FReeper Canteen~HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!~15 June 08

The Canteen Crew ^ | June 14, 2008 | Serving the Best Troops in the WORLD!

[Brad’s Gramma]

 

 

 

 

 

THE LOSER WHO NEVER GAVE UP

For "Sparky", school was all but impossible. He failed every subject in the eighth grade. He flunked physics in high school, getting a grade of zero. He also flunked Latin, algebra and English. And his record in sports wasn't any better. Though he did manage to make the school's golf team, he promptly lost the only important match of the season. Oh, there was a consolation match; he lost that too.

Throughout his youth, Sparky was awkward socially. It wasn't that the other students disliked him; it's just that no one really cared all that much. In fact, Sparky was astonished if a classmate ever said hello to him outside of school hours. There's no way to tell how he might have done at dating. He never once asked a girl out in high school. He was too afraid of being turned down... or perhaps laughed at. Sparky was a loser. He, his classmates... everyone knew it. So he learned to live with it. He made up his mind early that if things were meant to work out, they would. Otherwise he would content himself with what appeared to be his inevitable mediocrity.

One thing WAS important to Sparky, however -- drawing. He was proud of his artwork. No one else appreciated it. But that didn't seem to matter to him. In his senior year of high school, he submitted some cartoons to the the yearbook. The editors rejected the concept. Despite this brush-off, Sparky was convinced of his ability. He even decided to become an artist.

So, after completing high school, Sparky wrote Walt Disney Studios. They asked for samples of his artwork. Despite careful preparation, it too was rejected. One more confirmation that he was a loser.

But Sparky still didn't give up. Instead, he decided to tell his own life's story in cartoons. The main character would be a little boy who symbolized the perpetual loser and chronic underachiever. You know him well. Because Sparky's cartoon character went on to become a cultural phenomenon of sorts. People readily identified with this "lovable loser." He reminded people of the painful and embarrassing moments from their own past, of their pain and their shared humanity. The character soon became famous worldwide: "Charlie Brown." And Sparky, the boy whose many failures never kept him from trying, whose work was rejected again and again,... is the highly successful cartoonist Charles Schultz. His cartoon strip, "Peanuts," continues to inspire books, T-shirts and Christmas specials, reminding us, as someone once commented, that life somehow finds a way for all of us, even the losers.

If you follow the comic strip for a while, you will begin to notice one other thing as well. It isn't anger, resentment or in-your-face sarcasm which fuels Schultz's creativity and resilience. It's his faith. In fact, one study of the comic strip, published several years ago, made precisely that point. It eventually became a popular book entitled, "The Gospel According To Peanuts."

Sparky's story reminds us of a very important principle in life. We all face difficulty and discouragement from time to time. We also have a choice in how we handle it. If we're persistent, if we hold fast to our faith, if we continue to develop the unique talents God has given us, who knows what can happen? We may end up with an insight and an ability to inspire that comes only through hardship. (Read Jeremiah 29:11 and Romans 8:28.) In the end, there are no "losers" with God. Some winners just take longer to develop!

CAPT J. David Atwater, CHC, USN

 

[fatima]

Heck,I am good.I just cover it up.Your so cute.((((Hugs))))

[fatima]

Hi Beautiful,Is that pretty or what.Looks like a female hummingbird to me:)

[AZamericonnie]

Thank you sweetie!

We have FIL over & I made a steak dinner with all the fixin’s

Now everyone looks like they are trying not to nap! LOL

I was reading the menu at your dinner spot & it looks fantastic!

*Hugs*

[mylife]

The one in bloom is this color and is right up against the house like in the pic

[Kathy in Alaska]

Click the pic for ….

Audie Murphy

NOTE: CANTEEN MUSIC
Posted daily and on the Music Thread
for the enjoyment of our troops and visitors.

[mylife]

Sigh.... I'm a bandwidth thief.

[mylife]

Audie was from this town. There is a museum here

[Professional Engineer]

That’s all I could think of. Those are wicked cool. I’ve never seen one myself, just on camper history specials on cable TV. Saw one for sale on someone’s front lawn, went home and looked up new prices. New they’re $3,000 to 6,000! This one was only $700. I went back and it was gone.

My first memory of one is from about 1st grade time frame. I remember thinking then how small it was, how do you stand up? Silly me. It did make an impression however, and I've been hooked.

The $3000-6000 range seems to be the starting bracket for many of the commercially built models. Of course, the sky's the limit.

The link below is for a teardrop forum I hang out at. If you scroll down the page, there is a for sale/wanted section.

http://www.mikenchell.com/forums/index.php

[Professional Engineer]

Wow,The kids are doing great and cute:)Thanks for the pics Professional Engineer:)

Thanks!

[mylife]

Little Feat~Hamburger Midnight

[Professional Engineer]

Happy Father’s Day! What a great project involving the kiddos! It’s gonna be great!

Thanks. I hope they learn and remember what you can do if you set your mind to it.

[fatima]

:)((((Hugs))))

[Professional Engineer]

Looking good there, PE family!! Good job Bitty girl, keeping the sawdust away is very important. And excellent work, Spiderboy, of sanding and making sure both sides match.

They're on the job, and doing well at it

BTW.....Happy Father's Day PE!!

Thanks ma'am.

[Professional Engineer]

The price of wood is crazy aint it?

That extra 2 feet sure did the trick. It was about double an 8 ft piece.

[mylife]

I gotta get me one.
Course with gas the way it is the great American road trip is about to die.

We wont let it happen will we?!!

[mylife]

They saw you coming!

seriously... last I looked they wanted 40 bucks for a 8x10 sheet

[Professional Engineer]

Thanks for sharing! *Hugs*

You're welcome. We're all having a good time with this project. I'm hoping to be ready to camp in it for the first fall scout campout in September.

[mylife]

Whats the price on OSB? Ya could cover that with sheet metal... If course metal is through the roof as well. :(

Hey..as an aside.. The Mighty WBCQ is playing some cool tunes right now

[stand watie]

THANKS.

free dixie,sw

[Professional Engineer]

I gotta get me one. Course with gas the way it is the great American road trip is about to die.

We wont let it happen will we?!!

I'm not planning to let it, especially since most of our trips will be just short weekend jaunts.