Make it Funny!

 My motto is: If you can't make it FUN...make it FUNNY!

I had some surgery on a toe in January.  You'd think a toe wouldn't be that big of a deal, but it is if you have a four-inch pin going through the toe and only a smidgen of the pin is visible.  Can you guess where the rest of the pin is?  It's in my foot, keeping that toe straight so it won't keep sticking up higher than all the others.  My foot will look better in sandals next summer!

Having the third toe on your right foot in a perpetual 'bird' position can be funny, if you think about it.  Joe would be teasing me about something for just a little too long and I'd tell him I was flipping him off in my shoe!  

That'd always get a laugh.  But now my toe will be laying down next to the other four, behaving itself.  

My stitches are out, but I still have to walk on my heel in a special open-toed, hard sandal/shoe until four weeks post-surgery.  I use crutches most of the time, but when I'm around a lot of people I use a walker so no one can get close enough to bump my foot.  

Just for fun, I made a 'Caution: Slow Moving Vehicle' sign that looks like a bumper sticker, and taped it to my walker.  Folks smile when they see it.  I also made another sign that looks like a bumper sticker that reads, 'Caution: Driver Singing' which gets a few laughs. I have that same sign on my car's rear window.

Like my motto says: If you can't make it fun, then make it funny!  

If you have a pulse...you have a purpose.  Make your life count!

Sisters

 I miss Vangie.

I miss my sister so much sometimes that I actually ache inside.  But then something happens or I run across an object that makes me smile and gives me comfort.  Vangie didn't write this poem, but I found it in her things when I opened her Bible case.  It's faded, but I hope you can read it...

She had lots of handwritten notes in her Bible and this is one of them that makes my heart happy.

Remember: If you have a pulse, you have a purpose.  Make your life count!

Happy Snow Day!

This month, two different weather systems have promised snow, but it never came.  Today, the promised snow is falling and sticking!  Reminds me of the song from the movie "White Christmas" called "Snow."  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G47k6qSKgPw

And THAT reminds me of a family tradition that started when our daughter was just a little girl.  Every time the first snow of winter began to fall, Joe, Hannah, and I would get bundled up and drive to Dairy Queen to have ice cream!  It falls in line with other traditions - the Red Plate - the Vegetable Dance - and a few others that will have to wait for another blog at another time.  Today, our daughter is at home with her husband and their two daughters.  I don't know what traditions they're building for themselves, but I hope somewhere along the line it will involve a trip for ice cream!

Other traditions when it snows?  I cook a beef roast on snow day.  I make a pot of chili the next day.  The next day I make vegetable soup with the leftover roast and broth.  The snow may be gone, but the traditions are always there.  I love traditions!  What are your traditions?  Share them with me in the comments section of this blog posting.  

Always remember: If you have a pulse, you have a purpose.  Make your life count!

The Stupidity Factor

 Before I deleted my Facebook account, I saw this post and knew I needed to save it.  This is so me!

            Even though this made me laugh when I first read it, I soon realized that it’s true!  God put a calling on my life to be in ministry with my husband, to be in music ministry, in radio, and even in comedy.  And when God called me, He called ALL of me…my talents, my personality, my sense of humor, and anything else He would use!  That means, my shortcomings as well.  

My mother never liked me to say the word ‘stupid’ and would get after me when I did.  But in this case, there’s no other way to put it.  We simply do stupid things sometimes!

God knows everything about us, y’all – including the parts of us that mess up on a regular basis.  Like the post says, “…He already factored in” the stupid things we’d do.  Well, that’s a relief, isn’t it?  He knows us better than we know ourselves, and He loves us!  All the parts of us!  That’s the most comforting thing I can say to you today.  

 

2 Corinthians 12:6-10 (NLT)

“If I wanted to boast, I would be no fool in doing so, because I would be telling the truth. But I won’t do it, because I don’t want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message, even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So, to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.  Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away.  Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.  That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

  

January 1, 2022

Christmas is in the rear-view mirror. We work and plan for that special day and then...poof! It’s gone for another year. And here we are in a new one! As we walk into a new year, a lot of us make New Year’s Resolutions. (I’ve already broken a couple and it's only the first day of the year!)

Making New Year’s Resolutions can force us to look at our past. A lot. Have you ever felt like your past mistakes were following you around…like they define who you are and how your future will be shaped?

God’s word says, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” Isaiah 43:18-19 (NIV)

Even believers forget and fall into dwelling on the past. The Word of God is a constant stream of renewing power as the Holy Spirit reveals our loving Father's truths about who we really are and what His plans are for us! When we step into that stream...it is easier to get a grip on what God has planned for our lives.

I have the above scripture printed and posted on our bathroom mirror – as a reminder. I’m trying to keep that scripture at the forefront as I've stepped into this new year. I guess I've made this scripture my new year’s resolution!

May God’s richest blessings be yours in the coming year!

And always remember...if you have a pulse, you have a purpose.  Make your life count!

Thanksgiving & Hallmark Movies

 With all the preparations that lead up to Thanksgiving Day, it’s almost like we only blink our eyes and then it’s time to begin with all the shopping, baking, and parties for the next big day!  It’s predictable.  Predictable like a Hallmark Christmas movie!  (You know…the two romantic leads get close to sharing their first kiss, and a phone will ring, and the kiss is interrupted!  You’ll have to wait until the two have some major drama/fallout and the movie is nearly over before you get to see them finally have that first kiss!  Seems like all those movies are alike but I still love watching them!)

 

Yes, these last two months of the year can be kind of predictable in a lot of ways.  

 

So, how about this idea?  Do something unexpected!  When your neighbor isn’t home, blow all their leaves to the street before doing your own.  Bless a worker at the fast-food drive-thru with a $5 tip.  Pay for the order in the car ahead of you in line.  Send a note to someone who had an influence on your life from years ago.  Tell that person how important they have been in your life.  

 

Bless someone! 

You’ll likely find some extra joy in your busy life!  Giving, sharing, blessing someone is a way of giving thanks!  I look at those opportunities to give thanks to the Lord for allowing me the privilege to bless someone else.  In that blessing, I get a blessing!  We learn in Genesis 12 that you and I are blessed to be a blessing! 

 

Let Thanksgiving be your time of “thanks – giving!”

If you have a pulse, you have a purpose.  Make your life count!

Church Pew Pads

I spent part of yesterday on a special sewing project as I mended worn places on the pew pads in our church sanctuary.  They’re attached to the wood, so one can’t just go in and turn the pads over to hide the bad places.  

That would be easy, wouldn’t it?

Easy, but not practical, because the worn places would still be there.  

See where I’m going with this?  Just because people can’t see the bad things in our lives doesn’t mean they don’t matter – or even exist in our minds/hearts.  Maybe those things happened a long time ago and you’ve kept them hidden.  But those places are still there.  Hiding them doesn’t change anything.  You know they’re there – buried deep – and they don’t just go away.  

But when the Lord comes and mends those broken and bad places...takes them away when we ask for His forgiveness...we have to receive His forgiveness.  That’s not always easy.  Sometimes it’s hard to receive Christ’s forgiveness when we can’t forgive ourselves.  

Do it anyway.  

Don’t just turn the pew pad over.  Take care of it.

And remember...if you have a pulse, you have a purpose. Make your life count!