Being a Christian in today's world is very hard. But do not let that scare you, anything worthwhile is worth working for. Being a Christian can be hard but it can also be fun. That is my objective, through my own stories, stories of my friends and a lot of plagiarism (Just kidding, only a little plagiarism.), I am going to show that you can be a Christian and still have fun!
the most wasted of all days is one without
laughter - e e cummings
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Monday, July 24, 2006
Once a week dose of "Good News!"
I don't know if you would consider this good news or not but I liked it. I have been in the Atlanta airport and have seen this sort of thing happen. I went to Snopes.com to see if this story was true and as of right now it is under investigation.
Last week I was in Atlanta, Georgia attending a conference. While I was in the airport, returning home, I heard several people behind me beginning to clap and cheer. I immediately turned around and witnessed one of the greatest act's of patriotism I have ever seen.
Moving thru the terminal was a group of soldiers in their camo's, as they began heading to their gate everyone (well almost everyone) was abruptly to their feet with their hands waving and cheering. When I saw the soldiers, probably 30-40 of them, being applauded and cheered for it hit me. I'm not alone. I'm not the only red blooded American who still loves this country and supports our troops and their families.
Of course I immediately stopped and began clapping for these young unsung heroes who are putting their lives on the line everyday for us so we can go to school, work and home without fear or reprisal. Just when I thought I could not be more proud of my country or of our service men and women a young girl, not more than 6 or 7 years old, ran up to one of the male soldiers. He kneeled down and said "hi," the little girl then she asked him if he would give something to her daddy for her. The young soldier, he didn't look any older than maybe 22 himself, said he would try and what did she want to give to her daddy. Then suddenly the little girl grabbed the neck of this soldier, gave him the biggest hug she could muster and then kissed him on the cheek.
The mother of the little girl, who said her daughters name was Courtney, told the young soldier that her husband was a Marine and had been in Iraq for 11 months now. As the mom was explaining how much her daughter, Courtney, missed her father, the young soldier began to tear up. When this temporarily single mom was done explaining her situation, all of the soldiers huddled together for a brief second. Then one of the other servicemen pulled out a military looking walkie-talkie. They started playing with the device and talking back and forth on it.
After about 10-15 seconds of this, the young soldier walked back over to Courtney, bent down and said this to her, "I spoke to your daddy and he told me to give this to you" He then hugged this little girl that he had just met and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He finished by saying "your daddy told me to tell you that he loves you more than anything and he is coming home very soon."
The mom at this point was crying almost uncontrollably and as the young soldier stood to his feet he saluted Courtney and her mom. I was standing no more than 6 feet away from this entire event unfolded. As the soldiers began to leave, heading towards their gate, people resumed their applause. As I stood there applauding and looked around, their were very few dry eyes, including my own. That young soldier in one last act of selflessness, turned around and blew a kiss to Courtney with a tear rolling down his cheek.
We need to remember everyday all of our soldiers and their families and thank God for them and their sacrifices. At the end of the day, it's good to be an American.
See there are still good things happening out there. I hope you enjoyed the story.
God bless, Joe B Once a week dose of "Good News!"
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Saturday, July 15, 2006
Your once a week dose of "Good News!"
Alright I told you I was going to start posting Good News. Well a friend of mine told me they had posted this video on our church's web site, they played this video at church a few months back and I don't think there was a dry eye in the house. But they were tears of joy! To find out what I am talking about please go HERE and see Noah's story. It is about a 10 minute long video but I promise you it will be well worth the watch. If you are one of those poor unfortunate souls who has dial-up, I think I would still try to down load it, it is an awesome story.
I know there is a good way to sign off here like a cool anchor man. I think the muppets used to do one like, "There's no news like good news!" Didn't Chevy Chase used to sign off Saturday Night Live news deal by saying, "Have a good night and a pleasant tomorrow?" Anyway, I will have to try to come up with some kind of catchy sign off phrase for the "Good News Weekly" section of my blog. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
God bless,
Joe B Your once a week dose of "Good News!"