Jack’s Winning Words 5/21/15
“Our children change us…whether they live or not.”  (Lois McMaster Bujold)  I wonder what influence my sister or I had on our parents.  I know that they influenced us.  I also know that my children have influenced me.  “Dad, you’re not wearing that, are you?”  People come into our life, and we are different because of them.  Recall their names!  I wonder, who influenced Gandhi, Mother Teresa, M.L. King Jr?  We’re all influenc-ees or influenc-ers.    ;-)  Jack

FROM BB IN ILLINOIS:  Great thoughts; remember Anna & the King & I? Getting to Know You? ====JACK:  Do we really know our parents?  Do our parents really know us?  Does anyone really know us?  Someone changed the children's song to..."Jesus knows me, this I love."

FROM TAMPA SHIRL:  I cannot imagine how boring life would be without children. There have been so many people who have influenced my life.  Life is a blessing.====JACK:  Some people I know had some behavioral problems with their adopted children.  "...and we asked for this?"  Today, those children (and grandchildren) are a real blessing in their life.  God is good.

FROM EDUCATOR PAUL:  Have you ever listened to "The Moth Chronicles"?  There is a very cute story involving Mother Teresa!====JACK:  Thanks for introducing me to a site that I hadn't heard of before.

 FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  We look at the world differently when we see it through the eyes of our children and grandchildren.====JACK:  Don't forget the eyes of parents and grandparents.  I just had one grandmother, but she influenced me.  I remember seeing her, in her 90s, sitting in a rocking chair, reading her Bible with a magnifying glass.  I was fortunate to be able to conduct her funeral, just after I was ordained.  Doing the service with me was another grandson (my cousin) who was a Catholic priest.

FROM TARMART REV:  Especially those we have pastored over our many years, Jack . . . we were loved, liked or tolerated by them-- they influenced our lives to one degree or another . . . I try to chalk it up as God influencing our lives through them.====JACK:    I have especially appreciated the opportunity to teach many confirmation students, 7th, 8th and 9th grade.  As they learned from me, so I also learned from them.====REV:  That is really the wisdom of my daily post...if no other person read the devotional, the discipline of me preparing each one causes me to research, meditate and formulate what I have constructed...the process  educates me in Scriptural substances...I used to joke with my Methodist pastor friend when he studied for his one weekly sermon while I prepared for two sermons and two Bible studies each week (the tradition of that time in A G churches) it kept me more so in the Word...his comeback was he got it right the first time and didn't need to go through four exercises for him to get it straight.

FROM ST. PAUL IN ST. PAUL:  good words to reflect on today.  thanks.    a friend likes to say, you can go thru life as a grape or a marble.  marbles do not impact each other.  but grapes do. ====JACK:  There are pastoral colleagues who impact us, and you are one.  Thank you.

FROM PEPPERMINT MARY:  i just graduated a group of preschoolers off to kindergarten.  children have changed me for the better...my own and those gifted to me each year.  they keep me honest and humbled.====JACK:  You're simply following in the footsteps of your mother.  Were there footsteps that she followed?

FROM BLAZING OAKS:  MY FOUR CHILDREN ARE, AND I THINK ALWAYS HAVE BEEN THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF MY LIFE....WHAT A BLESSING TO HAVE A LOVING FAMILY, AND DEVOTED GRANDKIDS, AND NOW "GREATS" AS WELL!!  AND YES MY KIDS HAVE CERTAINLY INFLUENCED ME; SARAH, WITH HEALTHY FOOD AND VITAMIN CHOICES, AND THE BOYS IN VARIOUS WAYS. THEY ALL LEARNED A LOT FROM BILL WHO WAS THE WISE NURTURER!  I LOVED TEACHING, AND ACTING, AND BEING A PASTOR'S WIFE, BUT HAVING A FAMILY BRINGS ME THE MOST SATISFACTION!====JACK:  You seem to have found your niche.