I’m sure you’ve seen the email circulating about the new preacher in town.  He gets on the bus, and pays the fee. On the way to his seat, he realizes that he’s gotten too much change.

As he sits in his seat, he tries to decide what to do with the quarter he got by mistake. First, he thinks that he’ll keep it- after all, the bus company already makes plenty of money, and no one would miss it. Then he realizes that even though it’s only a quarter, it’s still wrong to keep it, because it doesn’t belong to him.

As he gets off the bus, he hands the driver the quarter and says “You gave me too much change earlier.”  The bus driver smiles at him and says, “Aren’t you the new preacher? I gave you too much change intentionally, to see how you’d handle it.  I’ve been trying to decide on which church to go to- I’ll see you Sunday.”

When the preacher gets off the bus, he’s almost rocked to his knees, and thinks, ‘Oh Lord- I almost sold your son for a quarter.’

That may be a sappy story, but it has a good message anyway.  Because like it or not, if you’re a Christian, the people around you watch you every day to see how you’re going to handle bad news, problems, gossip,  rude customers, angry bosses, unreasonable requests.

And what’s an even scarier thought – what kind of witness are you to the “invisible” people who are watching you when you don’t realize it. People who are around you, but not noticeable- like serving staff in a restaurant, or the person who waits on you at your grocery store or department store;  the clerk at your post office. These people are right in front of you, but because of what they do, you aren’t always completely aware of them. How many times have you gone through the checkout line without actually recognizing  the person ringing you up? How many times have you let out your anger or frustration about your job on the waitress who just brought your lunch? How many times have you treated the “invisible” people as less than human?

Because I work part-time in a deli, I’ve seen people act in ways I wouldn’t have believed. It’s like they don’t even see me and my co-workers… I posted on Facebook last year, right after starting my job, that a real friend loves you even when you’re wearing your hairnet. I said it as a joke, but there’s a lot of truth in it.

The next time you’re out and about, watch for the “invisible people”; when you see one, pretend that person is your daughter or son – because that person IS someone’s son or daughter.

And remember- as trite as this may sound- sometimes you are the only “Jesus” someone sees.  Don’t you want to be a good representation of Him?

One of my favorite secular writers is Stephen King.  I’ve been reading his books ever since I picked up a copy of  Salem’s Lot in the grocery store a long time ago.

Many years ago, he started the Dark Tower series, which are related in one way or another to almost all of his other books. One theme running throughout those books are “all things serve the Beam” – the Beam being a force for good that holds all things together.

I heard James Dobson say one morning on Focus on the Family that everything serves God – even Madonna. When he said that, I started arguing with him immediately… there’s no way that Madonna serves God! Look at how she dresses and acts!  But the more I thought about it, the more I knew he was right. Everything serves God – everything.  The good and the bad can point you back to God, if you’ll allow it to.  Bad things serve God by giving us a reason to lean on Him and trust Him. Good things serve God by giving a reason to be thankful.

So… back to Stephen King. As I said, he’s one of my favorite authors. Yes, he can be gruesome. Yes, he uses ugly language. Yes, he’s scary (after all, he says he has the heart of a small boy – in a jar on his desk! LOL).  But he serves God, just like his characters serve the Beam (and can’t that be a metaphor for God, just like Aslan the Lion?).  When I read one of King’s books and laugh, my husband always says, “I thought you were reading a Stephen King book- why are you laughing?” And I always say, “Because he’s got a wicked sense of humor, and because there’s truth in there.” I find sermons all through King’s work.

All things serve the Beam – and the Beam and King serve God.

Ladies, I have found the perfect doo-rag, or helmet liner, whichever you prefer.

I’ve always liked my hair long, rather than wearing it short – it’s just easier for me to keep it that way.  If it’s short, I have to wash it every day, which tends to make it flyaway and brittle. Longer hair I can do every other day, and it’s still manageable.

When I first started riding, I tried regular cotton doo-rags- of course, I always had helmet hair, but I thought that was just part of the deal. While I wore it, though, my head itched, and I could feel the heat coming off my head when I took off the doo rag; my hair was always mashed flat and damp from sweating.  Lately I’d just started putting on my helmet with no doo rag; the helmet interior pulled my hair and my pony tail got tangled, but again, I figured that was part of the deal.

So when Randy and I saw a booth at Thunder Beach with the claim that this doo rag prevented tangles and helmet hair, I had to challenge the lady. She had waist-length hair and said she had invented this new thingie because she got tired of her husband having to wait on her while she got ready to ride.  After she showed me how it worked,  and I felt the material, I thought it was worth a try, so I bought one (tiger stripes!).

You can believe me or not, but that’s been one of the best purchases I’ve made lately.   I wore mine all day Saturday while we rode- when we’d stop, I’d take it off and shake my hair out and it didn’t even look like I’d been riding! While we were riding I couldn’t even really tell I was wearing anything; my head didn’t get hot or itch; and my hair didn’t get mashed down flat.  The material is stretchy and breathable, so no sweat or heat built up underneath it, and it also didn’t cause any static to build up in my hair.

The real test came when we started home and crossed the state line into Alabama- ‘bama has helmet laws so I had to put it back on, but my head still didn’t get as hot as it usually does, and it seemed to fit better.  When we got home that night, again, I took the liner off and brushed my hair with my fingers and fluffed it up and it was fine. Obviously, mine isn’t going to look like I’ve just blow-dried it out (I have a LOT of hair), but just knowing it wasn’t plastered to my head made me appreciate it.

You need to check out Anna’s website to see all the details of how it works and the styles she’s got – Raci-Babi – I’ll be putting in an order for the Avatar Blue on next- its gorgeous!

Ladies, this is a great product! If your hair is at least shoulder-length, this is something you need to check out. Once you try it, I promise you that you won’t want to go back to a regular doo rag.

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