Friday the 13th!

Oh no it is Friday the 13^th! What shall I do, stay in bed all day and don’t do anything. Some people believe 13 is a number of bad luck. There are hotels without a room number 13 or even a 13^th floor. At a naval trainings camp I discovered there was now training sloop number 13. The numbering went from 12 to 14. Some people don’t want to be in a party of 13 persons. It has to be 12 or 14.

When the 13^th day of a month is on a Friday it is even worse for some people. They think Friday 13^th is a day of bad luck. Only a few weddings take place. People don’t move to another house. Buy a house or sign a new contract. You don’t visit a doctor or dentist on that day.

Not every one thinks about 13 as a number of bad luck. Look at the United States of America. They started with 13 states. When you look at the Seal of the USA. You see 13 stars of glory above the eagle’s head, 13 stripes on the shield. One talon contains 13 arrows and the other talon contains an olive branch with 13 leaves and 13 olives. The number 13 pointing to the first 13 states.

Some time ago my sister had her 39^th birthday. She sent invitations with the text. On Friday 13^th I will become 3 x 13. You are all invited, who dares to come and celebrate with me. It was a great birthday party. My great and beloved wife was born on the 13^th.

Did you know, the people of Israel walked around the city of Jericho 13 times. Then the city walls were tumbling down. (Joshua 6). Because of the intercession of Queen Esther, the people of Israel were allowed to defend themselves against their attackers on the 13^th of the 12^th month. Jesus choose 12 disciples and they traveled as a company of 13.

To me, Friday 13^th is a new day created by God. I am looking forward what He is going to do on this glorious day.

Success

Individual success hinges on surrounding yourself with the right people, tools and solutions.

This quote in a commercial hit me. Who would be the right and the best person to have as a friend and coach?
I think Jesus Christ. He claims to be the Way, the Truth and the Life. Through Him you can reach His Father as well. Killing two birds with one stone.

Big Bob

On the other site of the camping ground stays Bob. He is a very nice and friendly person. Everything about Bob is large, except his wife, she is nice woman with a lovely slim figure. Bob is six feet something and has a respectable size. Bob stays with his wife and two kids in a giant caravan.  It is over twenty-five feet long. He barbecues on a huge outdoor kitchen. As a hobby, he rides a big heavy motorbike.  And he owns a big 4 wheel drive Jeep to pull this massive caravan.

Every weekend, when the family arrives, Bob set up a long aerial. At the end of the weekend when they go home, the aerial is taken down and put away. One Saturday afternoon, this aerial was taken down. He was extending it with an extra 6 feet. “You want to receive more TV Channels?” I asked Bob. “No no.” he replied. “I am a radio amateur. My range is a bigger now”

Bob invites me in his caravan and shows me his radio equipment.  I can receive or transmit radio signals with the aerial. With the equipment, I search for other radio amateurs and try to make contact with them. Then we chat with each other about various things. Yesterday, I had made contact with a chap in Djakarta! That is on the other side of the globe.

Bob tells me, he has very modern equipment, but the way of sending and receiving is the same as always. The atmosphere is like a mirror for the radio waves. The radio waves bounce between the earth and the atmosphere around the globe. Therefore, you send and receive signals from all over the world. Today, people use internet and text messages to communicate with each other. It is all digital and by communication satellites. No, I don’t like that. I prefer radio waves through the atmosphere. That is the real thing, according to Bob.

Funny, I realize Bob is searching the atmosphere in a similar way my Father does already for ages.

The eyes of the Lord go around the whole earth to offer help to everyone that loves Him.  (2Ch 16:9)

Do you allow the Father to make contact with you?

Peeling Peanuts

With a nice big lob, one of my colleagues threw a huge bag of peanuts on the table.  Within a minute, all the adult guys were peeling peanuts like a bunch of little monkeys.  After the meeting, the table was one big mess of peanuts and shells. Nevertheless, we had a very nice meeting.

I have always been very fond of peanuts. It remembers me also, what happens when I was a kid.

Every weekend my Mum bought a big bag of peanuts. On the Sunday afternoon, we played cards for peanuts. The winner is the one who got the biggest amount of peanuts. Then we put them all on a heap and we eat them all.  Sitting around the dinner table peeling and eating peanuts.

One Sunday morning, Mum and Dad went to church and we stayed at home. After a while, we got a little bored and a little hungry. We started to peel and eat a few peanuts. You want notice it if you only take a few. We eat a little more and some more.  Before we realised it we finished already half of the bag.

At that moment, Mum and Dad were coming up the drive.

Immediately we put the peanuts back into the cupboard. Oh boy, what do we do with the shells? We could never make it in time to the kitchen.  I lifted the carpet and my sister moved all the peanut shells from the table onto the floor.  I laid the carpet back on its place and that is it. Naïve as we were as kids.

The moment Mum and Dad entered the room they knew something is not right, but they did say anything and started to make coffee. Then Mum stepped on the bump of peanut shells. We could not hide it anymore and we had to tell what we did.  Of course, we had to clean the mess and promised not to do such a thing again. After lunch, Dad said. “OK what happened is gone and we never talk about it again. Let’s play cards.”

My Dad showed me the difference between veil the shells under the carpet or throw a veil over it.

We had to tell the story and clean the mess, before Dad was able to throw a veil over it.

What about your live? Are there some shells you try to veil under the carpet?  Clean up the mess, before it is too late and your heavenly Father will never think or talk about it.

Rose Ann would you marry me?

Every night, I walk a round with the dog through a little park between some block of flats. One night, there were two lads having great fun in the middle of this park.

There was a huge banner spread out on the footpath, with letters of at least six feet high. The outlines were drawn and the text said ROSE ANN WOULD YOU MARRY ME?  The two lads were filling in the letters with black paint.  So I asked the lads why they were  making such a big banner.

It turns out that one of the boys was making a hot air balloon trip with his girlfriend. Once they are in the air, the other one will spread out this banner on the ground.  When they look down from the balloon, the banner must be readable.  Finishing my round I thought.  These young guys are not worried at all. Everybody in the blocks around could read that he wants to marry Rose Ann. He loves her and be with her for the rest of his live.

A couple of weeks later I walked the same round again. I saw the text was still readable on the footpath. The paint had gone  through the material onto the path. This text would be readable for month I think. Hopefully Rose Ann won’t walk this path before the balloon trip. It would spoil the surprise of this proposal.  The lads worked very hard on it.

Then it crossed my mind. How did I show my love when I was their age? I spoke about it a lot. How deep is my love after all these years? Do I still make surprises? Do the people around me still read on my banner:

JESUS, I LOVE YOU FOR EVER.