Life Archives - SteveHerl Faith and Sports

June 18, 2017June 20, 2017

The Humble shall be Exalted

“The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.” Matthew 23:11-12

On Friday night Karen and I went to the Riverside Dinner Theater here in little old Stafford County Virginia to see “The Music of Rogers and Hammerstein.” We were celebrating Karen’s birthday and we had no idea what to expect. We arrived around 6:00 PM and were seated center stage on the first level off the floor.

Several minutes after we sat down a very friendly woman in her late forties or early fifties walked up and introduced herself. She said, “My name is Kathy. I’m in the show and I’m much better up there (pointing towards the stage) than I am down here. I will be serving you. What would you like to drink?” We both said water and off she went. Someone else brought us water and Kathy passed by several times finally getting our salad orders and ultimately our dinner orders.

Kathy was friendly and enjoyable but it was obvious that she wasn’t meant to be a waitress. She also didn’t have a voice that made you think lead vocalist. Kathy did her best to serve her tables and apologized several times even for things that were not her fault. In the end she was dear to us because she was so attentive and yet so humble – the humble servant.

Finally it was time. The lights dimmed and the theater manager took the stage. He welcomed everyone and warmed up the audience. The curtain opened and a musical group made up of a piano player, a base player, a cellist, a violinist and a drummer began to play. The set was beautiful and the children’s ensemble began to sing. They were terrific.

But then it happened. Kathy came out onto the stage and began to sing. Think Ethel Mermen or Bette Midler. She was fabulous. She was marvelous. Kathy our humble, bumbling waitress was as talented as anyone I have ever seen on Broadway. She sang, she danced, she acted and she laughed. The other female vocalists were all much younger and much prettier, but Kathy stole the show. Her range was outstanding and her presentation was astounding. We were amazed.

During intermission Kathy was back at our table. I said to her, “Kathy, you are incredible on stage. You’re not just better up there than you are down here, you are better up there than I am in anything I do in life!” She said thank you and ran off to get our check. Unbelievable.

The Bible says as you see above, “The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself shall be humble and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.” Kathy is such a witness to that truth. Karen and I left the theater better people because we had been served by a woman who had humbled herself to come to Stafford Virginia after starring in national productions as Mame. And when they closed the show by singing “You’ll Never Walk Alone”, we were encouraged by the Hope that we have in our hearts. If you have Hope in your heart you will never walk alone. Christ in you, the Hope of glory. Thank you Kathy. We will always remember you!

June 10, 2017June 11, 2017

The Doggy Door

Nearly all of my adult life I have owned a dog. Presently, as many of you know, we have a black lab – Barnabas, the best dog in all the world! But my first dog as an adult was a German shepherd named Czar.

The house I lived in with Czar had a small screened in porch in the back of the house off the family room. We had a nice size back yard but I could not afford to fence in the whole thing. When I would let Czar out of the screen door on the right side of the back porch I would have to stand with him in order to keep him in the yard.

Then one day I decided I could afford enough chain link fence to create a three sided enclosure 6 ft high off the back side of the screened porch. The plan included a “doggie-door” in one of the panels in the screen, through which Czar could come and go as long as the sliding door was open between the family room and the screened porch.

Jim Hosey of Hosey Fence came out and installed the fence and somehow the “doggie door” got installed as well. Everything was ready. I opened the sliding door and let Czar out on the back porch. I showed him the door and told him to go. He looked around and went right to the side door of the porch waiting to go out. I took him back to the “doggie door” and pushed his nose against it to show him how it worked. He wasn’t having any of it.

Next I decided to put his water, his ball and his food out in the run just knowing that would compel him to go through the door. No luck. Instead he insisted on getting out into the backyard so he could try to find a way into the run. He tried everything he could to get inside the fence, everything except the way that had been created for him to enter.

Finally I had a brainstorm. I would get down on my hands and knees and in effect become a dog, so that I could show him the way in. I was much younger then so I was able to get down and crawl through the “doggie door.” I crawled out and called him. Nothing. I crawled back into the porch and out again. Nothing. Not until the third time of showing Czar the one and only way into the pen did he follow me. Once he had done it he was in heaven as far as he was concerned.

Do you see the connection between this event in my life and the Gospel? Religions (all of them) are about man’s attempt to get to God or to please God. Christianity is God’s provision for entrance into His presence. Christianity is not a religion. It is a way. The first Christians were known as the people of the way.

Czar didn’t need to do anything in his own strength in order to get into his version of heaven. All he had to do was enter by the way that had been created for him. But I had to become a dog, as it were, in order for him to see and trust the way. I made the way and showed him the way.

Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.” He made the way by living a perfect life and by dying the death we should have died. He showed us the way by becoming a man.

Just like Czar, we need to enter by the way that has been provided for us into the presence of God and stop trying to work our way (religion) into God’s favor and presence. In Christ (the way) we are holy and pleasing to God and we have all the rights of sonship. Stop working and do as Jesus said to the Apostles – follow me.

February 12, 2017February 13, 2017

Make that an Orange!

Alright, here’s the story of me being nearly strangled at the Belvoir Grill in about 1966. The name of the perpetrator is withheld because I have no idea who he was, but even if I did, on the off chance he is still alive, I don’t want to make him mad again. Trust me on this one.

I worked alone 5 days a week from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM serving as the cook, cleaning crew, and server for a small grill on the western side of Rt. 1 almost as far south as Ft. Belvoir, Va. Interstate 95 had only recently been built so there still was some truck traffic on Rt. 1. The Belvoir Grill was owned by an Asian man whose name I do not remember. He was a nice man but he was very cost conscious and very suspicious. He was so afraid that I was going to give free food or drinks away to my high school buddies that every day at 6:00 PM when he took over, he would count all the burgers, buns, hot dogs, etc. and would weigh the drink cartridges to see if I had given away any drinks. We sold mostly hamburgers, cheeseburgers, hot dogs, chili and half smokes, although occasionally I would fix eggs over light or scrambled egg sandwiches. The place was known for the size of the fountain drinks. A large fountain drink was served in a cup that held 48 oz. of liquid when half filled with crushed ice. (A large Mcdonalds drink holds 32 oz.). You can see why he weighed the drink cartridges every day. (Little did he know that none of my friends would be caught dead in the Belvoir Grill).

So one day as I was earning my $1.25 an hour grilling hot dogs and hamburgers a customer walked through the front door of the grill. He was a big man, about 6 ft. 2 and probably weighed 280 lbs. As he walked up to the counter he announced, “I’ll have a half smoke with everything and large coke.” As was my custom I first grabbed the giant drink cup filled it half way with ice and then placed it under the coke dispenser so it would fill up while I fixed the half smoke. I then went to the rotisserie grill containing hot dogs and half smokes with buns in the warmer beneath. I picked out a large bun with the tongs, chose the best half smoke off the revolving grill and placed it on the bun. I grabbed a plate, placed the bun and half smoke on the plate and proceeded to load the half smoke with cheese and chili, mustard and ketchup and topped it with onions. I deftly spun around, grabbed the giant 48 oz. coke in my right hand while holding the culinary delight in my left hand and placed it on the counter.

I said, “That will be $2.00” and then the nightmare began. The large trucker, who had watched me fix the half smoke and fill the large coke step by step said, “Make that an orange!” All I could think of was that I was going to have to pay for that large coke if I had to now fix him a large orange, so I decided to be funny. I said, “Poof, it’s an orange. Oh, sorry, it didn’t work. I did my best. Guess you’re going to have to drink the coke.” Then as quick as a cat, the big man reached across the counter, grabbed me by the collar and yanked me to himself until we were face to face. He said, “I said I want an orange!” He had convinced me. I squeaked, “Ok, an orange it is.”

I spent the rest of the day drinking my large coke. I wish I could say I learned my lesson that day when it comes to trying to be funny. I didn’t. But I did learn some valuable lessons – Never underestimate the quickness of a big man and don’t mess with a man who is twice your size in a confined area. Those lessons came in handy years later in business. God is good!