rats and more rats

When I was a kid growing up on our farm a mile and quarter south of Roseland, MN we would shell our ear corn that was stored in cribs usually in the winter or spring.  We hired a guy in our community who had a sheller and sometimes the neighbors would come over to help.  It was very common back then. One event of corn shelling was when we got to the bottom of the crib was killing the rats and mice.  We always had cats and dogs on the farm soooo we didn’t have very many but some farmers really had a problem with rats.  I remember one time when a neighbor had a rat crawl up on the inside of his pant leg.  I thought that was soooo funny but he didn’t. Oh, those rats are always creepy to me!

When I think of rats I think of a rodent that is dirty and a disease carrier (i.e. a very negative feeling). I think of them in dirty and poor situations. We hear the statement—rat infested—which makes me get goose bumps, yucky.  We also hear some folks called rats, dirty stinken rats!  Ouchy ouchy! You know any folks that you think are dirty stinken rats? Regular rat finks?

AverageJoe, who lives on Easy Street, says--There are a lot of rats running around such as disagreements, divisions, trials etc. which can nibble away at our peace. Pretty ratty for sure!   The Lord gives a zestful peace the world cannot understand or give and which the world can never remove! That is the poison that can kill those rats, my opinion.  Rats have incredible fecundity. Rats begin breeding as soon as five weeks of age and are fertile every three weeks. Pregnancy lasts about three weeks, and litter size typically ranges from 6 to 20 babies. JoeSixPack says—I wish my money would reproduce that fast. Rats! My money that I have in the stock market seems to de-produce.  It’s a ratty feeling!

Folks beware of intoxicants. They are rats in folks’ heads.  Intoxicants make folks think they can do stuff that they can’t really do, at least not very well.  ItchieBitchie, who you should be careful of or he'll beat the snot out of a ya, says—I’m not a very good singer but when I’m drunk, I think I really sound good but in reality, I'm don't; I just think I do and then I usually have to suffer the consequences.  I talked to a gal who was many 45 who had a big boot on her foot and the part of her leg while in a hospital bed.  She told me she broke her foot and they had to put screws and a plate in it—sooooo what happened—my boyfriend and I were arguing and either he punched me, or I fell backwards from him pushing me and broke it; we were both drunk soooo I can’t really remember—that being drunk isn’t good a.k.a. rats—tell me about it. We had a nice conversation and we ended up praying together. Quite an experience for both of us let me tell ya! Bravo!

Now that sounded the alarm (i.e. oh rats) but we don’t pay attention to alarms anymore. Alarms don’t mean anything to us.  Basically, they are just a nuisance soooo we just turn them off unless it’s on the corn planter. When the alarm goes off, it means it’s not working, something is wrong Rats! CrazyMarvin says—I don’t care if the alarm is going off, we are going to do it the same way as we have always done it ‘cause we like it and and it feels good to us.  We don’t care even if it leads to death, we are going to continue to do it.  Soooo be it! But CrazyMarvin, there must be a reason why the alarms keep going off! Joni Eareckson-Tada says--"We succumb to numbness. We tend to forget we live under a thick layer of moral corruption."

Recently I said to a friend—I haven’t seen you all summer; what’s going on anyway?  They told me what was going on in their life.  They were hurting and told me very honestly and from the bottom of their heart.  I listened sincerely and bled for them. Wow! They are not blabber mouths but shared with me very directly and trusting. FlipThePancake. I know folks that babble all the time about themselves pertaining to stuff that isn’t important with the motive of self-glorifying themselves; they seem to like attention. Folks just blow them off, pay no attention to them (i.e. those folks wear big cowboy hats but own no cattle). I listen to some folks intently about business and some not at all.  Some have great credibility and some who have actually none at all, just blowing smoke.  Sometimes those two folks might say the same thing, but no one will pay any attention to one but to the other they will (i.e. when E.F. Hutton speaks, folks listen). It seems quite often, the one who has credibility doesn’t say much (i.e. stands tall) and the one that thinks they always have the answers and says a lot, doesn't. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out! I recently asked a friend/pastor how their church is doing—not very well—why—we have good folks of leadership except one person and that person runs the show (i.e. thinks he knows all the answers but doesn’t) and the others just let him do it as they don’t want to do the work; he is leading us in the wrong direction and the others are letting him do it; it appears he is ruining our church, anyway folks are sure leaving)!  Rats!

Words can be hurting or can be soooo encouraging. They can even be the same words said by different folks or said in different ways.  Now ain’t that the truth!  Some folks can tear us down and some can lift us up.  Sometimes it’s just how some folks strut around that turns us off.  I remember this story of years ago, maybe 35 years ago. Arlene would bring the kids over each Saturday morning to my office as I worked Saturdays back then. We would go and have a pancake at the little restaurant across the street. One Saturday morning, this gal got up to go to the bathroom and strutted across the restaurant and everyone watched her, I mean everyone. You can guess why!  Another gal could have gone to the bathroom, and no one would have noticed.  And I remember that of 35 years ago! Why would I remember her! I read this in one of Louis L'Amour's novels this week--I still didn't like him much, he was too durned sure of himself. I couldn't see where he was so high an' mighty!

This was written by Rick Boxx--Although strategy was an important part of Churchill’s success, his best talent was his wise use of words. In fact, his skill at verbal communication became Britain’s best weapon. Because of his careful selection of words, Churchill knew how to inspire people and rally them around unpopular ideas. Here is a sampling of some of the famous statesman’s most notable and sometimes humorous quotes:  “Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”  “Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.” “Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.”  “It is not enough that we do our best; sometimes we must do what is required.”  And perhaps Churchill’s best-known statement, made in 1941 during the midst of World War 11: “Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never – in nothing, great or small, large, or petty – give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.” Each of those statements provokes much food for thought. The British leader certainly understood the power of words. But he was hardly the first person to recognize that. Thousands of years earlier, King Solomon of ancient Israel declared, “The words of a person’s mouth are deep waters; The fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook” (Proverbs 18:4). Some verses later, Solomon also observed, “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit” (Proverbs 18:21). Bravo!

Chuck Swindoll in his Book, David (i.e. which I really enjoyed and suggest you read, very good, my opinion) says—You move along in life and now find yourself slowly becoming shelved and the younger ones are taking charge and moving on. How quickly age takes over! James Dobson puts it beautifully—About the time our face clears up, our mind gets fuzzy.  Just about the time we get our act together, we’re too old to pull it off! Pretty good huh!  ANYWAY, he is saying we still can use our talents to help the younger folks pull it off.  Maybe be an encourager.  Saturday question—Are you any good at that? Do you do any encouraging? Or are you more the complainer type? MissPerfect, who is the founder of disinformation, says—erv erv, I’m more the do nuttin type; it works for me. I had a friend tell me recently that she discontinued being around a friend as she just started bashing folks all the time; it was such a negative that I couldn’t handle.  Bravo!

I want to share a "friend story."  I was working on a “bird project of which my mentor started maybe 20 years ago.” A friend helped me refurbish the martin house that my deceased mentor put on the golf course.  We completed the work, but I had to paint it and then it was ready to put back up on the 10-foot pole.  The house is rather large, and I was not certain I wanted to do it by myself.  I didn’t want to ask this friend to help me any more as he is a busy person. Soooo, I decided I would find another friend to help me as I didn’t want to get hurt. Guess what, low and behold, that busy friend called me and said—erv, I was thinking about you and was wondering if I could help you mount that martin house on the pole?  Now folks, that is a friend.

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

erv

MyFriendJean says--Love doesn't make the world go 'round. Love is what makes the ride worth while.