By Steve Goodier

I recall reading that a man from Virginia Beach filed a lawsuit against his hospital. He opted to have surgery in order to lose weight. So he had his stomach stapled — a procedure that reduced the size of his stomach so he couldn’t eat as much.

A couple of days after surgery he sneaked down the hospital corridors to the kitchen. There he raided the refrigerator and ate so much that his staples burst.

The lawsuit? He claimed it was the hospital’s fault. They should have locked the refrigerator. And no – I don’t know how the suit came out. Just the staples.

He wanted to make other people responsible for what he put into his mouth. Which raises the question: who decides what we bring into our lives?

One man told me, “I’m not a garbage truck.”

“What do you mean by that?” I asked him.

“I mean that sometimes other people want to dump their garbage on me,” he said. “They fill themselves up with negativity and complaints and want to dump all of that garbage on me. I’m not going to take all of their garbage. They may need to get rid of it, but not all over me.”

He believes people need to be responsible for the garbage in their lives. And that’s probably true for the good stuff, too. For me, that includes just about everything. It means I am responsible for everything I put into my mouth, but also for everything I choose to watch and hear. Some of it’s good and some of it’s garbage. It even means everything that comes into my head through my eyes and ears. It’s also about everything that fills up my time. Everything.

And to be honest, I don’t always do a great job with everything that comes into my life. But I am clear that what I allow in is up to me, not somebody else.

When we fill our bodies with the right foods, they perform well.

When we fill our heads with learning, they won’t easily stagnate.

When we fill our minds with healthier attitudes, we will have a better outlook.

When we fill our hearts with a little more courage, we will be able to face life with confidence.

When we fill our talk with more gratitude, we will be happier.

When we fill our lives with more love, we will never be alone.

Only we can decide how to fill ourselves up.

© Wake Up With the Wolf Show – 93.1 the Wolf – WPAW.  Please share this with your friends!

(Reprinted from the Burlington Times-News)

A memorial fund was established following the death Monday night of Williams High School quarterback Harry Cohen.

The Harry Cohen Memorial Fund has been set up through MidCarolina Bank. People can make a donation at any branch in Alamance County, or can mail a check to the fund c/o MidCarolina Bank, P.O. Box 968, Burlington, N.C. 27216.

The fund’s purpose is to help the family pay funeral and medical expenses.

Other efforts are going on to help the Williams community cope with the tragedy.

Alamance-Burlington Schools spokeswoman Jenny Faulkner said businesses have donated food for the staff and crisis team members from other schools who have been assisting students. She said churches have called to offer help and Williams has received messages of support from schools both in and outside of the county.

Faulkner said between 30 and 40 students talked Tuesday morning with counselors there to help students or adults deal with grief.

Students continue to wear black and gold, the school’s colors, as a tribute to Cohen. Some have drawn the number 5, his football jersey number, on their hands, and some have placed flowers at the statue of the school’s Bulldog mascot.

No word was available Tuesday about the potential for more organized ways to remember Cohen among the student body or in the larger community.

Faulkner said the school is taking a one-day-at-a-time approach to athletics events. A volleyball game scheduled for Tuesday afternoon was canceled. No decision had been made about games later in the week, including a Williams-Graham High School football match-up planned for Friday.

Through Faulkner, Williams athletic director Kyle Hayes said the main factor in those decisions will be determining what students can handle emotionally, spiritually and physically.

UPDATE ON SERVICES FOR HARRY: The viewing will be held Saturday morning, September 3rd, with the funeral procession to follow at Lamb’s Chapel in Haw River.  Check back here soon; details TBA.

By Bob G. Shaw, from “2 the Heart”

Some folks have a tendency to believe a bad day fishing is better than a good day at work. Then along comes a day like today. The two inch snow that was predicted had turned in to a six incher, and more in some of the drifts. And at three AM, it made for a pretty interesting trip to work. A half-hour later, I had the windshield cleared and backed up to the door to load. By five, the bread was loaded and ready to roll.

Everything went pretty well, considering the parking lots were far from being cleared. Everything that was taken in was either packed or dragged. Around seven o’clock, it started getting light. I was headed down a two-lane highway, going to the “country” part of the route, and just starting to see the beauty of the first snowfall. Just a few more stops, then I’d turn and head north, to the top end of the route.

Just a few miles out of town, the countryside starts changing. The rolling hills and valleys are considered to be the foothills of the Ozarks. With the snowfall fresh on the landscape, it was a quite a sight. The hilltops were capped with snow, and the valleys were blanked with a deep white layer, drifting sometimes even deeper. The trees were laden with snow, their limbs drooping under the weight. As I topped the highpoint, I stopped the truck just to look out over the landscape. The winter scene spread out before me like a giant painting. With the white trees, and everything covered, and the gray sky background, it gave everything a quiet and peaceful setting.

I was surprised to see a beam of sunshine break through the clouds, and shine in to the crystals of ice and snow. The light broke into thousands of tiny rainbows from the natural prisms. A small stream wound its way down and around the hills, it’s crystal water bubbling over the stones and gravel, and ran by close to the road. Just down and off to the right, a deer had stopped for a drink from the stream, and was staring, unafraid. The whole scene was like a moment suspended in time, not moving, just there to be appreciated, savored.

At that particular moment, it was easy to feel very small, almost insignificant. And I realized that all of this, no matter how large or small, is God’s creation. And that nothing he created is insignificant or unimportant to him. Everything has its space and reason for being, a purpose. Everything. A snowflake, an ice crystal, a rainbow that dances like the laughter of a child. Everything . . .

© Wake Up With the Wolf Show – 93.1 the Wolf – WPAW.  Please share this with your friends!

By Bob Perks

I have so much going on in my head.

Too much going on in my heart.

A hundred times a day something new jumps in front of me begging for me to tell you about it. But my mind can’t hold onto everything, that’s when it ends up in my heart.

It turns from a thought to a wish there. My heart is home to a million wishes for you to be happy, full of life and in particular, hopeful.

So, when suddenly I realized the other day that I can’t save the entire world, it was overwhelming. I want to. But then, as quickly as it came, another more satisfying thought took its place.

I can save one person at a time.

Just one person. Maybe today that person is you.

This is what I held onto today.

I have heard and believed at times that we need to just live for today. It sounds simple enough.

If you find it too difficult to look at your life and think about where you want to go and what you want to accomplish, then dealing with one day at a time is easy.

No sense worrying about tomorrow’s problems. Here’s the better idea.

You are not making a life just for today; you are making a lifetime from it.

That means everything you do, every decision you make today is like a single thread in the fabric you are weaving.

Those threads together form a pattern.

Be guided by the principle that you become a thread in someone else’s pattern by how you interact with them.

All of us woven together over a lifetime become the patchwork quilt generations after us must build on.

If you have faith, don’t just apply it randomly. Often we do the right thing when it doesn’t take much effort.

Making a life means being faithful.
Have fun.  Take time to be silly. God loves the child in us, not just the children.

Making a life means living fully. Laughing often.
Love.  Take time to love unconditionally. Our faith tells us to love one another not just a select few. Not just those who are like us. All people.

Making a life means loving the life in others.
Finally, sacrifice. Stop asking for what you can get, ask what you can give, what you can do.

Making a life means giving life to others.
“You are not making a life for a day; you are making a lifetime from it.”

© Wake Up With the Wolf Show – 93.1 the Wolf – WPAW.  Please share this with your friends!

Holy smokes… Although Hurricane Irene was nowhere near the doomsday storm many were predicting, it was bad enough. 2500 people on Hatteras Island were cut off from the mainland after Irene created five breaches in the island, where NC 12 is the only roadway. Check out this aerial footage.

By “Alice”

My nephew’s 10 year old son came for a visit one hot, July weekend. I was enticing him to stay inside by joining him in a Nintendo game. After being mercilessly defeated by a more experienced player, I suggested that we relax awhile. I collapsed into my favorite recliner to let my neck muscles relax and my ego recover from such a beating. He had slipped out of the room and I was catching a few relished moments of peace and quiet.

“Look, Alice,” he said enthusiastically as he ran over to the chair where I was recovering.

“I found a kite. Could we go outside and fly it?”

Glancing out a nearby window, I noticed there was not a breeze stirring. “I’m sorry, Tripper,” I said, sad to see his disappointed eyes, but thankful for the respite from more activity. “The wind is not blowing today. The kite won’t fly.”

The determined 10 year old replied, “I think it’s windy enough. I can get it to fly,” as he hurried out the back door. I peeked through the slats in the venetian blinds to watch determination in action. Up and down the yard he ran, pulling the kite attached to a small length of string. The plastic kite, proudly displaying a picture of Batman, remained about shoulder level. He ran back and forth, as hard as his ten year old legs would carry him, looking back hopefully at the kite trailing behind. After about ten minutes of unsuccessful determination, he came back in.

I asked, “How did it go?”

“Fine,” he said, not wanting to admit defeat. “I got it to fly some.”

As he walked past me to return the kite to the closet shelf, I heard him say under his breath, “I guess I’ll have to wait for the wind.”

At that moment I heard another Voice speak to my heart. “Alice, sometimes you are just like that. You want to do it your way instead of waiting for the Wind.”

And the voice was right. How easy it is to use our own efforts to accomplish what we want to do. We wait for the Wind only after we have done all we can and have exhausted our own strength. We must learn how to rely on Him in the first place!

© Wake Up With the Wolf Show – 93.1 the Wolf – WPAW.  Please share this with your friends!

Grab a box of Kleenex before you watch this:

Author unknown

His name is Bill. He has wild hair, wears a T-shirt with holes in it, jeans and no shoes. This was literally his wardrobe for his entire four years of college. He is brilliant. Kind of esoteric and very, very bright. He became a Christian while attending college.

Across the street from the campus is a well-dressed, conservative church. They want to develop a ministry to the students, but are not sure how to go about it. One day Bill decides to go there. He walks in with no shoes, jeans, his T-shirt, and wild hair. The service has already started and so Bill starts down the aisle looking for a seat.

The church is completely packed and he can’t find a seat. By now people are looking a bit uncomfortable, but no one says anything. Bill gets closer, closer, and closer to the pulpit and when he realizes there are no seats, he just squats down right on the carpet. (Although perfectly acceptable behavior at a college fellowship, trust me, this had never happened in this church!) By now the people are really uptight, and the tension in the air is thick.

About this time, the minister realizes that from way at the back of the church, a deacon is slowly making his way toward Bill. Now the deacon is in his eighties, has silver-gray hair, a three-piece suit, and a pocket watch. The deacon is a godly man, very elegant, very dignified, very courtly. He walks with a cane and as he starts walking toward this boy, everyone is saying to themselves, you can’t blame him for what he’s going to do. How can you expect a man of his age and of his background to understand some college kid on the floor?

It takes a long time for the man to reach the boy. The church is very silent except for the clicking of the man’s cane. All eyes are focused on him. You can’t even hear anyone breathing. The people are thinking, the minister can’t even preach the sermon until the deacon does what he has to do. Then they watch, as this elderly deacon drops his cane on the floor. With great difficulty he lowers himself and sits down next to Bill to worship with him so he won’t be alone. Everyone chokes up with emotion.

The minister gains control and says: “What I’m about to preach, you won’t remember. What you just saw, you will never forget.”

© Wake Up With the Wolf Show – 93.1 the Wolf – WPAW.  Please share this with your friends!

Kenny Chesney and some top Nashville songwriters will be strumming and singing in a casual show tonight (Thursday) at a club in Boston…but you can watch it no matter where you are!  The event – part of the CMA Songwriters Series – is being streamed live.  The intimate show at the Royale Nightclub features Kenny along with Bob DiPiero, Brett James, Craig Wiseman and other legendary songwriters.  You can watch online starting at 8pm at either NoShoesRadio.com or CMASongwritersSeries.com.

By Roger Dean Kiser, “True stories from The Life and Times of Roger Dean Kiser”

Once, many years ago, I pulled a family out of a burning car somewhere in the middle of Wyoming. Last week I received a telephone call from a woman who could not stop crying as she told me that one of my stories had saved her son from committing suicide. In closing she called me “a hero.”

That got me to thinking about what a hero really is. Was I a hero because I pulled a family from a burning car? If so, how could I be a hero just because I wrote a story that saved someone’s life?

Today I decided to look up the word “hero” in the dictionary to see exactly what it meant.

It read, “A person who does something brave.”

As I read on, it also said, “A person who is good and noble.”

That statement impressed me more than did the part about being brave.

It got me to thinking about something very important. Say I was walking into the local Wal-Mart store and I happened to open and hold the door for someone as a courtesy. As they passed me by, I say, “How are you today?” Most of the time that would be no big deal, but this time let’s say it was for someone who is deeply depressed and near the end of their rope. That may have very well been the only kindness or courtesy shown to them in a very long time.

Having been near the “end of my rope” after my marriage of twenty years ended, I was in such a condition. I was within hours of trying to get up enough nerve to end the pain and misery. When I returned home, someone had sent me a card in the mail which told me how much they appreciate me as a friend. That wonderful card probably saved my life. That person, without even knowing it, saved a life and became a hero.

I went on to write many stories which last week saved the life of a teenage boy. In turn, that makes the person who sent me the card a double hero.

I suppose that is why I fight so hard to help the children now living in orphanages. Most children come out of these institutions with a very hard and vindictive attitude against the world. The gifts we send them let them know that they have not been forgotten. Hopefully, most of them will never hurt anyone because of the kindness shown to them by those of us who cared. If it works we will also become “heroes.”

Who would have ever thought that anyone can become a hero, and possibly save a life, just by being kind and courteous to others? The best part of all is that becoming a “hero” is free to all who wish to wear such an honor.

© Wake Up With the Wolf Show – 93.1 the Wolf – WPAW.  Please share this with your friends!