"Simply having a wonderful........"

On Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, I crept into my car at wee-thirty in the morning to start my drive into work. Creeping was my mode of transportation, because I was almost too tired to walk. On Tuesday, I had greeted 1800 folks at our annual Thanksgiving grocery give-away, at work. My face hurt from smiling. My feet hurt from walking. My back hurt from standing. Believe me, I was one tired puppy.
But, I bravely headed out of the neighborhood, aiming and hoping to merge into the inbound commuter traffic. Just as I hit the major thoroughfare, I realized that my morning radio station was not giving me the local or national news. It was not even giving me an oldie or even the latest sports scores. Coming from my car's dashboard was .......Christmas Music.
Did I oversleep and miss Thanksgiving, altogether? Had the stress of 1800 frozen turkeys, 1800 cans of cranberry sauce, 1800 cans of green beans, etc., etc., etc., caused me to erase from my mind, the preparation of our own Thanksgiving Feast? Was I so tired that I didn't even remember cooking?
NO. It was Wednesday. Thanksgiving 2012, had not yet occurred.
However, the first Christmas tune of 2012, was playing on my radio, and it was, as fate would have it, one of the most annoying songs of the season.
I changed the station.

Oh Lord. We are so blessed. We should take time to thank You for Your bountiful mercy and and Your steadfast love. Indeed, there is a time for every season and every purpose under heaven.

A Pair of What?

One of my favorite activities is solving the daily New York Times Crossword Puzzle. In a perfect world, my daily routine would allow for enough time to solve the puzzle, correctly, every single day. But, because the puzzle gets increasingly more difficult, from Monday through Saturday, my attempts at the the late-week puzzles often go unfinished. That Saturday puzzle is generally an "all-day" brain teaser.
While solving the puzzles, I will sometimes have occassion to pull out my trusty Webster's, to look up a word (spelling or definition). I don't use the computer because that's just too easy...for a old pro like me.
Last week, I needed the definition for "Paraclete". According to Webster, a "Paraclete" is an advocate or intercessor. And in its Christian context, it describes the Holy Ghost.
So, I have added another word to my vocabulary. Right there in print, between "parachute" and "parade", was the Holy Spirit.
It shouldn't be a surprise, you know.

Holy God: You have so many names. You are our Great Advocate and our Ultimate Intercessor. Watch over your children and lead us along the path that You would intend for us to follow. Remind us to focus on listening and hearing Your Word.  Sometimes, we need a reminder that we don't know all of the answers.

One man's trash ....

    Trash day is Tuesday, in our neighborhood. Bright and early, every week, we follow the same routine of placing our trash bag at the curb. Next to the trash bag, we carefully put our bin of recyclables. We are always very neat and deliberate about our trash. Then, we head off to work.
    So last week we did just that. However, when I came home after work, I was in for a surprise. There,  next to the curb, was our empty blue bin AND two bar stools. Some creep had dumped old furniture in our yard! How totally trashy was that?
    Believe me, I was hot. Parking the car, I stormed into the house. Poor Scott got the brunt of my anger. I must have carried on for 30 minutes about the worthlessness of our neighbors and the meaninglessness of doing "the right thing".
    His response was to tell me not to worry about it. How stupid was that? Because then I started to worry and fume, devising my plan to get rid of the two abandoned stools.
    An hour or so later, I went out to run an errand. The bar stools had mysteriously disappeared. Some one had spirited them away. How great was that?

Oh, my Lord. Life is a marvelous mystery. We think we have everything so planned and departmentalized. We know how it is all supposed to be. We make our plans. Then....you show us what life is really all about. You are in charge, Lord. You are the One with the plans. "Take my life and let it be consecrated Lord, to thee."
  

    

Stop the Madness

  Times do change. I would not want to return to the 1950s, 1970s or even the 1990s, but there are a few things, long gone, that I would like to bring back. For one, how about sanity. The kind that comes from good old common sense.
   Take for example, obesity. The papers and the electronic media are full of stories about how fat our American Children are. Kids in my neighborhood are fat because EVERY child is transported to and from school, individually, by a parent in a car. I write individually, because every morning and afternoon, the two lane street in front of our neighborhood school is lined with parental school buses, for 3 blocks in either direction of the school's entrance. And, the key phrase is neighborhood school. The attendance area is about a square mile or two. All of the kids live within walking distance, for Pete's sake. Walking is a good thing.
   Oh, I know, we are told that it's just not safe anymore. Well, I say, let the little chubbies walk....or run, if they need to get away from a predator. Teach the little porkers how to defend themselves and scream like bloody murder if they are accosted.
    Who is going to abduct a screaming kid? Rrumor has it that I have even tried to push a few screaming kids OUT of my car!
    And, how about bringing back honest Trick or Treating. Today we drive the kids to a mall or better yet a church parking lot, where good meaning church folk give out candy from their trunks. Egad. What is that teaching the next generation?
    Where do you think the expression "dealing from your trunk" comes from? It's about drugs, folks. We knew about trunks way back in the 50s. But, now our kids associate trunks with candy. Wow. That is so wrong.
   Stop the madness.


Okay God, your children's actions sometimes border on the ridiculous. Teach us common sense. Teach us right from wrong. Show us how to improve our lives and the lives of those we know and those we don't know. Be our guide. Strengthen us to do your will.
  

Size Matters

I like driving small cars. For years I drove a Volkswagen Beetle. Ffor their size, those German (actually Mexican made) cars are heavy little things and they do hug the road. The Beetle was the perfect car for my many trips around Missouri, and beyond. This five foot 2 inch woman and her car were "one with the road."
More recently, I have had to use larger vehicles to accomplish my trips for work. Now, as I travel the Midwest, I rent mid-sized cars or small vans to transport me and my stuff to conferences and to do "hands-on mission" workshops.
Last Saturday, I loaded up every available inch of a huge Ford Expedition or maybe it was a Ford Exorbitant, with cartons of boxes and wrapping materials for a big event. All the items had to be unloaded at my destination and then reloaded again, for the trip back home. It was a very long day.....14 hrs., and I only fell off the running board once.
It's been quite a while since I've driven anything that big. Thankfully, this car was shiny and new. Everything on it worked. My last experience with something that big was an old pick-up truck. The seat adjustment was broken, so I drove it with my purse stuffed behind my back (to get my feet to closer to the pedals) and I had to hang on to the wheel, with both hands, to see over the steering column.
My trek with the big Ford was a good one. I had safe travels and a great event.

Thank you, God, for watching over us. You give us strength in time of need. Your tender mercies surround us, as we face the challenges our lives. We praise your name. Your goodness endures forever.

"He's makin' a list, and checkin' it twice......."

Alex Karras, the actor, passed away last week. Although, I hadn't thought about him for quite a while, I was still sorry to hear of his passing. You might remember that he was a former Chicago Bears great, and later the star of a really cute TV series. Karras also played a leading role in one of my all-time favorite movies.
As movies go, "Blazing Saddles" is not what anyone would call a classic. But, it is classic Mel Brooks. It is totally irreverant, crude, full of vulgar nonsense, really bad puns and at the same time, totally hilarious. My type of cinema.
"Blazing Saddles" contains one of my all-time favorite movie lines. Given my 40 plus years, as a United Methodist, I have known the best and the worst of the breed. So, I was not the least little bit surprised with the choices of Hedley Lamarr, the evil saloon owner, as he makes a list of the folks he wants in his dastardly gang. Hedley says: "I want rustlers, cut throats, murderers, bounty hunters, desperados, mugs, pugs, thugs, nitwits, halfwits, dimwits, vipers, snipers, con men, Indian agents, Mexican bandits, muggers, buggerers, bushwhackers, hornswogglers, horse thieves, bull dykes, train robbers, bank robbers, ass-kickers, shit-kickers and Methodists.
That is just so bad, for all kinds of reasons. But very funny. I suggest you rent the movie or watch it on the Internet.

Good God: I believe that you have a sense of humor. You created us and allowed us free will. You have to get a chuckle out of mess we make of our lives. Thank you giving us the sense to laugh, when things are funny. Please, don't let us take ourselves to seriously. Teach us to be kind and caring residents of your bountiful Earth. In all things, we praise your Name.

Write it down.

My one and only Much Older Sister sent me a Blessing Book for my birthday. It's basically a blank book meant for journaling about Inspiration and Praise. Being dead set against procrastination, I'm going to use it to write about my blessings, someday soon.
Honestly, I've met very few people who can verbalise or write coherently about their blessings. Why is that?
Most folks are thankful by nature, but maybe sharing our feelings feels like bragging to many of us. You know...we're hesitant to say that we are thankful for our nice homes, fast cars, new shoes (although they're really cute), and all the stuff we've got. We're just not very good at it.
Have you ever been to a Thanksgiving Sunday Service, and during the prayer, the preacher asks to you shout out what you are thankful for?
Dead Silence. Then a few folks brave folks, after thinking really hard, shout out a few items. You usually hear "thank yous" for good health, good weather, the recent rain or the beautiful snowfall, safe travels, etc.
What am I thankful for? OMGolly, I'm breathing. I have hands with which to write this post, and a mind clear enough (most of the time) to organize my thoughts. I can work. I can rest. My family loves me. I have friends that are interested in what I do. I live in a county where I can worship and think as I choose. I have enough to eat. I have a home...and it's warm on these frosty Fall evenings.
I'm getting ready to write in my Blessings Book. I am blessed beyond all comprehension. And, for this I am thankful to God Almighty.

Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow. Praise Him all creatures here below. Thanks a bunch, Lord.