Diabetic Proverb: "If life gives you lemons, make lemonade, with Splenda, of course!"

Hello Americans and others across the globe to another edition of my own version of "As My World Turns." This one happens to show up on this day which is Thursday, December 4, 2014. November concluded the national emphasis as the month devoted to diabetes awareness. I continue to deal with that particular issue as it came not to pass but to stay, at least it did in my situation. I read an article yesterday that stated new research indicates that being diagnosed with diabetes in mid-life can add five years to the age of your brain. That would be an exact fit for my situation. No wonder I like mostly old radio programs. I know. It's not anything to laugh about, but, it may have to be one of the excuses I use when I forget something important. The Santa program where I sit for long periods of time is not completely compatible with doing my best to control my numbers, but, it typically does not take long to get things back on track. Meaning, back to reasonable control. When I get a couple of higher than 'my normal' readings it does make me wonder if they will come back, but so far they have and I am thankful for that. In reading some of those who posted on Facebook I just know how my heart goes out to so many little ones who have been handed this challenge as a life changer they will have to work with for the rest of their lives. I always come away from the subject with a thankful heart that I have done as well I as I have, and that God has somehow provided during these last seven years.  Amen.

Okay. Now this one is a little risky but it's also a bit of fun. "A newly married husband put up a notice in front of his residence: For Sale, Computer and Encyclopedia: Both in excellent condition. Reason for selling: No longer needed. I got married and found out the new wife knows everything and she has her own backup server called mother-in-law." Don't write me. It's only a joke. A read one where the wife was explaining to her doctor the problem she was having. "The pain starts in my husband's lower back, then it travels up his spine to his neck, then it comes out of his mouth and into my ears. And that's why I get these headaches." One last one. "The old farmer wrote a letter to his son who was in prison. 'Son, this year I can't plant potatoes because I am unable to dig the ground. I know if you were here, you being a good son, would help me.' The son replied. 'Dad, don't be an idiot. Don't even think about digging there because that's where I hid the guns.' The police read the letter and went out to the farm and spent all day digging and looking for the guns. Nothing was found. The son then wrote again to his dad: 'Now plant your potatoes dad. That's the best I could do from here.' (All those came from different joke thread Facebook pages.)

I also read a little ditty on a photo of a fortune cookie funny. It's particularly appropriate for us diabetics. "If you eat something and no one sees you eat it, it has zero calories." I hadn't read that before but full disclosure requires me to tell you that I have operated under it's premise mucho many times in the past. Sorry but that will have to be enough of an explanation about that for now. You know that I am mostly joking. Mostly. We all have things we would just as soon not delve into. Right? Just remember this: I didn't tell her to leave those marshmallows out on the cabinet for the entire world to see. It was those tiny ones. You know the ones I'm talking about. It takes a handful to even get a taste with all that air pumped into them. Oh well, it is time to say so long for today and to wish one and all a blessed day. If I keep up this type of revelation I will have to change the name from 'As My World Turns' to 'True Confessions'. See you next time, Lord willing. Amen.    ....More later.

"You can buy children anything in the world, but nothing will compare to the memories you make with them." (copied)

It's that blogger guy again, coming to you live and in person, (whatever that means), broadcasting far and wide from the ole blogger ranch here on this Wednesday, December 3, 2014. After we enjoyed our Thanksgiving meal celebration, we then hung around soaking up family and fellowship. We said our farewells and added to our day the sleep over of our great grand, Madelyn Joy. This girl is a hoot. She is a funny girl. The photo is Madi getting ready to make the dominoes fall. Her MiMi set them up. Until recently I didn't know her MiMi even knew how to do that. I don't think I have ever attempted to set them up so they fall in sequence but MiMi is pretty good at it. You learn something new everyday. Now that Madi girl is sharp. She will be five in early January. On Friday morning she put in to help me with the Christmas card printing. She figured out how to work the printer. She wanted to do it all by herself. She would open the tray, insert the card stock, and then when it printed on one side she would flip it over to the proper way to feed it and then have it print again. She was very efficient and she handled the printed output with care. She would carry the completed cards downstairs to her MiMi but she would make it clear, "Poppy, don't touch anything until I get back." What a time we had. She stayed with us until about 4 p.m. Friday and I can tell you, it was a joy. Yep. You got it right the first time. That's why since she was born we have always called her our bundle of Madelyn Joy!

Black Friday = Scrum

Let me quickly add that MiMi was the main child care provider here and she did the time while I mostly enjoyed the fruit of her labors. There's nothing like a child who makes you laugh and that girl is good at it. Okay. Enough Great Grand stuff for one day. We missed it again. That is, we missed Black Thursday, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday. I'm not sure but we may have been reported to some agency for failing to report for duty. I did see the news reports of some that did make those events. Many of them went to the store for a TV set and ended up in a wrestling match. Who said that shopping was for the fainthearted? And, I suppose it now qualifies as a contact sport. Don't get me wrong, we like to take advantage of price reductions when we can, however, it's the whole package that comes with what one commentator called a scrum. That word comes from the rugby sport when you see all those folks piled up on top of each other. Rather fitting description if you ask me. Hey. I am entitled to an opinion. Right?

Speaking of having an opinion, the wife and I watched the Country Music Association Christmas special the other evening. It was two hours of what I suppose would be called musical variety. Okay. Now I'm going to date myself for all the world to see. Whatever happened to Christmas specials that were almost magical, like Andy Williams, Bing Crosby, Perry Como, or Bob Hope? I'm sorry, but we both kept waiting for a presentation that really grabbed us. We did learn something about the Disney movie Frozen. According to the lady who sings the songs in the movie, you know, the lady with the funny name, she said the most important thing to her from the movie is the fact that it didn't have a man to save the day and it showed that two girls, sisters, could do it on their own. Does that surprise you? For some reason it doesn't surprise me at all. I'm not trying to be overly critical. These folks have the right to sing in the way they want to sing. I could have easily switched the channel. The Michael W. Smith songs were pretty good and some of the orchestration was also impressive. We did see the same Chevrolet commercial about twenty times. Maybe they could have invited the Osmonds, or Carol Burnett, or Red Skelton, or Eddy Arnold, or Gentleman Jim Reeves, and I could go on and on, but I'll end my little review here and wish us all a blessed and happy day. Amen.  ...More later.

"There is room for everyone on the nice list." Quote by Will Ferrell in the Elf movie.

Hello and welcome to Tuesday, December 2, 2014. We never used the Elf on the Shelf ploy with our kids. It sure is popular today. Best I can tell the idea is the elf doing his thing by constantly spying on the child with the threat of reporting any bad behavior to Santa. I've had parents plead with me to remind their child that the elf is at work and that any and all inappropriate acts will be reported. I had one little girl who told me all she wanted for Christmas was to get rid of that pesky elf. I suppose there is some merit in wanting a child to behave appropriately, however, I'm just not clear on the psychological control being exercised by this elf character. I do know that here in our area it is very widely practiced. Sure, the 'he sees you when you're sleeping and he knows if you've been bad or good' are indications that Santa is watching, however, this actual elf figurine being moved around and hidden here and there, well, I'm just not as sure about that. It seems even to Santa to be a little over the top. But, then again, it takes all kinds. We had a precocious six year old sweetheart on Saturday and when I asked what she wanted for Christmas she didn't hesitate: "A rich husband!"

Meanwhile, my take on the recent election and its aftermath goes like this. The President and his team had their plan ready and came out blazing after suffering a sizable loss at the polling booths of our nation. They were ready. They implemented their plan and took the winners by surprise. The winners were the ones supposedly holding the trump cards but the President and his team outfoxed them. Again. The immigration action was only one of their strategic moves. Now we find out that under the parameters of this executive directive, those who are non-citizens will eventually qualify for social security benefits. Hello? Meanwhile, the so called Republican winners are on the ropes trying to come up with a strategy to deal with this well executed assault. They come across to me as moaning, "Hey, wait just a minute, we're the ones who are supposed to be controlling the agenda." I just hope they do better than they have in the past. I'm talking about taking a clear advantage and figuring out a way to extinguish it. I'm sad to tell you we've been here before. As ole George W. might advise: "You would do well not to misunderestimate the opposition!"

I know. You thought I was so preoccupied with Santa that I was no longer paying attention. Not hardly. It's too important to the health and well being of the Republic going forward for me to put it aside. At the same time we can be sure that our Great God is aware and always at work among us. My Facebook is often filled up with photos from far flung places around the globe where missionary efforts are going forward. Many of those photos show folks being baptized after receiving the Lord Jesus Christ into their hearts. This is wonderful because it reminds us that power in Washington is nothing compared to the power of God as the Gospel goes forth. God's power speaks to the hearts of men, women, boys and girls and compels them to decide, to follow or to reject His offer of salvation. He is still in the saving business and because of that we can have hope for this generation as well as those who follow. Join me in rejoicing over this truth for it is the only hope for a lost and dying world. Amen.  ....More later.

"Christmas, my child, is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it's Christmas." ~ Dale Evans

Okay. Today is the back to work day. I hope you have dealt with your Thanksgiving food hangover by now and that we are ready to get going. Good to see you and I hope that you enjoyed your Thanksgiving time off. It's Monday, December 1, 2014, and I have many things swirling around this morning. We had a spectacular day last Thursday with our family. Not everyone could be there but we so much enjoyed our time together. I spent a good portion of Friday working on my Sunday Bible lesson along with the handout I do each week. I also worked on printing the first run of this year's edition of our annual Christmas card. I needed to do those things because on Saturday we did our posing for Santa photos at the professional photographer. That has become an annual occasion for us and this year they have added a second date in December. I did receive several notes of congratulations on my Santa photo being on the front page of the Sunday Conroe Courier newspaper. I appreciate it. However, I am very much aware that I am playing a character. It is that character that is the reason for the photo. Sure, I do work hard to portray him in the best way possible, but, I am certain that he is the popular one, not me. In other words, had I not been wearing the suit I would not be on the front page. I do appreciate all the compliments but I also like to keep everything in the proper perspective. I wouldn't want to wake up one morning thinking I am Santa Claus. On second thought, everyone sure does seem to like him, in fact, he's beloved by one and all, and he's also widely respected throughout the world. I'll get back to you on that one.

It seems the true British language is under assault. The purists across the pond are up in arms over what is termed as Americanisms that are creeping into their daily dialogue. I heard a couple of their high brow preservers of the King's English and they expressed how incensed they are to even consider American slang. In fact, they refused to comment on some of the Americanisms being used by the British public. Television, the internet, Facebook, Twitter, movies, you name it, and I suppose the guardians of the language are crying: The Americans are coming...the Americans are coming! Here's some of the phrases most disliked by the experts: 'my bad', 'price hike', 'you do the math', '24/7', 'it is what it is', 'touch base', to 'turn' a certain age, 'I'm good', 'heads up', and 'going forward'. There were plenty of others but that's a good sampling of what has the scholarly world all in a tizzy. They may have a few years on us but consider this example of how different the forms of speaking are: If a Londoner tells a resident of New York that she has left her child's dummy in the pram and its nappy in the boot, she will merely be greeted with a look of bewilderment. If the New Yorker then tells the London woman that she has nice pants, he may well wonder why she doesn't seem to take his remark as a compliment. (In America dummies and nappies are called pacifiers and diapers; prams and boots are called baby carriages and trunks. For Americans pants are trousers but for Britons pants are what you wear under your trousers.)

At the end of the day they will just have to live with it even if it's not their cup of tea. I made that one up. You know. Joking. I might try to sympathize with those elite language folks but they sounded so dismissive of any and all things American and they were just so grumpy about it all. No one really cares for grumpy unless it's one of the seven drawfs. I do hope you had a good week last week and now we open up our early Christmas present and find that enclosed is a Monday. We can choose to take it and do something with it or just try to survive it. I think doing something positive with it is the better choice. I know that from experience, however, I've done my fair share of the other as well. I do hope as we embark upon this month of December that we will have as our foundation the essence of the Christmas spirit, that being the coming into the world of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Take care now, you hear? And, may God add His blessings to our day. Amen.  See you next time, Lord willing. ....More later.

Have a blessed observance of Thanksgiving Day.

The wife. This is when she gets to shine. Homemade. That may be a word that is becoming extinct but not around our place. We will be serving up a smoked turkey and a smoked ham. Homemade cornbread dressing, homemade chicken and dumplings both made with real hen broth. (Clue: it's a special fat, plump chicken.) Homemade coconut cake. Also, many of the others coming will be adding all the trimmings, side dishes, desserts and so on and so forth. If you missed it, I'm talking about today, Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 27, 2014. We thank Chris and Sherrie for again opening up their home for us all to gather. This has become somewhat of a tradition in and of itself. So much to be thankful for and I do pray that we all will pause to consider all that our Great God has provided to us. We could begin, stay with, and end in naming all of the promises that are ours because of His love and mercy, and in doing so we would not even scratch the surface, but, we do recognize Him as the reason for our thankfulness. Have a great one and may God bless each one. Amen.

...More later.

For a Day of My Life, By Samuel F. Pugh: "This is the beginning of a new day. God has given me this day to use as I will. I can waste it, or use it for good, but what I do today is important because I am exchanging a day of my life for it. When tomorrow comes this day will be gone forever, leaving behind in its place something that I have traded for it. I want it to be gain and not loss, good and not evil, success and not failure, in order that I shall not regret the price that I have paid for it."

Greetings to one and all on this Thanksgiving Day eve, here on this Wednesday, November 26, 2014. While we plan our day of feasting and fellowship I am reminded that many folks are not in a position to do so. It's always important to think about others as we enjoy the blessings God has bestowed upon us. I read this prayer that spoke to my heart and perhaps it will to yours as well:

Help Me Thanksgiving Day Prayer

O God, when I have food,
help me to remember the hungry;
When I have work,
help me to remember the jobless;
When I have a home,
help me to remember those who have no home at all;
When I am without pain,
help me to remember those who suffer,
And remembering,
help me to destroy my complacency;
bestir my compassion,
and be concerned enough to help;
By word and deed,
those who cry out for what we take for granted. Amen.

(Written by Samuel F. Pugh. Rev. Pugh died peacefully in his sleep on December 23, 2007. He was 103 years old and had been an ordained minister of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) for over 70 years.)

May God bless our preparation and planning but also may He work in us the true spirit of thankfulness that expresses His love to others. May God bless each one. Amen.   ....More later.

"Thanksgiving dinners take eighteen hours to prepare. They are consumed in twelve minutes. Half-times take twelve minutes. This is not coincidence." ~ Erma Bombeck

I will call today one of reminiscing. I do that a lot. You noticed? Good. Thanks for being so observant. It is Tuesday, November 25, 2014. It's my sister Fran's birthday today. She is 71 years young and thinking about her and our years of sojourn does bring up many memories. I hope she has a very happy birthday. The thing I had on my mind today is trying to remember my favorite Thanksgiving of all time. With this one on Thursday I will have been around for some 68 of them, therefore, surely some stand out more than others. Not really. They pretty much blend together. One consistent theme has been the outstanding food we have enjoyed over the years. That's always worth remembering. I suppose seeing in my mind's eye all the faces of our kin throughout the years is pretty special in and of itself. I can hear Granny Mac praying. I can see us kids running here and there. I can see us as teens with our friends who showed up to be a part of the celebration. I can also see our children doing the same things we did. Then I see those gone on to the other side: My dad, my baby sister Kayla, my older brother Jimmy Don, my brother Donald, my uncles and aunts, my brother-in-laws Kenneth and Charles, my wife's parents, all our grandparents, there's really too many to count. I suppose that big table and the big prayer was what tied it all together. Then it was chow down time. Laughing, talking, and yes, typically, a fair amount of overeating. No doubt about that. Here's the deal: We will do our best to replicate those same sights, sounds, and tastes come this Thursday. That's the tradition handed down from one generation to the next. To me: It's all good stuff. Very good indeed!

This past weekend of doing what we call the Santa Enterprise was quite interesting. I can't even guess how many selfies were taken by folks as we made our way from the entrance to the big hotel to our photo shop location. I will tell you something that is really true. When the song says from one to 99, well, it is very much on target. Folks get excited when Santa comes on the scene, regardless of their age. I think my most favorite response is the surprised expressions that often greet us. We are always grateful for the wonderful treatment shown to us by those who work with us. They really do treat us like we are special. The work itself. After doing seven hours on Saturday, every bone carrying the age of 68 was singing a sad song. When we would hit a little lull the workers would get anxious. I mostly was just catching my breath. On Sunday a dear sister in Christ at our local fellowship brought us the Conroe newspaper and it had our photo on the front page. It's the one above. Thank you Sister Pat. As most of you know I do love the children. But, seeing one of those multiple carrier strollers headed my way, with at least two or more little ones, well, I would be lying if I didn't say some amount of dread is involved. All and all, it was quite a jolly jolly time.

I did prepare a Bible study lesson for last Sunday morning. In that lesson we thought about what it means to be truly thankful. We talked about how that God does have an expectation of those who are His own. That expectation is grounded in a response of thankfulness. Yet, we can only show our thankful heart by the living out of a thankful life. That's a real challenge especially in a world wound tightly and bent on anger, frustration, and rage. We shared the Apostle Peter's words from his 2nd Epistle and the first chapter. The inspired text tells us about the life God has called us to. As believers we begin our new life in Christ as babies but God wants us to grow up and to build up our spiritual muscles so that we can fulfill His calling on our life. That requires us to be diligent. And, it requires us to live in a state of perpetual thankfulness for all that God has done for us and through us. There's a warning in that chapter for believers. It tells us that when we neglect the building of our spiritual life that shows itself in our daily walk, well, we can mess up our ability to see clearly. How messed up can we get? So much so the text tells us we can even forget that we have been saved from our old life. Wow! I needed that lesson. I typically always need the lessons I teach. It is one worth thinking about. For me, for you, and for everyone! Take care now and may God bless us all. Amen.  ....More later.