convenience

ItchieBitchie, who usually finishes last in the the fastest heat, says—Beware of telling an improbable truth.  I hope that doesn’t apply to this “It’s Saturday.” You get to decide what an improbable truth is.  Saturday question—Do you trust your decisions? Does your history show that? 

I was asking our daughter for some advice recently and she said—Dad, why do you ask for advice; you don’t listen to it anyway.  I think I listen to advice from a lot of folks, I really do. I was telling a friend about this, and he said—erv, I wonder if Heather is right, maybe you listen to her advice, but you don’t follow her advice! Saturday question—Do we only follow advice when it is covenant and we agree with it and like it or when we are forced to face the facts? Ouchy ouchy!  I heard some advice a friend got from her mentor when she was thinking about having a relationship with a certain guy--If you don’t hate his ass today there will be a day when you will! Yikes!

It appears in our culture of affluent America, that many folks would rather pay more for the convenience than do the work and save the money.  I hear folks say—I don’t have time to do that, I would rather pay the extra money to have someone else do it for me.  This is said and done by folks who can afford it and by those folks that can’t really.  It’s the convenience of the matter, folks will pay sometimes huge amount of money for the convenience (i.e. someone else to wash their car or buy their groceries or change the oil in their lawnmower).  GeorgeTheCrook, who always arrives late at the office, but makes up for it by leaving early, says—C’mon now, don’t act soooo confused, you all pay for convenience! We live in a very affluent society. 

Tony Dungy says—"Many people say they regret doing the wrong thing, but I rarely if ever have heard someone say they regret doing the right thing. It’s always worth it to do what’s right.”  My Mom, Anna would say to me—erv, always do what is right.  I tried but didn’t always.  I did suffer the consequences through the years, oh ya!  JoeCool says—It’s much more popular and many times it looks cool to do the convenient thing than do the right thing; that is why I’m looked at as being cool! A friend told me that one of their friends lost his wife by death and right away looked for another wife.  He got right after it.  Wow!  Usually that is disaster but not always.  ANYWAY, he met this gal on Eharmony I think and did their compatibility survey, and they were like 90 some percent compatible soooo they got married. That sounds convenient!

Had a classic experience recently a.k.a. an icon.  Was invited to a friend’s family birthday party of cake and ice cream.  They had part of their family to celebrate their mother’s, grandmother’s, wife’s birthday including a fiancée and girlfriend.  There were 9 of us including 3 generations with ages from 17 to 76.  We sat around the dining room table and laughed a lot and talked about maybe serious stuff like PDA (i.e. Public Display of Affection).  We pretty much agreed that it is not acceptable and dangerous for sure.  Of course, we are all pretty conservative and from Butler County.  Maybe more liberal folks from the metros might have different onions.  haha  Such a great experience that no way it could have been planned; it just happened.  This was a classic that might be remembered for ever (i.e. one of a kind).  It was that good. What a hoot! Will never be reproduced. Doesn't happen every day. My opinion. What fun! 

We demand that everything is convenient, or we will go or do something else (i.e. most times anyway).  Do you think Amazon, eBay and Wal-Mart know this?  Of course they do.  It has become big business.  Look at the large buildings and infrastructure they have developed for emotional buying.  And free shipping if you spend soooo much.  Ya gotta buy more ‘cause you save more!  Press two buttons and you own it! Such is life in the convenient world.  Bingo! I stayed in a motel in NM, and I checked in on line and checked out on line, slick as a whistle, very convenient.  It almost seems like they know what I’m thinking! They probably do! Gottcha!

BigPete says—If you are doing stupid stuff, stop now. Go no farther.  Turn around. Quit doing what you are doing. Make a 180 degree turn. I’ve had enough.  It’s not going in the right direction.  I’m heading into trouble.  Simply put up your hand and say--NO!  Stop the monster.  As my deceased friend, Paul, would say to me—erv, decisions have consequences and guess who gets to make the decisions! Bingo! JoeBlow says--Try to stop doing our own stupid stuff!  It’s actually simple and quite convenient.  And to top it off, it feels really good!

There usually is a lot of hissing and spatting a.k.a. pretending from the little cats but who are the big cats that roar and win the battle (i.e. tare us apart).  We seem to make big cats out of small cats in our lives (i.e. at least I do at times) that can tear us apart internally.  Not good! We have a tendency to make a mountain out of a mole hill.  Dr.J says--Jesus had a way of making the complex simple. For example, He taught with parables that contained cultural references easily understood by His listeners. When it came to simplifying the enormous code of Old Testament laws, He reduced the approximately 613 laws down to two: Love God (the first four of the Ten Commandments) and love others (the last six of the Ten Commandments) (Matthew 22:34-40). Saturday question—Are we still in the process of moving from the Old Testament to the New Testament? It sounds pretty simple but hard to apply most of the time, maybe. For goodness sakes alive, what is going on here!

CommonJosie says—Some folks are passionate about some things and couldn’t care less about others and another person is just the opposite.  I have a friend who is a “fishing lure acholic.”  He just keeps buying and buying and buying.  He knows it but just loves it.  He will buy anything that makes it convenient to catch more and bigger fish.  I’m not making this up. Oh no. He told it right to me.  He actually seems to be a normal person as far as I can tell! Sooooo what is your obsession?

 Proverbs 16:18 says—Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall! Yikes! That sounds terrible.  First Peter 5:5 says—God, HE-DA-MAN, opposes the proud. What’s the opposite of pride? This is pretty philosophical; you might not want to think about it (i.e. it might hurt your brain).  I understand. CoachB says—"Train your heart! What we want is often not what we need, and a wise person focuses and trains their heart to what they need instead of necessarily wanting what the lower nature says they want. It takes some elevation and some wisdom to distinguish between the two of what we want and what we need. And generally, what we need in life and far too often what we want is disaster.” JoeBlow says—There are times we should bite the bullet and try to figure this out! MissPerfect says--It’s a mindset.  Are you trying to fool other folks?

MyNeighborNorthofTown says--“Not one of us is as smart as all of us.” Because we all have our strengths and areas of expertise. Individually we may be able to accomplish some good things; but put different people together who eagerly pool our respective abilities and we can move from good work to a pure masterpiece. I complimented John about his talk. He said it was a group effort. I had all our staff meet and we brainstormed.  They gave my examples, stories, and expressions that I wasn't all excited about, but they were the best.  Mine weren’t near as good!

I’ve (i.e. erv) been called a racehorse by some of you, known for galloping into life like a warrior steed into the heat of battle (i.e. too eager and do it toooo fast without thinking enough). Everyone has a breaking point, however, and the more I age the faster I reach it. These days (i.e. I’m learning I think), I fear I might more closely resemble a newborn foal, struggling to untangle awkward legs and find the necessary muscles to stand. I think I’m becoming more laid back I told a friend recently.  I think I have more the attitude of--Let me drop everything and work on your problem. SusieQ says--erv, you don't have enough time to fix my problems! You have no idea!

The convenience of security is very important to many.  I have heard from several women that the park I wintered in gives them security. It is gated and folks look out for each other (i.e. many of the parks are this way).  This is very important for single women I heard.  Also, I heard from some women that a man gives them security as well.  Another part of security is money.  I have learned that if a woman was to pick between two guys each being 8.5s (i.e. that is probably the max any woman thinks of a guy in our culture today it seems as told to me by some friends at church last Sunday—a married friend said—we love our husbands but don’t always like you guys, I think she was serious) but if one had money and the other one didn’t, which one would she take. Da! I had a little experience in seeing woman taking the 6.5 guy over the 8.5 guy if the 6.5 guy had money and the 8.5 didn’t.  Oh, the security of the convenience of money.  But at some point, some gals really don’t care at all, they just want the companionship of a guy and vice versa.  They don’t care how big his belly is or what his check book balance is! BUT some women think some guys are just looking for a nurse and a purse. I reread once again while eating my oatmeal with half a banana it—Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other to succeed. If one person fails, the other can reach out and help. But someone who fails alone is in real trouble.

 It is soooo convenient to say the right words but much harder to really mean what we say.  Have you ever noticed that?  A friend told me that she had to laugh at her friend who said she is not prejudice about people—I don’t treat that other group of folks any different, I like those other folks! Saturday question—Do you treat the vulnerable and marginalized folks (i.e. those whom the our culture ignores or despises) different than your social group? Sooooo if you go to church, does your church treat different folks differently?  I was told by a successful pastor that his church tries to treat all folks the same without exception (i.e. no elite holy huddle).  But it is hard. I wonder where he got that model!  Is that called servant-leadership? He also said—If you want to have a great church, it has to act that way.  How does it feel if you are not welcomed or accepted? How does it feel when you are welcomed and accepted?  I have felt both emotions. I preferred to be welcomed and accepted.  It seems to me that the great folks know the combination for greatness or is it maybe they don’t know it but that is what makes them great! Could be! But I don’t know for sure. Maybe we don’t always give admiration to the feet washers but we do to the high-profile folks instead (i.e. but we say we are not prejudice).  I don’t know about that! What do you think? That is what I thought. Such is life.

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

erv

MyFriendJean said--Enjoy life, this is not a rehearsal.