sincere

Inside this “It’s Saturday” there are 7 reasons (i.e. plus on bonus reason) why you want to be a good person.  Warning, they might be subliminal. LuckieEddie says—For some folks they could be as bold and glaring as Santa Claus and they wouldn’t catch on.  Ouchy ouchy!  And others folks, they are already such good folks (i.e. beyond believe).  Such is life.

I have a friend who has shown me a soft side of her that I really have never seen before (i.e. I have known her for a long time folks).  She has shown me her very good heart but she seems to have a struggle going on within herself.  I think she is a good person but also wants to be part of the social elite.  It seems to be a battle for her.  I think she exposed herself to me in a very sincere way.  She seems to be a mugrumper—her mug on one side of the fence and her rump on the other side.  She wants it both ways. I really think she has a battle going on in her heart.  I wish her the best in her struggle (i.e. image vs. what’s really important). 

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all. "One is Evil -  It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. "The other is Good -  It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith." The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?" The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed." 

I was eating our Thanksgiving feast at Heather and James’ place.  I commented several times as how good the food was.  It was really good.  Then Jessica, our daughter-in-law, said to me—erv, maybe you have been eating your own cooking toooo long!  She made me laugh.  After you have been having beans for a long time, good food tastes fine. 

This is shared with his permission. I was putting my street flip flops on after playing pickleball the other day.  A pb buddy was also doing the same.  I asked him what he was going to do today—going to take care of my 4 grand kids (i.e. ages 9 and below).  Their mother, my daughter, is having hysterectomy and having her ovaries removed at The University of Iowa Hospital.  Then he told me the story (i.e. very sincere).  He said his first wife died of breast cancer in her 40s.  Her mother also died of breast cancer in her 40s.  His daughter was tested and they found she tested positive for an abnormal BRCA gene.  The doctors told her she would die also in her 40s if she didn’t take some ‘forward looking’ action.  She had a double mastectomy and now had the hysterectomy.  The doctors said that she increased her chances to life by about 75%  Sooooo that sorta kinda made me think about them.  I prayed for her and her family.  The next time I played pb, he and I were putting on our gym shoes at the same time (i.e. happenstance, na, I don’t think sooooo), I asked how his daughter was and then told him how I thought of them and prayed for them.  He was very appreciative of my prayers. 

ItchieBitchie says—Maybe if we are sincere with ourselves, we might feel like this at Christmas time—Sometimes we wish God would make use be obedient, and at other times we wish He would leave us along.  Sounds crazy to ya? I read this while eating my oatmeal with half a banana on it—While it is true that knowing helps our faith, God cannot be fully known (1 Cor. 13:12). Hebrews 11:1 tells us faith is the evidence of things not seen. What we do know is that Jesus was wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger; what we cannot fathom is why God loved us enough to be wrapped in flesh to begin with. To fully embrace that mystery requires faith. To children, awe comes naturally, for there is so much they do not know. The fact that they are vulnerable and trusting leads Jesus to point to them as examples of the kingdom of heaven. On the other hand, Solomon concludes that increasing knowledge brings increasing sorrow (Eccl. 1:18—the footnote in my Bible says this—humanistic wisdom—wisdom without God—leads to grief and sorrow). We lose our sense of wonder as we grow older. The residue of the fall can speak more loudly than our hope. There is no medicine like hope, no incentive soooo great, no tonic soooo powerful as the expectation of something better tomorrow. 

SusieQ said that the speaker at our Christmas woman’s club gathering was lecturing on marriage and asked the audience how many of us wanted to “mother” our husbands during the Christmas season. One member in the back row raised her hand. ”You do want to mother your husband?” the speaker asked.“ “Excuse me” the woman echoed. “I thought you said smother.” Now that is being sincere folks. MissPerfect says—Frank, we have a problem; it would be a lot easier if I would lock you up in a cage for a couple of weeks during Christmas.  But of course, leave me the credit card.  10creditcardDebbie says--Now, that makes sense to me! Now that knocks my Christmas socks off.  Oh ya!

Christmas shopping is funny to me. GeorgeTheCrook says—It’s basically a scam.  It’s what marketing and retail is really good at.  They figure out how to fleece the Christmas giving mentality folks.  Some are a little easier to fool than others.  Like a three day sale only—BUT there will be another sale next week; there is always another sale folks (i.e. mattresses are always on sale—Kohls and Yonkers always have a sale).  I’m not knocking sales; I think you can save a lot of money by watching sales; but sometimes sales make folks buy stuff they don’t need just because it’s a sale.  My mentor use to say to me (i.e. facetiously I think) about some folks’ Christmas buying—Folks buy stuff they don’t need with money they don’t have to impress folks they don’t like! 

Our daughter, Heather, told us at Thanksgiving that she bought their kids their Christmas presents from Target. She recently got a text that all toys are 15% off.  Soooo she calls the store and asked if she can get the 15% discount.  No, was the reply.  Soooo she ordered them on line again to get the 15% discount/delivered to the store and then took the original ones back.  Most folks wouldn’t do this.  Marketing knows this (i.e. gottcha).  Heather maybe wouldn’t have either other than it was like $50.  Lalalalala-lalalalalala!

Some folks are sincere and others are not. That sure was a good talk pastor—real or fake. Your dress is really pretty—real or fake.  Boss, you are such a good person—fake or real. Thanks for the great time at the company Christmas party, boss—real or fake.  Thanks for the nice Christmas present mother-in-law—real or fake. Christmas is soooooo much fun—real or fake.  You get it folks.  Folks always don’t say what they mean.  Sometimes they are just being politically correct; sometimes they are just smoke blowers and sometimes folks are very sincere. CrazyMarvin says—Sometimes it’s hard to know what they are. 

I went and saw my 89 year old friend this week. I said, you don't have any Christmas decorations up--I do; here is my glass Christmas tree (i.e. a 10 inch glass tree that she turned on and it made different colors--it was pretty)--no big tree--no no, we never had one; I use to put candles with red lights in my windows; you remember them?--yes I do--but I haven't put them up for several years; maybe 6 years ago you said those red lights look like the red light district; soooo the next day I switched them all out with blue lights?  What a hoot!  I was just kidding her. Funny! She makes me laugh soooo many times.  She was sincere folks.

Sooooo when you do something for someone (e.g. give someone a gift) and don’t get a response, what does that mean.  I asked a friend what he thought why some don’t respond.  Here are some of his responses. They just aren’t response type folks. They really expected more; disappointed. Was humbled and don’t know how to respond. Just expect folks to give them stuff (i.e. are takers). BUT if gift givers give to be recognized or self-glorified, they have the wrong motive.  It’s not a business transaction (i.e. a gift doesn't have strings attached).  SusieQ says—That is why I like to give gifts anonymously.  My mentor would say to me—erv, it says in the Book—don’t let the right hand know what the left hand is doing.  Huh, interesting.  WorldClassLarry says—It’s such a great feeling to give a gift and have no one know you did it; just your good feeling (i..e. humble and sincere); and then just forget about it and look for the next opportunity. 

WildWillie says very sincerely—At this Christmas time, give a unique gift (e.g. be extremely open-minded, particularly when listening to somebody with whom you mostly disagree).  Psst! Now that will be interesting if we give it a try.  We just need to be humble and ask questions; we don’t have to agree.  Try being 10X more open-minded.  And do it sincerely; when people speak with sincerity, other folks can tell.  When it’s boiler plate, folks know that tooooo. CadillacJack says—Don’t let the giant step in front of you; just sincerely love someone. 

Are you sincerely contented?  Or are you faking it? How do you know when you are contented? What is the feeling? What makes you content? Will you ever be content? Does Christmas make you more content or less content? 

What is your first sincere thought about the picture on the left?  I took it off

a wall in the visitors’ center in Georgetown, CO this summer.  It just made me feel good.  What is your first reaction of the second picture I took of some Christmas decorations in Aplington (i.e. it made me smile).  What are your thoughts of it?

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

erv

MyFrieandJean says—Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.