On April 12, 1954, Bill Haley and His Comets recorded a song called “Thirteen Women.” It was released and the record became an classic. If you do not remember this song, don’t be surprised. The title of this article is “Plan B.” Sometimes you go after one thing but end up with something better that you did not intend. Side one of the record was “Thirteen Women.” Side two is “Rock Around the Clock.”
If things do not go as you plan, relax. Maybe things are going to be a lot better than you originally thought. It certainly was true for Bill Haley.
Lonnie Davis
I am not going to say we were in the middle of nowhere, but after hours of driving, my son and I stopped at one of the few places to eat we had seen after miles of driving through nowhere.
I ordered the meals and then handed the lady a $20 bill. She took her “Is it real money” pen out and marked it to make sure it was real. I was surprised because usually these pens are only used on 50 and 100 dollar bills. It was real, so we got to eat.
We finished eating and thought we would get an ice-cream cone to go. I asked the lady whether the “ice-cream” was “ice-cream” or yogurt. She had a puzzled look like I had just ask her to divide 3245 by 13 in her head. She then pointed to the soft-serve machine and said, “It comes out here.” Not wanting yogurt and not wanting to insult her, we just got one ice cream for Jeremy. I handed her a $5 bill. Out came the “is this real money” pen.
The lady gave us three one dollar bills in return. Jeremy was amazed to see her testing the authenticity of the $5 bill until he looked at the one dollar bills and saw they too had been checked with the special pen.
When we got back into the car, I told him the rest of the story.
When the lady first checked my $20 bill, I made a comment about how people are testing everything these days against being a counterfeit. She replied, “Yea, they are even making counterfeit one dollar bills.” She paused and then added, “I got in trouble last night with my manager for taking a counterfeit one dollar bill.” (Did I mention we were in the middle of nowhere?) I then joked, “Well, at least they are not making counterfeit quarters.” She replied, “Yeah, Change Rules!”
We soon got to our motel. Jeremy tried to use his ABC player on his IPad, but it wouldn’t play. The warning came up and told him that he appeared to be outside of the United States or its territories.
Yes, we knew. We were actually in the Twilight Zone.
Lonnie Davis
When Samuel anointed Saul he asked him, “Has not the LORD anointed you leader over his inheritance?” (1 Samuel 10:1).
This is an interesting question that points out that people do not always believe the good things they can be. Later in this chapter when Saul is revealed to the people as king, he hides among the baggage and they have to go get him. He had the presence, the talent, and God on his side, but he did not have the belief he needed to be king. In saying that he did not have the “belief” he needed, it is meant that he did not have the “heart” to be a king. To deal with this, verse 9 tells us, “God changed Saul’s heart.”
Maybe what you need today is a heart change.
It should be noted that God did not change a murder’s heart to become a great man. He did not change a liar’s heart into a truth teller. He did not change a lazy man’s heart into a great worker. He took a man who had shown himself to be faithful to his father, who had shown himself to be a servant, who had shown himself to seek out the prophet, and strengthened his heart so that it could be king.
Saul served the best he knew how and God strengthened him to be even more. God still offers that kind of change, but it has to start with you doing your best!
Lonnie Davis