Lone grocery store
Bags filled with conversation—
Open every day
Main Street’s hardware store
Meeting neighbors face-to-face—
Day’s gathering place
Mealtime’s Joy Delights
Cozy diner greets
Town’s most favorite hang-out–
Morning, noon, and night
Photo by Steshka Willems on Pexels.com
The other day, grandpa had a conversation with his very confident (and all knowing) six-year old grandson. Let’s drop in on the conversation for a moment or two.
Grandpa states, “Does your television wake up each morning at 6:00 with a color bar display on the screen?”
His grandson replies, “Nope. Remember Grandpa, I am not as old as you. Besides, didn’t you only watch shows on black and white TVs?”
Grandpa proudly recalls the American space program and tells his young protégé, “I was there in 1969 watching Neil Armstrong walk on the moon.”
His eager grandson answers back, “I really don’t think you were on the moon with Neil Armstrong because Buzz Aldrin was there instead. You know, landing on the moon isn’t such a big deal. I plan to visit Mars.”
Grandpa pauses for a moment, thinking to himself . . . This young fella has an answer for everything!
Grandpa wanders over to his desk and pulls out a miniature plastic card. He holds up the 3.5-inch floppy disk and tells his grandson, “We used to save our computer data on disks such as this. Pretty amazing, don’t you think?”
His grandson eagerly says, “Wow Grandpa! Now we store information on a cloud.”
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
His grandson pipes up and asks, “Grandpa, do you have anything else you want to share with me before I go?”
“Why sure!” Grandpa says with a grin. “I remember when the Ford Mustang came out in 1964. It was the hottest and fastest ride.”
“Sounds amazing, but I am looking forward to owning and driving a Corvette when I am a whole lot older. It leaves the Mustang in the dust.” His smiling grandson adds with a cute, little smile (with two missing front teeth).
Grandpa scratches his head, and then he laments with a heavy heart, “I’ve been a Cleveland Browns football fan for all of my life. You should have seen them play back in the 60s.”
His football prognosticator grandson quickly answers back, “Yup, and you’re still waiting for them to play in their first Super Bowl. Go Steelers!”
“I have an old bicycle sitting in the garage. Perhaps we can go for a bike ride this weekend.” Grandpa sighs (he is nearly exhausted).
“Why sure Grandpa. But, do you think your old three-speed bike can keep up with my brand new 15-speed?” The first-grader replies, with a wink.
Later in the day, Grandpa is sitting in his reliable, comfortable rocking chair in the living room. He ponders a thought . . . I don’t know what I am going to do when my grandson becomes a fifth grader. I’ll never be as smart as a fifth grader!
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
Having a contagious, positive attitude toward God does not mean living unrealistically where you tell everybody nice, upbeat things all the time, whether they are true or not.
From Joel 3:16: “The Lord roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth shake. But the Lord is a refuge for His people, a stronghold for the people of Israel.”
An elderly man steadily works in his backyard, raking up some of autumn’s harvest of red maple leaves. The quiet, afternoon air is punctuated by angry and upset mumbling coming from the neighbor’s yard.
Walking over to the fence, the former teacher listens while a much younger man unsuccessfully tries to start up his lawn mower. The neighbor, in his late twenties, has been facing extra pressure and longer hours at the small business he operates.
Pausing and then sending some words of encouragement over the fence, the quiet man offers some advice, “Does the mower need a new spark plug?”
A quick reply comes back, “I never thought of that.”
The conversation continues back and forth for a few minutes. The young man confesses his frustration at work has brought a heavy burden on him as well as his family. He is married with a young daughter.
The wise neighbor adds some gems of wisdom before they both go back to their separate chores, “Hang in there. God’s using these difficult days to prepare you for a more successful tomorrow. He’s equipping you with tools which will help you to bear fruit.”
The young man replies back, “Thanks. I appreciate your advice as well as your testament from the Lord.”
With the rake in his hand, the elderly man prepares to step away from the fence, but he returns and offers a prayer for the young man, “God, grant Tim the serenity to accept the things he cannot change, the courage to change the things he can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
Both men say their final words, and return to their respective yard work.
As the retired teacher continues to rake more of the stubborn leaves into a series of small piles, he hears the lawn mower start up with a roar. Obviously, the young man has changed the mower’s spark plug, and it is now running as it should.
At the same time, Tim feels the spark of God’s Word bringing him patience and encouragement for today as well as for tomorrow.
From 2 Peter 1:5-7: “For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness, and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love.”
Photo by Steshka Willems on Pexels.com
The other day, grandpa had a conversation with his very confident (and all knowing) six-year old grandson. Let’s drop in on the conversation for a moment or two.
Grandpa states, “Does your television wake up each morning at 6:00 with a color bar display on the screen?”
His grandson replies, “Nope. Remember Grandpa, I am not as old as you. Besides, didn’t you only watch shows on black and white TVs?”
Grandpa proudly recalls the American space program and tells his young protégé, “I was there in 1969 watching Neil Armstrong walk on the moon.”
His eager grandson answers back, “I really don’t think you were on the moon with Neil Armstrong because Buzz Aldrin was there instead. You know, landing on the moon isn’t such a big deal. I plan to visit Mars.”
Grandpa pauses for a moment, thinking to himself . . . This young fella has an answer for everything!
Grandpa wanders over to his desk and pulls out a miniature plastic card. He holds up the 3.5-inch floppy disk and tells his grandson, “We used to save our computer data on disks such as this. Pretty amazing, don’t you think?”
His grandson eagerly says, “Wow Grandpa! Now we store information on a cloud.”
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
His grandson pipes up and asks, “Grandpa, do you have anything else you want to share with me before I go?”
“Why sure!” Grandpa says with a grin. “I remember when the Ford Mustang came out in 1964. It was the hottest and fastest ride.”
“Sounds amazing, but I am looking forward to owning and driving a Corvette when I am a whole lot older. It leaves the Mustang in the dust.” His smiling grandson adds with a cute, little smile (with two missing front teeth).
Grandpa scratches his head, and then he laments with a heavy heart, “I’ve been a Cleveland Browns football fan for all of my life. You should have seen them play back in the 60s.”
His football prognosticator grandson quickly answers back, “Yup, and you’re still waiting for them to play in their first Super Bowl. Go Steelers!”
“I have an old bicycle sitting in the garage. Perhaps we can go for a bike ride this weekend.” Grandpa sighs (he is nearly exhausted).
“Why sure Grandpa. But, do you think your old three-speed bike can keep up with my brand new 15-speed?” The first-grader replies, with a wink.
Later in the day, Grandpa is sitting in his reliable, comfortable rocking chair in the living room. He ponders a thought . . . I don’t know what I am going to do when my grandson becomes a fifth grader. I’ll never be as smart as a fifth grader!
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
Big Sky Buckeye 