DODGING THE BULLET

© 2018 Bill Murphy

A Facebook friend posted a funny this morning… about when seeing a recent photo of an old high school squeeze, do you think, “I dodged the bullet on that one!”

I didn’t.

I’ve often wondered about that… what if I actually had dodged the bullet?  What if I had listened to my parents?  What if I had known then what I know now?  I know my life would have been different.  But how different?  I’m very satisfied with how it is today… but would I – could I – have had this life today… if I had not had that life way back then?

Good question.

Back then, 1957, 58, 59… there was a young girl, Carol Ringer, who lived over eleven-hundred miles away, in a quaint bedroom community just outside Philadelphia, PA.  Hers was a happy, care-free, country club life style… vacationing on Cape Cod… shopping in NYC… far, far removed from the likes of Bill Murphy.  But she too was struck by a bullet… the unexpected death of her father.  She too would have preferred to have dodged that bullet.

It took a full decade… of both of us suffering from our individual ‘bullet wounds’ for us to somehow, some way, miraculously meet.  The fact that we fell in love was no miracle… for we believe that it was meant to be.  The miracle was in the meeting.

So you ask, “If you had it to do all over again, would you?”  The simple, truthful answer is yes!

Of course, we’d prefer that we’d not been subjected to those bullet wounds which eventually brought us together.  But we must admit, for that to have happened… that would have been a true miracle!

I don’t have to understand everything in life… I don’t need a detailed explanation for every detail.  All I need to know is that God is still on His throne, and that HE is in control, and that He knows what He’s doing.  I also know that He loves me, and that He knows what’s best for me… and that He’ll lead me to the still waters to drink my fill… if I’ll only allow Him to take the lead.

And if the enemy takes a shot at me… my God is the Master of healing bullet wounds!

 

 

 

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WHO IS YOUR TEACHER? What do they teach?

© 2018 Bill Murphy

What is more important, heredity or environment?  That’s a question mental health experts have debated for decades.

Wilson, Manning, Harris, Ratliff, VanDevender, and Eggar.  These 6 ladies were my grammar school teachers.  They created a strong and positive impression upon me when I was of a most impressionable age.

I had other teachers: Mother, father, uncles and aunts, my grandparents, countless cousins, and caring neighbors.  And there were my spiritual teachers, instructors who were ‘professional,’ as well as friends, and extended family members.

This is not a ‘hats off’ to my teachers.  It’s a close examination of our ‘education process’ in general, and how vitally important are our teachers…. and what they teach.

What we are taught yesterday can be either beneficial or detrimental today.

Most little boys like things that go BAG!  I was no different.  As a child, one of my favorite toys was a small ‘bomb,’ a soft plastic dart-looking thing, with a rounded metallic nose.  Into the nose, you inserted a section from a roll of caps intended for cap pistols.  I usually crammed in as many caps as I could… for a bigger bang.  You threw it UP as far as possible, and when it came down and hit… BANG!

I attempted making a ‘bomb’ with a bigger bang, using fireworks… but the INSTANT BANG at the moment of impact eluded me.  Later, when I was a teenager, and should have known better… someone taught me how to make an INSTANT BANG bomb. I did, – and it would.  Great sport!

But one day, a LIVE ROUND of 50 cal. ammunition came into my possession. Ah ha… I reasoned, an even BIGGER bag! (I did have sense enough to first remove the slug).

My home-made 50 cal. bomb as a resounding success.  I got a VERY big boom for my buck… and I also got pelted with flying pieces of brass shrapnel.  Only by the grace of God do I still have eyesight today.

We can learn harmful things yesterday which can bite us in the fanny today.  Likewise, we can learn harmful today which can kill us tomorrow!

So, be careful of WHAT you learn!  If your conscience tells you to avoid a certain lesson, if it’s NOT for you today… why then should it be profitable for you later?

What you are taught determines what you learn.

What you learn determines your thought and reasoning processes.

Your thought and reasoning processes determine how you live.

How you live determines who you are.

Who you are determines your destiny.

Your destiny is all important.

It all begins with your teachers!

 

 

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THE PERFECT GIFT

© 2018 Bill Murphy

What do you give the one who has everything?  Most of us have confronted this problem… but it no longer must be a problem.  Let me suggest – giving that person appreciation.

We all want attention and appreciation.  But if we’re honest, these 2 items are near the top of our want-list. True?  So – this coming Christmas, birthday, anniversary, or for any gift-giving occasion, your problem is now solved… with a gift guaranteed to please.  I know that I want to be appreciated!  Don’t you?

There is another who also relishes our attention and appreciation… the one who most deserves it!  But He often must settle for a once-a-week ‘I appreciate you’ session, where we express our attention and appreciation to Him.  Yes, I’m speaking of our Heavenly Father!

I’m afraid that we tend to get so wrapped up in our busy lives, that we fail to see our lives in their proper perspective… that is: how our lives are related to His!  We’re reminded that we should stop and ‘smell the roses.’  But that’s only a start.

The next clear night, go somewhere that the city lights don’t interfere… and look toward the heavens.  Can you count the stars?  No, there are far too many to count.  And this is only the ones you can see.  There are billions upon billions far beyond these.  He created each and every one.

How large is this universe?  The size is far beyond anything we can comprehend or imagine.  How big is limitless?  He created it all.

This creator is our God.  Not only is He our creator, He is our Heavenly Father.  Compared to Him, we are but speck of dust.  And yet, amazing as it it, He knows each of us by name.  Scripture tells us that He knows how many hairs are on your head!  But more important than that… He loves you.

Yes, He wants our attention and our appreciation!  But here is the most amazing thing about who WE are: When He created us, he could have created us to ‘automatically’ love Him, to automatically give Him our undivided attention and appreciation.  But… He chose not to do so.  Instead, He made us ‘like’ Himself… he gave our temporary, physical bodies an indwelling spirit… a spirit like He is!  And He also gave us a will of our own… just as He has a will.  And why did He do this?  He did this because He did not want our lives to be controlled by instinct… not pre-programmed to be what He desired for us to be.  That would have been too easy.  That is the way He made all other animal life.

Instead… for us… He wanted us to be His CHILDREN, like unto Him, to be eternal, spiritual… children that He can call His own.

As a parent myself, my desire is that my children have an appreciation for what I am and for what I do and have done for them.  I’m sure you can agree with this yourself.

It puts things into better perspective… when we see ourselves as HIS children!

If there was ever anyone who actually has everything… then it is God Himself!  But does He really have it all?  We have no problem with being constantly aware that we are dressed, fed, and breathing.  So why do we think that we cannot be constantly and continually aware of Him, and of His rich blessings perpetually pouring down upon us!

A once a week pause to say, ‘thank you,’ is not nearly enough!  Pause often – and Give Him the gift of appreciation.  He deserves it!  And… He desires it.

 

 

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