Siggy's Blurbs: Siggy's Edge of Country …

Your mettle is always tested when something goes wrong.  It is fine and dandy when everything is going smoothly and up to your expectations but when you have a problem with someone over something you did you are tested.

A quick analogy is the test of a good company.  It is not when everything is going right but when you have a problem with them.  Do they treat you fairly and with honesty?

Or do the people who represent them retreat in lies or in behavior that is defensive?  Do they own up to their mistakes and try their best to correct or apologize for the inconvenience they caused by a faulty product or bad service?

A person’s good name is everything.  And their character is always tested when there is a problem.  So think about that.  So be careful how you react to someone in that situation.

Tags: a good company, bad service, correct the problem, fair, faulty product, honesty, own up to mistakes, test of good character, things go wrong, your character, your good name, your mettle
Posted in balance, knowledge&learning, life, money, relationships, time, wisdom | No Comments »

Tragedy befalls people everywhere.  I just came from my small church this Sunday morning.  I talked to a lady who was going through chemotherapy at least a second time:  her cancer returned again.

We were told that in our congregation a four year old boy’s brain tumor returned and he would be operated again next week.

You do not have to live very long to discover somewhere someone is dealing with some difficulty.  The only question is whether they face their difficulties with courage and honesty.

Someone is always coming down with something.  There are accidents.  There is illnesses and disease.  Tragedy happens every day to someone.

Every day someone lives, someone dies.  It is the same everywhere.  Though, that knowledge does not make it any easier, especially when you are that person.  It is something you have to work through.  And it takes time.

Tags: accidents, brain tumor, cancer, chemotherapy, church, congregation, courage, dealing with difficulty, disease, four year old boy, God, honesty, illness, life and death, operation, someone dies everyday, tragedy
Posted in children, death, God, health, knowledge&learning, life, local, time | 5 Comments »

I want to thank the people who are in my life.  I know most people will never read this and I will leave out people and I realize Thanksgiving has passed but it is never too late to do this.  All these people take the “extra step” and I do not want to take any of them for granted.

First the medical team

(1) Dr. Hume for your kindness and helpfulness

(2) Dr. Cornelius for your patience

(3) Dr. Blake for her thoroughness

(4) Dr. Mital for your ability to listen

Then,  P & R and Bob and his team who takes care of our cars and keeps them running smoothly, I thank you for your honesty and competence and for standing up to your work even when it costs you and most of all for always giving me the time of day when I have a question about my vehicle

For both of my sisters Fran and Marilyn who are always there when I need them

For Tony for your support:  you know who you are

For Sara, who I have known for over fifteen years and is one of the reasons I still write for her encouragement never abated

For the audience at the local coffeehouse who laughed at my material encouraging me to continue to find the humorous in everyday situations

For Elizabeth Yon wherever you are and the years you spent moderating our writing group

My two kids who years ago I thought I never would have but they came and have blessed me immeasurably

All the many people who God put in my life including those from my small church who have blessed me with their presence

To Sonya who welcomes everyone at the local post office and gives me one more reason why I want to stay in my small town and Perry county

And most of all for my wife who inspires me and still makes me laugh after all these years and came into my life when I was not looking, who thinks she is better than me at Scrabble (she did lose the first ten games she played against me).  As an editor she has no equal.  My website and blog would never have come into being if it was not for her (she is the webmaster).  I “pop” out my bed each morning because of her.  And she bakes a pretty “mean” apple pie.  She gives me a reason to cook.  And that is no small thing.  And after six years she still wants to sleep in our bed.  I call her “serendipity” although she can really be stubborn (for that matter so can I); nevertheless, I thank the Lord every day for her.  I did nothing to deserve her.

Tags: apple pie, audience, blessed, blog, car mechanic, cars, church, coffeehouse, competence, cooking, doctor, editor, encouragement, find the humor, friends, God, honesty, inspires me, makes me laugh, my kids, my wife, post office, Scrabble, serendipity, sisters, small town, stubborn, take for granted, take the extra step, thank people, thank the Lord every day, thank-you, thanksgiving, the Lord, those who serve, webmaster, website, writer, writers group, writing
Posted in balance, beauty, children, God, health, humor, knowledge&learning, life, local, love, marriage, mental health, relationships, time, wisdom, writing, your job/mission/profession | No Comments »

Today is Father’s Day:  it is not a given:  you earn it.  You earn it by doing your job right, supporting your family, going to work every day, even when you do not feel like it.

You earn it by spending time with your kids, day in day out.  Being a father is a privilege.  It is not simply genetics.  It is loving your kids even when they “mess up”.

You know damn well you are flawed.  Being a father is apologizing to your kids when you made a mistake.  God knows, we all err.

Being a father is encouraging each kid to follow his/her dreams even if that was not a path you would have followed but each kid has their own dream.

Being a father is encouraging your kid when they fall down and encouraging them to get up again and not give up.

There are so many things a father does.  Maybe the most important thing a father can do is to set the example for them to follow.  There is no more important thing a parent can do than the right thing even when it costs.  Honesty and integrity have their price.

Being a parent is forgiving your mate when he/she has made a mistake.  Being a parent (and father) is loving your wife at all costs.  Maybe that is the greatest example you can set.  Transmit fidelity and trust and love.  I can not sum up being a father in three more important words than that.

Maybe I will add another:  integrity, fidelity, trust and love.  Transmit all those things to your children and you have succeeded in your role as a father.  Being a father is a lifetime occupation.  You are in it for the long haul.  A lifetime.

Tags: apologize for mistakes, being a father, do the right thing, don't give up, encouragement, fall down and get up, Father's Day, fidelity, follow dreams, forgiveness, genetics, go to work, God, honesty, integrity, lifetime occupation, long haul, love, love your wife, loving your kids, made a mistake, privilege, set an example, spend time with your kids, support your family, trust, we all err, we are all flawed, your mate
Posted in children, God, knowledge&learning, life, love, marriage, relationships, time, wisdom, your job/mission/profession | No Comments »

Love is everything.  Strip away everything from you–all your material wealth, your health.  That is all that remains–love.  And some people are so stingy with it.  You can not run out of love.

It comes from the Source–a bottomless pit known as the Almighty.  He never runs out of love to give.  If you continually tap the source, you will never run out of love.  There is not an finite amount.

Never give up a chance to love another.  This world is full of people who are starving for love, people who never had an ear to listen.

Never walk away when you could have given something valuable to another.  That is all any person remembers–how much they were loved by you.

It really does not matter how much money you made, or how many things you accumulated.  People always respond to genuineness–honesty and kindness.  That is all they remember from you.

You can never have too many friends or ever turn down a chance to make another friend.

That is all that remains when everything is stripped from you–love.  That is all people respond to and remember.  Love.  So be careless.  Scatter your love like Johnny Appleseed did his seeds all over the country.

Tags: friends, God, honesty, Johnny Appleseed, kindness, love, love is everything, never run out of love, starving for love, The Almighty
Posted in beauty, God, knowledge&learning, life, love, marriage, relationships, time, wisdom | No Comments »

Making love (the actual physical act) takes very little time in the scheme of things.  Compare the time spent in that opposed to a twenty-four hour day–it is a very small part of your day, week.

Whether you get there is another question.  If I do not treat my wife right the whole day, she will not feel inclined to me even touching her.  Sex is only the tip of the iceberg.

For that matter sex is far more than the physical act, intercourse or even coitus.  It is how you look at each other, talk to one another.  It is communication.  It is working things out between the two of you.

So much is made of it in our society.  Sex is used to sell everything:  cars, soap, you name it.  People fall casually in and out of bed in movies, TV.  Yet we are so puritanical about it.

Sex is really any exchange between the sexes.  From a look to a soft word.  And sex without affection soon runs its course.  What most people do not recognize is we learn about sex and our relationship to our bodies and others from the very beginning when we are in the womb.

Sex is not the most important factor in a relationship though it is extremely private and the only reason in the Bible divorce is permitted is adultery.  The bond of sex is sacred.  And when it is broken, that bond is very difficult to repair and mend.

Sex is only one facet of a relationship.  Honesty and affection are so much more important.  Being able to converse with one another, finding each other interesting after years of being together is so much more important.  Your mate ought to retain some mystique.  I am convinced the institution of marriage was put on this earth for only one purpose:  to get beyond our selves and teach us to love.  Sex is only one way to do that.  Everything else leads to that.

Tags: a look, a soft word, adultery, affection, any exchange between the sexes, Bible, bond of sex is sacred, communication, God, honesty, love, making love, my wife, mystique, relationships, sex, sex is communication, sex used to sell everything, teach us to love
Posted in God, humor, knowledge&learning, life, love, marriage, relationships, time, wisdom | No Comments »