Good Habits

 

In 1960 I was in Miss Gaegan’s sixth grade class at Old Post Road Elementary School in Abingdon, Maryland.  We had an “Ivory Soap” personal hygiene chart on the classroom wall that developed several good habits.  Every day, If I brushed my teeth, I got an Ivory Soap sticker.  If I shinned my shoes, I got an Ivory Soap sticker.  If I had a comb and a handkerchief, I got stickers.  To this day, I carry a comb and a handkerchief with me.  In college, Dr. Bruce Lackey taught me to carry a second handkerchief in my suit jacket … for someone else.  Good habits are important to develop, and the best time to develop them is when you are young.  Solomon said in Proverbs 20:11, “Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.”  If you aren’t a child any longer, it still isn’t too late to develop good habits.  Hey, why not start by reading your Bible each morning and praying.  Read your Bible BEFORE you read my posts … and then pray for me!  :<)

First Class Ticket

When I travel to Romania, I usually rent a car so that I will have reliable transportation while in the country.  But once in 2006 I flew into Budapest, Hungary and took a train into Romania.  When I bought my train ticket in Budapest, the ticket agent offered me a first-class ticket or a second-class ticket.  When I asked what the difference was, the agent told me, “Fifty euros.”  Besides the price, there was no difference between each class ticket.  First class had the same train car, just another cabin.  And the seats were about the same size.  But mainly it was just status, because first and second class got to the same destination at exactly the same time.  Hey, in this life, you may work hard and gain a little more money than the next person, but you are both going to the same destination: death.  And make no mistake, there is no advantage in having collected more stocks and bonds when you face your Maker after death.  God will not ask you, “How much money do you have in your 401k?” but God will ask you, “What did you do with My Son, Jesus Christ?  Have you trusted Jesus as your Lord and Savior?”  The writer of Hebrews has apply said in Hebrews 9:27, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”  Hey, will you be ready for God’s judgement day?  Or are you only working on traveling in that “first class” cabin?

 

August 8th

 

August 8^th was a big day for me: I married Marleen Sykes at 2 in the afternoon.  My dear wife, Kathy, passed away May 6 last year and, to be honest, I have been alone.  There are only so many reruns of Gunsmoke that I can take.  And, to be honest again, I needed supervision.  Saturday afternoon, we drove to Ellijay, Georgia for a few days’ honeymoon.  Just past East Ellijay, we turned onto a gravel road and soon lost cell service.  The Google map that was loaded went dark, but the Google voice kept talking for the next 7 miles.  As darkness approached, we passed a small stream on the left and saw two gleaming eyes running towards us on the gravel road.  I couldn’t identify the animal until it turned aside: it was a small deer.  This morning, Marleen and I read from Psalm 42 about the deer thirsting for water.  Deer are timid creatures staying in thickets eating grass in hidden meadows.  But thirst drives them out to the water brooks to drink out in the open.  David said in Psalm 42:1&2, “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God ,,,”  May we thirst for a relationship with the dear Lord today, is my prayer.

Hand Dug Well

 

Growing up, we had a hand-dug well.  It was four feet in diameter and twenty-five feet deep.  My dad dug it with the help of his two brothers.  Dad dug down about ten feet and installed three concrete well-rings to keep surface water from seeping into the well. Then he narrowed the hole a bit (to keep the Well-rings from sliding further down) and continued digging down.  He made a windless to bring up the loosened dirt and rock in a bucket on the end of a cable.  About fifteen feet down, they encountered a rock shelf.  My dad went to West Virginia where he could get dynamite and brought back several sticks.  Having worked in the coal mines, he knew how to set the charges.  He drilled a hole in the rock, set the charge, and Uncle Gray quickly cranked him up in the bucket.  I remember the feeling of the ground shaking when the stick of dynamite exploded.  After the smoke cleared  and debris settled, dad scooped out the loosened rock and continued down another ten feet.  At twenty-five feet, dad struck an underground stream sufficient to fill the well with several feet of clean cool water.  Hey, Jesus used water to describe Himself in John 4.  Jesus told the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well in John 4:13&14, “… Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”  Just as we need physical water to live, we need spiritual water: Jesus Christ in our lives.  Hey, we don’t just add church into our schedule on Sunday because it’s a nice thing to do; we NEED Jesus in our lives!  Jesus is as necessary to us as cool water is on a hot day.  He is our spiritual life!  Hey, is Jesus important to you?  I hope so.  Actually, He is important to you whether you realize it or not.