DON'T GET AHEAD OF YOURSELF!!!!!
I must have been eleven or twelve years old. Mom was going to teach me how to iron a shirt. Now at that age, learning to iron was not one of the things on my "Things I want to learn to do list." I tried to tell her I had no interest in learning how to iron any dumb clothes, and besides, ironing was woman's work and I wasn't a sissy. Of course my mom was hard headed and wouldn't listen to the good reasoning of a twelve year old. She began to tell me that it would be a good thing to know how to do in years to come. Little did she know that I would grow up with the attitude of "I don't have to impress anybody" and ironed clothes would never be at the top of any list I ever had. But to make a long story short.....At the age of twelve I learned to iron.
I would grab the shirt, lay it on the board and just start ironing. Mom would say "NO NO NO....You have to do it in certain steps. You must start with the shoulders."
Then she would then gently place the shirt on the Ironing board and smooth it out with her hands first, then test the iron with her index finger, which she had stuck into her mouth to get wet, by touching her wet finger to the iron and listening to the sizzle to insure it was hot enough. This was my favorite part of ironing because it involved what I determined to be danger.....A manly thing. As I would try to iron, my first priority was to get finished. Outside there were football games to be won or wars to be fought. I didn't have time for all this girly stuff, but I can still hear mom's voice saying "slow down,,,,,hold your horses,,,,Don't get ahead of yourself!!!"
Patience and order have never been a virtues of mine. I've always been a "let's get finished person." When I was a kid they said I had ants in my pants and couldn't sit still. I had to be going all the time. If they would have had Ritalin back then it would have been my number one food group.
I say all this just to let you know, I once again have gotten ahead of myself. Sometimes I forget important lesson I've learned in the past. You see two days ago I wrote my post for the New Year. Now I always publish my post as soon as I get through writing them. Of course I usually get Peggy to do some proof reading first, but they are published within 30 minutes of writing. For some reason when I finished the New Year post I just saved it. I didn't really know why. Peggy asked...." Do you not want me to read your post today?" My reply was "I'm not going to publish it right now, you can read it later. I may change some things." The New Year post is just that....It's all about the coming new year. I think what I'm trying to say is "It's great to look ahead, but in order to look ahead with the right attitude, we must first look at the past.....When I wrote the new year post I had got ahead of myself.
What made me think of this was a phone call I got yesterday from my Brother-in Law Julian. Now a phone call from Julian isn't unusual. Julian and I talk on the phone three or four times a week for an hour or two each time. Julian and I have what most people might consider a unique relationship. Let me start by saying when we met I was around the age of twelve and Julian was around twenty two. Right off the bat we had something in common. We both loved the same girl, my sister Dianne. Another thing we both had in common was we reached the age of adulthood in the same year....I was 35 and Julian was 45. We thought we had done pretty good because Julian's uncle Jack didn't grow up until he was 85 people said. We were way ahead of schedule. When Julian came into the family he was a member immediately. He was always like the older brother I never had. We have had some times in the past that would be good reading for maybe an adult blog but it would probably be best not to write about them here.
Well, getting back to the phone call, we were talking about different things and he brought up some things about this past year. He mentioned about the death of my cousin Stuart and the deaths of some other friends. We talked of getting older and not being able to do things we use to. We talked about the health of some of our family members and we also talked about some personal problems some of our family members have had and were having. Now you can look at the things we talked about and it may start to get you down. You may say to yourself how depressing all of that is. but I say to you think a little deeper.
I can remember bad times in my life. I can remember decisions my children have made that most people would call mistakes. I can think of many things I've done that most if not all of us would say were bad decision or poor judgement on my part, except.......except....those decisions, those mistakes, those poor judgements weren't the end of the story. Life went on. Those bad judgements made us stronger people. Sometimes those mistakes changed our priorities in life. Sometimes they set us straight. I've always liked the saying "What doesn't kill me will make me stronger."
Yes, Julian and I talk of getting older. We talk sometimes of our ailments. We talk of our kids and grand kids. We talk of times when we were young growing up in Atlanta.
We talk about Kirkwood and Grant Park and Cabbagetown. We talk like I said sometimes for hours. Julian is always nice to me because he says he's afraid no one else will talk to him as often as I do. We talk about the past and the past is important. It's important because it has helped to determine where we go from here. And going forward isn't a depressing thing. It's an exciting thing. so sit back and enjoy.........and
Don't get ahead of yourself!!!!
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Monday, December 26, 2011
DO YOU HAVE NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS?
Well friends, Christmas is gone for another year. My hope is yours was a great celebration with family and friends. I know mine was and I thank God for another year of life. But now we ask ourselves.... "What now?" Sometimes it's hard to slow down after all the excitement we've just come through. I believe that's why we have the New Year so soon after Christmas. New years is different things to different people. Some look at it as a time to party. Some of us love to shoot off fireworks. To some it is all about football and the bowl games and to some it is again about eating. Have you every noticed we Americans are always able to make eating the center of all celebrations? And no!!!!!!! this isn't another post about eating or food. Another thing we think of when we think of the New Year is resolutions. Now I have made plenty of those in the past and again this year I will think of something to change about me in order to make my life better or to make me a better person. Will I keep my resolutions? I have no idea but I will promise to keep at least some of them. Some of them you say....Yes some of them....There will be more than one.
Every year I do an art show in Brookhaven which is a community in Atlanta. This year as I was sitting up my birdhouses, a young lady that is also a vendor came up to my tent. She looked familiar to me but I couldn't quite place her. This happens often and usually after we talk for a few minutes I can remember them. That was the case with this lady. She told me she lived just south of Chattanooga Tennessee and that the year before she had bought one of my birdhouses. She said she had bought a birdhouse from me that looked like a traffic light and she wanted to see if I had another like it. Most of my houses are one of a kind but the traffic light is one of the few I duplicate because I sell so many of them. As I was hanging the birdhouse from the top of the tent, she looked up at the traffic light and the biggest smile came to her face. As she looked up at the traffic light birdhouse she said "I want to tell you a story about the house I bought from you." As she went on she told of taking the birdhouse home. She told of hanging it in a tree in her front yard and about birds nesting in it. She told me about how all her neighbors and friends just loved the house and about the wonderful comments she had gotten about it. She then told me about the tragedy that had struck her family. She told me about the tornadoes that had come through on April 27th. How her house was gone. All of her belongings were gone. Her trees were all broken and pulled up by the roots. Then that smile came to her face again and she said "All the trees but one." One tree was left in her front yard. And on that tree, still hanging where she and her husband had placed it was the traffic light birdhouse. She said for some reason that birdhouse gave her assurance that all would be well.
This young lady didn't look back at the bad things that had happened. She looked forward. On that day, April 27, 2011, she made a resolution to go forward. I'm sure she has had disappointments since then and failures since that day but I am also sure she is still going forward with that smile on her face. As I get ready for the New Year I too resolve to look forward. I also will have disappointments and failures but I will put a smile on my face and continue to put one foot in front of the other. I will do as the old saying goes, I will "keep on keepin on." I will keep on because MY GOD is in control.
So you ask, "What are some of my resolutions?"
Well for one, On January 2, 2012 I will begin training for the Peachtree Road Race and on July 4th for the first time in my life I will participate in this event. No , I won't run it but I will walk it and I will proudly wear my T shirt.
Number two: And this will be the hardest, Just after the first of the year, I will begin writing a book. I have had many of you ask me about doing this or tell me I should write a book but in the past I have always declined...Last week I asked myself why not do it. I've always wanted to write a book but have felt I didn't have the talent. I was afraid I would fail. Then I thought about a story I read many years ago about a man that had always wanted to be a lawyer but had always found an excuse not to go back to school. The man was fifty years old and was talking to his daughter about this dream he had always had, but he told her..... "It will probably take me 5 or 6 years to get my Law Degree. By then I will be 55 or even maybe 56."
To this his daughter replied...."And if you don't go back to school, won't you will still be 55 or 56 years old in 5 or 6 years?"
So what are my expectations of my book? What will make it a success? Are we talking getting it published? Are we talking copies sold? None of the above . I finally figured out that to be successful at writing a book, all you have to do is write it.
Number three: I will get back to reading my Bible. For years I have studied what others say about God's word. I have read commentary after commentary and article after article about what the Bible says. Peggy once told me I had more books than some libraries. I have even watched TV programs about God and the creation of the earth. I have listened to politicians talk about abortion and other things of morality for years. One of the first things I believed about being a Christian was the Doctrine of Priesthood of the Believer. The belief that I could go to God through Jesus without any other mediator and that God would revel to me all I needed to know through His word. Don't get me wrong. I believe these commentaries and articles are good but I need to get back to the basics....Back to God's word. and why would I want to study Gods Word more you ask?
Philippians 3:10 (The Amplified): “For my determined purpose is that I may know Him that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly, and that I may in that same way come to know the power out flowing from His resurrection which it exerts over believers and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed in spirit into His likeness even to His death, in the hope.”
I pray this will be your purpose also in the coming year.
HAPPY NEW YEAR AND GOD BLESS
Well friends, Christmas is gone for another year. My hope is yours was a great celebration with family and friends. I know mine was and I thank God for another year of life. But now we ask ourselves.... "What now?" Sometimes it's hard to slow down after all the excitement we've just come through. I believe that's why we have the New Year so soon after Christmas. New years is different things to different people. Some look at it as a time to party. Some of us love to shoot off fireworks. To some it is all about football and the bowl games and to some it is again about eating. Have you every noticed we Americans are always able to make eating the center of all celebrations? And no!!!!!!! this isn't another post about eating or food. Another thing we think of when we think of the New Year is resolutions. Now I have made plenty of those in the past and again this year I will think of something to change about me in order to make my life better or to make me a better person. Will I keep my resolutions? I have no idea but I will promise to keep at least some of them. Some of them you say....Yes some of them....There will be more than one.
Every year I do an art show in Brookhaven which is a community in Atlanta. This year as I was sitting up my birdhouses, a young lady that is also a vendor came up to my tent. She looked familiar to me but I couldn't quite place her. This happens often and usually after we talk for a few minutes I can remember them. That was the case with this lady. She told me she lived just south of Chattanooga Tennessee and that the year before she had bought one of my birdhouses. She said she had bought a birdhouse from me that looked like a traffic light and she wanted to see if I had another like it. Most of my houses are one of a kind but the traffic light is one of the few I duplicate because I sell so many of them. As I was hanging the birdhouse from the top of the tent, she looked up at the traffic light and the biggest smile came to her face. As she looked up at the traffic light birdhouse she said "I want to tell you a story about the house I bought from you." As she went on she told of taking the birdhouse home. She told of hanging it in a tree in her front yard and about birds nesting in it. She told me about how all her neighbors and friends just loved the house and about the wonderful comments she had gotten about it. She then told me about the tragedy that had struck her family. She told me about the tornadoes that had come through on April 27th. How her house was gone. All of her belongings were gone. Her trees were all broken and pulled up by the roots. Then that smile came to her face again and she said "All the trees but one." One tree was left in her front yard. And on that tree, still hanging where she and her husband had placed it was the traffic light birdhouse. She said for some reason that birdhouse gave her assurance that all would be well.
This young lady didn't look back at the bad things that had happened. She looked forward. On that day, April 27, 2011, she made a resolution to go forward. I'm sure she has had disappointments since then and failures since that day but I am also sure she is still going forward with that smile on her face. As I get ready for the New Year I too resolve to look forward. I also will have disappointments and failures but I will put a smile on my face and continue to put one foot in front of the other. I will do as the old saying goes, I will "keep on keepin on." I will keep on because MY GOD is in control.
So you ask, "What are some of my resolutions?"
Well for one, On January 2, 2012 I will begin training for the Peachtree Road Race and on July 4th for the first time in my life I will participate in this event. No , I won't run it but I will walk it and I will proudly wear my T shirt.
Number two: And this will be the hardest, Just after the first of the year, I will begin writing a book. I have had many of you ask me about doing this or tell me I should write a book but in the past I have always declined...Last week I asked myself why not do it. I've always wanted to write a book but have felt I didn't have the talent. I was afraid I would fail. Then I thought about a story I read many years ago about a man that had always wanted to be a lawyer but had always found an excuse not to go back to school. The man was fifty years old and was talking to his daughter about this dream he had always had, but he told her..... "It will probably take me 5 or 6 years to get my Law Degree. By then I will be 55 or even maybe 56."
To this his daughter replied...."And if you don't go back to school, won't you will still be 55 or 56 years old in 5 or 6 years?"
So what are my expectations of my book? What will make it a success? Are we talking getting it published? Are we talking copies sold? None of the above . I finally figured out that to be successful at writing a book, all you have to do is write it.
Number three: I will get back to reading my Bible. For years I have studied what others say about God's word. I have read commentary after commentary and article after article about what the Bible says. Peggy once told me I had more books than some libraries. I have even watched TV programs about God and the creation of the earth. I have listened to politicians talk about abortion and other things of morality for years. One of the first things I believed about being a Christian was the Doctrine of Priesthood of the Believer. The belief that I could go to God through Jesus without any other mediator and that God would revel to me all I needed to know through His word. Don't get me wrong. I believe these commentaries and articles are good but I need to get back to the basics....Back to God's word. and why would I want to study Gods Word more you ask?
Philippians 3:10 (The Amplified): “For my determined purpose is that I may know Him that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly, and that I may in that same way come to know the power out flowing from His resurrection which it exerts over believers and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed in spirit into His likeness even to His death, in the hope.”
I pray this will be your purpose also in the coming year.
HAPPY NEW YEAR AND GOD BLESS
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given
Does that verse cause chills to run up your spine? Does it cause you heart to beat faster? Does it bring a tear to your eye?
To me it does all the above. During this time of year we are filled with so many emotions. We are filled with so many feelings. Sometimes we think of feelings and emotions as the same but they aren't. Our feeling are the results of our emotions. And our feeling change during this time of year. Our feelings change often and we may not be feeling the same things as others feel. Some of us will feel love. Some of us will feel optimism. Some of us will feel awe. On the other hand, some will feel disappointment, remorse, contempt or loneliness. At time during past Christmas holidays I have felt all of these feelings. I don't ever remembering disappointment because I didn't receive a gift I wanted, but I do remember be disappointed that I wasn't able to maybe give the gift I wanted to give. I remember a feeling of loneliness at not being able to spend time with family that have been called before me.
I remember family get togethers at Aunt Frances' house when I was a child. I know at times we had these parties at other family members houses but for some reason the ones at Aunt Frances come to mind. I can remember my aunts and uncles telling stories. Uncle C.W always had a practical joke to play it seemed and the laughter was continuous. Us kids would run in and out of the house, playing games of chase and hide and go seek, and I'm sure we would forget to shut the door behind us, but I don't remember anyone getting upset over the heat going out or the cold coming in. As I sit here and think about those times, I know us kids received gifts but to save my life I can't remember anything I got. It took a few years to realize that the real gifts I received weren't material.
As I reminisce about family Christmas parties at mom and dads or my mother and father-in-laws or at our house, the same thing happened at them all. Good food, good fellowship and some material gifts that are gone but the oh wow, wonderful memories that last and last. The feelings of love and laughter and sharing. I'm getting excited about this years family party just thinking about it. Ahhhhh the feeling of anticipation.
As I type this, Peggy is out shopping. It will be fun watching the kids open presents. It will be great to all be together. But as I type this I also think of the many gifts I have received already. The gift of answered prayers this year and in years past. I have thanked God many times for the gift of life but this year, maybe for the first time, I really realize the meaning of this gift. The gift of family. This could be a daily post I write about for years. There are many members of my family and each and every one is very special but the one thing they all share is a love for each other. I hear many people say... " If I ever need anything, all I have to do is ask my family members." Well let me tell you. I don't even have to ask. It just gets done. Oh...and friends...I have the most wonderful friends. Many of them I have not seen in several years but when we do get together, it seems we were together yesterday. What a blessing the gift of friendship is.
I just finished reading a news article about Joseph Villavisencio. He was a football player for Texas A&M. If you didn't happen to catch the story, it tells about this young man being killed in an automobile accident this past Thursday. It said he was returning from giving out Christmas gifts at a local shelter. To my way of thinking this news article was wrong. He wasn't give out presents. He was giving himself to others. It was his time...It was his caring.....It was his energy...and in a sense it was his heart and he was giving it to others. May God rest his soul.
As I was writing this, it came to mind that all of these gifts I mentioned really come from God. Even Joseph the football player's gift, his life, came from God. It made me think of the scripture "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change."
Oh sure. I already knew this but sometimes I need reminding of things. Sometimes I need God to renew a certain spirit in me that only He can do. Hmmmmm. I guess you could say this renewal is a gift from God also.
We could probably go on and on about God's gifts to us. In the next couple of days I hope to be reminded often of what God has given to me and I also hope I will remember to give Him proper thanks and praise. We all of course will remember to thank him for His most wonderful and best gift, His Son and our Savior Jesus Christ. But let's not forget the other gifts. The ones we take for granted. The ones that bless us so much everyday.
MAY GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR FAMILY DURING THIS SEASON AND
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL.
Does that verse cause chills to run up your spine? Does it cause you heart to beat faster? Does it bring a tear to your eye?
To me it does all the above. During this time of year we are filled with so many emotions. We are filled with so many feelings. Sometimes we think of feelings and emotions as the same but they aren't. Our feeling are the results of our emotions. And our feeling change during this time of year. Our feelings change often and we may not be feeling the same things as others feel. Some of us will feel love. Some of us will feel optimism. Some of us will feel awe. On the other hand, some will feel disappointment, remorse, contempt or loneliness. At time during past Christmas holidays I have felt all of these feelings. I don't ever remembering disappointment because I didn't receive a gift I wanted, but I do remember be disappointed that I wasn't able to maybe give the gift I wanted to give. I remember a feeling of loneliness at not being able to spend time with family that have been called before me.
I remember family get togethers at Aunt Frances' house when I was a child. I know at times we had these parties at other family members houses but for some reason the ones at Aunt Frances come to mind. I can remember my aunts and uncles telling stories. Uncle C.W always had a practical joke to play it seemed and the laughter was continuous. Us kids would run in and out of the house, playing games of chase and hide and go seek, and I'm sure we would forget to shut the door behind us, but I don't remember anyone getting upset over the heat going out or the cold coming in. As I sit here and think about those times, I know us kids received gifts but to save my life I can't remember anything I got. It took a few years to realize that the real gifts I received weren't material.
As I reminisce about family Christmas parties at mom and dads or my mother and father-in-laws or at our house, the same thing happened at them all. Good food, good fellowship and some material gifts that are gone but the oh wow, wonderful memories that last and last. The feelings of love and laughter and sharing. I'm getting excited about this years family party just thinking about it. Ahhhhh the feeling of anticipation.
As I type this, Peggy is out shopping. It will be fun watching the kids open presents. It will be great to all be together. But as I type this I also think of the many gifts I have received already. The gift of answered prayers this year and in years past. I have thanked God many times for the gift of life but this year, maybe for the first time, I really realize the meaning of this gift. The gift of family. This could be a daily post I write about for years. There are many members of my family and each and every one is very special but the one thing they all share is a love for each other. I hear many people say... " If I ever need anything, all I have to do is ask my family members." Well let me tell you. I don't even have to ask. It just gets done. Oh...and friends...I have the most wonderful friends. Many of them I have not seen in several years but when we do get together, it seems we were together yesterday. What a blessing the gift of friendship is.
I just finished reading a news article about Joseph Villavisencio. He was a football player for Texas A&M. If you didn't happen to catch the story, it tells about this young man being killed in an automobile accident this past Thursday. It said he was returning from giving out Christmas gifts at a local shelter. To my way of thinking this news article was wrong. He wasn't give out presents. He was giving himself to others. It was his time...It was his caring.....It was his energy...and in a sense it was his heart and he was giving it to others. May God rest his soul.
As I was writing this, it came to mind that all of these gifts I mentioned really come from God. Even Joseph the football player's gift, his life, came from God. It made me think of the scripture "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change."
Oh sure. I already knew this but sometimes I need reminding of things. Sometimes I need God to renew a certain spirit in me that only He can do. Hmmmmm. I guess you could say this renewal is a gift from God also.
We could probably go on and on about God's gifts to us. In the next couple of days I hope to be reminded often of what God has given to me and I also hope I will remember to give Him proper thanks and praise. We all of course will remember to thank him for His most wonderful and best gift, His Son and our Savior Jesus Christ. But let's not forget the other gifts. The ones we take for granted. The ones that bless us so much everyday.
MAY GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR FAMILY DURING THIS SEASON AND
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
"WHEN I GET WHERE I'M GOING"
I don't remember what year it was. It wasn't that long ago. Maybe four or five years. I do remember it was an early Spring day. Spring is by far my favorite time of year. It is a time of renewal. The air seems cleaner. The trees are getting a new coat of leaves. The Jonquils are showing off with their new flowers.
We have Red bud Trees in our front yard. They are one of the very first things to bloom and this year in particular they seemed to be showing off in their beauty more than in years past. We also have a Tulip Tree and for the previous three or four years a late frost had killed the buds and we didn't have the flowers on it that we had anticipated. This year was different. The word beauty does not do the Tulip tree justice.
Spring is also a time of anticipation. I mentioned the plants above but Peggy has done a great job with our yard. We have something in bloom all summer it seems, so even with the flowers already mentioned, I knew I still had the azaleas, roses, amaryllis and the other lilies to look forward to. This isn't even talking about the fruit trees that had yet to start to bloom.
So as you can see, all was great. I had to go somewhere that day. Maybe to the grocery store or possibly to the post office. As I recall this day of my life, the destination isn't important. I just remember getting into the car and driving off. The temperarture was such that there was no way I was going to use the air conditioner. I rolled down all the windows and just let God's creation fill my body. I know I had a big smile on my face as turned on to the highway on this magnificent day. I turned on the radio. On a day like this you need a little music. As I found the station I wanted to listen to, I thought to myself, "Nothing could make this day better." Little did I know what was to follow.
A song came on the radio. A song I had heard many times before, but as I think back now, I ask, "Had I really heard this song?" Sure I had heard the music. I even knew most of the words but had I listened to the song? Or maybe the best way to explain what I'm trying to say is "Had I let the song speak to me?"
The song started off :
When I get where I'm going
On the far side of the sky
The first thing that I'm gonna do
Is spread my wings and fly
As I heard this verse I thought......What a wonderful thing it will be to fly around, to feel the freedom, to enjoy wonders of heaven....And then the next verse was sung:
I'm gonna land beside a lion
And run my fingers through his mane
Or I might find out what it's like
To ride a drop of rain
Oh the things I will see I thought. All the wonders of God's beautiful creation will be at my fingertips. I will be able to enjoy them more than I do even on a beautiful day like today. The smile on my face by then was so big I knew that if a car pulled up beside me and glanced over they would wonder what I was up to. But then came the next verse:
I'm gonna walk with my grand daddy
And he'll match me step for step
And I'll tell him how I missed him
Every minute since he left
Then I'll hug his neck
As i heard this verse, not my grand daddy, but my dad came to my mind. The memory of the last years of his life with first the limps, then the canes and walkers, and then him being bed ridden. But then the thought of him once again matching me step for step. His laughter. We will once again throw a ball and fish for crappy. Oh the things I will tell him. As I thought of this the tears started to well up in my eyes. I could tell my nose was beginning to run. Then this chorus came out:
Yeah when I get where I'm going
There'll be only happy tears
I will shed the sins and struggles
I have carried all these years
And I'll leave my heart wide open
I will love and have no fear
Yeah when I get where I'm going
Don't cry for me down here
As this chorus was being sung, my thoughts went to others that had gone before me. Thoughts of my Mom and aunts and uncles. Of my Mother-in-law and Father-in-law. Of Peggy's baby sister who had died at the age of four. Of my cousin Ginny's daughter Kay Cee that I never took the time to really get to know. Of my high school friends that God called home at early ages. Oh what a reunion it will be I thought
...what a reunion it will be. By now the tears were streaming down my face. Not sad tears but happy tears. Tears of excitement, and I thought to myself.....What will the people in the car next to me think now?...And then came the final verse...The verse that broke the dam:
But when I get where I'm going
And I see my maker's face
I'll stand forever in the light
Of his amazing grace
Yeah when I get where I'm going
There'll be only happy tears
Hallelujah
I will love and have no fear
When I get where I'm going
Yeah when I get where I'm going
All of a sudden I was crying like a baby. I was raising my hands praising God. I was shouting Hallelujahs and never wanted the song to end. I knew if the police pulled me over they would think I was on some kind of drugs but I didn't care because I was high on the love of My God. Think about those last two words of the previous sentence......MY GOD...MY GOD is an awesomeGod................................................
Yeah...When I get where I'm going!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don't remember what year it was. It wasn't that long ago. Maybe four or five years. I do remember it was an early Spring day. Spring is by far my favorite time of year. It is a time of renewal. The air seems cleaner. The trees are getting a new coat of leaves. The Jonquils are showing off with their new flowers.
We have Red bud Trees in our front yard. They are one of the very first things to bloom and this year in particular they seemed to be showing off in their beauty more than in years past. We also have a Tulip Tree and for the previous three or four years a late frost had killed the buds and we didn't have the flowers on it that we had anticipated. This year was different. The word beauty does not do the Tulip tree justice.
Spring is also a time of anticipation. I mentioned the plants above but Peggy has done a great job with our yard. We have something in bloom all summer it seems, so even with the flowers already mentioned, I knew I still had the azaleas, roses, amaryllis and the other lilies to look forward to. This isn't even talking about the fruit trees that had yet to start to bloom.
So as you can see, all was great. I had to go somewhere that day. Maybe to the grocery store or possibly to the post office. As I recall this day of my life, the destination isn't important. I just remember getting into the car and driving off. The temperarture was such that there was no way I was going to use the air conditioner. I rolled down all the windows and just let God's creation fill my body. I know I had a big smile on my face as turned on to the highway on this magnificent day. I turned on the radio. On a day like this you need a little music. As I found the station I wanted to listen to, I thought to myself, "Nothing could make this day better." Little did I know what was to follow.
A song came on the radio. A song I had heard many times before, but as I think back now, I ask, "Had I really heard this song?" Sure I had heard the music. I even knew most of the words but had I listened to the song? Or maybe the best way to explain what I'm trying to say is "Had I let the song speak to me?"
The song started off :
When I get where I'm going
On the far side of the sky
The first thing that I'm gonna do
Is spread my wings and fly
As I heard this verse I thought......What a wonderful thing it will be to fly around, to feel the freedom, to enjoy wonders of heaven....And then the next verse was sung:
I'm gonna land beside a lion
And run my fingers through his mane
Or I might find out what it's like
To ride a drop of rain
Oh the things I will see I thought. All the wonders of God's beautiful creation will be at my fingertips. I will be able to enjoy them more than I do even on a beautiful day like today. The smile on my face by then was so big I knew that if a car pulled up beside me and glanced over they would wonder what I was up to. But then came the next verse:
I'm gonna walk with my grand daddy
And he'll match me step for step
And I'll tell him how I missed him
Every minute since he left
Then I'll hug his neck
As i heard this verse, not my grand daddy, but my dad came to my mind. The memory of the last years of his life with first the limps, then the canes and walkers, and then him being bed ridden. But then the thought of him once again matching me step for step. His laughter. We will once again throw a ball and fish for crappy. Oh the things I will tell him. As I thought of this the tears started to well up in my eyes. I could tell my nose was beginning to run. Then this chorus came out:
Yeah when I get where I'm going
There'll be only happy tears
I will shed the sins and struggles
I have carried all these years
And I'll leave my heart wide open
I will love and have no fear
Yeah when I get where I'm going
Don't cry for me down here
As this chorus was being sung, my thoughts went to others that had gone before me. Thoughts of my Mom and aunts and uncles. Of my Mother-in-law and Father-in-law. Of Peggy's baby sister who had died at the age of four. Of my cousin Ginny's daughter Kay Cee that I never took the time to really get to know. Of my high school friends that God called home at early ages. Oh what a reunion it will be I thought
...what a reunion it will be. By now the tears were streaming down my face. Not sad tears but happy tears. Tears of excitement, and I thought to myself.....What will the people in the car next to me think now?...And then came the final verse...The verse that broke the dam:
But when I get where I'm going
And I see my maker's face
I'll stand forever in the light
Of his amazing grace
Yeah when I get where I'm going
There'll be only happy tears
Hallelujah
I will love and have no fear
When I get where I'm going
Yeah when I get where I'm going
All of a sudden I was crying like a baby. I was raising my hands praising God. I was shouting Hallelujahs and never wanted the song to end. I knew if the police pulled me over they would think I was on some kind of drugs but I didn't care because I was high on the love of My God. Think about those last two words of the previous sentence......MY GOD...MY GOD is an awesomeGod................................................
Yeah...When I get where I'm going!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thursday, December 8, 2011
SOMETHING THAT I LEARNED A FEW YEARS AGO?
The other day I watched a movie call "get low". It stared Robert Duvall who is one of my favorite actors. If you have not seen the movie, it's about an old hermit that is getting old and is concerned with what people will say about him and how he will be remembered after he dies. So what he does is give himself a funeral while he is still alive.
Have you ever wondered how you will be remembered after you die? Now be honest. No one else can hear your answer. If I ask myself that question, and am totally honest with myself, the answer would be yes. I have wondered. I have seven grand children and have often wondered what they will tell their kids and grand kids about me in 50 years. I would like for my memory to last longer than that, but I figure somewhere around 50 years is about the max for most of us. After that long, my hope of any memories of me, if there are any, will be recorded in a book somewhere. If the memory of you happens to be longer than that, chances are you were either a really really good person or a really really bad person, and even then most information about you will be second hand.
A while back I started looking up some history about the Daniell family. Genealogy they call it. There are some pretty interesting fact about my ancestors. The first Daniell in America was a man named Robert Daniell. He was a governor of South Carolina and of North Carolina. He lived in Charleston and Daniel Island is named after him. There is much more information about him I may share later. Another ancestor of mine was David Daniell. He was sent by Baptist State Convention to start a mission church in the tiny railroad town called Atlanta. This mission grew to be The First Baptist Church of Atlanta. The old covered bridge on Concord Road was also built by an ancestor of mine. I have always been told my Grandfather's family was the fifth family to settle in Mableton. My grandfather, Arthur Daniell, told me they moved to Mableton from Marietta in a wagon and it took them three days to move. That was in 1883. To me these are pretty impressive things to know, but most of this I have found in books or on the Internet. Not by word of mouth or by stories passed down by the family. I wonder if Robert or David or Arthur Daniell ever wondered how they would be remembered?
As I was thinking about how I would be remembered, it came to my mind about a lady I had known. A lady that was one of the best Christian ladies I have ever known. A lady that was one of the sweetest people I have ever met. Her name was Jo Ann Queen and she was called home to be with the Lord, to my way of thinking, at far to young of age. Of course the Lord called her home so I know it was the right time. It came to my mind about a funeral Peggy and I went to. I don't remember if it was Jo Ann's father or her husband's father's funeral. What I do remember was that the church was way back in the north Georgia mountains. I remember the little country church was full and some people had on suits that cost several hundred dollars and some were dressed in overalls and had just come out of the fields. It was a little church that had been built in 1948. I remember the year because it was the year I was born. I ask Jo Ann if this was the church she grew up in and she said it was. She said it still looked the same as it always had. I asked her if it had grown in membership much and she said that it was about the same size as it had always been. I remember they had a picnic table on the side of the church and when the funeral was over I walked over to the table and set down by myself. As I sit there I wondered how many people have driven by this church over the years and thought to themselves, "This church looks the same as always, hasn't grown any, it's a shame it hasn't been successful in reaching the lost."
But my memory of that little country church is much different. My memory is of a church that sent a wonderful Christian lady out into the world to spread the Good News. It prepared her well and I wonder how many others that little church has sent out. I wonder how many souls have been reached because of that little country church. In my mind that little church has been very successful.
Years ago when I was a very young boy, my Daddy gave me some very valuable advice. He said...."Wes, If you will keep your eyes wide open everyday. Look in every direction. Be observant. Every day you will see something you have never seen before. And if you will keep your ears open. Listening to all the sounds around you. You will hear something new and beautiful every day. And Wes,,,If you will learn to keep you mouth shut, you will learn something every day."
That day at that little country church I learned something new. I learned that two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.
I would wish to be remembered as someone that could see the good in the small things of life.
And he called unto him his disciples, and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, This poor widow cast in more than all they that are casting into the treasury:
The other day I watched a movie call "get low". It stared Robert Duvall who is one of my favorite actors. If you have not seen the movie, it's about an old hermit that is getting old and is concerned with what people will say about him and how he will be remembered after he dies. So what he does is give himself a funeral while he is still alive.
Have you ever wondered how you will be remembered after you die? Now be honest. No one else can hear your answer. If I ask myself that question, and am totally honest with myself, the answer would be yes. I have wondered. I have seven grand children and have often wondered what they will tell their kids and grand kids about me in 50 years. I would like for my memory to last longer than that, but I figure somewhere around 50 years is about the max for most of us. After that long, my hope of any memories of me, if there are any, will be recorded in a book somewhere. If the memory of you happens to be longer than that, chances are you were either a really really good person or a really really bad person, and even then most information about you will be second hand.
A while back I started looking up some history about the Daniell family. Genealogy they call it. There are some pretty interesting fact about my ancestors. The first Daniell in America was a man named Robert Daniell. He was a governor of South Carolina and of North Carolina. He lived in Charleston and Daniel Island is named after him. There is much more information about him I may share later. Another ancestor of mine was David Daniell. He was sent by Baptist State Convention to start a mission church in the tiny railroad town called Atlanta. This mission grew to be The First Baptist Church of Atlanta. The old covered bridge on Concord Road was also built by an ancestor of mine. I have always been told my Grandfather's family was the fifth family to settle in Mableton. My grandfather, Arthur Daniell, told me they moved to Mableton from Marietta in a wagon and it took them three days to move. That was in 1883. To me these are pretty impressive things to know, but most of this I have found in books or on the Internet. Not by word of mouth or by stories passed down by the family. I wonder if Robert or David or Arthur Daniell ever wondered how they would be remembered?
As I was thinking about how I would be remembered, it came to my mind about a lady I had known. A lady that was one of the best Christian ladies I have ever known. A lady that was one of the sweetest people I have ever met. Her name was Jo Ann Queen and she was called home to be with the Lord, to my way of thinking, at far to young of age. Of course the Lord called her home so I know it was the right time. It came to my mind about a funeral Peggy and I went to. I don't remember if it was Jo Ann's father or her husband's father's funeral. What I do remember was that the church was way back in the north Georgia mountains. I remember the little country church was full and some people had on suits that cost several hundred dollars and some were dressed in overalls and had just come out of the fields. It was a little church that had been built in 1948. I remember the year because it was the year I was born. I ask Jo Ann if this was the church she grew up in and she said it was. She said it still looked the same as it always had. I asked her if it had grown in membership much and she said that it was about the same size as it had always been. I remember they had a picnic table on the side of the church and when the funeral was over I walked over to the table and set down by myself. As I sit there I wondered how many people have driven by this church over the years and thought to themselves, "This church looks the same as always, hasn't grown any, it's a shame it hasn't been successful in reaching the lost."
But my memory of that little country church is much different. My memory is of a church that sent a wonderful Christian lady out into the world to spread the Good News. It prepared her well and I wonder how many others that little church has sent out. I wonder how many souls have been reached because of that little country church. In my mind that little church has been very successful.
Years ago when I was a very young boy, my Daddy gave me some very valuable advice. He said...."Wes, If you will keep your eyes wide open everyday. Look in every direction. Be observant. Every day you will see something you have never seen before. And if you will keep your ears open. Listening to all the sounds around you. You will hear something new and beautiful every day. And Wes,,,If you will learn to keep you mouth shut, you will learn something every day."
That day at that little country church I learned something new. I learned that two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.
I would wish to be remembered as someone that could see the good in the small things of life.
And he called unto him his disciples, and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, This poor widow cast in more than all they that are casting into the treasury:
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
NOT WHAT YOU EXPECT!
Peggy told me the other day if I continued to write about food and the places where we have eaten, people would begin to think all I ever thought about was food. Although food does fill a large part of my time I occasionally have other thoughts. I bring this up because this post will begin with a thought of food, but I hope it will end by giving you food for thought.
Peggy is a wonderful cook and by wonderful I mean fantastic. Guess what......This wasn't always true. In the first years of our marriage I remember trying to eat raw okra, burned butter beans and doughy biscuits. But she continued to try and it soon paid off. Then I was put on this diet of low fat and very low sodium, and after 40 years, she all of a sudden had to learn to cook all over again. Oh sure you say, anyone can cook something eatable but the trick is to cook something that taste good. Try it sometime. It's not as easy as you may think. But once again, to her credit, she continued trying and I must admit she has gotten pretty good at cooking healthy style. If fact she has become so good at it that many times I again eat to much. So good food is what brought this blog to my mind. Peggy is always looking for something new to cook. She will find a new recipe, and then substitute this for that and take this out and put that in ( for health reasons ) and prepare us a new and most times a wonderful meal.
Last week we were sitting in the living room. I was reading a book or something and she was looking at new recipes and all of a sudden she asked..."Have you ever had salmon stew?" Now our diet consist of much fish and chicken. In fact that is about the only meat we eat. We eat a lot of fish and when I say a lot....I mean a lot. Not fried but baked or broiled. And not frozen or canned but fresh fish. As I thought about salmon stew, it started to sound good. Of course she would use fresh salmon, not canned and she would leave the salt out. And no canned corn but frozen corn because they use a lot of salt in canned foods and she would use other fresh vegetables.. You get the idea. It's what I call abstract cooking. By the way, I promise this post isn't about food. Anyway, Peggy prepared the stew and made some low sodium low fat corn bread for dinner. As we were eating she looked over at me and said "What do you think?" As I shoveled another spoon full into my mouth I said "This stew is great, I love it." Peggy's response caught me by surprise. It made me stop eating for a second. It triggered something in my mind that I knew would be the subject of a blog. She said, "It's OK, but it taste like salmon to me." Imagine that...Salmon stew that taste like salmon. I replied..." Yep, salmon stew that taste like salmon and did you notice the corn bread taste like cornbread?"
But what she said made me think. Not of food. Not about the recipe she used. Not even about how good a bowl of that corn bread with butter milk would taste. It made me think about our expectations. What did Peggy expect salmon stew to taste like? Surely not like pumpkin pie and whip cream. I thought about expectations and hope. You know,,,they're not the same thing.
I thought back to the times when I was a small child and Christmas was just around the corner. Back then Sears and Roebuck would send out a big catalog through the mail each year. It was what we called the Christmas wish book. Mom would tell me to go through the catalog and circle what I wanted but to remember Santa had a world full of kids so I couldn't have everything,,,,I couldn't be greedy. So I made myself a rule. I could only circle one thing on each page. As I think back, I ask myself..."Did I expect to get everything I circled or just hope to get everything?" Of course I didn't expect everything. I may have hoped for everything but my expectations were much more realistic. Then I thought about the farmer. How he plows and plants the seed and fertilizes and hoes the weeds out of the field. Does he hope for a harvest or expect a harvest. I believe he expects a harvest. Why you ask? Because he has done what he should have done. He has an interest in that field. Does that assure him a good harvest. Not at all but even if he doesn't get the harvest he expects he will again plant the field next year. And he will plant again with expectations. If he doesn't get his great harvest but his neighbor has a great harvest, does that mean God loves the neighbor more? Now that opens a lot of questions doesn't it? Does God love your neighbor more than you because he has more material things? Does He love you more than me because I've had a problem with my health and you haven't. We could continue to ask similar questions like these for days but the answer is easy if you study God's word.
The answer is in my shop. Or that's where I found it. Peggy went to Michael's one day and they were selling grab bags of merchandise that they wanted to get out of their store. She bought a couple of bags and brought them home. As we opened the bags we were shocked to see so many paint brushes. They're out in my shop. I have big paint brushes and small paint brushes. I have fat paint brushes and tiny paint brushes. I bet I have 200 paint brushes and everyone is different. I use them all. some more than others but I have used everyone of them at some time or another. You may ask. "Where is this simple answer you were talking about?" It's in the brushes. We're like the brushes. Some of us have a bigger role than others.. some of us have a tiny role but God loves us all the same and God will use us all. You see...God is painting a masterpiece and he needs every brush...He needs you and me to complete the masterpiece. He expects us to be ready to be used of Him. And what can you expect of God? His Grace, His Providence, His understanding, His comfort, His love and so much more..These aren't things you need to hope for. These are thing you can expect from God.
Next time you go to Home Depot or Walmart and see a paint brush take a second and stop....Say a short prayer thanking God that you are a part of His masterpiece.
Merry Christmas.
Peggy told me the other day if I continued to write about food and the places where we have eaten, people would begin to think all I ever thought about was food. Although food does fill a large part of my time I occasionally have other thoughts. I bring this up because this post will begin with a thought of food, but I hope it will end by giving you food for thought.
Peggy is a wonderful cook and by wonderful I mean fantastic. Guess what......This wasn't always true. In the first years of our marriage I remember trying to eat raw okra, burned butter beans and doughy biscuits. But she continued to try and it soon paid off. Then I was put on this diet of low fat and very low sodium, and after 40 years, she all of a sudden had to learn to cook all over again. Oh sure you say, anyone can cook something eatable but the trick is to cook something that taste good. Try it sometime. It's not as easy as you may think. But once again, to her credit, she continued trying and I must admit she has gotten pretty good at cooking healthy style. If fact she has become so good at it that many times I again eat to much. So good food is what brought this blog to my mind. Peggy is always looking for something new to cook. She will find a new recipe, and then substitute this for that and take this out and put that in ( for health reasons ) and prepare us a new and most times a wonderful meal.
Last week we were sitting in the living room. I was reading a book or something and she was looking at new recipes and all of a sudden she asked..."Have you ever had salmon stew?" Now our diet consist of much fish and chicken. In fact that is about the only meat we eat. We eat a lot of fish and when I say a lot....I mean a lot. Not fried but baked or broiled. And not frozen or canned but fresh fish. As I thought about salmon stew, it started to sound good. Of course she would use fresh salmon, not canned and she would leave the salt out. And no canned corn but frozen corn because they use a lot of salt in canned foods and she would use other fresh vegetables.. You get the idea. It's what I call abstract cooking. By the way, I promise this post isn't about food. Anyway, Peggy prepared the stew and made some low sodium low fat corn bread for dinner. As we were eating she looked over at me and said "What do you think?" As I shoveled another spoon full into my mouth I said "This stew is great, I love it." Peggy's response caught me by surprise. It made me stop eating for a second. It triggered something in my mind that I knew would be the subject of a blog. She said, "It's OK, but it taste like salmon to me." Imagine that...Salmon stew that taste like salmon. I replied..." Yep, salmon stew that taste like salmon and did you notice the corn bread taste like cornbread?"
But what she said made me think. Not of food. Not about the recipe she used. Not even about how good a bowl of that corn bread with butter milk would taste. It made me think about our expectations. What did Peggy expect salmon stew to taste like? Surely not like pumpkin pie and whip cream. I thought about expectations and hope. You know,,,they're not the same thing.
I thought back to the times when I was a small child and Christmas was just around the corner. Back then Sears and Roebuck would send out a big catalog through the mail each year. It was what we called the Christmas wish book. Mom would tell me to go through the catalog and circle what I wanted but to remember Santa had a world full of kids so I couldn't have everything,,,,I couldn't be greedy. So I made myself a rule. I could only circle one thing on each page. As I think back, I ask myself..."Did I expect to get everything I circled or just hope to get everything?" Of course I didn't expect everything. I may have hoped for everything but my expectations were much more realistic. Then I thought about the farmer. How he plows and plants the seed and fertilizes and hoes the weeds out of the field. Does he hope for a harvest or expect a harvest. I believe he expects a harvest. Why you ask? Because he has done what he should have done. He has an interest in that field. Does that assure him a good harvest. Not at all but even if he doesn't get the harvest he expects he will again plant the field next year. And he will plant again with expectations. If he doesn't get his great harvest but his neighbor has a great harvest, does that mean God loves the neighbor more? Now that opens a lot of questions doesn't it? Does God love your neighbor more than you because he has more material things? Does He love you more than me because I've had a problem with my health and you haven't. We could continue to ask similar questions like these for days but the answer is easy if you study God's word.
The answer is in my shop. Or that's where I found it. Peggy went to Michael's one day and they were selling grab bags of merchandise that they wanted to get out of their store. She bought a couple of bags and brought them home. As we opened the bags we were shocked to see so many paint brushes. They're out in my shop. I have big paint brushes and small paint brushes. I have fat paint brushes and tiny paint brushes. I bet I have 200 paint brushes and everyone is different. I use them all. some more than others but I have used everyone of them at some time or another. You may ask. "Where is this simple answer you were talking about?" It's in the brushes. We're like the brushes. Some of us have a bigger role than others.. some of us have a tiny role but God loves us all the same and God will use us all. You see...God is painting a masterpiece and he needs every brush...He needs you and me to complete the masterpiece. He expects us to be ready to be used of Him. And what can you expect of God? His Grace, His Providence, His understanding, His comfort, His love and so much more..These aren't things you need to hope for. These are thing you can expect from God.
Next time you go to Home Depot or Walmart and see a paint brush take a second and stop....Say a short prayer thanking God that you are a part of His masterpiece.
Merry Christmas.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
WHAT'LL YA HAVE?
A few weeks ago Peggy and I went to the mall to walk. Yep, that's right, to walk. No shopping, just walking. I need to go more often than I do. The doctor says the exercise is good for me and actually, I enjoy it. The only problem is finding the time. Seems there are never enough hours in the day. When we go to the mall to walk I usually walk up and down each and every nook and cranny but Peggy will kind of take the short cuts and stay on the main walkway. Because of this, I walk faster than she does and sometimes get a little ahead.
On this particular day I was a little in front of Peggy but not as far ahead as I thought. As I rounded a corner I caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of my eye. I know this has happened to you before. I thought to myself, "what was that?" As I turned to look again I saw Peggy.........but who was that old man she was walking with? As I rub my eyes and looked again I suddenly realized the old man was me. I was looking into a mirror. Oh no I thought. That can't be me.....I'm not that old....it must be my eyesight. That's when I decided I needed to go have my eyes checked. When we got home I tried to remember the last time I had gone to an eye doctor. Best I could remember it had been over 40 years. That's right, over 40 years. You see, I've never liked doctors. I once read that most of the time when you feel sick, by the time you get to the doctor your body is already healing itself. Until my surgery I never went to the doctor and if not for the EMS and Peggy and my daughter Vicki, I probably wouldn't have gone to the hospital that day. My mom use to say her papa use to say the cemetery was full of doctors mistakes. Anyway, I called and made myself an appointment with the eye doctor.
As I had made my appointment I realized I would be going downtown Atlanta. Now as I've told you before, the doctors have me on a pretty strict diet. In fact they have almost stopped my going out to eat because it's so hard to find healthy food in restaurants We use to always take advantage of our trips downtown as an excuse for a meal. Many times we would just go to the Varsity. Oh I know it's not fancy or anything but there is something special about a glorified steak, a chili dog, onion rings and a frosted orange or PC. If you're from metro Atlanta and have been to the Varsity very often, you know that as soon as you walk up to the counter, someone is gonna yell and ask you... "WHAT'LL YA HAVE?" Have you ever wondered who the first person to ask "What'll you have " at the Varsity was? Seems like a pretty good question to me. Kind of like was the first person to ever milk a cow a pervert? Oh well,,,back to the story. Of course I knew there was no way I was going to eat At the Varsity but it was a good thought. Then as I was thinking, as it seems is normal for me, my mind began to rush. I mean it began to run 90 miles per hour, and I started to think about how much of our lives are centered around eating.
I remember as a very young boy of going to see the Atlanta Crackers play baseball at Ponce de Leon ballpark with my dad. They had the very best ice cream cones that have ever been. And sometimes after the games we would go to the BAR-B-QUE Kitchen in Brookhaven and some of the ball players would always be in there eating. I even met Eddie Mathews and Bob Montag there. And I remember Dad loading the whole family up and taking us to a new hamburger joint they had just opened out on Peachtree Road. They had hamburgers for 15 cents. Dad said they were going to open more of these drive-ins in Atlanta but this was the first one. They called it McDonalds. Oh and did you ever eat at the Rio Vista.? All the catfish you could eat. And how about Lums. Great hot dogs and all kinds of beer. Was the first dark beer I ever saw. And if you wanted nice, you could always go to the Coach and 6 or several other quality restaurants. I remember on mine and Peggy's first date we went to a place called Sturdlies Steak House. In my opinion they had the best steaks in Atlanta at the time. If memory serves me, that was our date....just dinner....but it was full night. Our second date she suggested where we go but I will save that story for another post.
The first night of our honeymoon we spent on the 23 floor of the Holiday Inn in West Memphis Arkansas, looking up the Mississippi River. It was a very large suite on the corner of the building with wrap around windows We decided to just order room service and the meal was fantastic. The next morning when we went to check out and settle our bill, they said the meal was on the house and congratulations. We drove to San francisco and then flew to Hawaii for a few days. Our first morning there we decided to once again just order room service and eat on the balcony overlooking the beach. When they brought our breakfast, the trays were garnished with orchards. We were amazed because there is no telling what the flowers would have cost at home.
I can recall eating at the San Jacinta Inn in Houston Texas and at Mama Leone's in New York City. The first Red lobster I ever ate at was in St. Petersburg Florida and I remember thinking I bet a restaurant like this would go over good in Atlanta.
Yes......much of our life is lived around a table of food.....some good...some not so good. I like almost everything there is to eat.....everything but hominy. If you don't want me to eat just put hominy on the table. I once had a vision of a man entering into hell. They were going to have a feast to welcome him there. The Devil was sitting on his throne surrounded by 666 lawyers. The tables were full of beautiful china. When everyone sat down to eat the bowls of food were uncovered and they were all filled with hominy. From the day I had that vision, I have been convinced hominy was of the devil.
You know, I may get up in the morning and make Peggy's breakfast for her. But before I cook, I'm going to smile at her and ask...."WHAT'LL YA HAVE?"
A few weeks ago Peggy and I went to the mall to walk. Yep, that's right, to walk. No shopping, just walking. I need to go more often than I do. The doctor says the exercise is good for me and actually, I enjoy it. The only problem is finding the time. Seems there are never enough hours in the day. When we go to the mall to walk I usually walk up and down each and every nook and cranny but Peggy will kind of take the short cuts and stay on the main walkway. Because of this, I walk faster than she does and sometimes get a little ahead.
On this particular day I was a little in front of Peggy but not as far ahead as I thought. As I rounded a corner I caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of my eye. I know this has happened to you before. I thought to myself, "what was that?" As I turned to look again I saw Peggy.........but who was that old man she was walking with? As I rub my eyes and looked again I suddenly realized the old man was me. I was looking into a mirror. Oh no I thought. That can't be me.....I'm not that old....it must be my eyesight. That's when I decided I needed to go have my eyes checked. When we got home I tried to remember the last time I had gone to an eye doctor. Best I could remember it had been over 40 years. That's right, over 40 years. You see, I've never liked doctors. I once read that most of the time when you feel sick, by the time you get to the doctor your body is already healing itself. Until my surgery I never went to the doctor and if not for the EMS and Peggy and my daughter Vicki, I probably wouldn't have gone to the hospital that day. My mom use to say her papa use to say the cemetery was full of doctors mistakes. Anyway, I called and made myself an appointment with the eye doctor.
As I had made my appointment I realized I would be going downtown Atlanta. Now as I've told you before, the doctors have me on a pretty strict diet. In fact they have almost stopped my going out to eat because it's so hard to find healthy food in restaurants We use to always take advantage of our trips downtown as an excuse for a meal. Many times we would just go to the Varsity. Oh I know it's not fancy or anything but there is something special about a glorified steak, a chili dog, onion rings and a frosted orange or PC. If you're from metro Atlanta and have been to the Varsity very often, you know that as soon as you walk up to the counter, someone is gonna yell and ask you... "WHAT'LL YA HAVE?" Have you ever wondered who the first person to ask "What'll you have " at the Varsity was? Seems like a pretty good question to me. Kind of like was the first person to ever milk a cow a pervert? Oh well,,,back to the story. Of course I knew there was no way I was going to eat At the Varsity but it was a good thought. Then as I was thinking, as it seems is normal for me, my mind began to rush. I mean it began to run 90 miles per hour, and I started to think about how much of our lives are centered around eating.
I remember as a very young boy of going to see the Atlanta Crackers play baseball at Ponce de Leon ballpark with my dad. They had the very best ice cream cones that have ever been. And sometimes after the games we would go to the BAR-B-QUE Kitchen in Brookhaven and some of the ball players would always be in there eating. I even met Eddie Mathews and Bob Montag there. And I remember Dad loading the whole family up and taking us to a new hamburger joint they had just opened out on Peachtree Road. They had hamburgers for 15 cents. Dad said they were going to open more of these drive-ins in Atlanta but this was the first one. They called it McDonalds. Oh and did you ever eat at the Rio Vista.? All the catfish you could eat. And how about Lums. Great hot dogs and all kinds of beer. Was the first dark beer I ever saw. And if you wanted nice, you could always go to the Coach and 6 or several other quality restaurants. I remember on mine and Peggy's first date we went to a place called Sturdlies Steak House. In my opinion they had the best steaks in Atlanta at the time. If memory serves me, that was our date....just dinner....but it was full night. Our second date she suggested where we go but I will save that story for another post.
The first night of our honeymoon we spent on the 23 floor of the Holiday Inn in West Memphis Arkansas, looking up the Mississippi River. It was a very large suite on the corner of the building with wrap around windows We decided to just order room service and the meal was fantastic. The next morning when we went to check out and settle our bill, they said the meal was on the house and congratulations. We drove to San francisco and then flew to Hawaii for a few days. Our first morning there we decided to once again just order room service and eat on the balcony overlooking the beach. When they brought our breakfast, the trays were garnished with orchards. We were amazed because there is no telling what the flowers would have cost at home.
I can recall eating at the San Jacinta Inn in Houston Texas and at Mama Leone's in New York City. The first Red lobster I ever ate at was in St. Petersburg Florida and I remember thinking I bet a restaurant like this would go over good in Atlanta.
Yes......much of our life is lived around a table of food.....some good...some not so good. I like almost everything there is to eat.....everything but hominy. If you don't want me to eat just put hominy on the table. I once had a vision of a man entering into hell. They were going to have a feast to welcome him there. The Devil was sitting on his throne surrounded by 666 lawyers. The tables were full of beautiful china. When everyone sat down to eat the bowls of food were uncovered and they were all filled with hominy. From the day I had that vision, I have been convinced hominy was of the devil.
You know, I may get up in the morning and make Peggy's breakfast for her. But before I cook, I'm going to smile at her and ask...."WHAT'LL YA HAVE?"
Thursday, November 24, 2011
DON'T ASK WHERE I'M GOING WITH THIS...I HAVE NO IDEA!!!!
I don't remember the year...it was sometime around 1986 or 1987 I think. In fact, I don't remember for sure what the holiday was, maybe July 4th. I just know it was a holiday and we had a long weekend and wanted to do something. I told the girls that we would just get in the car, go eat breakfast and decide over pancakes what we would do and where we would go.
We were living in Mableton at the time and headed for Atlanta to have breakfast. Why downtown Atlanta for breakfast you ask? I have no idea. Only thing I can think of is maybe in my mind I thought we might go to Stone Mountain or maybe Callaway Gardens. Possible even all the way to Chattanooga Tennessee, and downtown would be a good starting point no matter which direction we headed. After all, gas was only about 93 cents a gallon so a day trip was fairly inexpensive. Now as I think about it, sometimes we would just ride around for hours at a time and never think of how much gas we were using. Times sure do change don't they. Anyway, back to the story
As I said, first thing on our agenda was breakfast and I decided that IHOP would be a good choice. Back at this time IHOP was a pretty special place for young girls the age of Cindy and Vicki. I only knew of two IHOPs in metro Atlanta and both were downtown. As we were eating at the IHOP on Peachtree Street in Buckhead, I would mention different places we could go and every place I brought up was exciting for the girls. Like most kids, they just wanted to go. For some reason, and I have no idea why, I said "If we had brought our swim suits, we would go to Florida." Peggy looked at me with that gotcha look on her face and smile on her lips and said......." I packed them because you always are saying, We shoulda brought our swim suits."
Now what? When I was younger with no responsibility, I often did things on the spur of the moment. But back then the only person I was responsible for was me. I now was married with a wife and kids. In my mind I started to think of all the reasons we couldn't go to Florida. We didn't bring any clothes with us. All we had was what we had on our backs and our swim suits. How about money? I think I had seventy or eighty dollars on me. And time...What about the time we had...It was late morning on a Saturday and I had to go to work Tuesday morning.
You know the little cartoons when the person is torn between doing a good thing or a bad thing and on one shoulder is an angel and on the other shoulder is a devil.......Well that's kind of what it seemed like to me. It wasn't an angel and a devil but there were two powers of some kind. The power with the common sense would say "But you didn't bring any clothes." Then the power with the sometimes you must live outside of the box attitude would say, "But you have swim suits and the motel will have a washing machine and dryer."...And then the common sense power would say..."you only brought money for the day,,,not enough for gas, motel for two nights and food for three days." And then the Good Time Charlie power would counter with "But you have money in the bank and an ATM card in your wallet.".....And then ol' common sense power said..."Time...think...Time...It's gonna be a fast trip...You are gonna be so tired when you get back home...you need to think responsibly.....Your a husband...your a father...think...use your head." Then the you only live once power said to me ....." Ol' common sense is only partly right..you are a father, but sometimes you have to be a daddy first....Get in that car and drive south..play road sign games..sing songs..laugh and run on the beach..watch the sun set together go and build a memory."
It's been over 25 years since that spur of the moment trip. We still talk about it sometimes with smiles on our faces and a warmth in our heart. As I look back over my life and recall some of the many mistakes I have made, I often ask myself why I did this or that, and my only answer is " I have no idea." But then at other times, as was the case this afternoon, when our family is together, and everyone is laughing and Cindy, Vicki, and Josh are talking of things we've done and places we've been. Of things we have experienced together. When our children are sharing with our grand kids good times of years ago, all I can do is look at Peggy and say..."You know....We did build some memories. Some good memories. I'm glad sometimes we got out of the box.
When I started writing this post, the first thing I did was title it. I usually don't decided on a title until I'm through writing. On this post I honestly had no Idea where I was starting and where I was going but I knew for some reason something would come out if I sat down and started typing. The inspiration for this post came from a comment I received yesterday on my blog. It was from a lady I have grown to admire. A lady I've been acquainted with for many years but a lady I feel has become a very good friend only over the last couple of years. She is a published author and is gifted by God as an encourager. Her name is Beverly Shealy Rollins. She has a web site that you should visit: http://bs.com/ Oh, and her comment that inspired me was short and believe it or not I'm sure she didn't make it to inspire a post but when God gifts you....Well...It just happens....Her comment:
"It's funny how, as we grow older, the fantasies of life are not nearly as wonderful as the realities of life!"
Thanks Beverly for allowing God to use you to inspire and encourage me and others.
God Bless
I don't remember the year...it was sometime around 1986 or 1987 I think. In fact, I don't remember for sure what the holiday was, maybe July 4th. I just know it was a holiday and we had a long weekend and wanted to do something. I told the girls that we would just get in the car, go eat breakfast and decide over pancakes what we would do and where we would go.
We were living in Mableton at the time and headed for Atlanta to have breakfast. Why downtown Atlanta for breakfast you ask? I have no idea. Only thing I can think of is maybe in my mind I thought we might go to Stone Mountain or maybe Callaway Gardens. Possible even all the way to Chattanooga Tennessee, and downtown would be a good starting point no matter which direction we headed. After all, gas was only about 93 cents a gallon so a day trip was fairly inexpensive. Now as I think about it, sometimes we would just ride around for hours at a time and never think of how much gas we were using. Times sure do change don't they. Anyway, back to the story
As I said, first thing on our agenda was breakfast and I decided that IHOP would be a good choice. Back at this time IHOP was a pretty special place for young girls the age of Cindy and Vicki. I only knew of two IHOPs in metro Atlanta and both were downtown. As we were eating at the IHOP on Peachtree Street in Buckhead, I would mention different places we could go and every place I brought up was exciting for the girls. Like most kids, they just wanted to go. For some reason, and I have no idea why, I said "If we had brought our swim suits, we would go to Florida." Peggy looked at me with that gotcha look on her face and smile on her lips and said......." I packed them because you always are saying, We shoulda brought our swim suits."
Now what? When I was younger with no responsibility, I often did things on the spur of the moment. But back then the only person I was responsible for was me. I now was married with a wife and kids. In my mind I started to think of all the reasons we couldn't go to Florida. We didn't bring any clothes with us. All we had was what we had on our backs and our swim suits. How about money? I think I had seventy or eighty dollars on me. And time...What about the time we had...It was late morning on a Saturday and I had to go to work Tuesday morning.
You know the little cartoons when the person is torn between doing a good thing or a bad thing and on one shoulder is an angel and on the other shoulder is a devil.......Well that's kind of what it seemed like to me. It wasn't an angel and a devil but there were two powers of some kind. The power with the common sense would say "But you didn't bring any clothes." Then the power with the sometimes you must live outside of the box attitude would say, "But you have swim suits and the motel will have a washing machine and dryer."...And then the common sense power would say..."you only brought money for the day,,,not enough for gas, motel for two nights and food for three days." And then the Good Time Charlie power would counter with "But you have money in the bank and an ATM card in your wallet.".....And then ol' common sense power said..."Time...think...Time...It's gonna be a fast trip...You are gonna be so tired when you get back home...you need to think responsibly.....Your a husband...your a father...think...use your head." Then the you only live once power said to me ....." Ol' common sense is only partly right..you are a father, but sometimes you have to be a daddy first....Get in that car and drive south..play road sign games..sing songs..laugh and run on the beach..watch the sun set together go and build a memory."
It's been over 25 years since that spur of the moment trip. We still talk about it sometimes with smiles on our faces and a warmth in our heart. As I look back over my life and recall some of the many mistakes I have made, I often ask myself why I did this or that, and my only answer is " I have no idea." But then at other times, as was the case this afternoon, when our family is together, and everyone is laughing and Cindy, Vicki, and Josh are talking of things we've done and places we've been. Of things we have experienced together. When our children are sharing with our grand kids good times of years ago, all I can do is look at Peggy and say..."You know....We did build some memories. Some good memories. I'm glad sometimes we got out of the box.
When I started writing this post, the first thing I did was title it. I usually don't decided on a title until I'm through writing. On this post I honestly had no Idea where I was starting and where I was going but I knew for some reason something would come out if I sat down and started typing. The inspiration for this post came from a comment I received yesterday on my blog. It was from a lady I have grown to admire. A lady I've been acquainted with for many years but a lady I feel has become a very good friend only over the last couple of years. She is a published author and is gifted by God as an encourager. Her name is Beverly Shealy Rollins. She has a web site that you should visit: http://
"It's funny how, as we grow older, the fantasies of life are not nearly as wonderful as the realities of life!"
Thanks Beverly for allowing God to use you to inspire and encourage me and others.
God Bless
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
THANKSGIVING---THINKING BACK
Peggy and Chasity are in the kitchen preparing dinner for tomorrow. Zack will be over soon and join in helping. Chasity is 13 and Zack 15. They are two of our grandchildren. They both enjoy cooking but it will be years before they realize the one that is really enjoying the preparing of this feast is their Granny.
It's time like these that Peggy lives for. It's times like these that makes me realize how blessed I am to be married to this lady. It's times like these that reaffirm in my heart and my mind that God loves and watches over us.
Tomorrow will bring the whole family together. Me and Peggy, three wonderful children and seven fantastic grandchildren. What a day it will be. It is probably if not Peggy's favorite Holiday a very close second to Christmas. I could spend the rest of this post and probably the next two post describing the food she will have for us to eat. The girls will pack up to go boxes tomorrow evening and they won't have to cook again until the kids tell them "enough of these leftovers, I want a burger."
Since my heart surgery the Doctors put me on a diet. Before the surgery my favorite food group was salt. The second favorite food group was anything containing fat and deep fried in grease. After much discussion and debate, I was convinced that if I wanted to stick around and enjoy sunrises, family get togethers and good friends, I must change my eating habits. I think I have done very well in changing to eating only healthy food. The Doctor gave me three days of grace each year in which I can eat anything I desire. The Three days are Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. Thursday will be my first day of grace. I have thought about this often and when I say often I mean almost every moment I've been awake for the last few weeks. When I was younger I had fantasies about things that I refuse to talk about on this blog but since April all my fantasies have been about food. Peggy told me she was going to make the traditional Thanksgiving dinner because that's what the kids liked but she would make what ever I wanted for me. You would be surprised at what goes through your mind when after a few months of eating only healthy food, you are told you can have whatever your heart desires. I thought to myself, everyone else will be having turkey and dressing, gravy and sweet potato souffle and their choice of five or six different casseroles. There will be deserts that take up a complete table. I could go on and on about what will be on the table, but as I thought I kept asking myself...."What do I really desire for Thanksgiving?"
Believe it or not the first thing that came to my mind was a hot dog. Yep,,,,that's right...a hot dog smothered in chili and onions with an order of Varsity onion rings. Make that two order of onion rings. The next thing that entered my mind was sardines or vienna sausage. Or how about some potted meat. These are things I use to never eat but for some reason this all sounded so good. All of this thinking of food got me to thinking about things I use to really like to eat. You know what I'm talking about. The things your Mom use to make that no one else can make exactly like her.
Now don't get me wrong, Peggy is a wonderful cook. You only have to look at a picture of me a year ago to tell I had no problem eating her cooking. And if you want to have a banana pudding contest, I'm willing to take bets on hers winning. I mean no one does it better. But there are some things from my childhood I yearn to taste again. I can still remember eating Mom's fried chicken or beef roast. Every Sunday after church we would have one or the other. And her fried okra was fantastic. I have no idea what she did different but it was the best. And pound cake......My word...oh me...slap my face and call me sally. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. I can remember her asking me once if I wanted some peaches to put on my pound cake. That would be like putting chocolate syrup on a Yellow Jacket hot dog. You simply can not fix perfection. As I thought back to those Sunday dinners my heart pumped faster. A tear came to my eye. But at the same time a smile came to my face. Back then it seemed as if every Sunday was Thanksgiving day. And as I think of it now I realize it was. We gave thanks together, as a family every Sunday. We gave thanks for the food we were about to eat, for each other, for our Savior and for that day of rest the Lord had provided to us.
So after much consideration and thought. After laying awake for hours at night and day dreaming all day, I have decided what I will have for Thanksgiving day. I will eat turkey and dressing with my family and I will FEAST ON THE TIME I SPEND WITH MY THEM, I WILL GIVE THANKS FOR MY SAVIOR AND THE DAY OF REST HE IS PROVIDING. ONE OTHER THING I WILL BE GIVING THANKS FOR IS ALL OF YOU. IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, LARGE OR SMALL, YOU HAVE EACH BLESSED MY LIFE AND I'M THANKFUL FOR YOU.
We as a family will be building memories this Thursday. I pray you will also.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING
Peggy and Chasity are in the kitchen preparing dinner for tomorrow. Zack will be over soon and join in helping. Chasity is 13 and Zack 15. They are two of our grandchildren. They both enjoy cooking but it will be years before they realize the one that is really enjoying the preparing of this feast is their Granny.
It's time like these that Peggy lives for. It's times like these that makes me realize how blessed I am to be married to this lady. It's times like these that reaffirm in my heart and my mind that God loves and watches over us.
Tomorrow will bring the whole family together. Me and Peggy, three wonderful children and seven fantastic grandchildren. What a day it will be. It is probably if not Peggy's favorite Holiday a very close second to Christmas. I could spend the rest of this post and probably the next two post describing the food she will have for us to eat. The girls will pack up to go boxes tomorrow evening and they won't have to cook again until the kids tell them "enough of these leftovers, I want a burger."
Since my heart surgery the Doctors put me on a diet. Before the surgery my favorite food group was salt. The second favorite food group was anything containing fat and deep fried in grease. After much discussion and debate, I was convinced that if I wanted to stick around and enjoy sunrises, family get togethers and good friends, I must change my eating habits. I think I have done very well in changing to eating only healthy food. The Doctor gave me three days of grace each year in which I can eat anything I desire. The Three days are Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. Thursday will be my first day of grace. I have thought about this often and when I say often I mean almost every moment I've been awake for the last few weeks. When I was younger I had fantasies about things that I refuse to talk about on this blog but since April all my fantasies have been about food. Peggy told me she was going to make the traditional Thanksgiving dinner because that's what the kids liked but she would make what ever I wanted for me. You would be surprised at what goes through your mind when after a few months of eating only healthy food, you are told you can have whatever your heart desires. I thought to myself, everyone else will be having turkey and dressing, gravy and sweet potato souffle and their choice of five or six different casseroles. There will be deserts that take up a complete table. I could go on and on about what will be on the table, but as I thought I kept asking myself...."What do I really desire for Thanksgiving?"
Believe it or not the first thing that came to my mind was a hot dog. Yep,,,,that's right...a hot dog smothered in chili and onions with an order of Varsity onion rings. Make that two order of onion rings. The next thing that entered my mind was sardines or vienna sausage. Or how about some potted meat. These are things I use to never eat but for some reason this all sounded so good. All of this thinking of food got me to thinking about things I use to really like to eat. You know what I'm talking about. The things your Mom use to make that no one else can make exactly like her.
Now don't get me wrong, Peggy is a wonderful cook. You only have to look at a picture of me a year ago to tell I had no problem eating her cooking. And if you want to have a banana pudding contest, I'm willing to take bets on hers winning. I mean no one does it better. But there are some things from my childhood I yearn to taste again. I can still remember eating Mom's fried chicken or beef roast. Every Sunday after church we would have one or the other. And her fried okra was fantastic. I have no idea what she did different but it was the best. And pound cake......My word...oh me...slap my face and call me sally. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. I can remember her asking me once if I wanted some peaches to put on my pound cake. That would be like putting chocolate syrup on a Yellow Jacket hot dog. You simply can not fix perfection. As I thought back to those Sunday dinners my heart pumped faster. A tear came to my eye. But at the same time a smile came to my face. Back then it seemed as if every Sunday was Thanksgiving day. And as I think of it now I realize it was. We gave thanks together, as a family every Sunday. We gave thanks for the food we were about to eat, for each other, for our Savior and for that day of rest the Lord had provided to us.
So after much consideration and thought. After laying awake for hours at night and day dreaming all day, I have decided what I will have for Thanksgiving day. I will eat turkey and dressing with my family and I will FEAST ON THE TIME I SPEND WITH MY THEM, I WILL GIVE THANKS FOR MY SAVIOR AND THE DAY OF REST HE IS PROVIDING. ONE OTHER THING I WILL BE GIVING THANKS FOR IS ALL OF YOU. IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, LARGE OR SMALL, YOU HAVE EACH BLESSED MY LIFE AND I'M THANKFUL FOR YOU.
We as a family will be building memories this Thursday. I pray you will also.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
THANKSGIVING TUESDAY
In two short days we will be celebrating Thanksgiving Day. Have you ever wondered why Thursday was chosen for this day? Why not a Sunday? Or maybe a Wednesday? I know, let's pick Friday as it seems we are all happy for Fridays. Or.....how about Tuesday? Seems like Tuesday is just a kind of a ho hum day. The dreaded Monday is past and hump day is coming up tomorrow. On Thursday we start to get excited because Friday is so close. And of course we all know how we love Friday, Saturday and Sunday. As I was thinking of this, a song by Melissa Etheridge came to mind. The song is titled Tuesday Morning.
You are probably familiar with the song but if not look up the lyrics. It is a song about a young man named Mark Bingham. Mark was a passenger on United Airlines Flight 93. He died when the plane crashed into a field in Shanksville PA. That's right...he died on September 11, 2001. It was a Tuesday Morning. He was probably one of the passengers that attempted to storm the cockpit of of the hijacked plane. It is thought the plane was probably headed for the White House or the Capital in Washington. For the efforts of Mark Bingham and the others on flight 93, on this Tuesday morning, I AM THANKFUL.
As my mind was racing around about Mark and of Thanksgiving and of the days of the week, I asked myself... Why aren't we more thankful everyday? Oh sure, I know I'm thankful for family and friends everyday And I'm thankful for my health and a warm house and food to eat everyday but do I REALLY.....I mean REALLY sit and think about and reflect on the blessings of God. I see and hear and smell and taste things everyday, in fact probably every minute that I just take for granted.
I'm an early riser. I usually get up around 5:00 am every morning. Do I have to get up?
Not at all, I just do. I usually get up and the first thing i do is read something. Sometimes it's the newspaper, sometimes it's an article of inspiration, and sometimes it may be scripture. I do this from habit. But this morning I stopped and contemplated how blessed I was to be able to read. I started to say how lucky I am but luck has nothing to do with it. It's not luck....IT'S A BLESSING. God has blessed me with eyesight to see the pages, and a mind to understand what I read, and he blessed me with teachers that were willing to give of themselves to insure that I would have this blessing..... . For this I am truly thankful.
And as the sun was coming up this morning, oh what a sight. The sky was ablaze in oranges and yellows and purples. It was something no artist can capture on his canvas, no photographer can duplicate with a camera. It was something given to me by My God......And for this I am truly thankful.
And as I watched this sunrise my mind went to the death of Larry Munson. He had given me so many memories of UGA football, good memories and I was thankful for the times he has given me, but it made me go back in time to late march/early April. To a time when I passed out and the Doctors said I should have never woke up. To a time when so many prayers went up to God for my healing, to a time when God guided the surgeons hands to repair my heart and to a time when God not only heard these prayers but answered these prayers ..............
And for this I am truly thankful.
Yes, as I sit here I am excited about Thanksgiving day Thursday. I am exited about spending the day with my wife, children, and grand children. I am thankful for the turkey and dressing we will eat. I am excited about watching the kids throw a football out in the yard, and about watching some football with Josh and Randy on the television. And it may sound silly to some of you but I am excited about going to the store to buy a newspaper and watching Peggy and Cindy and Vicki lying on the floor, looking at all the ads, and planning their black Friday excursion. Yes,,,I am excited about all of this and I will give thanks on Thursday......but.......I see no reason to wait until then..... I will start today.......I will give thanks on Thanksgiving Tuesday because I can.........And for this I am truly thankful.
I pray you all have a wonderful and joyous Thanksgiving Week!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In two short days we will be celebrating Thanksgiving Day. Have you ever wondered why Thursday was chosen for this day? Why not a Sunday? Or maybe a Wednesday? I know, let's pick Friday as it seems we are all happy for Fridays. Or.....how about Tuesday? Seems like Tuesday is just a kind of a ho hum day. The dreaded Monday is past and hump day is coming up tomorrow. On Thursday we start to get excited because Friday is so close. And of course we all know how we love Friday, Saturday and Sunday. As I was thinking of this, a song by Melissa Etheridge came to mind. The song is titled Tuesday Morning.
You are probably familiar with the song but if not look up the lyrics. It is a song about a young man named Mark Bingham. Mark was a passenger on United Airlines Flight 93. He died when the plane crashed into a field in Shanksville PA. That's right...he died on September 11, 2001. It was a Tuesday Morning. He was probably one of the passengers that attempted to storm the cockpit of of the hijacked plane. It is thought the plane was probably headed for the White House or the Capital in Washington. For the efforts of Mark Bingham and the others on flight 93, on this Tuesday morning, I AM THANKFUL.
As my mind was racing around about Mark and of Thanksgiving and of the days of the week, I asked myself... Why aren't we more thankful everyday? Oh sure, I know I'm thankful for family and friends everyday And I'm thankful for my health and a warm house and food to eat everyday but do I REALLY.....I mean REALLY sit and think about and reflect on the blessings of God. I see and hear and smell and taste things everyday, in fact probably every minute that I just take for granted.
I'm an early riser. I usually get up around 5:00 am every morning. Do I have to get up?
Not at all, I just do. I usually get up and the first thing i do is read something. Sometimes it's the newspaper, sometimes it's an article of inspiration, and sometimes it may be scripture. I do this from habit. But this morning I stopped and contemplated how blessed I was to be able to read. I started to say how lucky I am but luck has nothing to do with it. It's not luck....IT'S A BLESSING. God has blessed me with eyesight to see the pages, and a mind to understand what I read, and he blessed me with teachers that were willing to give of themselves to insure that I would have this blessing..... . For this I am truly thankful.
And as the sun was coming up this morning, oh what a sight. The sky was ablaze in oranges and yellows and purples. It was something no artist can capture on his canvas, no photographer can duplicate with a camera. It was something given to me by My God......And for this I am truly thankful.
And as I watched this sunrise my mind went to the death of Larry Munson. He had given me so many memories of UGA football, good memories and I was thankful for the times he has given me, but it made me go back in time to late march/early April. To a time when I passed out and the Doctors said I should have never woke up. To a time when so many prayers went up to God for my healing, to a time when God guided the surgeons hands to repair my heart and to a time when God not only heard these prayers but answered these prayers ..............
And for this I am truly thankful.
Yes, as I sit here I am excited about Thanksgiving day Thursday. I am exited about spending the day with my wife, children, and grand children. I am thankful for the turkey and dressing we will eat. I am excited about watching the kids throw a football out in the yard, and about watching some football with Josh and Randy on the television. And it may sound silly to some of you but I am excited about going to the store to buy a newspaper and watching Peggy and Cindy and Vicki lying on the floor, looking at all the ads, and planning their black Friday excursion. Yes,,,I am excited about all of this and I will give thanks on Thursday......but.......I see no reason to wait until then..... I will start today.......I will give thanks on Thanksgiving Tuesday because I can.........And for this I am truly thankful.
I pray you all have a wonderful and joyous Thanksgiving Week!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Monday, November 7, 2011
EASY TO BE HARD !!!!!
Have you ever noticed how when something happens, it often spurs your memory to think of something in your past. Sometimes it's bad memories, but most times it's of good memories. We have an ability to usually put bad memories so deep in our brain that they never appear again. I believe this is one of God's gifts to us.
What brought this to mind was something that happened a few months ago at a festival called the "Grant Park Summer Shade." The Summer Shade is an arts and crafts festival held every year in of course "Grant Park." It has always been one of my favorites because it's close to Kirkwood and I once, as a young teenager, had a paper route around the park. I really love festivals, as you meets some of the nicest people, some of which become very good friends. Another thing is most of the people are in a festive mood (thus the word festival) so it is usually a very good time. If you noticed I used the words most and usually in the preceding sentence. That brings us to the story.
A young couple walks into my booth to look at the birdhouses. The young lady, probably early twenties seems so excited to be there. She has the biggest smile on her face and her eyes just sparkle as she admires the birdhouses. You can tell she really wants a birdhouse, as she explains to the young man with her, where they could hang it.
As big as the girl's smile is, the man's frown is bigger. I have no idea if he had a bad night, just lost his job, if his dog died or if a bird just pooped on his head but it's easy to see he has no desire to be there. Did I mention he was also rude. He was ready to go home or at least go somewhere that he didn't have to be happy. I'm not high pressure when it comes to selling my birdhouses so I usually just kind of sit back and watch. I watched, but did I mention that as I've gotten older, I sometimes find it harder to keep my mouth shut which isn't always a good thing. As the girl kept wanting a birdhouse and smiling and almost begging the young man became more rude and obnoxious. I decided it was time to stand up. So I said to the young man, "Why don't you buy your sister a birdhouse? She really wants one and it's easy to see you have plenty of money."
His response: "She's not my sister, she's my wife, and what makes you think I have plenty of money?"
OT OH.....He had made his biggest mistake....He responded to me. Now it was my turn....The ball was in my court.
I said, " I have found a woman is most often attracted to a man for one of three reasons, The first being looks. Well looking at your beautiful wife and then looking at you, it's very easy to see she wasn't attracted to you because of looks. The second reason a woman is attracted to a man is personality. Since you entered my booth, it has been obvious you have no personality. So that just leaves us with reason number three, that being money, and you are so lacking in looks and personality, It must be that you are really rich......So why not buy your beautiful wife a birdhouse?"
Needless to say, he didn't buy a birdhouse. The good news was he left because even though he was ugly and rude, he was a big man.
What this story brought to mind was a song from the musical "HAIR". When I was in the Navy I was able to see this musical twice, once in New York and once in Los Angeles and then after I got married Peggy and I saw it in Atlanta. The song is named "EASY TO BE HARD". The lyrics are:
How can people be so heartless
How can people be so cruel
Easy to be hard
Easy to be cold
How can people have no feelings
How can they ignore their friends
Easy to be proud
Easy to say no
And especially people
Who care about strangers
Who care about evil
And social injustice
Do you only
Care about the bleeding crowd?
How about a needing friend?
I need a friend
How can people be so heartless
You know I'm hung up on you
Easy to give in
Easy to help out
And especially people
Who care about strangers
Who say they care about social injustice
Do you only
Care about the bleeding crowd
How about a needing friend?
I need a friend
How can people have no feelings
How can they ignore their friends
Easy to be hard
Easy to be cold
Easy to be proud
Easy to say no
You see, most of the time it's easy to be nice to strangers, and really care about the down trodden, but the ones we are rude to are the people that are closest to us, our friends and family. I'm sure I didn't change that young man. In fact I can look at my family and friends and see changes I would like to make..... But guess what???????? "I CAN'T CHANGE THEM". The only one I can change is ME!!!!!! Sometimes I know I'm rude. Sometimes I know it seems that the only one that matters is me. I'm sorry for my short coming and today I pray to God:
HELP ME TO CHANGE THE THINGS I CAN....AMEN AND AMEN.
Have you ever noticed how when something happens, it often spurs your memory to think of something in your past. Sometimes it's bad memories, but most times it's of good memories. We have an ability to usually put bad memories so deep in our brain that they never appear again. I believe this is one of God's gifts to us.
What brought this to mind was something that happened a few months ago at a festival called the "Grant Park Summer Shade." The Summer Shade is an arts and crafts festival held every year in of course "Grant Park." It has always been one of my favorites because it's close to Kirkwood and I once, as a young teenager, had a paper route around the park. I really love festivals, as you meets some of the nicest people, some of which become very good friends. Another thing is most of the people are in a festive mood (thus the word festival) so it is usually a very good time. If you noticed I used the words most and usually in the preceding sentence. That brings us to the story.
A young couple walks into my booth to look at the birdhouses. The young lady, probably early twenties seems so excited to be there. She has the biggest smile on her face and her eyes just sparkle as she admires the birdhouses. You can tell she really wants a birdhouse, as she explains to the young man with her, where they could hang it.
As big as the girl's smile is, the man's frown is bigger. I have no idea if he had a bad night, just lost his job, if his dog died or if a bird just pooped on his head but it's easy to see he has no desire to be there. Did I mention he was also rude. He was ready to go home or at least go somewhere that he didn't have to be happy. I'm not high pressure when it comes to selling my birdhouses so I usually just kind of sit back and watch. I watched, but did I mention that as I've gotten older, I sometimes find it harder to keep my mouth shut which isn't always a good thing. As the girl kept wanting a birdhouse and smiling and almost begging the young man became more rude and obnoxious. I decided it was time to stand up. So I said to the young man, "Why don't you buy your sister a birdhouse? She really wants one and it's easy to see you have plenty of money."
His response: "She's not my sister, she's my wife, and what makes you think I have plenty of money?"
OT OH.....He had made his biggest mistake....He responded to me. Now it was my turn....The ball was in my court.
I said, " I have found a woman is most often attracted to a man for one of three reasons, The first being looks. Well looking at your beautiful wife and then looking at you, it's very easy to see she wasn't attracted to you because of looks. The second reason a woman is attracted to a man is personality. Since you entered my booth, it has been obvious you have no personality. So that just leaves us with reason number three, that being money, and you are so lacking in looks and personality, It must be that you are really rich......So why not buy your beautiful wife a birdhouse?"
Needless to say, he didn't buy a birdhouse. The good news was he left because even though he was ugly and rude, he was a big man.
What this story brought to mind was a song from the musical "HAIR". When I was in the Navy I was able to see this musical twice, once in New York and once in Los Angeles and then after I got married Peggy and I saw it in Atlanta. The song is named "EASY TO BE HARD". The lyrics are:
How can people be so heartless
How can people be so cruel
Easy to be hard
Easy to be cold
How can people have no feelings
How can they ignore their friends
Easy to be proud
Easy to say no
And especially people
Who care about strangers
Who care about evil
And social injustice
Do you only
Care about the bleeding crowd?
How about a needing friend?
I need a friend
How can people be so heartless
You know I'm hung up on you
Easy to give in
Easy to help out
And especially people
Who care about strangers
Who say they care about social injustice
Do you only
Care about the bleeding crowd
How about a needing friend?
I need a friend
How can people have no feelings
How can they ignore their friends
Easy to be hard
Easy to be cold
Easy to be proud
Easy to say no
You see, most of the time it's easy to be nice to strangers, and really care about the down trodden, but the ones we are rude to are the people that are closest to us, our friends and family. I'm sure I didn't change that young man. In fact I can look at my family and friends and see changes I would like to make..... But guess what???????? "I CAN'T CHANGE THEM". The only one I can change is ME!!!!!! Sometimes I know I'm rude. Sometimes I know it seems that the only one that matters is me. I'm sorry for my short coming and today I pray to God:
HELP ME TO CHANGE THE THINGS I CAN....AMEN AND AMEN.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
I WANT TO READ IT ALL!!!!
I just read the eulogy of Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple Computers, written by his sister. If you haven't read it make sure you do but have a tissue close by, you'll need it. I'm not a real technical person. I'm not an Apple person. In fact I've hardly read anything about Steve Jobs in my life although I did know who he was. I have a cell phone and I can dial a phone number with the best of people but I have no idea how to send a text message. In fact I hate to see people sending text, their thumbs going 90 mph, and their minds in the clouds it seems. If you have something to say to someone why not just call them. I have learned how to E-mail but I do it as a last resort. I still had rather make a phone call. Maybe it's just what you're use to. I've been around telephones all my life. I grew up in the city of Atlanta and still remember my childhood phone number, DR-8214. As the population grew, the phone company installed a 7 in the number making it DR-7-8214. The DR stood for DRAKE but I have no idea what DRAKE meant and I assume no one at the telephone company did either so they just decided to use numbers instead so our new number was 377-8214. Most of our family lived in the Mableton area and their phone numbers consisted of only 4 numbers, like 6132. I still wonder today how you would call one of my aunts when we had 7 numbers and they had only 4. We also had what were called party lines back then which meant we shared a phone line with someone else. I don't know who these people were but I still remember they would stay on the phone for what seemed like hours at a time. If I needed to call one of my friends I would just keep picking up the phone and listening to their conversation until they would finally hang up. Back then advances in technology didn't bother me as much. In fact I even liked some of it. Like when we got a private phone line. Or when we upgraded to a push button phone from a rotary phone. I remember on our honeymoon Peggy and me sitting in a large phone booth in Disneyland and talking to my mother-in-law on a speaker phone. It was of course hands free and we could both talk at the same time. We thought that was so cool. And how about the TV. We had 3 channels. Yep three, that's it. And it was in all black and white and the screen must have been 11 or 12 inches but the cabinet was the size of a refrigerator. And I could write about the advancements in cars for weeks on end and not only cars but also on the roads. I remember when they opened the downtown connector (I 75 and I 85). I was to young to drive but I thought that was the coolest thing ever. In fact in some places there were 3 lanes on each side of the road. And the advances in the kitchen....WOW...the microwave and digital refrigerators with outside water and Ice and dishwashers and trash compactors and on and on.
Oh yes...we've made advancements, and we love to think about how it was in the
"good ol days". Or were they the good ol days or are these the good ol days? That's a good question for another post in days to come but for now let me get back to the eulogy of Steve Jobs. There was one line in it that really stuck in my mind. There were many others that touched me in a special way. Many others that made me tear up. Many about his relationships with his family and about his character and such but for some reason this line stood out...Maybe it was because it wasn't only about him but about us all..His sister wrote......
"We all — in the end — die in medias res. In the middle of a story. Of many stories."
That is why some of us fear death. We want to read the whole story. We want to know how it turns out. How our children grow and how our grand children advance in life and what they become and we think maybe we could make them happier and more successful. I use to tell Peggy, and I still believe it's true today, that within the first five years of our children's lives, we have more influence on them than we ever will. If they don't know by the age of 4 or 5, what is right and wrong, how to respect others, that they are loved and how to love, then in most cases they never will.
This story on earth began a long time before you and I and it will continue after we've gone on. We will die and go to be with our God and life as we know it now will continue without us. These will be the good ol days for our children and grand children, and all we can do is hope and pray, that we helped make them the good ol days .
In this, the month of Thanksgiving. I give thanks to my God for giving me the opportunity to help write this part of the story....Amen and amen.
I just read the eulogy of Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple Computers, written by his sister. If you haven't read it make sure you do but have a tissue close by, you'll need it. I'm not a real technical person. I'm not an Apple person. In fact I've hardly read anything about Steve Jobs in my life although I did know who he was. I have a cell phone and I can dial a phone number with the best of people but I have no idea how to send a text message. In fact I hate to see people sending text, their thumbs going 90 mph, and their minds in the clouds it seems. If you have something to say to someone why not just call them. I have learned how to E-mail but I do it as a last resort. I still had rather make a phone call. Maybe it's just what you're use to. I've been around telephones all my life. I grew up in the city of Atlanta and still remember my childhood phone number, DR-8214. As the population grew, the phone company installed a 7 in the number making it DR-7-8214. The DR stood for DRAKE but I have no idea what DRAKE meant and I assume no one at the telephone company did either so they just decided to use numbers instead so our new number was 377-8214. Most of our family lived in the Mableton area and their phone numbers consisted of only 4 numbers, like 6132. I still wonder today how you would call one of my aunts when we had 7 numbers and they had only 4. We also had what were called party lines back then which meant we shared a phone line with someone else. I don't know who these people were but I still remember they would stay on the phone for what seemed like hours at a time. If I needed to call one of my friends I would just keep picking up the phone and listening to their conversation until they would finally hang up. Back then advances in technology didn't bother me as much. In fact I even liked some of it. Like when we got a private phone line. Or when we upgraded to a push button phone from a rotary phone. I remember on our honeymoon Peggy and me sitting in a large phone booth in Disneyland and talking to my mother-in-law on a speaker phone. It was of course hands free and we could both talk at the same time. We thought that was so cool. And how about the TV. We had 3 channels. Yep three, that's it. And it was in all black and white and the screen must have been 11 or 12 inches but the cabinet was the size of a refrigerator. And I could write about the advancements in cars for weeks on end and not only cars but also on the roads. I remember when they opened the downtown connector (I 75 and I 85). I was to young to drive but I thought that was the coolest thing ever. In fact in some places there were 3 lanes on each side of the road. And the advances in the kitchen....WOW...the microwave and digital refrigerators with outside water and Ice and dishwashers and trash compactors and on and on.
Oh yes...we've made advancements, and we love to think about how it was in the
"good ol days". Or were they the good ol days or are these the good ol days? That's a good question for another post in days to come but for now let me get back to the eulogy of Steve Jobs. There was one line in it that really stuck in my mind. There were many others that touched me in a special way. Many others that made me tear up. Many about his relationships with his family and about his character and such but for some reason this line stood out...Maybe it was because it wasn't only about him but about us all..His sister wrote......
"We all — in the end — die in medias res. In the middle of a story. Of many stories."
That is why some of us fear death. We want to read the whole story. We want to know how it turns out. How our children grow and how our grand children advance in life and what they become and we think maybe we could make them happier and more successful. I use to tell Peggy, and I still believe it's true today, that within the first five years of our children's lives, we have more influence on them than we ever will. If they don't know by the age of 4 or 5, what is right and wrong, how to respect others, that they are loved and how to love, then in most cases they never will.
This story on earth began a long time before you and I and it will continue after we've gone on. We will die and go to be with our God and life as we know it now will continue without us. These will be the good ol days for our children and grand children, and all we can do is hope and pray, that we helped make them the good ol days .
In this, the month of Thanksgiving. I give thanks to my God for giving me the opportunity to help write this part of the story....Amen and amen.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
IT DEPENDS ON WHAT THE MEANING OF IS IS!!!!
President Bill Clinton Will probably be remembered for his quote "It depends on what the meaning of is is", for years to come. Or maybe this one, "It depends on how you define alone". How we define words can really make a difference in what we hear.
Take the word numbers for instance....What's the first thing that comes to your mind when I say the word numbers? Maybe accountant.... How about math....Or maybe boring...Or course all three of these kind of go together. When I was in school, math was probably my best subject, although that isn't saying much. I mainly took to the saying of Mark Twain... "Never let school get in the way of your education." I was always told to remember my math lessons because I would use it all my life and to a large degree that's been true. Take a moment to think of all the things we use numbers in. Counting our money, "How much is in the bank?" Counting our kids, "How many children do you have?" Telling the day of the month, the 19th,,,, the month of the year, the 10th,,,the year , 2011. Our address. Our Social Security number. We even have a special sign (#) for number on our key board and telephone. Oh wait, there's another one ,,,,our telephone number. We could go on and on. What would we do without numbers?
Peggy and I have had our youngest grandson, Hunter, stay with us the last couple of days. It's always a special treat when one of the grand kids comes to visit but as they get older it seems they have other things to do and we don't see them as often as we would like. Hunter is only 21 months old so he pretty much goes where he is told and Peggy and I have found he is pretty happy as long as we do exactly as he wants us to. It is so much fun to watch him discover things of this world. We walk in the yard and he stops and picks up every stick and looks at it like it's a treasure no one else has ever seen. We went to the park and without a doubt the ducks were his favorite thing although the swings and slides were a close second. As I watch him I see so much of his dad, Josh, in him. He brings back memories of things Josh did and said in his childhood. At certain times I can see Hunter so very deep in thought just like the times I saw this in Josh. That's where the thought of "numbers" came to mind.
Josh was about 5 if memory serves me right. We were riding down the street and Josh was quite. I looked in the rear view mirror and could see he was deep in thought. I knew it wouldn't be long until a question would be coming. Josh had more questions than any kid I had ever seen. And all of a sudden here it came. Josh said " Dad,,,what happens when you use all your numbers up?" I thought for a second and said, "What are you talking about Josh?" He said " You know, when you use all your numbers up."
I had no idea what he was talking about but as the saying goes, Inquiring mind want to know. I tried to explain to him that numbers went on forever. To infinity and beyond. I knew he had heard that before. But he said " No no no. Not that. You know, like I'm 5. What happens when a person has used all his numbers up?"
Now I got it. What happens when our life as we know it ends? What happens when we don't have any birthdays left? This from a 5 year old. Well I tried to explain to him as best I could about life and death. About heaven and hell. But sometimes it's hard to know if a 5 year old totally understands what you're trying to say. It's even hard for me as a 63 year old to totally understand what I'm trying to say sometimes.
We've laughed about this story over the years, but as you get older, I've found that sometimes when I think about a story or a question, sometimes the answer depends on how you define the question. For example, instead of using your numbers up, Let's just think about "How you use your numbers." What if Josh instead had asked "Dad, does it matter how a person uses his numbers up? Or how about this....... "Dad, How are you using your numbers?"
Of course when we are younger and we think about what we are going to do with our numbers, we think in terms of years. As we get older and think about our numbers we tend to think more in terms of weeks or even days.
When I thought about the word numbers I also thought about of the Book Of Numbers. The 4th book of the Bible. Just like math and accounting, I use to think of the Book Of Numbers as boring. then I studied it and found Numbers demonstrated the importance of holiness, faithfulness and trust.
Isn't it amazing the windows of your mind that can be opened by the questions of a child?
Now I must decide....What will I do with this number I've been blessed with today?
Until next time, just know someone is thinking about you!!!!!!Love
President Bill Clinton Will probably be remembered for his quote "It depends on what the meaning of is is", for years to come. Or maybe this one, "It depends on how you define alone". How we define words can really make a difference in what we hear.
Take the word numbers for instance....What's the first thing that comes to your mind when I say the word numbers? Maybe accountant.... How about math....Or maybe boring...Or course all three of these kind of go together. When I was in school, math was probably my best subject, although that isn't saying much. I mainly took to the saying of Mark Twain... "Never let school get in the way of your education." I was always told to remember my math lessons because I would use it all my life and to a large degree that's been true. Take a moment to think of all the things we use numbers in. Counting our money, "How much is in the bank?" Counting our kids, "How many children do you have?" Telling the day of the month, the 19th,,,, the month of the year, the 10th,,,the year , 2011. Our address. Our Social Security number. We even have a special sign (#) for number on our key board and telephone. Oh wait, there's another one ,,,,our telephone number. We could go on and on. What would we do without numbers?
Peggy and I have had our youngest grandson, Hunter, stay with us the last couple of days. It's always a special treat when one of the grand kids comes to visit but as they get older it seems they have other things to do and we don't see them as often as we would like. Hunter is only 21 months old so he pretty much goes where he is told and Peggy and I have found he is pretty happy as long as we do exactly as he wants us to. It is so much fun to watch him discover things of this world. We walk in the yard and he stops and picks up every stick and looks at it like it's a treasure no one else has ever seen. We went to the park and without a doubt the ducks were his favorite thing although the swings and slides were a close second. As I watch him I see so much of his dad, Josh, in him. He brings back memories of things Josh did and said in his childhood. At certain times I can see Hunter so very deep in thought just like the times I saw this in Josh. That's where the thought of "numbers" came to mind.
Josh was about 5 if memory serves me right. We were riding down the street and Josh was quite. I looked in the rear view mirror and could see he was deep in thought. I knew it wouldn't be long until a question would be coming. Josh had more questions than any kid I had ever seen. And all of a sudden here it came. Josh said " Dad,,,what happens when you use all your numbers up?" I thought for a second and said, "What are you talking about Josh?" He said " You know, when you use all your numbers up."
I had no idea what he was talking about but as the saying goes, Inquiring mind want to know. I tried to explain to him that numbers went on forever. To infinity and beyond. I knew he had heard that before. But he said " No no no. Not that. You know, like I'm 5. What happens when a person has used all his numbers up?"
Now I got it. What happens when our life as we know it ends? What happens when we don't have any birthdays left? This from a 5 year old. Well I tried to explain to him as best I could about life and death. About heaven and hell. But sometimes it's hard to know if a 5 year old totally understands what you're trying to say. It's even hard for me as a 63 year old to totally understand what I'm trying to say sometimes.
We've laughed about this story over the years, but as you get older, I've found that sometimes when I think about a story or a question, sometimes the answer depends on how you define the question. For example, instead of using your numbers up, Let's just think about "How you use your numbers." What if Josh instead had asked "Dad, does it matter how a person uses his numbers up? Or how about this....... "Dad, How are you using your numbers?"
Of course when we are younger and we think about what we are going to do with our numbers, we think in terms of years. As we get older and think about our numbers we tend to think more in terms of weeks or even days.
When I thought about the word numbers I also thought about of the Book Of Numbers. The 4th book of the Bible. Just like math and accounting, I use to think of the Book Of Numbers as boring. then I studied it and found Numbers demonstrated the importance of holiness, faithfulness and trust.
Isn't it amazing the windows of your mind that can be opened by the questions of a child?
Now I must decide....What will I do with this number I've been blessed with today?
Until next time, just know someone is thinking about you!!!!!!Love
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
NOSTALGIA
A couple of weeks ago, my daugater bought me a book. It was a book titled
" The lost writings of Jim Morrison". In case you don't know, Jim Morrison was the lead singer and song writer of the rock group The Doors. He died way to early, which can be said of many of the Rock Stars of the 60s. One of the poems in the book really made my mind start running. To awake my mind I've found, is sometimes good and sometimes can be dangerous. May this short poem, or some of my memories that follow it, awaken something in you.
A man rakes leaves into
heap in his yard, a pile,
& leans on his rake &
burns them utterly.
The fragrance fills the forest,
children pause & heed the
smell, which will become
nostalgia in several years.
Nostalgia........The dictionary says it is the yearning for the past, often in idealized form.
Do you yearn for the past? Of course we all do at times. As I think back I yearn for the way fresh cut grass smelled when I was a child. Or the way a watermelon tasted when my cousin Stuart would take me down in the pasture to the springhouse and he would grab a ripe watermelon out of the spring, bust it on the ground and we would eat the heart out of it. I would love to go back to Bessie Branham Park and play a grey-Y football game and have Mike Wages hand the ball off to me just one more time. Or what I wouldn't give to have just one more foot race with my little black friend Leon, even though I know he would win again. Or how about just one more ride on my shiny Cushman Eagle. Wow, the freedom I felt when I was riding down Boulivard Drive without a worry in the world. Or how about jumping in what was called a back seat of the TR3 that my sister Dianne's boyfriend Julian had and going over to get a ground beef and cheese pizza. I don't remember the name of the drive-in but to this day it's the best pizza I ever had,or maybe it was the company and not the pizza. Oh, and how about going out in the middle of my street, Leland Terrace and playing football with Pete, Tommy, Butch, Lane and all the other guys. I bet I can go back now and still show you which telephone poles were the goal lines. Or the pride I felt when I would take mine and Dianne's new toy, our little sister Terri, out for a walk and hearing the neighbors tell me how pretty she was. As I think back I remember Mom taking Jeff and me down to a creek to catch tad poles and me falling down, getting soaking wet, and mom laughing out loud. I can still hear that laugh. Or the anticipation on Wednesdays, which was dads short day on the bread route, of his getting home and us heading up to Lake Lanier to go fishing. And thinking of fishing, I love the memory of camping on the river with my Uncle CW and working the trot lines. I could go on and on with my memories but I also love the memories of loved ones. Of Peggy talking about picking peaches with her dad or her mom riding a pony they had. Of her granny quilting. I loved listening to Dad talk about when he was a boy down on the farm and Mom telling us stories about her life growing up and the things her dad built for them. And my father-in-law was one of the best story tellers of all time. He could really spin a yarn about his childhood.
Nostalgia.......The yearning for the past......It is fun to think about it but sometimes we must remember we live in the present. It was fun back then but we must remember in years to come our children and grand children will be telling stories about when they were young. Make sure you do your part in making their nostalgia a pleasant experience. Don't worry about spending the dime.....spend the time....MAKE SURE THEY KNOW THEY'RE LOVED....and make some memories.
And now....Do you remember the smell of burning leaves or when..........................
A couple of weeks ago, my daugater bought me a book. It was a book titled
" The lost writings of Jim Morrison". In case you don't know, Jim Morrison was the lead singer and song writer of the rock group The Doors. He died way to early, which can be said of many of the Rock Stars of the 60s. One of the poems in the book really made my mind start running. To awake my mind I've found, is sometimes good and sometimes can be dangerous. May this short poem, or some of my memories that follow it, awaken something in you.
A man rakes leaves into
heap in his yard, a pile,
& leans on his rake &
burns them utterly.
The fragrance fills the forest,
children pause & heed the
smell, which will become
nostalgia in several years.
Nostalgia........The dictionary says it is the yearning for the past, often in idealized form.
Do you yearn for the past? Of course we all do at times. As I think back I yearn for the way fresh cut grass smelled when I was a child. Or the way a watermelon tasted when my cousin Stuart would take me down in the pasture to the springhouse and he would grab a ripe watermelon out of the spring, bust it on the ground and we would eat the heart out of it. I would love to go back to Bessie Branham Park and play a grey-Y football game and have Mike Wages hand the ball off to me just one more time. Or what I wouldn't give to have just one more foot race with my little black friend Leon, even though I know he would win again. Or how about just one more ride on my shiny Cushman Eagle. Wow, the freedom I felt when I was riding down Boulivard Drive without a worry in the world. Or how about jumping in what was called a back seat of the TR3 that my sister Dianne's boyfriend Julian had and going over to get a ground beef and cheese pizza. I don't remember the name of the drive-in but to this day it's the best pizza I ever had,or maybe it was the company and not the pizza. Oh, and how about going out in the middle of my street, Leland Terrace and playing football with Pete, Tommy, Butch, Lane and all the other guys. I bet I can go back now and still show you which telephone poles were the goal lines. Or the pride I felt when I would take mine and Dianne's new toy, our little sister Terri, out for a walk and hearing the neighbors tell me how pretty she was. As I think back I remember Mom taking Jeff and me down to a creek to catch tad poles and me falling down, getting soaking wet, and mom laughing out loud. I can still hear that laugh. Or the anticipation on Wednesdays, which was dads short day on the bread route, of his getting home and us heading up to Lake Lanier to go fishing. And thinking of fishing, I love the memory of camping on the river with my Uncle CW and working the trot lines. I could go on and on with my memories but I also love the memories of loved ones. Of Peggy talking about picking peaches with her dad or her mom riding a pony they had. Of her granny quilting. I loved listening to Dad talk about when he was a boy down on the farm and Mom telling us stories about her life growing up and the things her dad built for them. And my father-in-law was one of the best story tellers of all time. He could really spin a yarn about his childhood.
Nostalgia.......The yearning for the past......It is fun to think about it but sometimes we must remember we live in the present. It was fun back then but we must remember in years to come our children and grand children will be telling stories about when they were young. Make sure you do your part in making their nostalgia a pleasant experience. Don't worry about spending the dime.....spend the time....MAKE SURE THEY KNOW THEY'RE LOVED....and make some memories.
And now....Do you remember the smell of burning leaves or when..........................
Monday, October 24, 2011
SHE WASN'T WHAT SHE SEEMED
The year was 1966. I had graduated from high school and got a job at Lockheed helping build C-141. In 1966 if you could get on at Lockheed you were what we called in the money. I was making more than most of my friends which helped to make me a cool dude. Of course a good paying job helped you be a cool dude but you had to also have other things and I was on my way to having it all. My first purchase was a 1964 off-white Dodge convertible with red interior. Of course I had to put American Mags on my new sled and now I was ready to cruise. I had let my hair grow which was the groovy thing to do back then and when I had the top down and my hair blowing in the wind, that's right I had hair back then, I just knew I was hard to resist. I was having a great time but it seemed as if one thing was missing. I know. I needed my very own pad to crash at. I had met a guy through friends name Bob Klebo that lived in the Georgian Arms Apartment. He had lost his roommate, had only two weeks left on his lease and was looking for a new roommate to move in. We talked it over and decided I was his man. They had just built some new apartments close by and we decided instead of staying at the Georgians Arms we would move into these new apartments named Hickory Lake Apartments. These new apartments were the bomb. We were on the third floor, which was the top, and our balcony overlooked beautiful Hickory Lake. Hickory lake was about an acre pond which the apartment surrounded and the apartment owners had put grills and picnic tables around the lake for our pleasure. As Bob and I would sit on our balcony, feet propped up, drinking a cool one, looking over beautiful Hickory lake, I would often asked myself,.......... "Can things be any better?" As I pondered this question, deep down inside, it still seemed as if "one" thing was missing. I know,,,,,,I needed a cool, beautiful girl to share my great life with. But where would I find someone cool enough for me?
Bob and I decided to have a party and invited a few friends over for steaks on the grill down by beautiful Hickory Lake. Bob was dating a young lady at the time, I can't recall her name but I do remember I liked her. She was a lot of fun to be around. She asked if she could bring a friend with her to the party and of course we said that would be great. I thought to myself, maybe this is the cool girl I need to make my life complete. As we were grilling steaks down by beautiful Hickory Lake, around the corner comes Bob's girlfriend and this goddess of a friend she had. I looked up to the heavens and said in a silent voice....."Thank you God."
We grilled, we ate, we talked, we watched the sunset over beautiful Hickory Lake as soft music filled the air from the record player on our balcony 3 stories up. It was a fun time and I thought to myself, This has to be what was missing from my life. As Bob's girlfriend and the goddess were about to leave, I asked if she would like to go out the next weekend and to my delite she said yes. ALRIGHTTTTTTTTTT I said to myself in that silent voice it seems I used a lot back then. The week dragged by.....It seemed the the next weekend would never come.
But finally. Finally It's Friday night. I want everything to be perfect I decide to wear my navy blue slacks and a yellow Izod shirt..I go and have the Dodge washed and let the top down. I've scrubed, brushed and combed. I've splashed on the English Leather and everything is perfect. Yep that's what I said, Everything is perfect, for the last time that night. On my way to pick the goddess up I have a flat on the Dodge. No big problem. A quick tire change and I'm on my way again. Of course I'm running about 15 minutes late now and I have dirt on my hands and on my face where I wiped away the sweat with my dirty hands, but again I say to myself in that silent voice...."No big deal." But to the goddess it did seem to be a big deal. She couldn't understand why I didn't leave early in case of a problem on the way. Once again in that silent voice I told myself to just ignore her attitude, she was probably excited about the date like I was and things would be better as the night went on. I excused myself to her bathroom and washed my hands and all the English Leather off my face and neck and once again we were on our way.
I had decided on a movie with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. The Movie was called "Who's afraid of Virginia Wolf". I loved it!!!!!!Of course the goddess hated it. She said next time she would pick the movie. Believe it or not I was beginning to hear a hint of irritation in my silent voice.
I thought to myself, let's go to the Varsity and get something to eat. Everyone likes the Varsity. We'll cruise through with the top down, park on the upper deck, get a P.C. or a Frosted Orange and a little something to eat, watch the people and finally have some fun. Have some fun? Boy was I wrong but as I look back it was funny.
As we parked the Dodge the curb boy as we called them came out to the Dodge. There was a certain curb boy that I had become friends with named Dave. He always waited on me, gave me great service, we would cut up with each other and of course I Tipped him well. The goddess said she wasn't very hungry so I just ordered us each an order of fries and a P.C. As always Dave was Prompt. I thought surely the goddess will be impressed with the service......NOT....
As Dave hung our tray in the window of the Dodge, I payed him, tipped him well and thanked him for the great service. I then started to hand the goddess her fries and as my night had gone, I dripped some ketchup on my yellow Izod. WELL JUST DARN..................What else could go wrong tonight? By now my silent voice was yelling words that would fry a mushroom. But just then the voice calmed down...In a very subdued gentle tone the voice said...."BE COOL"
So in a controlled manner I calmly placed the goddess' frys back on the tray. Slowly opened my door, stepped outside the Dodge. and cleaned the ketchup off my yellow Izod and brushed off my navy blue slacks. I then slowly climbed back inside, grabbed the armrest on the door and slammed it shut. There must be a physic lesson it what happened next. As the door came to rest in a closed position, the fries and P.C.s didn't. They flew all the way over me and landed directly in the lap of the goddess. I quickly learned the goddess didn't have a silent voice nor did she talk like a lady. She also didn't have a sense of humor.....Needless to say i didn't get a good night kiss and I never saw the goddess again. I also learned that people aren't what they always seem. I also learned a much more valuable lesson. Money, clothes, cars, houses don't make you cool. What makes you cool is whats inside of you. It's who you are, not what you have. Listen to that silent voice....It can teach you alot. The silent voice is a much better judge of people than our eyes.
The year was 1966. I had graduated from high school and got a job at Lockheed helping build C-141. In 1966 if you could get on at Lockheed you were what we called in the money. I was making more than most of my friends which helped to make me a cool dude. Of course a good paying job helped you be a cool dude but you had to also have other things and I was on my way to having it all. My first purchase was a 1964 off-white Dodge convertible with red interior. Of course I had to put American Mags on my new sled and now I was ready to cruise. I had let my hair grow which was the groovy thing to do back then and when I had the top down and my hair blowing in the wind, that's right I had hair back then, I just knew I was hard to resist. I was having a great time but it seemed as if one thing was missing. I know. I needed my very own pad to crash at. I had met a guy through friends name Bob Klebo that lived in the Georgian Arms Apartment. He had lost his roommate, had only two weeks left on his lease and was looking for a new roommate to move in. We talked it over and decided I was his man. They had just built some new apartments close by and we decided instead of staying at the Georgians Arms we would move into these new apartments named Hickory Lake Apartments. These new apartments were the bomb. We were on the third floor, which was the top, and our balcony overlooked beautiful Hickory Lake. Hickory lake was about an acre pond which the apartment surrounded and the apartment owners had put grills and picnic tables around the lake for our pleasure. As Bob and I would sit on our balcony, feet propped up, drinking a cool one, looking over beautiful Hickory lake, I would often asked myself,.......... "Can things be any better?" As I pondered this question, deep down inside, it still seemed as if "one" thing was missing. I know,,,,,,I needed a cool, beautiful girl to share my great life with. But where would I find someone cool enough for me?
Bob and I decided to have a party and invited a few friends over for steaks on the grill down by beautiful Hickory Lake. Bob was dating a young lady at the time, I can't recall her name but I do remember I liked her. She was a lot of fun to be around. She asked if she could bring a friend with her to the party and of course we said that would be great. I thought to myself, maybe this is the cool girl I need to make my life complete. As we were grilling steaks down by beautiful Hickory Lake, around the corner comes Bob's girlfriend and this goddess of a friend she had. I looked up to the heavens and said in a silent voice....."Thank you God."
We grilled, we ate, we talked, we watched the sunset over beautiful Hickory Lake as soft music filled the air from the record player on our balcony 3 stories up. It was a fun time and I thought to myself, This has to be what was missing from my life. As Bob's girlfriend and the goddess were about to leave, I asked if she would like to go out the next weekend and to my delite she said yes. ALRIGHTTTTTTTTTT I said to myself in that silent voice it seems I used a lot back then. The week dragged by.....It seemed the the next weekend would never come.
But finally. Finally It's Friday night. I want everything to be perfect I decide to wear my navy blue slacks and a yellow Izod shirt..I go and have the Dodge washed and let the top down. I've scrubed, brushed and combed. I've splashed on the English Leather and everything is perfect. Yep that's what I said, Everything is perfect, for the last time that night. On my way to pick the goddess up I have a flat on the Dodge. No big problem. A quick tire change and I'm on my way again. Of course I'm running about 15 minutes late now and I have dirt on my hands and on my face where I wiped away the sweat with my dirty hands, but again I say to myself in that silent voice...."No big deal." But to the goddess it did seem to be a big deal. She couldn't understand why I didn't leave early in case of a problem on the way. Once again in that silent voice I told myself to just ignore her attitude, she was probably excited about the date like I was and things would be better as the night went on. I excused myself to her bathroom and washed my hands and all the English Leather off my face and neck and once again we were on our way.
I had decided on a movie with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. The Movie was called "Who's afraid of Virginia Wolf". I loved it!!!!!!Of course the goddess hated it. She said next time she would pick the movie. Believe it or not I was beginning to hear a hint of irritation in my silent voice.
I thought to myself, let's go to the Varsity and get something to eat. Everyone likes the Varsity. We'll cruise through with the top down, park on the upper deck, get a P.C. or a Frosted Orange and a little something to eat, watch the people and finally have some fun. Have some fun? Boy was I wrong but as I look back it was funny.
As we parked the Dodge the curb boy as we called them came out to the Dodge. There was a certain curb boy that I had become friends with named Dave. He always waited on me, gave me great service, we would cut up with each other and of course I Tipped him well. The goddess said she wasn't very hungry so I just ordered us each an order of fries and a P.C. As always Dave was Prompt. I thought surely the goddess will be impressed with the service......NOT....
As Dave hung our tray in the window of the Dodge, I payed him, tipped him well and thanked him for the great service. I then started to hand the goddess her fries and as my night had gone, I dripped some ketchup on my yellow Izod. WELL JUST DARN..................What else could go wrong tonight? By now my silent voice was yelling words that would fry a mushroom. But just then the voice calmed down...In a very subdued gentle tone the voice said...."BE COOL"
So in a controlled manner I calmly placed the goddess' frys back on the tray. Slowly opened my door, stepped outside the Dodge. and cleaned the ketchup off my yellow Izod and brushed off my navy blue slacks. I then slowly climbed back inside, grabbed the armrest on the door and slammed it shut. There must be a physic lesson it what happened next. As the door came to rest in a closed position, the fries and P.C.s didn't. They flew all the way over me and landed directly in the lap of the goddess. I quickly learned the goddess didn't have a silent voice nor did she talk like a lady. She also didn't have a sense of humor.....Needless to say i didn't get a good night kiss and I never saw the goddess again. I also learned that people aren't what they always seem. I also learned a much more valuable lesson. Money, clothes, cars, houses don't make you cool. What makes you cool is whats inside of you. It's who you are, not what you have. Listen to that silent voice....It can teach you alot. The silent voice is a much better judge of people than our eyes.
Friday, October 21, 2011
JESUS WEPT
What's in a title? I usually try to title my post as to catch your attention hoping you will read my post. Today I thought of "When I was a child I thought as a child." Then I said to myself maybe " No greater love has a man ." Then I read a column in the Douglas County Sentinel. Although Jesus wept, was no where in the column, I knew this had to be the title.
When I was a child one of my favorite toys were little plastic soldiers. They came in a bag and there were many different men, all army green, and made of a rubbery like plastic that wouldn't break and would last forever it seemed. You could play with them inside the house on rainy days or outside and build forts for them out or twigs and squares of moss cut with a kitchen knife. You could play by yourself or with your best friend. As I've told you in the past my street had many children within a couple of years of my age and sometimes we would play army. Our battle field would be in every back yard and the alleys that ran behind the houses. We had play guns of course, rifles and pistols, and if you got shot you had to count to 100 and you were alive again. It was a fun time and war was thought of as glamorous at that time in my life. Most of our fathers had been in WWII but they never talked a lot about it. Later in my life, when I was in about the eleventh grade, all the talk was about a place called
Viet Nam. It was a far away land that many of our friends were going to. There was a draft going on then and most likely unless you were married with a child or in college that's where you were headed. There was a war going on over there that most of us had no idea what it was about. Even to this day I don't totally understand what we were fighting for. Our only guarantee was the we would probably end up in one branch of the service. I was able to get into the Navy Air Corp and lucky that I never ended up in Viet Nam. The service back then was much different than today in that probably 80% to 90% of us didn't want to be in. Today's army is all volunteer. Therefore, I believe a much better army. As I said, I never had to go to Viet Nam but many of my friends did. Many of my friends on face book were there. Many of my friends never came back and some that came back were never the same. In fact maybe none that came back were ever the same. One of my close friends, Ken Blair, was killed over there and hardly a day passes that I don't think of Ken. I saw Ken the day before he was leaving in the parking lot of South Cobb Pharmacy. We talked a little about him going and about getting together when he came home for a couple of beers. We laughed as young men will do and you could tell Ken was not afraid at all. Of course if you knew Ken, you know he wasn't afraid of anything. I'll never forget when I heard he had been killed. It was like my heart stopped beating. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I think at that moment, for the first time, I realize war wasn't a game. Ken couldn't count to 100, be alive and play anymore. And...........I wept.
Last week U.S. Marine Lance Corporal Scott “Boots” Harper was killed in Afghanistan. He had volunteed to serve in the Marines. He knew he was going to war. Like Ken, I'm sure Scott was not afraid. I didn't know Scott but he lived in Winston Ga, the same town as I. Scott went to Alexander High School, the same school as Josh. Yesterday they brought his body home. People lined the streets to welcome and honor him. Young and old. White and black. Men and women. Democrats and Republicans. They waived flags and they saluted. They bowed their heads and prayed. And ...........................They Wept.
Rest in Peace U.S. Marine Lance Corporal Scott “Boots” Harper .
And may God Bless America.
What's in a title? I usually try to title my post as to catch your attention hoping you will read my post. Today I thought of "When I was a child I thought as a child." Then I said to myself maybe " No greater love has a man ." Then I read a column in the Douglas County Sentinel. Although Jesus wept, was no where in the column, I knew this had to be the title.
When I was a child one of my favorite toys were little plastic soldiers. They came in a bag and there were many different men, all army green, and made of a rubbery like plastic that wouldn't break and would last forever it seemed. You could play with them inside the house on rainy days or outside and build forts for them out or twigs and squares of moss cut with a kitchen knife. You could play by yourself or with your best friend. As I've told you in the past my street had many children within a couple of years of my age and sometimes we would play army. Our battle field would be in every back yard and the alleys that ran behind the houses. We had play guns of course, rifles and pistols, and if you got shot you had to count to 100 and you were alive again. It was a fun time and war was thought of as glamorous at that time in my life. Most of our fathers had been in WWII but they never talked a lot about it. Later in my life, when I was in about the eleventh grade, all the talk was about a place called
Viet Nam. It was a far away land that many of our friends were going to. There was a draft going on then and most likely unless you were married with a child or in college that's where you were headed. There was a war going on over there that most of us had no idea what it was about. Even to this day I don't totally understand what we were fighting for. Our only guarantee was the we would probably end up in one branch of the service. I was able to get into the Navy Air Corp and lucky that I never ended up in Viet Nam. The service back then was much different than today in that probably 80% to 90% of us didn't want to be in. Today's army is all volunteer. Therefore, I believe a much better army. As I said, I never had to go to Viet Nam but many of my friends did. Many of my friends on face book were there. Many of my friends never came back and some that came back were never the same. In fact maybe none that came back were ever the same. One of my close friends, Ken Blair, was killed over there and hardly a day passes that I don't think of Ken. I saw Ken the day before he was leaving in the parking lot of South Cobb Pharmacy. We talked a little about him going and about getting together when he came home for a couple of beers. We laughed as young men will do and you could tell Ken was not afraid at all. Of course if you knew Ken, you know he wasn't afraid of anything. I'll never forget when I heard he had been killed. It was like my heart stopped beating. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I think at that moment, for the first time, I realize war wasn't a game. Ken couldn't count to 100, be alive and play anymore. And...........I wept.
Last week U.S. Marine Lance Corporal Scott “Boots” Harper was killed in Afghanistan. He had volunteed to serve in the Marines. He knew he was going to war. Like Ken, I'm sure Scott was not afraid. I didn't know Scott but he lived in Winston Ga, the same town as I. Scott went to Alexander High School, the same school as Josh. Yesterday they brought his body home. People lined the streets to welcome and honor him. Young and old. White and black. Men and women. Democrats and Republicans. They waived flags and they saluted. They bowed their heads and prayed. And ...........................They Wept.
Rest in Peace U.S. Marine Lance Corporal Scott “Boots” Harper .
And may God Bless America.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
THE INTERVIEW
Here I sit on a rainy morning, the last thing on my mind was writing but the notion just hit me. Have you ever been interviewed? Have you ever interviewed anyone? Or have you ever been in a debate where a score was kept? I watched the debate on T.V. last night. I would have loved to been able to asked a few questions. The only problem with asking politicians questions is they hardly ever answer what is asked. Did you notice last night Rick Perry when he told the moderator "It's your job to ask the questions and my job to answer the ones I want to." At least he was honest in his response. I had a dream one night that I was a White House reporter at a Presidential news conference. As I stood to ask my question, I glanced at my note pad at some of the answers the President had given to questions of other and I respectfully asked......"Are you Mr. President, smarter than a fifth grader?" As luck would have it I awoke before he answered so I never heard his answer, but I'm pretty sure it didn't pertain to my question.
I like politics but sometimes politics makes me tired. Maybe I just don't understand. Why do we pay the president? If he ran for the payday he's one of the dumbest people in the world. If he was running the corner store would he sell his gasoline for a dime a gallon after paying $2.75 a gallon for it? Of course if he did this he would sell out faster and could hop on Air Force One and go play a round of golf more often. Does the president still have a bowling alley in the basement of the White House? Have they change the name of the basement to the Prez Cave in order to keep up with the times?
I wonder what brand of toilet paper they use in the White House? Does the President ever walk around the white house in his underwear? Does He ever cut his own toe nails? And how about when the First Family is sitting around watching American Idol and they want a snack, do they use paper plates? What brand? I think I have a right to know. After all, it's my money they're spending.
Have you ever thought of interviewing yourself? Would you ask you the hard questions? And if you did, would you answer honestly if you knew the whole world would hear the answer? Would you be willing to open your life entirely up, show every blemish, every pimple to the people you really want to love and respect you? That would be hard.
Of course there is a record, an honest record of your every deed and your every thought. It's out there for the only One that matters to see. But the truth is He will never see my Record. I won't have to be interviewed by the only One that really matters. Jesus answered those questions for me.
Love you all!!!!!!!
Here I sit on a rainy morning, the last thing on my mind was writing but the notion just hit me. Have you ever been interviewed? Have you ever interviewed anyone? Or have you ever been in a debate where a score was kept? I watched the debate on T.V. last night. I would have loved to been able to asked a few questions. The only problem with asking politicians questions is they hardly ever answer what is asked. Did you notice last night Rick Perry when he told the moderator "It's your job to ask the questions and my job to answer the ones I want to." At least he was honest in his response. I had a dream one night that I was a White House reporter at a Presidential news conference. As I stood to ask my question, I glanced at my note pad at some of the answers the President had given to questions of other and I respectfully asked......"Are you Mr. President, smarter than a fifth grader?" As luck would have it I awoke before he answered so I never heard his answer, but I'm pretty sure it didn't pertain to my question.
I like politics but sometimes politics makes me tired. Maybe I just don't understand. Why do we pay the president? If he ran for the payday he's one of the dumbest people in the world. If he was running the corner store would he sell his gasoline for a dime a gallon after paying $2.75 a gallon for it? Of course if he did this he would sell out faster and could hop on Air Force One and go play a round of golf more often. Does the president still have a bowling alley in the basement of the White House? Have they change the name of the basement to the Prez Cave in order to keep up with the times?
I wonder what brand of toilet paper they use in the White House? Does the President ever walk around the white house in his underwear? Does He ever cut his own toe nails? And how about when the First Family is sitting around watching American Idol and they want a snack, do they use paper plates? What brand? I think I have a right to know. After all, it's my money they're spending.
Have you ever thought of interviewing yourself? Would you ask you the hard questions? And if you did, would you answer honestly if you knew the whole world would hear the answer? Would you be willing to open your life entirely up, show every blemish, every pimple to the people you really want to love and respect you? That would be hard.
Of course there is a record, an honest record of your every deed and your every thought. It's out there for the only One that matters to see. But the truth is He will never see my Record. I won't have to be interviewed by the only One that really matters. Jesus answered those questions for me.
Love you all!!!!!!!
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