A Memorial Day Weekend story

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Text-(Psalm 104:33-34) I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the Lord. (New International Version)

Thought starter
This is Memorial Day weekend. We remember all who died in service to our country and others who were dear to us. I want to tell you a story of little boy who had a difficult time growing up and wasn’t treated well by others, but had a concern for other people.

This little boy grew up and other children thought he was “slow” because he couldn’t see leaves on trees or know what a butterfly was. He always had trouble reading what was on the blackboard in his classroom. The kids made fun of him. He was never picked to be on any team. Has that ever happened to you? It’s not a nice feeling to be overlooked on purpose by your friends.

One day a visiting nurse decided to evaluate him after hearing about him. It turned out he wasn’t “slow” as others thought, he needed glasses. So this little boy began to see things he had been missing his whole life.

He was able to read the blackboard at school and Sunday school at church. His mother brought him to church as a boy. He learned personal responsibility, Christian kindness, and the goodness of God’s world through his mother.

As he grew up he always wanted to look people in the eye when he was talking to them, but with his glasses he found that difficult, he had trouble reading things to people and looking up at them. So he got contacts and learned a trick of taking one out so with one eye he could look down and read and with the other eye look up at people and see them clearly. When he would read a statement in his office he would be able to look up at the people in his office standing behind the cameras. Why were cameras in his office, he was in the Oval Office behind his desk. The little boy I am talking about was President Ronald Reagan the 40th President of the United States .

All his life Ronald Reagan enjoyed going to church, but when he became President he discovered that all the other people coming to church had to go through metal detectors. He disliked that very much. He didn’t want to make the other worshipers go through that hassle so he invited the pastor of his church and other pastors to conduct services in his house instead. You probably have seen a picture of his house.

Today we remember President Ronald Reagan, who teaches us that we can be anything we want to be even when we aren’t the popular child in school. He also teaches us the importance of bringing Worship into our home. If worshiping God can be routine in the White House, it’s should be routine in our house. President Reagan died three years ago next month.

Prayer-Dear God, Shape us to what you want us to be. Help us to worship you not only in your house but in ours too. Amen

Prop-Picture of a tree with leaves, picture of butterflies, a picture of children playing a game on a playground, picture of a blackboard in a classroom, and a picture of President Reagan at his desk in the Oval Office. A picture of people going through a metal detector and a picture of the White House (All available on search engines)

Video/Computer Screen-same as props.

Note-The idea for this message came from Michael K. Deaver’s book A Different Drummer copyright 2001-mkd and Harper Collins Publishing. Other information from Paul Kengor’s book God and Ronald Reagan: A Spiritual Life copyright 2004 Regan Books.

William Bode, Director of Children’s Ministries