Whether it’s Gilligan and the Skipper fashioning canoes out of coconuts or tales of explorers in the jungles of South America fighting off panthers, stories of survival are extremely fascinating.  And let me tell you something; watch enough survival stories and you’ll start to pick up some handy tips.  For instance, I now know how to make a workable compass out of a metal button, a blade of grass, and a pool of water.  I also know how to deliver a baby in a taxicab (hopefully, I will never have to put that skill into practice).  But it’s survival skills like these that make the difference between life and being eaten by a bear.  If you have these tools and know how to wield them, you can survive any challenge that comes your way.

At times, life can seem like a fixed card game.  To your right is a neighbor who is holding pocket aces.  Their family is like a Norman Rockwell painting, and they never seem to struggle.  You, on the other hand?  Your family is more like a reality TV show than a Rockwell painting.  You look at your cards, and you feel like you’ve been dealt a crummy hand.

Gerard and Jeannie’s youngest son was a brilliant high school athlete with a close relationship with the Lord.  Yet, one day he made the mistake of taking hallucinogenic drugs that put him into a disoriented state for several days.  Gerard and Jeannie cared for their son, calming him down, hoping that all the drugs would finally run through his system.

I remember the day my dad brought home that shiny new motorcycle.  My brother and I couldn’t wait to hop on that hog and careen down the streets of our town.  But wisely, our father put the motorcycle in the garage and told us boys not to ride it unless he was there.  Well if you’re the parent of a teenage boy, you might see where this story is headed.  When my dad left one day, his car wasn’t halfway down the street before we pulled the forbidden vehicle out for a spin.  The result of our ill-conceived joy ride was my brother breaking his jaw, a friend breaking his ankle, and a busted air conditioning unit.  While a friend’s dad took the necessary people to hospital, I was given the unwelcome job of trying to smooth things over with my father.  It did not go well.  I had broken the trust my dad had given me.  After meting out the consequences, my dad sold the motorcycle and did not talk to my brother and I for close to three months.