No. 764 - GOING THROUGH LIFE - "JUST IN CASE !"

No. 764

Jim Davidson -- NEWSPAPER COLUMN

GOING THROUGH LIFE – “JUST IN CASE!”

Have you ever thought about the fact that many of the choices and decisions we make in life are made with a contingency? When it comes time to choose, whether consciously or unconsciously, we often say, “just in case" -- this is really just another way of saying that we should always be prepared.
Here are a few examples to illustrate what I am saying. When we leave home, if the skies are overcast and threatening, we take an umbrella “just in case” it rains. For me, a personal example is back when we had a well before we got city water, Viola would always keep several bottles of water in the utility room “just in case” the electricity went off.
There are thousands of “just in case” examples, but my favorite was back when we were growing up. When leaving home in the car, mother always said, “Be sure you have on clean underwear, just in case you have a wreck.”
There is no limit to the examples I could use here, but the best one I have ever heard is about a little blacksmith who lived in a small town. He was an excellent blacksmith, made good money, but he was only a little over 5 feet tall and he was secretly in love with a girl who was at least a foot taller than he was.
Every so often this girl would walk by his shop and look in while he was working, but he would just duck his head and he never let his feelings be known. Then one day, she brought a little dog chain in for him to weld back together, after it had been broken. He jumped at the chance and made that chain look like a log chain. She said, “What do I owe you?” He said, “Little lady you don’t owe me a thing. I was glad to do it.” She then said, “Surely, there must be something I can do for you.”
Well, here it was, the girl of his dreams asking if she could do something for him. He just blurted it out. He said, “I am wondering if I might come calling on you.” She said, “You certainly may. You could come by my house tonight.” With this encouragement, he jumped up on an old anvil sitting on the floor of his shop and planted a kiss on her. She didn’t resist and this encouraged him still further, so he said, “Don’t make me wait till tonight. Let’s take a little stroll in the meadow back behind the shop and let me just pour out my heart to you.” She said, “Well, I guess I will.” So they started down the path of this beautiful little meadow. It was a beautiful time of the year. The wild flowers were blooming and the birds were singing.
After they strolled along for several hundred yards, chatting away, they paused in this little secluded spot and this little blacksmith looked up at this girl of his dreams and said, “How about another kiss?” She said, “No, I don’t think so. Not on our first date.” With this, the little blacksmith heaved a sigh of relief. He said, “Well, if there is not going to be any more kissing, I am going to sit this anvil down.” Now, here was a man who went prepared and he understood the concept of “just in case.”
What I have just shared with you is another one of those Bob Murphy stories that I love so much. There will never be another Bob Murphy, who told down-to-earth stories, clean as a hounds tooth, kept you in stitches, while learning some of life’s valuable lessons at the same time.
You know, our nation is going through some tough times right now, millions of people out of work, and the national debt has reached epidemic proportions. Freedom is not, and has never been, free. We must all be ready, “Just in Case.”
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(EDITOR'S NOTE: Jim Davidson is a public speaker and syndicated columnist. You may contact him at 2 Bentley Drive, Conway, AR 72034. To begin a bookcase literacy project visit www.bookcaseforeverychild.com. You won’t go wrong helping a needy child.)