What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul. ~ Yiddish Proverb

Hello friends and neighbors. I send out to you a cheery hello and welcome along with a big shout out to the late Minnie Pearl with her trademarked, "Howdeeeeee, I'm so proud to be here." Minnie Pearl said that where she came from they didn't have a single mosquito. They were all married and had large families that pestered everybody, all day long. It is Thursday, November 10, 2011, and I do echo Minnie's words in being glad to be able to visit with you all today. But some of you might think that Minnie wasn't sophisticated and her comedy was childish. That's okay, so be it, but the way I see it, some of her routines became the source of laughter, and folks, in this world, at this time, there is far too little of the sound of genuine laughter. One of the satellite radio channels I listen to distinguishes itself by telling everyone their comedy is clean and not like the other five channels where it is one four letter word after another. The other day on the way home I was listening to an old Bob Hope radio program and his guest was Jimmy Durante. It was originally on in 1945 but the material was timeless and I found myself laughing out loud. It was near the end of WWII and many of the folks listening back then needed to take a moment and have a good laugh, especially given the grave challenges they had all faced. When I heard that Minnie Pearl mosquito joke yesterday it made me laugh and wholesome laughing is a gift from God because He has told us that every good thing comes down from above. (James Chapter 1, Verse 17) So there you have it, your permission, to allow that smile to burst into a hearty laugh. It will do a body good!

We are still praising God for the rain we received on Tuesday. We continue to be very far behind our annual need but my how wonderful it was to see the water standing around in puddles in our neighborhood. We also got some wind in some areas. Those trees critically damaged by the drought turned loose and down they came all over one particular area. Power outages and damaged homes and vehicles were all around. This is the two edged sword of our dilemma. We so badly need the rain but we are so very much exposed from this unprecedented drought. Some might say just have the trees removed. Hello? We are talking thousands of trees folks. Thousands. And, for many people to do something about it will cost them thousands. We have some next to our home but our neighbor has agreed to have them removed off of his vacant lot. In our situation, Hurricane Ike removed several from our yard and the carpenter ants took care of a couple as well. It just goes to remind us all that some looked at that weather system with joy as their windshield wipers came out of hibernation. Others came home to a mess. Perhaps a huge pine tree right in the middle of their home. We know exactly how that feels, but, in the end, God is still the answer, whether we are thanking Him for the rain or seeking His help to see us through the pain. God is the answer. Amen.

You know by now that I like to play around with fill in the blanks. Here's some I found interesting. Life is like.....  They were all written by that author you see so often, named Unknown: "Life is like a 1,000 page book. You want to quit halfway through but then you realize you have so much to look forward to." ~ "Life is like photography, focus is an ingredient if you are to have a good shot." ~ “Life is like an ocean. It can be calm and still or rough and rigid. But in the end it’s always beautiful.” ~ “Life is like a bar of soap, once you think you’ve got a hold of it, it slips away.”~ “Life is like a canvas. It begins blank and every day is like another brush stroke.”~ “Life is like a party. You invite a lot of people; some go, some join you, some laugh with you, some didn’t come. But in the end, after the fun, there would be a few who would clean up the mess with you. And most of the time, those were the uninvited ones.”~ “Life is like pictures in a photo album. You can look back on the moments, but you can never recapture them.”~ “Life is like a mirror, if you frown at it, it frowns back. If you smile, it returns the greeting.” ~ “Life is like a dream, sometimes it is good and sometimes it is bad, but in the end it is over.” I will conclude with the ultimate fill in the blank from what the Creator of life had to say to His own one day:  "And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”  Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully.  And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’  So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods.  And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’  But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’  “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on.  Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.  Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds?  And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?  If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith? “And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind.  For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things.  But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.  Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Luke Chapter 12, Verses 15-33) Some thoughts for a Thursday and may God bless each one! Amen.            .....More later.