Jan
25
2012
It is so easy to take your blessings for granted. Today I was grateful I could also buy some bananas along with a gallon of milk. It is near the end of the month and we are running out of cash. I was grateful I could buy what I could. It is always revealing what you would buy if you are down to your last dollar. It is so easy to take your blessings for granted. God owns everything. I had to remind myself of that.
Aug
24
2011
Joy is gratitude. It is looking at your life and every aspect of it and thanking the Lord for every simple thing He has given you. Sometimes it is others you need to give a simple “thank you”. God works through other people all the time. Don’t take any gift you have for granted. As well as all the simple pleasures that come your way. Joy is gratitude and thanking the Lord for the simplest gifts He has given you. He has given your life. And every morning you wake up you need to thank Him for every breath you take. Get in the habit of thanking others and the Almighty for every single gift. Life is composed of myriad details. And prayerfully thank someone for every detail of your life–every pleasure-every thing. He does not owe you anything. And He usually gives us abundance. Don’t be an ungrateful taker. Thank Him for every detail of your life. Joy will always follow gratitude.
Jan
27
2010
The love we share of music is only by serendipity. My wife and I both intensely love music. We grew up listening to the same artists and groups. She is also a musician, which I am not. The only area she knows better than me is R & B, which I never went out of my way to listen to.
She is the recipient of my DJing every day. And to me there is no greater joy than to share a beautiful piece of music, especially something she never heard. Both of our tastes in music are eclectic: we listen to a broad range of music.
I was responsible for her falling in love again with Peter, Paul & Mary. She listened to the ninety minutes I put together of them on cassette repeatedly.
I have put together dozens of anthologies on cassette culled from my extensive music collection. I must do a good job. The cuts usually blend pretty well and she can’t tell always tell when they have come from different albums.
I have always gone deeply in particular groups and individual performers I have loved. I sometimes surprise her with the material I have recorded of performers she knew well.
I turned her on to British folk rock–a world she had no idea of–Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span. And performers from England like Sandy Denny, Richard Thompson and John Tams for starters.
She was the third woman I turned on to Richard Thompson. The second one divorced me. The first one was a friend. And we have gone to several of his concerts. She has fallen in love with his songwriting and guitar playing. We never get tired of him.
To be able to share my deep love of music with my wife is a gift. And I never forget that. It is a real treat. When I am home, the stereo usually is on although I have to admit when I go out, silence reigns. I never take that love we share for granted. It is a real gift.
Jan
27
2010
Why you should not count the days until… You miss too much. You can’t focus on the now. You can but you have to be very careful you do not lose the moment, what is happening right in front of you.
Your best times are always now so look around, pay attention. Enjoy your present situation. It will only come once. Then it is gone forever.
Don’t be like the ostrich whose neck is buried in the ground. Soak in the present moment fully. If you want to visualize a better future fine but don’t miss the present. You may find out the future you have put off never comes. So don’t count your days until…
The best time of your life is now. Thank the Lord for today. It is all you have. You have to thank the Almighty for every breath He gives you and not take your days for granted.
Jan
22
2010
Love your pets while you still have them. We put to sleep Slinky, one of our cats. It was really hard. She was this timid, really affectionate black cat I had since a kitty.
I woke up this morning and she was no longer there. She was in heaven. I would do any thing to see her again. At least, she was no longer suffering.
Lynelle and I gently stroked her body as she lay on the table as the vet administered the drug that put her to sleep.
She was this innocent gentle cat that loved to hang out in the bathroom window and never got enough of our strokes. I had taken her for granted.
I wish I had appreciated her more when she was on this earth. I have now seven cats and four dogs. I no longer want to take any of my pets for granted. They are only on loan to us. As every thing else.
Dec
30
2009
Every day I have to count my blessings. It is so easy to take the bounty God has given you for granted. At the moment I have four dogs. You never know when they are going to outlive you.
Usually it is the opposite: you outlive them but you never know. Life is, indeed, very precious. I am enjoying all four dogs at the moment.
There is Tilla who greets me every day eagerly. He and I have a special relationship. I never thought there would be another dog like Daisy who was the first dog I raised from a pup. She usually did not take her eyes off of me. I mourned when she died of cancer.
But then Tilla came along. Unlike Daisy, he is eager to please, although a scoundrel. We built an extension on our fence, at considerable expense, for he liked jumping it. The only dog who could.
We had one visit from the local warden when one neighbor complained about one of his escapades. I know he is only on loan to me, will not be around for ever. I will enjoy him now. He is a blessing.
There is his sister, the other pup we kept, Coco who is a real darling. She has a real sweet personality although she can be quite insistent when she want to go out. I know she is, also, on loan.
Life is very fleeting and I will enjoy these two dogs while I have them. Nothing is forever. And that includes my life too. I will try to be appreciative of all my blessings. Every thing is by grace.
Dec
19
2009
It is never too late to say “thank you” to your wife. In every marriage you fall into tasks: you divide the work among you. Each person does certain things. It is often tasks we like doing.
It is easy to take the jobs your mate does routinely for granted. My wife loves the computer and keeps it running smoothly. She also balances the checkbook and does our laundry.
It is very easy to take these things for granted. Somehow I have to look at the things she does, stop taking them for granted and also acknowledge and thank her.
It is never too late to do this. There is nothing worst then a disgruntled mate. Everyone wants to feel appreciated. Noticing what your mate does is a good start.
Dec
10
2009
The new can opener worked perfectly the first time. Lately our can opener which my wife has had for over twenty years was not working properly and we had “to play with it” every time we used it.
A few days ago I remembered I had another can opener which I used for camping. I looked at it and realized it looked brand new. My wife had made me buy one solely for camping.
And this one worked perfectly. The joy of small things. Isn’t life composed of many small pleasures. The big things only come along once in awhile. And they fade in importance very quickly.
And it is so easy to take every day pleasures for granted until they are gone. Every thing is by grace.
Nov
29
2009
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.
Nov
21
2009
Relax, you do not have to do it alone! The whole weight of the world is not on your shoulders. That is not the way the universe is designed.
Every person has responsibilities and you have to do your part, whatever it is but no one is totally independent.
It is all relative. Each person is dependent on the other. The whole world is interdependent on each other for supplying each others’ needs. You need people to maintain your electricity, your road.
You need farmers to raise your crops, some of which ends up in your local supermarket. The material for your cell phone had to come from somewhere. There has to be towers built to transfer the signal. And that is just the start. Are you getting the idea?
And some of the people are so disconnected with this. I had a customer complain once because there were flecks of dirt on her bunch of celery. Like it was revolutionary for a person to discoverer that food is usually grown in dirt.
We take so many things for granted. The person who thinks he/she is independent of others is nursing an illusion. You depend on others for all kinds of services.
There is an upside to this: you do not have to do it alone. And that realization can be freeing. Just do the part you are called to. Others will do their part in the scheme of things. And you can relax as a result.
Aug
25
2009
Every moment is precious. And it is so easy to take your life for granted and every ability you have. Every thing is a privilege until you lose it and realize what you had was really on loan. Everything is by grace. And to the degree you can consciously realize every moment is precious the less you will take for granted the gifts granted to you are only by grace. Every sunset and sunrise you come across are only by grace. Every moment is precious. And you have to remind yourself of this over and over.
Aug
25
2009
Every thing is a privilege and it is so easy to take every privilege we have for granted until we lose it. I was so used to have the internet until our computer broke down. Now there were all kinds of things I could no longer do: for one I no longer had E Mail, something I use every day.
I did not have access to my stored files. I could no longer access the internet. All of this I took for granted when the truth was every thing I have is a privilege. Every thing is by grace.
There are so many other things that are privileges, simple things: like being able to type, talk, move. My aunt lost all those abilities when she had a severe stroke. Everything is a privilege and often we don’t understand that until we lose that privilege. Everything is by grace. And may I never forget that.
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