A Thousand Marbles
(Unknown Author)
The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it's the quiet solitude that
comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it's the unbounded joy of not having to be at
work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable.
A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the basement shack with a steaming cup of coffee
in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning,
turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time. Let me
tell you about it.
I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham radio in order to listen
to a Saturday morning swap net. Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap, with
a tremendous signal and a golden voice. You know the kind, he sounded like he should be in
the broadcasting business. He was telling who ever he was talking with something about
"a thousand marbles."
I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say. "Well, Tom, it sure
sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you
have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should
have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. Too bad you missed your
daughter's dance recital."
He continued, "Let me tell you something Tom, something that has helped me keep a
good perspective on my own priorities." And that's when he began to explain his
theory of a "thousand marbles."
"You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives
about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks
live about seventy-five years."
"Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3,900 which is the number of
Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now stick with me Tom, I'm
getting to the important part. It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about
all this in any detail," he went on, "and by that time I had lived through over
twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I
only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy."
"So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having
to visit three toy stores to roundup 1,000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside
of a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear. Every
Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away."
"I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really
important things in life. There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run
out to help get your priorities straight. Now let me tell you one last thing before I
sign-off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very
last marble out of the container. I figure if I make it until next Saturday then I have
been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more
time."
"It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope
to meet you again here on the band.
Seventy-Five-Year-Old Man, this is K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!"
You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off. I guess he gave
us all a lot to think about.
I had planned to work on the antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a
few hams to work on the next club newsletter. Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up
with a kiss. "C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast."
"What brought this on?" she asked with a smile.
"Oh, nothing special, it's just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together
with the kids. Hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some
marbles."
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
"Why did He pick you?
He wanted to.
After all, you are His.
He made you.
He brought you home.
He owns you.
And once upon a time,
He tapped you on the shoulder
and reminded you of that fact.
No matter how long you'd waited
or how much time you'd wasted,
you are His and He has a place for you."
(Excerpted from "And the Angels Were Silent," by (Author
Max Lucado)
"I have other sheep that are not of this
sheep pen.
I must bring them also.
They too will listen to My voice,
and there shall be one flock
and one Shepherd."
John 10:16
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