In 1942, hysteria over Japanese involvement in World War II led to the relocation of some 110,000 Japanese Americans to internment camps. In one of these camps Carole Doi, a third-generation Japanese American, was born. Despite this experience, Carole was proud to have been born in America.
Years later, Carole married a man who had also spent time in the camps. When she delivered their baby daughter, they noticed that the child’s feet turned inward, the toes facing each other. Carole was determined to do whatever it would take to help her daughter walk normally.
For four years Carole had to provide the child with corrective shoes. Her daughter was walking normally by age six, but Carole wasn’t satisfied. “I wanted her to do anything in which she would use her legs,” she said. The girl chose ice skating.
Before long, the youngster was bugging her mother for more rink time. She’d refuse to leave the ice until she got a particular move right. Soon Carole was rising at 4 AM to get her daughter to the rink. Finally, after 15 years of lessons, young Kristi Yamaguchi represented her country in the Olympics.
As the US flag was hoisted during the 1992 medals ceremony, Carole and Jim Yamaguchi watched Kristi receive the gold medal. They had never been so proud to be Americans.
Do not let your limitations get in the way of your faith!
Tags: obstacles, overcomer, trials
I just got a new iPad and have been exploring it a bit before I begin using it ministry situations. I did use the GPS feature to find my way to an outdoor wedding I officiated over in Ohio last Saturday. I also downloaded a free book and have begun reading it. Its Tarzan of the Apes and I’m enjoying it. Although I’ve seen several Tarzan movies, the story line in the book is very different. It even has an App for You Tube, so I can play anything posted on i from anywhere.
Once I get acclimated to it, I’d like to put my outline on it and preach from it. That will allow me to take my notes and supportive scriptures with me as I move about on the platform.
There is always a ‘learning curve’ with new things like this. What new thing in your life is creating a ‘learning curve’ for you?
Tags: learning
We got a new kitten. Anita felt sorry for our adult female cat (named Michael Tyson) being all alone, so we agreed to get a baby kitten. This one is a male and just old enough to separate from its mother. Anita asked me to name him, so he has been dubbed ‘Gizmo’. She asked me what they meant, and I replied that its a nickname for ‘Gadget’.
But Tyson is not about to be consoled by the male Gizmo. She hisses and bats him around. So Anita was sitting on the porch yesterday trying to get them to make friends. Not happening. These two cats are going to have to work out their differences on their own as they carry out their ‘turf war’ and establish their own ‘pecking order’.
I was reflecting on Anita’s vain efforts while mowing the lawn Sunday afternoon, and they Lord spoke to my heart. Over the years I’ve had several situations where parents got involved trying to help their adult married children fix their marriages. Its never been helpful! The only way young married couples work out their own ‘turf wars’ is to verbally bat each otther around a bit until they learn how to find what works for them. Every couple has to work that out and parents need to stay out of it and pray for them.
Parents can give advice to each individually, but to get into the fray is always disastrous. For parents of adult married children, the best advice is to only respond to questions asked. That’s when they’re ready to listen.
Tags: conflicts, marriage, parenting
One morning a couple of cowpunchers went out on the range to bring in a wild steer from the mountains. They took along with them one of those shaggy little gray donkeys – a burro. Now a big three-year old steer that’s been running loose in the timber is a tough customer to handle. Nevertheless, these cowboys had a technique for handling this steer. They got a rope on the steer and then they tied him neck and neck, right up close, to the burro and let them go.
At first, the burro had a bad time. The steer threw him all over the place. He banged him against trees, rocks, and into bushes. Time after time they both went down. But there was one great difference between the burro and the steer. The burro had an idea. He wanted to go home. And no matter how often the steer threw him, every time the burro got to his feet he took a step nearer the corral. This went on and on. After about a week, the burro showed up at the corral. He had with him the tamest and sorriest-looking steer you ever saw.
As a Christian, you’ve been tied neck and neck with Jesus Christ through His Holy Spirit. You can’t get away. And the more you try, the more the Spirit pulls you back on track. By the time God gets you where He finally wants you, you’ll be broken of your stubborn pride…and home!
Tags: broken, heaven, home, stubborn, trials
Anita watches our grandkids, Raegan and Ruby, each Monday, which is also my day off. So, I’ve had fun interacting with the older, Raegan. She likes animal crackers, so I found the old 1935 clip of Shirley Temple singing, ‘Animal Crackers in My Soup’ online. Because little children like repetition, she keeps asking for it now.
So, I thought she might like to see Shirley dance as well as sing. With a little bit of surfing I came up with a great dance number with little Shirley and the great Mr. Bojangles himself (also 1935)! I never knew this existed. This was the very first interracial dance and would never have happened if Shirley wasn’t so young.
From a time prior to the American Revolution up until the 1970s, there has always been racial tension in our country. For many in the south, that tension still exists. I believe that mandated busing of students in public schools, as much as people complained about it, has accomplished its intended goal of creating a sense of equality in the young generation, demonstrated by the dramatic increase of mixed marriages as they grew up.
Its apparently true that the key to positive change is in the young generation. Any thoughts?
I heard about a farmer teaching his nephew how to cultivate corn. The boy did well until the tractor reached a marshy spot in the field. As the wheels began to slip in the mud, the boy slowed down and looked to his uncle for instructions. “Don’t slow down now,” the uncle said. “Give it the gas and go on through!”
This advice is as applicable to living as it is to driving a tractor or driving through a snow drift. Life’s road isn’t a continuous super-highway. Sometimes we are forced into spots that threaten to bog us down. That is the time to step on the gas and charge on through – not to slow down and grouch about the tough going.
Paul said it like this: “But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere.” (2 Corinthians 2:14).
Tags: obstacles, stuck, trials
When I was in High School in the early 1960s I signed up for an elective typing class. I really wasn’t interested in typing (that was something women did), but there were some good looking girls in there, so several of us guys enrolled in the typing class.
Later, when I enlisted in the military, I scored highest in the clerical field and signed up to be a General Clerk. In the training, I was one of the few men who could already type, so they advanced me to the next level, that of Clerk-Typist, which paid more, increased my rank quicker, and landed me a job at Post Headquarters at Fort Knox.
In the mid-1800s, inventor Lathan Sholes put together a working model of the typewriter. But this early typewriter was heavy and awkward and used an alphabetical keyboard. The keys would jam if the typist went too fast. It was suggested that Sholes show down the typists by changing his keyboard. So Sholes redesigned a keyboard that separated frequently used letters and letter combinations. This arrangemnt, now known as QWERTY (second row of characters on a keyboard), reduced typing speed and kept the keys from jamming.
Sometimes, in God’s great design, He knows we need to slow down for our own good. What has God allowed into your life to slow you down?
Tags: QWERTY, slow, trials, typing