Tag: John 11:25

Posted in Family, fear, friends, gratitude, heaven, life, love, loving others, prayer, priorities, Scripture, thankful, Trials

Short Stories…Big Truths

Posted on by Dewayne Taylor

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me, even if he dies, will live.” John 11:25

Short stories with big truths.  It all started on a Saturday morning.  We were a few months into writing stories on Facebook, and then decided to take the next step and build a website where our stories could be more easily accessed.  Many of our friends suggested compiling the stories into a book.  Well, that dream hasn’t happened and may not.  But the website did.  We decided to call it Grits with Grace.  Grits spoke of our Southern heritage and grace of the most powerful thing we have ever experienced.  Next came the tag line, “Short Stories with Big Truths.” Judy staged the picture in our backyard and, well, you probably know the rest.

Short stories with big truths.  Hmmm. That came home one morning as I was walking.  Sometimes, maybe once a week, I take my walk through our local cemetery.  It is rather large and if I make a couple of laps around the outside coupled with a shorter one, I end up with about two miles.  As I have written before, I love this walk because of all the life stories you can find on the headstones.  I take the same route each time…I am a creature of habit.  What I saw this morning I had seen many times before but this morning it spoke to me.

His name was Keith.  I could give you the last name but for privacy I won’t.  He was born on July 3, 1956, just a couple of years after me.  In other words, I was two and a half years old the day he started his life journey. We could have gone to the same school, played on the same ball team—except he was from here and I was from the south.  Anyway, it was the next date that always caught my attention. It was the date that he died.  Keith drew his last breath on May 31, 1964, at the too young age of 7 years, 10 months, and 29 days. I don’t know the cause of his untimely death…only that it was a too short story.  Was it a car accident, a bike accident?  Did he fall while playing?  Perhaps it was one of too many childhood illnesses.  Even polio could be a possibility.  Well, like I said we don’t know.  The only thing we know is that something unexpectedly stepped in and stole his years away.

Short stories.  The cemetery is full of headstones that tell short stories.  Walk a while and you will see that truth played out and that is why I am writing this story.  You see, Keith is a reminder to me, as all the headstones are, of a big truth.  The number of our days is a closely guarded secret of the One who created us.  He, and only He, knows when we will step into eternity.  Death is certainly no respecter of race, color, creed, or economic status.  Death doesn’t care about age.  We only know that one day it will come but don’t let that deflate you or scare you because Jesus took care of death two thousand years ago when He resurrected that first Easter morning.

I’m almost certain that Keith didn’t know he was going to have such a short story, but I hope he knew the One that could make a difference.  I hope he knew Jesus.  I hope you know Jesus.  When Jesus is entered into any equation, well, it changes everything, but especially death.  With Jesus death is not the end but the beginning and no matter how many years we live here—the life on the other side is so much more…so much longer.  Keith teaches us that some stories are short, very short and some stories are long, very long.  Jesus teaches us that it isn’t the length of the story that matters, it is what we do with Him.  He is what matters…not church, not religion, not religious stuff—just Jesus.

I really like what Jesus said in John 11:25—one of the books in the Bible that tells the story of Jesus.  He says, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me, even if he dies, will live.” The her is a woman named Martha and her brother had just died with a too short story.  Jesus is just letting her know that death doesn’t have to call the shots because He has.  Short stories…those will always be with us but so will big truths—like the one that says, “I’ve got this” because He does.  Bro. Dewayne

Posted in Family, fear, friends, Grace, gratitude, life, love, loving others, prayer, priorities, Scripture, thankful, wisdom

Short Stories…Big Truths

Posted on by Dewayne Taylor

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me, even if he dies, will live.” John 11:25

Short stories with big truths.  It all started on a Saturday morning.  We were a few months into writing stories on Facebook, and then decided to take the next step and build a website where our stories could be more easily accessed.  Many of our friends were suggesting compiling the stories into a book.  Well, that dream hasn’t happened and may not.  But the website did.  We decided to call it Grits with Grace.  Grits spoke of our Southern heritage and grace of the most powerful thing we have ever experienced.  Next came the tag line, “Short Stories with Big Truths.” Judy staged the picture in our backyard and, well, you probably know the rest.

Short stories with big truths.  Hmmm. That came home this morning as I was walking.  Sometimes, maybe once a week, I take my walk through our local cemetery.  It is rather large and if I make a couple of laps around the outside coupled with a shorter one, I end up with about two miles.  As I have written before, I love this walk because of all the life stories you can find on the headstones.  I take the same route each time…I am a creature of habit.  What I saw this morning I had seen many times before but this morning it spoke to me.

His name was Keith.  I could give you the last name but for privacy I won’t.  He was born on July 3, 1956, just a couple of years before me.  In other words, I was two and a half years old that day when he started his life journey.  It was the next date that always catches my attention. It was the date that he died.  Keith drew his last breath on May 31, 1964, at the too young age of 7 years, 10 months and 29 days. I don’t know the cause of his untimely death…only that it was a too short story.  Was it car accident, a bike accident?  Did he fall while playing?  Perhaps it was one of too many childhood illnesses.  Even polio could be a possibility.  Well, like I said we don’t know.  The only thing we know is that something unexpectedly stepped in and stole his years away.

Short stories.  The cemetery is full of headstones that speak of short stories.  Walk a while and you will see that truth played out and that is why I am writing this story.  You see, Keith is a reminder to me, as are all the headstones are, of a big truth.  The number of our days are a closely guarded secret of the One who created us.  He, and only He, knows when we will step into eternity.  Death is certainly no respecter of race, color, creed, or economic status.  Death doesn’t care about age.  We only know that one day it will come but don’t let that deflate you or scare you because Jesus took care of death two thousand years ago when He resurrected that first Easter morning.

I’m sure Keith didn’t know he was going to have such a short story, but I hope he knew the One that could make a difference.  I hope he knew Jesus.  I hope you know Jesus.  When Jesus is entered into any equation, well, it changes everything but especially death.  With Jesus death is not the end but the beginning and no matter how many years we live here—the life on the other side is so much more…so much longer.  Keith teaches us that some stories are short, very short and some stories are long, very long.  Jesus teaches us that it isn’t the length of the story that matters, it is what we do with Him.  He is what matters…not church, not religion, not religious stuff—just Jesus.

I really like what Jesus said in John 11:25—one of the books in the Bible that tells the story of Jesus.  It says, “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me, even if he dies, will live.” The her is a woman named Martha and her brother had just died with a too short story.  Jesus is just letting her know that death doesn’t have to call the shots because He does.  Short stories…those will always be with us but so will big truths—like the one that says, “I’ve got this” because He does.  Bro. Dewayne

Posted in Family, gratitude, Integrity, life, Southern born, thankful, wisdom

Ricky…and I Don’t Mean Ricardo

Posted on by Dewayne Taylor

I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in Me will live, even after dying.” John 11:25

His name was Ricky. We lived on the fringes of a large city but were more country than city.  For a young boy finding his way it was the perfect place to grow up.  Snyder’s Grocery was about a half mile from our house and Owen’s Lawnmower Shop, who had the best penny candy around, was through the woods a ways.  The big day was when they opened “Jackson’s Minute Mart” just down the road from our house.  We were now in the big times.

Since we were in the country it was only logical that there were always a few pets around.  We had several dogs, all but one were mixed breeds.  The one was a beautiful red Irish Setter we named, “Satan.” Go figure. I’m pretty sure we were the only family around that had a dog with that name and the funny part is he was very gentle.  We also had a cat, and his name was Ricky. I’m not sure if we ever had more than one cat but maybe that was because one was enough.  Ricky was a tom cat, a tabby cat, and let’s just say, all cat.

He was kinda legendary around the home place. I remember that he wasn’t a “sit in your lap” cat but rather one that preferred to have the run of the place.  He, Satan, and the rest of the dogs seemed to get along just fine.  Since he was a real cat, we didn’t buy cat food for him…he simply ate what he could catch and what the dogs ate which were scraps from the table.  Yup, Ricky was a “John Wayne” cat if there ever was one.  And then…it happened.

One day, Ricky died.  Now my brothers and sisters might remember more details, but I don’t. I don’t know if he was sick or tried to chase the chicken across the proverbial road, but he was dead.  For some reason I can remember us burying him out back.  We had a backyard and at the back of the backyard we had this big row of bamboo bushes and beyond that was the wilderness…or at least it seemed that way.  It was often grown up with weeds and it seemed like a good place to bury Ricky.  So, we did.

Well, and you are not going to believe this, but something happened that seems almost impossible.  The day after we buried Ricky, sometime during the day, we found him sitting in the backyard, a little dirty but other than that none the worse for the wear.  As I remember it, we went out back to the wilderness and found his grave open.  Apparently, he had dug his way out.  Now none of us were veterinarians and we didn’t do an autopsy, but I am pretty sure I can vouch for the fact that he was dead. So, I guess I am telling you that Ricky the cat came back to life. And it seems to me, though I can’t verify it, that it happened another time…or two.  It seemed that Ricky did indeed have nine lives.

I know you are thinking, you must be thinking, that this just can’t be true, but I promise you it is. Ricky was one unusual cat…very unusual and the story is still circulating around the family today.  It was legend, it was myth, it was truth.  And that dear friend is true about someone else…and He wasn’t a cat.  A couple of thousand years ago they nailed a man named Jesus to a Roman cross and He died—not accidentally but with a purpose—to pay the price for the sins of the whole world.  After the bad guys made sure He was good and dead, His friends buried Him and guess what?  Three days later He came back to life. You might doubt Ricky’s story, but you can’t doubt this one.  He was dead and then He was alive.  Amazing.

I know there are a lot of skeptics about God today and too many have decided He just can’t be real.  Let me challenge you to get a copy of His story, the Bible, and check it out for yourself and then decide.  It is worth reading and believing.  Millions and millions of people have chosen to investigate…and then believe and them…it is a game changer.  Ricky did eventually die and not come back but not Jesus. He’s alive today and forevermore. In fact, He said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in Me will live, even after dying.”  Go ahead, check it out and you might discover what so many already have.  It’s the real deal.

As I have journeyed, especially over these last couple of years, I have seen, and I have experienced many difficulties.  We all have.  And a whole lot of people have talked about discovering or rediscovering the reality of God.  Maybe it is your turn to do so.  One thing I know.  No matter what, how big or how small, He has been a faithful friend.  And no matter what, how big or how small, He always says, “I’ve got this.”  And…He does.  Bro. Dewayne