Bob and I hav ad the joy of a unique opportunity in the past few weeks. I was approached by a new acquaintance, a Muslim lady. Her husband needed help in writing reports for his job. Since English is his 6th language he is struggling with proper use of words, punctuation, etc.

This Mslim is a gentleman in every respect. I expected him show disdain to me, yet in every way he is respectful. He accepted my critiques and suggestions in the same way he accepted Bob's.

He wanted to thank us by taking us out to eat last night. At first the time was a problem because it is now Ramadan. Muslims mus fast from sunup to sundown. They fast, not only from food, but from anything to drink as well. They cannot even drink water!

Bob explained tha as a heart paient he drinks copius amounts of waer daily. This gentleman explained that he also is a heart patient. His son, a doctor, warned him about the risks of doing Ramadan. Yet, the indoctrination from birth is so strong, he risks his health for the rules of the religion.

This opened the way for Bob to explain that fasting that way was a "work" and as Christians we do not "work" to qualify to enter heaven - we simpy believe by faith that Jesus is our savior.

We had a frank discussion about the differences between the Christian faith and Muslim faith.

Our host for the evening called at 6 p.m. to say he would break Ramadan and go to eat early. His penace would be that today he must give food to a poor peson.

I love the opportunity we have to get acquainted with this man. He obviously is not part of the fringe group terrorizing the world.

Our prayer is that he will know Jesus as his savior, not just as a great prophet.

Do the hard thing

I recently ordered 3 books for each of my children's families from Focus on the Family. I had tuned into the program one day and Alex and Brett Harris were the guests. They are 19 yr.old twins who have written a book - "Do Hard Things". I thought each of the grandchildren might be inspired by what these young men have accomplished in recent years.

I decided I should read the book so I'd know it was really o.k. for the g-kids. Of course, what could they teach me - after all, I have a granddaughter their age.

Wrong!

I've just read the first few chapters, but I'm already impressed and must admit that they did, indeed, have something to teach me.

The premise is that teenagers have been conditioned by society, school, peers, etc., to rebel, take the easy way out, "get by" academically, do as little as possible, be lazy, take no responsibility-----------you get the picture.

Am I ever lazy?
Do I just "get by" in my meal preparation, prayer time, volunteer time, hospital visitation ? Again the list goes on.

Do I have the attitude that as a very senior citizen I am somehow exempt from doing the very best for my family, my church, and my community?

Granted I no longer have the stamina to do all I did years ago. However, I have determined that each day I will do at least one hard thing.