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WITandWISDOM(tm) - August 14, 2006 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: "Your work should be a challenge, not a chore; a blessing, not a bore." - Hal Stewins Source: Weekend Encounter, by Dick Innes, Copyright (c) ACTS International, 2004, http://www.actsweb.org/subscribe.php ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: I teach economics at UNLV three times per week. Last Monday, at the beginning of class, I cheerfully asked my students how their weekend had been. One young man said that his weekend had not been so good. He had his wisdom teeth removed. The young man then proceeded to ask me why I always seemed to be so cheerful. His question reminded me of something I'd read somewhere before: "Every morning when you get up, you have a choice about how you want to approach life that day," I said. "I choose to be cheerful." "Let me give you an example," I continued, addressing all sixty students in the class. "In addition to teaching here at UNLV, I also teach out at the community college in Henderson, 17 miles down the freeway from where I live. One day a few weeks ago I drove those 17 miles to Henderson. I exited the freeway and turned onto College Drive. I only had to drive another quarter mile down the road to the college. But just then my car died. I tried to start it again, but the engine wouldn't turn over. So I put my flashers on, grabbed my books, and marched down the road to the college. "As soon as I got there I called AAA and arranged for a tow truck to meet me at my car after class. The secretary in the Provost's office asked me what has happened. 'This is my lucky day,' I replied, smiling. "'Your car breaks down and today is your lucky day?' She was puzzled. 'What do you mean?' "'I live 17 miles from here.' I replied. 'My car could have broken down anywhere along the freeway. It didn't. Instead, it broke down in the perfect place: off the freeway, within walking distance of here. I'm still able to teach my class, and I've been able to arrange for the tow truck to meet me after class. If my car was meant to break down today, it couldn't have been arranged in a more convenient fashion.' The secretary's eyes opened wide, and then she smiled. I smiled back and headed for class." So ended my story. I scanned the sixty faces in my economics class at UNLV. Despite the early hour, no one seemed to be asleep. Somehow, my story had touched them. Or maybe it wasn't the story at all. In fact, it had all started with a student's observation that I was cheerful. “Who You Are Speaks Louder than Anything You Can Say” by Lee Ryan Miller A version of this story appears in Lee Ryan Miller’s book, Teaching Amidst the Neon Palm Trees, http://isbn.nu/1403331863 Source: The Inspired Buffalo, mailto:the-inspired-buffalo-subscribe@yahoogroups.com ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: God’s Sense of Humor By Lisa Barker, © 2006 When my husband and I awaited the arrival of our children, we never realized that we had within our power the ability to specify certain things for our kids - like common sense. We thought it would be too much to ask God for anything but ten fingers and ten toes. Oh, sure, they’re high honor roll students, but that doesn’t mean they don’t bewilder us with their lack of common sense. The phone rings. My twelve-year-old answers it. I look her straight in the eye and ask, “Who’s on the phone?” “I am!” she says. My other twelve-year old plans a slumber party and to kick it off she plans to swim with her friends at the local pool. Everyone piles into the van and just before we reach the freeway exit my daughter smacks her head. “Wait, Mom! I forgot my swimsuit!” Somewhere on the way to the bedroom to change…she actually forgot to change. Who knows what she was doing in that bathroom for twenty minutes? The nine-year old follows me around the grocery store and inspects everything I put in the cart. He sees me browsing the selection of salmon. “What are we having for dinner?” “Salmon.” He sees me put it in the cart. “What’s that?” “Salmon.” He sees me pay for it. “Is that fish?” “Yes, it’s salmon.” He sees it on the kitchen counter while I prepare it. “What are we having again?” “Salmon.” Then, I set it on the table and call the family to eat. “Is this squid?” I’m beyond worry at this point. I’ve resigned myself to the fact that the brightness gene skipped my kids. At that moment, the three-year old walks into the room smacking his head with a plastic baseball bat. Whack! “Ow.” Whack! “Ow.” Whack! “Ow.” I have to take the bat away before he gives himself a concussion. And what have my husband and I learned? When praying for a child, don’t be afraid to specify. Go ahead and ask God to make them smart enough to remember what they are doing while they are doing it. Ask him to give them the ability to make use of the information we give them when they ask us questions, so they don’t keep asking us the same question ten times in a row. Be bold! God will answer these prayers. But parents are humble. We ask only for ten fingers and ten toes. We have no idea what these children will be capable of doing with those digits until it’s too late. We just hope for a sweet bundle of joy. A bundle of joy that will slowly drive us insane because, well, we didn’t ask for anything more! Lisa Barker is a syndicated humor columnist and mom of five. Her latest book is 'Just Because Your Kids Drive You Insane ... Doesn't Mean You Are A Bad Parent!' http://www.JellyMom.com Please forward this to friends and family. Keep it intact from top to bottom and tell them where they can get more Jelly Mom: http://www.jellymom.com Won't you stop by and sign up for your very own subscription? It's on me! And you will get a new column in your email box every Thursday - something fresh and new before anyone else on the Internet: http://www.jellymom.com ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: A dog saw somebody putting money into a parking meter and reported to the other dogs, "They're putting in pay toilets!" Submitted by Lorraine ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: A 70-year-old pensioner won a drawing competition for children by entering a picture she had drawn 60 years earlier. The German competition was designed to promote Disney's Bambi sequel and was supposedly only open to children. But when judges saw Eva Schikeneder's 1946 black and white sketch of a fawn, drawn in pencil because colour crayons were in short supply, they decided to accept it. Mrs Schikeneder, from Wuerzburg, who drew her picture after the release of the original Bambi, said: "I was 10 when I drew it so it is a children's picture. "The judges said both me and a little girl could win together. We both got free tickets to take four friends to see the movie. I loved the first one so I can't wait." Source: Ananova http://www.ananova.com