Sleep!

Finally, last night I fell asleep around midnight and so did the little guy here! I did wake up about 2:30 as I had to go use the bathroom but fortunately, it didn't wake me up enough that I couldn't fall back to sleep afterwards, which is usually what happens. Maybe it was a combination of factors at play there, one being that I'd only been asleep for a little over 2 hours whereas normally, this mid-sleep wake-up usually happens after about 3 1/2 to 4 hours of sleep and two, perhaps it was also because I'd been operating all day Friday on a minimum of about four hours of sleep total. Anyway, whatever the reason, I went back to sleep and woke up then around 7 a.m. feeling pretty refreshed, actually.

However, and of course, you know there has to be a catch to everything that seems to be working on the decent side, certain other elements of my system decided to pay no attention to the fact I was awake, fairly well-rested and all as they decided to act up - my stomach was just out of sync the better part of the day - not sick exactly, but not feeling right with different aches and pains and such. By 2 p.m., I headed for my bed to lay down as my stomach and abdomen were really annoying me, figured if I lay down a while, maybe grab a quick nap too, a little more rest of the body wouldn't hurt a thing. And I think that helped too because now, the tummy still isn't up to par exactly but it's not feeling as achy as it was this morning so that's progress.

In checking my e-mail today, I received several neat nifty things from my good friend and also, just happens to be my son's Godfather - good old Theo down in Tampa Bay area. He's got a really great sense of humor and is really a master of puns, "all things punny" should be by his name. Well today, he sent me three really comical videos along with a story. I decided the story he sent was worthy of being shared though so I've copied it over and will post it here. You can then decide for yourself if it was a good story or not.

A seminary professor was vacationing with his wife in Gatlinburg, TN. One morning, they were eating breakfast at a little restaurant, hoping to enjoy a quiet, family meal. While they were waiting for their food, they noticed a distinguished looking, white-haired man moving from table to table, visiting with the guests. The professor leaned over and >whispered to his wife, "I hope he doesn't come over here." But sure enough, the man did come over to their table.

"Where are you folks from?" he asked in a friendly voice.

"Oklahoma," they answered.

"Great to have you here in Tennessee," the stranger said. "What do you do for a living?"

"I teach at a seminary," he replied.

"Oh, so you teach preachers how to preach, do you? Well, I've got a really great story for you." And with that, the gentleman pulled up a chair and sat down at the table with the couple.

The professor groaned and thought to himself, "Great ... Just what I need ...another preacher story!"

The man started, "See that mountain over there? (pointing out the restaurant window). Not far from the base of that mountain, there was a boy born to an unwed mother. He had a hard time growing up, because every place he went, he was always asked the same question, 'Hey boy, Who's your daddy?' Whether he was at school, in the grocery store or drug store, people would ask the same question, 'Who's your daddy?'

He would hide at recess and lunchtime from other sudents. He would avoid going into stores because that question hurt him so bad. "When he was about 12 years old, a new preacher came to his church. He would always go in late and slip out early to avoid hearing the question, 'Who's your daddy?'

But one day, the new preacher said the benediction so fast he got caught and had to walk out with the crowd.

Just about the time he got to the back door, the new preacher, not knowing anything about him, put his hand on his shoulder and asked him, Son, who's your daddy?

The whole church got deathly quiet. He could feel every eye in the church looking at him. Now everyone would finally know the answer to the question, 'Who's your daddy?'

"This new preacher, though, sensed the situation around him and using discernment that only the Holy Spirit could give, said the following to that scared little boy.. "Wait a minute! I know who you are! I see the family resemblance now. You are a child of God."

With that he patted the boy on his shoulder and said, "Boy, you've got a great inheritance. Go and claim it."

"With that, the boy smiled for the first time in a long time and walked out the door a changed person. He was never the same again. Whenever anybody asked him, 'Who's your Daddy?' he'd just tell them, 'I'm a Child of God.'"

The distinguished gentleman got up from the table and said, "Isn't that a great story?"

The professor responded that it really was a great story!

As the man turned to leave, he said, "You know, if that new preacher hadn't told me that I was one of God's children, I probably never would have amounted to anything!" And he walked away.

The seminary professor and his wife were stunned. He called the waitress over & asked her, "Do you know who that man was -- the one who just left that was sitting at our table?"

The waitress grinned and said, "Of course. Everybody here knows him. That's Ben Hooper. He's the former governor of Tennessee!"

Someone in your life today needs a reminder that they're one of God's children!

"The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of God stands forever." ~~Isaiah

YOU'RE ONE OF GOD'S CHILDREN!!! HAVE A GREAT DAY!


Now, aren't you glad you just read that? I think that's a message we all could use at least from time to time - better yet, copy and print it out, put it someplace where you can see it everyday as a nice reminder that each is special, that each of us, well we're all one of God's children!

It's quiet here this afternoon and will remain that way till later this evening too. A friend of Mandy's asked her if she and her kids could take Maya and Kurtis to their house for the afternoon and evening. The timing for that mini-vacation for them (and me) couldn't be better. It will allow me the luxury of being able to follow the Penn State game with Notre Dame this evening then. All I have to do now is try to figure out if the game is actually going to be telecast over our cable system. I can't find it listed anywhere in the tv guide section of the newspaper though so, with my luck, I suppose it won't be broadcast in this region.

I fell asleep trying to find a channel with the Penn State game on and woke up about 8 p.m. and voila, there was the game on one of the Sports networks. Of course, you know I had to have missed a good bit of the game which apparently has been a really exciting one too cause the score right now is Penn State, 24 and Notre Dame, 10.

Once again, just my luck! But, at least at the moment, Penn State's luck is holding good. Let's hope it continues in that direction.

WE ARE! PENN STATE!