NEITHER POVERTY OR RICHES

I have discovered there is a fine balance between surplus and need, want and greed. We tend to be the most effective for God when we have a fine tuned appreciation of the things of this world. When the balance is so perfect that we do not spend hardly any time thinking about stuff, food, clothes, leisure, toys, necessities or pleasures. Of course this idea is not original with me.

It states in Proverbs 30: 8-10:

"...give me neither poverty or riches, but give me only daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you (God), and say 'Who is the Lord?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God."

Strive to find this balance in your life. It is one of the grand keys to pleasing God and becoming fruitful spiritually. It tells us in Ecclesiastics 7:18: "The man who fears God will avoid all extremes!" ------------------------------

Before we get to the silly stuff I would like to include a few of the touching, meaningful pieces I have received. You may have already seen some of these, but they all touched a place in my heart. As you read them allow God's Holy Spirit to minister to your soul.

A SOCIOLOGY LESSON (Sent in by Cheryl Orr - Florida)

I am a mother of three (ages 14, 12, 3) and have recently completed my college degree. The last class I had to take was Sociology. The teacher was absolutely inspiring with the qualities that I wish every human being had been graced with. Her last project of the term was called "Smile." The class was asked to go out and smile at three people and document their reaction.

I am a very friendly person and always smile at everyone and say, hello anyway... So, I thought, this would be a piece of cake, literally.

Soon after we were assigned the project, my husband, youngest son and I went out to McDonalds, one crisp March morning. It was just our way of sharing special play time with our son.

ere standing in line, waiting to be served, when all of a sudden everyone around us began to back away, and then even my husband did. I did not move an inch... an overwhelming feeling of panic welled up inside of me as I turned to see why they had moved. As I turned around I smelled a horrible "dirty body" smell... and there standing behind me were two poor homeless men. As I looked down at the short gentleman, close to me, he was "smiling"...his beautiful sky blue eyes : were full of God's Light as he searched for acceptance.

He said, "Good day" as he counted the few coins he had been clutching. The second man fumbled with his hands as he stood behind his friend. I realized the second man was mentally deficient and the blue eyed man was his salvation. I held my tears... as I stood there with them.

The young lady at the counter asked him what they wanted. He said, "Coffee is all Miss" because that was all they could afford (to sit in the restaurant and warm up, they had to buy something... they just wanted to be warm).

Then I really felt it... the compulsion was so great I almost reached out and embraced the little man with the blue eyes. That is when I noticed all eyes in the restaurant were set on me... judging my every action. I smiled and asked the young lady behind the counter to give me two more breakfast meals on a separate tray. I then walked around the corner to the table that the men had chosen as a resting spot. I put the tray on the table and laid my hand on the blue eyed gentleman's cold hand. He looked up at me, with tears in his eyes, and said, "Thank you." I leaned over, began to pat his hand and said, "I did not do this for you... God is here working through me to give you hope."

I started to cry as I walked away to join my husband and son. When I sat down, my husband smiled at me and said, "That is why God gave you to me honey... to give me hope." We held hands for a moment and at that time we knew that only because of God's Grace were we able to give. That day showed me the pure Light of God's sweet love. I returned to college, on the last evening of class, with this story in hand.

I turned in "my project" and the instructor read it... then she looked up at me and said, "Can I share this?" I slowly nodded as she got the attention of the class. She began to read and that is when I knew that we as human beings (part of God) share this need to heal.

In my own way I had touched the people at McDonalds, my husband, son, instructor, and every soul that shared the classroom on the last night I spent as a college student. I graduated with one of the biggest lessons I would ever learn... be kind to ALL... after all... we are here to learn!

Much love and compassion sent to each and every person who may read this. Learn how to Love People and use Things; NOT Love things and Use people.

THE TROUBLE TREE (Sent in by Laurie Hale - Texas)>

The carpenter I hired to help me restore an old farm house finished a rough first day on the job. A flat tire made him lose an hours work, his electric saw quit, and now his ancient pickup truck refused to start.

While I drove him home, he sat in stony silence. On arriving, he invited me in to meet his family. As we walked toward the front door, he paused briefly at a small tree, touching tips of the branches with both hands.

When opening the door, he underwent an amazing transformation. His tanned face was wreathed in smiles and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss.

Afterwards he walked me to the car. We passed the tree and my curiosity got the better of me. I asked him about what I had seen him do earlier. "Oh, that is my trouble tree," he replied. "I know I cant help having troubles on the job, but one thing is for sure, troubles don't belong in the house with my wife and the children. So I just hang them up on the tree every night when I come home. Then in the morning I pick them up again."

"Funny thing is," he smiled, "when I come out in the morning to pick them up, there ain't nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night before."

................... Do you have a "trouble tree?" Christ will be that, plus so much more, if you allow Him to.

"Casting all your cares upon Him; for He careth for you." I Peter 5:7

FROM THE SUBLIME TO THE SILLY

THE DARWIN AWARD (Sent in by Rick Jensen - Florida)

The Darwin Award is usually bestowed posthumously to a worthy individual who, through single-minded self-sacrifice, has done the most to remove his or her genes from the human gene pool. Honorable mention is often accorded those who made a valiant attempt but, unfortunately, were not in the right place at the right time.

The Guy Should Have Stayed Home.

(Location and Date Not Given) - An intolerable infestation of itching vermin, combined with a lack of attention to product caution labels were blamed for the complete and utter destruction of a three bedroom house in West Virginia. After several frustrated attempts to rid his dwelling of bedbugs, fleas and other crawling insects, a 22 year old unemployed day laborer concluded the vexing little creatures were insecticide-resistant and that more drastic measures were necessary. .

Following a visit to a local hardware store where he purchased an arsenal of aerosol room foggers, the hapless homeowner proceeded to discharge six cans of the highly flammable spray in each room instead of the recommended maximum of one per room. In all, 42 cans of fine-mist insect poison were applied in a dwelling which according to product instructions required a maximum of only seven. .

According to a report on the incident, after all 42 cans were initialized the homeowner ran out of the house, leaving it completely closed for several hours while he attended a movie about two miles away. Approximately one hour after the house-gassing began, a massive explosion occurred leaving a crater roughly equivalent to that of a 500 LB W.W.II bomb. None of the structure's remaining components were identifiable. Surrounding homes were severely damaged, some shifting as much as two feet off of their foundations. Windows were blown out four blocks away, and two nearby cars were rolled overturned. >

Upon further investigation, it was theorized the homeowner failed to extinguish pilot lights as instructed on the product caution label. During the fumigation, vapors apparently seeped into the gas water heater subsequently igniting the dense fog of highly combustible aerosol gas, literally blasting the house to small bits. Witnesses blocks away first reported a bone-jarring shock wave, followed by a deafening blast and a rapidly rising fireball about the size of a house. Bits of debris rained for several blocks, with some particles falling as far as a mile away from the detonation site.

Upon returning home the stunned homeowner said, "I heard a boom during the movie, but I thought it was thunder or an airplane or something...it just didn't occur to me my house was exploding...".

Inspectors found no trace of the water heater, "We think it's in orbit around Pluto..." Officials were contemplating reckless endangerment charges, as well as other federal hazardous substance violations. It was undetermined if the home's insurance carrier would pay for the loss. Inspectors examining the smoking crater did not report encountering any remaining itching vermin. .

MERGER MANIA (Sent in by Duane Williams - Florida)<

A number of years ago there was a proposed merger between Fairchild Electronics and Honeywell Computers. Rumor had it that the new company would be called Fairwell Honeychild.

There is a merger in the works involving Polygraph Records, Warner Brothers, and Keebler. It will be called Poly-Warner-Cracker.

There has long been a rumor that W. R. Grace Co. was going to buy the Fuller Brush Co. and Mary Kay Cosmetics and then merge with the Hale Business Systems. This would result in the new mega-corporation Hale Mary Fuller Grace.

Don't forget the failed merger between Yahoo and Netscape: Net'n'Yahoo. It didn't work out because they were afraid they would have to relocate the headquarters to Tel Aviv.

Others in the works:

3M & Goodyear =

John Deere & Abitibi-Price = Deere

Honeywell & Imasco & Home Oil = Honey, I'm Home

Denison Mines & Alliance & Metal Mining = Mine, All Mine

3M & JC Penney & Canadian Opera Company = 3 Penney Opera

Knott's Berry Farm + National Organization of Women = Knott NOW

Crabtree & Evelyn and Apple Computer = Crab Apple

Swissair & Cheseborough-Ponds = Swisscheese

Zippo Manufacturing & Audi & Dofasco & Dakota Mining = Zip Audi Do Da



FINAL WORD FROM KEN

God is indeed awesome. I see that more and more each day! I hope you enjoyed Hello Fridays. I enjoy pulling it together. With my new responsibilities at HEDGEBUILDERS I have much less time to work on HF, but I am committed to keeping it up and running. REMEMBER the version located on the web at www.hedge.org/HF has a lot more material both serious and funny. The best address to send me stuff is now Hello-Fridays@juno.com.

Have a super great day!! Remember God knows you, He knows your needs, He knows your pain and your joys. The Bible tells us that God sees our tears (Hezekiah - 2 Kings 20:5) and hears our laughter (Sarah - Genesis 18:13). Walk with Him today!

God bless and have a great week! Ken