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蓝蓝 发表于 2007-9-21 18:45

A FATHERS HAND: Inspirational stories




                                    
         
        
        



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A Mother's Story: <br><br>

My son Gilbert was eight years old and had been in Cub Scouts only a

short time.  During one of his meetings he was handed a sheet of paper,

a block of wood and four tires and told to return home and give all to

"dad."<br><br>



That was not an easy task for Gilbert to do.  Dad was not receptive to

doing things with his son.  But Gilbert tried.  Dad read the paper and

scoffed at the idea of making a pine wood derby car with his young, eager son.<br><br>



The block of wood remained untouched as the weeks passed.   Finally,

mom stepped in to see if I could figure this all out.  The project

began.  Having no carpentry skills, I decided it would be best if I

simply read the directions and let Gilbert do the work.  

And he did.  I read aloud the measurements,

the rules of what we could do and what we couldn't do.<br><br>



Within days his block of wood was turning into a pine wood derby car.  A

little lopsided, but looking great (at least through the eyes of mom).

Gilbert had not seen any of the other kids cars and was feeling pretty

proud of his "Blue Lightning," the pride that comes with knowing you did

something on your own.<br><br>



Then the big night came.  With his blue pine wood derby in his hand and

pride in his heart we headed to the big race.  Once there my little

one's pride turned to humility.  Gilbert's car was obviously the only

car made entirely on his own.  All the other cars were a father-son

partnership, with cool paint jobs and sleek body styles made for speed.<br><br>



A few of the boys giggled as they looked at Gilbert's, lopsided,

wobbly, unattractive vehicle.  To add to the humility, Gilbert was the

only boy without a man at his side.  A couple

of the boys who were from single parent homes at least had an uncle or

grandfather by their side, Gilbert had "mom."<br><br>



As the race began it was done in elimination fashion.  You kept racing

as long as you were the winner.  One by one the cars raced down the

finely sanded ramp.  Finally it was between Gilbert and the sleekest,

fastest looking car there.  As the last race was about to begin, my wide

eyed, shy, eight year old ask if they could stop the race for a minute,

because he wanted to pray.  The race stopped.<br><br>



Gilbert hit his knees clutching his funny looking block of wood between

his hands.  With a wrinkled brow he set to converse with his Father. He

prayed in earnest for a very long minute and a half.  Then he stood,

smile on his face and announced, 'Okay, I am ready."<br><br>



As the crowd cheered, a boy named Tommy stood with his father as their

car sped down the ramp.  Gilbert stood with his Father within his heart

and watched his block of wood wobble down the ramp with surprisingly

great speed and rushed over the finish line a fraction of a second

before Tommy's car.<br><br>



Gilbert leaped into the air with a loud "Thank you" as the crowd roared

in approval.  The Scout Master came up to Gilbert with microphone in

hand and asked the obvious question, "So you prayed to win, huh,

Gilbert?"



To which my young son answered, "Oh, no sir.  That wouldn't be fair to

ask God to help you beat someone else.  I just asked Him to make it so I

don't cry when I lose."<br><br>



Children seem to have a wisdom far beyond us.  Gilbert didn't ask God

to win the race, he didn't ask God to fix the out come.  Gilbert asked

God to give him strength in the outcome.  When Gilbert first saw the

other cars he didn't cry out to God, "No fair, they had a fathers help."

  No, he went to his Father for strength.<br><br>



Perhaps we spend too much of our prayer time asking God to rig the

race, to make us number one, or too much time asking God to remove us

from the struggle, when we should be seeking God's strength to get

through the struggle.



"I can do everything through Him who gives me strength."<br>

Philippians 4:13.<br><br>



Gilbert's simple prayer spoke volumes to those present that night. He

never doubted that God would indeed answer his request.  He didn't pray

to win, thus hurt someone else, he prayed that God supply the grace to

lose with dignity.  Gilbert, by his stopping the race to speak to his

Father also showed the crowd that he wasn't there without a "dad," but

His Father

was most definitely there with him.  Yes, Gilbert walked away a winner

that night, with his Father at his side.














        
         
         
         
        
        
         
            


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