June 6, 2023
What a trip it was! This is the #1 story of Lightenload for 2023! It was a trip filled with old friends and reflections on life! It was more than the Baseball Hall of Fame! It was memories of our own Hall of Fame! It was the perfect trip and our perfect Fast Break!
Taking a look at my old High School Yearbook brought this practical advice that was far different than the other comments my classmates made!
Meaningful Advice
September 21, 2023
Sometimes in life an unexpected turn comes in. These turns can literally turn our world around. This story talks about these turns and how unpredictable life can be.
In sports through the years events or new ideas came along that truly boosted the games for the better! It is like when your car battery goes dead. It can be jumped by battery cables connected from another car to your battery to hopefully bring life back to your dead battery. Take for example baseball as a game that was revived. Baseball was going through a lull after the 1919 Chicago White Sox threw the World Series. When things seemed at their worst along came Babe Ruth. Babe brought a new innovation to the game which was the home run. No longer did teams have to scratch for one run at a time. One wallop could see their team explode for 3 or 4 runs at once! The fans loved it and other players started copying Babe’s swing. Baseball became exciting again and the home run to this day has kept the game afloat!
Football is another game that went through a lull. At one time it was a bunch of players bunched up in a scrum as they called it. The ground game was the way the game was played and running the football was the only way to play it properly. The forward pass was a legal play but wasn’t used very much. Restrictions in the rules and the actual shape of the ball discouraged it. When these restrictions were reduced and a newly shaped ball was developed the game started taking off. Through the years it has evolved to where the ball is in the air more than being carried. Fans love the excitement of the big play and the long pass! The forward pass definitely opened up the game to what it is today!
Sometimes the greatest inventions and new ideas are literally stumbled upon. That is what happened in basketball. Basketball used to be played on the ground. It was thought that players could shoot more accurately and players could remain in position with their feet firmly planted. The game was played with a minimum of dribbling and a maximum of passing. Players had to have a lot of space between them and their defensive opponent to get their two handed set shot off. At the time there were many more hook shots and you can see why. The hook shot could project the ball over defenders outstretched arms where the set shot would have failed. Players would fling hook shots from 15 or 20 feet away from the basket.
Kenny Sailors was a boy that grew up in Wyoming. The only sport his town played back then was basketball. Basketball was a sport that needed little equipment to practice with. All they needed was a ball and a hoop. Kenny lived on a farm and his big brother put up a hoop that he attached to their weather vane. Kenny played one on one with his brother. His brother was a few years older and six feet four inches tall. At the time (13 years old) Kenny was only about 5 feet 7. He hadn’t reached his 5’10 final height yet. Kenny was constantly getting his shot blocked by his older brother. In his freshman year in high school Kenny went with some friends to the AAU basketball championship in Denver. One player caught Kenny’s eye named Hank Luisetti from Stanford. Hank shot a different shot from the rest. Instead of shooting with two hands Hank had perfected shooting his shot using one hand! Kenny liked that and decided to use it in his own game.
Kenny didn’t have success playing against his brother. When he got anywhere close to the basket his brothers long arm would almost always block his one handed set shot attempt. One day Kenny did something he had never done before. After thinking it over after another drubbing Kenny thought “If I could dribble right up to him and jump up as high as I could and push the ball over him that might work!” The next time they played he did just that. At the top of his leap he pushed the ball toward the basket over his brothers outstretched long arms. Amazingly the ball went into the basket! His brother was as amazed as he was and encouraged him after that shot. “I think you have something there”, he said. “practice that.” That first experience was like Edison’s light bulb or Franklin’s kite flying experiment to Kenny. He began working on his latest innovation getting better at it as he went!
The more he practiced his new found shot the better he got at it. He played on his high school team and his new shot was amazing! He perfected a dribble he used with it. Dribbling wasn’t as much of a weapon at the time. Players were encouraged to move the ball or shoot it. Kenny started dribbling the ball low and fast. He would fake like he was going right and bring the ball back quickly keeping his dribble and fake like he was going left. It was the beginning of the cross over dribble so popular today! When his defender backed up to guard against his drive Kenny gathered the ball and jumped as high as he could and pushed his shot over the opponents! Like any great inventor it looked different and odd. When the ball started going in the basket the occasional snicker turned into cheers from the fans!
Although Kenny was a great player he didn’t get a scholarship at Wyoming University. Instead he walked on to the team. When his new coach saw the way he shot he called Kenny aside. ”We don’t shoot the ball like that here at Wyoming”, he was reprimanded. ”We keep our feet on the ground and don’t get out of position and if we don’t have a shot we pass it immediately”. Kenny was distraught at his new coaches attitude concerning his game. ”If you take away my dribbling and my shot you have taken away my game”, he thought. Fortunately his coach saw the success in how Kenny played and his attitude slowly changed. In 1943 Sailors led his Wyoming Cowboys team to the NCAA Championship! In the Championship game against Georgetown he scored 16 points as his team won 46-34! He was named the tournaments most valuable player!
At 19 years old and days after he led his team to victory Sailors left Wyoming and entered the Marines. His eventual wife Marilyn insisted that they get married before he left. Kenny wasn’t that keen on the idea because he thought that if he died overseas she would be left a widow. She would have none of it and they were married. Then he went and served until the end of 1945 getting honorably discharged from the rank of Captain! Kenny wasn’t able to practice his shot while in the Marines. However, it didn’t mean he didn’t think about it constantly. In his mind he went over his form time and again and how he could perfect it even more!
When he left the Marines he went back to Wyoming University for one final year. He implemented the changes that he thought about the last couple of years and had another All American season! There was a photo from Life Magazine of January 13, 1946 showing Sailors at the peak of his jump shooting over a Long Island University player in Madison Square Garden. That one photo of a perfect in form jump shot would look perfectly normal in any basketball game today! Youngsters started to emulate the shot he had created! He was truly ahead of his time!
He played in a new league called the NBA for 5 years making around $7,500 a season before retiring and moving to Alaska with his wife and family. He did the drastic move and career change because of Marilyn’s health. You see she was suffering from asthma and the doctors thought if she got away from the crowded cities she could live past 50. Kenny always put his family high in his priorities and the decision was an easy one. They lived in a little town called Glennallen and at Glennallen High School he coached almost all of the sports. The one that he was able to change drastically was girls basketball. He had a daughter that wanted to play so he was able to give her an outlet by helping form a league. He encouraged Native Americans to play even though most other schools didn’t because they tended to be shorter in height. Although his teams won multiple state championships his biggest thrill was teaching his girls no matter if they were talented or not the life lessons they received from participating!
After 35 years he and Marilyn returned to Wyoming. After 60 years of marriage Marilyn passed away. Kenny was not all alone however. He was received enthusiastically by Wyoming University basketball team’s as he became an avid follower attending their practices and games. Most of all he wasn’t alone because of his continued faith through the years. His statements concerning his faith showed the real meaning of life.
“The Lord has shown me that there’s a lot of things more important than sports or basketball,” he said. When he speaks about a period of difficulty, he says, “It’s tough, but the Lord gives you strength that you don’t even know where it comes from. He gives you the strength to go through most anything.” Losing his beloved wife Marilyn was very difficult but he leaned on the Lord to give him strength.
Kenny was elected to the College Basketball Hall of Fame but never did get elected to the NBA Hall of Fame. There was a big campaign to get him in but he missed by a few votes. Kenny had many obstacles that went against him. For one he played a long time ago and the committees were more in tuned with more recent players. For another his revolutionary shot was not taken into consideration nearly enough. A comment was made that the inventor of the 24 second clock was in the Hall but not Kenny who literally invented the jump shot we see every player shoot. ”Would I be thrilled to be elected?” Kenny repeated the question asked of him. ”Of course I’m human, he stated. However there is a Hall of Fame that I am a part of that every Christian believer is too! ”These man made Hall’s of Fame are just for here on this earth.”
Kenny passed away at the age of 95 in 2015. In 2017 a 18 foot statue was made and is in the Wyoming University Arena. His legacy will be his jump shot but there was so much more to his life. In fact he stated that his priorities were in this order. 1. God, 2. Husband 3. Father and 4. Country. When someone mentioned that he omitted basketball he stood true to his final 4. His life seemed to be best summed up by his faith. When obstacles come our way we can get dragged down or we can go through them, around them, or in Kenny’s case go above them. Kenny went on to his Heavenly Hall of Fame but he left behind a picture of a soaring Sailors rising above the obstacles!
by Walt Huntley
Your name may not appear down here,
In this world’s hall of fame
You may be so unknown
Few even know your name
Fame and fortune pass you by
And are given to a few,
But if you love and serve the Lord
Then there is good news news for you.
This Hall of fame is only good
As long as time shall be;
But keep in mind, God’s Hall of fame
Is for eternity!
To have your name inscribed up there
Is greater yes by far
Than all the Halls of Fame down here
And every man made star.
This crowd on earth they soon forget
The heroes of the past,
They cheer like mad until you fall,
And that’s how long you last
But God he never does forget,
And in His Hall of Fame,
By just believing in his Son,
Inscribed you’ll find your name .
I tell you friend I wouldn’t trade
My name however small
That’s written there beyond the stars
In that celestial hall
For every famous name on earth
Or glory that they share;
I’d rather be an unknown here
And have my name up there.
I have a confession to make. For the last 18 months now we have been watching the show Prisoner on YouTube. For people my age you might remember the show as Prisoner Cell Block H which played late at night in America. I remember running into the show in the early 80’s as I was going through the channels late at night. The show was intriguing but I never really got into it. It was so different in that it was an Australian show and they all had different accents than what I was used to. They also were touching on a situation that was a first on TV up til that time. Prisoner or Prisoner Cell Block H as I knew it was about an Australian prison named Wentworth Detention Center which only housed women. From just watching a couple of minutes at a time back then I could never get into knowing what was going on.
We had started watching TV series together of old shows like 24, Prison Break, Chuck and a few more. It was a time to spend together and we looked forward to the next episodes. When we came to an end of the last show I got to thinking about that Prisoner Cell Block H show. What was it all about and was it available to watch now? On YouTube I found that someone had submitted the whole series free so everyone could watch it. Amazingly the show lasted from 1979 til 1986 and there were 692 episodes. I couldn’t believe how many episodes there were. If we got into it there were sure enough episodes to keep us entertained for a long time! We decided to give the show a chance and went to episode one.
The reason I made the confession at the beginning is that Prisoner is kind of a soap opera. It is no wonder it failed to hold my interest in the 80’s. Like any soap opera you have to stay tuned for longer amounts of time to find out who the characters are. Once that happens characteristics of the person become endearing or angering. The show does a good job in introducing us to the main characters by showing the specific crime they committed that got them into the prison. Most of the time this path is followed although there are times that someone is brought in unannounced and their charges are read as they are initiated into the prison. This is an ongoing process as prisoners are constantly coming and going.
Some prisoners are longer stayers than others based upon the charge against them. Many of them even the ones that murdered someone come across as good people that did something very bad in haste because of the terrible situation they were in. Bad decisions are a theme of the show committed both in and out of prison. Inside the prison there was always unrest. There were always the good and evil forces that kept the show interesting. There was a top dog that was voted in by the prisoners. She was the spokesman of the group and she was like the boss. There were always factions trying to get the top dogs job and disagreements in decisions she made. Through the series there were several top dogs and they did their job in different ways. The other prisoners had schemes to escape or to plot something against their foes in the prison. There was the everyday life and work they did in the prison and their interactions with each other. There was the bonding of friendships and the toughness they appeared to have. There were the tender moments where the mask came off and they cried as they realized what a waste their life was becoming and became. There was always the dark reality when they were locked in their cells at night and the door shutting.
Prison administration was provided by a Governor and a few Prison Officers. The two main Governors the prison had really seemed to care about the prisoners. They did everything they could to make the prison more of a rehabilitation stop than outright punishment. Each of them tried to treat the prisoners with respect and this treatment was based on the prisoners attitude. When their attitude caused problems however they punished them by taking away their buyout privileges or having them stay in solitary confinement for 24 hours.
Unlike the fair minded Governors the prison officers were a mixed bag. The majority of them throughout the show were for prison rehabilitation but there were a few that felt the prisoners were scum and less than human. One such officer was named Joan Ferguson or as the prisoners called her “The Freak”. When prisoners got released she would inevitably tell them that “you’ll be back”. Unfortunately many did go back in and that seemed to make Ferguson very happy. She was always scheming with certain prisoners to do things that would help improve her situation. She had dreams of being the Governor and used whoever she could to reach that goal. She was always complaining about discipline in the prison and her ideal prison would have no freedom at all as far as what they could do. The Governor was informed by certain prisoners about how crooked she was but she was never caught in the act and always denied all accusations. Her line was always are you going to take a prisoners word or mine?
After we got to know characters and liked many of their qualities they might be released. The episodes to me were some of the best as for once in their lives something was actually working out for them. Before they left there was usually the goodbyes from their friends and fellow inmates. The scene would usually involve the hugs and the warning that “I don’t ever want to see you here again”. Many times as Ferguson would see them before they left with an officer out the door she would give them her cruel words “you’ll be back”. Often times fellow inmates would join together and their voices could be heard in unison from the grounds with encouragement and love! There were times when the fellow inmate friends would get permission from the Governor to have a party for the departing prisoner and friend. These departing scenes were a show of love and were always filled with tears and hugs. They were very emotional scenes that affected the actors and us viewers.
There was one particular prisoner I’m going to focus on. Her name was Lexie Patterson and she was in her young twenties. We first see her getting admitted to the Prison dressed like Boy George. Boy George was a popular rock singer at the time and had his own special look. Apparently Lexie didn’t like herself and that was the reason she impersonated the rock star. In one of the episodes Ferguson overpowered her and cut her hair. This was a traumatic experience as she now had to cope in her own identity. Lexie was charged with larceny and we really didn’t get many details about her crime. She did escape one time and when they caught her she was given extra time. She came late to the show and stayed for most of the last season. There was a lady that found out Lexie was in the prison. She happened to be Lexie’s birth mother. Her name was Jessie and we would come to know her through the following episodes Jessie was in no position to care for Lexie when she was born and gave her to a friend to take care of her. Unknown to Jessie for many years her so called friend neglected Lexie. Lexie’s search for herself and love was directly related to her so called mothers lack of love for her and led her down a bad path and eventually into the prison. Jessie had a plan to change all of that.
Finding out that Lexie was in prison broke her birth mother Jessie’s heart. She regretted not trying to bring up her little girl and vowed to somehow make it better. I forget what crime she committed but Jessie made sure that her crime wouldn’t give her a long sentence. Her goal was to meet Lexie in the prison and eventually let her know that she was her mother. Jessie was admitted to the prison and right away started inquiring about Lexie. Lexie thought Jessie was strange as Jessie would stare at Lexie in the cafeteria. She also started warning Lexie about her attitude and things Lexie thought was none of Jessie;s business. There were a few times that Lexie told Jessie off with the line we often heard in the show “rack off”. When Jessie found out that a fellow prisoner named Lou Kelly was trying to kill Lexie she had a crazy plan that Lexie needed to become pregnant. (I mentioned that this was a soap opera!) Jessie noticed that someone else in prison was protected and isolated when they were pregnant and nobody could touch them. I won’t go into details but the crazy scheme was accomplished. Lexie had confided with her best friend named Julie (known as Chook) that nobody cared about her and she had no future if she got out. The news that her mother was right there in prison because she wanted to be close to her would surely make Lexie very happy!
When Lexie found out she was pregnant her initial reaction was to have an abortion. Jessie was totally against the idea and tried to talk to Lexie but Lexie was not hearing it. Finally after Jessie was told to rack off and leave me alone Jessie decided to tell Lexie that she was her mother. In a very round about way she told Lexie to hear her out. Instead of coming out with it she tried to tell a story about herself not mentioning that it was her she was talking about. Lexie was totally bored and wondered how this story affected her? Finally Jessie told her she was the person in the story and that she was her mother. Lexie was in total disbelief. She wondered why this old lady would tell her a lie like this? Why would she make such a hurtful story up and what was in it for her? Jessie was determined to have Lexie believe the truth so she had the neglectful mother come to visit Lexie and her and she admitted that Jessie’s story was true.
Instead of being happy and accepting her mother Lexie was now madder than a hornet. She didn’t want anything to do with Jessie and it hurt Jessie dearly. For several days this whole attitude went on. Jessie was hurt and almost wished she hadn’t told Lexie the truth. Lexie on the other hand felt sad and used. Recently they had a reunion of the Prisoner cast. The Prisoner show has had a cult following through the years. I have almost seen every episode now but some of these people have watched the whole series over twenty times. These reunions are every year now and fans come from miles away to be a part of them! There is also a video of one on one interviews with many of the living show actors. They had a series of two interviews with Pepe Trevor the actress that played Lexie. When they asked her about the episode where she completely rejected her mother this is what she said. “Lexie suffered from something many of us suffer from today, she was her own worst enemy.” “She rejected the very thing she yearned for. Maybe it didn’t quite come in the package she wanted or the time she was expecting it but there it was.” When Trevor watched the old episode before the interview she couldn’t help thinking to herself “you idiot!”
Lexie finally came to her senses and accepted Jessie as her mom. She even told Jessie “I love you mom.” Of course Jessie told her that she loves her too! Lexie got an early release from prison but not before Jessie did. Jessie was able to take care of Lexie’s baby and her grandchild until Lexie got out. It was a happy ending for Lexie but the endings on the show weren’t always happy ones. Many didn’t survive the prison and were killed or committed suicide. The show reminds me of real life. You see many people are prisoners even if they are not behind bars. If you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior you are a prisoner too. Like some of the prisoners you have tried to escape the emptiness that you have but can’t. You have masked what you feel inside so others can’t see it but it is there. Just like Lexie came to her senses Jesus wants you to do the same. He died for your sins and he provides the only way to Heaven. He provides all that you are yearning for! Accept him and let him unlock the prison door to your life and set you free!
Dear God
Forgive me of my sins and save me
Give me the peace that only you can provide
Take away the emptiness that I try to mask
Take me out of my prison and set me free
I commit my life and everything that I am to you
In Jesus Name
Amen
Have you ever been a part of an activity or situation where your heart just was not in it? I think we all have been in these situations before. It might be a trip that you have to go on but really don’t want to. It might be a conversation with someone you might feel forced to have. It might be an activity you really don’t want to participate in but feel obligated. Whatever it is we find that we cannot possibly do our best or be our best when our heart is just not in it.
Back in the day my dad and I had a daily competition going. We always had a pool table when I was growing up that was in the basement. We always went down there and had a competition usually playing eight ball. When I was eighteen we got a new pool table that was really a nice one. The competition increased at that point. Dad was always the competitor. I think it stemmed from growing up during and after the depression. I never saw him play a game where he didn’t care if he won or lost. His enjoyment of the game was always enhanced by the experience of possibly winning or losing. I think in a lot of ways I am the same. I remember in slow pitch softball my team was very competitive and we were good. We looked forward to the games and especially the weekend tournaments. I remember all of the effort we expended working to make ourselves better. We had some enormous wins and some heartbreaking losses. I remember when we didn’t do well in a tournament. Each person on the team was expected to perform up to their standards and if one of us didn’t we felt it was our fault. After those losses it was very depressing and the games stayed in our minds for much longer than they should have.
Our pool competition didn’t get to that level. There was always a rematch coming up the next day and a chance to get even. We went down there every day and played our best four out of seven or whatever we decided. When the time was available and we were both free we might go down twice in a day. Each time we tried our best to beat each other. It was always close competition but I felt I won more than my share. Dad never let losing get him down. He always gave his best effort and always looked forward to playing. Even when I wasn’t living there anymore whenever I came over to visit we found ourselves in the basement renewing our rivalry. There were at least a couple of times that I remember that I didn’t feel like competing. In those times I wished that we could play the game not so seriously. I started not taking my time at all and just got up and carelessly stroked the Q-ball not caring if I made the shot or not. Maybe it was an attitude I had in those times that it was stupid taking the game so seriously. Dad kept his effort up and won easily on those occasions but I think they were hallow victories. Afterwards I felt bad because I knew and he knew that I didn’t give it my best and it certainly wasn’t fun doing it. I felt like it hurt him that I did that and it took away from his accomplishment of winning. He had played the game seriously giving his best effort while I was just going through the motions. There was a song sang by Gene Cotton in 1976 called Going Through The Motions of Love. The chorus asks the question “How can two people be so far apart and keep going through the motions of love?” It also states in the lyrics “You just keep faking what you knowing to feel, Such a fine performance, but it’s not real.”
It struck me and brought tears in my eyes when an NFL team picked Jack Campbell a linebacker from Iowa University. When Campbell talked to the GM who drafted him he said “I’ll give you all that I have!” The GM already knew he would and that was a big reason he drafted Jack. However it had to make him feel good that Jack confirmed his commitment to him. “I know you will. I have no doubts about that”, the GM told Jack. I wonder how many of us can really make that statement to God. Are we really giving him all that we have or are we going through the motions? It is a question we need to be serious about. God has called us to be a light in this dark world. Why do we do the things that we do? Is it out of love or obligation? Are we truly giving him all that we have or are we just going through the motions?
Dear God,
I recommit my love for you. Help me to give my very best in every situation you put me in. I want you to be proud of me and not hurt by me as I shed your light. Forgive me of my shortcomings and give me the strength to always give all that I have to you!
In Jesus Name
Amen
Dan Campbell the Detroit Lions coach talks about playing complimentary football often. He divides his team into three different sections. They are the offense, defense and special teams. He realizes that in some games one or two parts of that section might have to make up for a sub par third section. It would be ideal to have all three sections having great games but that isn’t reality all of the time. Sometimes the offense might be having it’s difficulty and sometimes the defense won’t be able to hold the opposition like they want to. To balance that out Campbell stresses that depending on the game it might be either one that needs to pick up the slack. For example if the offense isn’t working it might take the defense to produce an interception or a fumble recovery to give them better field position. If the defense is having it’s troubles it might take the offense scoring at an above average rate. Maybe instead of scoring in the twenties they need to score in the thirties to secure a win. In their case (the third section) the special teams which includes the punt team, kickoff team, kick and punt returns and the field goal team has been solid. They can almost always count on that section to enhance the other two. This section can help out with return yardage that can put the offense in better field position or a needed field goal or a great punt at just the right time to effect the game! However, even this section is not perfect. A slip up such as a missed field goal or a long kick or punt return by the opposition can be overcame by production from the other two.
Thinking about how the three sections of a team works for a football team I started thinking about how our life can be lived by realizing it is divided into sections too. First of all there is defense. In football teams need a good defense to counteract what the opposition is doing in their effort to win the game. You might ask “What are we defending against in our lives?” In this world and in daily living we are constantly coming against things we have to defend against. One example for instance is sickness. Obviously it can be hard to be the example we are supposed to be when we are not feeling well. Sickness is a big tool the opposition uses against us. Have you ever considered that many times sickness is a self inflicted wound? Have you ever got sick just by letting yourself get run down or being in constant worry? Sickness can throw us completely off of our game and cause our attitude and outlook to fade if we let it. Another thing the enemy throws our way that we have to defend against is our circumstances. Surprisingly both the good and bad have to be defended against. When things are going bad how often does our attitude change? We need to be the same person in good times and bad but we all know this is hard to do. In fact it is pretty much impossible if we try to do it by ourselves. When things are going good we might forget that God has blessed us and allowed things to go our way. We shouldn’t take our good fortune for granted and continuously thank him for his blessing and keeping the evil away.
Sometimes the enemy throws other people in our way to do his dirty work. He uses people to make us stumble or to be the enemy force we have to fight against. The other person doesn’t even realize that they are being used. They just are given a desire to trip us up. When we see someone who is full of hatred or someone whose ambition is power and glory start to have compassion for them. The opposing evil force has them right where he wants them. They are trying to make us stumble by becoming a part of a circumstance to enable it to happen. Instead of hating them (which is just what our adversary wants us to do) love them. Once again it is natural to treat evil with evil but the Bible tells us to love them. In fact the Bible talks about combating their evil with good. Now how can we possibly love someone who literally hates our guts? The answer is in our own power we can’t. That can only be accomplished by a great power that God puts in us when we give our lives to him. It is a strength that goes beyond the natural. It is something that we can’t explain but it is a game changer.
You see when we give our lives to God and live according to his purpose he gives us all that we need to overcome the opposition and all that comes our way. He gives us strength to fight the battle in sickness and has his blessing on our lives to avoid sickness. He also gives us a go to force to deal with our problems. Jesus told us to cast all of our cares on him. Instead of worrying we can turn all of that over to God! Imagine how many high blood pressure cases or ulcer diagnosis that lack of worrying can prevent. As for our enemies we need not ever be afraid of them for God is on our side. Even the fear of death loses it’s sting because we have been promised eternal life to look forward to! He has given us all of the power we need to overcome the devil! He is your and my great defender who went to the Cross to buy us from bondage and fear!
Now that we are whole and living by his spirit he is able to use us to tell of his greatness! That is the offensive side of life! We have a desire to witness his blessings to others through our testimony both silent and verbally. This team never has too many players. There is always a need for what you and I can give because he made us for a special purpose. The Holy Spirit is like the special teams section of our Christian life! He is there to witness that we are indeed on the team and to give us his spirit of love that we may shine that love to everyone we come into contact with. As you can see God is there for all of our needs and all we have to do is totally turn our lives over to him. In that way we can live a complementary life as he protects us from all the bad that comes our way while giving us the power to speak boldly to the lost. His Spirit is always in us and even when things seem to not be going our way he speaks to us and tells us everything is alright and going exactly to the game plan! We have great coaches and there are three of them. They are the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They are perfect and never have a bad game unlike the parts of a football team. They work in perfect unity to guide our lives on the perfect team. A flawless game plan has been devised to lead us to victory! Are you on the team? If not you can be. There is room on this winning team for you too!
Dear God,
I am tired of fighting my battles alone.
I need the power you give in my life from this day forward
Come into my life, forgive me of my sins and save me
From this day forward I join your winning team
Take my life and use it for your Glory!
In Jesus Name
Amen
I have a friend on my ball team that was telling me about his church. The more he was telling me the more I wondered. I wondered where the power came from in his church. He talked very casual about it like sometimes we might pray but sometimes we just talk. From what he was telling me it seemed almost like a business club that concentrated on peoples problems but not on God. Many churches have turned into good works clubs. We have to be careful because if God is not leading and directing it is just a club like the Elks or Moose Lodge. The power in our Christian life has to come from the spirit within us. In order for that to happen God’s power has to indeed be in our being. We can’t be without his power within us and live a holy life no matter how many good works we do by ourselves.
When i was 17 I was driving a Pontiac LeMans my dad had bought me. It was a used car but got me where I needed to go. One time the battery went dead and a friend Jim from my church and ball team told me he would jump the car for me. He attached his Jumper cables to his car battery but as soon as he hooked them to mine there was an explosion and sparks started to fly. We were lucky we weren’t hurt by the sudden explosion and sparks. Jim had wrongly assumed that the black wire going to my battery was the ground and the red wire was the positive one. Without checking to make sure he just put the corresponding wires together. For some reason the red wire in my cars case was the negative and the black one was the positive. Under closer inspection as in checking the battery for the + or – sign he would have known the right connection. The incident caused my generator to blow out and a large repair bill. That was a bad experience with electric currents but the good far outweighs the bad!
Can you imagine a world where there is no electricity? Modern household conveniences such as microwave ovens, refrigerators, dish washers, televisions, and even electric lighting wouldn’t be. It is hard to imagine living in a world like that but less than 125 years ago that is exactly how it was. The ability to harness electricity for our benefit has changed the world. Only when we lose power because of a storm do we realize how much we depend on the power we take for granted. Only then do we appreciate what we have.
Electricity is a very powerful force. It’s power can be used for our benefit but there are dangers that have to be considered. In the United States there are approximately 1,000 deaths caused by electrocution each year. That very fact lets us know that it isn’t a force to take lightly. Not only can it harm people but it can harm things that it is supposed to enhance. Even at it’s initial usage it was recognized that the electrical currents designed for good could turn bad. Whole electrical systems could get destroyed with one overload charge. In your house normally in the basement you will find a fuse box. It’s purpose is to shut things off if you or I overload the system. This eliminates a charge that could and would damage the whole system without it. You have probably noticed that your stove and dryer for instance has a different plug and outlet than your other ones. They make it impossible to plug them into one of the regular outlets the rest of the stuff can use. Without that different plug I am sure there would be massive overload damages in many household electrical systems.
Electricity is a physical power that has been able to light up cities and create brilliant things. There was one time however when I got hit by a super natural power that was far greater than electricity. My wife and I were really suffering. We had just lost our daughter and it was something we would never get over. We were in a church service and at the end the pastor requested that if anyone needed prayer to come forward. We did because we knew that God was the only one who could help us. When I got to the front the pastor reached out his hand to mine and the instant it touched a power ran through me so fast it caused me to fall on the floor. I am sure that many of you have seen this kind of thing before. You might have even questioned if it was real. Sometimes you might think the TV prayer person is actually pushing people down and in some cases you might be right. In my case however just the touch of his hand and the spirit running through that connection sent me to my back. Nothing so powerful had hit me before like that but I felt a total peace laying there unexpectedly on the floor. I felt like God was telling me that he knew. He knew how much I was hurting and he just wanted me to know that he was still in control. He wanted me to know that he loved me.
The power I felt that day is there for all of us if we let Jesus into our lives! Once we are plugged into God’s power through him we can do great things! Jesus stated that without him we could do nothing. Maybe you realize that you have lost God’s power in your life. Life is hard and there will be many trials that you and I will go through. There is a power (The God of the Universe) that can be within you that will meet and exceed any force coming your way. You need to either receive his power for the first time or have him restore it! Are you trying to solve life’s problems by yourself? Is your church and life like a board meeting without God in the center? Don’t try to push your big plug problems into your little “I’ll solve it myself” plug. Unlike the circuit breaker that shuts things off your system, your spiritual life will get damaged. Hooking your life up wrong can cause damage and injury. Plug your life into God’s power for he will never ever fail you! Please pray with me
Dear God,
I realize I need your power in my life. Forgive me of my sins and save me. Live in me and be my Lord and Savior from this day forward! I want your guidance and power in my life!
In Jesus Name
Amen
The Furnace
by Lewis Hamilton
from the book “The Gardener and My Garden” c1997
The repairman was called to fix the flaw
Our house was getting cold
We blamed the man who sold it
My best furnace we were told
This furnace, that’s the problem
Our heat it won’t provide
He described how efficient it would be
I think your salesman lied
There’s power here that’s missing
It isn’t worth it’s salt
Our house is getting colder
and it’s all your salesman’s fault
We’ll send somebody over
You can bet it won’t be long
We’ll have your house all nice and warm
I can’t imagine what went wrong
The repairman came by quickly
with all his many tools
He had a list of what goes wrong
and all the fix-it rules
He finally found the problem
It’s this switch he firmly said
It should be on all of the time
It’s been turned off instead
Oh yes on one hot summer day
I did the mentioned deed
I turned the switch from on to off
The heat we didn’t need
We wonder where the power is
in our Christian walk I’ve learned
We don’t see any miracles because
the power switch is turned
The power is there waiting
if we call on him today
He’ll turn our switch from off to on
and keep it there to say
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Acts 1:8
I was working on a puzzle today and came across a piece that just didn’t seem to go anywhere. Eventually I had to put it back in the pile and try to find a piece I could fit in. As I was sitting there at the puzzle table at that moment a thought came into my head. “I have not always fit into job and life situations either. My puzzle piece just didn’t seem to fit.” I went back in my memory of an experience that happened many years ago. The memories brought tears to my eyes. When you lose a job and especially if it is not your decision to leave there is pain involved. I started re-living that pain.
There are some people that seem to know exactly what they are going to do as a profession at a fairly young age. My best friend in high school’s dad was an orthodontist. He and his younger brother both became dentists. Their father’s occupation played a large part in their career decisions I am sure! Many people are blessed with parents that created a path before them. Then there are people like me and maybe you. For us there is no clear cut path to our success. We struggle to find what we are good at and try to find a puzzle where our piece fits.
Almost a year ago I re-connected with a long lost friend! I hadn’t seen Todd for over forty years but through persistence and many years I finally found him! He is living out in California now and we have talked so much about where we were then and how things had went in our lives. As you can imagine these phone conversations are very long but very enjoyable. After all we have over forty years of being apart to talk about. We also talk about current things that are going on in our lives. Todd was put into a unique circumstance recently. His granddaughter plays on a flag football team. She and one other girl are the only girls in the league. Since he retired Todd was content to spend most of his time at home. However he went to her first practice to help the coach out if he needed him. Maybe he could keep track of the footballs or something. Before the first game the coach unexpectedly quit. He was a younger guy and must have lost his desire. Before he left Todd found himself with more responsibilities than he had planned. Now though to keep the team going Todd decided to coach the team himself.
Growing up our connection in the neighborhood was sports. Todd is an avid sports fan to this day and knows his football. Flag football is a little different in that each team only has six players on the field at once. Unfortunately Todd found out pretty early that his team could not compete with most of the other teams in the league. There are six teams in the league and three of them just have more talent than the other three. Of the other teams in the bottom three one is clearly better than his and the other is pretty equal. He found out that players were assigned to different teams randomly. However if a kid wanted to play for the coach he or she had last year they could. This rule led to a real unbalance in the league as the good players stuck together. Todd’s team has lost by lopsided scores. I think they lost 54-0 and 47-0 among other drubbings.
Todd’s team suffers from three problems that are killers in flag football. They are the shortest team in the league, they are also the slowest, and they are the least experienced. If the other teams are not running around them for long touchdowns they are throwing the ball up in the air where only their taller kids can catch it. His team also suffer from the lack of desire and getting humiliated every week doesn’t help . Of the eight kids on his team only maybe four show up to practice. Not only are his kids totally outmatched but they are not giving themselves a chance to improve. Todd tried to teach them plays to run but the kids would forget the plays or have to try to learn them in the games. This led to players in the wrong place and total chaos. Todd knew that he didn’t fit in to the situation. We grew up very competitive but his kids and their parents take a passive attitude. His teams biggest thing to look forward to is after the games as Todd’s wife always makes an after the game delicious meal for them. Todd has been discouraged by the whole situation. We have talked about how they should spread out the talent in the league but when he talked to the league commissioner the idea was heard with deaf ears. Not only do his players feel like they don’t belong but Todd is in the same boat. I told him that Vince Lombardi couldn’t have done a better job than he is doing but he can’t stand the constant blowouts his team goes through every week. He and his team just don’t fit in.
I had just graduated from college and was looking for a position in my field of study. My dad worked in a paper mill so I was trying to create my own path. When I went to college I had no idea what I wanted to do unlike my best friend in high school. I picked Advertising as my major and graduated after four years. The problem I had in searching for an advertising job was lack of experience. I remember one interview I had they told me they were looking for someone with 4 or 5 years experience. How could I possibly have that much experience when I was just 22 years old? My piece of a puzzle just didn’t fit into their puzzles. I had to broaden my thinking as far as what I could do. I took temporary jobs to get by. My dad was worried about my future and talked to his boss about getting me a job. My dad was as dedicated of a worker as anyone I have ever seen. He got to be their go to worker and if they ever needed him no matter what time it was he always went in. He got to be the first man they called and if they just needed one the last. I remember times he was sick but when he got the call he jumped up and went in anyway. I’m sure they thought that I was wired the same way when they hired me.
They put me in a job called a Stock Booster. There were 3 of us that worked together. Both of the other guys I worked with were even younger than me. They had these big sheets of heavy cardboard paper. I am guessing they were maybe 8 feet by 6 feet. Our job was to load them into the machine for cutting. Many companies were represented on different sheets. For instance they might have Kellogg’s Cornflakes sheets. Each sheet had maybe 25 different Cornflakes boxes on the one sheet. The machine was set to take the loaded paper and cut the 25 boxes in one swoop. One person would be on each side and we worked together picking up maybe 100 sheets at a time and loading the machine. Each machine held probably 500 sheets so it took say 5 different boosts to load a machine. Each load probably weighted 150 pounds. As you can imagine after a day of doing that I could hardly walk or move my arms. in addition my hands were getting cut up from the course cardboard. Not only did I not fit in with the job duties I didn’t fit with my co-workers either. They were both rough crude guys whose subject matters made me very very uncomfortable. Since they had a one month probation time I worked the whole month before they let me go. I was told I just wasn’t cut out for the job which no words were more truer. At the same time being rejected was painful. I know my dad was disappointed but more with his company than with me. We all want to feel like we belong and I was in constant search of somewhere that could use what I had to offer.
I finally found my way job wise where I could bring something to the table that people appreciated. My puzzle piece didn’t fit in the paper mill world but that doesn’t mean it was a useless piece. You might have thought of situations in your own life where you just didn’t fit in. Maybe it was a job or a social event you went to. God made us to have that desire to belong and to be accepted and appreciated . I can truthfully tell you that as a Christian I totally feel like I belong. My belonging isn’t based on what I accomplish or what other people think about me. It is based on the fact that God loves me and I have accepted that love within me. The spirit that he has put into me tells me that I belong and it is so real. The real winners in life are not the ones that have the best worldly scores that trounce the opposition but the ones who know they belong to the God of the universe. However mine and your puzzle piece might look it will fit somewhere in God’s puzzle if we let him use it!
I talked to a lady yesterday named Patty after playing Pickleball. Patty is 80 years old. I used to think 80 is old but Patty is young. Her body is older of course but she is living in the present and plays a pretty good game of Pickleball. After handing her one of my website cards we got into a wonderful discussion. It was an encouraging talk about faith. The conversation turned to my loss years ago of my 5 year old daughter. Patty was quick to say that she is waiting for me in Heaven. Then Patty said an interesting thing that really made sense. She didn’t go into details of her own life but I could sense that her words were after losses in hers also. She said that we shouldn’t call it death. We should call it a transition.
Transition…Now that is a word I know something about. Almost two years ago now I retired from my job after forty one years of service with the University. The last few months of work I thought a lot about that transition phase I would be going through. I thought I would be totally bored and contemplated things that I could do to keep myself active. Some of the things I thought of I have implemented into my life such as Pickleball and playing golf more. I also play in a Senior (60+) Softball League in the summer! I started the softball league a couple of years before retirement but it sure is more convenient now. Having to take off right after work for those early games and barely getting there on time was not ideal. Now I have the time to get there earlier and properly get ready! All of these activities are fun and things time at work would have taken away from. Unless I had a day off I would have to confine my fun activities to the weekends. Unfortunately the weekends are the only time other workers can do things so it leads to overcrowding on those days in most activities. I am happy with my decision to retire and the transition wasn’t nearly as hard as I thought it would be.
It occurred to me that when you get in a routine it can be hard to break. Having to go to work was a burden that I was used to. Work dictated how I spent most of my day. When I had lunch with my son it used to be on a time restriction as we did it on my lunch hour. Now there is no time limit! Being retired offers me freedom. It is like a burden has been lifted off of me. Somebody wrote on a card they gave me at my retirement party that now I can do what I want when I want to! I have also found that there are days I don’t do a lot. I try not to string days like that together because I do like to be active. However it isn’t like I have to be doing a lot to be happy. I started putting puzzles together with my wife and that alone can keep my mind active. Yes transition can be a great thing and gives life variety! Can you imagine eating the same meals over and over again? Sometimes we can get into ruts where we do the same things in our lives. We find that it affects our mental health and our attitude. The old saying “variety is the spice of life” applies here. Yet how can we have that variety when we have limited freedom with our time to initiate it?
Think about how many transitions we go through in life. We start out knowing nothing and have to transition in learning to walk and talk. Those early years have so many transitions I cannot list all of them. Then We get into school and build relationships and learn about subjects we might need later. From our elementary school we enter Junior High which is a whole other world. Then we transition to high school and enter another new experience. Then we either get a job or go to college. Either way another transition takes place. We go into some transitions based on what we are good at or think we are. What a big transition time when we learn to drive a car! They say change is inevitable and it is so true! We are continuously adapting to change. Marriage is of course a big transition. Being a parent is also a change that we are happy to accept. Now I have transitioned into being a grandparent. All of these things come to mind but there are so many turning points in life that we are transitioning daily whether it is a big one or just changing our mind about how we will spend our off day.
All of this transition thinking brings me back to my new friend Patty. Her words about death being a transition is speaking to us about something familiar. For those of you who are saved by the grace of God the transition from life to death will be wonderful! The Bible gives us a little glimpse of what it will be like but the Apostle Paul had a dream of heaven and he reported this…”But, as it is written, ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him‘ – these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God” (1 Cor. 2:9 NRS. So as Patty told me “We shouldn’t call it death, we should call it a transition.” If you are not sure of your destination know that Jesus died for you! He died so that you can live but you need to make another transition. It is a transition of belief instead of doubt. It is a transition of giving your life and all that you are and everything that you will ever be to him. Let Jesus come into your heart today! He is waiting to take all of your burdens away and give you peace beyond belief. He wants to welcome you into his glorious home as your final transition in life.
Please pray this prayer with me
Dear God,
Forgive me of my sins, come into my heart and save me.
I want you to change my course in life and be my Lord and Savior
I give you everything I am
From this day forward I will worship you
Thank you for your undying love for me
In Jesus’ Name
Amen
lightenload 