of endless possibilites of their future together! 

We were amazed that the roads were so narrow as we were driving to the Hummingbird Inn.  Not only narrow but winding hills with no guard rails.  It wasn’t a road that you wanted to drive if you were drowsy.  Falling asleep on that road could send your car tumbling down the mountain.  When attempting to make the drive to Branson from The Hummingbird Inn we got turned around.  I was amazed that when I finally spotted someone to ask directions of, he told me that if we continued going south either road would get us there.  It was like the old Yogi Berra line when describing how to get to his house, “when you come to a fork in the road take it.”  This was not the case when driving to The Hummingbird Inn.  One missed little turn could send you miles out of the way with no option of turning around.  The whole scenerio makes me think of the verses in the Bible about the narrow and wide gates.  “Enter through the narrow gate.  For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.  But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”  Matthew 7:13-14.

Ron told me that in about a week the hummingbirds would be coming back.  He had prepared by buying forty pounds of sugar.  Mixing the sugar with water in their feeder is a very time consuming  job.  It is a job however that is done with love, the same love that their human guests get as they are welcomed into their lovely home. The hummingbirds and guests have found a nice home at Ron and Sherry’s place!  It is up in the mountains about 14 miles from Branson Missouri.  People from miles and miles away travel to leave the hustle and bustle of life for a couple of days to a week. 

The hummingbirds travel for miles and miles to come back to a place that they love!  We were told that their hummingbirds migrate to South America in the winter.  Truly amazing that a little bird that is hardly bigger than a wasp can travel that kind of distance!

As I was sitting by the window having the wonderful breakfasts that the Inn specialized in, I could see the beautiful view from the mountain.  I could see for miles and miles.  Sometime we will come back when the hummingbirds are there. In the backyard of the Inn they thrive!  Ron and Sharon always have their food prepared just like their guests inside!  It will be so delightful to see the hummingbirds enjoying their stay while eating my breakfast enjoying mine!

Sometimes the hummingbirds lose their way when they are at the Hummingbird Inn.  Ron told me that occassionally one might accidentily fly into the house.  There is a lot of room in the house but the hummingbird’s will end up hovering by the ceiling.  Not knowing what to do they become like deer in the headlights and freeze.  We were told that the only way to show them the door is to use a broom.  Usually in all of the excitement the birds will drop down to the floor as they become too tired to go any further.  As Ron told us they are almost in a surrender state as they seem to say “go ahead and eat me.”  Of course when they are on the floor they can easily be picked up and transported outside again!  Once outside Ron shared that it is amazing how re-energized they become as they feel the freshness that freedom has to offer!

The contrast is truly amazing!  The little hummingbird can fly thousands of miles and yet when scared by a broom in a closed unfamiliar environment they become totally exhausted and ready to give up.  Just like the hummingbird, (some of the littlest of God’s creation), we are the same way.  Sometimes we get trapped in life and lose our way.  When we give up and let God take over he lovingly sets us free!  “Look at the birds in the air”, Jesus told the gathering.  “They do not sow or reap or store away in barnes, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.”  “Are you not much more valuable than they?”  He was telling the people not to worry.  His message was that their heavenly Father would take care of them!  Ron and Sherry care deeply for their guests (both people and hummingbirds) Much like God shows his love for us, they open up their home for travelers near and far.  All roads do not lead to the Hummingbird Inn, but thousands of people and hummingbirds alike will attest that when The Hummingbird Inn is found it feels like home!

The Diamond Image

There I sat in the front row of the Jim Stafford Theatre in Branson Missouri with tears flowing down my face.  Oh yes, when something  or someone touches me in a special way I might cry.  I don’t think there is anything unmanly about that at all.  I might also laugh, clap my hands, or stomp my foot.  This particular show had me doing all of the above!  The mark of a good entertainer, writer, movie, or book to me is can they move me emotionally?  Make me laugh, cry, dance, get upset or whatever.  Somehow move me in some way.  I don’t want to just sit there feeling unaffected.  The show that was moving me so much was done by one man only Keith Allynn. His show is called ”The Diamond Image”, in which he impersonates Neil Diamond. 

Keith Allynn as Neil Diamond

I have always liked Neil Diamond!  In fact I have many of his albums from back in the day.  Neil Diamond’s voice is the purest singing voice I know!  Match that with lyrics (that he also wrote) and which I can relate to and understand and you have a rare combination!  When I first found out about Keith and read his reviews I wanted to go to his show!

We went over to the Jim Stafford Theatre and they were having a sale on Joey I.L.O. tickets (2 for 1) that day.  Joey I.L.O. was highly recommended by someone I had talked to in Branson as being a clean comic that was very funny!  We ended up buying I.L.O. tickets that day!  The I.L.O. show was on Wednesday at 2 pm.  Keith’s show played in the mornings at 10:30.  Joey I.L.O. is very funny!  He had me laughing so hard!  Again, the mark of a good entertainer, writer, book, etc.  move me emotionally, which he did!  Keith helped out in Joey’s show too!  Keith played Lou Costello (the straight man) in Joey’s rendition of “Who’s On First.”  It was a nice giving thing that he did and you could see that they had developed a special friendship!  Both were sharing the same theatre and both were determined to help each others success!  Joey had Keith come out and do a Neil Diamond song as a preview to his show.  Keith sang “I’m A Believer”, the old Monkee’s song that Neil Diamond actually wrote!  After that Joey asked for two volunteers to compete for tickets to Keith’s show.  My wife  won our tickets and we decided to go to the Friday morning show (just before we left for home.)

When we got out of Joey’s show it was raining really hard.  Standing by the door deliberating on whether to make a run for it or not we noticed that Keith was right behind us looking out the window too.  Here we were standing there just the three of us and we talked to him.  Keith impressed me as being a totally down to earth guy!  From his humble, quiet, yet friendly dispostion it was hard to believe he was actually a veteran performer.  He answered my questions about his show telling me that it was a story.  Not only does he sing the songs but he puts it in perspective of what Neil was thinking when he wrote them.  Having a personal audience with him for that short time was so cool!  Seeing how he humbly and personally answered our questions was so refreshing!  There was nothing in him that put him on a higher level.  In his attitude I saw that he was doing a job much like we do our jobs every day.  His job happened to be in entertainment.

Looking back this may have been my favorite vacation ever!  Ironically we had no idea we were going to Branson.  I was going to have a week off from work and was looking for a place to go online. One day I shared with a friend what I had in mind.  We have enjoyed staying at Bed and Breakfast’s in the past and I was looking at South or North Carolina.  My friend asked me if I ever thought about Branson Missouri?  Checking Bed and Breakfast’s in Branson we found one that caught our eye!  Even the name of it “The Hummingbird Inn”, was so appealing!  It was a beautiful place nestled in the mountains with a breathtaking view!  Factored in of course was the shows we could see for entertainment and we made our reservations.  I don’t think I ever looked forward to a trip so much!  They say that the anticipation of a get away is almost as good as the trip itself!  I have to agree because I couldn’t wait to go!

We had a wonderful time at the Hummingbird Inn.  We found loving owners who made us feel right at home.  We delighted in the breathtaking view as we looked down from a mountain!  We enjoyed all of the amenities the place provided including a delicious big breakfast every morning!  The Hummingbird Inn is about 14 miles from Branson.  It is just far enough to feel apart from all of the commercial aspects of the city while being close enough to see the big shows that they have!

We saw four different shows while we were there.  The first show was one I ordered tickets for while in Michigan.  It was put on by Barry Williams (Greg on the Brady Bunch) who along with a team of very talented singers and dancers put together a tribute to the 70′s music show.  The next show was the Joey I.L.O. show.  He uses the initials I.L.O. instead of the actual spelling because the actual spelling he told us is a mafia name.  Joey’s mom and dad were both clowns and the poster that we had him sign is him in normal attire except for his feet which were emerged in clown shoes.  In the background is a family picture with all of them in clown makeup!  On Thursday night, the only night show we attended, we saw a family called the Haygoods!  What a talented group they were!  It seems each one could play three or four instruments and the only girl in the group being able to play six if I remember correctly.  It was five brothers and one sister and they were marvelous!  It was my favorite of the performances up to that point.  Then the last morning after we hurriedly packed our things and left The Hummingbird Inn for Branson for the final time we saw something very very special!

Keith Allynn looks just like Neil Diamond did in his prime!  In fact there is a post card with both of their pictures and they look just alike!  We got there maybe fifteen minutes early but it was not too early for Keith as he was talking to the audience.  By the time we were seated we had missed probably half of his pre concert talk.  It seems that Keith is gracious enough to come out and answer questions the audience has.   He answered all of the questions in detail, even more personal questions about his personal health issue ADHD that he suffers from.  The little talk is beneficial as it would be very hard for him normally to perform in front of crowds, but knowing that he is performing for ”friends” helps him immensely!  Finally he told us to give him a couple of minutes to get ready and the show would start!

It was so cool the way the show opens!  There is a big screen with Neil Diamond singing “Soolaiman” and he sings the lyrics “Come she come say, Ride on the night, Sun becomes day, Day shall provide ” and then the introduction from the public address system “A Diamond Image by Keith Allynn”, and without missing a beat Keith appears in the spotlight.  “Soo Soolaiman, Soolai Soolai Soolaiman”, he sings in a voice that is the exact of Neil Diamond!  I’m sitting there watching this quiet unassuming guy I had talked to a couple of days before and it is hard to believe he is the same guy!  The appearance is the same but the stage presence and boldness that takes charge of the audience is all there!  If I didn’t know any better I would think I was at a Neil Diamond concert!

As much as Keith gave us perspective on the songs and life of Neil Diamond he was also giving us a great perspective of his own life.  You see Keith was an Elvis impersonator for fourteen years.  He jokes that he did Elvis almost as long as Elvis did Elvis.  He was rated in the top ten Elvis impersonators in the world.  That he said would buy you a cheap cup of coffee.  He met a young woman who he would fall deeply in love with. Knowing that she loved Neil Diamond he sang the only song he knew in Neils voice over the phone to her.  It was a song from “The Jazz Singer” entitled ”Hello Again.”  He noticed it got really quiet on the other end of the phone.  “Was it that bad?”, he said when he was finished.  “No, it was beautiful!”, she said through tears.   Later she became his wife and that song became theirs!  She had a dream and it was almost like she got struck with lightening.  She told Keith about it.  “I think”, she said “that you should do a tribute to Neil Diamond.”  Keith admitted that he sometimes goes in his own direction, so he started a tribute to Elvis Presley.  As time passed his wife told him again “I think you should do a tribute to Neil Diamond.”  So he started a comedy act featuring all of the impressions he could do.  He has over sixty voices he can impersonate including Kermit the Frog.  He did a quick Kermit and when he got a reaction he summerized “I do Neil Diamond and it is silent, but Kermit the Frog gets applause!”  Needless to say he has taken his wifes good advice and his Neil Diamond Tribute  show is fantastic!

So I’m sitting there and tears are rolling down my cheeks because of the song he was singing called “The Story of My Life”  It is a simple song like Neil’s usually are with deep meaning.  This song just hit me in such a powerful way.  The lyrics go like this…”the story of my life, it’s very plain to read,  It starts the day you came and ends the day you leave”  “The story of my life, begins and ends with you, the names are still the same, and the story is still the truth”  I was alone, you found me waiting and made me your own, I was afraid, that somehow I could not be the man that you wanted of me”, ‘You’re the story of my life, and every word is true, each chapter sings your name, each page begins with you”  “It’s the story of our times, and never letting go, If I die today, I wanted you to know.”

Keith mentioned that Neil Diamond once said “everyone could find their own song within the vast variety of his songs through the years.”  Keith said that the song that fits him was a recent one for Neil(written in 2008)  The song that he picked out tells me what I need to know about his beliefs!  It was a way that he could witness to us within the framework of his show.  It was a way for him to show us his true heart.  The song and lyrics follow!  Pretty Amazing Grace

“Pretty amazing grace, is what you showed me, pretty amazing grace, that’s who you are,  I was an empty vessel, you filled me up inside, and with amazing grace you restored my pride.”

“Pretty amazing grace, is how you saved me, and with amazing grace restored my heart, love in the midst of chaos, calm in the heat of war, showed with amazing grace what love was for.”

“Pretty amazing, pretty amazing, pretty amazing, pretty amazing, pretty amazing, pretty amazing, pretty amazing, pretty amazing!”

I think it is truly astonishing that of all of Neil Diamond’s songs the man who has studied his life and movements and voice so much chose this one as his song!  It shows of the depth of his understanding of Neil.  In Neil’s own life it is remarkable that he would write such a spiritual song only five years ago, long after all of his other hits.  Yet this particular song must have deep meaning to Neil at the present time!

As I think back to being mesmorized by Keith’s abilities in his replication of Neil Diamond another thought occurred to me!  Keith can impersonate over sixty people!  Keith impersonated Elvis for 14 years.  Keith has an act where he looks, sounds, and moves exactly like Neil Diamond in his prime.  Yet the Keith that I saw had another side.  It was a quiet, peaceful, humble, respectful, and loving side.  Keith was attired in a  sparkly vest  when he did the show.  Sometimes while singing he would go behind a wall for a second and come out with a different colored vest on.  It happened about four different times!  One time he told us it was an illusion!  Just as his vest changed numerous times, there must have been a time when Keith had a change in his own life!  Keith can do over sixty impersonations and you can say that each one is an illusion, not the real him. I marvel at the talent level it takes for him to convincingly imitate so many people so perfectly!  Yet the imitation  he does of his Lord without even realizing it, in his own personal, quiet, humble way is the real him! It is truly the best imitation he does!  Pretty Amazing!

Click below for a beautiful rendition of “Pretty Amazing Grace!”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4QoZUgub8I

Driving Me Crazy With Your Horn

There he was looking tired and wet!

Bob Weiner was driving his car from Orlando Florida to his home in Gainsville (about a 2 hour drive) in February years ago.  It was a cold rainy day unlike what it is supposed to be in Florida.  Suddenly he saw a young man dressed in a light jacket and drenched by the rain hitchhiking.  His jacket was way too thin to keep him warm.  Bob was about to pass him by when he heard the voice of the Lord say “pick him up.”  Looking around the nice clean seats of his new car, Bob knew what he had to do.  The young man lost his composure as he started on his journey with Bob.  After a couple of minutes he told Bob about a conversation he had with God.  He  had been out in the cold rain for six or seven hours hitchhiking without any success.  Finally he called out to God for the first time in his life.  ”God, if you are there let the next car pick me up because if it doesn’t I’m going to throw myself in front of the second car and end it all.  The reason he was crying uncontrollably was that Bob’s car was the next car!

This little story illustrates where our mind should be as we are driving.  We should be living in a spirit of love and driving that way too, opened to what God is telling us!  When we are living in that kind of loving union there is no room for driving faults we all get into.  What is it about driving a car that can cause us all to be perfect?  As our perception of being perfect increases the reality of the situation is just the opposite.  I have seen the nicest christian people turn from Dr. Jeckyll to Mr. Hyde as soon as they get behind the wheel!  All of the sudden attitudes change into ”it’s all about me”  and anyone getting in the way is the enemy.

My dad believed in getting to his destinations early and I always thought he took it to the extreme.  I was never one to want to get somewhere a half an hour early.  My method has always been to try to get there on time and not before.  I have to admit though that planning to get to places early would solve most of the driving rage I sometimes have felt.  I know that when I am running late every little annoyance of slow drivers ahead of me are magnified. 

They showed a film when I first took drivers training years ago.  I think it was called Mr. Smith’s rules of driving or something like that.  Anyway when Mr. Smith would like something someone did or when he saw them he would give as he called it “a friendly toot of the horn.”   We laughed at the time thinking he was going way overboard, but wouldn’t it be nice if people used their horn in a friendly way?  In fact the very sound of the horn especially when held down is very blunt and rude.  It expresses the anger that the driver is feeling to another driver.  Is this act necessary?  Some might answer that the other driver is doing something wrong and needs to know about it bluntly.  I wonder who made us the policemen of  the road and who transformed us to perfect beings?  I also know that when someone honks at me in those situations it makes me feel upset.  Their act raises my blood pressure and hurts me.  It might make me feel hate back in return which is not a good thing to spread.  All of these years later I think Mr. Smith and dad were on to something!

I read in a book one time about how Japanese driving is completely different to ours in the use of their horns.  I read that they use their horn in a positive way!  For example if someone walks in front of them they blow their horn to let the person know that they see them.  Honk honk, I see you!  I have a feeling it isn’t a blaring honk either.  Probably just a toot to say I see you, you are safe.  They are using their horn out of love where here we use it out of hate.  When people blare their horn it usually means “you are an idiot, get off of the road.”  I realize that there are exceptions and sometimes it is necessary to use the horn.  Still, Mr. Smith’s friendly toot of the horn seems so much nicer than the blare some people think it is necessary to create. 

I see you!

I remember a scene just after my daughter died.  We went into a store because life keeps going even after ours had stopped.  As we were walking through the store we noticed more than usual the people that had kids.  They were being normal with kind words to them or disciplining them in the store.  We could only think to ourselves “if they only knew.”  It was like we were in a bad dream that we had lost interest in. The same kind of feeling hit a friend of mine who had lost her mother.  She had felt so detatched and yet life went on.  She needed to go to the store for something and was sure she probably messed up in driving or normal activities because she was so far out of it.

Years ago I was looking to recruit other people into a business I was doing.  It was a business in financial services and we were trying to build our own team in the organization.  A friend of our family told me about this guy Jim that would be perfect.  Jim was a real go getter who was great in business and he was highly reccommended!  When I showed up for our appointment it didn’t seem that anyone was home.  After a long pause I heard the door slowly open.  I could tell that Jim, who opened the door and the person I was supposed to see, had been crying.  His eyes were still watery and swollen as if he couldn’t hide what he was feeling.  It was a very ackward situation as I was upbeat about my business and yet Jim was so down and in no condition to talk.  He left me shaking my head as he quickly said he wasn’t interested and shut the door abruptly.  I dismissed the incident as a timing thing and the fact that Jim was obviously going through some issues.  Two days later I found out that Jim had killed himself.

I wonder if Jim tried to get out of the house in his state of depression?  If he did he probably wouldn’t be driving at his best.  Someone would invariably blare their horn at him because they had their own agenda that he interfered with.  I’m not saying that it happened because I don’t know.  All I’m saying is that we may be spreading hate instead of love when we get behind the wheel.  By not being loving we could be shoving a guy like Jim into a deeper depressed state.

Just like in our daily walk our christian life and example does not go on pause when we get behind the wheel.  Do onto others and be slow to anger still apply!  Love your neighbor and love your enemies are rules to follow whether driving or not!

If I ever designed a car I would have the horn with a friendly sound.  It would be impossible to blare it at someone.  It would sound more like a pleasant tone that people would notice but wouldn’t feel hated.  Saying this I realize that it is the person behind the wheel that controls the horn.  Mr. Smith was right in his theory that a friendly toot of the horn works just fine and sends a nice message of love.

Just like what the young hitchhiker was experiencing that Bob picked up years ago, we don’t know what people driving our roads are going through.  Maybe someone just found out they had cancer or the car in front of us has someone in it that is contemplating killing themselves.  Maybe the person in front of us is like me and lost someone they loved so dearly.  Whatever the reason to whatever they are doing,  we should treat them with love.  We should be slow to anger like the Bible talks about.  The other person needs a show of love instead of hate.  Perhaps we should pray before driving, not only for a safe trip, but to be a blessing to all that we see! 

Like my dad would say “start early and give yourself plenty of time.”  They used to have commercials about driving and the slogan “Watch out for the other guy.”  This slogan is appropriate in our christian walk too.  Not only should we watch out for what unexpected moves they make, but we should also watch out for them as people.  Treating them with love will never be the wrong thing to do!  Mumbling under our breath about their abnormal driving isn’t being loving.  Being patient, slow to anger and quick to forgive is!

Lord, help me to be a blessing to my fellow drivers who may have troubles I don’t know about!

Don’t Block My Blessing!

Dikembe Motumbo was a 7 foot 2 basketball center whose specialty was blocking shots.  Often his opponents would have a perfectly clear shot until out of the blue Motumbo’s long arm would come into the picture and change everything.   Motumbo had a ritual he did after he blocked a shot.  It was almost as if it disturbed and annoyed him as he wagged his long finger at the would be scorer.  “Please no,” he would say as his face changed to a troubled look.  It was like he hated to block their shot but it was in his job description, much like things we don’t like to do on our jobs but have to do them anyway.  What we never saw was the face of the would be scorer.  If we did it would surely be a hurt face as his shot that he may have  already counted for the score book was being bounced harmlessly to the floor.  I never saw Motumbo block a shot of a player from his own team.  The hurt and disbelief on his teammates face would be there for all to see if that strange and confusing event ever happened.  That same look that I imagine it would be like,  was the same stunned and hurt look on my grandpa’s face years ago.

“Please no”

My grandpa was born in 1895 so by the time I got to know him he seemed very old to me.  Of course my parents seemed very old at the time and anyone over twenty seemed very old.  We would go down to Alabama every year.  My grandpa and grandma spent their whole life in Alabama and my dad loved to take us there.  We were sure to gain a pound or two as grandma was an excellent cook.  She had meals on the table precisely on time and we had our fill of all kinds of food!  Grandma would have been hurt if we didn’t eat.  Of course we never tested that outcome.  We always brought our appetites when we entered Alabama and didn’t stop eating until we left!  At the end of the day everyone was happy!  Grandma was happy that we enjoyed her wonderful meals and we were happy that she blessed us with them!

Grandpa was a quiet man but we loved him just the same.  We realized that he loved us very much too.  One rare time they came up to Michigan.  It was the only time that I remember that they came our way.  Dad had been playing catch with me quite often with the baseball.  Grandpa took his turn and we played catch together.  I had a bunk bed at the time.  Very rarely did the two beds get used at the same time.  I had wanted a bunk bed because my friends down the road had them.  Of course they had three boys sharing the same room, but I didn’t think about that.  I thought they were cool and different.  When grandpa stayed at our house he slept on the top bunk.  What a scary adventure he talked about over and over the next day at breakfast.  He was making it sound so exciting and breath taking all for my benefit.   The way he described it you would have thought that he had walked on a high wire over a lake or something!  He was giving me a memory that I would cherish forever!

Each year at the end of our stay in Alabama we would hug grandma and grandpa goodbye.  Invariably grandpa would reach for his pocket and pull a dollar out for both of us.  A couple of times we took his money with excitement!  One time on the way home mom and dad wondered if he gave us something.  When we said that he gave us both a dollar they both didn’t think we should have taken it.  You see grandpa was a poor man.  He was living on his social security and he didn’t have a lot of money to throw around.  The thinking was that he could use the money himself.  In the years that followed I remember numerous times grandpa trying to give us each a dollar and we didn’t accept it.  It was like a sad game as he would try to stuff the money in our pockets only to have us put it right back in his.  I could see that same hurt look in his eyes that came from rejection.

I was talking to a friend the other day and the same type of thing happened in her family.  A close relative took care of a friends cat.  This close relative was a giver to the nth degree.  She loved to give what she could and loved how people loved her gifts. This time the shoe was on the other foot.  This friend of hers was giving her a gift for the care that she provided to her precious cat.  It was a card and inside was a gift certificate for a restaurant nearby. It’s not remembered if she finally accepted it and complained later of if she didn’t accept it at all.  The words lingering in my friends memory were “I don’t need this”.

Sometimes we take something out of the Bible and stand it alone completely out of context.  For example it states that it is better to give than to receive.  You can make the argument that if someone is always receiving and doesn’t give that it is wrong.  I would have to agree with you.  However, does this mean that it is a sin to receive something?  Does it mean that we should avoid receiving and only concentrate on giving?  How about the passage “Do to others as you would have them do to you?”  If you made the special effort to give someone that you loved very much a gift wouldn’t it be hurtful if they didn’t accept it?  How can hurting someone be a good thing?

Just as if we give in love we can receive in love too!  When we do things for some other reason the connection cannot be completed.  For example there is something called the prosperity gospel.  It states that if we give such and such something good will come back to us.  This can only be true if we are doing things for the right reasons.  If we are giving to get concerned with “what’s in it for us?” that attitude will never be blessed by God.  However if we give something from our heart then it’s all good.    If we do something from our heart  the other person should accept it from their heart.  Likewise if someone  does something for us from their heart, we should accept their gift graciously and lovingly.  There is no need for the “you shouldn’t have” phrase we hear so much because maybe they should have.   Maybe they are doing exactly what they are supposed to be doing.  Since everything is being done out of love and God is the source for love, we have a love connection and blessings will follow!

Tom Brady is unanimously one of the best Quarterbacks in the NFL.  As good as Brady is and as well as he can throw, the results of the play are not positively fulfilled unless someone is there to receive his passes.  He can throw the best most accurate passes ever and if his receiver doesn’t catch them it all goes for nothing.  However, when both are in unison doing what they are supposed to do they both are glorified.  It is very important in our Christian walk to not only be good givers but  good receivers too!

Brady looking for a receiver

Sometimes we might have the attitude that I will accept a gift from God, but not from this person.  Does it ever occur to us that maybe it is one in the same. God is love and he is continuously trying to bless his people.  Since we are his hands and feet on this earth, he often uses people to bless other people.  If someone out of their heart feels the desire to give us a nice gift that process can only come from love.  That person loves us and wants us to have something they can give  to show their love!  Rejecting their gift is in fact rejecting their love. Rejecting their love may be rejecting God’s gift and blessing.

My question to you today is “Are you a selfish giver?  In the words of Olivia Newton John, “Have you ever let someone else be strong?”  Have you ever considered the fact that receiving can also be giving?  I know that you are thinking that I just jumped off of the deep end but let me explain.  Suppose someone gives me a gift and I give them back love.  I accept their gift thankfully and tell them how much their gift means to me.  I make them feel good that they thought of me and in turn it makes them happy!  I am blessed by the material gift they gave me and I have given them a blessing too!  It is the blessing of love that is from God and makes us all feel good inside!

It is remindful that God gave us the greatest gift of all in his son Jesus.  By receiving him into our lives as a free gift we can all get to Heaven.  Once again we have a giver and a receiver.  I know that it hurts God when people reject the gift that he has given freely.  His desire is for all to receive his gift and live for eternity with him.  Just as we accept God’s gift as a blessing we also need to accept each others show of Godliness that he has instilled in us causing us to lovingly give. 

I can still see grandpa’s sad eyes as his gift was rejected .  If I could change one thing in my childhood this would be it.  I would accept his loving gift which would have put a smile on his face.  “I’d say “thank you grandpa, I love you!” I may not go as far as making it seem like I was as thankful as I would have been had I survived walking a high wire over a lake, but it would have been real!  He would have felt good and blessed and I would have felt the same!  

A dollar would buy a lot more back then than it does today.  With that dollar I may have bought a nice baseball.  If a friend asked where I got it I could have told him that it was a gift from my grandpa!  They would probably think, and rightly so, that I had a great grandpa who loved me very much!  With this scenerio the blessings would have flowed without being blocked and everyone would have been happy including God!

The Power Of Love

1983 was a big year in my life!  It was the year I got married!  Literally days before that happend though we bought a house.  As a term of the sale the owner wanted to stay in the house a couple of weeks after we legally obtained ownership.  That agreement we made with him literally put us in a time bind.  When we found houses that we liked we would have my dad check them out.  My dad built three houses so he looked at things that we didn’t.  He wasn’t concerned with the color of carpet or the paint on the walls like we were.  He looked at the structure and other items we probably would have missed.  We found a house that we liked and had dad look it over.  Dad gave the house a passing grade as the things he looked for were in order! Though we liked the neighborhood and the outside, the things that caught our eye inside were completely out of order.   The walls were a very filthy yellowy color, not the nice white color they should have been.  There were dirty fingerprints all over the place.  It was an interior designers nightmare as the carpet was an ugly pukey green color and the kitchen walls were the ugliest pea green I had ever seen.  The countertops were also a very distasteful green and the stove was such a greasy mess it needed a major cleaning to make it close to usable.   The kitchen floor had a green unattractive pattern and color to it.  What was this obsession to green this person had?  Not only green but such an ugly pea green.  Along with it’s putrid color the carpet was also damaged.  The carpet in the bedroom was torn up near the door as a big dog was shut in and tried to tunnel his way out.  There was hair everywhere as the drains were filled beyond belief. We heard from the neighbors later that the house was treated like a frat house.  The owner and many of his friends made it their home.  The house was a host for many parties and the occupants were not concerned with how the place looked.

The foundation was solid but inside it was a mess!

The owner was a chain smoker and if a smoker could smoke more than a chain smoker that would describe him.  He literally always had a cigarette in his mouth and the place reeked with smoke smell.  Not only him but the evidence suggests that everyone living there were heavy chain smokers.  Apparently the owner and friends smoked so much it got to be a pain to get rid of their cigarette butts.  They literally dropped them on the floor and kicked them under the stove, refrigerator or anywhere out of sight.  When the stove drawer was opened exposing the floor beneath hundreds of cigarette butts were found.

By the time the previous owner had moved out I had very little time to make a livable home out of the mess we bought.  I called my dear friend Gary and he was so willing to put things on hold in his own life and help!  My dillemma was that I was getting married on Saturday and we would be leaving on our honeymoon.  Beginning that Monday Gary and I decided that we would paint.  Painting three bedrooms and a living room was our mission and we only had four nights since the Friday night was the wedding dinner.  We both worked so it was around six pm before we could get started.  We worked long into the night each night.  Gary and I both loved sports and the fact that the National Championship of the NCAA basketball tournament was played on Monday night added to his sacrifice.  I happened to have a TV in the house already.  It was a second hand color TV that had the rabbit ears for it’s antenna.  CBS and NBC were the only channels it received and luckily the game was on CBS.  Houston was playing North Carolina State that year in the finals.  Houston was the overwhelming favorite to win and neither of us thought it would be much of a game.  Houston had two players that would eventually be NBA Hall of Famers and they were given the nickname Psi Slamma Jamma for their many dunks they had every game.  We took a quick break from our painting wondering how the game was going.  It was a couple of hours after tip off and we figured it was either close to over or over.  We stood there as the set warmed up and eventually we saw a picture.  Totally expecting a blowout in Houstons favor we were shocked to see the score was tied.  North Carolina State had the ball with forty seven seconds left and they started throwing it all over the court and almost had it stolen a couple of times.

Jim Valvano was the coach at North Carolina State.  At the beginning of the season he had a dream.  It was the dream of winning the National Championship.  Every year the National Champion cuts down the net as a celebration of their victory.  After one of his first practices that season Jim figured his team needed to live the dream he was living.  They needed to see and feel his vision.  He brought a pair of scissors and each player was hoisted up and cut down a strand of the net.  The last strand was cut down by Jim himself on the back of one of his taller players.  They hooted and hollered just like it had actually happened and ran off to the locker room in a jubilent triumphant celebration!

The road to the championship game was filled with pot holes for that 1983 North Carolina State team.  Dereck Whittenburg their star player who they relied on for his scoring ability and leadership got hurt.  It happened in January when Dereck went up for a shot and landed on the foot of an opposing player.  The results of this unfortunate event was a broken bone in his foot.   At the time of his injury North Carolina State had a record of twelve wins and only one defeat.  They were ranked in the top twenty five teams in the nation.  After his injury the team struggled and they ended up in fourth place in their conference.  It was thought that they would need a tournament win in the upcoming conference tournament to get into the NCAA tournament.  Miracuously that is exactly what they did.  With Whittenburg coming back sooner than expected, State pulled off a couple of stunning upsets including Virginia (led by 7 ft 4 Ralph Sampson) in the title game.  It was their first win against Virginia after suffering two losses to them in the regular season.

If anyone doubted that they were a team of destiny, faith was renewed in their first round game of the NCAA Tournament against Pepperdine.  Trailing by six with twenty four seconds left in overtime NC State put on a miraculous rally and won the game 69-67.  A tactic that Coach Valvano liked to use was fouling at the end of games.  Luckily the other teams cooperated by missing free throws giving North Carolina State a chance.  With the added chances State became known as the cardiac kids for their thrilling wins.  Another thrilling win occurred in the next game as Thurl Bailey, their 6’11 skinny center tipped in a missed shot at the buzzer to lift State to a 71-70 win and a trip to the sweet sixteen.  “We had one of the greatest coaches and motivators who ever lived”, Bailey said, “and we had prepared for what ended up happening.”  “Destiny means a lot of things have to line up for you”, he continued, “and then you have to do your part too.”

Surprisingly “The Cardiac Kids” had a non cardiac game against Utah to reach the “elite eight”.  They won by 19 points in one of their best performances of the season!  Standing in their way for a trip to the final four was their nemisis Virginia.  When Othel Wilson of Virginia missed a last second shot at the buzzer”an airball”, State won another thriller 63-62 and were headed to the Final Four!  They won by seven points over Georgia and watched on the hotel TV as Houston dismantled Louisville in a game in which they lived up to their dunking name with 14 dunks!  The kids from North Carolina State looked at each other wondering how they could compete with this dunking machine of a team.  In the press conference before the big matchup Coach Valvano jokingly said that they would just hold the ball the whole game for the last shot.  Before the game Valvano told his team that there is no way we are going to hold the ball with millions of people watching. 

It was 1993 and a ten year reunion was held for the 1983 team.  All of the former players were there.  It was not known if coach Jim Valvano could come.  The reason for doubt was that the great coach was dying.  He had incurable bone cancer and he had trouble walking or mustering up much energy.  Suddenly there was a commotion in the crowd and through the crowd escorted on each side Valvano appeared.  He looked very frail as the bone cancer had taken it’s toll on his body, but he was there!  The players wondered if this might be the last time they would ever see him.  They were lined up and each one spent a minute with him as he gave them a big hug.  That was Valvano’s way.  He was all about giving hugs to people that he loved and this team was one he loved dearly.  As he met each one including Whittenburg with each dynamic hug he whispered something in their ear.  Last in the line was Thurl Bailey the 6 foot 11 inch center on the team. Thurl pulled out a chair and Valvano climbed wearily up on it.  As their heads were now around the same height coach Valvano was able to whisper in his ear the words that he had for all of the others “I love you.”  Remembering the moment twenty years later as if it were yesterday Thurl Bailey through tearful eyes said “he told me that he loved me!”

The Houston press was non stop.  North Carolina State was moving the ball and seemingly throwing it to all of the wrong places.  Two or three times it was almost stolen as their passes were hurried as it seemed Houston players were everywhere. The ball ended up in the hands of Thurl Bailey in the left corner.  Thurl had an open look but he hadn’t made a shot since the first half.  He looked for Whittenburg because Whittenburg was hot.  He found him near the half court line.  With Houstons athletic defense in persuit he threw a very dangerous across court pass in the direction of Whittenburg.  A defender from Houston tried in vain to reach it and actually deflected the ball after it had reached the jumping Whittenburg’s hands knocking it to the floor.  Whittenburg grabbed the ball and took a driible and  with only a few seconds left he launched the shot.  He was thirty five feet from the basket and everyone including Gary and I were holding our breath as it made it’s way for the basket.  Just as it appeared the ball was going to fall short of the mark a player in red Lorenzo Charles jumped up, caught the ball, and in one motion dunked it in the basket!

Lorenzo Charles completed the dream!

Volvano living the dream!

The impossible dream was now complete! It came so quickly that Gary and I couldn’t believe our eyes!   How ironic that the great dunking machine team was did in by a dose of their own medicine!  Volvano ran onto the court looking for someone to hug.  Amazingly he couldn’t seem to find anyone.  When he finally found Whittenburg he happened to be hugging someone else.  Volvano laughed at the unusual situation in a speech years later.  Whittenburg completed the unfinished story in an interview in 2013.  “Where were you?’ the coach asked Whittenburg.  “I have been looking all over for you to give you a hug.”  “I’m going to give you a big hug right now”, Whittenburg stated to his coach as the two came together in a triumphant embrace.

Ironically both Jim Valvano and Lorenzo Charles are gone now.  Valvano lost his battle with bone cancer at the age of 47.  Before he left  he started “The V Foundation” to raise money for the fight against cancer.  The V Foundation has raised over 100 million dollars for research to find a cure!  Lorenzo Charles was also 47 when a bus he was driving crashed and overturned on a busy highway.  How short their lives were, but oh the memories they left us with.  Volvano having the dream and Charles completing it!

Gary and I had a dream too! Gary didn’t have to tell me he loved me because I knew by his actions those four nights that he did!  We were  fighting the clock like North Carolina State did, so we had to turn the TV off and start back on our own miracle.  1983 taught me a powerful lesson about miracles.  Miracles can happen if there is plenty of love in the mix.  Just as Whittenburg needed assistance from Charles for his shot, Gary and my family gave us assistance for our miracle also.  Though our miracle wasn’t publicized as North Carolina State’s was, through the loving help of Gary the inside of the house began to match the outside in appearance.  Miraculously as Thursday nights work ended so ended the need to paint.  The place had such a different amazing bright look to it!  I couldn’t take my eyes off of how clean and beautiful it looked!  Adding to Gary’s help was my mom and sister who came in and cleaned and my mother in law who hung curtains and helped us hang wall paper.  My friend Keith came over and repaired the damaged carpet and at last our little home miracle was complete!

It has been thirty years since that North Carolina State miracle.  Tomorrow will be Easter Sunday when we remember the greatest miracle of all.  Just as the miracle of thirty years ago with North Carolina State is remembered like it was yesterday for the players involved, the legacy of the resurrection lives on now for over two thousand years!  Our lives are like my house, nice looking on the outside but a mess inside.  Our house didn’t stay that way and it doesn’t have to stay that way in our lives either!  Miracles happen every day even though we don’t always hear about them.  They start because Jesus died and was resurrected. When we repent of our sins and accept him as our Savior our sins are forgiven and we join God’s team.  There are no guarantees as to how hard our road to victory will be.  Like the North Carolina State team our path is sure to have many pot holes. The beautiful part of the story is that we now have a loving coach who will be with us and lead us to the ultimate triumph!

Whittenburg and his coach embracing after the miracle occured!

Because he lives and loves us the inside of our house can be in order too! 

Taking A Flying Leap

When I was in Junior High one of my favorite shows was Big Time Wrestling.  Back in the late 60′s and early 70′s wrestling came on once a week on Saturday afternoons.  Like today wrestling had it’s characters and the hype of coming matches was much of the entertainment.  The show had a local flavor as BoBo Brazil, the Heavyweight champion, hailed from Benton Harbor, Michigan which is not that far from my town Kalamazoo.  There was always an appeal as a wrestler would talk about having Big Time Wrestling come to your local school as a fund raiser.  The  matches shown on TV were actually mismatches as you knew when the match started who the winner would be.  It was all about the star wrestler making an appearance and then promoting his upcoming match against a hated opponent.  Still at that young age I really thought that the matches were real.  After all wrestlers would actually bleed sometimes and the show was performed so precisely.  One of the wrestlers that I remember so well was named Flying Fred Curry.  His name was symbolic with the flying drop kicks that he performed in his matches.  Flying Fred would leave his feet and kick his legs out into his opponents head or chest area.  When he was at the peak of his leap his body was positioned as if he were lying down in the air.  After he made contact with his opponent he naturally fell down on the mat but was quick to jump up and deliver as many drop kicks as it took to finish his match.  Sometimes Flying Fred would do this maneuver seven or eight straight times!  Invariably his opponent would be staggering around like he was drunk and would be totally caught off guard by Flying Freds maneuvers!

                                                           Flying Fred Curry

It was a Saturday afternoon and I was glued to my wrestling show when I received a disruptive phone call.  I had to drag myself away from the action only to find that it was Lloyd, a friend down the road.  Lloyd was a friend, but he was very opinionated and very dominating.  He never backed down from an argument and had his own agenda in mind.  When I think about it now it is probably the kind of attributes leaders of today are recruited for.  Anyway Lloyd had the idea that we should take care of Richmonds field before we played the next game. Richmonds field was a big piece of land located behind Richmond’s house.  It was very large and we had no problem playing our football or baseball games there.  Lloyd was going to bring his mower over and we were all supposed to work on the field.  Of course that was his plan.  In my mind as far as I was concerned, his plan had to wait.  I was in the middle of my wrestling show and nothing was going to stop me from seeing the upcoming matches, interviews, and coming attractions!  Lloyd called right at the beginning of my show and of course he wanted everyone there promptly.  After I watched the entire broadcast including Flying Fred doing his thing with his dropkicks, I left for the field.

When I arrived, an hour late in Lloyd’s mind, he started ranting “Lazy Lou”, “Lazy Lou” and he did this rant over and over and over again in a very loud voice. It was very embarrassing to me to be accused of being lazy in front of my friends.   I don’t know what the other kids were thinking but I was upset.  Lloyd was a big kid both in height and weight.  I was always one of the littlest kids in the games.  Yet the more he ranted the more I became angry.  On and on and on he went.  Finally I could take no more!  I was maybe twenty yards from him when I started my charge.  Lloyd was standing by where home plate was and I could see the surprised look on his face.  At full speed I launched myself in the air just like Flying Fred!  In fact I think that Flying Fred would have been proud of the form in which I imitated his kick.  Finding myself in that parallel to the ground position I was about to make contact with Lloyd’s chest when the unexpected happened.  Instead of being frozen in his surprise like Flying Freds opponents, Lloyd grabbed on to my legs and pulled.  My head came crashing into the hard ground and I was knocked out.

                                    It always worked on TV!

When I came to a minute or two later everyone was gathered around me.  Lloyd, probably fearful that I was seriously hurt and that he instigated my actions, didn’t say anything more about my not helping with the field.  I don’t remember if we played a game or two that day but I think we probably did.  I know I never mentioned the incident to my parents.  I was feeling fine and probably put it in the back of my mind.

The story I just told was a time when I literally took a flying leap. Many people do not know it but they are taking a flying leap too.  The difference in my flying leap and theirs is that their leap may be dangerous to their soul.  This thought came to mind when I heard a speaker talk the other day.  He was supposed to talk about the sustainability of our planet.  His message was supposed to be on how we can’t keep doing some of the things we are doing and expect the planet to sustain us.  He got to his topic in a round about way however.  He started talking about the beginning of the earth and the planets according to how he believed. He said that about one hundred million years ago there was a big bang and everything was formed.  He said it like it was a fact everyone should know without the theory word in there at all. 

I have to shake my head at this theory that someone put out there and people believe.  It’s like my belief years ago that wrestling on TV was real.  As I vaulted myself feet first into the air I was fully committed to what I believed and the consequences that followed.  I found out the hard way that everything you see or hear isn’t true.  I found out that when you believe in something very strongly and it turns out to be wrong, you can get seriously hurt.   Before you buy into the wild theories about how the earth came into existance, remember that you will also be fully committed to your belief sooner or later.  You don’t want to find out at the moment of truth (like I did) that everything you put your hopes on was a lie.  In the end you could find yourself hitting the hard ground of reality.

The Old Piano

It seemed so all alone

Many years ago my ex pastor had a dilemma.  There was an old piano in the back room of the church.  It was away from the action and the only activity it received was kids banging on it, making it sound as though it were a toy.  The piano had not been tuned in years if ever.  Pastor’s dilemma was should he attempt to have the piano tuned so it could be useful, or just write it off as worthless and get rid of it?   After thinking it over for awhile he called a piano tuner to repair it if possible.  This happened in the middle of the week and the next Sunday he shared the story with us.  I felt in my spirit that God wanted me to write a poem about this moving story!  You see as pastor was listening to the piano tuner adjusting the keys of that old piano his spirit was broken and tears flowed.  Suddenly it wasn’t about the old piano at all.

The keys all clunked together
with each one out of line

The Old Piano

by Lewis Hamilton
From the book “The Gardener and My Garden” c1997

The old piano sat by the wall
it seemed so all alone
No one wanted to play it
such a disturbing tone

The keys all clunked together
with each one out of line
I knew i had to do something,
we were running out of time

I called a piano tuner
to come by when he could
Maybe if he worked real hard
it would sound more like it should

Still in my mind I doubted
I had my point of view
Maybe I should just go out
and buy one that was new

The piano man knocked on the door
and started working soon
He asked me how long it had been
since the piano was last tuned

Is it even worth your time?
Such an enormous task
Not wanting to discourage him
I decided not to ask

Patiently he took each key
and tuned them one by one
After a while I noticed
an improvement in the run

It started to sound better,
he delighted in each change
Soon that lonely old piano
was playing with some range

Gradually the sound improved
as he worked so hard and long
At last he was attempting
to play a little song

Adjustments were only minor now,
sounding oh, so good
And I was thinking to myself
it sounded better than it should

For it was an old piano
that seemed so all alone
But now it had a delightful sound
with a pleasant in-key tone

As I heard that pretty piano sound
with all the notes just right,
the Lord told me I was like
that piano in his sight

I may look like I did before
but my heart is now in key
Lord, thank you for amazing grace
and not giving up on me.

But God demonstrates his own
love for us in this: While we were
still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:8