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(This is Good News plus a Roadsign story - thanks Lindy)
The U Turn !
I had only lived in the States for a short while having moved from England. I was still in the process of getting used to driving on the right, finding my way around the flat Michigan countryside, getting used to the Michigan winter weather, and GPS systems were definitely not in abundance yet!
So here I am driving along a narrow back road in my little jeep, it’s a wintery grey afternoon, driving conditions are not favorable, blizzardy snow is piling into deep drifts, filling ditches fast, covering up landmarks, It’s cold, getting late in the afternoon and……………. I’m lost!
With my hands clenching on the steering wheel, I’m trying to think what to do. “I need to turn around” I thought –I’m definitely going the wrong way. I’ve got to find somewhere wide enough that I can see to turn the car around.
Of course with the snow blanketing the road, it’s impossible to see where the verge ends and where the ditches begin. Visibility is getting worse and it will be dark shortly.
I’m getting really concerned—I just need to find a place I can do a “U” turn and I’ll be able to trace my route back to the main highway. I continue to drive slowly through the snow for a couple more miles, the car is beginning to slip and slide on the deep snow…… “please God, I pray, please let me find somewhere to do a “U” turn and not get stuck or slide into a ditch.
Then, just as I finish praying I spy a building ahead, there is, looming up out of the snow a small church with an even smaller parking lot at the side of it. The lot has a church sign with church services in big letters installed at the edge of the lot. So I can see the whole area is clear for me to turn around in. “This is it!”, I think, “I’ll turn the jeep around in the parking lot”. “I know there’s no ditches to worry about here”. Slowly the jeep cuts a deep U turn through the deep snow. Success, I am back out onto the road and heading home.
As I passed the other side of the church sign—I can see letters making out the words……”GOD ALLOWS U TURNS”
Lindy Wineman
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(I ran across this and thought it was very appropriate) Although the Code of the West was unwritten, every cowboy knew what it was. "The Ten Principles" are Jim Owen's distillation of the timeless, universal cowboy values that are still relevant to our lives today. They are at the heart of cowboy ethics and of Jim's first book, "Cowboy Ethics: What Wall Street Can Learn from the Code of the West."
1. Live each day with courage
2. Take pride in your work
3. Always finish what you start
4. Do what has to be done
5. Be tough, but fair
6. When you make a promise, keep it
7. Ride for the brand
8. Talk less and say more
9. Remember that some things aren't for sale
10. Know where to draw the line
(Sounds like good advice, kinda like another 10 ideas we've heard about before)
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A wealthy man and his son loved to collect rare works of art. They had
everything in their collection, from Picasso to Raphael. They would often sit
together and admire the great works of art..
When the Vietnam conflict broke out, the son went to war. He was very
courageous and died in battle while rescuing another soldier. The father was
notified and grieved deeply for his only son.
About a month later, just before Christmas,
There was a knock at the door. A young man stood at the door with a large
package in his hands..
He said, 'Sir, you don't know me, but I am the soldier for whom your son
gave his life. He saved many lives that day, and he was carrying me to
safety when a bullet struck him in the heart and he died instantly... He often
talked about you, and your love for art.' The young man held out this
package. 'I know this isn't much. I'm not really a great artist, but I think your
son would have wanted you to have this.'
The father opened the package. It was a portrait of his son, painted by the young
man. He stared in awe at the way the soldier had captured the personality of
his son in the painting. The father was so drawn to the eyes that his own
eyes welled up with tears. He thanked the young man and offered to pay him
for the picture.. 'Oh, no sir, I could never repay what your son did for me.
It's a gift.'
The father hung the portrait over his mantle. Every time visitors came to
his home he took them to see the portrait of his son before he showed them
any of the other great works he had collected.
The man died a few months later. There was to be a great auction of his
paintings. Many influential people gathered, excited over seeing the great
paintings and having an opportunity to purchase one for their collection.
On the platform sat the painting of the son. The auctioneer pounded his
gavel. 'We will start the bidding with this picture of the son. Who will bid
for this picture?'
There was silence...
Then a voice in the back of the room shouted, 'We want to see the famous
paintings. Skip this one.'
But the auctioneer persisted. 'Will somebody bid for this painting? Who
will start the bidding? $100, $200?'
Another voice angrily. 'We didn't come to see this painting. We came to
see the Van Gogh's, the Rembrandts. Get on with the Real bids!'
But still the auctioneer continued. 'The son! The son! Who'll take the
son?'
Finally, a voice came from the very back of the room. It was the longtime
gardener of the man and his son. 'I'll give $10 for the painting...' Being
a poor man, it was all he could afford.
'We have $10, who will bid $20?'
'Give it to him for $10. Let's see the masters.'
The crowd was becoming angry. They didn't want the picture of the son.
They wanted the more worthy investments for their collections.
The auctioneer pounded the gavel.. 'Going once, twice, SOLD for $10!'
A man sitting on the second row shouted, 'Now let's get on with the
collection!'
The auctioneer laid down his gavel. 'I'm sorry, the auction is over.'
'What about the paintings?'
'I am sorry. When I was called to conduct this auction, I was told of a
secret stipulation in the will... I was not allowed to reveal that
stipulation until this time. Only the painting of the son would be auctioned. Whoever
bought that painting would inherit the entire estate, including the
paintings.
The man who took the son gets everything!'
God gave His son 2,000 years ago to die on the cross. Much like the
auctioneer, His message today is: 'The son, the son, who'll take the son?'
Because, you see, whoever takes the Son gets everything.
FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, WHO SO EVER
BELIEVETH, SHALL HAVE ETERNAL LIFE....THAT'S LOVE
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