Month: February 2014

1	To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
2	a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

TODAY THE WORD is “NUFF”.  A lot of my southern friends are going to recognize this word; others may think I am trying to slaughter the English word, “enough” but as you will see there is a distinct difference between the meaning behind the these two words which are similar but oh so different. I am a proponent of attempting to speak English as it was designed, but being a Southerner, I can appreciate a little more emphasis on certain syllables and dropping a few ‘g’ s here and there. This differentiation however had a lot of meaning when I was growing up. Our Mother knew how to pronounce ‘enough’ and when talking to someone, maybe in teaching me how to cook and when I had reached the appropriate amount of a certain ingredient, would say, “that is enough”. When, as kids, we had tried her patience, playing too loudly, hesitating when she called, or play fighting between each other; when she said “nuff”; that was it. There had better be no delay and we had better respond in a speedy manner of cooperation. In those days, when two men were arguing and it was getting more heated, one of them would sometimes say, “nuff” and that generally meant if you say another word I am going to hit you. Phrases would be used “nuff said”; that’s nuff; no more, nuff; etc. and here is how I see the difference. Enough is more gentle in conversation, more polite and is used when emotion is not at play; nuff is more final and no time is spent on civility. Now, for the deeper thought……In today’s society, we should use the slang word of ’nuff’ more than we do. In an attempt to be more open minded and politically correct, some of us whisper “enough” when we should be saying “nuff” and mean it. I believe that only when a group of people have ALL of our interests at heart and are not self serving should we listen to their concerns. When a group demands their interests without regard to the entire country’s interest, we need to say nuff. I do not encourage prejudice against any person; I have reservations about giving in to any demands without proper thought and respect to all parties. Think, rationalize, analyze, with compassion and understanding; react with sound judgement and reasoning. Life for all will be more agreeable. Nuff said!

Deuteronomy 1:6

 

TODAY THE WORDS are I AM. 

I woke up this morning and this was on my mind. I am awake; I am blessed; I am thankful; I am loved; I am full of joy. My next thought was a prayer of hoping everyone feels the same. Those statements are full of the “I AM” and it became the focus of this message. So many inspirational messages put a negative spin on “I” as there is no I in “team” or other phrases you have been exposed. This morning, may we discuss a little different approach on this subject. In life, it is a good thing for us to recognize the power of the Creator and one of the best scriptures covers God’s Power and it is a scripture which comes to mind during frantic and crazy periods

Psalm 46:10 New International Version (NIV)

My thoughts are if we are using the “I” to embrace we are able to do be all we can be by the grace of God by acknowledging God’s work in our lives, it is not a negative but a positive. If however, we want to give ourselves the credit, the “I” becomes a negative as it seems we are giving ourselves the credit. So let’s look at this word “WITH” and in this word, “I” is present. With God, I can do! With God I can see eternity! With God, I am forgiven! With God, I am not alone! With God, I am not I but We as God is with me! Now, it seems obvious, I can become We as the point is if we include God, it is easy to say We  instead of I. For a good lesson in humbleness and recognition for all of the good things in life, if we take a minute and think of water, grass, sky, birth, the wonders of the world, and even each word coming out of our mouths and you will see the reality of this scripture. “I am only” because of God.

 

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.

 

 

 

 

 

TODAY THE WORDS are FEEDING THE LOT. I may have written a post on coins before, and with over 400 posts, I cannot keep count of all of the topics I have covered, but some of you who have never been in the automobile or as those of us who have been, the “car” business, probably don’t know what “feeding the lot” means. Both my husband and I worked many years in the car business, and we held most of the positions as salespeople, sales managers, finance and insurance manager, and I held the position of General Manager at one time. Maybe this is the origin of some of my philosophy of people’s natures and characteristics as you meet all kinds of people both as staff and of course as customers. This is another subject for another day but it is the practice of feeding the lot I wanted to write about in this message. Each morning, when the salespeople went out, usually to straighten the line of cars and/or trucks which was called a “lot party” though it wasn’t much of a party, we “fed the lot” by throwing pennies and if sales were really low, we would toss a quarter or two on the dealership lot. This tradition was to insure we would have good sales. Superstitions about coins go back and I found an interesting “A silver coin was used under the mast of a ship as it was built, to ensure smooth sailing. Coins were slipped under the welcome mat to keep bad luck from visiting. A coin placed in the four corners of a room brought wealth and good fortune, perhaps even more if coins were scattered about the whole house. The same applied to coins placed behind the baseboard. I know of one old miner’s cabin where there was a row of gold coins on the trim above a window, good fortune for the metal detector’s operator.” Source: By Alan Herbert, Coins Magazine
September 27, 2011

I don’t have any facts to back the results from “feeding the lot” with coins, but it seemed to be necessary for everyone to believe sales were going to be good. Now for my deeper thought….If we can transfer the “coin” action to a prayer action and every day we ‘feed” our souls with prayers tossed to Heaven with the belief this feeding will produce good results (or blessings); isn’t that a good thought? Lessons learned, blessings earned is a philosophy of mine!
DAILY FEATURED BIBLE VERSE:

 OR

 

TODAY THE WORD is CURLING. With the Winter Olympics over, I heard the sport most tweeted about is Curling. Somehow, this struck me funny as it did with the news commentator.  It was mentioned it was more popular than the acrobatic skiing with all of the loops and jumps or even figure skating with all of the fancy outfits. So the word curling came to my mind for the subject. I found something very “time appropriate” but a sign of some of us getting older. The first 5 or 6 definitions of “curling” if you Google relate to a sporting game originated in Scotland and is defining the sport which is one of the Olympic sports. Where did curling your hair, curling up on the sofa or in the bed, and curling items such as ribbons? We have lost our heritage and are becoming an endangered species or at least it seems that way. Did you think birds tweet or that you would ever find a need for Twitter. Words don’t mean the same thing any more and what is up with the abbreviations? BFF means Best Friends Forever but we cannot take the time to type it out but we expect these people to stand by us; love us in spite of ourselves, and keep us straight as that is what best friends do, right? OMG, stands for Oh My God and if that doesn’t deserve full typing, I don’t know what does. I could go on and on but BTW, and I will have to say By The Way, when I first saw this one, I laughed because on the first look see, I was trying to fit it to be something to do with BMW (which I have always thought was a status vehicle), so you can see this gal is finding herself in a technology storm and it seems they have stolen the meaning of a simple but sweet word “curling”. How many of us have curled up with our loved one to a warm fire with a good book? How many times, does your cat or dog curl up next to you or in your lap? I can guarantee you I have a hairstyle which has to have some curl in it. Hang on to your seat, as life is leaving all of us behind if we don’t get the swing of this. However, has someone stolen “swing” too?  If we spent as much time “digging” into God’s Words as we try to get “the hang” of LMBO, we would know the language of true love given to us with a promise of IWLYF (I will love you forever).

 

 TODAY THE WORD is DISGUISES. While I was reviewing some files, I saw a post I wrote on masquerade. My thoughts went to the first time I saw a clown and I thought I would share my thoughts. Many people have written on the subject of clowns, mimes, jesters, and other entertainers with masked or cosmetically altered faces with costumes to complete their ensemble. My topic is more of the emotional disguise which is more essential to play the part of a happy, comical, and silly character. I would like you to look at the photos of  randomly picked clowns. Even when you see the happy face clown, it has a semblance of sadness which is present in the eyes or the mouth, but it is there seemingly disguised by bright colors and heavily enhanced by black marked pencils. Of course, the animations make the disguise less tell tale of the true personality hidden behind the makeup, hats, and wigs. It caused me to think of how all of us humans may hide behind disguises in life. We may walk around with “painted on” smiles, laugh as if we are happy, display a positive attitude when we actually are feeling gloom and doom, or even act like we are holy when we are struggling with our own redemption. We may “pretend” to love others or in other words, wear disguises of loving, caring people while we are secretly hiding our animosity toward the same people. Disguises may provide a fake personality and it may not be obvious by demonstrated false animations. What I feel is vital for us to realize and is the deeper thought….People may not see through disguises and we may have in our presence, or even be, the disguised person…..God however sees through all disguises and fake displays of affection. Honesty is the best way to be and asking God to help us love others, even those who are harder to love. Love is easier if we have internal peace and love ourselves. The phrase “To thine own self be true” should really followed by “To God all things be true”. Disguises might camouflage our exterior body, but they can never change our souls. We need to scrub our souls in the same way a clown scrubs the makeup to reveal the true being inside. Live life, love life, and live life to the fullest by loving God and everyone including yourself.

 

TODAY THE WORDS are RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS. Sometimes, we dwell on the “bad news” and we seem to overlook the reports of random acts of kindness (I have been guilty of this attitude myself at times) but this morning, one news report caught my eye and it brought more and more videos go viral and bring them to the news reporters’ attention. When a stranger extends an arm of kindness with no itinerary or agenda for themselves; it makes for the best coverage. I hear it in the  voices of the reporter; good news is so rewarding for them to report. The show hosts smile more while reporting. When a garbage man, who is unaware of a little boy’s autism and has observed the young boy outside waving when he comes by and watches every move the “usual unappreciated” job he does, buys the boy a garbage truck that dumps; it is magical. The father videoed the moment and it went viral, causing messages, texts, and calls from over the world and it started from a act of kindness from someone to whom very few people are kind. When a person offers to pay for a meal for a homeless person; it makes nice. When a young person recognized the frailty of an elderly person and steps up to help; it rekindles hope in this otherwise, self interest world. In the event of a tragedy; the human kind spirit of help can send chills up our spine. The rewards of kindness are magnificent in a way other gifts cannot compare. The best gift of kindness is one who cannot be seen by the world; it is a gift which may never receive any recognition other than a Thank You and a smile. I love to hear about the Pay it Forward and I will admit when I participated in this process, my heart swelled. It somehow made it very personal to have it held close to the heart without fanfare. Do you remember how it felt when you helped someone out of a difficult situation? Do you have the memory of giving to a stranger or given to a loved one without expecting a Thank You and I am Grateful remark every time you saw this person. Giving is giving; it shouldn’t require a continual recognition for the act of kindness. I can recall people who helped me over my lifetime and of course I thanked them and told them how much I appreciated their help; I could tell by their expressions it was not an expectation.

Here is the deeper thought…..The gift is to give as our spirit rises and our heart swells. God implanted this response for us to know when we give we are working His Plan by gifting both; the recipient and the giver.

 

TODAY THE WORDS are TABOO LAUGHS. This morning I saw some posts and videos on Facebook and I am going to admit I was laughing at a few things which are hilarious when you are watching a video or looking at a picture but could not have been funny to the person it was actually happening to at that very moment. This thought brought to mind a few people who will remain nameless, but who would have to laugh even before helping someone. They can’t help themselves and I call them the taboo laughers…you could be hurt and they would laugh; you could be in danger and they would laugh! The crazy part about these crazy laughs seems to be they are uncontrollable. People I am referring to are fantastic people and very caring but they are going to laugh. Let me give you an example and for this example, we have to go back to a different time in my life. When I owned the decorating business for manufactured homes (in the south, better known as mobile homes or trailers) we were under the gun for completing the houses before a trade show. We had to load our arms with pictures, accessories, napkins, floral arrangements, pillows, dishes, etc. When it was loaded, our frontal vision was blocked somewhat so accidents could happen easily. One wrong step or move and you could find yourself splattered on the floor. Without calling names, Worker #1 was in the house and Worker #2 was loaded with supplies, tripped over the threshold, and looked like a free falling skydiver with all limbs extended and never mind all of the decorating items all over the floor. You would think Worker #1 would have hurried over to help Worker #2 but no; Worker #2 finally looks over to the sofa to find Worker #1 kicking her heels up and down dying laughing. This is the Taboo Laughs I am referring. If this was the only time and if it was only Worker #1 doing it, it would be funny but a couple of weeks later, the roles reversed and exactly as you are thinking; Worker #2 had her opportunity to Taboo Laugh at Worker #1 and so on and so on. I know most of you have been the victim and the instigator of the Taboo Laugh when no matter what; you have to laugh. I don’t know if there is a deeper thought but here are my thoughts on why we Taboo Laugh. It may be an escape from the fear of someone you care about being hurt. Whatever the reason; it happens so if you are a victim of the Taboo Laugh; remember your time will come. But at this time, try to remember about God requiring us to forgive others.

 

TODAY THE WORDS are WAS IT A SNAKE?  Continuing the lightheartedness of yesterday’s post which seemed to be well received, this story is a true story, but I cannot remember the guy who told this story.  However, I can see his face today as if I am standing in front of him. Back in the mid eighties, I worked for Motorola in Brunswick Ga. This was in the first days of cell phones (bag phones) but even more popular and economical were the pagers. As reps, we were all getting used to wearing them on our waistbands or on our belts and we were encouraged to have them set on vibrate to avoid so much commotion when a pager went off. As this guy, and for story sake, I am calling him George, was experiencing the new sensation of the vibration and jumping when it vibrated; he decided to go to lunch. All was going well, with a few unexpected jolts, George thought he was getting used to his new pager. Lunch went great with a couple of friends and then nature called. George excused himself and settled down in one of the stalls with his pants down around his knees. While concentrating on nature’s call and completing the task at hand, George stood up and grabbed the toilet paper, and then it happened. A sudden “rattling” down around George’s feet terrified him it was a snake and he ran out of the stall, or as fast as he could with his pants down. He almost made it to the door and almost to a point of no return of shame, when he realized it was his pager going off. Off course, a couple friends laughed themselves silly and George had a story; they had a laugh and so did all of us at the office when he told us again. The moral of George’s story is  sometimes things are exactly as they seem; but if they seem like a snake; Run, Run, Run! If there can be a deeper thought to George’s story, it might be…..We are faced with learning new things; adjusting to changes; and we face losing loved ones, losing jobs; and  losing our health. It is scary when these events occur and we want to run too. What we have going for us is a safety net, God who chases the “snakes” of life away through faith, prayer, hope, trust, and devotion. Don’t get caught with your pants down; but if you do; don’t run but drop to your knees instead and pray. Live life; love life; and live life to the fullest by watching out for the “snakes” in your life.

Isaiah 41:13 ESV          

 

TODAY THE WORDS are FAUX  BEAUTY PAGEANT. With the blog focused on life’s lessons learned through many mistakes, I sometimes like to step outside my blogger mind and give readers a light moment in my past and hopefully put a smile on your face. Several of my classmates read the blog and maybe a few of my Central School classmates (1961, I think) may remember this “Miss Rooster Contest”, our faux beauty pageant of which my shining moment in life being crowned as Miss Rooster. Why the title of Miss Rooster? I don’t have a clue as to how the title evolved, but looking back now, it is hilarious. We had judges and I am not saying the contest was influenced by one of the judges having a slight crush on me; not that I was anything to admire in those days (validated by school pictures taken at the time) but I had moved back from Chicago so it was probably I was the “new kid” on the block who talked weird (or at least everyone thought so) and I did somehow sing and dance pretty good with the song, “Pink Shoe Laces” by Dodie Stevens and was #3 on billboards in 1959 and some of the lyrics were: I’ve got a guy and his name is Dooley; He’s my guy and I love him truly; He’s not good looking, Heaven knows; But I am wild about His crazy clothes; He Wears tan shoes with Pink Shoe Laces; A polka dot vest and Man oh Man…but the big line was the ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh; ooh, ooh, ooh, OOH!  Now if that song and my dance moves couldn’t win Miss Rooster title; nothing would! My illustrious crown was made out of poster paper covered in foil (wish I had it today) was placed on my head and I had my moment of fame. Many people can look back at moments in their lives which at the time seemed glorious but when I think about it; it was a faux contest. I gave up “show biz” but I kept the silly side and once in a while, it comes out for a little while and then hides for a while. Life is not all serious; God gave us a sense of humor for a reason. A good laugh and especially when we can laugh at ourselves lightens the mood for the ability to handle the serious times in our lives. I wish I had kept my crown and wand from the only time I won a title. Or maybe I should try to get up and bust a move with another rendition of “Pink Shoe Laces” as I still remember all of the lyrics… isn’t that a hoot? Live life; love life; and live life to the fullest by loving each funny moment God gave you.