Donald ‘Tommy’ Thomas…WASP survivor
Dad Was a Salesman with a Paper Folding Pitch
He did what salesmen do…trade stories and listen to the ‘pitch’. Dad would enthusiastically invite salesmen who knocked on our door to come in so he could hear their pitch and learn their techniques.
During one of my father’s sales trips he was told an interesting story with paper folding as a visual. Before I bring out the story, let me introduce you to my Dad.
Dad’s favorite statement about religion was, “It’s just a crutch.” He spent time thinking about ‘religion’ and offering up ‘if there really is a God’ requests to the ‘heavens’. One night he was outside, one such request was to have God show him a shooting star immediately to prove He was God. He quickly came back into the house looking sheepish saying he just saw a shooting star. Then he told us why it was so startling to him.
My father had escaped death many times. As a nine year old farm boy, he leaned on the end of his loaded rifle barrel while eating a peach. The rifle discharged and that little boy had a bullet penetrate his body, run around the inside of his rib cage and go out the other side. That was just one encounter that could have ended his life.
Don ‘Tommy’ Thomas (my Dad), was also a survivor of two ships sunk during WW II in the Pacific, each within three months of the other…the USS Wasp CV-7 and the USS Kalinin Bay.
During one of the sinkings, he was stranded in waters holding up another man. They were surrounded by bodies of friends as sharks scavenged the waters. I never thought to ask, but now I wonder if he thought about God at that moment.
A few days before Dad unexpectedly died, I spoke with him on the phone ( long distance) about what Jesus said to Nicodemus in the book of John, chapter 3 … about being Born Again. If I had been in front of him with a piece of paper, I would have reminded him of what he told me as a little girl.
Fold and Tear
Items you need: 8 1/2″ x 11″ piece of paper
1. Fold the top left corner to right side of paper (forms a triangle on right side)
2. Fold that triangle back to the left side (looks like a triangle roof peak on top of a house).
3. Fold in half again, from the top center of the roof peak down to the bottom.
4. The last part is ‘tearing the paper’ bottom to top.
SPECIAL NOTES: The torn pieces on the left (spelling ‘
HELL‘) are from the two pieces given to the second man who asked for a
‘piece’ of the first man’s ticket. When unfolded, the
first torn piece will have the letter
‘H’ plus an extra small piece of paper with it. (You will add that small piece to the letter
‘E’ when you unfold the
second torn piece). The second torn piece it will have the letters
‘L’ and
‘L’ and a partial ‘
E‘. The
extra small piece of paper will be the middle of the ‘E’.
The way the story was told to my Dad:
The first man died and was on his way to heaven with a ticket when the second man came up to him. The second man noticed that the first man had a piece of paper in his hand and asked him what it was. The first man responded, “It’s my ticket to heaven.” The second man demanded the first man give him a piece of his ticket as he didn’t have one. The first man tore off a piece and handed it to him. Walking a short distance the second man asked for another piece, just in case one piece wasn’t enough. The first man obliged with another piece of the paper.
When the second man with the two torn pieces of ticket stood before God, he handed God the first torn piece of paper saying, “This is why I can get into heaven”. The pieces were unfolded and made into an ‘ H ‘ with an additional small piece of paper with it. The second man then saw it was only part of the word ‘ HEAVEN ‘ so he happily handed over the last piece of the torn ticket. When it was unfolded and laid out with the small extra piece of paper added to the rest, it spelled, ‘ HELL ‘ .
When the first man arrived, he took his paper, opened it up and it became a ‘ CROSS ‘. God welcomed him in.
My Dad was being witnessed to when he was told the story with paper folding. Everytime he retold it, it was another seed planted in someone’s elses life, just like it was planted into mine.
My Easter pitch with the folded paper would point out that the only way you can come to God is His way…through His Son, Jesus. What happened at the cross is for everyone but must still be believed and received individually. It doesn’t matter who you are, what you’ve done, how good or bad you’ve been, or if you’ve been going to church your whole life or belong to a specific denomination. It’s God’s plan that you get to choose and not count on someone else’s ticket.
Try the paper folding with a Sunday School class or sit down with your children, like my Dad did with me. Get good at it and you can be a ‘Salesman with a Paper Folding Pitch’ .
Leave your comments, shares and likes!
SPECIAL NOTES: The torn pieces on the left (spelling ‘HELL‘) are from the two pieces given to the second man who asked for a ‘piece’ of the first man’s ticket. When unfolded, the first torn piece will have the letter ‘H’ plus an extra small piece of paper with it. (You will add that small piece to the letter ‘E’ when you unfold the second torn piece). The second torn piece it will have the letters ‘L’ and ‘L’ and a partial ‘E‘. The extra small piece of paper will be the middle of the ‘E’. 
What a great project – am going to try this with grandkids next time they are over.
p.s. I am following your blog and you on twitter Cindy Springsteen recommended you to me. I just recently started writing for Examiner.com 'Lansing Children's Books Examiner' – that's in Michigan but am always looking for great children's books to review/recommend. I will be back to check out your books and see if I can find them available in Lansing area..
Hello, Faith: Don't you just love being a Grandmother? It's the best time in life!
Cindy Springsteen has a great blog about teens. It's timely info! For anyone reading this, Cindy can be found at http://www.cindy-springsteen.com.
My books will be out VERY soon, but the only one that is available now is Don't Hug a Grudge. I would appreciate your reviewing them! Reach me here donnaperugini@gmail.com and we can discuss it.
I went to your site and WOW! It really shows that you have a Godly-Word based website with bible studies, links on salvation, introductions to your grandchildren, and so much more. I really hope people visit your site, to be encouraged, lifted up and feel right at home… http://www.byfaithonly.com/
Thanks for leaving a comment on my site, Faith, and so glad to meet you. Congratulations! I'm excited for your new position with the Lansing Children's Books Examiner!
Thanx for this tremendous puzzle available online. I’ve searched for this over the years
shown to me by an old friend but forgot how to
do I!
You’re welcome, Bill. Glad you finally found it!