Winning Words 11/8/10
“When God gives hard bread, he also gives sharp teeth.” (German Proverb) Not long ago, someone told me that they have some real questions to ask God about certain difficult situations that have happened in their life. Today’s proverb says that with the “hard” situations, God also gives a way of coping. The search goes on for that way. In your experience, has he given you “sharp teeth?” ;-) Jack

FROM AP IN MICHIGAN: This is another version of - He doesn't give you more than you can handle.

FROM PRJS IN MICHIGAN: When the Mongols appeared outside the walls of the Hungarian capital and prepared to massacre them did God send them? If so, what kind of "sharp teeth" were the Hungarians given??? FROM JACK: Paul probably wondered, too, about the difficulties in Corinth and about the problems that afflicted him. So when hard bread was put on his plate, he wrote: "For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?" (1 Cor 2:16)

FROM SH IN MICHIGAN: I have a friend who is going through a very tough situation. Practically, I can understand why things have turned out the way they did. Emotionally, I think she should have gotten what she wanted. Was it the Will of God? Now the crux of the matter is resting in the Church. Been through struggles like this a few times myself. Still I cower a bit at the difficulty of it all but, my experiences perhaps can help her in some way if my words are straight and loving and incisive. Lots of praying necessary. FROM JACK: Read again the story of Job. Or, as the old song puts it: Farther along we'll know all about it, Farther along we'll understand why; Cheer up my brother, live in the sunshine, We'll understand it all by and by.

FROM RS IN MICHIGAN: I was divorced at 26 with a 3yr old and a 6 yr old. Although I dated some, I was single for 21 years. During that time, my mother (I lost my dad in 1977) and I were almost constant companions. We traveled together and worked and played on her boat in the summer, I was the one who put her Christmas decorations up, etc. because I loved spending time with her. We were very very close. I met R in Oct of 2000 and my mother passed away in Oct of 2001. I wonder truthfully if I would have been able to cope with the loss without R. I am so grateful that he was able to get to know my mom quite well in the year we were all together often. I thank God daily for R, but especially the timing! FROM JACK: You know the taste of hard bread, don't you? You also have learned that sometimes it can be good for you. MORE FROM RS: Funny, it was very difficult at times, but I would not change a thing in my past difficulties. It has made me AND my children very resourceful and thankful for all that we have. They have needed very little assistance from me. When they do ask for something, I know it is needed, not wanted. I am very proud that my goal that they both graduate from college came to pass. Thank God for that too! Here’s another gift from God. TWICE I won $1000.00 on the radio when I was desperate for money to pay bills. I am very blessed that I am able to put things in God’s hands when I cannot do something myself in spite of my best efforts. It allows me to sleep at night without undue worry. Winning that money wasn’t just luck. Yet another story: My girls and I went out to get a Christmas tree one year and the prices had gone way up. The previous year I paid $40.00 and I knew I shouldn’t have spent that much, but we loved that tree. This particular year they went up to $65.00 for the Douglas firs that we loved. We discussed whether the girls felt it was important enough to get less gifts under the tree to get “THE” tree. Or should we get the 20.00 or 30.00 trees that weren’t what we liked as well. We all decided that, yes, the Christmas tree was very important to us the whole season. We went to the check out and it rang up $19.99. I told the girl that it was rung incorrectly. She called the manager over to correct the register. He looked at us, smiled, and said “This one is on sale today. I heard you discussing which tree to pick. I am glad it is marked wrong. Merry Christmas!” I got in my car and cried. I told my kids that it is so important to be honest. That leaving the store without paying the correct price is stealing. I told them that the holy spirit just answered another prayer. This was when they were in high school and it is a memory that we bring up and talk about every year! FROM JACK: Have you ever heard the song, "Angels Watching Over Me?" It is a beautiful Black Spiritual which tells about how God sends his angels to watch over us. No one knows who wrote the song, but it is believed to have originated in the southern part of the United States
during the days of slavery. The song goes like this:
All night, all day, Angels watching over me, my Lord.
All night, all day, Angels watching over me.
Sun is a-setting in the west; Angels watching over me, my Lord.
Sleep my child, take your rest; Angels watching over me.

FROM SG IN TAMPA: I hope so, but prayer is the bedrock. FROM JACK: Prayer sharpens the teeth, too.

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY: Absolutely! In some instances, I even got a root-canal! :-) I truly believe He got me through everything I have faced and will face. No doubt about it at all. Even though I falter and fail, He doesn't. What a blessing! FROM JACK: Root canals aren't so bad when you have an anesthetic.

FROM EMT SINGS IN MICHIGAN: Last night I returned home from MN where we had a second funeral last Monday for Mother and then drove the distance down to a very small town in southern MN where we buried her beside my Dad. I feel like I have had a very long and blessed journey with and for my Mother. I feel I was given very "sharp teeth" and feel very proud of having gone the whole distance. FROM JACK: It was a piece of cake to have had the privilege of caring for your mother in your own home. The "hard bread" times will recede with time as you continue to recall the "sweet" times.

FROM MOLINER CF: Sometimes I think God has a warped sense of humor. FROM JACK: He's "funny" that way. I like humor that has a purpose.

FROM PRPH IN MINNESOTA: we all got some incisors, i believe... FROM JACK: They're necessary for the knäckebröd.

FROM ED, TRAVELLING IN AFRICA, I THINK: Talk about sharp teeth! Ethiopian bread must be really hard :-)
FROM JACK: Curiosity got the better of me. I HAD to look up Ethiopian bread!! Injera is the Ethiopian staple bread (staple = a principal dietary item, such as flour, rice, or corn) its thin crepe like flat bread that the dishes such as Wots, Tibs and Fitfit are served on. To eat the dishes pieces of injera are torn off and used to scoop up mouthful. Injera is unique to Ethiopia, from its distinct taste and main ingredient the Teff cereal.
Teff is the tiniest cereal and used as a staple food only in Ethiopia (in other parts of the world its associated with common grass). Teff is believed to have originated in Ethiopia between 4000 and 1000 BC. Teff seeds were discovered in a pyramid thought to date back to 3359 BC. ....and now I know!

FROM MO IN ILLINOIS: I said to friends, when Bill was diagnosed with brain cancer (the less than 1% whose cancer originates in the brain...) that I was going to tell God ( Like Desi said so often to Lucy)i when I met him, "GOD, YOU'VE GOT SOME 'SPLAININ TO DO"!!! Such a compassionate, eloquent, witty, intelligent guy to have to die that way did not seem at all fair. Of course there is no good way, I suppose, but I was expecting him to drop of a heart attack suddenly and swiftly, since he had serious heart problems. But yes, we were all given the strength to deal with that, and the many other"bumps" that life presents along the way. I don't know how people without Faith, can deal with "bread" (symbolically) without those sharp teeth!! FROM JACK: When we are strong, we can be weak(ened) by disease). It is indeed hard bread. But, when we are weak, God makes us strong...and that's what faith is all about. Keep that faith!

FROM JK, TRAVELLING IN JAPAN: I am in Japan traveling for my employer and wanted to have a chance to write to say hello Good Morning / Good Evening! Hope this note finds you well. Regarding your note about G_d being faithful in different situations, I would say this is true. I try to perceiveremembrance them as 'stones of rememberance'; That is trail markers of faith on my journey with the Lord. Case in point; Last night we had a traditional Japanese meal with foods that I have never even seen before. It was great. FYI: It is much easier to pick up rice with chop sticks that is sticky or clumpy than not. I found that I gotten used to how much food per bite that I could get on a fork or spoon so that eating with chop sticks was more than a manual dexterity exercise :-) FROM JACK: The amazing interenet....today, a message from you in Japan ....and just before that, a message from a friend in Eithiopia. Both commented on food. I'm going to a
basketball game at Michigan State tonight and will probably have a hot dog and a coke.

FROM JN IN MICHIGAN: I don't really believe that God deliberately gave me hard bread to handle, but I credit him with the sharp teeth that helped me through those challenges. When Bud, my now-deceased husband was 32, I was 30, and our children were 6, 4, and 7 months, he had a near-fatal heart attack. Bud never asked "Why me?" and both of us thanked God for the recovery that was assisted by good medical care and which allowed him to live 28 more years before he had another real crisis. Following heart surgery for a
quadruple bypass at age 60, Bud suffered a severe stroke that left him with a paralyzed left side. Again, God blessed him with outstanding medical care, especially an exceptionally gifted physical therapist. With some difficulties, including more medical challenges, Bud lived an additional eight years that were filled with regular church attendance, a return to the Board of Trustees, trips to Florida and throughout Michigan, and enjoyable times with family and friends. We dealt with the hard bread and made the best of some difficult situations. I especially thank God for my father who taught me to "fight, don't flee." It never occurred to me that I couldn't deal with my husband's medical challenges. He had a need and I could supply that need.
FROM JACK: There is so much about life that we don't understand. If someone asks, "Why?" I don't pretend to have the answer. On occasion I've said that we are like children before God. In a family situation children often question their parents and ask, "Why?" They have a hard time understanding the adult point of view, because they have not yet been adults. Love and trust and persevere. I'll work out.

FROM PRAW IN ILLINOIS: And sometimes a little hot coffee to soak the bread in.