Finding Grace

“Shared By Carla”

 


”What could this possibly be?” I thought to myself.

 Why would someone place that sign so low? No one could 
read it.”

You see them everywhere. Small signs promoting yard 
sales, cars, and business opportunities are posted 
on poles and lobbies of stores throughout the community. 
So many, in fact, that they sometimes become a blur 
defeating the sole purpose of getting your attention.

Not this one. This one stood out because it appeared 
to be a mistake.

I had just arrived at the local shopping center and 
as I got out of my car I noticed a small sign taped 
to the first pole. The reason I noticed it was because 
it was taped to the very bottom of the pole.

At first I thought it had fallen, but at closer look 
I saw it had been very securely attached with several 
inches of masking tape. So much tape that it crossed 
over the middle of the sign blocking out some of the 
details.

I had to look closer and to see what they were selling 
and who would do such a silly thing.

“Ah, a house for sale. I guess this was an approach to 
grab your attention,” I said to a store clerk who was 
apparently taking a break and enjoying the fresh spring 
air.

“I don’t think so,” he replied.

“Well, why else would they have placed the sign way 
down here?” I asked.

Then, pointing down the walkway, he said, “That little 
girl is doing it. I just watched her and that lady hang 
this one.”

Stooping down, I glanced to where he was pointing and 
indeed saw several more signs.

Curiosity always gets the best of me and some of the 
most incredible stories to share with my readers. This 
one was sure to fall into that category.

I slowly approached them and waited until the young 
child wound another yard of tape around the last sign.

“Excuse me. I don’t mean to be rude, but why are you 
placing the house for sale signs so close to the 
ground?” I asked.

The woman smiled and turned to me. “She’s not selling 
the house. Look closer,” she said.

Again I stooped down adjusting my position until I 
could finally read the small print.

“We miss you!” I read out loud. I looked up and said, 
”I don’t get it! You miss the house?”

“Look closer,” the woman replied. “Look at the picture.”

Okay, now I am really on my hands and knees. People 
passing by must have thought I was foolish.

“Do you see the child?” the woman asked.

“Yes, I do.” I replied.

“Look to the left in front yard.”

Now adjusting my glasses and squinting I said, “The 
dog? Do you mean the dog?”

“Yes! Look at the very bottom of the sign.”

Now this was a test for sure.

“I miss you! Come home!”

I miss you come home? I didn’t understand. Fighting 
to regain my dignity, I stood up. I must have had 
that confused look on my face.

“Her dog is lost,” the woman explained.

“Most people would hang a lost sign with a picture 
of the dog on it. It would also be where people could 
actually see it,” I said with a chuckle.

“Well, you saw it,” the young girl said.

Good point.

I found myself distracted for a moment. This child 
had the most beautiful cherub-like face accented by 
short curly blonde hair that danced with every 
movement she made.

Just seeing her sky blue eyes twinkle with the 
innocence of her youthful spirit made me hesitate 
to ask for further explanation.

Thankfully, the woman filled me in.

“I explained to her that it may be hard to find her 
dog. As you can see the store has many signs posted. 
So she said that she had a better idea. She wanted her 
dog to find her. Thus the picture of the house, her 
and the dog,” she said.

“And hanging them down there…”

“You got it. So the dog could see it,” she said.

Then motioning me aside the woman whispered, “It’s 
been missing a few days now. We really thought it 
would be back already. I didn’t want to give up until 
she felt she did everything she could.”

My heart ached for the child as I tried to think of 
some way to help.

“What a great idea!” I said to her. Then I stooped 
down and said, “I will say a prayer. I’m going to give 
your mom my phone number. Call me when you and your dog 
are back together.”

I handed the woman one of my business cards. I had to 
know how this ended. “By the way, what’s your dog’s 
name in case I meet him in my travels?” I asked.

“It’s a girl dog,” the child said. “Her name is Grace.”

I looked to the woman and she confirmed.

“Yes, we named her that because that’s how we got her. 
She was lost. ‘Amazing Grace, I once was lost but now 
I’m found, ‘” the woman said smiling.

One week later my phone rang. The little girl called 
to tell me Grace came home.

Amazing!

 

By Bob Perks

I learned a ton from Jack Canfield in his “Ask Jack Canfield” Reserve your Call. If you see writing articles in your future Ask Jack Canfield to Reserve your Call in your future check him out, he really is a good teacher. ==>http://justclicknow.ca/AskJackCanfield

Teaching a “Life Lesson”

“Shared By Carla”

 

“Good character is more to be praised than outstanding talent. Most talents are, to some extent, a gift. Good character, by contrast, is not given to us. We have to build it, piece by piece – by thought, by choice, courage, and determination.”

That quote is from Coach Matt Labrum and is a memorization requirement for the 41 teenagers on his football team. There is more. Those 41 young men also have to document several hours of community service, show they are passing all their classes, and stay clear of any discipline issues at school. So is Coach Labrum trying to coach football or be a “character cop”? Hold on!

Coach Labrum is doing what more coaches, parents, teachers, and bosses should do in their positions of authority. He is making the point that – using his own words – things like playing football are a “privilege rather than a right.” And privileges bring responsibilities. They do not confer permission to swagger, cheat, bully, take advantage of success, or otherwise act like a knucklehead.

As background, you need to know that Coach Labrum had learned about some pretty ugly behavior by the members of his team at Union High School in Roosevelt, Utah. Some of the football players had been bullying a kid at their school. A campus culture among the football players had them skipping classes, being disrespectful toward their teachers, and being generally obnoxious. So on September 20, Labrum suspended the entire team and confiscated their jerseys.

Labrum did what parents sometimes do with four-year-olds. He put his players in time out. He took away their toy. He called off the remainder of the football season – if his players could not commit to and carry through on something more important than football. They had to become better people.

The “contract” Labrum and his staff offered team members the next day gave them the option of community service, counseling, and strict accountability. Playing football for him would no longer be anyone’s right. It would be a privilege earned by rigorous on-the-field drills and responsible off-the-field behavior.

One of the more encouraging things about this story is that school officials and parents have backed up the coach’s actions. A mother of one of the players involved probably said it best. “These boys are not going to be hurt by this,” she said. “It’s a good life lesson.”

Bud Selig has announced he is stepping down as the Commissioner of Major League Baseball. I nominate Matt Labrum for the position! Athletes from all sports who set such sorry examples of poor sportsmanship, use of PEDs or other banned substances, and shameless self-indulgence could use a life lesson too.

Learning to be a better person is far more valuable than a winning season.

By Rubel Shelly

 
I learned a ton from Jack Canfield in his “Jack Canfield Product Page” course. If you see writing articles in your future Jack Canfield Product Page Course in your future check him out, he really is a good teacher. ==>http://justclicknow.ca/JCProductPage

Good Decisions Start With a Stop

“Shared By Carla”

More often than we like, most of us face choices that can have serious and lasting impact on our lives. Do we go along with the crowd? Do we tell someone off, quit a job, or end a relationship? Unfortunately, these decisions are not preceded by a drum roll warning us that the stakes are high. Even worse, we often don’t have a lot of time to figure out what to do.

It’s no surprise that most bad decisions — the ones that mess up our lives — are made impulsively or without sufficient reflection.

Ancient proverbs tell us to “count to ten when you’re angry” or “think ahead.” But anger and lack of preplanning are only two factors that can impede excellent decision making. Fatigue, fear, frustration, stress, impatience, and emotions also create obstacles to wise choices.

Just as we learned to look both ways before we cross the street, we can learn to analyze every important decision-making situation to allow us to arrive at conclusions that are both effective and ethical.

Each decision, therefore, should start with a stop – a forced moment of reflection to help us clarify our goal, evaluate the completeness and credibility of our information, and devise an alternate strategy, if necessary, to achieve the best possible result. Stopping also allows us to muster our moral willpower to overcome temptations and emotions that could lead to a rash, foolish, or ill-considered decision.

While it’s great to have a day or two to sleep on a problem, or even a few hours, many situations don’t afford us that luxury. But a pause of even a few seconds can often be enough.

Remember, character counts.

By Michael Josephson

I learned a ton from Jack Canfield in his “Jack Canfield Home Page” course. If you see writing articles in your future Jack Canfield Home Page Course in your future check him out, he really is a good teacher. ==>http://justclicknow.ca/JackCanfieldHP

Better to Ask than Assume


“Shared By Carla”

The late Bill Love used to tell the story of a psychiatrist, engineer, and doctor who got lost in the Canadian woods. Stumbling on a trapper’s cabin but getting no response at the door, they went inside for shelter and waited for his return.

In the corner, on a crude platform at waist-high level, was a wood-burning stove. It quickly became not only the focus of interest for their half-frozen bodies but the center of their conversation as well.

The psychiatrist explained the stove’s unusual position as evidence of psychological problems brought on by isolation. The engineer, on the other hand, saw it as an ingenious form of forced-air heating. The physician surmised the poor fellow had arthritis and found it too painful to bend over to fuel his stove.

When the trapper finally arrived, they could not resist asking about the stove whose warmth had saved them. “Simple,” he said. “My stove pipe was too short.”

I wasn’t along for that hunting trip, but I’ve been where those guys were that day. I’ve tried to read someone’s mind. I’ve seen motives that weren’t there. I’ve walked into situations, caught a snippet of what was happening, and made a fool of myself by some badly chosen response. Or I’ve used a perfectly innocent slip of the tongue as my excuse to take offense. I can be a real jerk at times!

On occasion, the victim has been a stranger. At other times, it was a friend from church or colleague at work. Most often, it has been my wife or child.

Communication is a wonderful thing – when it happens. But there are so many barriers. Each of us brings baggage to every situation. Words can be vague or carry very different nuances for people from different backgrounds. Then there are the prejudices and blind spots all of us have.

Lots of confusion could be eliminated and far more progress made this week by following this simple rule: When something isn’t clear, ask. Don’t assume. Don’t guess. Don’t mind-read. Try swallowing your pride and say, “I’m not sure I understand. Do you mind explaining that to me?”

This simple strategy could save you embarrassment, time, and money. More important still, it might save one of your life’s most important relationships.

 

By Rubel Shelly

I learned a ton from Jeff Herring in his “3 Mistakes Free Template” course. If you see writing articles in your future 3 Mistakes Free Template Course in your future check him out, he really is a good teacher. ==>http://justclicknow.ca/11XIM4Q

Leadership

“Shared By Carla”

Listening to politicians’ nasty rhetoric, one might think that leadership has to be aggressive and confrontational, but consider this parable about leadership.

A student assigned to write an essay about an effective leader wrote this story:

“I’ve been taking a bus to school for years. Most passengers keep to themselves and no one ever talks to anyone else.

“About a year ago, an elderly man got on the bus and said loudly to the driver, ‘Good morning!’ Most people looked up, annoyed, and the bus driver just grunted. The next day the man got on at the same stop and again he said loudly, ‘Good morning!’ to the driver. Another grunt. By the fifth day, the driver relented and greeted the man with a semi-cheerful ‘Good morning!’ The man announced, ‘My name is Benny,’ and asked the driver, ‘What’s yours?’ The driver said his name was Ralph.

“That was the first time any of us heard the driver’s name and soon people began to talk to each other and say hello to Ralph and Benny. Soon Benny extended his cheerful ‘Good morning!’ to the whole bus. Within a few days his ‘Good morning!’ was returned by a whole bunch of ‘Good mornings’ and the entire bus seemed to be friendlier. People got to know each other.

“If a leader is someone who makes something happen, Benny was our leader in friendliness.

“A month ago, Benny didn’t get on the bus and we haven’t seen him since. Everyone began to ask about Benny and lots of people said he may have died. No one knew what to do and the bus got awful quiet again.

“So last week, I started to act like Benny and say, ‘Good morning!’ to everyone and they cheered up again. I guess I’m the leader now. I hope Benny comes back to see what he started.”

Remember, character counts.

By Michael Josephson

I learned a ton from Jeff Herring in his “Templates 5.0 Sales Page” course. If you see writing articles in your future Templates 5.0 Sales Page Course in your future check him out, he really is a good teacher. ==>http://justclicknow.ca/1bsZxeg

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