Family History is Important
I typically talk to my grandmother every Sunday. She’s 89 years old and still going strong so I enjoy catching up with her week and telling her about the latest antics of the kids. Yesterday we were talking and she was telling me the different things she did as a child that were so dangerous. Apparently she and her brother would take a wagon (as in horse and…), remove the section that the horses connected to, move it up to the top of a hill, and then ride down the road at full speed, hoping no cars came by. Later she told me about the time her house and four others burned to the ground. It reminded me of when I talked to my grandfather about his service during World War II. He had all these interesting stories that I had no idea about. Read more »
Posted: August 25th, 2008 under Family.
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A few years back I created this activity for our Sunday School class called the Family Olympics. The idea was that each family would compete in a series of games and whichever team won the most would win a Gold, the family that came in second got the Silver, and the third place team won a Bronze. It was a challenge because we had families of all different age groups and some with no kids. Trying to balance it out in such a way so that everyone had a roughly equal chance at winning required some mental gymnastics but I eventually figured it out. Of course the end result was not to find out who had the best family; it was to encourage families to come together in friendly competition. 
I recounted the loss of my daughter’s tooth on an earlier post. Well she has more loose teeth now and recently another one started to give way. Hope had been pushing it with her tongue for days, but as loose as it was, it just refused to come out. I’d try to give it a good hard wiggle, but she would wince and I did not want to hurt her. The worst part is that Amy’s parents had harvested corn on the cob from their garden but Hope did not want to eat any because of her tooth. Everything she ate was soft. 
A wealthy person passed away one day and while those around were sad, the thought of how his estate would be divided up became the talk of everyone who knew him. The time came for the reading of the will and the attorney contacted all who were listed in it. They all sat inside a room, anxious to see what would be bequeathed to them. The attorney began to read the will and slowly worked his way down the list. One person, Dave, was excited when he heard what others were receiving. It seemed like everyone’s gift was very valuable. Soon only Dave was left. “And to Dave, my friend, who I promised to mention in my will: hi Dave.” 
Like most people, I find it very easy to see where others are out of balance. Given the opportunity, I can point out where they are struggling and implement a four step plan to fix that issue. It seems so obvious to me that if they would just listen to me that I could make their life better. Years later, they’ll drop me a line that says they could never be where they are today if not for my help back then. Don’t worry about my issues; we are not here to talk about that. We are here for me to help you. Sound familiar?