FReeper Canteen ~ Sunday Chapel ~ THE LOSER WHO NEVER GAVE UP ~ 17 May 2015

Serving The Best Troops and Veterans In The World !! | The Canteen Crew

[Kathy in Alaska]

 

 

 

THE LOSER WHO NEVER GAVE UP

For "Sparky", school was all but impossible. He failed every subject in the eighth grade. He flunked physics in high school, getting a grade of zero. He also flunked Latin, algebra and English. And his record in sports wasn't any better. Though he did manage to make the school's golf team, he promptly lost the only important match of the season. Oh, there was a consolation match; he lost that too.

Throughout his youth, Sparky was awkward socially. It wasn't that the other students disliked him; it's just that no one really cared all that much. In fact, Sparky was astonished if a classmate ever said hello to him outside of school hours. There's no way to tell how he might have done at dating. He never once asked a girl out in high school. He was too afraid of being turned down... or perhaps laughed at. Sparky was a loser. He, his classmates... everyone knew it. So he learned to live with it. He made up his mind early that if things were meant to work out, they would. Otherwise he would content himself with what appeared to be his inevitable mediocrity.

One thing WAS important to Sparky, however -- drawing. He was proud of his artwork. No one else appreciated it. But that didn't seem to matter to him. In his senior year of high school, he submitted some cartoons to the the yearbook. The editors rejected the concept. Despite this brush-off, Sparky was convinced of his ability. He even decided to become an artist.

So, after completing high school, Sparky wrote Walt Disney Studios. They asked for samples of his artwork. Despite careful preparation, it too was rejected....one more confirmation that he was a loser.

But Sparky still didn't give up. Instead, he decided to tell his own life's story in cartoons. The main character would be a little boy who symbolized the perpetual loser and chronic underachiever. You know him well...because Sparky's cartoon character went on to become a cultural phenomenon of sorts. People readily identified with this "lovable loser." He reminded people of the painful and embarrassing moments from their own past, of their pain and their shared humanity. The character soon became famous worldwide: "Charlie Brown." And Sparky, the boy whose many failures never kept him from trying, whose work was rejected again and again...is the highly successful cartoonist Charles Schultz. His cartoon strip, "Peanuts," continues to inspire books, T-shirts and Christmas specials, reminding us, as someone once commented, that life somehow finds a way for all of us, even the losers.

If you follow the comic strip for a while, you will begin to notice one other thing as well. It isn't anger, resentment or in-your-face sarcasm which fuels Schultz's creativity and resilience. It's his faith. In fact, one study of the comic strip, published several years ago, made precisely that point. It eventually became a popular book entitled, "The Gospel According To Peanuts."

Sparky's story reminds us of a very important principle in life. We all face difficulty and discouragement from time to time. We also have a choice in how we handle it. If we're persistent, if we hold fast to our faith, if we continue to develop the unique talents God has given us, who knows what can happen? We may end up with an insight and an ability to inspire that comes only through hardship. (Read Jeremiah 29:11 and Romans 8:28.) In the end, there are no "losers" with God. Some winners just take longer to develop!

CAPT J. David Atwater, CHC, USN

 

[Kathy in Alaska]

God Bless our military men and women who have given their all.

Thanks, unique.

[ConorMacNessa]

GOD BLESS AND PROTECT OUR TROOPS AND OUR BELOVED NATION!



"Herr, Lehre Doch Mich"
Johannes Brahms
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Baritone
(Click)

Please let me know by Freepmail if you would like
to be admitted to or released from my music pinglist.

[SkyDancer]

Hai - family hike tomorrow, maybe camp out until Monday. There’s a couple of trips in the offing, not settled yet. Sure wished I could have gotten the Johnny Depp flight,now that would have been something. I did get to meet John Travolta though. He’s a pilot, qualified in B747’s and has his own B707, was up at Boeing Field a while back.

[oldteen]

A very good evening to the Canteen. *hugs*

And, a Blessed Lord’s Day to all!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, Mayor, and a Blessed Lord’s Day to The Mayor family.

Thank you for today’s sustenance for body and soul.

Enjoying a sunny weekend? Resting?

[ConorMacNessa]

Good evening, Teenie!

*HUGS*

A Blessed Lord's Day to you as well!

[ConorMacNessa]

GOD BLESS AND PROTECT OUR TROOPS AND OUR BELOVED NATION!



TATTOO
(Click)

Must retire – an early Mass Call in the morning.



Lt. Vincent R. Cappadanno, CHC, USN (MOH)
Battalion Chaplain, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines
Stands The Watch Tonight!



"Do poor Tom some charity, whom the foul fiend vexes!"
(King Lear, Act III, Scene iv)



All Gave Some – Some Gave All!!!
(Click)

Good night, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America!

Godspeed our Troops around the Globe – especially those in harm’s way – by virtue of their service and sacrifice we continue to live in Freedom!

This is the Arabic character "nun" – the first letter of the word "Nazarene." I post it as my avatar in solidarity with people of all faiths suffering persecution at the hands of Islam. Many of them are members of the oldest of our Christian Communities, dating from the days of the Apostles. They endure cruel, merciless and unrelenting persecution. They are Orthodox and Catholic, Protestant and Evangelical, Coptic, Pentecostal, and Baptist. To the persecutors they, and we, are all "Nazarenes."

[PROCON]

Yo, teenie, twice in one week? What are you doing, stalking us?

Hope all is well with you; I've been watching a movie tonight, "Shooter", with Mark Wahlberg, action-packed and intense.

Whassup with you?

[oldteen]

Thank you, Conor.

Life been treating you well? The kids and wife all doing OK? I see you have a litter of kitties. Was that planned or did she ‘elope’?

[PROCON]

Mine!

[PROCON]

Mine!

[oldteen]

Yeah, twice. Kinda scary, eh?

All is well down here, I think. Nobody complainin’ and I don’t want to hear it even if they do so......

[luvie]

Providence~Mansion Robe and Crown.wma

Glad~Before the Throne Of God Above

Cathedrals~Thanks To Calvary.wma

Providence~O Come Angel Band

Bill Gaither/Velstal Goodman~The Lighthouse

The Trevecca Madrigalians~It Is Well With My Soul

The Imperials~Sweet, Sweet Spirit

[oldteen]

Howdy, Luvvy! *hugs*

Sunday Blessing sent your way.

The Lighthouse....one of my favorites!

[luvie]

Hey, there! Glad you enjoy it! Have a blessed Sunday! (((hugs)))

[TBP]

I remember hearing this from Paul Harvey a few years ago.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Welcome to the Canteen, TBP...a Blessed Lord’s Day to you and yours.

It’s such a good story about perseverance, it has to have been told more than once. Glad you got to hear it.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, oldteen, and a Blessed Lord’s Day to you and yours.

Any more rain?

It looked like it earlier today, but now the sky is blue.

[E.G.C.]

A very pleasant good Sunday morning to everyone at the Canteen and to all our military at home and abroad. Thanks for your service to our country.

((HUGS))Good morning, Ladies. Everyone here in Comanche OK is safe and sound. We were under a Tornado Warning last night and the power did go off for a time due to the winds but everyone is OK.

[left that other site]

Thank Goodness viruses are not spread through through the Internet...

((((HUGS))))

Oh...wait..viruses ARE spread through the Internet!