We just returned from a marvelous vacation with six beautiful grandchildren.  On the way to the lake, my youngest granddaughter was filled with excitement and with some fear and trepidation looking forward to the opportunity she would have to learn to water ski.

When the day arrived, she drew me close and whispered, “Will I fall?” 

Yesterday my son in law, Scott Fowler, sent me this picture of my grandsons, Preston and Bailey.  They made this flag with their own hand prints, as a gift to their father. 

One of the questions asked of me all the time is “What was your favorite audience?”  People wonder if it was the 85,000 men I spoke to at a Promise Keepers event, or perhaps the 22,000 teenagers gathered in Washington DC, or maybe it was speaking to introduce the President of the United States.  All those people are wrong.

I love doing my comedy shows and bringing laughter and hope to all kinds of audiences, but my favorite audience is some tiny little grandchildren that I love very much.

They think I am the funniest guy alive. When they were very small all I had to do was shake a set of car keys and they would laugh convulsively.  Shake car keys at one of my shows?……….silent stares.  If I make a face and whoop like a monkey they laugh until they can’t breath.  I did that in a restaurant once………..hand cuffs.

In my new DVD, “Under the Influence,” I proclaim without shame how the power of love impacts our lives.  One of our biggest concerns in the recent Tennessee flood was the safety of our little ones. I moved a thousand miles to be near them.  I will spend the rest of my life letting them know about the greatest love of all!

One of the principles that has allowed me to enjoy the benefits of losing 47 lbs came from my wife’s “Weight Watchers” group. They ask their participants to write down every thing they eat BEFORE they put it in their mouth.  “Write it before you bite it” is the motto.  It is amazing how much we eat without even thinking.  Try to remember what you ate yesterday.  I guarantee that unless you wrote it down, your estimate will be way less than you actually ate.  When we “Write it before we bite it” it allows us to make a judgment call on both the consequences and the benefits of what we are about to consume.

That got me thinking.

We are finally on the other side of the Great Tennessee Flood. Our home is high and dry but many of our friend’s homes were substantially damaged and some lost everything.

Diane and I went for a twenty mile bike ride yesterday to survey the damage.  The entire valley we usually ride had been covered with water.  As we rode we were reminded of what makes America great and what will keep America great.

Resourceful people with stubborn resolve.

Everywhere we went we saw neighbors helping each other meet this disaster head on.  They were using creativity and muscle to salvage what they could and to keep their families safe.  We saw people who had tractors and shovels and chainsaws making impassible roads passable. People with boats were rescuing strangers who had been caught by the rising water.  They were doing all this before the government lifted a finger.

I am not criticizing the government. In this difficult time the government of Tennessee did a great  job as fast as they could.  What I am doing is I am praising the kind of people who see what needs to be done and are willing to do the work to “get er done!”