IT DEPENDS ON WHAT THE MEANING OF IS IS!!!!


President Bill Clinton Will probably be remembered for his quote "It depends on what the meaning of is is", for years to come.  Or maybe this one,  "It depends on how you define alone".  How we define words can really make a difference in what we hear.

Take the word numbers for instance....What's the first thing that comes to your mind when I say the word numbers?  Maybe accountant....  How about math....Or maybe boring...Or course all three of these kind of go together.  When I was in school, math was probably my best subject, although that isn't saying much.  I mainly took to the saying of Mark Twain... "Never let school get in the way of your education."  I was always told to remember my  math  lessons because I would use it all my life and to a large degree that's been true.  Take a moment to think of all the things we use numbers in.  Counting our money, "How much is in the bank?"  Counting our kids,  "How many children do you have?"  Telling the day of the month, the 19th,,,,  the month of the year, the 10th,,,the year , 2011.  Our address.  Our Social Security number.  We even have a special sign (#) for number on our key board and telephone.  Oh wait,  there's another one ,,,,our telephone number.  We could go on and on.  What would we do without numbers?

Peggy and I have had our youngest grandson, Hunter, stay with us the last couple of days.  It's always a special treat when one of the grand kids comes to visit but as they get older it seems they have other things to do and we don't see them as often as we would like.  Hunter is only 21 months old so he pretty much goes where he is told and Peggy and I have found he is pretty happy as long as we do exactly as he wants us to.  It is so much fun to watch him discover things of this world.  We walk in the yard and he stops and picks up every stick and looks at it like it's a treasure no one else has ever seen.  We went to the park and without a doubt the ducks were his favorite thing although the swings and slides were a close second.  As I watch him I see so much of his dad, Josh, in him.  He brings back memories of things Josh did and said in his childhood.  At certain times I can see Hunter so very deep in thought just like the times I saw this in Josh.  That's where the thought of "numbers" came to mind.

Josh was about 5 if memory serves me right.  We were riding down the street and Josh was quite.  I looked in the rear view mirror and could see he was deep in thought.  I knew it wouldn't be long until a question would be coming.  Josh had more questions than any kid I had ever seen.  And all of a sudden here it came.  Josh said  " Dad,,,what happens when you use all your numbers up?"  I thought for a second and said,  "What are you talking about Josh?"  He said  " You know,  when you use all your numbers up."

I had no idea what he was talking about but as the saying goes,  Inquiring mind want to know.  I tried to explain to him that numbers went on forever.  To infinity and beyond.  I knew he had heard that before. But he said  " No no no.  Not that.  You know,  like I'm 5.  What happens when a person has used all his numbers up?"

Now I got it.  What happens when our life as we know it ends?  What happens when we don't have any birthdays left?  This from a 5 year old.  Well I tried to explain to him as best I could about life and death.  About heaven and hell.  But sometimes it's hard to know if a 5 year old totally understands what you're trying to say.  It's even hard for me as a 63 year old to totally understand what I'm trying to say sometimes.

We've laughed about this story over the years,  but as you get older,  I've found that sometimes when I think about a story or a question,  sometimes the answer depends on how you define the question.  For example,  instead of using your numbers up,  Let's just think about  "How you use your numbers."  What if Josh instead had asked "Dad,  does it matter how a person uses his numbers up?   Or how about this....... "Dad,  How are you using your numbers?" 

Of course when we are younger and we think about what we are going to do with our numbers,  we think in terms of years.  As we get older and think about our numbers we tend to think more in terms of weeks or even days.

When I thought about the word numbers I also thought about of the Book Of Numbers.  The 4th book of the Bible.  Just like math and accounting,  I use to think of the Book Of Numbers as boring.  then I studied it and found Numbers demonstrated the importance of holiness, faithfulness  and trust.

Isn't it amazing the windows of your mind that can be opened by the questions of a child?

Now I must decide....What will I do with this  number I've been blessed with today?


Until next time,  just know someone is thinking about you!!!!!!Love