Give Me A Break!

Want to make a three-year old happy? Tell her that you are going to take her to the park.....five minutes before you go. Instant love and undying affection.
Want to create bedlam, chaos, fear and mayhem? Tell an educated and otherwise intelligent group of 80 to 90 year-olds, that two weeks from a specified date, you are going to execute an orderly, planned evacuation of their automobiles, to a secure and guarded site. Promise to return those same cars, after resurfacing the parking lot, to the exact same, numbered spot, and get it all done within 24 hours. Immediate hatred and instant mistrust. Instant anarchy.
My colleagues and I have honestly been herding cats for the past two days. We have had crying women and screaming men. As one man said to me, "This has been the worst day of my life!"

Oh, my word. Up to this point, sir, how truly blessed your life must have been!

Good God! Give us understanding and patience. Help us to realize that we are not the only ones on this planet. Help us to keep things in perspective. Relieve us of our self importance and remind us that possessions are just material things. Grant us wisdom and courage. Give us the joy that comes from truly believing in You.

For Paul's Sake!

Paul's Letter to the Philippians is just a small book in the New Testament. Last week, in our Bible Study, we attempted to seek understanding of a passage where Paul asked the readers of his letter, the members of the church at Philippi, to become more like Christ. He said "always consider the other person to be better than yourself. Have no conceit. Always put the other person's interests first."
Oh, my goodness. Well, that is so simple. Isn't that the solution to all of our problems?
How grand life would be if we, all of us, all of humanity, always put the interests of everyone else, before our own interests.
But, by golly we just can't do it. We live in a ME FIRST Society. No wonder we have stress. No wonder we're unhappy. No wonder we complain all the time. No wonder we con't get along. We are selfish.
Today at work, I encountered a great many selfish and greedy folks. They were, to a man and woman, concerned about their own interests. Nothing was pleasing them. It was a ME FIRST day. Everyone I encountered wanted it "MY WAY or the HIGHWAY".
In my efforts to find create harmony and peace, I just encountered more unhappiness and discord.
But, God is Good. Tomorrow will be better. Paul also said, " There is nothing I cannot master with the help of the One who gives me strength."

Great and powerful God. Give us strength. Show us how to put others first. Give us an understanding of others and help us find the good in everyone. Give us patience.

Do you have something else besides Mexican food?

I have based much of my philosophy of life, on my favorite movie, "The Three Amigos." Not every
one I know understands this, but believe me, there is much to live by in this ridiculously politically incorrect movie. So much so, that even the most conservative soul could learn something of value from Dusty Bottoms, Ned Nederlander and Lucky Day.
Last night, my dear friend and I attended a "Three Amigos Quote a Thon". Apparently, I am not the only "Three Amigos" geek and aficionado in our area, for at least a hundred senors et senoritas were with Sophie and I, as we toasted and saluted the Infamous Tres Amigos.
During every gunfight, we shot off our cap pistoles and during every song we shook our maracas. We sang along with the lyrics of  " My Little Buttercup" and  echoed the words spoken between the Three Amigos and El Guapo. We understood that El Guapo didn't know what foreplay was. And, we understood what happened to the invisible swordsman, because when the emcee asked, "How many of you have seen this movie a hundred times?".......most of us raised our hands and shouted, "Viva los amigos! "
There have been numerous times, over the years, when an earnest presenter has asked me, "What is it that we can do really well? What is it that we are especially good at?"  Each and every time, I have wanted to yell out....WE CAN SEW! Amen and Amen. We are all great at something!

Dear Lord. You have given us so many things to enjoy. We can laugh at ourselves and enjoy the foibles of others. You are our rock and our salvation. We praise your name, over all things, invisible and visible.

"Come and get it, "afor I stick my foot in it." *

I don't remember my mother cooking a "new" meal, at anytime during my childhood. By that I mean, that I can only remember eating "left-overs". 
Now, I'm not saying that the meals during my growing up years were bad, I'm just saying we always ate left-overs. You only have to look at pictures of my sister and me, from ages 3-16, to observe that we were not starving to death.
But, some weeks we had left-over roast and potatoes on Monday. Tuesday we would have roast and potato stew. Wednesday, roast and veggie casserole and Thursday, Dorothy Soup. Then, we would have some kind of fried fish and left-over veggies on Friday. On Saturday, the left-overs from Friday. Sunday, we would start all over again.
Only on this week, it would start with left-over Chop Suey.... left-over from Grandma's Sunday meal, Chop Suey with extra rice on Monday, with canned crispy noodles on Tuesday, Dorothy's Chinese goulash on Wednesday, Chinese Soup on Thursday, etc.
The next week it would be chicken....all week.
On and on. Week after week. Year after year.
I am not complaining, only stating what I remember as fact. To this day, I admire my mother's creativity and thriftiness. She fed us and we ate well. Although, come to think of it we had no choice and it didn't occur to us to question the menu!


* Pat Butrum, Roy and Dale's Cook.


Good and kind God: We are thankful for many things. Good memories are a special blessing. Life is a journey to be taken by everyone of us. Help us to pack lightly and travel well. Show us how to enjoy both the bumps in the road and the smooth pavement. We glorify your name.

Your're never to old.

My ocean of knowledge, compared to a great many folks, is pretty shallow. I know a little about a whole lot of things. And, because of my addiction to talking, I will agreeably converse, with anyone, about anything.
Today, there I was, jabbering on about the subject of coinage. I know next to nothing about coins. For Pete's Sake, it's hard for me to make change! Anyway, in the process of describing a particular coin to a friend of mine, I told him that the front of the coin had the image of Caesar Augustus, and the back of the coin.......
He said, "OBVERSE. The front of the coin is the obverse and the back is the reverse. The side with the head, on any coin, is the obverse."
Obverse is a totally new word to me. Joy of Joys. It's a great day when you can learn something new. My puddle got a bit deeper.


Dear Lord, Blessings come in all shapes and sizes. A discovery. A new word. A new friend. They are all blessings, given to us from You. Teach us how to look for them. Show us how to treasure them. Remind us to be thankful for them.

Attitude rocks!

Not long ago. I wrote a piece about worry. I told about two famous non-worriers, Alfred E. Newman and Jesus Christ. They both had the right idea. Worry is a useless activity. It accomplishes nothing. Don't do it!
Now, I am going to expound on attitude. Stuff happens. Listen up folks! Not everything, that happens in life, is wonderful, rosy, grand and glorious. Surprise, surprise.
I challenge you to think of a recent day when something bad didn't happen to you. How did you deal with your misfortune? Did the badness suck you in? Did it ruin your day? Your week? Your life?
Or, did you accept the bad and look for the good in the situation? Did you look on the bright side and ask for God's help with solving your problem? Did you make the best of it?
It is our choice, you know. It's that old "glass half-full or half-empty" scenario.
This weekend, I received to very powerful statements of Positive Attitude. I was given two mugs by two long time friends. One had the phrase "tell me something good" written on it. It made me contemplate the terrible truth, that we often tell each other about about something bad.
The other mug was a paraphrase of the WWII British Motto, "Keep Calm and Carry On". This mug said "Keep Calm and Sparkle On".

I am going to try...really try.... to keep a positive attitude. I promise to tell something good and Sparkle while I'm doing it.

Great and Power God,
Remind me that you are always with me. My life isn't bad. I have many, many blessings. I have Faith and I have really good friends. I am so blessed. Thanks a bunch, God.

Cleanliness is next to .........

Spring, here in the Midwest is a beautiful season. The dogwoods, pink and white, are in bloom.
Red bud trees, with their tiny purplish blosssomed branches dot the landscape and they look spectacular against the barely leafing out larger trees. Lilac bushes are at their peak and they smell fabulous, whether they are lavender or white.The daffodils have finished  blooming and the tulips are at their climax of their color.
Every one of God's natural creations seems new, fresh and colorful.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the inside of my house looks dirty, sad and cluttered.
It's time to clean and pitch.
I feel this way every year. It's an overwhelming task, especially if you start with the big stuff. I know, that's they way I usually do it, and I never get very far. My success at decluttering is very minimal.
This year, for a change, I am going to start small and maybe I will be more successful.
I am going to start with photos. Any photo without people is going to get pitched. That will be, I'm guessing, at least 40% of our photo clutter.
Next, I will toss out all of the "just acquaintance photos". That's got to be another 20%. In this category will be Photo Christmas Cards from several years back.
Duplicate photos will be thrown away. Shots that make me or other people look bad, fat or ugly have got to go, too.
Voila! I will have cleaned out more that 80% of our photo clutter. Hooray.
I am going to get started, right now!

Lord, guide my feet. The race is getting pretty slow. I'm slowing down in body, but not it mind.
Help me to set priorities. Remind me daily to do your will and make life a little better for all the folks I encounter.