Silly Old Bear

I remember as a child hearing someone tell a joke (and probably repeating it myself) that went something like this:

• “What do you call a kid with no arms and no legs?”
• Answer: “First Base!”

Nick Vujicic (pronounced Voy-a-chich) probably heard lots of jokes like that growing up. Nick was born in December of 1982 in Melbourne, Australia. He was a healthy, happy, beautiful baby. There was just one problem. Nick was born with no arms and no legs. He was the kid we all joked about in third grade. Except, when it’s real, it’s not very funny at all.

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I have never been a huge fan of Reggae music. To be honest, though, I’ve never really given it much of a chance.

I was eating lunch with my good friend Zach yesterday, and the conversation turned to music. Zach is a big fan of Reggae music, and Bob Marley is his favorite artist in the genre. So I asked Zach what his favorite song is, and he quickly replied, “Three Little Birds”. I told Zach I was going to go home and find that song on the Internet and listen to it.

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Have you ever wondered if God is really there; if He is really listening to you when you pour out your heart to Him in prayer?

Has it ever gotten to the point that it seemed like He wasn’t there, or like He just didn’t even care?

Have you ever found yourself asking that question – “Where are you, God?” – desperately wanting to hear His gentle voice whisper, “Don’t worry; I’m right here”?

If you have ever experienced the loneliness of not feeling God’s presence – of not being able to find Him, or feel Him, or sense His closeness – you are not alone.

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What would you do if you were born without eyes, and with a tightening of the joints that prevented you from being able to straighten your arms and legs? Would you feel sorry for yourself? Would you consider yourself “disabled”? Life would certainly come with a greater level of difficulty.

I can’t even imagine being unable to see or walk. Yet, that’s exactly the situation in which Patrick Henry Hughes has found himself since the day he was born. However, when asked, “How would you describe your disabilities?”, Patrick just smiles really big and responds, “Not disabilities at all; more abilities.”

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About four months after Ashley died, Susan and Justin and I took a trip from our home in Texas to visit some friends in Tennessee and then spend a few days in the Great Smoky Mountains. Driving late at night, somewhere between Memphis and Nashville, the idea for a song began growing in my head. It was a tribute to the remarkable life of my Ashley, her profound impact on our lives as her family, and the deep emptiness left in our hearts by her death. But even amidst the palpable sadness of our grief, I found my thoughts, and the emerging song, focusing on the hope that is inherent in my faith — the promise that, one day, we will see her and hold her once again.

The more we drove, the more the song grew and began to organize itself into verses and a chorus. I asked Susan to find some paper and a pen and start writing down the words so that I wouldn’t forget them. I drove and Susan wrote, and by the time we reached Nashville, “Until Then” was a song.

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[PART 3 OF 4]

In the previous article, we looked at the Parable of the Prodigal Son from the perspective of the father in the parable. In this article, we will re-examine the parable from the perspective of the prodigal son himself.

Go ahead and read through the parable again by clicking on the picture of the Bible to the right. Then come back here and continue reading.

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[PART 2 OF 4]

Over the course of the next few posts, we will be exploring the Parable of the Prodigal Son from three different perspectives:

1. The perspective of the father
2. The perspective of the prodigal son
3. The perspective of the older brother

Go ahead and read through the parable again by clicking on the picture of the Bible to the right. Then come back here and continue reading.

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