Saturday, I was sitting at a red light waiting to turn left. The road upon which I was about to turn had three lanes both ways with a turn lane in the middle.

At the corner stood a young father and three stair step children. Each of the four pushed the button that would give them a “walk” signal. (Have you ever seen the light glowing on an elevator button and STILL pushed it?)

As I sat there waiting for my turn arrow, the father started to cross the busy road. He turned and hollered at his kids, “Come on, gang, let’s go”.

The two older children shouted back, “We can’t walk until it says “walk”.

They kept at it until my turn arrow turned on. I’m guessing that father (and his wife, their mother), had spoken to the kids many times to wait for the “walk” light to come on before they crossed any intersection. However, the father, in a hurry, was pushing his children to violate their own teaching from him for his convenience.

As I was relating this incident to Pat, it reminded me of two granddaughters. I won’t identify them by name, but they are two of the best back seat drivers I’ve ever seen. They don’t have to be sitting in the back seat, either! It seems that the closer a kid is to getting their license (or maybe just got their license), the more apt they are to remind adult drivers of every little nit picky rule.

I heard of one adult person who said, “I’ll help you learn to drive. Just drive as I say, not as I drive!”

See, that’s what ties both these stories together really well. DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO! C’mon, admit it. All of us are guilty of that at some point. Let me hear from you and your experiences. Just use the “Leave a Reply” box below!

SOME SELECTED RESPONSES TO “PAPA’S PIPELINE PAPER CUTTER”

– Oh, gosh, Jerry……Poor Pat…………..How WELL I remember the red tide. I know it used to bother a lot of people with allergies, not to mention it just plain stunk!!! Yucky Pooh! The Promised Land will come about. Whether it’s this Promised Land, #2, or another, it’s out there and the Lord will lead ya to it.

– Such a lovely young lady! With talents like that and looks like that, you’re entitled to bust a few buttons when you talk about her! She looks amazingly like Kathleen!

– I hope all goes better with Promised Land #2, but I’ll be frank with you: I’m glad your name isn’t Moses. I feel like you might get to the Promised Land. We all pray that Pat does get better. These breathing problems are so frustrating! I know that with the many things that affect the lungs, we can’t just go into a sterile place and be able to breathe like everyone else. So, our prayers go out to both Pat (who suffers from it). Take care of yourselves! Much Love :o))

– When I had become a new Christian, I was introduced to the idea of paying tithe. You need to understand, this was in the middle of the ‘recession’ of 1979-1983.

I had a grand total of 256 dollars every 2 weeks, to take care of the needs of 4 people – two adults and two youngsters. I barely had enough to feed us all, yet, they were talking about giving 1/10 to God. Like the Book says, you can not out give God. It never ceases to amaze me how He can stretch that 9/10 to cover more than the whole thing can, and still have a little left, too.

I like His math better than mine. God bless! Remember: He is coming soon, sooner than we think,

– Jerry, may I ask what “red tide” is? I must say I like “Papa’s Pipeline”. A “pipe dream” of sorts, if you will. (g)

Thanks for the picture. Pat is in my prayers. Keep us updated. Lord, lift Pat up and look down favorably upon your son and your daughter in Jesus’ name.

Say, the FWOG piece was interesting. It wasn’t a “toadal” (as opposed to “total”) waste (LOL). Thanks for sharing your heart with us.

– I’m sending a copy of this to my singles pastor at church. It reminded me so much of him and our department. There doesn’t always seem to be enough money to go around, but when things are needed, the Pipeline always seems to open up. Recently, it opened to help a single father in need of medicine that has to be purchased. Just when you think the Pipeline is empty, look out for the gusher.

– I like the name. Something that I always ask the Lord is, (when I am praying) “Lord, I want to keep the “line” “clear” so we can hear each other” I know He always hears me, but if I get my life so busy I “forget” to keep in touch with Him, the line might get “dusty”.

As you know, we have worked with the migrants in this area and when we were working, we collected all the aluminum cans. When we sold them, we used them for our Mission work with the Migrants. But, since we’ve retired and don’t work at jobs, we are not able to do this. But I can remember when we “easily” cashed in $50 or $60 depending on what they were selling for that week. My heart will always be for “Missions” but now our income is limited and with a sickly, 90 year old Mother and a sister who is diabetic, it takes all our “extra” to take care of them.

We don’t do this for others to know what we are doing or for any praise. This is how we were raised – to take care of our own.

Because so many people knew what we did for the migrants, they still call us with all kinds of items for us to take to them. So, we are still involved with them in that way . Something we did learn, sorry to say, is that a lot of people, if they don’t get praise and recognition for their donations, aren’t interested in helping!!!! What we do for others is like doing it for the Lord, so we don’t need people knowing what we do. It’s all in the HEART and how much you LOVE THE LORD.

We are so happy and thankful that we know you and Rachael and know of the work for the Lord that you do. Do you know when your next CD will be out? Be sure and let us know.

– As you know, I am involved with Maine Handicapped Skiers. I recently had a student who was brought to me by his group home. He was very upset to be here and belligerent. The lead instructor asked me to try and do something with him. .I put on cross-country skis and did not bother with lessons. We were just two guys talking and skiing. When we got back, he told everyone what a great time he had, thanked everyone and said he wanted to return. Everyone wanted to know if this was the same guy who was so upset before. That is why we do what we do, for fun.

– What a great picture of a beautiful young girl. And it is up to us grandparents to brag, brag, brag. Why not? They can use all the encouragement from grandparents they can get.

I take care of a nine year old girl and her four year old brother. Their own grandma never goes to see anything they are in. The girl told me I was the only Grandma who would come to watch her in anything. I would not miss it for the world. Her own grandma is going to regret some day that she was never available for them.

Just keep bragging. I have two more great grandbabies due this year. In fact, one next week and the other in July. That will make 5 for me and the oldest is two. A happy time for us all. Enjoy reading your articles very much. Hope everything keeps going well for you.