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(updated September 29, 2009)
Please enable Javascript and Flash to view this Flash video.Okay, if you aren’t one of the millions of people who has seen this three-year-old’s stunning summary of Star Wars (Episode IV), let me be the first to introduce you. This little girl had seen the movie only once, and her dad spread it over three days so it wouldn’t be too much all at once for her. She started retelling the story to him in much more vivid detail even than here, but alas, he says, the camera wasn’t rolling. So he got her to start over. He says:
She wasn’t coached to say anything, nor was she forced to make the video. She rarely stops talking. Those of you with children understand this: sometimes it’s harder to turn the faucet off than to turn the faucet on.
This isn’t about Star Wars. I really don’t care whether you are a complete fool for Luke, Chewbacca and the gang, or whether you think the series is completely evil, or even whether you’ve seen it. It’s about something much more profound.
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Lisa Collins is a friend, a ministry partner, an extraordinary worship leader, and a bride-to-be. In response to my request for love stories, she wrote to me about how her father modeled God’s grace. I think you’ll like it! Here goes….
The casual observer might glance at my Dad and not notice anything that distinguishes him from any other man. He is average in height and build. His hair is showing some gray-which is expected of a man in his sixties who survived raising two daughters. His home is modest and under a mortgage. His job is nothing that will bring him acclaim, wealth or notoriety – he is a plumber. He is a husband. He is a father. He is a “B-Poppa”-short for “Big Poppa” in case you don’t speak his granddaughter, Daphnee’s, language.
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Yesterday our theme in the “Love Stories” series at our church was friendship. We focused on the three best friends Jesus had – and it wasn’t Peter, James, and John. It was that amazing family from Bethany – Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Each had a wonderful friendship with Jesus, and each expressed it in his/her own way. Lazarus was a friend who hangs. Martha was a friend who serves. Mary was a friend who understands. What to hear the whole thing? Click here, then on the “listen” button next to “Friends: A Refuge for the Soul”. (Thanks to Shanda Hasse of White Sparrow Design for the beautiful design here. It’s actually a postcard, and if you’d like some, contact me at andy@lifevesting.com for information.)
We also put a new spin on an old, warmly familiar song that you don’t usually hear in church. But the message is strong, and this video is a reminder that whether our friends are faithful or failures, we have an unfailing Friend, who sticks closer than a brother.
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This is Maymie’s ultimate love story. She holds her husband, Shannon, dear, but Maymie says their story doesn’t compare to the story of her children.The first time she got pregnant, Maymie and Shannon weren’t married. But they excitedly started planning and moving in the direction of marriage and starting a family. They set the date and made the doctor’s appointments. At the first appointment, the obstetrician wanted to do an ultrasound to see how far along she was and make sure everything looked good.
They excitedly watched the monitor.
There was no heartbeat.
The next day they went back, mothers in tow, for another picture, just to be sure. They got the same dreaded answer.
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Then there’s Marvin Burchall.
Two years ago, Marvin is on the job in his native Burmuda, waiting tables at a resort. And from his perspective, that’s all he was doing. His job.
Lynn Bak saw it a bit differently. She saw an outgoing, approachable young man whose impeccable service and attention to detail revealed a professionalism way beyond his 23 years.
Lynn Bak is paid to know these kinds of things. She coordinates the School of International Education in Bermuda for Endicott College, whose main campus is in metropolitan Boston. She travels to the Elbow Beach Bermuda resort every three weeks or so. And a couple of years ago, she got to know Marvin. You won’t believe what happened next.
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This is another response to my request for love stories. I’m still looking! Who has taught you about the real meaning of love? How have you experienced it? Email me at andy@lifevesting.com and share what you have observed, learned, or experienced.
The following was originally written by Joel, my son, on February 28 last year. It’s a powerful story of friendship that transcended social and racial barriers, and started with a plane crash in a Vietnamese rice paddy. (You can read more of Joel’s good stuff at http://anyidleday.com).
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I hate maintenance. This is in defiance to everything my father faithfully tried to instill in me. I want the dishes to morph into the dishwasher, the oil to change itself, and the lawn to live, but not grow. So you can imagine how thrilled I was to get a reminder in the mail that I had an appointment with a treadmill, about 11 electrodes, and a sadistic nurse with a razor and sandpaper. “Stress EKG.” Ha! I don’ need no stinkin’ treadmill to tell me I got stress.
It’s not about the treadmill, mind you. I get on one about five times a year, whether I need to or not. It’s about getting on the treadmill at the doctor’s office when I haven’t been on one at the gym in a while. I needed some time to work out before the exam so the exam wouldn’t make me look like I hadn’t been working out. Sort of like cleaning the house before the house cleaner comes.
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Here’s another amazing story of love - this one from my friend, Dr. David Rosenthal. In it he shares the profound story that led to his adoption as a baby, and his future adoption as an heir and follower of Jesus Christ. It’s the story of three women who loved him greatly. One gave him life; another gave him a home and a name; the third pointed him to the Author and Finisher of his faith. Read on…
Esther Kaufman was born June 12th, 1917 in Bucharest, Rumania. Magdalena Barta was born not far way in Budapest, Hungary on June 23rd, 1924. These two women shared a strange and unique destiny and were part of a long love story that continues until today even though both are deceased.
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Recession. It’s the word on everybody’s mind these days. Congress, in an election year, is scrambling to give people some of their money back in order to avoid it (which begs the obvious question…). All the media, the experts, and the average Joes are all talking about some aspect of it. Somebody did a poll a couple of days ago, and it seems the average American believes if we’d just get out of Iraq, the recession would get better. Uh, OK, I guess.
What most of us are interested in is, can I keep what’s happening in a national and global economy from happening to me? Yes! But first it’s important to understand that economists are measuring only one thing.
What to recession-proof your life? Get a bigger definition of the word, “economy.” Try this one as I first heard it from Jack Taylor: Economy is the exchange of all the commodities of life.
If you’re finding yourself a bit short on cash, or if you’re worried about it, why not try a different kind of currency? Here are seven ways you can be wealthy, with or without money:
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This guest column is from my friend Todd Thompson, who is a gifted writer and communicator. In response to my request for love stories, Todd send me this amazing account.
My Grandma Thompson was born on an Iowa farm in 1900. In the early 1920′s she was a teacher and high school principal. While a teacher she formed some strong friendships with three of her fellow teachers. Glynda, Mack, Bess, and my Grandma Bernice became great friends.
During that time my Grandfather began to pursue a relationship with my Grandmother. He knew a good thing when he saw it. But Grandma didn’t make it easy for him. He had to court her with a great deal of persistence before she finally said “yes”. In a letter she wrote to my cousin describing the events leading up to their marriage, Grandma said, “I once told your Grandfather that it would be a cold day before I married him. And it was. 30 below zero on Christmas Eve 1924.”
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