Happy Birthday to a man of distinction!

It's Friday, July 31, 2015, and we can now look to close the book on this 7th month of the year. It's gone by pretty fast as I see it. Tomorrow, August 1st, Lord willing, the wife and I plan to get up early and journey over to Louisiana to honor dad on his 85th birthday. A couple of months ago dad received a very special honor in the Church they attend. A group of ladies had put together a quilt of honor to reflect upon dad's service to others throughout his lifetime. After speaking about his service as a retiree from the US Army, retiree from Federal Civil Service, his Volunteer Fire Department work, his long tenure and subsequent retirement from the local town council, and his devoted service to the Church and to others, they wrapped that quilt around him and prayed over him a prayer of thanksgiving. We didn't know about that honor and so we were not able to be there but we do understand very clearly the reason for it. Dad will soon mark his 38th year as being the Patriarch of our huge blended clan. We thank God every single day for him and for his loving support of our mom, and for his wonderful care towards all of us kids, and grand kids, and great grands, and the great great grands, and there may even be some great great greats too. Happy Birthday dad, we love you.~Marilyn and Al~

I suppose the battle jokes about men and women will always be a part of the cultural dialogue. I read one the other day that advised on how to get your man to do sit ups. They said try putting the TV remote between his toes. Then I saw one that asked how that women were like police cars. The answer said they make a lot of noise and let you know when you are doing something wrong. Those that mention how that men will not ask for directions are legendary. You know. Moses stayed lost for 40 years because he wouldn't stop and ask. Or, the reason Dorothy got lost in OZ was because she had three fellows helping her find her way. One quip advised bachelors not to look for a lady at the laundry mat. If she can't afford her own appliances how will she ever be able to support you? When little Johnny came home from school he asked his mom if he really had descended from apes. She told him she couldn't be sure because she didn't know his dad's folks that well. One man told the other fellows that his wife had given him 100% sound advice. It was 99% sound and 1% advice. Okay. The beat does go on. Here's some help in how to read these. If you laugh at all, make sure it's when you are either alone or it's one that hits you. Just trying to keep the peace folks.

The other day I went to fetch our lawnmower. The wife had taken it to a fellow across the way to tune it up and service it. The traffic was horrible but I finally made it. She already had the check made out. The fellow who worked on it was an eccentric. His elevator had not been to the top floor in years. But one thing he was clear on. Cash only. No checks. No negotiation and he made it clear that he would hold the mower for ransom. Weird. I left and went to a local convenience store to use that in-store ATM. I had not used one of those things in probably 15 years. I couldn't figure out how to make it work so I left and drove back across the way to our bank and got the money. Then back to the mower guy and got the mower. I was able to talk to him about the Lord. Well, on Tuesday I received an email from our bank. Someone was charging against our debit card. The ATM strikes again! We cancelled the transactions and my card. A very bad experience but it does remind us all of how easy it is to have our information compromised. They restored our funds and reissued my card. Pretty disturbing stuff but at least I did get to witness some to that one very odd fellow. Do have yourself a great weekend and especially in gathering with others at the meeting place set aside to learn more about God and to honor Him through praise and worship. May God bless. Amen. See you next time.   ....More later.