methodology

Pastor John, anybody can be a John, said last Sunday when preparing us for the collection--I read in the AZ Republic this week, soooo it must be right, that in the ranking of states in how folks give, AZ was listed as #50!  The article said in a survey, 50% of the folks in AZ said they were big givers but IRS said only about 5% were givers. John then went on to say--AZ folks just aren't good givers but lyers toooo!

Saturday question--What qualities and abilities do you have that you can use to create some miracles? SusieQ says--Be part of something extraordinary! Throw those chips away and get your butt off the couch!  Quit just pondering!  CoachB says—For the major decisions we need to spend time and focus but on the little stuff we gotta move, we don’t have time to just sit and analysis every little thing about small decisions (i.e. like should I buy the red or yellow wash rags). But on big stuff we need to not only deliberate on them ourselves, but we need to get wise advice from others who have knowledge and experience (i.e. sounds good to me)! We need to do more than just get the advice but to take advice. Yes, but we don’t have time sometimes to just sit and ponder every little decision as we will end up with paralysis from analysis!” That is why I ask many of you folks questions and get your advice a.k.a. it’s my methodology; you folks are soooo smart (i.e. that is all of you except for one of you)!  Such is life.

In our small group back home, there was some discussion about the methodology we use in expressing what we believe and think. I think the conclusion was that a firsthand eyewitness was the best, the real deal; our example by how we act and live is better than what we say.  Anybody can make a lot of noise or wear a big cowboy hat but own no cattle; all show but no go; say a lot but really don’t say anything!  Patty, anybody can be a Patty, says--Don't let people pull you into their storm. Pull them into your peace.

Robert Frost said—The only way around is through. You believe that?

I read this while eating my oatmeal with half a banana on it—"While swerving to avoid another car, John Boston struck a utility pole in Columbus, Ohio. A live transformer crashed into his car, sending thousands of volts of electricity into the vehicle. Even touching the car was dangerous. The vehicle burst into flames and began melting all around the pastor. His seatbelt was stuck, and the door wouldn’t open. Suddenly, a stranger walked up, opened the door, pulled the pastor out of the car, and helped him to a safe place just before the car exploded. Then the stranger suddenly said he had to leave, and he was never seen again. Even the emergency responders wondered if the stranger was actually an angel.” I wonder if some of you are angels to me. I do. Are you the methodology in affecting my life?  I really wonder if some of you are angels.  I'm especially thinking of one Brilliant Colored Jewel who I think is an angel in my life. This angel sure has affected me. Saturday question—Do you even believe in angels?

SlimmySlime says--We want it all! Unfortunately, we can’t have it all!  Ouchy ouchy!

Jane, anybody can be a Jane, says—"If we’re honest, we’ll probably have to admit that much of what we listen to or watch does little to sustain us spiritually. In fact, social media and commercial television is designed to make us feel unhappy and dissatisfied with our lives so that we buy whatever the advertisers are trying to sell.” AverageJoe says—C’mon erv, everyone knows that methodology!  AverageJoe, maybe most folks do but maybe subconsciously we don't; the advertisers know exactly what they are doing, and we maybe don’t even know it.  We can be such suckers at times; there seems to somethings that we don’t catch on tooo or get a.k.a. brainwashed a.k.a. caveat emptor is Latin for "Let the buyer beware." That’s my opinion!

MissPerfect says—When someone does something negative to us, there is a three-step rule we should implement. One is to smile, two is wish them well and the third is leave them immediately. SusieQ says—Negative folks will drag a person down. I had the opportunity to make a friend down here in my 55+ community who is full of wisdom and shared some of it with me. He told me that a professional told him, and he passed it on to me, we need to be self-advocates of ourselves.  What he meant is when something related with another person that is bothering us, we should tell the person or persons what is bothering us; not complain but explain why we feel this way. By doing that, we will enrich our relationship and not kill it. Bingo!  And I didn’t even have to pay for this advice! It’s all in the methodology folks.

Here's a really funny 55+ community story that an acquaintance told me about herself. She called herself the woops person! She went to a dance at our activity center the other night. She, being a recent window of maybe 70ish was alone. When leaving a little early she couldn’t remember where she parked her golf cart and there were many of them seeming to all look alike in the dark. She left the keys in the cup holder and started looking in all the carts and finally found hers. She went home and put on her pajamas and a little later there were a couple of folks looking at her golf cart. She went out there and asked them if she could help them. An old lady told her that she stole her golf cart and got really excited. She took the cart. The guy said he would take her back to the activity center and see if she could find hers. Sooooo she said—I got in his car in my pjs with a guy I never knew before and we found my golf cart that was still parked there with the keys in the cup holder. It was really cold driving back home in my pajamas! Life isn’t always easy for seniors! Zany!

I know another woops person.  I was trying to decide if I should take my road bike along to AZ or not. There were pros and cons but I decided to take it. Soooo I packed my tire pump, my helmet, my gloves and my biking gear; sooo there ya go.  I was in the middle of NE going 81 mph and looked in my rear-view mirror and wondered where's my bike!  I forgot to take it along! Zany!

So I decided to replace the carpet in my utility shed/launder room. A friend gave me a throw rug, but it wasn’t large enough soooo I needed a small piece of carpet to put in front of the dryer. The guy at Lowe’s who happened to live near me when growing up in IA whose name was Jim suggested I go to a certain flooring business that might help me. Alex, about 21, said—Follow me and let’s see if I can help you. Soooo we walked around the building to a large, heavy metal gate that had two heavy chains with two of the largest padlocks that I have ever seen, huge massive. He unlocks them and we go to a big dumpster full of remnants. He jumps on a trailer next to it, then jumps in the dumpster and waves me to come soooo we are now both in the dumpster looking for a good piece. He finds a chunk of carpet and asked if I had a knife as he didn’t, you got one in your car. Soooo I went to my vehicle and got a knife and then crawled back up in the dumpster and we cut a piece of carpet. Sooooo we go in the salesroom and I ask him how much I owe him—nothing, we were just going to throw it away anyway. I gave him some green stuff and told him to buy himself a burger. He just smiled at me. We both had such a great time. He was a great guy. Yes, there are good folks around. What a hoot. Zany!

WorldClassLarry says--Maybe, just maybe, we use different methodology in trying to get what we want and what we will become, could be, maybe, I don’t know, possibly. Our future is not promised but we can do a lot to make it more probable maybe. What do you think?  I think and wonder what we do, what we think, how we act, how we eat, how we treat folks, who we are around, etc. all will make the probability of what our future will be much greater, but it still won’t be promised. It’s putting the odds in our favor for our future to what we want them to be. Think about that, will ya. Zany!

An Canadian told us that the folks of countries that have the best longevity and the best quality of life seem to exercise more, eat better and have better community!  Think about that folks! Zany, no, I don't think soooooo! 55+ communities in the South do a verrrry good job with exercise and community; very conducive! Eating well, not sooooo much!

JoeBlow says--A person just never knows about our methodology now do we! I read this while eating my oatmeal with half a banana on it--O Little Town of Bethlehem  There is a beautiful story behind this popular carol. Phillips Brooks was one of the most famous preachers in 19th-century America. He was pastor of Trinity Church in Boston for many years and later became the Episcopal bishop of Massachusetts. While Brooks was touring the Holy Land in 1865, he visited Bethlehem on Christmas Eve and stood in the shepherds’ field that overlooked the town, where local tradition said the shepherds were “keeping watch over their flocks” on the night Jesus was born. Three years later Brooks recalled that scene in a simple carol he wrote for his Sunday school’s Christmas service. Neither Phillips Brooks nor his church organist, Lewis Redner, who wrote the tune, thought that “O Little Town of Bethlehem” would ever be sung again after that service. But today it is known and loved throughout the world.

I really like this verse; it makes me feel oh soooo good. How about you?  Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. My opinion folks is that it is powerful but it’s just my opinion, but it seems to work for me is--There is a calmness to a life lived in gratitude, a quiet joy. Joy to the world…! For some folks all this stuff is probably maybe Zany! But not for me! There are probably some folks who believe more in the stockings hug on the fireplace! Such is life in the Valley of the Sun!

Have a FUN day my friends unless you have other plans. (-:

erv

MyFriendJean says—Learn to laugh at yourself…you’ll always have something to make you happy.

PS  Last week I used  some improper works in the last paragraph and several of you contacted me and told me. Actually, it was a test. The smart folks caught it. Sooooo, if you caught them, congratulations!