Kids

Stop signs serve a really important purpose: they warn drivers they’re approaching danger. But what happens if a stop sign isn’t where it’s supposed to be? What happens if there’s no warning?

Sadly, our entire nation learned that grim lesson back in 1996.

Jeremy and Melissa, a married couple who operated a traveling circus, visited an adoption agency with the hopes of increasing the size of their small family. Of course, the social workers had plenty of doubts and worries about the couple’s suitability for adoption.

An elderly – and very wise – man finally retired and bought a home in a neighborhood near a junior high school. Since it was summer, he spent the first few weeks of retirement in quiet contentment.

But then school resumed…and middle school kids began canvassing the neighborhood.

Though he was a football player on his middle school team, Keith Orr was not destined for athletic glory. He weighed a mere 95 pounds and had a learning disorder.

But everything changed when his teammates started plotting….

Max was diagnosed with severe autism when he was just two years old. His life will never be a “normal” one as most of us define it, and not just because of his mental disorder. He’ll also struggle with the occasional idiot who masquerades as a “normal” adult.

Like this moronic woman in Ontario.

Pop Quiz: Which kid is most likely to be greedy and judgmental?

The kid being raised by atheists.
The kid being raised by wolves.
The kid walking home from Sunday School.

Church can be a place that’s filled with distractions: cell phones with annoying ring tones, old people who cough loudly (and unceasingly), and of course, babies that cry. But what about a kid who’s smiling? Is that a disruption to worship?

In one church, evidently so.

Ms. Eloise heard a knock at the door one afternoon, and shuffling her way over to it, opened it to find Kyle, a sweet-but-hyper little boy, standing on her porch clutching a baseball glove. The elderly woman, a grandma many times over in her own right, immediately recognized the sheepish look on the little boy’s face.

Ask church people about their image in the community and they’re likely to reference “hospitals for the sick” or “lighthouses for lost.” Let’s face it; that’s how we like to see ourselves.

But one prostitute in Chicago has a completely different take on Christians and the Church.

Running a 5K isn’t easy. The course stretches 3.1 miles long and can be filled with hills and headwinds. Successful runners know it takes a good pair of running shoes, plenty of training, and unflinching endurance to finish strong.

And it doesn’t hurt to have a good running partner, either.