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WITandWISDOM(tm) - November 15, 2004 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: You grow up the day you have the first real laugh -- at yourself. - Ethel Barrymore Source: http://robertbayer.tripod.com/INSPIRATIONALIDEAS/id9.html Submitted by Pastor John L. Bechtel, http://www.tagnet.org/fremont/ ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: On the Road By Doyle Portela It was a warm Saturday morning in Montpelier, Idaho. I had worked all week and was thinking about passing on my much-needed yard work for a day of fishing. I'd never been to this particular reservoir before, but had always thought about going there. Some of my customers at the feed store had told me how to get there, but it wasn't what most people would consider an easy trip. Working around the yard that morning, it wasn't until 2 p.m. that I finally convinced myself I needed to stop and head for the reservoir. I called my brother-in-law, Ron, and invited him to join me. I didn't bother to tell him our destination until I picked him up. He agreed to my unexpected offer, so I threw my equipment into my old blue Jeep and headed over to Ron's place. "It's way too late to try and find it," he said when I finally announced where we were headed. But he still went along anyway. Driving without benefit of a map or exact directions, we drove down the highway until we came to a dirt road, where I turned off. After another ten miles we finally came to a fork in the road - I simply turned without any hesitation. "How'd you know which way to turn?" Ron asked. "I'm not sure," I replied. That probably reinforced Ron's reluctance as he kept insisting that it was getting way too late to even try and get some fishing in. Another five miles passed, another fork in the road came, and yet another unhesitant turn didn't help Ron's confidence in me. He was convinced we were going to get lost. Finally, at sunset, we crested a small hill and were greeted by the sight of a beautiful reservoir. With the exception of one little, topless Jeep parked near the water, there was no one else around for miles. We would have the entire lake to ourselves. When we approached the other Jeep, a young man happily greeted us. He was there with his wife and their newborn baby, and their car battery was dead. They had no matches to build a fire, no coats, and there was only one thin blanket for the baby. He had been very worried, knowing that his wife and baby wouldn't make it through the night if he had walked out the many miles for help. And since it was getting dark, he might even have gotten lost. The young man told us he had just had the Jeep overhauled and was out with his family for the day. After the battery died, he had decided to stay with his family and simply hope that someone would come along. Ron and I got out our battery cables and gave his Jeep a jump-start. He profusely thanked us, and they left for home. As we watched them drive off, Ron turned to me. "You still want to fish?" "No" was all I said. We got back in our own Jeep and followed them out to make sure they got home safely. That was over thirty years ago. I have never returned to that reservoir, and I am not even sure if it's still there. But there is one thing I am sure about: the Lord answered a father's prayers through my love for fishing. Submitted by Lynda North ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: A good story is told of the Methodist Bishop Ames, that, while presiding over a certain conference in the West, a member began a tirade against universities and education, thanking God that he had never been corrupted by contact with a college. After proceeding thus for a few minutes, the bishop interrupted with the question, "Do I understand that the brother thanks God for his ignorance?" "Well, yes," was the answer, "you can put it that way if you want to." "Well, all I have to say," said the bishop in his sweetest musical tones, "all I have to say is that the brother has a good deal to thank God for." Selected, Signs of the Times, August 14, 1893 Source: Signs of the Times, Copyright (c) DATE, Pacific Press, http://www.signstimes.com ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: Our chiropractor, seeking a new name for his practice, decided to sponsor a contest and asked his patients to enter. One idea didn't win, but rightfully earned an honorable mention: "The Twist and Shout." Source: Top Greetings ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: There are more than 29,000 kinds of spiders ranging in size from the head of a pin to a man's hand. Approximately 2,265,000 spiders were counted living on one acre of grassy land in England. Each one of these devotes its entire life to snaring and devouring injurious insects that otherwise might multiply so fast they would desolate the earth. Do you know these eight-legged creatures have highly developed nervous systems and brains capable of memory? The silk coming from the spinnerets located near the end of the abdomen is so strong that it can be stretched a fifth of its length before it breaks, though a single thread may be only a millionth of an inch thick. The strands you see with the naked eye are actually a cable composed of several tiny threads of silk. Source: Stop, Look and Listen by Eileen E. and Jay H. Lantry, Copyright(c)1976 by Review and Herald Publishing Association, LCCN 75-32229 Submitted by Mary Thayne |