Imagination
launch... that's really what it was. Silver-haired Gramps (aka Noah
Pierson) had his aching right leg propped up on a nearby kitchen
chair. The two teens, Sam and 'orange hair' Ben were seated at the
same table. Sam was examining the small cobwebs in the kitchen
ceiling corner, while Ben traced the pattern on the tablecloth. The
gears in the three heads were grinding away, trying to think of a
product for their business, that was still imaginary.
Gramps
began with, “Well, guys. We've started out today's meeting with
asking God to lead us, and I'm sure He will, as long as we don't get
to pushing Him. I want to show you something.” Gramps went to the
silverware drawer and pulled out an odd looking plastic spoon. He
said, “Very seldom is something invented just out of the blue, as
we say. Lots of times something was discovered when a completely
different kind of product was being looked for. This kind of hints at
the fact that ideas have to be tried... then changed... and changed
again. And coming up with something new, takes an attitude of not
being afraid to fail. Courage is needed to get right back up and keep
on trying, learning from each mistake.”
Gramps
continued with his lesson, “But most often, something new is
discovered, by combining two existing things in a way that had never
been thought of before. Now look at this goofy looking little plastic
spoon. Yeah, I know you've seen them lots of times. This is a really
handy rascal, especially to handicapped people that can't use forks
AND spoons to eat. What some guy probably did, without any rocket
science or anything technical, was laid a spoon along side a fork,
and asked himself, 'how can I combine the two?' I don't remember its
funny name, but he simply took a spoon and put a few points on the
end of it, that were just sharp enough to stab a piece of meat or
cheese.”
The
kitchen got quiet again as those brain gears kicked into high range
again. As though it was an expensive piece of china, Sam carefully
took hold of the always open 'kitchen' Bible and slid it over in
front of him. The fingers of his right hand moved across the page as
though he was testing for bumps in the printed words. After a minute
or two, Sam asked, “Gramps. S'pose we made some fun way for people
to get into the Bible? I mean so they'd really want to keep coming
back, and maybe even get their friends to join them. It would need to
be fun for grownups and kids. Maybe make it some kind of a game.”
Ben
got a big grin and piped up with, “How about hangman? My younger
brother and sister would play this game where you have to fill in the
missing letters of a word. I don't know... I guess it's just a silly
idea to connect hangman with the Bible. Oh well, I've never been
smart enough to come up with really good ideas, I guess. Probably
when God was handing out brains, I thought He said 'trains', and I
didn't want any.”
Gramps
spoke up in a determined tone, “Hold on now Ben. Don't sell God
short. He's given each of us a computer between our ears that
scientists couldn't begin to build. Even if they came close, that
computer wouldn't know anything about God and His deep abiding love
for you and me, whether we're young or old. Hey... I was just
thinking. When my Nenee was still alive, she would often spend a lot
of time in what she called, her 'word book'. Her word book was full
of nothing but wordsearch puzzles... you know. Each puzzle was just a
bunch of random letters in rows and columns, that had key words
hidden them.”
“Fellas,
I believe we need to close in prayer and let these ideas cook. God is
certainly in no hurry with his blessings and opportunities for us, so
let's not get ahead of Him. Let's take a few days and chew on these
ideas, and maybe some others. If it's OK with you two, we'll meet up
here, next Saturday at the same time and do some more of this
brainstorming of ideas for our business.”
After
the boys rode away on their bikes, Noah (I mean Gramps) returned to
his open kitchen Bible and looked for the verse going through his
mind,”...for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” Like a
meal more nourishing than anything you could eat with silverware,
Noah savored all the juicy words and thoughts, King David penned in
Psalm 139. He reread slowly the words of verse 14 - “I will
praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are
thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.”
