Friday Funny - "The Wanderer"

I can relate to this all to well.....

My two-year-old cousin scared us one summer by disappearing during our lakeside vacation. More than a dozen relatives searched the forest and shoreline, and everyone was relieved when we found Matthew playing calmly in the woods.

"Listen to me, Matthew," his mother said sharply. "From now on when you want to go someplace, you tell Mommy first, okay?"

Matthew thought about that for a moment and said, "Okay. Disney World."
-- Leah Hallenbeck

Happy Friday, Don

The Influence!

Psalm 1
¹ Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.

² But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

³ He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.

⁴ Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away.

⁵ Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

⁶ For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.

My Mother had a great deal of one liners as we grew up. Such as, "If your friend jumped off a cliff, would you jump too?" or "If I were not a Christian and saw how you are acting, why would I want to become one?" Basically, she was guiding us away from the influence of the world.

If you want to be successful, you've got to stay away from the bad company present in the world. First of all, you cannot listen to their counsel. You've got to turn a deaf ear to the counsel of this world. The world is the devil's psychiatrist and you don't need to be lying on her couch.

I had a man come to me one time who was having severe marital difficulties, who was trying to get his marriage back together and as we talked I asked him how I could pray for him and his wife. Do you know what he said? He said, "Would you please pray that she would reject ungodly counsel?" He then told me how she was getting counseled from a woman who had been divorced several times and she was advising her to also get a divorce. You would be better off getting advice on brain surgery from an automobile mechanic than you would to listen to the world's advice.

Think about it. Why would you listen to a world full of sin and let the world advise you on how to deal with sin? It is like a man who had a sick mule and he went to his next door neighbor and said, "Sam, my mule is sick. When your mule got sick what did you do for it?" He said, "I gave him a quart of kerosene."

The man went home and gave his mule a quart of kerosene and the mule died. He came back and said, "Sam, didn't you tell me to give my mule a quart of kerosene?" He said, "Yes I did." He said, "I did that and my mule died." The man said, "Don't feel bad, mine did too!"

There are people who are dead today, in prison today, people who are on the junk heap of life today, people who are eaten up with sexual disease today, because they listened to the wrong crowd.

Psalm 1 tells us to take the wisdom and counsel of God. He is our perfect healer and adviser on life. There are too many times we just don't listen. I am thankful for a great Mom who guided us with a biblical influence. I am also grateful she gave us passion and desire to seek the counsel of God.

You know I love ya, Don

"I'll Be There" Thank You Hello, Dolly Cast for the reminder!

Thus says the LORD, . . . "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you." -Isaiah 43:1, 2 (NRSV)

Hello, Dolly! had a great run...five great shows, two sold out crowds, a terrific cast, crew, and orchestra. Karen brought me roses on the last night. My Mother and my Children were able to come to two shows. There were good friends in the audience every night. I am a blessed man.

At the stage break down and clean-up this afternoon there were a couple dozen people present! It was amazing. I could not help but think of some of the most powerful words as we were working and I pondered the work that had been accomplished over the last 10 weeks.

Most people feel that the most beautiful words ever spoken are "I love you."

But a close second are these: "I'll be there." The commitment to a goal, such as Hello, Dolly says so much to the people working toward the goal, but also the dedication and the ideals of those watching the goal come to fruition. In everyday situations, we surely want to hear them from the plumber when the sink is leaking or from the automobile club when our car has broken down. But even more, we want to hear them from God. We want to hear them when illness strikes, when a friend turns on us, when someone betrays our trust, when a relationship sours. The list could go on almost endlessly. Every day, we face situations where we cannot bear to be alone.

And we won't be. "No matter what," God says, "I'll be there." (See Hebrews 13:8.) The waters may be deep, the fires may be hot, the shadows may loom large. But God comes to us and walks with us. And sometimes God carries us and gives us rest.

We do not have to go it alone. God will be there.

Thank you to a terrific cast, crew, and orchestra....you have allowed me the opportunity to have a marvelous memory that will last eternity. I pray it will be for you as well. You also reminded me of some of the most beautiful words, "I will be there." You know I love ya, Don

Friday Funny - Life After Death

It is FRIDAY!!!! So, in honor of everyone that stays at work and doesn't skip out...this ones for you!

LIFE AFTER DEATH

"DO YOU BELIEVE IN LIFE AFTER DEATH?" THE BOSS ASKED ONE OF HIS EMPLOYEES.

"YES, SIR," THE NEW EMPLOYEE REPLIED.

"WELL, THEN, THAT MAKES EVERYTHING JUST FINE," THE BOSS WENT ON. "AFTER YOU LEFT EARLY YESTERDAY TO GO TO YOUR GRANDMOTHER'S FUNERAL, SHE STOPPED IN TO SEE YOU!"

Have a great weekend and you know I love ya, Don

"Hello Dolly" at the H.J. Ricks Center in Greenfield. - More The Indianapolis Star Galleries

View this gallery at The Indianapolis Star: "Hello Dolly" at the H.J. Ricks Center in Greenfield.

Thanks to a Great Hello Dolly Cast!

Only a few more days until we see the final weekend of Hello, Dolly! in Greenfield. It has been an outstanding pleasure and honor to be the its director. "Dolly" has an outstanding cast and crew. If you saw the show, you know what I am talking about. If you have not seen the show, you need to come Friday (8/6) or Saturday (8/7) at 7:30 PM to truly experience some of the finest volunteers anyone could ask to work with.

I have been searching for the right way to say thanks. In September of last year the work began on this project and show. Dolly has been on my mind and on my desk week after week and now we have come to the final week and I want to express my appreciation to everyone that has given their time and effort.

So,

The key to our success rests in people like you,
Who embody the spirit of greatness by saying, "Yes I can, and so can you!"
Thanks for your inspiring dedication and tremendous example to our community.

Now that our work is finished, we say good bye with sad yet grateful hearts.
I want to thank you for your dedication, and being there from the very start.
Words cannot convey my gratitude for your tremendous contribution.

With gratitude in my heart for your contributions to our cause,
I wanted to thank you with this rhyme as my personal round of applause.
The credit for our great show firmly rests with the dedicated volunteers.

Thank you so much for all of your hard work
And to bear witness to your passion was an unexpected perk.
For with out this pleasure and privilege Hello, Dolly would have never worked!

To every cast member and crew....Thank you for being who you are. Thank you for making this memory a reality. And, thank you for this marvelous show! - Don

Respecting more than Mother Earth!

So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27

In Genesis we learn that God created the world and called everything good. God made the earth, green and fertile; the birds in the sky; and the fish in the ocean. Animals populate the land. Seasons change, the moon moves through the sky, rain waters the land, crops grow, plants flower and give new seeds. All of creation works together, and the earth contains everything we need.

God created human beings and instructed them to care for the earth and all living beings. Humans do not play the role of God who created and sustains the earth. But we are responsible for managing our planet so people can live on it.

We are accountable to God for how we treat our land and goods. When corn sprouts and grasses grow, this expresses God's goodness and caring. Every time we use the earth's resources, we have a responsibility to keep the balance God created in the earth's ecosystems.

We are also accountable to God for how we treat each other. There is a strong call to live "green" and I am all for that. We are to be good stewards of this beautiful planet we live on. It is unfortunate that we forget we are created in God's image and we are to treat each other as God has treated us. Almighty Jehovah God treated us with love, support, and discipline. Yet, we seem to find it the best to step on, steal from, and shout at each other.

I want to be a person that appreciates people and the contribution individuals bring to enhance life. Thus, we are truly created in His image and appreciate the blessing of being created in His image.

You know I love ya - Don