A lady came into a garden center and asked for the manager. She then made an unusual request of him. She wanted to know if he could order 2000 roaches and 200 mice.

He mentioned that even though that was a very unusual order, he could probably fulfill her request in 10-12 days.

Twelve days later the manager called the lady saying her order was in. She promptly came to pick it up.

When she arrived the manager pulled her aside and said his curiosity was about to get the best of him. “Why in the world would you order 2000 roaches and 200 mice?” he asked.

“Our family has leased a home and has been forced by the owner to vacate the premises. We were told we had to leave immediately and were told to leave the home as we found it. So we are replenishing the supply of roaches and mice that were there when we first moved in.”

Revenge never accomplishes what we want. What experience do you have with revenge?

Tags: humor, revenge

A newspaper headline read: NO END TO CYCLE OF REVENGE IN MIDEAST. The article was about a 28-year-old man consumed with avenging his uncle’s death in the wake of suicide bombings and military retaliation. “When someone dear to you is killed,” he said, “you can’t sleep; you have to do something.”

But even after killing two men he considered enemies, he still had no sense of satisfaction. No one can ever win by trying to even the score.

I have a friend, a former CTC student, who today heads up a relief ministry in Israel that ministers to victims of terrorism. He is surrounded by bitterness, hatred, and unforgiveness. Revenge seems the natural response to such feelings.

Romans 12:19 speaks to this issue. Have you dealt with feelings of revenge? How did you overcome such urgings?

Tags: Middle East, revenge, unforgiveness

Years ago, when we were still located in the little building downtown, I did a lot of Saturday weddings. Anita was always the neatnick and made sure everything was back in order for the Sunday morning services. She was always frustrated when people went outside on the front porch to smoke. She didn’t mind them smoking, but they would drop their cigarette butts on the cement porch floor. Anita always made sure the cigarette butts were picked up – a job she hated.

After one such wedding, Anita thought to herself, ‘You know, you can anything if you say it kindly.’ So, she approached a group of about five smokers on the porch and said, “We don’t mind you smoking out here, but when you’re finished, would you mind getting your butts off the porch?”

The people just blankly stared at her. A couple of seconds later it dawned on her what she had said and she was thoroughly embarrassed.

Have you ever stuck your foot in your mouth trying to be nice?

Tags: misunderstanding, words

We can’t win if we won’t take a risk. Martina McBride released a song last year that touched my heart. Here are the lyrics:

You can spend your whole life buildin’
Something from nothin’.
One storm can come and blow it all away:
Build it anyway.

You can chase a dream
That seems too out of reach
And you know it might not ever come your way:
Dream it anyway.

God is great but sometimes life ain’t good
And when I pray
It doesn’t always turn out like I think it should
But I do it anyway. I do it anyway.

This world’s gone crazy
And it’s hard to believe
That tomorrow will be better than today:
Believe it anyway.

You can love someone with all your heart
For all the right reasons
And in a moment they can choose to walk away:
Love ’em anyway.

You can pour your soul out singin’
A song you believe in
That tomorrow they’ll forget you ever sang:
Sing it anyway! Yeah, sing it anyway, Yeah, yeah.

I sing
I dream
I love anyway, yeah.

Tags: faith, risk

Young Jonathan, who had been promised a new puppy for his tenth birthday, had a tough time choosing between a dozen likely candidates at the neighborhood pet shop. Finally he decided upon one nondescript shaggy pup who was wagging his tail furiously. Explained Jonathan, “I want the one with the happy ending.”

Everyone loves a story with a happy ending. Anita and I prefer to watch older movies on TCM because they tend to have a happy ending. I have invested my life in other people because I love seeing happy endings in their lives. Trouble tends to rob our happiness, but standing firm in the faith through those trials brings about the happy ending we desire.

Today is a day when you can help bring about a happy ending in someone else’s life. Speak words of hope to them no matter what they throw back. Show God’s compassion like “Chris” did to the bag lady in our skit last weekend. Don’t take an offense but be a friend to the friendless.

Tags: adoption, Caring, encouragement, resurrection

Two hundred miles northeast of Los Angeles is a baked-out gorge called Death Valley – the lowest place in the United States, dropping 276 feet below sea level. It is also the hottest place in the country, with an official recording of 134°. Streams flow into Death Valley only to disappear, and a scant two and a half inches of rain falls on the barren wasteland each year.

But, several years ago, an amazing thing happened. For nineteen straight days rain fell onto that bone-dry earth. Suddenly all kinds of seed, dormant for years, burst into bloom. In a valley of death there was life!

That is the Easter message. A desert becomes a garden. Beauty transcends the ugly. Love outwits and outlasts hatred. A tomb is emptied. The grim and haunting outline of a cross disappears in the glow of Easter morning. Easter is only three months away; let’s prepare to celebrate.

Tags: death, desert, dry, resurrection