Recently, I began communicating by email with a good friend whom I haven't seen in several years. He worked as a project engineer with one of the Navy research labs during the 1980s, and, as a contractor, I had the opportunity to work on several development projects with him along with a team of talented engineers and scientists. I look back on those years from time to time and fondly remember some of the accomplishments we shared as we worked to turn ideas into realities. A few weeks ago, he sent me a story which reminded me just how special the daily adventure of life can be. He told me that if it brought a smile to my face as I read it, that I should share it with a friend. Well, this is an opportunity to share it with many friends. I hope it brings a smile to your face as well.

His name was Fleming, and he was a poor Scottish farmer. One day, while trying to make a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby bog. He dropped his tools and ran to the bog. There, mired to his waist in black muck, was a terrified boy, screaming and struggling to free himself. Farmer Fleming saved the lad from what could have been a slow and terrifying death.

Farmer Fleming's son attended the very best schools, and, in time, he graduated from St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in London and went on to become known throughout the world as the noted Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of Penicillin. Years afterward, the same nobleman's son, who was saved from the bog, was stricken with pneumonia. What saved his life this time? Penicillin. The name of the nobleman? Lord Randolph Churchill. His son's name? Sir Winston Churchill. Someone once said, "What goes around comes around."

This timely story reminded me that all the ways we answer life's callings affect, and even transform the lives of others. God created each of us with purpose and meaning which transcends human understanding. I believe that our dreams and our ideas were meant to become realities and that there is no limit to our possibilities as God's children. No person is insignificant. No work is too small to be counted as important. No one is unqualified to be the hands of God at work in the world.

So, in the words of an anonymous author who has touched the hearts of many over the years, "Work like you don't need the money, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, sing like nobody's listening, live like it's Heaven on Earth." We do make a difference, my friends, just as we are.

Pass this on, and brighten someone's day. Someone might smile because of you.