To Catch A Thief

Bill owns a company that manufactures and installs car wash systems. Bill's company installed a car wash system in Kingsville . Now, understand that these are complete systems, including the money changer and money taking machines.

The problem started when the new owner complained to Bill that he was losing significant amounts of money from his coin machines each week.

He went as far as to accuse Bill's employees of having a key to the boxes and ripping him off. Bill just couldn't believe that his people would do that, so they set up a camera to catch the thief in action. Well, they did catch him on film!





That's a bird sitting on the change slot of the machine.
It had to go down into the machine and back up inside to get to the money!








That's three quarters he has in his beak! Another amazing thing is that it was not just one bird -- there were several working together. Once they identified the thieves, they found over $4000
in quarters on the roof of the car wash and more under a nearby tree.

Congratulations!

TO ALL THE KIDS
WHO SURVIVED the
1930's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes. Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking. As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat. We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this. We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank koolade made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING ! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K. We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem. We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or chat rooms...WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them! We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes. We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them! Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law! These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever! The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL! If YOU are one of them . . . CONGRATULATIONS!

A Folded Napkin

My brother sent this to me in an email and I thought I was powerful.

Why did Jesus fold the linen burial cloth after His resurrection?

The Gospel of John (20:7) tells us that the napkin, which was placed over the face of Jesus, was not just thrown aside like the grave clothes. The Bible takes an entire verse to tell us that the napkin was neatly folded, and was placed at the head of that stony coffin.

1. Early Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance.

2. She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, "They have taken the Lord's body out of the tomb, and I don't know where they have put him!"

3. Peter and the other disciple ran to the
tomb to see.

4. The other disciple outran Peter and got there first.

5. He stooped and looked in and saw the linen cloth lying there, but he didn't go in.

6. Then Simon Peter arrived and went
inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there,

7. while the cloth that had covered Jesus' head was folded up and lying to the side.

Is that important? Absolutely! Is it really significant? Yes!

In order to understand the significance of the folded napkin, you have to understand a little bit about Hebrew tradition of that day. The folded napkin had to do with the Master and Servant, and every Jewish boy knew this tradition. When the servant set the dinner table for the master, he made sure that it was exactly the way the master wanted it. The table was furnished perfectly, and then the servant would wait, just out of sight, until the master had finished eating, and the servant would not dare touch that table, until the master was finished.

Now if the master was done eating, he would rise from the table, wipe his fingers, his mouth, and clean his beard, and would wad up that napkin and toss it onto the table. The servant would then know to clear the table. For in those days, the wadded napkin meant, "I'm done". But if the master got up from the table, and folded his napkin, and laid it beside his plate, the servant would not dare touch the table, because...The folded napkin meant, "I'm coming back!" He Is Coming Back!!!!

Easter Cry

The crowd jeering, sweating, pressing.
The Man battered, burdened, broken

Leading the way onward - upward to the hill
Leaving behind the trail of cross on dry dusty ground.

The nails pounding, cutting, tearing
And He lifted, laughed at, loved

With tears, hot - mingled in blood
Flowed down, crimson rain forming puddles
Soon sucked by thirsty ground.

The sun brightening, blessing, warming.
The tomb still, silent, empty.

And song joyous, jubilant, infectious
Echoed by saints and angels…
“He is not here. He is risen!”

The Luck of the Irish

It's a little early for St. Patrick's Day but I could not resist. I must have some Irish blood mixed in with the Japanese because I always tear up when I hear Danny Boy. I've heard it done many ways; by chorus and soloists but I'd have to say that my favorite is still the Muppets and that's no baloney...I mean blarney!

Click on the video and laughed to your heart's content!

A Statue

Like a statue she stood.
Did centuries go by?
The only sign of life came from her eyes. The tears
fell down in droplets of pain. The joy of
their past would not bring hope for today

Life ceased in her with his last breath.

Now her existence is like shadows.
Not even the place of their vows
could resurrect a Spring. Parting is its own hell. Reunion is its own heaven.

PROOF OF A MAN

The proof of a man is not only in the slander he overcomes but in how he handles praise.The outward pressure of these things will not invade the
soul of one who has inward strength. Curse him because he's a wanderer or
praise him because he’s a king…neither will affect a man who knows who
he is through the path of suffering.

Another Jonah

I am so asleep in the security of my salvation that I am no longer awake to the judgment seat of Christ. I am so complacent that 'all is well' that I have been dulled to the fear of the Lord. Like Jonah asleep in the boat; do I need the lost to wake me up? So smug that I am the chosen of God even when I run from His will?

His patience with my disobedience is running thin and I am the last one to realize it. The godless are more sensitive to God's desires than I am. In panic they wake me up from the stupor of my comfort. They know how hopeless their situation is...the storm of life is sinking their vessel. They know the only answer for them is that the Church fulfills the will of God. Throw the prophet of God into His will and the sea will become calm. Maybe the ice cold water will wake him up to his true condition. Maybe his spirit will cry out to God and repent while there is still time. Must a willful, disobedient prophet be swallowed up and taken into deep darkness till he feels more dead than alive?

It is God's mercy that would judge us and still give us a second chance to obey Him. How powerful are the words of one who has died to self and lives to obey God. It is a word that brings a city to its knees in true repentance. People sense God's judgment is near. They are desperate to hear God's words in the mouth of an obedient prophet: "Mercy triumphs over judgment!"