Update on my brother: After making slow but steady progress all of last week he had a huge problem Saturday with a bleeding ulcer. He lost way too much blood and nearly died more than once. It was another long vigil Saturday but they were able to scope and fix the ulcer and then they went to work trying to get him going again. Sunday when I visited I found that Donald had made a remarkable come back, again! He may actually be more alert and responsive now more than since he had his heart attack 4 weeks ago. Talk about nine lives! I got the idea that he actually recognized me and communicated with me through head nodding and his eyes. That was pretty much the first time this has happened with me since his heart attack. He did come out of this episode with some kidney issues and they are working on this but all and all, given the fact that he came about as close to dying Saturday as you can without checking out, it is nothing but a praise the Lord report today. Pretty amazing, that's all I can say. I guess that's why they call it Amazing Grace!
Please thank God with us for this improvement at this time. We are praying that God will be honored by the work He is doing in my brother's life. Thanks again for caring. We appreciate greatly the many prayers offered up on his behalf.
****
Welcome to that day that most people dread, Monday. It is September 20, 2010 and folks from one to 99 are hiding under their covers this morning saying they do not want to get up. I actually feel th
at way myself sometimes but thus far have not yielded to that temptation. My wife would tell about how that sleeping late for me would be such a crime of major proportions, to me, anyway. Hey. We all are put together the way we are and perhaps it was Paw Paw Mac that helped develop my internal clock. If you were planning on going hunting with him you had better be on time or you would be left behind, period, end of story. I used to lay in bed and throughout the night I would be wondering if I had missed hearing him. My mom says she used to call me when I was a kid and I jumped up immediately and got my stuff together. This was different than some of the rest of her brood. That's how I am wired. At one time I thought everyone should be like me. Guess what? They are not! It took me a while as a manager to understand that people didn't have to mimic my habits to be excellent and effective employees. I had folks who would show up barely able to make it to their desk on time and typically couldn't get started until 10 a.m., but when they got started they did magical work and stayed with it on a regular basis until midnight or later each day, including weekends! We are different. I rode with my windows down in the cool one morning last week. It was 4 a.m. By the time some folks made it in they were already talking about how hot it was. See what I mean? The main thing is to use what makes us tick, our quirks, our habits, and our all for the honor and glory of God. That is our purpose in life, if and when we find it. Oh yeah, there were some that stumbled in, stumbled around all day long, and then stumbled out. They typically ended up stumbling around somewhere else!
I changed my profile photo which begs the question: How's your Christmas planning coming along? Mine is developing even as I am banging on my keyboard.
The beard. The Santa beard. The other night at our Crosstrainer Bible Club meeting, many of the children had to touch my beard. You didn't want to be thinking about Christmas this early? That's okay but if I did that and waited until Thanksgiving to get my act together, I would hardly be playing that jolly old legend, now would I? Those who know I am the real Santa are very comfortable seeing my beard develop. Those who don't? They wonder where I came from. They may even hold on to their wallets when I am around. They don't know whether to say hello or offer me a handout. Okay, it's not that dramatic but it is interesting to see how folks interpret people's looks. Based on last year's experience, my first as Santa, this will all change when December rolls around. Folks will have Christmas on their minds and when they see me out and about wearing my red turtleneck they will connect the dots. Little kids will want to say something to me. It will be very different. Talk about the hypnotic influence of a season! Let's just hope the folks in Washington don't end up messing Christmas up more than they have already. Their idea is to make sure everyone gets exactly the same thing, a bundle of switches! Yes Virginia, even Santa has political views but he typically does try to keep them to himself. That one just kind of slipped out.
I know some who question me playing Santa because of my stand for Jesus being the Reason for the Season. I grew up in a very conservative, traditional environment where we honored the birth of the Christ Child as the focal point of our Christmas celebration. We also enjoyed Santa. Disconnect? Perhaps, but like so many other things in life, folks have to come to their
own conclusions based on their convictions. I had this conversation with a pastor friend of mine several years ago. He was very set on rejecting any and all pagan inferences during this sacred holiday. He was very focused on the actual dating controversies, whether gift giving was appropriate or not, and just how he should lead his congregation during this time of the year. I shared with him how we always promoted the priority of Jesus even as we also enjoyed the gifts, the giving, and also Santa. Today he no longer sees it the way he did before but he had to pray and come to that conclusion on his own. We've always made a big deal about Jesus and that to me continues to be the most important subject at Christmas. Of course we are not instructed to set aside a day to honor His birth but we honor Him when we recognize Him as Savior and Lord, and live our lives according to His will. Spending our time doing this will solve a whole bunch of the other questions that come up from time to time. That's it for today. I report, you decide, or something like that. Have a great Monday even if you are still stumbling around so early in the morning. May God bless each one. Amen. ......More later.
Please thank God with us for this improvement at this time. We are praying that God will be honored by the work He is doing in my brother's life. Thanks again for caring. We appreciate greatly the many prayers offered up on his behalf.
****
Welcome to that day that most people dread, Monday. It is September 20, 2010 and folks from one to 99 are hiding under their covers this morning saying they do not want to get up. I actually feel th
at way myself sometimes but thus far have not yielded to that temptation. My wife would tell about how that sleeping late for me would be such a crime of major proportions, to me, anyway. Hey. We all are put together the way we are and perhaps it was Paw Paw Mac that helped develop my internal clock. If you were planning on going hunting with him you had better be on time or you would be left behind, period, end of story. I used to lay in bed and throughout the night I would be wondering if I had missed hearing him. My mom says she used to call me when I was a kid and I jumped up immediately and got my stuff together. This was different than some of the rest of her brood. That's how I am wired. At one time I thought everyone should be like me. Guess what? They are not! It took me a while as a manager to understand that people didn't have to mimic my habits to be excellent and effective employees. I had folks who would show up barely able to make it to their desk on time and typically couldn't get started until 10 a.m., but when they got started they did magical work and stayed with it on a regular basis until midnight or later each day, including weekends! We are different. I rode with my windows down in the cool one morning last week. It was 4 a.m. By the time some folks made it in they were already talking about how hot it was. See what I mean? The main thing is to use what makes us tick, our quirks, our habits, and our all for the honor and glory of God. That is our purpose in life, if and when we find it. Oh yeah, there were some that stumbled in, stumbled around all day long, and then stumbled out. They typically ended up stumbling around somewhere else!I changed my profile photo which begs the question: How's your Christmas planning coming along? Mine is developing even as I am banging on my keyboard.
The beard. The Santa beard. The other night at our Crosstrainer Bible Club meeting, many of the children had to touch my beard. You didn't want to be thinking about Christmas this early? That's okay but if I did that and waited until Thanksgiving to get my act together, I would hardly be playing that jolly old legend, now would I? Those who know I am the real Santa are very comfortable seeing my beard develop. Those who don't? They wonder where I came from. They may even hold on to their wallets when I am around. They don't know whether to say hello or offer me a handout. Okay, it's not that dramatic but it is interesting to see how folks interpret people's looks. Based on last year's experience, my first as Santa, this will all change when December rolls around. Folks will have Christmas on their minds and when they see me out and about wearing my red turtleneck they will connect the dots. Little kids will want to say something to me. It will be very different. Talk about the hypnotic influence of a season! Let's just hope the folks in Washington don't end up messing Christmas up more than they have already. Their idea is to make sure everyone gets exactly the same thing, a bundle of switches! Yes Virginia, even Santa has political views but he typically does try to keep them to himself. That one just kind of slipped out.I know some who question me playing Santa because of my stand for Jesus being the Reason for the Season. I grew up in a very conservative, traditional environment where we honored the birth of the Christ Child as the focal point of our Christmas celebration. We also enjoyed Santa. Disconnect? Perhaps, but like so many other things in life, folks have to come to their
own conclusions based on their convictions. I had this conversation with a pastor friend of mine several years ago. He was very set on rejecting any and all pagan inferences during this sacred holiday. He was very focused on the actual dating controversies, whether gift giving was appropriate or not, and just how he should lead his congregation during this time of the year. I shared with him how we always promoted the priority of Jesus even as we also enjoyed the gifts, the giving, and also Santa. Today he no longer sees it the way he did before but he had to pray and come to that conclusion on his own. We've always made a big deal about Jesus and that to me continues to be the most important subject at Christmas. Of course we are not instructed to set aside a day to honor His birth but we honor Him when we recognize Him as Savior and Lord, and live our lives according to His will. Spending our time doing this will solve a whole bunch of the other questions that come up from time to time. That's it for today. I report, you decide, or something like that. Have a great Monday even if you are still stumbling around so early in the morning. May God bless each one. Amen. ......More later.
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