The Big Three

Storms are coming. Everyone in town has been or is planning to rush to the grocery store and buy these items. Yes, everyone stocks up on the big three in preparation for an up-coming "snowed in".
Why do we (yes, my family is guilty, also) choose these items?
Who knows? Maybe it's inbred, pun intended, or perhaps we are all just a tiny bit crazy.
But folks, this tee pee, moo juice and sliced bread tradition is senseless.
First of all, most of us desperate grocery store looters live in cities. City ordinances say.....the roads must be plowed, in a timely manner. No one is truly "snowed in" for days, anymore. Hours maybe, but certainly not days. So, if we are in possession of only one extra roll of toilet paper, we're going to be fine. And, who doesn't have some extra magazine pages taking up space?
Now then, there's milk. How much milk do we need? Milk for dry cereal, I suppose. Well, did we buy cereal? Didn't think about that, did we? And, if our power goes out, the milk is going to go bad pretty fast. A better buy would have been canned tuna, peanut butter, canned soup, chili or even canned or powdered milk. Best choice of all would have been bottled water.
Now, how about that white bread, the squishier the better. We all know that whole wheat is better for us, but we're going to get what we like, when we're faced with carbo-starvation. What are we going to do with three or four loaves of white bread? And, of course, we forgot to get anything to eat with it. Plain bread, folks, is not very filling, healthy or appetizing. And, it gets moldy pretty fast.
Planning for an emergency is wise. Running out to the grocery store, in the wee hours of the morning or late at night, to stock up on the big three, is pretty silly.
I need to stop doing it.

Well, Lord, here we are again. We are allowing our lack of Faith and common sense to get the better of us. We know better.You have given us great biblical examples of both preparedness and trust.
Help us to get our lives on the right track. Help us to remember that your way is the best way. Remind us to get ready, to trust and  to obey.

Bad Girls

I like words and I like pondering and using interesting quotes. One of my favorite quotes these days is attributed to one Laurel Thatcher Ulrich. I have been aware of it for years, because it is printed on one of my favorite "inherited" tee shirts. And, recently it showed up in a Christmas gift book.
Some quotes reek of truth, others not so much. But, Ulrich's "Well behaved women seldom make history.", cannot be disputed. It rings true.
Think about Mary Magdalene, Joan of Arc, Clara Barton, Eleanor Roosevelt, Rosa Parks. Groundbreaking, admirable women. All in them in our history books.
Of course there were other women, ill-behaved as well, who made history. Using another of my favorite quotes..."They are more than famous. They are in infamous." (TTA) On that list would be Salome, Marie Antoinette, Mata Hari and Monica Lewinsky. They misbehaved and made history.
What's my point? Nothing I have done or will do in my lifetime will be written about in a history book. But, I like to think that I will, at least, have made a mark somewhere with someone. 
Here's just one more quote. "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds." (Hebrews 10:24.)

Good and Loving Lord: All of us know that life is often rough and things do not always go the way we have planned. We cannot seem to help messing things up. Show us how to right our wrongs. Remind us that we will not live forever and that we had better behave in a way that we want to be remembered. We are continually leaving our mark on others.
Guide us and show us your will.

Light my Fire.

And, what about light bulbs?
For several years now, my husband and I have replaced almost all of our incandescent light bulbs with the new swirly CFL lights. I'm sure you all are doing the same thing. After all, these new bulbs s are the only ones you can buy. Old fashioned, light-bulb-shaped bulbs are long gone. Passe'. Kaput. Obsolete.
I'm sure you know that these new bulbs are very expensive. They don't put out the same type of light as our old kind. They take a long time to "warm up". And, above all they are supposed to last eleven years.
Well, you and I know they don't. We have replaced dozens of them, and so have you.. They don't last any longer than the old ones. We have been lied to.
But, so what? There's not a darn thing we can do about it. We just have to pay a pretty penny for the deception and use them.
What's the deal with that???????

Great Lord: I try to focus on the good things in life. But, sometimes I get discouraged. Sometimes the right does not prevail. Wrongs happen. I get angry.
Open my eyes to what really matters. Guide me and give me strength to persevere.  Give me patience and peace.
You know my heart.

Want a Date?

A new year! A new start! I am looking forward to all kinds of new things.
Starting today, in this brand new year, I feel the need to encourage all of the oldsters and youngsters to start dating. Yes, dating.
Take a Sharpie or other kind of marker and start writing the date of purchase on your stuff. I'm finding, as I get older, that I often cannot remember when an item was purchased.
Take for example the Blood Pressure Cuff my spouse just bought. His doctor told him that our old one might need a replacement (faulty readings, etc.), and sure enough it did.
But, when did we purchase the old one? Five years ago, ten years ago? Who can remember?
Just how old is our mattress? Perhaps by noting the dates of purchase we can estimate the life of the object and replace it before it dies for good?
When did we last replace the smoke alarm batteries? The water heater?I could go on and on.
Age matters, I think.
Sometimes I can't even remember who I am and where I am going......or why?
I think that dating things might help.

Kind and all-knowing Lord. We are funny creatures. I know we have too much stuff, but we have it and we must choose to use it wisely. We need to be good stewards of our world.
Watch over us and guide us.