An Old Farmer's Advice

Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.
Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.
A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.
Words that soak into your ears are whispered, not yelled.
Meanness doesn't just happen overnight.
Forgive your enemies. It messes up their heads.
Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.
It doesn't take a very big person to carry a grudge.
You cannot unsay a cruel word.
Every path has a few puddles.
When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.
The best sermons are lived, not preached.
Most of the stuff people worry about isn’t ever going to happen anyway.
Don't judge folks by their relatives.
Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll enjoy it -- a second time.
Don't interfere with something that isn’t bothering you.
Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.
If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging.
Sometimes you get, and sometimes you are got.
The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever have to deal watches you from the mirror every morning.
Always drink upstream from the herd.
Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.
Letting the cat out of the bag is a whole lot easier than putting it back in.
If you get to thinking you're a person of some influence, try ordering somebody else's -- dog around.
Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to the Almighty.

His and Hers

Preacher's Wife and I have our own personal retirement rockers but we can't seem to find time to sit in them. I was just telling her this morning we have three lives. Her life, my life and our life. While this may not be how all families operate it works well for us. I will drive off in a few hours for Houston and she will drive off to Ft. Worth. We then will meet up again on Sunday or Monday and enjoy being together again. Our daughter Marlie and son-in-law Andrew are expecting their first child so Preacher's Wife is excited about getting to Ft. Worth and patiently awaiting baby Logan's arrival. It looks like the rockers are going to have to wait awhile.

The day after the election...

“The way I see it, if you want the rainbow you gotta put up with the rain.” -Dolly Parton

Some people seem to always be living under a cloud of doom and gloom, they only hear, see, feel, and express negative things.

This is not my M.O. As long as I can remember I have been a very upbeat, positive person. I don’t handle whiners well and Preacher’s Wife can't tolerate them at all.
I have discovered in life, no one cares about your excuses, your whining, or your sniveling—they only care about your actions and results, possibly your attitude if they have to live or work with you. Nobody wants to hear you whine about a problem.

Maybe after the election you are one who feels that things are really bad now and that things are only going to get worse (you may be right). You may doubt the intellect and choice of the American people. You may think there is little or no hope for our country, our children, and our future (if so, you are wrong).

So, you’ve shared your opinions with others, you have warned your friends who had a different view point than you. You have voted and you have prayed. Now you must continue to pray and trust God with our future.

Since one gains influence by their actions and results, then one must pray and actively work for what they believe in and work around the things they cannot change, making the best of things they can change, and of course― without whining.

Winning with whiners can be quite a battle. They often complain, murmur, and do nothing more than talk. You cannot be a winner if you're frequently associating with whiners. Let this serve notice to all my friends and those who know me that I will not be a part of any whining. There is just to much to pray about and to live for.

On the eve of election day

Neither this blog nor this particular post is designed to be heavily political. Many today seem to spew doom and gloom and try to move people to act by fear and intimidation. I chose several years ago to not practice this any longer. One can use the Bible to make it say just about anything they want it to say. I will agree that there is a place for warning, but everybody seems to be waving red flags of warning. OK now you have warned them back off and let them choose. My preacher daddy once said, "Son, don't keeping poking them in the eye they've already indicated they're blind." My point is this. If our collective choice is wrong God is still God and He will always BE God. In Genesis 50 there is a very interesting story. There is a plot by several older brothers to kill their younger brother Joseph because they were jealous of him. God preserved Joseph for his purposes and raised him up later to show his grace, power and provision (I see neither candidate as Joseph so please don't read that into this). When their dad died, the older brothers came to Joseph and ask him not to take revenge on them.

This is Joseph's reply:

Genesis 50:18 His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. "We are your slaves," they said.

19 But Joseph said to them, "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? (This obviously is a rhetorical question and the answer is meant to be NO) 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 21 So then, don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children." And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them."

So my assessment is this: I am not in the place of God. I am not Sovereign. I don't see the big picture. Obviously, some see much more clearly than I. My experience with God is this. When family, presumed friends, and even the government or politicians seem to do things that are intended to harm, He (God) is able to step in at any moment (before or after) and work things out for my (our) good.

Again, look at verse 21 "So then, don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children. And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them."

God's hands are not tied, so think about this: Daniel 2:21 He (God) changes times and seasons; he (God) sets up kings (leaders) and removes them.

Don't be shaken in your faith or lose your hope. God really is in charge.

SLENTROL: It works! !

Most of you remember that Bo, our oldest Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, has been on a national clinical doggie weight loss drug trial. I know, I laughed when Preacher's Wife came home from the Vet and informed me. Anyway, I thought I would give you and update. To date Bo has lost 7 pounds. I know that doesn't sound like much but it is one fifth of his starting total body weight. I know he doesn't look that happy in the picture but he has in his own way informed us that he is feeling much better. He is eating better, sleeping better and snores less. He is also into exercise and pretty much demands that Preacher's Wife or I take him on his twice a day one mile walk. I always vote for Preacher's Wife to take him.

Don't Be A Chicken Little

We have all heard the warnings, an economic storm is coming, or its here, or the economy is bad, or is worse than expected or not as bad as expected. It can all be so confusing.

Listening to the news you would think we are all going to be in breadlines by the end of the year. All doom and gloom, all bad news, all the time. Let’s take a step back and look at the reality of the situation.

When we enter in to times of economic uncertainty the first reaction most of us have is to start cutting back. In some areas of our life this would be a prudent thing to do. But when it comes to generosity and giving I refuse to shut down, pull back, become fearful and start hoarding. In the proper frame of mind you can choose to step outside the situation and not follow the herd by hoarding.

Allow me to remind you of a Biblical account of economic down turn. This story is found in Genesis 26:1-12. 1 A severe famine now struck the land, as had happened before in Abraham’s time.
12 When (not if) Isaac planted (he sowed rather than hoarded) his crops that year, he harvested a hundred times more grain than he planted, for the Lord blessed him. 13 He became a very rich man, and his wealth continued to grow. 14 He acquired so many flocks of sheep and goats, herds of cattle, and servants that the Philistines became jealous of him. 15 So the Philistines filled up all of Isaac’s wells with dirt. These were the wells that had been dug by the servants of his father, Abraham.

The problem as I see it is a lack of faith, belief and confidence that God can and will provide for us if we will be true to the principle of sowing and reaping. Even in economic crisis. So yes, be a good steward, but not one who shrinks back from generosity.

A little more frequent please!

I guess it's about time for me to start blogging regularly again. I am sure my 15 faithful readers would appreciate it. I must say it is hard to blog when you have nothing to say. I was encouraged to hear one person tell me that blogging has nothing to do with having anything to say. Then they added, "it's kind of like preaching." Anyway you might want to check back a little more frequent if you enjoy hearing me ramble on about little or nothing. Though it is possible that being an encourager I might say something to challenge ones attitude or lift ones spirit. I'll be back soon. I gotta go think up something.

Season Three and only 87 more episodes to go...

As you may recall from my last post that I got hooked on the TV series Northern Exposure. I am now only 87 episodes away from completing all six seasons. Someone asked how could I get through so many episodes in such a short period of time? The answer is simple. One has to find something to do when the Dallas Cowboys are suppose to be playing football and forget to show up for the game.

I Am Hooked

I need to confess I'm hooked. It all started when I was thinking about Sarah Palin field dressing a moose. Yes, you guessed it. My new addiction is the 1990-1995 TV series NORTHERN EXPOSURE. I remembered how much I loved the show. So I broke down this week and bought Seasons One and Two. For those who either don't know or don't remember, NORTHERN EXPOSURE was originally a summer replacement show, beginning to run only a couple of weeks after TWIN PEAKS in 1990. That first summer season ran 8 episodes and the following spring the second season ran for 7 episodes, meaning that Seasons One and Two had a grand total of 15 episodes. In all there were 6 seasons and 110 episodes. So as of today I am 106 episodes away from seeing them all.

Enjoying the Guadalupe

Preacher's Wife and I took a few days off to do some camping along the Guadalupe River. We met our long time friends John and Janet Magee from the Rio Grande Valley and spent 5 days together at Camp Huaco Springs in New Braunfels, Texas. The weather was just right. It was in the mid 80's during the day and the low 60's at night. We rode motorcycles, shopped the Hill Country and some in our group tubed the River. But mainly we did nothing but relax, enjoyed catching up on old times and of course eating. It was fun but now we are back to busy weekends until Christmas. Oh, by the way, did I mention that we are having another grandchild? Yes, Marlie and Andrew are having their first little boy Logan Allen Thomas on or around November 17. So you can bet that I will find time to get to Fort Worth around Thanksgiving.