Going forward with Christmas

Some of you folks might thing I’m bastardizing the English language in this “It’s Saturday.”  Hey, I’m doing the best I can.  I’m just a little old farm boy from a mile and a fourth south of Roseland, MN. 

MissPerfect says--If the leaders are good, folks will follow !  With certain quality folks leading a charge (e.g. Santa Claus), other high quality folks will join the block party.  Joesixpack says—Folks are more likely to buy into something when the leader is respected, qualified, and talented.  Soooo how important is it to have a good leader to go forward?  I read in the paper soooo it must be right that when there is not coalescing chemistry, odds are not good to have success.  LuckieEddie says—That makes sense. InChargeNorman says--A good attitude reflects a much different team and mind-set.  OhByTheWay, I heard on ESPN that Santa is a free agent after this season!

TopShopperTodd (i.e. anybody can be a Todd) says--There are different ways to look at things!  Politicians seem to say the politically correct things (e.g. we will prevail, we are great--That's like kissing your sister).  Talk talk talk is very common and no great actions.  It's all about the vote and money. The Washington Redskins finally drops offensive name! Dan Snyder, owner of the NFL Redskins, has announced that the team is dropping "Washington" from the team name, and it will henceforth be simply known as "The Redskins." It was reported that he finds the word 'Washington' imparts a negative image of poor leadership, mismanagement, corruption, cheating, lying, and graft, and is not a fitting role-model for the young fans of football.

In Division I coaching it seems that after 8 to 10 years, coaches change (i.e. go forward).  They become stale or something and the fan base wants new ideas, new blood, new hope (i.e. they become old jalopies).  It is very hard to maintain a successful program for many years (i.e. to win and make money) but some do (i.e. those that do usually adjust and reinvigorate the programs).  I read in the paper soooo it must be right that it goes with the job.  It seems that CEOs are about the same.  How about pastors, college presidents, etc.  It appears they get bored or the folks get bored with them (i.e. lose their effectiveness). 

My Daddy said--erv, ask questions; it's the best and cheapest way to learn.  I always told our kids--Find good folks and mimic them (i.e. I don't know if they listened).  A story is told about F.B. Meyer, the great Bible teacher and pastor who lived a century ago. He was pastoring a church and began to notice that attendance was suffering. This continued until he finally asked some members of his congregation one Sunday morning why they thought attendance was down. A member volunteered, "It is because of this new church down the road. The young preacher has everyone talking and many are going to hear him speak." His name was Charles Spurgeon. Meyer, rather than seeking to discourage this, exhorted the entire congregation to join him and go participate in seeing this "move of God" as he described it to his congregation. "If this be happening, then God must be at work." Meyer, even though he was an accomplished preacher and teacher, recognized where God was at work and joined Him in it. 

ItchieBitchie says—Us folks are fickle alright.  Crazy is a better description.  I read this while eating my oatmeal with a half a banana on it--Each day your actions affirm or convict you of your belief system. It reveals who the central focus of your life really is - you or God. It reveals who you place your ultimate trust in - you or God. It is one of the great paradoxes for believers. One day we can believe Him to move mountains. The next day we can question His very existence. We are fickle, crazy folks sometimes!  MissPerfect says--I think that is much like how we celebrate Christmas. Such is life.

To go forward, there needs to be folks willing to put up venture capital.  Here is an idea if you need money to go forward with a project or anything.  It’s called crowdfunding.  Let’s say you would like a $1,000 for Christmas presents but have no money.  Here is how you do it.  You set up an account with GoFundMe.com.  You tell folks why you want the money and see if any folks will give you money (i.e. beg for alms).  Giving has always been a social act. Now it’s a social media act. Hey, it’s Christmas time and folks usually are generous.  You touch 100 folks for $10 and you have your $1,000.  Bingo.  Of course they take a cut.  Of course.  Everyone wins!  Has crowdfunding replaced the hustle?  Or has it become the new hustle? LuckieEddie says—At Christmas time folks are more vulnerable to these pitches. 

CadillacJack says—Yes, many folks are generous and even become more generous at Christmas.  Soooo how are you going to be generous this Christmas?  It has been said many times many ways—A great gift is a gift of your time (i.e. a grande of an idea). Just see someone and listen to them.  Maybe another great gift is of encouragement a.k.a. affirmation (i.e. make someone feel bigger, better, even braver). Maybe even letting someone know that you are thinking about them.  What do you think? Or you can sit on the couch, eat chips and do nutten.  That will work too but your end products will be a bigger butt and “a feel sorry for me attitude.” Ouchy ouchy! You folks have good motors sooooo I bet you do great things for others all year and not just at Christmas. You guys are the toast of the town!  If there are any of you who aren’t much of a giver, oh well, you don’t know what you don’t know!  Such is life.

PastorJohn (i.e. anybody can be a John) said Sunday--Yes, some folks don't appreciate our generosity and some folks take advantage of our generosity but they can't take away our joy of giving!  Saturday question--Would you rather receive a gift or give a gift to someone who doesn't get "one" gift or very few gifts? According to Wall-Mart's TV advertisement--80% of children champion the idea of giving the gift rather than receive it.  You believe that? I asked a grand daughter about this--she said--depends what the gift is!

I went to Albertsons to get some seafood salad (i.e. my favorite through the years here in Valley of the Sun).  SuperSeniorBill, the seafood guy says to me—How ya doing—fine, how about you—great, but I lie a lot; you don’t want to talk to someone who complains do ya?—probably not—it doesn’t help anyway sooo I just make the most of it. I told Bill I wanted a pound of it.  It doesn’t look the same as last year Bill.  It’s not the same product.  What’s the deal?  They changed wholesalers and it’s a different product.  Is it as good? No, I don’t think sooo but you might like it better. We all have different tastes soooo you never know.  Maybe it's like giving gifts; you might think a gift is special but to the gift receiver, it's not what they like (i.e. a junk gift).  That is why we give money to our grand kids via their parents.  Our daughter used the money to purchase experiences for their children (e.g. going to Nutcracker). Our daughter-in-law thinks she will use the money for an experience that both their kids can enjoy.  Both kids have birthdays in December and along with Christmas presents, they will get plenty of stuff.  A true gift has no strings!  Such is life.

A friend called me and asked what kind of golf balls should she buy her son-in-law for Christmas.  Is he an avid golfer—yes he is—what kind of golf balls does he play—I have no idea—you might want to ask your daughter to find out; if she doesn’t know, have her ask one of his golf buddies; many serious golfers will only use certain type of ball; if you give them balls they don’t play, they will be nice to your face when they receive them but will give them away, sell them on a garage sale or put them in their shag bag; the balls will just be a junk gift (i.e. you have just wasted your money).  She understood I think.  She did say—I didn’t realize that golf balls were that expensive!  CadillacJack says—Give cash and they can buy exactly what they want (i.e. everybody is happy).  Besides, a true gift has no strings attached.  You are smart folks but you can’t always pick ”just the perfect gift.”  We are fickle and crazy folks!  I read in the paper sooooo it must be right—Teachers say they don’t want homemade stuff, trinkets or other junk gifts but want gift cards!  Huh, interesting.

As the song goes--Rudolf The Red Nose Reindeer, you will go down in history! President Abraham Lincoln in 1862 sent his Second Annual Message to Congress, in which he called for the abolition of slavery and said, “We cannot escape history. We of this Congress and this administration will be remembered in spite of ourselves.”  GeorgeTheCrook says—I wonder if over giving gifts (i.e. of the perfect gifts) at Christmas in trying to make sure that we will be remembered as nice folks going down in history.  Could be GeorgeTheCrook, could be.  I have a golf buddy that is very generous with “give me putts.”  He said to me one time—I like to have folks like me soooo I am very generous in giving putts!  Hey, that might work.  Such is life.

I texted our children (i.e. about 40, not 40 kids but their ages are about 40) asking them what the 5 most memorable gifts we gave them through all the years. Here are their responses:  Our daughter--The Luggage (was that really my gift or for you-this may not count), Long leather coat, Cabbage patch doll, Dropping off our secret Santa gifts, Earrings from Tiffany. Our son--Tommy Armours; Nintendo; all the rest tied for 3^rd. I guess some of our gifts weren’t junk gifts after all!  Now we give them cash.  They can buy beer with it or whatever makes them happy.  Even the small amount of cash (i.e. a small amount of cash is a relevant number) is sorta kinda a junk gift as they seem to be doing real well (i.e. but it fits all and liked by all--very useful).  Soooo just maybe a small amount of cash is not very impressive.  What amount do you think it would take to make it impressive if we were to trying to impress them? I texted them back saying I thought going to CA for Christmas one year was fun.  Heather responded--We flew on Christmas Day from Kansas City and the flight attendant had a red bra on under white shirt-why do I remember that. Went to Coronado island that night to see fancy hotel but stayed at motel 6. New year eve we walked across Golden Gate Bridge. GratefulAmos says--I'm soooo glad for experiences I can remember and appreciate!  

Christmas question—What kind of person do you and I want to be? Not just at Christmas but all year or all our life?  I would guess that it's a “live possibility" that we all want to be good folks.  What do you think?  Listen folks, greedy Zaccheaus became generous Zaccheaus sooo we all can change.  It’s possible.  Such is life.

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

erv

MyFriendJean says--Reading gives us somewhere to go when we have to stay where we are.

P.S. And remember, it's only money! MasterCardVickie says--It's Christmas, you need to buy stuff!