Anything Can Happen

Listen to the Mustn'ts,child,
Listen to the Don'ts
Listen to the Shouldn'ts
The Impossibles, the Won'ts
Listen to the Never Haves,
Then listen close to me --
Anything can happen, child,
Anything can be.

Shel Silverstein

I work with young people.  It is my job and I enjoy it immensely!  Their enthusiasm and energy are infectious and the new life they bring to my work is invigorating.  This is not a new experience for me; I have worked with children and youth for many, many years.  I wouldn't trade it for the world...most days.

But I am noticing a trend that worries me a little.  I don't know whether it's the economic times or the rural area I'm living in, perhaps it's that they have heard so many times "No," or some other phenomenon that I'm unaware of but I'm hearing these young people limit themselves to being and doing less than they are so very capable of. 

Aren't  our youngest years the time that we should be dreaming and I mean dreaming BIG?  The second decade of our lives is the time to reach for the moon, isn't it?  My best friend at that age died recently.  Our dream was that we were going to Las Vegas to see Elvis perform live and then we would get important jobs, after college-of course, and live close by each other forever.  We'd have money to travel whenever we wanted and life would be so good for both of us. 

I hear these young folks concerned, in elementary school and middle school, about scholarships for college and not being good enough.  I hear them taking others' dreams and belittling them for having such extravagant hopes and wishes.  I hear the sad, sad sounds normally coming from older people with no hope for their future. 

What is happening to our kids?  Now is the best time for them to build their hopes and dreams, to become whatever they can imagine.  I love this poem by Shel Silverstein because it's what I believe.  Yes, I'm older--I mean, really, Elvis--but it's those dreams that keep me going every day.  It's the hope that each day brings that makes it worth getting out of bed every morning and facing the day.  I still dream, I still hope, I still plan.

And you know what?  I may not accomplish all of my hopes and desires, but I've also done a lot of things reaching for those hopes and dreams that I never even thought of.  What a great life! Anything can happen, child.  Anything can be.

And the worst that can happen when you reach for the moon is that you'll land in the stars.

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

John 14:27



The Best Way to Cheer Yourself Up Is to Cheer Up Somebody Else



The grief-stricken mother sat in a hospital room in stunned silence, tears streaming down her cheeks.  She had just lost her only child.  She gazed into space as the head nurse asked her, "Did you notice the little boy sitting in the hall just outside?"  The woman shook her head no.

The nurse continued.  "His mother was brought here by ambulance from their poor one-room apartment.  The two of them came to this country only three months ago, because all their family members had been killed in war.  They don't know anyone here.

"That little boy has been sitting outside his mother's room every day for a week in hopes his mother would come out of her coma and speak to him."

By now the woman was listening intently as the nurse continued, "Fifteen minutes ago his mother died.  It's my job to tell him that, at age seven, he is all alone in the world--there's nobody who even knows his name."  The nurse paused and then asked, "I don't suppose you would tell him for me?"  The woman stood, dried her tears, and went out to the boy.

She put her arms around the homeless child.  She invited him to come with her to her childless home.  In the darkest hour of both their lives, they became lights to each other.

Give, and it shall be given unto you.

Luke 6:38

A Minute of Thought is Worth More Than an Hour of Talk

A heart doctor was amazed at the great improvement one of his patients had made.  When he had seen the woman a few months earlier, she was seriously ill in the hospital, needing an oxygen mask.  He asked the woman what had happened.

The woman said,  "I was sure the end was near and that you and your staff had given up hope.  However, Thursday morning when you entered with your troops, something happened that changed everything.  You listened to my heart; you seemed pleased by the finding, and you announced to all those standing about my bed that I had a 'wholesome gallop.'  I knew that the doctors, in talking to me, might try to soften things.  But I knew they wouldn't kid each other.  So when I overheard you tell your colleagues I had a wholesome gallop, I figured I still had a lot of kick to my heart and could not be dying.  My spirits were for the first time lifted, and I knew I would live and recover."

The heart doctor never told the woman that a third-sound gallop is a poor sign that denotes the heart muscle is straining and usually failing!

Just a few words can be enough to make a difference to a person's life.  How important it is to choose our words wisely!

Set a watch, O Lord, before any mouth; keep the door of my lips.

Psalm 141:3