We have our own version of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” going on at DeSoto Hills.  I am sure you remember this fable.  There was a shepherd boy who thought it was great fun to upset his village by pretending that a wolf was attacking their sheep.  Each time the villagers would run to his rescue, only to find that there was no wolf.  This went on until one day,  the sheep were indeed attacked.  However, because of his past pranks, no one ran to the boy’s aide.  You can imagine how the story ends.   Sometimes we may accidentally “cry wolf”.   Sometimes we may “cry wolf” because we are curious, or sometimes, like the boy in the story, we may do it as a joke.  The fact is, whatever the reason, when we send out a false alarm, it is a big deal and a bad thing.  Our particular version of this fable revolves around our elevator.  Recently we have sent out several false alarms that result in us being guilty of “crying wolf”.  Please be reminded that the elevator is not a toy, but rather a tool to help everyone, regardless of age or condition, have access to our entire building.  Know this, if you push the “call” button by mistake or otherwise, the authorities will show up.  They treat it as a real call even if you don’t mean it as a real call.  It’s not that I’m concerned they will eventually not show up because of all the false alarms.  The problem is when we “cry wolf”, we are wasting their time and perhaps hindering them from answering another call that is the real deal.  Accidents happen, but we need to learn from them so they will not continually occur.

Facts from a fable,

It is certainly not much to look at from the outside. It’s just another weathered warehouse building on Union Avenue in downtown Memphis near the river. It does have some pretty impressive neighbors. Across the street is the new Auto Zone Park, home of the Red Birds, and up the street is the famous Peabody Hotel, home of the parading ducks. I have passed the building a hundred times or so, never really giving it much thought. There is absolutely nothing to draw your eye to the place. There are no bells or whistles – only a small sign displayed in the window flashing the word “open”. Over the front door there is old massive red sign with the word “Lit”, but no indication as to what that might represent. Lit is a restaurant supply house that is open to the public. Since I discovered it, I have thoroughly enjoyed shopping there. The place is full of all kinds of items that you don’t find elsewhere and the neat thing is you don’t have to buy in bulk. But perhaps what it most impressive about this place is the folks working there. I believe it is without a doubt the friendliest, not to mention the most helpful place I have ever shopped. They cater to your needs. From the minute you walk in the door until they load your stuff in the car (Yes, I did say they load your stuff in the car.) you are greeted with smiles and a staff that is concerned with helping you find what you need. They don’t annoy you, but show a genuine appreciation for your business. This is not just something a selected group of “specialized greeters” do. Everyone, and I do mean everyone, from the clerks behind the counter to folks restocking the shelves, speaks to you, asks if they can help you find anything, and thanks you for shopping with them. Of course, their smiles alone don’t keep them in business, but it sure does make the whole shopping experience that much better. I trust that people who walk through our doors will likewise be greeted with friendly faces and helpful hands. It could make all the difference in whether they find what/who they are looking for or whether they leave here frustrated yet again with the whole “church thing”. =2 0Are you doing your part?

There is a popular secular proverb that states, “March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb”.  If that is true, we should look for some great weather toward the end of this month since the last day of February and the first day of March certainly came in with a roar.  The winter storm that hit last weekend brought many things to a halt.  It’s always a hard call to make when you cancel services, but Grant and I were on the road a little after 5:00 am trying to make a decision.  After checking the church parking lot and sidewalks, it didn’t take long to make the call that our folks needed to stay home.  By 5:30am I had slowly returned home and contacted the media, but only one placed our info on the air.  We spent the rest of the morning trying to get our cancellation posted.   Unfortunately, this avenue failed.  In the future let me encourage you to always check our website when you are in doubt about a cancellation.  If you don’t have Internet access, you should a lso feel free to contact any of the church staff.  We will continue to try and use the media for this info, but as we discovered last Sunday, this is not a foolproof system.  I hope you missed being here and that this week’s opportunities will be that much sweeter.

Let the sun shine in,