Stories

There is an old story about a farmer who had a mule. One day the mule fell into an old dry unused well. The farmer thought it too much trouble and too hard to rope the mule and try to pull him up and out. The mule was quite heavy. He asked his friends to help. They decided to just bury the mule and started to throw dirt in the hole. The mule shook off the dirt and stepped up just a little bit with each shovel and shake. Eventually the people could see the mule making progress, ever so small. He was moving up in the well inch by inch. After much work, shoveling and stepping up, the mule was able to reach the top and get out of the well.

Moral of Story…”Shake it off, and step up! “

When trouble happens, shake it off and step up. Go from a safe zone to the “Faith Zone” .

In sports and in life, when faced with adversity…..”Play a Little Harder”, “Try a Little Harder.”

By Tal Jobe

When I was a boy, we used to play in the woods and fields close to our house. There was one particular field where our neighbor, Mr. Crumpler keep cows. He periodically had 25-40 cows fenced in there. Often we would walk from one side of the field to the other.

It was of course very difficult for young boys to walk from one side of the field to the other without stepping in some cow remains. We discovered that we never stepped in the same remains a second time because, with experience, we treaded more cautiously and we knew where the trouble lay. We also learned that after stepping in something, the best way to clean our shoes was to continue walking until our shoes cleaned themselves. We would rub the dirtied shoes on the grass and turn our feet sideways and rub. Sometimes that took quite a bit of effort and walking, sometimes not. It depended on the size of the stain. Eventually the stain and the odor would go away. This example reminds me a lot of life. In life as in the pasture, there are lots of opportunities to “step in something.” Opportunities to get off track and out of focus. Occasions to make mistakes and poor decisions. In life, through experience we learn to live more cautiously and we learn where the trouble spots are. Through experience and age we learn from our mistakes, and as long as we don’t make the same mistakes a second time, we can move forward.

To cleanse ourselves from our mistakes, we have to keep walking, keep washing, keep moving forward until we are far enough away from our mistakes. Eventually those mistakes will be a distant memory, but a memory still. It is only through the grace of God that those blunders will be totally forgotten and forgiven.

THE RIGHT

By Robert J. McMullen Submitted by Dave Potter

After my brother’s massive heart attack, he lay in a coma in the hospital’s coronary intensive care unit. Tubes and wires hooked him up to machines that kept him alive. A scope showed the wiggly lines of a faltering heartbeat. The only sound in his room was the rhythmical whoosh of the pump forcing air into his lungs. My sister-in-law stood by, helpless. As a minister I had often been with families in similar situations. I had searched for the right words, the perfect scriptural passage, a phrase of hope, trying to comfort them. But this was a new experience. During these difficult days, my sister-in-law and I were torn between hope and resignation. We appreciated every visitor. We were grateful for their stories of people who had snapped out of comas and returned to normal. We listened when they talked knowledgeably about the stages of grief. We knew they cared. But many visitors came through the door talking, and kept talking. Was that how I had dealt with my nervousness when I didn’t know what to say? Then a casual friend came to visit. He stood with us around the bed, looking at my brother’s body. There was a long silence. Suddenly overcome with emotion, he said, “I’m sorry.” There was another long pause. Finally, he hugged my sister-in-law and then turned to shake my hand. He held it a second longer than necessary and squeezed a little harder than usual. As he looked at me, tears came to his eyes. And then he left. One week later, my brother died. Years have passed and I still remember that visitor. I do not recall his name, but I’ll never forget how he shared our grief, quietly and sincerely and without awkwardness. His few words spoke volumes.

There was a blind girl who hated herself because she was blind. She hated everyone, except her loving boyfriend. He was always there for her. She told her boyfriend, “If I could only see the world, I will marry you.”

One day, someone donated a pair of eyes to her. When the bandages came off, she was able to see everything, including her boyfriend. He asked her, “ Now that you can see the world, will you marry me?“ The girl looked at her boyfriend and saw that he was blind. The sight of his closed eyelids shocked her. She hadn’t expected that.

The thought of looking at them the rest of her life led her to refuse to marry him.

Her boyfriend left in tears and days later wrote a note to her saying: “Take good care of your eyes, my dear, for before they were yours, they were mine.”

This is how the human brain often works when our status changes. Only a very few remember what life was like before, and who was always by their side in the most painful situations.

Life is a gift !

Today before you say an unkind word - Think of someone who can’t speak! Before you complain about the taste of your food - Think of someone who has nothing to eat.

Before you complain about your husband or wife - Think of someone who’s crying out to God for a

companion.

Today before you complain about life - Think of someone who went too early to heaven.

Before whining about the distance you drive - Think of someone who walks the same distance with

their feet.

And when you are tired and complain about your job - Think of the unemployed, the disabled, and

those who wish they had your job.

“Making some people mad often helps them perform.” By Tal Jobe

In the summer of 1963 I enrolled at Wake Forest College. I really don’t know why I chose Wake. I had applied at the University of North Carolina and also at Davidson College. My older brother, W.Y., had just graduated from UNC so the logical choice should have been Carolina. The basketball coach there, Dean Smith, had attended one of our high school games and passed word through a prominent UNC alumnus that I would be welcome to try out for the freshman team. However one of my best high school friends, Gerald Smith, had accepted a full basketball scholarship at Wake. Since my mother was not necessarily sure that the fraternity life of Carolina was up my niche, I chose to follow my friend to the home of the Demon Deacons.

College was a rude awakening for this small town boy. Since I had enrolled in the summer before my freshman year, I was able to complete two courses in advance. I made two B’s that summer, one in Math 101 and another in “The Life and Teachings of Jesus”. Then it looked like college would be a piece of cake for me.

With the beginning of the fall semester, I found things to be different. I did try out for the freshman basketball team and survived the final cut only to be the 13th(last) member of the team. I was courted by the most elite fraternity on campus, Sigmi Chi. My time was spent with basketball and social life. It was fun. Fun until the end of the semester and grades arrived. I remember my first semester grades as being: P.E.- A, Military Science -A, English -D, History-D, Biology-F, Religion-C, Spanish-C. Second semester was little better as I enjoyed my newfound freedom and made lots of friends. In addition, you must remember, Wake was not exactly the easiest school out there. The competition was stiff. Classes were small and there was little opportunity to hide and not be noticed in classes of 6-20 students. Near the middle of first semester of my sophomore year I returned to my room one day to see a note posted on my door. “You have an appointment with Dean Robert Dyer this afternoon at 3:00PM.” Well I had no idea who Dean Dyer was, much less what a dean was. I could not believe I would have to miss intramural football practice for such a meeting. Perhaps he wanted to see me and present me some kind of award. I was quite popular.

Robert Dyer was the dean responsible for academic performance of Wake Forest students. I walked into his office with a smile. He addressed me as “Mr. Jobe”. “ Mr. Jobe, I am informing you that you will be unable to make it academically at Wake Forest College. I will be glad to help you transfer to either Campbell College or East Carolina, but your time at Wake is about up.

I was shocked, stunned, humiliated. How could this dean tell me what to do. My entire make up changed at that point. The man made me mad, furious. I began to study. I began to put time and effort into my schoolwork. From that time until my graduation in 1967, my home was the basement of the library. I was able to find a major best suited for me. I found people in the Physical Education Department who cared and wanted to help me. My grades and my attitude changed because of this man’s firm confrontation with me. It was that day I learned how people who tell you “No”, are people who care and are people who ultimately help you. So to Dean Dyer and others like my Mom who have told me “No” because of their care and concern, I say thank you. Many people are not truly motivated until they are backed into the corner and challenged. Dean Dyer challenged me that day and it changed my life. Often it is years later when we realize the people who have actually helped us most in our journey.