ASLEEP ON THE JOB AGAIN

I once heard about a man who was resting on his forklift at work and unintentionally fell asleep. As he was waking up, he realized someone was standing beside him. It was his supervisor. So before he opened his eyes, he took a deep breath, and said, Amen.

That was told to me as a true story, but I don’t know if it is or just a joke. I thought it was funny. It made me laugh. It does sound like something that could have really happened because I’ve fallen asleep on the job a few times. All during lunch except the time I’m telling you about now.

One of my first full-time jobs was making vinyl siding. We worked three 12-hour shifts, and one 6-hour shift each week. There were 4 shifts. Days and nights at the first part of the week, and days and nights at the second part of the week. I was on the 4th shift which was nights, from Wednesday night through Saturday night. I would get off work on Sunday and be off until Wednesday night.

Those were weird hours, and they seemed so long. I couldn’t get much sleep in the daytime, mainly because I was used to sleeping at night, but a few of my friends and family were not as considerate as they could have been. One of my young cousins actually set the woods on fire behind my house one day while I was trying to sleep.

Being tired and sleepy at work is bad enough for eight hours, but it’s worse for a 12-hour shift, and it didn’t help that the job was boring.

I was packing vinyl siding into boxes as it came off a conveyor belt just after going through the mold to form it into its unique shape. When it came out at the end of the machine, it traveled through another mold just to keep it straight and in the same shape while it quickly cooled down. It was fenced-in with rollers and presses to aid in this process and to keep anyone from getting hurt. By the time it reached the end of the track and dropped onto the rollers, it was pretty much cooled off and in the shape it would be in for the next twenty-plus years.

Sometimes a piece of trash or something would get in the mix somewhere along the way and it would cause a hole to appear in the piece of siding. As it was pushed and pulled along the track it would usually become solid again when the piece of trash moved on, but sometimes it wouldn’t. When the hole remained for more than a few seconds we would have to quickly cut the piece of siding off behind the hole with a hacksaw and quickly put it back into the precisely formed track.

It was bound to happen, and one night it did. A huge hole formed in the piece of vinyl, and I knew it wasn’t about to work itself out. I grabbed the hacksaw and cut as fast as I could, but I wasn’t fast enough to get the siding back into the form in time. I had to try it again. I grabbed the quick-moving siding with my left hand and the saw with my right hand and began to cut it again. After only two strokes, I stopped. I knew what I had done. The second stroke had cut my thumb almost completely off.

I grabbed my bloody hand and ran to the restroom. As I washed my thumb in the sink, I could see the extent of the damage. The saw had hacked through my thumb, removing a portion as wide as the teeth on the blade. There was only a small section of the nail and flesh left intact. I was in a lot of pain.

I went to the emergency room and got it patched up. Then I spent the next week or so pushing a broom at work for twelve hours a night. That was worse than the accident itself. I was supposed to be on light duty for two weeks but after one, I couldn’t do it anymore. I bugged them until I convinced them to let me get back on the line.

I still wasn’t sleeping enough, so I started using caffeine pills to keep me awake at work. They made me sick so I had to stop taking them. Then one night, as I was packing the siding into boxes, I woke up about twenty feet away from my line. I was holding one piece of siding in my hands looking around. The plant manager and my supervisor were standing together by the break room looking at me and laughing their heads off. So I calmly walked back to my line and got caught up as quickly as I could.

Then, one morning as I was driving home, I fell asleep and slammed the side of my car into a bridge on the highway. It woke me up, and I jerked the steering wheel in the opposite direction and went into the opposite lane. Thank God there was no oncoming traffic there or I might not be here to tell the story.

After that, I had to quit and find a daytime job. That’s how I ended up with the position where I fell Asleep On The Job that I previously wrote about. You can read that post and one about another time I cut the end of my index finger almost all the way off at the links below.

God has been so good to me. I’ve been through a lot in my life and he’s always gotten me through whatever bad happened and I know he’ll always be there to help me. You can trust him, too. Never forget that.

ASLEEP ON THE JOB
https://teddylynn.blogspot.com/2017/07/asleep-on-job.html

THE DUNE BUGGY, THE BICYCLE, AND THE DRILL
https://teddylynn.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-dune-buggy-bicycle-and-drill.html

———————————————–
My Blogs
https://teddylynn.blogspot.com
https://teddylynn.wordpress.com
https://teddylynn10.tumblr.com

© 2023 Teddy Lynn – All Rights Reserved

My books are available in paperback and digital format on Amazon @
https://www.amazon.com/Teddy-Lynn/e/B01MZDB6L6

BETRAYED BY A FRIEND

During my ten years in Elementary School, I had several best friends. Obviously, I failed two grades, but I also attended four different schools. I lost friends because I changed schools, and I lost friends because they changed schools. I also lost friends both times I failed a grade and they moved up. We were no longer in the same room, and in a few cases, we went to lunch and recess at different times, and just grew apart.

When I was in the first grade at a school called Gift, my best friend was named Vivian. She was a tomboy and wasn’t afraid of a little dirt, or water. When I had to repeat the first grade, she move on to the second and we didn’t get to hang out together as much, and we both made new friends. Then the school closed down and she went to Kossuth and I went to Union Center.

My best friend there was Samuel. We were in the same class, and we hung out together at recess and ate lunch together every day. We were both right-handed, but I never really thought much about it at all. I knew there were left-handed people and right-handed people. That’s just the way it was. Then one day, we were sitting at the table in the lunchroom, and just out of the blue, he suggested that we both start using our left hands to eat, as he picked up some spaghetti with his fork using his left hand. I tried it and found it to be a bit difficult, but I figured I could adapt with a little practice. Then he suggested we start doing everything left-handed. I said "okay," and that’s what we did for the rest of the year.

Soon, Summer break came, which lasted about four months in those days. We didn’t see each other all that time, and when school started back, he moved on to the sixth grade and I had to repeat the fifth. Later that year, his family moved to California. They moved back a few years later and he went to Kossuth.

When I graduated from elementary school, I went to the high school at Kossuth, and there was Samuel. I didn’t get to see him much, because we were in different grades and the school was so big, and I was only there for a few months, but to my surprise, he was still using his left hand to eat. I had given that up years ago and hadn’t really thought much about it. It was a bit difficult, and without him there to encourage me, I just went back to what was comfortable.

When I failed the fifth grade, and Samuel moved on, he wasn’t the only one. All my classmates moved up to the sixth grade. The new school year began with a whole room full of new people coming from the fourth grade. That’s when I met Randy and we became best friends. A few years later, when we were in the seventh grade, he suggested that we both come to school the next day with our hair parted in the middle. I was reluctant, but I finally agreed to do it.

When I got home, I went into the bathroom and started messing with my hair to see what it would look like parted in the middle. I’ve never liked change as far back as I can remember, and when it came to my hair, that was especially true. I always kept my hair neat, and I didn’t want anyone to touch it. I even wore hairspray from my mid-teens into my thirties. Many people thought I was vain, and probably thought I was stuck up, or full of myself, but it was just the opposite. I’ve never, in my life, thought that I was handsome or good-looking. Never. I didn’t think I was ugly, but I knew I was not good-looking, so I tried my best to look as nice as I possibly could, with my clothes and hair, because I knew that’s all I had.

Anyway, I didn’t quite like the way my new hairstyle made me look that day after school, but I had told Randy I would do it, so the next morning when I got ready for school, I parted my hair in the middle. I kept messing with it and looking at it, but I just couldn’t leave it like that. I was already shy and self-conscious enough about my looks, and I couldn’t take a chance on making myself look worse, so I chickened out. So, just before the bus came, I quickly fixed my hair back the way I had been wearing it for the last few years; the way I was comfortable wearing it. Then, I got on the bus.

When the bus stopped at Randy’s house, he got on and sat down beside me with his new hairstyle. It actually looked good on him. He didn’t pressure me too much about not changing mine and never mentioned it again after that week, as far as I can remember. He just went right on wearing his fly-back hairdo.

Looking back, I feel bad about agreeing with my friends to do something and not following through with it. Those things may seem trivial but I went back on my word. I’m thankful they forgave me and didn’t hate me for it. I’m sorry I let you guys down. Thank you both for your continued friendship.

Friendship is something special. There are many good quotes and expressions out there about friendship, and there are several variations to many of them. The first one that comes to my mind is "To have a friend, you must be a friend." I’ve heard that one for as long as I can remember, and you probably have, too. Did you know it comes from the Bible? Proverbs 18:24 says, "A man that has friends must be friendly, and there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother."  

Friendship is important for many reasons. We need friends to encourage us, comfort us, and hold us accountable in certain aspects of life. Studies have even shown that friendship has positive effects on both emotional and physical health. To make friends, we have to be friendly. To keep friends, we have to be a friend. We have to be honest and reliable. That means keeping our word when at all possible. If for some reason, we can’t do something we have agreed to do, then we need to let our friends know. That’s just common courtesy and should be extended to everyone, not just friends.

We also need to be willing to forgive our friends (and others) when they hurt us, just as we would want them to forgive us if we hurt them. In Matthew 7:12, Jesus gave us what many call the "Golden Rule." He basically said, "Treat others like you want them to treat you." If every person in the world would do that, the world would be a better place to live. If you agree, then put it into practice. As we treat others with kindness and respect, they’ll do the same for us, and for others, and it will spread. It has to start somewhere.

———————————————–
My Blogs
https://teddylynn.blogspot.com
https://teddylynn.wordpress.com

© 2018 Teddy Lynn – All Rights Reserved

My books are available in paperback and digital format on Amazon @ 
https://www.amazon.com/Teddy-Lynn/e/B01MZDB6L6

I MISS MY SISTER AND MY FRIEND

I was three years old, and my younger sister, Loretta, and I lived with our grandmother in a little house in Theo, Mississippi. Our mother came to visit one day and introduced us to our new baby sister. Her name was Shelia. She was the first baby I ever remember seeing, and she was so beautiful. She reminded me of a baby doll like Loretta had. I just wanted to hold her and never let her go, but soon it was time for her to leave. We didn’t want her to go but we all said our goodbyes and she was gone.

We were so sad, so I got my mother’s old guitar and told my grandmother I wanted to write a song about our new sister. She got a pencil and a piece of paper, and I began to “play” the guitar, and “sing.” Can you imagine what that sounded like? Years later, I came across that piece of paper with that song written on it in my grandmother’s things. It was only a few lines, so I rewrote it and gave it to Shelia in a picture frame on her birthday one year. She loved it and always said it meant the world to her.

When we were younger, mom and dad would bring her to visit from time to time, and we would go see them occasionally. Then, when she was five years old, she came to live with us. She was my best friend. I could tell her anything. We shared a lot together. I could always make her laugh. Several times, I have said, that if I could clone her, I’d always have an audience to laugh at all my jokes.

She had her share of problems but she didn’t let too many others see them. She had a good fun-loving personality and she usually had a smile on her face. People loved her. She had so many friends. She fought cancer for eight years before losing the battle. I felt so helpless sitting there watching her die, but there was nothing I could do. I just wanted to hold her and never let her go, but soon it was time for her to leave. We didn’t want her to go but we all said our goodbyes and she was gone.

I could never forget her, or the unconditional love she had for me. She’ll always be in my heart. I loved her from the first day I saw her. We were best friends when we were growing up. She never judged or condemned me and she would never allow me to say negative things about myself. She always had good things to say about me, and she always tried to encourage me. There are just no words to describe how much I miss her. I wish I could hear her voice again. I wish I could hear her laugh again, and see her encouraging smile.

Someday, my wish will come true. It’s such a blessing to know that she was saved and we’ll all be together again when Jesus returns. We’ll get to see her again, and Daddy and Momma, and our grandmother, and the rest of our family and friends who were born again before they died. I’m looking forward to that day.

It’s important to know that we’re saved. The Bible tells us that we can know (1 John 5:13). It’s sad when a loved one dies and leaves the family to wonder if they’re saved or not, but it will be even sadder for the person who dies without being born again. As long as we’re breathing, there is hope, but when death comes to our door, our fate is sealed. If we’re saved, we’re saved. If we’re lost, we’re lost. So don’t wait a moment longer. Make that decision today, and live forever in the presence of our Lord. You won’t regret it.

Related Article: What Must I Do To Be Saved?

———————————————–
My Blogs
https://teddylynn.blogspot.com
https://teddylynn.wordpress.com

© 2018 Teddy Lynn – All Rights Reserved

My books are available in paperback and digital format on Amazon @ 
https://www.amazon.com/Teddy-Lynn/e/B01MZDB6L6

THREE FRIENDS, THREE TREES, AND A CONFESSION

I was twelve years old and I lived about a quarter of a mile from my best friend. There were three homes, a church, and a patch of woods between us. There was a valley in the woods and some really tall trees. One day at school, my friend told me he had found a big vine in the woods and had been swinging on it. He wanted me to meet him there after school and have some fun swinging. So I did.

He brought his neighbor with him who went to another school and we all took turns swinging on the vine. At first, I was careful because I was a bit nervous. The hill where we were swinging was pretty steep and when we swung out we were very high off the ground. Then I got a little braver and was swinging further out and higher each time.

Then it happened. I swung too far. There were three trees side by side in a V shape. My shoulder hit one of them and spun me around and I slammed into another one with my back. It knocked the breath out of me and my hands just let go of the vine. I fell into the valley and hit the ground with a thud.

I got up as quickly as I could. It was all I could do to move. I could barely breathe and I was in pain. I just wanted to lay down and cry. All that kept me from doing just that was the fact that I was embarrassed. I didn’t want my friend and his friend to think I was weak so I acted as tough as I could. I did muster up the courage to tell them it hurt a little and I needed to go home.

I could have been hurt worse than I thought. I could have had internal bleeding. I hit that tree pretty hard and I fell a long distance. I hurt for several days, but I didn’t dare tell anyone what had happened, especially my grandmother. I was afraid she would never let me leave the house again.

Shame and embarrassment often prevent us from admitting that we’re not invincible. It also makes us try to hide things we’ve done that were wrong. Even though we know God sees everything we do, too often, we refuse to even admit to him that we’ve sinned, just like Adam and Eve, after they sinned in the garden of Eden. They actually tried to hide from God when he came to visit them.

Isaiah tells us that “sin separates us from God,” but John said, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (Isaiah 59:2; 1 John 1:9). Have you ever heard “Confession Is Good For The Soul?” Well, it really is. Forgiveness is an awesome gift from God, so the next time you sin, and you feel so ashamed that you want to run and hide from God, don’t. We don’t have to be afraid to come to him. We have his promise that he will forgive us.

We know he loves us, and we know he wants what’s best for us so why is it so hard sometimes to just turn to him and confess our sins and say “I’m sorry?” Sometimes it may be pride, but I think it’s usually just shame and embarrassment. We have to get past that and learn to admit when we sin and ask for forgiveness, immediately. The sooner we do, the sooner we can be forgiven and get back to the safety of his arms. It’s truly the best place to be.

———————————————–
My Blogs
https://teddylynn.blogspot.com
https://teddylynn.wordpress.com

© 2017 Teddy Lynn – All Rights Reserved

My books are available in paperback & digital format on Amazon @
https://www.amazon.com/Teddy-Lynn/e/B01MZDB6L6

THE BASKETBALL CONNECTION

When I was in school, I loved basketball. My grandmother bought me a brand new ball to practice with at home. That’s the one I took to school and two older boys took from me and wouldn’t give it back. I’ll place a link at the end of this post so you can read that story if you haven’t already.*

I got another ball later and discovered that I was probably better off without one. We lived directly behind one of the neighborhood stores. The owner’s son was one of my friends. Sometimes he would get off the bus at the store and stay until it closed. Many times he would come and stay at my house until just before his dad locked up. One of those times, as he was leaving, he threw a rock in my direction. We had been playing with the basketball and I was about to take it into the house with me. As he threw another rock, I ran to where it was headed and let it bounce off the ball. He threw a few more and I intercepted each of them with the ball.

Then it happened. I missed, but the rock didn’t. It didn’t hit the basketball, it hit me; Right in the midsection. I dropped the ball and hobbled into the house crying so hard I could barely see. I crawled onto my grandmother’s bed and curled up in agony. I was in a lot of pain. I lay there for what seemed like forever, then I guess I finally went to sleep. When I woke up, I was better, but for a long time, I would have sporadic pains that would remind me of that day.

I believe that was the same basketball that I later used to damage myself again. I was squatted down, using a hammer for something and the basketball was nearby. For some dumb reason, I decided to hit the basketball with the hammer. When I did it bounced off the ball and the claws hit me right in the forehead. It was quick, and it was hard, and it really hurt. I still feel stupid for doing that even as I write this. Sometimes I can’t believe all the dumb stuff I did when I was young. As I look at some of the crazy things young people do today, I try to remember how dumb I was, before I condemn them.

That story reminds me of another incident that happened with one of my sisters when we were younger. It doesn’t involve a basketball, but it does have a hammer. The house we were living in belonged to my late great-uncle. It was old and drafty. At some point in the past, someone had put plastic over the windows on the outside and used roofing tacks with cardboard as washers to keep them from pulling through the plastic. The plastic was gone so I was using a claw hammer to pull the tacks out. I had to use some force, so I was swinging the hammer a bit and I wasn’t able to get the claws under the head of each nail the first time, every time.

My sister came out on the porch to brush her teeth. She bent over to spit just as I swung the hammer. It missed the tack head and hit her head. The claws made two deep holes in her skull. Here’s the funny part. She looked at me and said, “Did you hit me?” Believe it or not, we have had several laughs about it over the years.

Several years earlier, I had damaged my own head in the gym at school. The girls’ basketball team was practicing at one end of the court. Most of them were in a single line, and they were running some drills. The other end of the court was filled with kids playing whatever they wanted. The gym was full and I was being chased by a couple of girls. I ducked and dodged several people before running through the line of practicing girls. Just as I passed through the line I saw the wall, but not soon enough. I smashed into the corrugated tin which wasn’t all that solid. It was a just little too springy. I bounced off the wall quick and hard. I ended up on my back on the concrete floor. My head hit the floor so hard that it knocked me out for a few minutes. When I regained consciousness, my teacher was standing over me, calling my name and asking, “Are you alright?”

No, I wasn’t alright. There was a huge, hard knot on the back of my head and I was in a lot of pain. I remember sitting in the office as the teachers and the Principle discussed whether or not to send me home. They finally decided to contact my family and they came and took me to the doctor. They checked me out, and took some X-rays, then informed us that I had a concussion and a fractured skull. Thankfully, that’s the closest I have ever come to having a broken bone in my entire life. I went home and recovered in a few days, and soon I was back to my old self, and back in school.

I did learn some lessons from these experiences and I have applied them to my everyday life over the years. That has helped me to become more safety-minded and I’ve avoided many other accidents that could have possibly been fatal.

God wants us to apply the lessons we learn in our everyday lives to our spiritual life. Too often, we make quick decisions, without thinking like I did in these situations. Sometimes we have to make quick decisions, but usually, we have at least a few moments to think before we leap. That’s what God wants us to do. Many of my accidents could have been prevented if I had only thought about the variables. I’ve been accused of being pessimistic because I now think about what could go wrong before attempting certain new things. I don’t see it that way. I’m not expecting only bad outcomes, I’m just weighing the situation. I think it’s irresponsible to jump into anything without first thinking about it for at least a few minutes. That’s just common sense. The Bible has plenty to say about thinking before we speak, and there are many stories where people got into trouble by doing things without thinking first.

Most people would agree that we need to take time to consider our options before we make big decisions, but we need to do the same thing with everything we do. We need to stay in constant contact with God through prayer. We need a close personal relationship with Jesus, and when we have a decision to make, even a quick one, he will guide us through the Holy Spirit who lives in our minds. Life would be so much better, for all of us, if we were so close to God that we could hear him every time he tries to speak to us. That’s what I want. How about you?

*I Forgive You Mr. Richmond (Basketball Story)

———————————————–
My Blogs
https://teddylynn.blogspot.com
https://teddylynn.wordpress.com

© 2017 Teddy Lynn – All Rights Reserved

My books are available in paperback and digital format on Amazon @ 
https://www.amazon.com/Teddy-Lynn/e/B01MZDB6L6

ASLEEP ON THE JOB

If you’ve been following my blog or read my books, you know I’m not one of those Christians who pretend they’ve never done anything wrong. We all have a past, and at some point, we've all said and done things that God has told us not to. The Bible says we've all sinned (Romans 3:23) and none of us are righteous (Romans 3:10-12). We like to think we're good on some level, but without Jesus, we're nothing. Ronnie Freeman sings a song that says, “The only thing that’s good in me is Jesus.” That's a profound statement, and no matter what we like to think about ourselves, it's a very true statement.

God tells us in Hebrews 8:12, that after we come to Jesus and have been forgiven for our sins, he doesn't remember them anymore. That doesn't mean that God loses his memory. He says the same thing in Isaiah 43:25. It simply means that he doesn't hold our past against us.

Satan, on the other hand, does hold our past against us. He uses our past in any way he can, to hurt us, and keep us from moving forward. God forgives us, but he can use our past to bless others, both by their learning from our experiences and by us using what we learn to help them. People can come to trust and believe in God when they see what he's done in our lives, the way he has changed us, and the things he's brought us through. That’s one reason why I tell people about my past. I want others to know they're not alone in their struggles and that there is hope in Jesus.

Everything that has happened in my past hasn't always been bad. I've had many good things happen to me, lots of funny things, and I've had a lot of good, clean, fun times with my family and friends throughout my whole life. I guess I write more about the negative things because I want to share the lessons I learned from them, but I want to find better ways to share more of my positive experiences.

As I said before, I left home when I was sixteen years old, and for about three years I did whatever I wanted to. I did whatever I thought was fun and entertaining. I certainly wasn't living a moral, or healthy lifestyle. I was very unhappy. I wanted to do better so I made several changes. One of them was that I started going to church again.

That’s when I met Jesus and gave my life to him. He gave me a new job that I really loved, with an awesome supervisor who was a godly man. It's amazing how God can change a person's life if we just allow him to. Many of us are so self-destructive that we get in the way of God's blessings. We want what we want and often refuse to even consider doing what God wants us to do. Jesus said if we will first seek his kingdom and his righteousness, then he'll give us all that we need. I started seeing that in my life as I submitted my will to my heavenly Father, and the joy in my heart was unbelievable.

I was still young, and I still liked to go out and have fun, only now it was all good, clean fun with some of my younger cousins and other young people from the church. I was really enjoying my life for the first time in years. We had services several nights each week. We had Sunday services, prayer meetings, prayer service, youth night, and choir practice. Many times we would go out to eat before or after church. We would take somebody home or just ride around the town.

My new job was farther away than what I was used to, so I had to get up pretty early to get to work on time. Some days I would be really tired by lunchtime. I was reading the Bible every chance I got, so that's what I would do while I ate lunch if I didn’t fall asleep. One day, I was so tired that all I wanted to do was sleep during lunch. I had an hour, so I set the alarm on my watch, went into the sample room, and lay down on the sofa. As soon as I closed my eyes, I was out.

When lunch was over and I hadn't returned to the line, my supervisor and the floater started looking for me. When they found me, I was still in a deep sleep. They thought it would be funny to wake me up by screaming and beating on something. When I actually woke up, I was standing in the corner of the room holding my chest, and they were both laughing so hard they could barely breathe. As startling as it was at first, I'm glad they did it that way, rather than yelling and cursing, or firing me like some supervisors might have done. We all had a good laugh and went back to work. Thanks, Bobby and Al. I miss you guys.

Memories are funny things. They have the power to change our mood in a variety of ways. Some memories can make us sad, some can make us angry, and some can make us smile, laugh, and bring us all kinds of joy. We should try our best to keep the good memories on top of the pile. They can help us to be happier as we realize how blessed we really are.

Related Topic: Once Saved, Always Saved

———————————————–
My Blogs
https://teddylynn.blogspot.com
https://teddylynn.wordpress.com

© 2017 Teddy Lynn – All Rights Reserved

My books are available in paperback and digital format on Amazon @ 
https://www.amazon.com/Teddy-Lynn/e/B01MZDB6L6

A STRANGE TALE

Ricky had just graduated from high school and was preparing himself for college. A few of his friends had been telling him about a new friend they had met a few weeks earlier out in the woods just south of town. This was not a man, but a strange creature with strange powers, but soon, Ricky’s friends talked him into going to meet this stranger.

At first, Ricky was afraid, but his friends assured him that the creature would not harm him. He promised Ricky joy and happiness and vowed to make every part of his life better than it had ever been before.

The creature was strange, yes, but very fascinating. After Ricky got to know it, he was no longer afraid and began to spend more and more time with it. By the end of the Summer, they had become best friends. By this time Ricky had his own place on the College campus and his best friend had moved in.

When Ricky was feeling bad, his friend was always there to make him feel better. When he was feeling down, he could always count on his friend to cheer him up. Ricky soon discovered that his best friend had a strange power. When he couldn’t sleep, his friend would work his magic, and before long Ricky would be in dreamland.

After some time enjoying this perk, Ricky started noticing something strange happening. The creature began to take control, and started putting Ricky to sleep when he needed to be awake, and would keep him asleep long after he needed to wake up.

Ricky was missing appointments, and he wasn’t keeping plans he had made with family and friends. He was late for classes and his on-campus job way too often, and he was unable to do anything about it. The creature was now in complete control of his life.

Eventually, he lost his friends, and his relationships with his family members were on the rocks. He lost his job at the school and his grades were suffering severely. All he had left was his friendship with this strange creature who was now controlling his life. He now saw this creature as a demon, instead of the magical, fun-loving, happy-go-lucky pal he had met only a short time ago.

He wanted out. He wanted to go back to the time before he had met the creature and get his life back, but it seemed impossible. He seemed to have no power over his own life. What could he do? How could he ever escape?

As Ricky sat thinking, trying to find a solution, he remembered his grandmother, and something she had always told him. She knew a man who could help people in any situation. Ricky knew he needed help. He knew he couldn’t do this on his own. With one last act of desperation, he knelt down to pray, and ask Jesus to help him defeat this monster that had taken over his life.

As he prayed, he felt a peace come over him. He knew everything would be alright now. Jesus would be by his side every step of the way. He knew Jesus would help him overcome this demon. And he did. Today Ricky is free from the power of that monster that many call alcohol. He has a wonderful life with a great family, and he’s truly happy.

If you’re a slave to alcohol, drugs, or anything else, Jesus can help you. He can set you free from addiction and give you a new life. All you have to do is ask him. You can trust him. He has set millions free from addiction. He did it for me, and he can do the same for you. In Matthew 7:7, Jesus said, “Ask, and you shall receive.”

———————————————–
My Blogs
https://teddylynn.blogspot.com
https://teddylynn.wordpress.com

© 2017 Teddy Lynn – All Rights Reserved

My books are available in paperback and digital format on Amazon @ 
https://www.amazon.com/Teddy-Lynn/e/B01MZDB6L6

TADPOLES, MOLES, AND EASTER EGGS

Wow! I can’t believe all the memories I have stored in my brain from just five years at Gift school. I could probably write a book, but for now, I just want to share these memories, and maybe encourage someone else, or make someone smile.

I remember my first-grade teacher’s name was Miss Gay. Her mother, Mrs. Minnie V. was my second, and third-grade teacher. Both the second and third-grade classes were in the same room together. I never thought that was weird back then because we saw schools on TV where kids from every grade were all in one room.

I had a lot of fun at Gift, and I enjoy remembering those times once in a while. There was lots of water around the school, and there were lots of frogs and tadpoles. I told my grandmother about them, and how they turned into frogs, but she didn’t believe it. I guess that seemed like evolution, and she didn’t believe in that, and rightly so. That’s not proof of evolution, by the way. It’s nothing more than a frog egg developing into a frog without the confines of a shell, as many other egg-laying creatures have.

Anyway, I found a big can from the lunchroom, collected some tadpoles in some water, and took them home. I wanted my grandmother to witness them growing into frogs. Well, low and behold, my little sister happened upon my makeshift aquarium. She didn’t know my plan. I don’t even know if she knew what was in the can, but she poured the water out, and the baby frogs along with it. Ugggh! All that trouble to get a can, and getting the tadpoles in it, and all the trouble getting it home on the bus, without spilling it. All that effort down the drain. But, I loved my sister, so I forgave her.

Another time there was a mole in the schoolyard, and we could see it moving beneath the ground. We wanted to see what a mole looked like, so we chased him down, and cut him off at both ends of his trail. One kid dug from one side, and I dug from the other until we had it cornered. Then we removed the last bit of dirt, and there it was. We didn’t get much of a look at it, though. It ran out of the hole and disappeared under the leaves. It was so fast. All that time, wasted, and we still didn’t know exactly what a mole looked like.

In the first grade, we got to watch a movie once in a while in the afternoon. Sometimes we got to watch TV for class, and I remember watching Sesame Street, and The Electric Company during recess sometimes, especially when it was raining, or cold outside.

I remember one Easter, it was wet and nasty outside, so we hid the eggs in the classroom. We hunted until the teacher thought we had found them all. Turns out, we stopped just one egg short. Later on that summer, someone found the egg behind something on a shelf. We were so excited. You would have thought we had found a hidden treasure. We all knew it was rotten by then, but we had to see how bad. We took it outside and gathered around the student who had the egg. He threw it on the ground, and before you could say Ty-Con-De-Rogga, the smell penetrated our nostrils, and the whole class erupted in a torrent of screams and yells. Gagging, running, and falling followed. Finally, the teacher restored order and got us all safely back inside. What a beautiful memory. I can almost smell it now, as I think about it.

Well, that’s as far as I want to go down Memory Lane today. It’s always fun to visit those places and savor those memories. It’s good to know that I have so many good memories to reflect on in this world of growing turmoil. I pray that someday when we look back at our past, there will only be good times to remember.

———————————————–
My Blogs
https://teddylynn.blogspot.com
https://teddylynn.wordpress.com

© 2016 Teddy Lynn – All Rights Reserved

My books are available in paperback and digital format on Amazon @ 
https://www.amazon.com/Teddy-Lynn/e/B01MZDB6L6

BILL, IN THE WOODS, WITH THE ROPE

Back to my years at Gift School, and a couple of funny memories I don’t think I’ll ever forget. I told you about my friend Bill saving Mark from drowning in an old frozen pond in the woods. Well, Bill was a lot of fun to be around. I don’t know how much older he was, but he was in a higher grade than me. He was tall and thin and full of energy. He was always getting us chased by some older students.

I remember one day he was going to do something to a group of older boys. He knew they would chase him, so he told us to go in the restroom, and wait for him to run in. Then we would all hold the door so they couldn’t get to him. We went to the restroom and waited. In a few minutes, we saw him running toward us as fast as his long legs could carry him. As soon as he came through the door we slammed it shut. We couldn’t get it to close all the way for some reason, so we kept pushing, and shoving. When Bill started yelling, I realized why we couldn’t get the door to close. We had shut it just a second too soon, catching his foot in the door. I’m sure it was pretty painful to him at the time, but thinking about it now is so funny, I can’t stop laughing.

Another time, we were playing in the woods, and Bill had a jump rope. He laid it on the ground across the path, between two trees. Then he covered it with leaves to camouflage it, so nobody could see it. He told us to hide behind the trees, and he would go get the older boys to chase him. He said he would lead them down the path, and as soon as he ran past us, we should pull the rope tight, tripping whoever was chasing him. It sounded simple enough, but I guess he forgot the fiasco with the bathroom door, and we were only second graders.

We waited for a few minutes, and we heard Bill coming. He was yelling something, and for some reason, just as he reached the rope, we pulled it tight and tripped him instead of his pursuers. He hung his foot in the rope, and went, face first, down on the ground, and rolled like a barrel. All I could see were arms and legs and leaves flying. I’m sorry Bill, but I still laugh every time I think about it. That was so funny.

I’m sure all of us have bad memories we wish we could forget. I know I do, but I have so many good ones. When I’m feeling sad, I try to remember some good times in my life. When I do, I find myself traveling back to my early childhood. I have great memories of my grandmother and my school days.

When I think about all the fun I had with family and friends, sometimes I smile, and sometimes I laugh out loud. Then, if I haven’t yet, I write them down because I know someday those memories won’t be as easy to pull up on my old worn-out computer we call a brain. I wish I could upgrade my hard drive, my memory, and even the case, but that will come later at the second coming. Then Jesus will upgrade it all for me; a new body, and a new mind, with a new source of energy and ultimate memory. I’m looking forward to that day, but until then, I have that promise and my memories. Thanks for these two, Bill.

———————————————–
My Blogs
https://teddylynn.blogspot.com
https://teddylynn.wordpress.com

© 2016 Teddy Lynn – All Rights Reserved

My books are available in paperback and digital format on Amazon @ 
https://www.amazon.com/Teddy-Lynn/e/B01MZDB6L6