The Three Minute Grandparent

9/11 - The day we saw the violence invade our country. We watched the bombings in other countries and flinched. We hurt for others who endured atrocities. We prayed for people "over there" who were hurt by the selfish actions of a few. We hoped and prayed that it never happened to us....on September 11, 2001, it DID happen to us. The violence and pain all came home to us. We experienced the hurt and we were changed forever. We will remember our countrymen and women who died. Innocence is gone forever and watchfulness is a part of our lives. We will forgive because we live in a global community but can we trust? Probably not. We will learn to love our neighbor with eyes wide open. Everything has changed and most of all, we have changed.

Someone was crying, my grandparent senses told me.  Immediately, I began looking, trying to zero in on the location.  The crying was coming from a young child who was obviously not in pain, but rather not receiving all that was needed for happiness.  After turning a corner, my eyes lit on a group of children and the guilty one immediately stood out.  The Wal-Mart cart contained groceries for a family plus it had 3 children inside and one riding the bumper.  It was obvious, the youngest one in the cart wanted to ride the bumper with the oldest, and was telling the world of her discomfort.  Nothing wrong with that…she wanted what was not possible and was sharing her thoughts in the only way available at the time.  I laughed then empathized with the harried Mom who merely wanted to shop, get home, cook dinner, bathe kids, cover them in bed and have a few quiet moments before the process starts again in 9 hours. Crying is a natural process of life, allo...

The Three Minute Grandparent: None Other Name Teaching others was nothing new; sharing new ideas with interested people was also a part of life.  Getting called on the carpet for sharing personal beliefs, now that was new and uncalled for to him.  He had just helped someone and everyone around was happy and pleased with his work.  He had just been asked why he was doing all of these good deeds and about his motivation, when the law showed up.  Arrested and taken to a meeting of leaders, he found himself in the middle of a circle, a circle of accusation. Questions were hurled at him as the leaders grew more and more angry. Peter responded with “ Salvation comes no other way; no other name has been or will be given to us by which we can be saved, only this one.” (Acts 4:12, The Message) The leaders were angry with Peter and John and their teaching that Jesus was The Messiah and The Only way to God and Salvation.  This is still unpopular in an age where eve...