A young and successful executive was traveling down a neighborhood street, going a bit too fast in his new Jaguar.

He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something. As his car passed, no children appeared. Instead, a brick smashed into the Jag's side door!

He slammed on the brakes and backed the Jag back to the spot where the brick had been thrown.

The angry driver then jumped out of the car, grabbed the nearest kid and pushed him up against a parked car shouting, "What was that all about and who are you? Just what the heck are you doing? That's a new car and that brick you threw is going to cost a lot of money. Why did you do it?"

The young boy was apologetic.

"Please, mister... please, I'm sorry but I didn't know what else to do," He pleaded. "I threw the brick because no one else would stop... " With tears dripping down his face and off his chin, the youth pointed to a spot just around a parked car.

"It's my brother," he said. "He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can't lift him up."

Now sobbing, the boy asked the stunned executive, "Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He's hurt and he's too heavy for me."

Moved beyond words, the driver tried to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. He hurriedly lifted the handicapped boy back into the wheelchair, then took out a linen handkerchief and dabbed at the fresh scrapes and cuts.

A quick look told him everything was going to be okay.

"Thank you and may God bless you," the grateful child told the stranger.

Too shook up for words, the man simply watched the boy push his wheelchair-bound brother down the sidewalk toward their home. It was a long, slow walk back to the Jaguar.

The damage was very noticeable, but the driver never bothered to repair the dented side door. He kept the dent there to remind him of this message.

"Don't go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at you to get your attention!"

God whispers in our souls and speaks to our hearts. Sometimes when we don't have time to listen, He has to throw a brick at us.

It's our choice to listen or not.

was sitting at lunch today with a coworker, michele.  she's a friend who i hooked up with a job where i work and she started in january.  since then all she can do is complaign.  i told her going into this that it would be a lot of overtime.  she said she welcomed it all because she had just finished her divorce and needed the money right away.  she had been out of work for a while and had so many bills to pay off.

so of course today was another lunch where all michele could do was go off on what was wrong with her schedule.  how her blood pressure is up and it's probably the fault of work.  her kids are missing their ride to school and they can't apparently be responsible enough for themselves in order to take care of themselves before or after school while she's at work.

she actually was mouthing off so much that she said that if the hours don't get better in two weeks like her boss promised, she's going to tell her boss what for.  she's going to dictate when she can work and how much overtime she will do for the company.  and that's when it hit me.... bam.

michele puts her outside life first in her priorities.  me?  i put my work first.  i fit the rest of my life around work.  michele thinks she can tell her employer when she will work, and uses the system to her advantage by taking sick hours to run her personal errands.  on the other hand, i take all the hours i can get because i don't know when i'm going to get more, i take everything they throw at me and only use sick days when i absolutely have to such as a doctor's appointment or my first sick day in four years the other day.

i dunno...  we're in a right to work state.  they can fire you for your eyes being green.  i know partially why they aren't giving michele a hard time is because that department had a mass exodus of people and they are trying to keep on anyone they can.  and i don't know why i feel this way, but i feel hurt every time i hear michele complaign or watch her abuse the system.

and i seriously don't know what's up with michele's kids.  they are all 12ish, maybe 13 and above.  why can't these kids get themselves either to school or take care of themselves after school without her there?  (not both, just one or the other)  from first grade on, my mother went back to work and she was there for me in the mornings, but i took care of myself in the afternoon.  i figured out the buses, let myself in, fixed myself a snack, started my homework, watched t.v. or went to play outside.  from the age of 6 or 7!!!

but michele claims todays child is different.  it's such a different world out there, and her kids can't do that.  what if they were walking home and a stranger pulled up?  they can't ride the bus for whatever reason... oh blah blah blah. 

/end vent for now

Agatha Christie ~ Flashback to the opening of Agatha's Summer Home...

Back in February of 2009 CBC World News reported on the opening of Agatha Christie's Summer Home to the public after a nine million dollar restoration. 

The English holiday home where mystery writer Agatha Christie spent her summers and entertained guests with readings from her thrillers is seen in Galmpton, Devon, southwest England.(Mark Passmore, National Trust/Associated Press)______________________________________________

British author Agatha Christie's restored holiday home, where she entertained guests with readings from her bestselling mysteries, was slated to open to the public in March, 2009.

 "The greatest compliment I have received from volunteers to whom I have shown the house, and who have been working tirelessly with me throughout the project, is that it seems as if we have not changed anything at all," said Robyn Brown, property manager for the home, known as Greenway House.

Mathew Prichard, the author's grandson, said that the southwestern England house located near Dartmouth has been restored by craftsmen and volunteers over the past two years.

Christie purchased the home in 1938 and spent summers there through 1959.

The author's heirs gifted the house to the National Trust in 2000, but her daughter and son-in-law Rosalind and Anthony Hicks continued to use it as their home until their deaths in 2004 and 2005.

After their passing, Prichard added to the overall donation much of the contents of the house.

The home has undergone a $9.4 million Cdn restoration to return it to its 1950s-era condition, complete with period furniture, the family's collectibles, tapestries, pottery, artwork, books, papers, and even the types of chocolates and flowers the author laid out for friends and family.

Prior to the restoration, only the garden and a few other outdoor areas of the 278-acre estate were open to the public.

NEWS CREDIT:  February 24, 2009 | 11:38 AM ET

CBC News

Story prepared for Gather's Visiting the Classics Group. 

My dear wife Margaret is facing some serious health issues......

She has breathing, hearing, cataracts and heart problems.....

Therefore I have been to doctor after doctor......

My next visit is to a cardiologist for Margaret......

Would you be kind enough to say a prayer for her.....

Thanks so very much.....

Don.