Charmaine J. Forde, Poet and creative director. ~ "An ounce of goodness everyday, Can soothe the heart in many ways, An ounce of goodness 'just because' Don't wait until Christmas to be Santa Claus."

Are you still reading my last Friday's posting? I wouldn't doubt it because it is rather long. However, I chose to share the entire Luke Chapter 15 because of its context. After all, it is the B-i-b-l-e, and that's the book for me. Never apologize for sharing God's Word. Amen? Here we go again, and this time we find ourselves waking up to another brand new day on this Monday, July 27, 2026. I have said many times that our goal in our Santa program is to bring a happy smile to children of all ages. We had such a good time at one of the Chick-fil-A's this past Friday evening; well, we are going to do it again this coming Friday, Lord willing. The Chick-fil-As we work with have some of the best folks you will ever meet. Many of them know we are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, and while we enjoy having a blast with children from all over, we especially enjoy sweet fellowship with the Chick-fil-A workers. The response of 'my pleasure' instead of 'you're welcome' typically is accompanied by a genuineness that's hard to miss. That practice, 'my pleasure,' was introduced by founder Truett Cathy back in 2001. He was inspired to do this after having experienced elite service at one of the Ritz Carlton hotels. It has become part of the brand ever since. Now, we see former Chick-fil-A employees who have moved on and work in different restaurants, but they still say "My Pleasure," and they still carry with them a genuine presence. Talk about spreading a positive experience! It reminds me of how we too carry with us and in us the very presence of the Living Lord. Speaking for myself, I often wonder if I am allowing Him to produce a positive experience with those I meet. Yikes! That makes me a wee bit uneasy, so let's move on. Right?

 

In my last physical therapy session, I told the young woman helping me that she seems to always bring the best out of me. She wanted to know how. I told her that in my recent EKG, there is a brand new abnormality that popped up for the very first time. She shrugged her shoulders, and then she laughed. Out loud. She did. She really did. The new finding revealed an issue in my anterior leads. I did exactly what my doctor and the doctor before begged me not to do. Once I saw the results of the test, I consulted immediately with Dr. Google and every other medical site I could find. Some pretty gloom-and-doom scenarios found their way into the potential outcomes. I know. At the very top of the report, it always reminds me to respect how the care team had not reviewed the results yet. When my doctor finally got back to me, he basically did the same thing my physical therapist did; he shrugged his shoulders and told me that while it was a new issue, he thought it was mostly something connected to my age; therefore, don't worry about it, and if I were to produce any new symptoms, he would refer me to the cardiologist. Again, enough already with the age thing! My wife thinks I obsess over my approaching 80th trip around the sun. (To be precise, that one revolution around the sun takes 365.25 days to complete.)  Let me be clear about the age situation. It's where I am, and that's where I find a lot of material to write about. Let's face it. Aging jokes are popular. Just check out the stand-up comedians on Dry Bar. This is one of the only YouTube channels one can watch these days due to the gutter language spoken on most so-called comedy channels. Sadly, the jokes now begin at age 40 these days. And that, my friend, was a long time ago for me. Ha. Have a great rest of the day and don't forget to give God the glory. Amen.