Thankless Jobs

I heard recently about a stay-at-home mom. One evening she went to a PTA meeting and her husband and her oldest daughter got together and decided they would clean up the kitchen for her. They put up all the food, wiped all the counters, washed all the pots and put them away, put the dishes in the dishwasher and ran it. They swept and mopped the floors and then sat down, and awaited her arrival. Two hours later, she returned from the meeting, took off her coat, hung it up, walked through the kitchen into the den, grabbed the remote control and began watching television. They followed her over to her chair and stood by her side. Finally she felt them looking over her shoulder and looked up at them and said, “What?” Her husband said, “The kitchen.” “The kitchen. What?” “The kitchen. We cleaned up the kitchen. Didn’t you notice? It’s sparkling clean. We cleaned it for you.” The woman replied, “Yes, I noticed. Thankless job, isn’t it?” It is so true that much of what our wives and mothers do goes unnoticed and unappreciated. Please do not let that happen in your home! However, the same thing can happen at work or around the church. My guess is that there are many people around you who do important tasks, but they go unnoticed and unappreciated. For example, when is the last time you thanked one of your elders for the work that they do? These men have a …

Does God Know About This?

By: Alan Smith There’s a couple in Arkansas who have given their six-year-old son strict instructions to come home from playing every afternoon no later than 5 p.m. He is allowed to play with his friends, but his parents are quite serious about his curfew. If he is not home by 5 p.m., they begin to worry and call around the neighborhood to find out where he is. The boy knows this, though, and is careful to arrive everyday on time.     One April Monday, however, the day after Daylight Saving Time went into effect, the boy was late coming home. When he finally arrived, a few minutes before 6 p.m., his mother scolded him for being late. “You know you are to be home by five,” she said, “and here it is nearly six.”     Puzzled, the little boy pointed out the window. “But the light,” he protested, “the light; it’s the light that tells me when to come home.” Realizing what had happened, his mother smiled and gently explained that the day before the time had been changed, that everyone had reset the clocks and, now, the daylight lasted longer.     The boy’s eyes narrowed. “Does God know about this?” he asked suspiciously.     It’s easy to see why a young boy would ask such a question, but no matter what the circumstance prompting the question, the answer to “Does God know about this?” is always, “Yes, He knows.” David reflected on this quality of God in Psalm 139: “Lord, …

Looking in the Mirror

Have you ever been guilty of looking at others your own age and thinking, “Surely I can’t look that old?” I love this story below that has been widely circulated: I was sitting in the waiting room for my first appointment with a new dentist. I noticed his DDS diploma, which bore his full name. Suddenly, I remembered a tall, handsome, dark-haired boy with the same name had been in my high school class some 37 years ago. Could he be the same guy that I had a secret crush on, way back then? Upon seeing him, however, I quickly discarded any such thought. This balding, gray-haired man with the deeply lined face was way too old to have been my classmate. Hmmm, or could he? After he examined my teeth, I asked him if he had attended Morgan Park High School. “Yes. Yes, I did. I’m a Mustang,” he gleamed with pride. “When did you graduate?” I asked. He answered, “In 1967. Why do you ask?” “You were in my class!” I exclaimed. He looked at me closely. Then, that ugly, wrinkled old man asked, “What did you teach?”     It’s so easy, isn’t it, to see the faults in someone else? We see their wrinkles. We see their gray hair. Even more than that, we see all the “specks” in their eyes (Matthew 7:3). However, we are not so quick to notice those flaws in ourselves.     When I was young, I was determined to change the world and make it …

Give Thanks for In-Laws

 A newlywed farmer and his wife were visited by her mother, who immediately demanded an inspection of the place. The farmer had genuinely tried to be friendly to his new mother-in-law, hoping that it could be a friendly, non-antagonistic relationship. It was all to no avail, though, as she kept nagging them at every opportunity, demanding changes, offering unwanted advice, and generally making life unbearable to the farmer and his new bride.  While they were walking through the barn, during the forced inspection, the farmer’s mule suddenly reared up and kicked the mother-in-law in the head, killing her instantly. It was a shock to all no matter their feelings toward her demanding ways.   At the funeral service a few days later, the farmer stood near the casket and greeted folks as they walked by. The preacher noticed that whenever a woman would whisper something to the farmer, he would nod his head yes and say something.  Whenever a man walked by and whispered to the farmer, however, he would shake his head no, and mumble a reply. Very curious as to this bizarre behavior, the preacher later asked the farmer what that was all about.    The farmer replied, “The women would say, ‘What a terrible tragedy’ and I would nod my head and say ‘Yes, it was.’ The men would then ask, ‘Can I borrow that mule?’ and I would shake my head and say, ‘Can’t, it’s all booked up for a year.’” We often make jokes about …