FReeper Canteen ~ Sunday Chapel ~ GOLDEN MOMENTS ~ 12 August 2018

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

[Kathy in Alaska]

 

 

 

GOLDEN MOMENTS

Once upon a time, there was a little boy from "the wrong side of the tracks" who grew up admiring a beautiful house high on the hill overlooking his town. Fortunately, he never lacked for any of the necessities of life, but he hated being "poor." He noticed that people treated him differently, and it pained him to see his parents work so hard just to make ends meet. It just didn't seem right that some should be so favored and others should have so little. But his parents has instilled some rather clear "core values" in their son so that he grew up honest, persistent and a hard worker.

All the while, the boy kept looking up at that big old house on the hill. He noticed that, when the sun came up each morning, the windows seemed to turn to gold. And after a while, that house came to symbolize all that he had missed by growing up a "disadvantaged child." (He heard his counselor at school describe him that way once.) So, year after year, he grew more and more determined. Someday, he resolved, he would own that house with windows of shining gold! And life would be good.

After a while people began to take notice that the young man worked hard, learned quickly, and could be trusted with responsibility. They nodded their heads in approval, and reckoned that he would go far. Meanwhile, he just kept working... and looking up the hill.

Years passed. The boy grew to be a man. And those painful lessons of his youth, learned through years of sacrifice and self-denial, served him well. He developed a keen sense for business. And a heart of compassion for those less fortunate. He seized each new opportunity for advancement, saved his profits, and invested wisely. Before long, his ventures began to succeed beyond even his wildest imagination. And so it was that he finally realized his dream. He bought that house high on the hill. The one with the windows of shining gold he had admired so long.

But a strange thing happened as he walked through his new home that first time. Oh, he wasn't disappointed. It was a beautiful house...perhaps even more than he had realized. The rooms were large, the furnishings he had chosen were magnificent, and the view was spectacular. But as he looked down the hill toward the town, it was late afternoon, and the sun had begun to set in the west. Suddenly he spotted his boyhood home. And every window was gleaming like the brightest gold!

Can the destination be reached without the journey? Could this man have fully appreciated his status without the struggle? Or was that struggle really a "gift" in disguise, as much as health or opportunity or natural ability? Were there blessings he could have enjoyed all along? You decide.

And what about our journey...yours and mine? What struggles have stimulated our growth and development? How has pain and hardship been part of a process to make us stronger or better or more open to God? Could that be part of the reason the Bible tells us to "give thanks in all things"?

In his book, Invisible Lines of Connection, Rabbi Lawrence Kushner writes that, "The closer we are to what is happening, the more we believe we are in complete control. The farther away we get, the more we are willing to acknowledge the participation of something greater." May God guide us as we ponder, and discover His leading in our lives, and give thanks."

CAPT J. David Atwater, CHC, USN

 

[radu]

Yes, it’s always nice to finish a piece, especially the ones that are really dirty. It’s a shame they’ve sat around in the buildings in MS so long and gotten so dirty.

Labor of love, yes, with love being the key word. And knowing these uniforms and items will be on display for others to see and appreciate makes it worth the heebie jeebies of running across spider webs and little dead spider bodies. LOL

[luvie]

Kind of fun to get to see something besides uniforms, huh! Lotsa stuff to look at, clean and think about. :)

[E.G.C.]

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

How's everyone doing this morning?

[luvie]

Howdy, EGC! (((hugs)))

Caught me right before I need to leave and get sleep.

Hope you and Gizmo had fun at the lake today! Did he play hide-n-seek today?

[E.G.C.]

There were quite a few people out there yesterday. We’ll see how things go today. There’s rain in the forecast.

[radu]

Yes, it is nice to work on something different after all these months. There’s been a wide variety of uniforms so that really hasn’t been boring. But it’s nice getting a close look at some of the other types of things that will be on display. There are so many things already on the floor that I haven’t had time to soak it all in. Time wandering through is time I’m not getting work done.
One day ......

[radu]

Howdy, E.G.C. *HUGZ*

Is the weather behaving so you and Gizmo can get out to the lake for your daily romps?

[E.G.C.]

The weather behaved yesterday. There were quite a few people out there.

We have rain in the forecast today so we'll see what happens.

[radu]

Glad you two were able to get out for some fun. Maybe the rain will hold off long enough to do it again today.

It sounds like we’re having similar weather. It was nice here yesterday and there’s a chance for rain today. If it holds up, there’s a batch with thunderstorms bearing down on us now.

[left that other site]

It was rainy and 68 degrees all day yesterday...and it felt chilly! LOL!

[PROCON]

Very cool museum pics, most of that equipment is WWII era, I’ll bet they smell funky.

[Silentgypsy]

Great post—thank you!

[radu]

Glad you enjoyed the pix. I figured a lot of it was WWII era. I’m getting better at identifying items from that era and Korea but have a LOT to learn yet. Not only the war eras but the years between the different wars. Constant change. But what a cool way to learn!

Believe it or not, there’s no funky smell other than an occasional piece smelling a little musty. Everything had plenty of time to air out while sitting in the buildings in Tupelo.

[larryjohnson]

My father, a Lutheran minister, included the gold windows story in a sermon when I was a kid over 70 years ago. I never forgot it, but not word for word.
I am a day late replying as yesterday I flew from florida to Maine.
Larry

[Kathy in Alaska]

A little late....

radu.....#50!!