North Carolina will be one of the first states to begin the process of voting by mail, with the plan underway to begin this Friday mailing out approximately 700,000 requested absentee ballots. Let's all follow this process closely. But for today, I want to talk about the importance of Hands.

A friend of Dr. Simmons Patrick shared with him an exchange she had with an elderly relative of theirs who was nearing the end of his earthly life. She said her Grandpa was seated on a patio bench, looking rather frail. She didn't want to disturb him, but she wanted to be sure he was OK, so she sat down beside him. He assured her that he was fine, and then he asked, "Have you ever REALLY LOOKED at your hands?"

She looked at her hands, trying to figure the point he was making. He smiled, and then continued to speak: "These hands, though now wrinkled and weak, have been the tools I have used all my life to reach out to others. As a child my mother taught me to fold them in prayer. They tied my shoes and pulled on my boots. They were uneasy when I tried to hold my newborn daughter. Decorated with my wedding band, they showed that I was married and loved by someone special. They trembled and shook when I buried my mother, my wife, and my child, and when I walked my daughter down the aisle.

They have at times been bent and broken. But to this day when not much else of me works very well, these hands hold me up, lay me down, and continue to fold in prayer. These hands are the mark of where I've been throughout my life. But more importantly, it will be these hands that God will reach out and take when He welcomes me home." HALLELUIAH!

Now for a little humor that points out how we overlook miraculous happenings in our lives: A circus manager is busy tidying his office when a scrawny little guy walks in the door. He walks over to the manager and asks, "Are you the boss here?" The manager says, "Yeah. What do you want?" He says, "I'd like to join the circus. I've got a great act."

The manager says, "Oh, yeah? Well let me see what it is." So the little guy goes over to the center pole and starts climbing up the pole. He goes all the way to the very top. Then he looks down, takes a deep breath, leaps off, and starts flapping his arms, and he starts flying! He flies all around the Big Top, around the center pole, and goes loop-de-loop through the trapezes. He then takes a nosedive right down to the ground, lands right next to the Boss, and says, "Well, what do you think?" "That's all you can do," says the Boss, "bird imitations?"

HAVE A GREAT DAY!