THE ONE YEAR ILLUSTRATIONS CLUB

Florence Chadwick loved to swim. She was born in San Diego, California on November 9, 1918. She grew up on the beach and began competing as a swimmer at the age of six. After four years of defeats, her uncle entered her in a contest at the age of ten in a two and one half mile “rough water” night swim where she came in fourth. For the next 19 years she continued as a competitive swimmer. She was the first woman to swim across the English Channel...both ways. She even swam across the Straits of Gibraltar. Chadwick was 34 years old on July 4, 1952, when she attempted to become the first woman to swim the 21 miles across the Catalina Channel from Catalina Island to Palos Verde on the California coast. The weather that day was challenging because the ocean was ice-cold, and the fog was so thick she could barely see the support boats that followed her. The tides and current were against her. And, to make matters worse, sharks were in the area. But at daybreak she decided to go forwar...

                                                               "Texts from Jesus" - a new app you can get for your Smart Phone! You can now receive texts from Jesus!!! It must have seemed like a good idea in theory – design a religious App aimed at the iPhone generation and get more young people connecting with Christianity by making it look like Jesus is texting them, only it didn’t quite turn out like that. It would seem their efforts have been foiled with a muddling case of mixed messages. Instead of illustrating how young people don’t have time for Jesus, the ‘texts’ appear to reveal a hilarious show of indifference coming from the Saviour himself. We know you young millennials are busy; we’ll get Jesus to text you, after all, you got a whole lot more on your plate, than He does, how does that sound? End resu...

A story of a young, handsome, Eastern king who was seated in a garden, and one of his counselors was speaking of the wonderful works of God. "Show me a sign," said the king, "and I will believe." "Here are four acorns," said the counselor," will you, Majesty, plant them in the ground, and then stoop down for a moment and look into this clear pool of water?" The king did so, and saw the reflection of his young handsome face. "Now," said the counselor, "look up." The king looked up and saw four full grown oak-trees where he had planted the acorns. How could that be? It would take 80 years for those to grow? "This is Wonderful!" the King exclaimed, "This is indeed a true Miracle of God! "How long were you looking into the water?" asked the counselor? "Only a second," said the king. Correct said his counselor, God has made for you, as a sign "Eighty years have passed as a...

There's one World War II veteran whose story is the focus of Mel Gibson’s movie, "Hacksaw Ridge."      The story is a true story of the life of Desmond Doss, a soldier who didn't believe in using guns. He was a Christian conscientious objector and ended up saving 75 of his fellow soldiers. He was awarded the Medal of Honor. Desmond Doss Jr. said for years that producers tried to turn his father's story into a film, but it never worked out until director Mel Gibson came along. "I’m glad Mel did it. He did a spectacular job. I don't think anyone other than Mel could've done it," Doss Jr. said. "I feel very gratified that Desmond Jr. liked the film so much and that he loved Andrew Garfield, who plays doss. He told me that Andrew nailed his dad," Gibson said. a war medic, Doss ended up saving over 75 fellow soldiers in Okinawa, Japan during world war ii. "What he did in his life was so amazing and an inspiration," Gibson said. ...

Lighthouses have been an object of adoration and fascination for many poets and storytellers for hundreds of years. This should come as no surprise, as these tall, forlorn structures of the sea have been guiding ships and sailors for generations, not only in peaceful waters, but also in the most difficult and challenging situations.      A strong beam emitted by a lighthouse is an astounding navigational aid to many ships and boats at sea. Have you ever wondered what allows the light emitted by a lighthouse to be seen by sailors who are many miles away? Is that a magic light or is there some kind of science acting behind it? The function of a lighthouse all comes down to the intensity of the light. a French inventor, Augustine Fresnel, had deduced that light was actually a kind of energy that travels in the form of waves.      Given that light travelled in waves, it was possible to make them converge on a single point or deflect from a certain point in diff...

Genesis 1:3-5  And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.           All the angels whoooed and marveled at the change in lighting or better yet , no lighting, that they had never experienced before, being in their celestial surroundings…..  "Did you see that?”, said Michael, the great Arch Angel   “absence of light”, replied the other angel.  “It’s called night”,  Michael responded Then magnificent stars lit up the night, along with a reflection of the brightest star, the sun, caused what looked like another planet to glow and light up the earth.  “Whats that bright star?” the angel asked the Arch Angel?”  “We will call it The Sun, per our Lord and the planet to w...

ONE WOMAN WROTE: I AGREE THAT TWO ARE BETTER THAN ONE BECAUSE I ALWAYS LOOK THINNER WHEN I STAND BESIDE HIM TWO ARE BETTER THAN ONE BECAUSE WHEN IT’S COLD; HE GETS TO LIGHT THE FIRE TWO ARE BETTER THAN ONE BECAUSE WHEN THERE'S A SPIDER IN THE HOUSE I DONT HAVE TO KILL IT TWO ARE BETTER THAN ONE BECAUSE WHEN THE PRINCIPAL CALLS THEY'RE “HIS KIDS” TWO ARE BETTER THAN ONE BECAUSE WHEN I LOOSE MY TEMPER IT’S HIS FAULT, TWO ARE BETTER THAN ONE BECAUSE I CAN’T SCRATCH MY OWN BACK TWO ARE BETTER THAN ONE BECAUSE I HAVE THE GIFT OF SPENDING AND HE HAS THE GIFT OF EARNING BUT BEST OF ALL TWO ARE BETTER THAN ONE; BECAUSE HE PICKS ME UP, WHEN I FALL!

Dr. Andrew Bonar told me how, in the Highlands of Scotland, a sheep would often wander off into the rocks and get into places that they couldn't get out of. The grass on these mountains is very sweet and the sheep like it, and they will jump down ten or twelve feet, and then they can't jump back again, and the shepherd hears them bleating in distress. They may be there for days, until they have eaten all the grass. The shepherd will wait until they are so faint they cannot stand, and then they will put a rope around him, and he will go over and pull that sheep up out of the jaws of death. "Why don't they go down there when the sheep first gets there?" I asked. "Ah!" He said, "they are so very foolish they would dash right over the precipice and be killed if they did!" And that is the way with men; they won't go back to God till they have no friends and have lost everything. If you are a wanderer I tell you that the Good Shepherd will bring ...

Mr. Jones, through the advice of a “former friend” once bought a new radio, brought it home, placed it on the refrigerator, plugged it in, turned it to WSM in Nashville (home of the Grand Ole Opry) set the volume and station where he wanted it and then made sure to break off all the knobs to make sure his wife couldn’t change the station or adjust the volume to her liking, as he knew she would try to do! It worked like a charm. This idea worked so well he decided rather than to keep fighting with his wife over the temperature in the house, to adjust the air in the home to the temperature he liked and then went on-line and set up a pass code that needed to be entered, each time the temperature was to be changed, in case his wife wanted or thought she would change it to her preference. It worked like a charm too. His wife complained her back was hurting and that they needed a better mattress, they ended up buying a select comfort, deluxe mattress that adjusts the...

You’re a little on the short side, no you’re too tall! You’re a little chubby; you’re a little too thin! You don’t make that much money, do you? You’re all about money aren’t you? You’re accused of being stupid so you study, apply your self  become a “straight A” a student, now you’re a geek & teachers pet! Your teeth are crooked, your eyes are to big! Your eyes are too small; you look high all the time! Do you ever talk? Get a personality! She never shuts up, OMG! She’s sooooo ugly, she’s pretty and oh so stuck up! Loose some weight would you! Gain some weight would you! You’ll find in life, you’re not going to win. You’re either too rich or you’re too poor You’re either too ugly or too good looking! Of course when we come into the Church that all ends or does it? She’s carnal, don’t hang around with her! He’s Mr. spiritual stay away from him! You don’t seem to pray enough. You are told you dress like a slob, so you dress up and you h...

He once killed a man in a road rage incident. Now, he has died in one. The Washington Post © Courtesy of WTVT/Fox 13 Gary Durham in 2002, after he was charged with manslaughter in a road rage killing. Durham died Wednesday following another road rage altercation in Florida. After a traffic mishap in Florida’s Hillsborough County on Wednesday, Gary Lynn Durham got out of his car and exchanged heated words with another driver. Their argument ended violently, with Durham dying from a gunshot wound on the side of the road, police said. When investigators dug deeper into the case, they found a sad twist: Durham had recently been released from prison for killing a man in road rage confrontation in 2001. Police say Durham punched a 48-year-old cancer survivor in the face at an intersection as the two men argued 15 years ago in Tampa. The punch killed the man, Tim Gibbs, and Durham was convicted of manslaughter. He was sentenced in 2002 and spent the next decade behind bars,  according...

How is  Israel , a 60 year old nation with a population of 7.1 million was able to reach such economic growth that “at the start of 2009, some 63 Israeli companies were listed on the Nasdaq more than those of any other foreign country. How is it, that a country only sixty years old, surrounded by enemies, in a constant state of war since its founding, with no natural resources, produces more than large, peaceful and stable nations like, Japan, China, India, Canada and the united kingdom.  Israel  is a very small country. It is smaller by half than  San Bernardino   County  in  California . It would sink in  Lake Michigan  without a trace. It has barely 8 million citizens. It has been in existence for just 60 years, but it is an economic powerhouse. In contrast to its Muslim enemies, who have virtually no indigenous industry, whose people are largely illiterate, but who have natural riches through their almost limitless petroleum resources,...

Little Johnnie’s mom came home from work and saw cookie crumbs on the counter that were not there earlier that morning before she left for work. Mother cried out to her son, “Johnnie, I want you to come downstairs now”. He came down the stairs, his head down, looking guilty as charged, she new little Johnnie had probably come home and ate a bunch of cookies and spoiled his appetite for dinner. The mom looked at Johnnie, she said, “you know what you did, don’t you!” “Yes, mommy”, replied little Johnnie. The mom said, “go on now, get out of here and do right”. “Yes mom”, replied little Johnnie. Later, after dinner, the mom went to her room and found $25 stuffed in her purse. She wondered, “what’s this?” she asked her husband, he said it wasn’t him. She asked her teenage daughter, maybe it was her. The daughter said it wasn’t her so finally she called out “Johnnie, I want you to come downstairs right now”. Little Johnnie came down the stairs, head down, looking guilty as charged Johnnie. ...

Saw an article in USA Today, that caught my eye last week. The headline was “fighting with your spouse makes you sick”. I have often thought that and found it interesting… The article goes on to say: Turns out fighting with your spouse isn’t just bad for your marriage, it’s bad for your health! Loves make you sick is, is literal, come to find out. However the phrase is inaccurate. It’s not love that makes you sick, it’s broken love, violated love, hurt love and lack of love, that makes you sick. Hope of love then lost can make you sick, Proverbs 13:12 “hope deferred makes the heart sick” This study took multiple couples in case study and did blood work immediately following a fight. They found that cells in the blood were released that causes a “leak in the gut”, causing inflammation of the gut and gastrointestinal problems. We’re downing the Tums and taking pills for Acid Re flux, but what are we doing to heal our relationships with those we love? Are you…Love sick?

“Into Thin Air” a novel based on the personal account of the Mt. Everest disaster, where 8 climbers were killed and several others were stranded by a storm that hit the mountain. Even the guides were killed. Rob Hall and Andy Harris. Beck Weathers were left for dead, where Beck suffered severe hypothermia and frostbite. Climbers descending the hill came across Beck Weathers but he looked like a corpse in a frozen cocoon, they assumed he was dead and left him. Frozen inside this cocoon, Beck could give them no indication that he was alive. Beck Weathers chipped away at the ice until he was able to break free. He walked into the base camp on frozen feet, the group thought they saw a walking zombie coming in to camp. Beck had his right arm amputated halfway between the elbow, all four fingers and thumb on his left hand were removed as well as parts of both feet. his nose was amputated and reconstructed with tissue from his ear and forehead. When asked how he survived when left for dead by...

It is gratitude that prompted an old man to visit an old broken pier on the eastern seacoast of Florida. Every Friday night, until his death in 1973, he would return, walking slowly and slightly stooped with a large bucket of shrimp. The sea gulls would flock to this old man, and he would feed them from his bucket. Many years before, in October, 1942, Captain Eddie Rickenbacker was on a mission in a B-17 to deliver an important message to General Douglas MacArthur in New Guinea. But there was an unexpected detour which would hurl Captain Eddie into the most harrowing adventure of his life. Somewhere over the South Pacific the Flying Fortress became lost beyond the reach of radio. Fuel ran dangerously low, so the men ditched their plane in the ocean...For nearly a month Captain Eddie and his companions would fight the water, and the weather, and the scorching sun. They spent many sleepless nights recoiling as giant sharks rammed their rafts. The largest raft was nine by five. The bigges...

One man challenged another to an all-day wood chopping contest. The challenger worked very hard, stopping only for a brief lunch break. The other man had a leisurely lunch and took several breaks during the day. At the end of the day, the challenger was surprised and annoyed to find that the other fellow had chopped substantially more wood than he had. "I don't get it," he said. "Every time I checked, you were taking a rest, yet you chopped more wood than I did." "But you didn't notice," said the winning woodsman, "that I was sharpening my ax when I sat down to rest." L. S. Chafer, Grace.

According to a Greek legend, in ancient Athens a man noticed the great storyteller Aesop playing childish games with some little boys. He laughed and jeered at Aesop, asking him why he wasted his time in such frivolous activity. Aesop responded by picking up a bow, loosening its string, and placing it on the ground. Then he said to the critical Athenian, "Now, answer the riddle, if you can. Tell us what the unstrung bows implies." The man looked at it for several moments but had no idea what point Aesop was trying to make. Aesop explained, "If you keep a bow always bent & strained, it will break eventually; but if you let it go slack, it will be more fit for use when you want it." You will be at your best for the Lord if you have taken time to loosen the bow.

Benjamin Franklin, in his autobiography wrote these words. “There is perhaps no one of our natural passions so hard to subdue as pride. Beat it down, stifle it, mortify it as much as one pleases, it is still alive. Even if i could conceive that i had completely overcome it, I should probably become prideful of my humility.” How true that is, once we think we have defeated pride, we will become prideful that we are humble.

My son came running home the other day, rushed through the door, with his muddy boots on, screaming, “ma, ma… i got an a, i got an a on my report card!!!” “What is wrong with this kid?” I thought, how many times have I told him not to come in with his muddy boots and slam the door. I am such a good mother, why is my son like this, why doesn’t he change?” He ran up the stairs… “mom, mom, you told me to pray and I did, I prayed for God to help me and I got an “A” my teacher was so proud of me, I couldn’t wait to get home and tell you, I was so excited I just ran up the stairs, I knew you would be so proud of me.” the boy exclaimed! “Johnny”, yelled the mother, “what is wrong with you, how many times have I told you not to come in with your boots and slamming the door, when are you going to change?” The boy tried to defend himself, “but mom, i just wanted….” to no avail, the mom retorted, “never mind, just go to your room…” As the mother prays to God, “Lord help me with my child, he’s so ...

     Booker T. Washington describes meeting an ex-slave from Virginia in his book Up From Slavery : "I found that this man had made a contract with his master, two or three years previous to the Emancipation Proclamation, to the effect that the slave was to be permitted to buy himself, by paying so much per year for his body; and while he was paying for himself, he was to be permitted to labor where and for whom he pleased.      "Finding that he could secure better wages in Ohio, he went there. When freedom came, he was still in debt to his master some three hundred dollars. Notwithstanding that the Emancipation Proclamation freed him from any obligation to his master, this black man walked the greater portion of the distance back to where his old master lived in Virginia, and placed the last dollar, with interest, in his hands.      In talking to me about this, the man told me that he knew that he did not have to pay his debt, but that he ...

A member of Alcoholics Anonymous once sent columnist Ann Landers the following: We drank for happiness and became unhappy. We drank for joy and became miserable. We drank for sociability and became argumentative. We drank for sophistication and became obnoxious. We drank for friendship and made enemies. We drank for sleep and awakened without rest. We drank for strength and felt weak. We drank "medicinally" and acquired health problems. We drank for relaxation and got the shakes. We drank for bravery and became afraid. We drank for confidence and became doubtful. We drank to make conversation easier and slurred our speech. We drank to feel heavenly and ended up feeling like hell. We drank to forget and were forever haunted. We drank for freedom and became slaves. We drank to erase problems and saw them multiply. We drank to cope with life and invited death.

     Some people will not be denied purpose! In 1857, shortly before his graduation from Princeton theological seminary, Sheldon Jackson applied to the Presbyterian board of foreign missions for assignment to siam or Columbia, only to be turned down because he was "lacking in physique." young Sheldon accepted the challenge of home missions instead, demonstrating over the next half century that, though standing only slightly over five feet, he could become a giant among men. whenever a new frontier opened, Jackson was there, traveling almost a million miles in the course of his missionary work in Minnesota, the rocky mountain states, and Alaska. he went on foot and horseback, by railroad and stagecoach, by sailboat and canoe, and even by ox cart and reindeer sled. he survived severe snowstorms, shipwrecks and Indian uprisings. three times newspapers reported his death prematurely and once they printed his obituary.      Jackson established over a hundred ch...

John W. Gardner, founding chairman of Common Cause, said it's a rare and high privilege to help people understand the difference they can make, not only in their own lives, but also in the lives of others, simply by giving of themselves. Gardner tells of a cheerful old man who asked the same question of just about every new acquaintance he fell into conversation with "What have you done that you believe in and you are proud of?" He never asked conventional questions such as "What do you do for a living?" It was always, "What have you done that you believe in and are proud of?" It was an unsettling question for people who had built their self-esteem on their wealth or their family name or their exalted job title. Not that the old man was a fierce interrogator. He was delighted by a woman who answered, "I'm doing a good job raising three children;" and by a cabinetmaker who said, "I believe in good workmanship and practice it;" an...

In 1835 a man visited a doctor in Florence, Italy. He was filled with anxiety and exhausted from lack of sleep. He couldn't eat, and he avoided his friends. The doctor examined him and found that he was in prime physical condition. Concluding that his patient needed to have a good time, the physician told him about a circus in town and its star performer, a clown named Grimaldi. Night after night he had the people rolling in the aisles. "You must go and see him," the doctor advised. "Grimaldi is the world's funniest clown. He'll make you laugh and cure your sadness." "No," replied the despairing man, "he can't help me. you see, I am Grimaldi!" It would be naive to think, that this man is the only man, with a painted on smile! We function in the realm of superficial relationships, even within the church. Ask anyone, "how they are doing?" And we know the answer is always, "great & fine" with a big smile, and ...

When you think of scams, you think of criminals in hiding inventing ways to trick people out of their money. but what about the legal scams that are perpetrated against consumers by corporate America? Here is another corporate scam that is very deceptive and leaves many consumers buried in debt from unexpected interest charges. "No interest, no payments until 2016!!!" It sounds like you don't have to start making payments until 2016. it also sounds like interest will not begin to accrue until 2016, but that's not how the scam works. The consumer is expected to start making payments right away and the debt has to be paid in full before 2016 (this is hidden in the fine print). otherwise, the consumer is forced to pay a mountain of unexpected interest charges. Let's say that in 2014, you purchase a large screen tv for $1999. You finance it on a "no interest, no payments until 2015" plan. one of two things can happen: 1) you expect to start paying for the ...

Thomas Jefferson, with all his accomplishments, fame and success confirmed this when he said, "the happiest moments of my life have been the few which I have passed at home in the bosom of my family." Home is the place to save society. It is the secret to the success of this nation. We must start here. "to put the world right in order, we must first put the nation in order, to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order."

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., was a member of the U.S. Supreme Court for 30 years. His mind, wit and work earned him the unofficial title of "the greatest justice since John Marshall." At one point in his life, Justice Holmes explained his choice of a career by saying: "I might have entered the ministry if certain clergymen I knew had not looked and acted so much like undertakers."

Winston Churchill stated this when he said, "There is no doubt that it is around the family and the home that all the greatest virtues, the most dominating virtues of human society, are created, strengthened and maintained." No matter what we accomplish outside of our homes and no matter how many challenges we face, our greatest challenges and our greatest rewards will be found within the walls of our own homes. Anthony Brandt put it in perspective when he said, "Other things may change us, but we start and end with family." Wherever our travels take us, whatever success we may attain, home and family will always be our greatest joy and accomplishment. As Anita Baker stated, "You leave home to seek your fortune and, when you get it, you go home and share it with your family." That's what it's all about; sharing with your family. It is the first society we know. The first place we learn; and the place where we find the most pleasure and p...

The term 'escapism' is reserved for those who take excessive time away from real life to the point at which they seem to be trying to escape from it. Traditionally regarded as extreme, escapism is in fact increasingly the norm for many people. In Japan, for example, the average household watches over 8 hours of television per day. Escapism is not defined by the behavior itself but the motivation behind it. Anything from sport to fashion to sex can become escapist activities. Certain escapist options are socially accepted, such as  consumerism , celebrity worship, others are not, such as recreational drug use. Modern  technology  has brought digital culture - television, films, increasingly realistic computer games and virtual realities that provide escapist experiences with huge degrees of immersion. Means of escapism have become increasingly varied over the past few decades, but fascination in details remains a popular one. We interpret the popularity of escapism as...

A LITTLE BASEBALL TRIVIA: Who was the one ballplayer set the major league record for strikeouts with 1316. He is the same player who set a record for five consecutive strikeouts in a World Series game. The holder of both records was the great slugger Babe Ruth. Babe Ruth holds the all-time record for extra-base hits with the 119 he hit in 1921 He also holds the record for the most total bases in a single season with 457. That record stills stands and the player closest to it since 1950 is Sammy Sosa who had 425 total bases in 2001. The lesson is clear....in life, we can be that person who holds both records. The records for the worse and also the records for best!  That’s Grace and that’s opportunity.  That's how God meant it to be!