More then Birds and Flowers!

Luke 12:22-34 (NIV)

^“22 Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. ²³ For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. ²⁴ Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! ²⁵ Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? ²⁶Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

²⁷ “Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ²⁸ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! ²⁹ And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. ³⁰ For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. ³¹ But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

³² “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. ³³ Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. ³⁴ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

The Menace of the Shopping Cart

Straight from TPA’s Pen

Do you ever have situations where you ask: “Why do people do that?”  It is something that seems meaningless and without reason? We all question the decisions of politicians, lawyers, judges, celebrities, and professional athletes.  However, for the last few years, I have been questioning a particular action of grocery shoppers.  I know that sounds a little off, but allow me to explain.  The action that grocery shoppers do that puzzles me is what they do with the shopping carts.

A lot of people use metal shopping cart when shopping.  Grocery stores or places like Wal-Mart provided corrals in the parking lot to place the carts after they get finished.  Yet when most people get done shopping, they leave the carts loose in the parking.  This is what puzzles me.  The loose shopping cart could be five feet from the corral.  Yet, people still leave it loose instead of putting it into the cart.  Shopping carts do damage to cars every year.  21st Century Insurance recently did a commercial about shopping carts.  There are days, when I have extra time, that I will go through the parking lot a just collect loose carts.

So, my question is: Why do people do that?  Why do people not put the shopping carts ion the corral?  What do you think?  I want your opinion.

May God Bless You Always!

The Bizarre Side Effects Warning of Chantix

Straight from TPA’s Pen

So, I was watching television a couple nights ago when an advertisement for the quit-smoking drug Chantix came on.  I was only vaguely pay attention until they started listing the possible side effects.  I was puzzled the first time I heard it and looked it up.  I took this from the official Chantix Website (http://www.chantix.com/side-effects-safety-info.aspx).  Does any thing here sound off to you?

Return to the Banquet

Hey everyone,

Sorry I that have not written in a while.  It has been a big transition moving my old life in Missouri to my new life in Tennessee.  However, I have not regretted the change.  I have experienced some growth in several areas of my life and some big mountains to transverse.  For example, one of the biggest mountains right now is the lack of an income.  I have been search for a job and been pray for God to provide me with an income.  I have not found a job yet, but I know God has an income out there for me.  I trust the Lord and thank Him in advance for what He will do.

Well, I know sounds strange to some people, but writing helps me to release stress.  It can be poems, roleplays, articles, or anything at all.  When I enjoy creating thinks in my mind and then putting it on paper.  So, I have decided to try blogging again.  I am not going to set any kind of time frame like promising once a week or day or whatever.  Whenever I feel like writing I will and when I do not feel like it I will not write.

Type of Fear: Please, Sir, I Want Some More.

Charles Dickens is one of the most well-known English authors of the 1800s.  So well written were his books, that some of Charles Dickens works are studied my middle and high school students through the United States today.  Some Dickens’ most famous books include A Christmas Carol, Great Expectations, Tale of Two Cities (one of my favorite novels), David Copperfield, and The Adventures of Oliver Twist.  In The Adventures of Oliver Twist, Oliver Twist says one of the most famous lines in all of literature.  I will set the scene:

Type of Fear:The Most Difficult Step

In the movie Selena, Selena and other members of her band visit an amusement park.  As the group is walking through the park they notice someone bungee jump from a crane.  One of Selena’s friends dares her to try it.   Selena gets her harness on and she waves to her friends as the crane rises into position.  The crane operator opens the gate at the top.  As Selena looks down you see a scared expression appear on her face.  The operator says something quite profound as he tells Selena “Come on, the hardest part is letting go.“

The Adventure: Part #2–The Road to God’s Call

When I last left this story, I had a Bachelor’s Degree in History, a certification to teach 9-12 social studies, and God had given me a job in an 6-8 middle school.  Actually there were a lot of new things about my job at the middle school.  First, this was my first full-time job in education.  Second, this was a brand new middle school with a new team of teachers.  Third, this new middle school had a brand new building principal.  God was to teach me a lot things at this school and not everything I learned was on the surface.

Types of Fear: Fear Of Failure

One of my favorite childhood show was Family Matters.  I loved watching Steve Urkel make a royal mess out of situations that normal people handle with easy.  Whether it was climbing into a hammock or setting off a balloon release at a school dance, Steve Urkel always managed to create a disaster.  The ones most often caught in a Steve Urkel disaster was some member of the Winslow Family.  The Winslows included Steve’s love interest Laura, Laura’s big brother Eddie, Laura’s little sister Judy, the police officer father Carl, the mother Harriette, Harriette’s sister Rachal, Rachael son Richie, and Carl’s mother Estelle “Mother” Winslow.  There were other recurring characters like the inept Waldo Geraldo Faldo, a steady obsessed girlfriend of Urkel named Myra Monkhouse, and Steve’s relatives like Stefan Urquelle, Myrtle Urkel, and OGD (all three played by Jaleel White who played Steve Urkel.)

Types of Fear: Do not Fear The Vinder Viper

“Years ago, a man inherited a house from his great uncle who died in the war. The house sat on a hill outside of town in the next state and rumors were told that it was haunted. The man traveled to the town to inspect the house and found that it was a wonderful old mansion in great condition, but very, very old. So, he decided to move in and enjoy his inheritance.

A couple weeks after he moved in, late at night, the phone rang. When he answered it, a voice said, “I am the Vinder Viper. I will be there in 2 weeks!” and then it hung up before he could say anything. This really shook the man. The next day, he searched the Internet under ‘snakes’ for ‘vinder viper’ but found nothing.

A week past with no concerns and again, late one night, the phone rang. “I am the Vinder Viper. I will be there in 1 week!” and hung up. This made the man quite nervous, not knowing what a vinder viper was. He asked around the town, and no one had ever heard of any such viper.

Four days later, late at night, the phone rang. “I am the Vinder Viper. I will be there in 2 days!” The man is getting much more concerned now.

The next night, the phone rang. “I am the Vinder Viper. I will be there tomorrow!” Needless to say, the man is just plain scared now.

The next evening, the phone rang. “I am the Vinder Viper. I will be there in 1 hour!” The man tries to leave, but his car battery is dead.

Nearly an hour later, the phone rang. “I am the Vinder Viper. I will be there in 2 minutes!” The man runs around locking all the windows and doors and calls 911. The police are on their way.

Soon, there was a knock at the door. The man opened the door a crack and asked, “Is that the police?”

“No, I am the vinder viper. I come every month to vipe your vindows.” (The punch line should be delivered as a little old German man with such an accent.)”– Taken from  http://www.boyscouttrail.com/content/story/story-128.asp

The Adventure: Part #1–Before the Call

In addition to my messages on God’s Word, I intend to tell the story of this great adventure and new life that God is leading me to live.  I will begin the story with a little background on my life prior to God’s Call on my life.  I will keep it as brief as possible, but this little prelude illustrate the dramatic way God has changed my life.

I was born January 15, 1981 in Florissant, Missouri.  I am the sixth of nine children.  I entered kindergarten in September 0f 1987.  My elementary school years from kindergarten until the middle fifth grade were spent trying to a balance between the positive and negative parts of my life.  Imagine a scale:

On one side was all the negative things in my life.  This side was made up mostly of my peers at school.  My peers, not all, but many of them treated me quite poorly.  I will admit to causing a small portion of this daily torment.  I do not claim complete innocence in my elementary years.  However, most of the teasing I received was  mostly unprovoked.  My peers called me names, teased me constantly, and a few abused me physically.  There was a pair of brothers in my own neighborhood that enjoyed making my childhood a nightmare.  My peers were the heavy weights on the negative side of my scale.

On the positive side of the scale was my family.  The family I knew about at that time were my parents, my two grandmothers, two uncles, three aunts, one old brother with his wife and two kids (one daughter and a baby boy), one sister with three daughters, one sister with her husband and two kids (one  son and a younger daughter), one sister with husband and son, one unmarried sister, and three younger brother.  I would meet more family later, but even at this age I had a big family.  This was good because this loving family was a large enough positive to balance out the negative of my peers.  One rather large positive weight was my Dad’s mother.  My brothers and I called her Grandma.  (Mom’s mother was known as Granny.)

Grandma was such an amazing and loving lady.  Everywhere Grandma went and whom ever Grandma met seemed to adore  her.  I remember a story told of Grandma that happened in her hometown of Paxton, Illinois.  The story goes that there was a little boy in Paxton whose hand was crippled.  One day a group of kids teased the boy about his hand.  When Grandma heard this and saw the boy crying she knelt down.  Grandma lovingly to the boy’s crippled hand in hers.  Grandma kiss the hand and told the boy not to cry.  The boy hand a special hand and there was not a thing wrong with it.  This cheered the boy and his father when he heard about it.  Grandma did so many loving things with me including teach me how to do somersaults on my living room floor.  Imagine a lady in her 80′s teaching a five-year-old boy to do somersaults.  I did not realize it at that time, but Grandma was my first small taste of God’s infinite love.  Grandma just radiated God’s undying love.  Grandma was a big positive weight on my scale of life.

This is how it was from kindergarten to the middle of fifth grade.  A delicate balance between the cruelty of my peers and loving support of my family.  Regrettably I did not know the Lord at this time and my scale was about to tip over in a major way.