Let me list some things that have given me great pleasure, then I’ll tell you about the greatest of them all – to me. 1) Being permitted to attend school (one room school) with my brother, who was 2 years older. By the time I started first grade, I was able to do 3rd grade work, because I was learning what he learned; 2) Achieving perfect attendance several years in a row while in elementary school; 3) Having straight “A’s” in school till about the 7th or 8th grade, when I got distracted by the opposite sex; 4) Playing on a football team that went undefeated; 5) Graduating from high school, in the third of the class that made the upper 2 thirds possible; 6) Financing my first motorcycle from the j-o-b I had; 7) Playing in a junior legion baseball game where my pitching buddy tossed a perfect game; 8) Meeting my wife, then becoming Dad to the greatest son in the world; 9) Always being employed, though with far too many employers (never building up a retirement fund); 10) Playing for all those fast-pitch championship softball teams, for ? years; 11) Going sky diving with that son of mine while attending a week-long seminar in San Diego; 12) Being able to retire at 62. The list goes on. So let me bring this to a close. ALL the above AND more brought me great pleasure, but the greatest pleasure for me was in April, 1971, when I realized that I was on my way to hell, and I made the quality decision to invite Jesus , the Son of God, into my heart and life. And I’ll tell you, He has never failed me since, though I can’t say the same about me.
