spit it out

A friend tells me when I sorta kinda fumble with words—Spit it out erv! Remember folks, you won’t know if this It’s Saturday is for real until ya know it; ya never know until ya know about anything in life!  A member of our team said—erv, in Canada we have a statement that goes like this—Bull shit baffles the brain! Such is life.

Humor is a two-edge sword; it is fun, but it is misunderstood many times and sometimes it can hurt. For some folks they have no humor in their life; they just never laugh. I had a friend who is now deceased who never laughed.  He didn’t understand humor soooo I never used humor around him.  He just never got it. Why? I have no idea. I have another friend who seems to be always laughing (i.e. always soooo happy) and also makes me laugh. This friend is soooo much fun to be around. The gal who did our morning breakfast at our motel, Terry, was soooo happy.  I asked her if she is always this happy--pretty much, once in a while I get in a short funk!--She pointed to her name tag which under her name she had printed--Morning Sunshine.  I said--I like folks like you!  She was happy and proud to get that compliment (i.e. she should be).   

Kindness can not be misunderstood; it just spits out!  Soooo at the same motel breakfast I was wearing my Boston tee shirt and a couple of gals asked it I was from Boson.  They were from Maine and told me that I should come and visit Maine. I told a friend about their suggestion and we might just do that. These gals were soooooo kind and pleasant.  See how kindness and niceness affects folks. Huh, interesting.

Abraham Lincoln said—"Men are not flattered in being shown that there has been a difference of purpose between the Almighty and them.” Do you think that is funny?  Do you understand what he is saying? Was he serious, being humorous, or a little of both? Does it sting at all?  It is in the “wit of Lincoln” section of the book about him soooo…!

Personality can open doors, BUT only character can keep them open. ~ Elmer G. Leterman. Abraham Lincoln said—"You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.” I had a friend who is now deceased who told me once (i.e. he just spit it out) that he didn’t think he had any real friends; he said--I bought my friends, obligated folks to be my friends or forced them to be my friends. Ouchy ouchy! SweetJane says—If we just have one good friend, our whole life is soooo much better!

When coming back from CO I was in eastern CO on I-76 where there are only tumble weeds, cows and coyotes doing my standard 80 mph at about 7 in the morning when a high-end SUV with two high-end bikes on the back and a high-end wind dynamic cargo carrier on the top with Dallas County Iowa license plates passed me going 90+.  I thought, now that is how you make good time.  About 2 miles down the road I see this vehicle making a U-turn from the other direction through the median and takes off in front of me.  That can mean only one thing!  I go a few more miles and see the lights flashing down the interstate.  Yep, Mr. CO Highway Patrol was saying—Good morning Mr. Iowan, may I see your license and registration, and your proof of insurance, please! And the moral of this story is—You get to decide! Spit it out! Another team member told me that her dad would not tell us kids what to do. He would say--If you want to grow up to be an idiot, that is up to you!

When in Waukee, our 10-year old grandson Rookie asked his father and me if we were President what would be the #1 change you would try to make. I fumbled around and finally spit something out that wasn’t anything that really could be made into law (i.e. that we treat others better sooo we can trust each other). Soooo later that evening we had a family discussion about what everyone thought. Not everyone had the same idea.  Quite interesting! Great ideas! Of course, all those ideas would need to have a method of accomplishing them and then policing them. Reality is they ain’t goin’ happen! One reason is that there is toooo much money involved by money interest groups who have a lot of power. It's all about the money, don't kid yourself.

A friend sent me this.  There are two ways of exerting one's strength: One is pushing down, and the other is pulling up. ~ Booker T. Washington      Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up their companion. ~ Ecclesiastes 4:9-10   A good friendship/relationship is soooooo valuable, my opinion. If you have one good friend you are rich! Money can’t buy that! When I got back from AZ, the pilot light on my hot water heater was off.  I tried to light it but no go.  I called a friend, who can do anything, if he would try before I call the plumber.  He had no problem and had it going in a minute; I didn’t press the ignition button while holding down the pilot button.  He probably saved me a wad of money.  I hope I can help him someday. MissPerfect says—Helping each other makes good friendships/relationships.

A lot of you are good problem solvers, you just are!  I try to make problem solving a game: it's just more fun to do that for me.  My brother-in-law Larry is a great problem solver. He says he’s also very impatient with people who think out loud but never say anything (e.g. he sang and sings in their church choir for years and when the choir director would over talk everything, he would put a copy of “Auto Trader” in his music and read the car adds as she rambled on!).  See, he’s quite a problem solver! He made it a game! Sooooo we were going down I-75 on our way to FL and Larry says to me—erv, I am who I am and that’s just the way it is.  I said to him—And Larry make no mistake about it, you are really good at it!  And my kid sister, Doris, his wife, said—And he never changes! What a hoot!

We have 19 on our team with World Renewal of the CRC Christian Reformed Church denomination that are doing assessments of needs of hurricane Ian victims of 2022. We have heard many difficult stories of frustration, financial loss, and personal problems. Most of our team are members of the CRC (i.e. real folks with good hearts; my kind of folks).  World Renewal is well received in the disaster program world. They do an excellent job. We were told that we could ask if we could pray for the clients but did not have too. All the folks that I asked if I could pray with them, accepted. We were not pressured to push our faith. Saturday question—Do you think that method works well? This was a soft, gentle opportunity and experience.

Spit it out erv!  This is an opinion, opinions are just that, opinions, soooo they ain’t worth anything other than being fillers!  Soooo when doing assessments of hurricane victims’ damage, I again discovered that it’s best to listen. Don’t talk about ourselves but listen to them (i.e. our clients are the main event).  Some folks have a hard time with that as they want to be the star attraction. We were told that listening is the key component of doing a good evaluation for them. Makes sense to me. Soooo, I think we have many times tooooo high of expectations driven by our egos and also predeterminations of the way we think it should sound and be (i.e. not good). As I told my old golf buddies when they complained about their golf game—Lower your expectations and then you won’t be disappointed! I think I operate better when I take the “low key approach.” Saturday question—Is that approach being part of being humble?

Spit it out erv!  I have noticed, observed, and realized that all folks need help (i.e. me especially).  Some of us need different kinds of help than others. Some folks don’t have the knowledge, connections, or finances needed or the ability to know how to communicate to get help.  WE NEED TO HELP EACH OTHER I have relearned. And helping each other is such a great feeling.  If we just help ourselves (i.e. all about me and my ego) and not others, we are really missing the boat (i.e. my opinion). And especially if we help others who cannot help us back (i.e. that is a true gift, my opinion). CoachB says—When you learn how to be comfortable in your head you will never be disappointed and always will be comfortable.  I’m comfortable doing what I’m doing these two weeks.  A United Way reprehensive who is a great guy, told us that his wish for our team was that we could reenergize the hope of the folks that have lost hope.

Jeff, anybody can be a Jeff, says--Those who hope in the Lord . . . will soar on wings like eagles. (Isaiah 40:31). Emily Dickinson in what might be her most beloved poem, “Hope is the thing with feathers, uses a bird as a metaphor for hope, and goes on to say that hope not only perches in the soul but also “never asked a crumb of me.” Hope doesn’t cost anything, and, most importantly, as both Dickinson and Isaiah note, it can fly.

Sooooo last Sunday, we had a couple of hours soooo we went to Venice Beach.  It was fun.  On the way back we stopped in old town Venice for a few minutes.  I was buying a couple post cards and was checking out.  There was a customer in front of me soooo the clerk said I should go to the other clerk as she is free soooo I did. I said to her—the other clerk said I should see you as you are free (i.e. she interpreted free different than how I meant that she did not have a customer, she laughed). She asked if I wanted paper or plastic. I said—I don’t really care as I’m easy. She said—Aren’t we a pair, I’m free and you are easy!  We both laughed!

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

erv

MyFriendJean said—More ears and less mouth!