I'm really not sure how this bulletin is going to turn out. After all, I'm writing it on a Thursday night. My best bulletins (at least the ones I like) are written on Saturday mornings. At any other time I seem to not flow smoothly or have any kind of zing at the end. However, as you read this, I am likely in the mountains of Colorado being snowed on. Since no one else stepped up and volunteered to write the bulletin, I've got to knock one off before I go.

There are always so many things I could write about, but one thing or other in particular will jump to the front of my mind. If I try to ignore it and go after a more practical idea, it just nags at me. Long ago I discovered that whatever idea forces its way up, no matter how crazy it might seem, always seems to work out just fine. Maybe not a great bulletin, but it'll do the job!

So stealing a page from history, I present to you a young man, just over 20 and barely able to shave, standing proudly at attention in front of his horse. It's the early teens of the 20th century, and this confident and straight backed Prussian has gone off and joined the German army in service of his country, which is at war at the time. Being from a wealthy family, he is highly educated and so joins not at the rank of mere soldier, as a son from a less fortunate family might. No, he is a young officer. And, as has been the tradition of noblemen for decades, has been given a place in the cavalry. He's quite dashing in his uniform, and has done his parents proud. There's just one problem. Riding his horse makes him quite sick. It doesn't help that he is constantly being tossed off.

Rather embarrassing, isn't it? All dressed up and ready to go, but constantly falls (or rather, is thrown) flat on his face. As Christians, we might think that we are "failures" because we aren't the go getting soul winners that our parents were. Perhaps we grow up in the shadow of a famous preacher, a father or grandfather, or even following along in the steps of an older sister or brother. We might be compared in ways that are not fair, but we take it to heart, thinking we'll never excel against these high bars we've set up to measure ourselves against.

That young man might have given up, too. He was offered a chance to get out of the military, but chose to stay in and to server, even if it meant foxhole duty. Looking around at his alternatives, and trying to find a way to get into combat as fast as possible, what happened to spark his interest was these new fangled flying contraptions. Yes, in the days when 10 "kills" made you famous, and 20 "kills" made you legendary, the young man named Richtofen made himself the "ace of aces" with an astounding 80 victories. All because he couldn't seem to keep himself from being thrown from a horse over and over.

So what's the key to our success? Maybe we should remember that we're not our parents, or brothers, or anyone else. We can only be us. We can all serve, and we do it in so many different ways. The thing is, we should be zealous about it. If we look, we will find our way in the service of Christ. If we really want it, if we just constantly strive to make ourselves better and find the niche for ourselves, we can be an ace for God. An ace isn't someone that does just good enough, either, but pushes themselves to be the best at no matter what they end up doing.

If you've been horsing around with your life, maybe it's time to whey anchor and grab on by the mane. Don't saddle yourselfwitl1 self doubt, either. Are you going to be an ace or a deuce? It's up to you.

Randy