March 15 - East County Gazette

PAGE 8 EAST COUNTY GAZETTE MARCH 15, 2012InspirationThe financial experts are aroundthe world in 90 minutesby Rev. James L. SnyderIwas snuggling down inmy easy chair with ariveting book in handwhen the Gracious Mistress ofthe Parsonage shared with mean observation.“I just was thinking,” shebegan very seriously, “that wehave not taken a trip lately.”We once went to Thailandfor several weeks, which waswonderful. One of the delightfulthings of that trip was visitingthe elephant ranch andriding the elephants.As we were in line to ride theelephants the person in chargetook one look at me and said,“No, no.” He said somethingin some language I could notunderstand and then proceededto pair my wife up withanother woman and insisted Iride the elephant alone. Fromwhat I got out of his gesturesand tone of voice was hethought I was too heavy toride an elephant. Being comparedwith an elephant andbeing on the losing side of thecomparison, is not somethingI enjoyed experiencing.I have been insulted quitea bit throughout my life, andthis certainly was one of them.Being the congenial gentlemanthat I am, I submitted tohis evaluation and rode theelephant by myself. I did a lotof bouncing, deliberately, onmy elephant ride. I hope thatelephant remembers me.We have had other tripsand have enjoyed ourselvestremendously. But when sheasked about the last trip wetook, I could not bring intofocus our last trip.Not world travelers, ofcourse, but we do like to takelittle jaunts here and there justto get away from the rat race.To participate in the “rat race”I suppose you have to be a rat.Voices for ChildrenVoices for Children is determined to help each andevery child in San Diego’s foster care system. Meetingthis ambitious goal means a CASA volunteer for everyfoster child who needs one. It means we must have thecommunity’s help. It means we need you.If you are ready for the experience of a lifetime…If you are ready to create a child’s future…Please call (858) 598-2235 or go to www.speakupnow.orgfor the date and location of an information session near you.NEED TO ADVERTISE?Call us and see how easy andaffordable it can be!(619)444-5774Advertise in the paper everyone’s reading!It is good to get away fromother rats and associate withrats you do not know.Nothing really came of mywife’s observation. She justmentioned it, then the subjectwas dropped, and we went onto what we were doing.Several days later I wasabout to take the trip of mylife.I bought some ink cartridgesfor my printer and happenedto buy the wrong kind. Theway the world operates todayis that you cannot make amistake and then take theproduct back and exchangeit for the right one. The onlyway I could get any satisfactionabout this was to call thecompany and put in a requestto have this ink exchanged forthe right cartridge.I got the number and calledthe company. That was thebeginning of my trip aroundthe world.The first stage of this trip waspunching in numbers. I am notsure of the purpose for punchingin numbers in order to getto somebody that can help you.What happened to the good olddays where you actually talkedto a person you could understandwhat they were saying?For about 15 minutes, Ipunched in number after numberafter number. I thought fora moment that I was readingthe book of Numbers in theOld Testament. I do not mindnumbers when they add up.However, what I really do notlike are arbitrary numbers thatabsolutely make no sense tome. Of course, many things donot make any sense to me.Finally, after punching numbersuntil my fingers began tobleed, I got an actual humanvoice. Ah, the great satisfactionof actually encountering a living,breathing human being onthe telephone. I took a momentto enjoy the moment. It was notto last long.As I began listening to thevoice on the other end of thephone, I became a little puzzled.I heard the voice, she camethrough loud and clear butI had no idea what she wassaying. I said quite a few timeswhen the conversation warranted,“Huh.”After a few minutes of this, Irealized the person I was talkingto was in the Philippines . HowI got to the Philippines , I willnever know. I am not sayingthat the young woman’s Englishwas bad, just that my ears werenot able to catch the nuances ofher phrases.Not getting any satisfactionfrom this young woman in thePhilippines , she transferred meto someone in India . I had justgot accustomed, or so I thought,to the Filipino accent and now Iwas hearing someone talk to mefrom India with a completelydifferent accent.I spent a few minutes in Indiaand what we talked about Ihave no idea. I just wanted toexchange my ink cartridges forthe correct ones. I am not surewhat somebody in India has todo with my problem.Not getting any satisfactionfrom the chap in India , Iwas transferred to someone inIdaho . I wanted cartridges notpotatoes.After some quasi-delightfulminutes in Idaho , I came to theexcruciating conclusion that itwould be worth my while, notto mention the cash involved, tojust forget the whole thing andthrow those cartridges awayand buy new ones.On my way to buy a newcartridge, I thought of a verseof Scripture. “For now we seethrough a glass, darkly; but thenface to face: now I know in part;but then shall I know even asalso I am known” (1 Corinthians13:12 KJV ).I am looking forward to thatfinal trip where I will see Himface to face, no misunderstandingthen.The Rev. James L. Snyderis pastor of the Family of GodFellowship, PO Box 831313,Ocala, FL 34483. Call him at352-687-4240 or e-mail jamessnyder2@att.net.The churchweb site is www.whatafellowship.com.Dear Dr. LuaunaDear Readers,When I got saved 33years ago, I wantedto witness to my mother rightaway. She stood with her handson her waist very defiant, inanger and declared, “I am aChristian. We have always beenChristians.” I was shocked.Why? My mother’s lifestyle wastotally opposite of Christianity.Her life is perfect example ofwhy my spirit is deeply troubledabout the state of Christianitytoday.When I was a child, my father did not want me, and thenmy mother placed me and my other sister in an orphanageat a young age. Later on, she picked me up and droppedme on the doorstep of my father’s home; a shock to him,his wife and child. None of them wanted me around.Then my mother picked me up and took me home, shehad four daughters from four different fathers, I was thesecond oldest. My mother was strikingly beautiful and aman magnet. She was married and divorced eight timesnot counting the boyfriends in between. The welfare ofher children was the last thing on her mind – we were aninconvenience.My sisters and I were always in danger from the sexualpredator boyfriends, the physically and emotionallyabusive stepfathers. My sisters could not help but copy ourmother; the list of destruction includes teenage prostitution,children out of wedlock from multiple fathers, multiplemarriages with divorces, several attempted suicides, drugand alcohol addictions, and victims of attempted murder.By God’s grace I did not follow in her footsteps because Iwas disgusted with her lifestyle. I was filled with anger andhatred, a time bomb ready to explode at any minute. Bythe age of 11, I was in detention because I ran away fromhome after my stepfather beat me up.I kept exploding, which led to being locked up in fosterhomes, detention centers, a place similar to a women’sprison for minor girls. I was released at the age of 15 to mymother, she was in between boyfriends and I was in the wayeven though I tried to stay out of her hair. I went to schoolfulltime and held a fulltime job at a Mexican restaurant. Shethreatened to call my probation officer and send me back tolock up. I made a dumb decision and got married, my backwas against the wall and I didn’t know what to do.A few years later, my husband was murdered whilehaving an affair with a married woman. Her husband camehome and killed my husband. I had a toddler son and waspregnant with my daughter. There are more details in mybook, “A Mother’s Story.” I received Christ as my Savior33 years ago when Jesus broke the curse of generations offof me, my son and daughter. Yet my mother’s bad choicesonly left a path of destruction upon her four daughtersreaching down to her 38 grandchildren.The reason I wrote this letter is to encourage you, if youare a Christian then let Christ make the change in your lifetoday. Don’t wait until you leave a trail of destruction inthe lives that you touch. 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, ifanyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things havepassed away; behold, all things have become new.”Dr. Luauna Stineswww.atouchfromabove.orgEmail: drluauna@atouchfromabove.orgI would love to hear from youSundays7:00 a.m.Facebook:DrLuauna Stines760-315-1967