Newsletter   I   OCTOBER 2003

TWO CHOICES Rob is the kind of guy who is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!" He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Rob was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation. Seeing this attitude really made me curious, so one day I went up to Rob and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?" Rob replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood. With God’s help, I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. With God’s help, I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. With God’s help, I choose the positive side of life. "Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested. "Yes, it is," Rob said. "Life is all about choices. Every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live your life. You can choose to allow God to control your life and give you the grace to make the right choices." I reflected on what Rob said. Soon thereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it. Several years later, I heard that Rob was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communication tower. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Rob was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back. I saw Rob about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied. "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?" I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place. "The first thing that went through my mind was the well being of my soon to be born daughter," Rob replied. "Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that God was in control of my life, and I had two choices: I could choose to give up or I could trust God. I chose to trust God." "Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked. Rob continued, "...the paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read ‘he's a dead man.’ I knew I needed to take action." "What did you do?" I asked. Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me," said Rob. "She asked if I was allergic to anything." "Yes, I replied." The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, "Gravity." Over their laughter, I told them, "God is in control here. I have chosen to trust Him. Now operate on me with that trust in mind." Rob lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his trust in the Lord and His will for his life. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully. We can choose to trust God. Faith in God, after all, is everything. "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." After all, today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

LETTER FROM THE ISF ASSISTANT Dear International Friend, Greetings to you from International Student Fellowship. Now that the autumn season is officially here we are enjoying one of the most beautiful times of the year in the Pittsburgh area. Although spring is lovely with its array of blooming flowers, somehow autumn has a beauty all its own. God gives us a wonderful display of fall colors of red, orange, yellow and brown when the trees start their annual change of colors. How good God is to present us with such a gift before the cold winter season begins. Speaking of gifts, on September 8th, my wife and I officially became grandparents. Our new grandson, Tyler, was born at 5:28 in the afternoon. He weighed 6 lb 2 oz. and was 19 inches long. We were able to hold him just minutes after he was born so it was a very wonderful experience. Since the new baby has visited in our home a few times some of our friends who attend our weekly Bible Studies have been able to see him and hold him. There is always much joy when a new life begins so we are very happy and thank God for his many blessings to us. We realize that God is the giver of life. We look forward to seeing you at the October gathering. This gathering will be on Friday, October 17th at 7:30 PM in the beautiful Ballroom of the William Pitt Union. The William Pitt Union is located in Oakland on the corner of Bigelow and Fifth Avenue. To get to the Ballroom, use the entrance on Fifth Avenue and then follow the signs. As always, there will be good music, a challenging lecture, wonderful fellowship, and a full course meal for you to enjoy. As always, there will be children’s activities in the Kurtzman room. And remember it’s all free! We look forward to seeing you on October 17th!                                                                                                       --Terry Tiberio, ISF Assistant