WE WOULD ORDER.  WE WOULD WAIT.  WE WOULD HOPE. 

As I write this, we are on vacation and I am sitting in a hotel room in Rapid City, South Dakota.  We have driven back roads and interstates.  Yesterday we drove a very crooked road and saw buffalo.  I love buffalo!  They have attitude.  I am about ready to develop a buffalo attitude the next time I order food. 

Des Moines, Iowa

Perkins — I have been hungry for pancakes so I ordered pancakes and sausage.  They came.  They were cold.  The waitress brought them back after popping them in the microwave.  I told her I did not order microwaved pancakes.  It was getting late and had been a long day.  I had a muffin.

Rapid City, South Dakota

Colonial House — Love this restaurant.  Oh look.  They have ribs.  I ordered ribs and quickly found out they had sold out.  I had chicken and broccoli pasta.  It was good, but it wasn’t ribs.  Wish I had not seen ribs on the evening special!

Applebee’s — I know they have ribs.  I order ribs and onion rings.  The ribs were served with a side of French fries.  By the time the onion rings arrived, I had eaten most of the ribs.

IHOP — I know they have pancakes!  “Yes, we have pancakes, but our delivery did not come in and we are out of regular syrup.”  I settled for butter pecan syrup.  They were also out of pepper.  What you wanna bet it was on the same truck as the syrup? 

Perkins #1 — Due to COVID, hotels are serving a very limited breakfast.  We decided to stop and get some muffins.  Their baker did not come in that morning and they were out of muffins.  The manager did not seem to care!

Perkins #2 (Clear across town from Perkins #1) — The nice manager smiled and said, “Yes, we have muffins.  How many would you like?” 

Yup, I was ready to have a buffalo attitude the next time I ordered, but I never had to use it.  From then on our meals were as ordered!

I hope you are smiling.  After the Applebee’s onion ring mix-up, it did get funny.  We would order.  We would wait.  We would hope. 

Back to the buffalo attitude … if you have ever watched buffalo, you know what I am talking about.  They swagger!  They don’t bother to look both ways before crossing the road!  They will not be hurried!  A buffalo will take on a car and win!  If you get too close to their young, they will stick a horn in your jeans, swing you in circles, leave you unconscious on the ground, when those jeans come off, and never look back.  (If you have not seen this video, go to YouTube and enter woman, buffalo and jeans.) 

God created a magnificent animal!  He gave them an attitude!

God created us!  We are his magnificent children!  He gave us attitude!  BUT…our attitude is a bit different than the buffalo.

We don’t swagger…we walk humbly.

We don’t cross the road without looking…we follow the way God has prepared for us.

We don’t saunter along…we walk with decency. 

We don’t take on cars…we take on the world with prayer.

There is one attitude we share:

We do protect our young…we teach them God’s Word.

God created us!  We are his magnificent children!  He gave us attitude! 

----------------------------

We are home now and I know what I need to do.  I need to work on my attitude.  Sometimes it is more like a buffalo than like a Child of God.  And that is never a good thing.

Celebrate each day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  You are a magnificent child of God!

 

TOGETHER

A couple is fighting cancer.  Yes, I said couple. 

The wife posted on Facebook: (During the ride to have a biopsy)  “I looked over and asked, “What are you thinking?  You’ve been really quiet.  Are you able to share with me, because we’re in this together.”  Then you said, “I‘ve had a Great life.  I have a beautiful family whom I love and I know loves me.  Whatever GOD says is ok with me.  It’s in his hands.”

As I read this, my thought was how beautiful the word together is.  He is not doing this alone!  He is doing this together with his wife.  He is not doing this alone!  He is doing this together with God.  Then the comments started.

• Hugs
• If you need anything we are here for you.
• Love you all dearly.
• You are an inspiration to those who have the honor of knowing you.  You are true witnesses of our Loving God
• You got this.  You’re a fighter
• Amen

He is not doing this alone!  He is doing this together with his friends.

How beautiful the word together is.  How frightening the opposite word can be.  When there is no together, there is alone. 

Alone can be okay.  There is no need to be with other people all the time.  But, alone can be heavy.  Alone can be frightening.  Alone can be a dark time for many people.

About a year ago, a friend was going through a rough time.  Even though this person’s life contained family and friends, the only way they felt was alone.  One night I woke up and wrote this.  My friend has never seen it because the season of alone was finally put away.

Alone

The room may be crowded.  There may be hundreds of people.  Or, there may be only three.  It does not matter.  I am alone.

The are no empty chairs.  Every seat is filled.  To my right and to my left, every inch of the room is occupied.  It does not matter.  I am alone.

I am ...  one.  Only ....  one.  And in a universe of couples, I am alone.

There is no hand to hold.  No ...  laugh to share.  There is no one to see the tear in my eye ...  I am alone.

And then, ever so softly, a memory brushes my tears away.  And the sound of a long forgotten joy echoes in my heart.  And ...  my hand, ...  my hand opens quickly and reaches out and ...  grabs a past I do not want to let go of.  And there is no one there.  I am alone.

A memory

A forgotten joy

A past I do not want to let go of ...

It is then I realize ...  I ...  am alone.  ...  but I am ...  not.

I share the very air I breathe ...  with a universe of couples.  With a room full of people.  With three or hundreds. 

In one heartbeat ...  one heartbeat ...  I understand that I am not alone. 

I may walk through a door ...  by myself...

I may enter a room ...  by myself

I may sit in a chair ...  by myself

I may make decisions ...  by myself

I may cry and read and cook and eat and work and play and rest ...  by myself

But I am never ...  alone.

A past I do not want to let go of ...  surrounds me and accompanies me to my future, I am never ...  alone.

Children ...  grandchildren ...  are forever in my heart, I am never ...  alone.

A friend writes in the middle of the night, I am never ...  alone.

And my Soul hears a mighty whisper, “My child, you are never ...  never ...  alone.”

——————

If you never read another of my blogs and if you cannot remember what I wrote last week, remember this: YOU ARE NEVER ALONE!  You may be by yourself, but YOU ARE NEVER ALONE! 

When a word such as cancer enters your world, you do not have to go through it alone.

When a loved one dies, you do not have to go through it alone.

When life hands you a trial or a joy, you do not have to go through it alone.

YOU ARE NEVER ALONE!  You are surrounded by family and friends and God. 

And someone might just be thinking of you in the middle of the night.

YOU ARE NEVER ALONE!  Reach out, because God is right there.  God is holding you so gently you might not feel his touch.  Call out to him.  He will tighten his hold until you relax into his assurance that you are in this together.

Together — what a beautiful word.

 

RAILROAD CROSSING

This is a small town.  Just a dot, barely visible from outer space.  BUT it is our town and we have a railroad crossing that needs fixed – fixed NOW!!  This crossing is on one of our main streets.  We have side streets, but to get through town we use Wayne Street, Market Street, Main Street, and 9th Street.  9th Street leads to our Jr/Sr High Schools and is heavily traveled by school buses, students driving to school, and all the parents taking their kids to school for ball games, and all those other school activities.  9th Street has the honor of having the worst railroad crossing in town.  Buses crawl over it and, with each bounce, students tuck their heads down so they don’t hit the roof.  Cars try to angle across it, but that does not help either.  Coming in from the one side street causes drivers to stop and check their insurance to see if suspensions are covered or if they will have to pay to have the car’s alignment fixed – again.

Apparently, the town has tried to get the attention of those that have the power to authorize a fix.  Nothing!  Apparently, a few people have called to complain.  Nothing!  Until a few days ago.

A lady approached me in the coffee shop.  Luckily, I had enough coffee to be coherent as she gave us slips of paper with the number for the railroad company, the number of the crossing, and requested we flood them with complaints.  I love a good cause and posted the information on my Facebook page and another page I manage.  I then dialed that number.  No answer.  Tried again and now the calls were being forwarded to a different number and voice mail.  I called a corporate number and had in my possession another number to try.  I finally talked to a real person and found out the office had been flooded with calls.

Excuses, of COVID restrictions, no repair crew in the area, and no record of the town contacting us, were given.  BUT because of all the calls, someone finally took the crossing information to a manager.  Guess what!!  They are going to do a fix on the crossing until a full repair can be made.  This did not happen because of one person.  It happened because the town manager, the town board, and members of the community worked toward the same goal.

As I was thinking about this, I wondered what would happen if Christians prayed for our country – our world – as hard and as united as the people who made calls about a railroad crossing.  Our prayers do not have to wait on someone to listen to their voice mail or for a manager to be informed or for the problem to be passed up the chain until it reaches someone with enough power to change the situation.  

What would happen if every Christian said, “Lord, we lift up this country, this world.  Please heal the hurts and the divisions.  Please open our minds and give us wisdom.  Please touch our eyes so we can see others with the love of Christ.  Please replace our fear with hope and our anger with calm.  …….

God hears!  God listens!  God is the power!

It is time all Christians lift up this country, this world, and humbly request God to hear our prayers and heal our land.  What would happen if all Christians worked toward the same goal?  And isn’t that what we supposed to be doing?

 

 

WONDERFULLY WEIRD FACTS

The other day I posted a picture on my Facebook page and a friend said he hoped the bird didn’t eat the berries.  It was a beautiful picture.  A lovely Baltimore Oriole sitting on a Water Hemlock Bush.  I was still in the dark until I looked up that bush.  HEY, BALTIMORE ORIOLE!  DON’T EAT THE BERRIES! 

Someone should have warned the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates.  Not knowing about hemlock did him in.  He could philosopher no more.

During my google search, a link popped up for “50 Wonderfully Weird Facts That Will Make You Question Everything.”  Never fear!  I am not going to tell you all 50.

Did you know:

·       the heads on Easter Island have bodies?  When studying some of the stone statues on the Pacific Island, at least two had full torsos which measured as high as 33 feet.

·       goosebumps are meant to ward off predators?  Not exactly sure what predator would be scared of my goosebumps, but I know I will not try to face down a buffalo and shout, “Away!  I have goosebumps.”

• ·  a wood frog can hold its pee for up to eight months?  It is a very complicated process where the gut recycles the urea into nitrogen.  This allows the Wood Frogs in Alaska to live through those long winters.  For sure the frog did not drink a cup of coffee before settling in for a long winter’s nap.
• ·  you lose up to 30 percent of your taste buds during flight?  All this time you just thought the food was lousy.
• ·  a chef’s toque (hat) contains 100 folds?  Each fold represents a way to cook an egg.  Let’s see there is fried, scrambled, over-easy, omelet… My hat only needs three folds.  My over-easy always looks exactly like my fried egg.
• ·  cotton candy was invented by a dentist?  I believe that is called job security.

Has this made you wonder about the other Wonderfully Weird Facts?  You can find the rest at https://bestlifeonline.com/random-fun-facts/

I started looking for one simple bit of information and ended up finding wonderful weird facts.  An interesting Bible fact:  The Bible says to “go up” to Jerusalem.  That is literally “go up.”  Jerusalem sits upon a hill and no matter which way you approach from, you will always be going up to it.  Here are fun facts for you to discover:

Was Ehud in his right mind?  (Think about it and my question will make sense.)  Judges 3:15

What did Job’s wife complain about?  Job 19:17

What was used to make the golden calf?  Exodus 32:2-4

How many were in the first praise team:  1 Chronicles 23:5

What woman are we to remember?  Luke 17:32

What was Zenas’ occupation?  (He is the only one of these mentioned in the Bible.)  Titus 3:13 

What did Jesus write on?  John 8:6

Hope you enjoyed finding the answers.