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Dead But Still Alive

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It was a warm summer day in 1975. I was living in Atlanta, Georgia, at the time teaching Social Studies. We lived in a town home in the suburbs which just happened to have a real nice community swimming pool. On this particular day my wife was at work.

It was in the middle of the day, about 1:00 p.m. I had eaten a light lunch and decided to go out and work on my suntan as I always made it a point to find time for a tan in the summer. There were a few mothers by the pool with their kids, and some others who were alone. After being in the sun for about 30 minutes, I felt a need to cool off for a bit, so I jumped into the pool. It felt mighty good in the Georgia sun. I was in for about 15 minutes and was fine.

After sunning for another 30-45 minutes, making sure I had used some good ‘ol tanning lotion, I thought it was time for another nice dip, perhaps a little longer this time. Now, I had been feeling a little weak the previous few days, but being a stubborn man sometimes, I thought I was OK. As I recall, I had taken a small bottle of water out with me and there was a drinking fountain near the pool by the restrooms. Evidently, I had not focused on making sure I was hydrated enough. After swimming around for about 30 minutes, I remembered feeling a little strange, but I more or less ignored it. By then all of the moms and the few children that had been at the pool were out of sight, back in their homes or at a nearby park.

I do not really remember when I passed out, but they say I must have fainted, blacked out completely, and I recall some cramping. I ended up being found floating in the water. One of the neighbor ladies had forgotten something at the pool and had come back to get it–a towel, book, or slippers–not sure now. She saw this body, thought I was dead, and called a local radio station to report my death as there was a reward of $100 dollars for the first one to report a death to this particular station. She then called her husband at work. He worked nearby and came immediately. Finally she called paramedics.

The neighbor man was an expert at CPR and was determined that though he could find no pulse, he was not going to give up. He kept working on me, and when the medics arrived, they were all working on me and eventually up came a ton of water and a faint pulse. By then the medics were there. They rushed me to a nearby hospital.

In the meantime someone at my wife’s work had heard an announcement on the local radio station that a man had died from drowning at our community, and when the lady heard my name, she rushed to tell my wife who then rushed home to find I was at the hospital alive.

They said I should have had some serious health issues from being under the water for an estimated 10-15 minutes. After being in the hospital for a week, I was discharged and have been fine, more or less, ever since. I am so very thankful that God spared me at that time and has given me many more years of life.

I  am so thankful the neighbor lady had forgotten an item at the pool. I’m certain I would NOT be here today. I believe it was Providential.

The Lord was not finished with me, and as I recall I’m not sure I was read then. I’m still a work in progress, but praise God, in His great love and mercy He has given me many more years to love and serve Him. I praise Him every day for the gift of life and I seek to do His will daily. My family and I long for Him to come soon and take us home. Are you anxious and ready to go, my friend?

Richard Burnett writes from the Pacific Northwest

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Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Answers for Me.

Overcoming Shame

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“Pop, do you want to sit with me for a bit?”

I’ve been asking my father this question since I was a kid. My father knows that what it really means is, “Can you sit down, rub my feet and tell me a story.” I’m 30 and it’s still one of my favorite parts of my visits to my parent’s house.

My father’s stories are often set in his hometown of Barahona, a small town on the southwestern coast of the Dominican Republic.

Today my father told me a story of shame.

At the age of seven, my father was tasked with earning a peso everyday for his family. He would leave his house at sunrise and set out to sell 50 pastelitos (a Dominican dish similar to a Mexican tamale) at 2 cents each around his hometown. Despite his age, he knew that his family desperately needed his financial contribution, so he would often skip school if he was unable to sell all of his pastelitos before the morning school bell rang. Sometimes my dad would go as much as a week without attending his classes.

In the evening, his classmates often asked him where he had been, but my dad would make up a story about an illness or visiting a relative. The truth was just too shameful to tell. He was sure that his friends would never associate with a street kid.

One day, after an unsuccessful morning, my father decided to skip school and try his luck at selling pastelitos on the other side of town. Unfortunately, to get there he had to pass by the schoolhouse, which he tried his best to pass unnoticed. Suddenly he heard, “Hey it’s Felipe! And he’s selling pastelitos!”

One of his classmates had seen him pass by the schoolhouse.

A lump formed in my father’s throat as he continued his walk to the other side of town. He didn’t know how he’d be able to face his friends again.

“Wait!” the same voice yelled out.

My father spun around and he saw his friends and classmates running towards him, coin purses in hand.

My father sold out of pastelitos that day and for many days after that.

Today my father told me a story of shame. I was reminded that shame is crippling and it can keep you away from the things you most need.

But I was also reminded that my Savior took my shame long ago and hung it on a cross. And when He sees me carry it, He calls out my name and He runs to me.

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him (John 3:17, NIV).

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Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Answers for Me.

The Gift of Life

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Sometimes we get so lost in our world that we don’t see God’s work around us but during creation He spoke and set life and beauty into motion.

I see this when the sun travels across the sky creating a giant kaleidoscope. When the sun overtakes the darkness, colors break forth and create sunrises. All through the day, the sun shifts light causing shadows to hide and reveal all that God has made. And when the sun descends into the earth, colors appear once again to testify of God.

I hear His handiwork in trees that whisper when the wind stirs its leaves and branches. Birds sing from dawn to dusk; each with its unique voice that mingles with the wind. Oceans ebb and flow, rivers and streams meander along hillsides, and mountains make their own melodies.

There is so much more that leaves me in awe: the smell of blossoms, the beauty of the heavens, and the whole animal kingdom. And when I look into a mirror, I see the marvel of the human mind and body at work.

Do you know what else amazes me? The process of how life produces life from a seed. It doesn’t matter if it is a flower, a blade of grass or a grove of apple trees. Once a seed is pushed into the soil, somehow the darkness, soil and water awaken life hidden inside. The seed gives its life and it is transformed into something more. Life bursts through the soil and into the light. We are given the gift of trees, flowers and food, and life continues to flow with the next seeds that are produced.

One other thought comes to mind when I consider the life and beauty that God has put into motion. Like a seed, Jesus left His kingdom so He could plunge into a dark world. He gave His life so that He could make a way for us to break through the darkness and live eternally in the light of God. Through His gift of life and beauty we can grow to be something more. It is through His gift, we come to understand that we are loved and valued. Now we can be a part of God’s plan to share His seed through our testimony so that others can find the life and beauty of God.

Pamela Williams writes from Southern California

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Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Answers for Me.

Smile Revolution

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Smiles are beautiful and brief experiences that take place so quickly we don’t think twice when they happen. Take a moment and watch children. They share their smiles beautifully and willingly; and if we aren’t careful, we might find ourselves caught in the moment and actually start to giggle or laugh with them. But as adults, we don’t smile so readily as children do. So, what about getting that smile together and sharing it with those around you? There are good reasons to do so.

When we smile we trigger neurotransmitters that help us to feel happy. According to a Psychology Today Blog, endorphins, dopamine and serotonin increase in our bodies and help us feel good. This may reduce stress and pain. Smiling may even help reduce blood pressure and heart rate. 1

Smiling helps us to look better and cheer our surroundings. If someone approaches us in a bad mood and we greet them with a smile, we will have a good chance of dissipating the bad attitude and perhaps get half of a smile out of the deal. After all, a warm and genuine smile can be contagious.

Smiling may help us in customer relations and friendships. Let’s say you have a job that requires you to sell couches to customers. When they see a genuine smile on your face, customers are more willing to enter into a business relationship with you rather than with those who do not smile. The same principle is at work when building healthy friendships.

Is a smile valuable? Researchers at Bangor University asked this same question. By using several economic formulas, they calculated that one smile is worth a little more than a third of a penny. That does not sound like a lot but if we smile frequently during conversations and in relationships, smiles can pay off in the long run. 2

So, what about dusting that smile off and test-driving it among family, friends, and co-workers? What about going into a room full of folks for the purpose of changing the atmosphere with a smile? Why not start a smile revolution.

Pamela A. Williams writes from Southern California.

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Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Answers for Me.

When I Am Tempted

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“Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”  – Mike Tyson

I like that quote. It may seem violent on the surface but it aptly sums up the human plight of temptation and our inability to deal with it on our own. I’m sure Mr. Tyson wasn’t even thinking about a spiritual application when he said this, but I’m going to go out on a limb and attempt one.

Dr. Loran Nordgren, a senior lecturer at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management in Chicago, ran a series of experiments that placed college students in “tempting situations” to smoke, eat junk food, or forgo studying. The research found that we often display what’s called a “restraint bias.” In other words, we tend to overestimate how much self-control we will have against temptation when we’re not in the “heat of the moment.”

Our “restraint bias” causes us to think that we can handle more temptation than we actually can. Dr. Nordgren warned that “Those who are most confident about their self-control are the most likely to give in to temptation.”* All of our well-laid plans on how we’re going to deal with life’s temptations, can very quickly evaporate into thin air if we’re attempting to fight the battle on our own…especially in the heat of the moment.

“No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; He’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; He’ll always be there to help you come through it” 1 Corinthians 10:13.

If I’m dealing with temptation that seems to get the better of me, there are a couple of things that help me to better position myself for victory:

1. I recognize that I’m not the only person who’s ever had the temptation that I’m struggling with. I’m not exactly sure why that seems to be strangely comforting to me, but it is. It means that I’m not alone. Others have walked the same road of temptation.

2. I don’t have what it takes to get past this on my own. I need help, and God has promised me that He’s already provided a way out. As difficult as this is for me to internalize sometimes, I choose to remember that it is God’s faithfulness that helps me deal…not my faithfulness.

I’ve proven to myself (over and over again), that I can be my own worst enemy when it comes to dealing with temptation, but my Creator has also proven that He always shows up to help me. Remembering this helps me move forward with faith and confidence.

Michael Temple writes from North Dakota.

The post When I Am Tempted appeared first on Answers for Me.

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Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Answers for Me.

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