By Jim Lewis Do you remember, “Tim the Tool Man Taylor?” His many attempts at household repair would ultimately end up in disaster. Funny, Yes. Realistic for some of us…maybe. Home repair shows are popular because most home owners either need or want to make things better. For some of us, it seems to never end. Either something is always rotten or broken or by the time you have finally remodeled the entire house, it’s time to start over again. Sound familiar?
By Jim Lewis Here’s an amusing story that I recently heard. A man was working atop a three story building on a metal roof. He was surprised by a gust of wind and found himself sliding downward toward the edge. He reached and grabbed for anything he could and at the very last second caught the eaves trough, (rain gutter). That’s the good news. The bad news was that he was hanging three stories up and couldn’t get back on the roof. Now what?
By Jim Lewis What chores do you enjoy the least? I have to say that going to the dump, (landfill) is on my list. It’s not a big deal, but I just don’t look forward to it. I had to go the other day and it was super-hot and muggy. It wasn’t the best time, but the load had been sitting there a long time and I wanted to get the job behind me; it had to get done. On top of some recyclables and trash cans in the back of the truck, I also had a utility trailer with a very heavy, expensive load, (even the scale attendant commented on it) of awkward miscellaneous items. The contents were not light and difficult to unload. It took a quite a while and garbage trucks took turns unloading next to me, making it even hotter and more aromatic! Somehow some creosote had spilled in the trailer and onto much of the load. I ended up wearing a lot of it and ruining my pants. Two separate bags of dirt and gravel managed to break and spill in the trailer, (of course mixing with creosote) providing a nice mess for the un-named driver who did not bring a broom! Other than that, the job went very well.
By Jim Lewis Have you seen in the movies where a field Chaplain is praying for a dying soldier on the battle field? In the Catholic faith, this is referred to as Last Rites. The way that I understand it, this is not necessary to get to Heaven, but is a means to better prepare your entry by confessing wrongs, acknowledging God for who He is and praying. I assume that this also helps comfort the dying person. All good things. Some native Indian tribes believe(d) that in order to enter the Spirit World, you have to proclaim your own personal death chant prior to dying. In both of these situations, they recognize something greater than themselves and the need to prepare one’s self for a life beyond here on earth. How about you? How do you look at it? Have you thought of it lately?
Jim Lewis What’s in YOUR wallet? I bet you know the commercial. It’s a good one because we all remember it. The idea is to self-examine your credit card(s) and hopefully realize that you could owe less and do more with theirs. Is theirs better? I don’t know, but it’s important enough for most of us to at least consider, even if it only gets us to look at how much debt we ARE carrying. Debt causes stress and sometimes we may need to self-examine and, “get our house in order.” What’s in your wallet is probably not the only burden you carry. Perhaps it’s depression, unforgiveness of others or yourself, a broken relationship or…
By Jim Lewis Have you ever gone camping when it has rained the whole time? Maybe you have gotten wet and packed up early or even left in the middle of the night. How about a hurricane during your Florida vacation or no snow and ice for the winter festival? The car breaks down your flight is cancelled, the motel is over-booked or you get really sick. Some vacation! We can plan our futures to the smallest detail and with the best of intentions, but we can’t plan on the weather or life’s circumstances to always fall in line.
By Jim Lewis When is the last time you had an argument, fight, or heated discussion with your spouse, friend or child? If you are like most of us, it probably wasn’t too long ago. It happens to the best of us and is just part of life. Turns out we are human. Usually the greater and more heated the disagreement, the greater the separation and the longer the period before reconciliation, (If any) occurs. Emotions and pride cloud our judgement and we say and do things that we often regret. Then when we get apart from one another, we can regain our calm, think about it, and gain a better perspective.
By Jim Lewis “Take it or leave it.” Have you heard it before? Used it? It usually means that you are at the end of the line during some kind of negotiation. Buying a car, back and forth offers on a home or even a yard sale transaction come to my mind. Whether you are the one buying or selling, it always comes down to a, “make or break” point. How bad do you want to sell it and how badly do you want it? It can be fun to haggle and at least, “ think” you’ve got a good deal, but as I grow older the more I’ve grown to appreciate complete information about the product and the non-negotiable, “priced as marked” approach. I don’t like to have to ask how much something is. That is at least when I’m making the larger and more important decisions. How about you?
By Jim Lewis Sometimes I take life too seriously. How about you? I let stresses build so that little things become much more than they are. At these times I might question God and even get angry with Him. Often life’s not fair for all of us, but that doesn’t mean that God’s not there or that He doesn’t care. Deep down I know that it’s true and usually it’s when I realize this that I come to the conclusion that letting life and stress get the better of me is silly and fruitless. Sometimes it’s good to just laugh at ourselves. If we can’t find humor in life, we are in trouble. In fact it’s important for our healing and God says so in Proverbs 17:22: A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones. So let’s laugh a bit.
By Jim Lewis We all remember "The Three Little Pigs" story. The Big-Bad Wolf couldn’t blow down the house made of bricks and so the pigs, (Pork chop, Bacon and Ham Roll) were all protected from the evil outside. The first two houses couldn’t stand up to the outside influences and were destroyed, leaving chaos and destruction. They were not properly prepared. Does your life feel like you live in a straw house sometimes? Is there something we can learn from this children’s fairytale and is there a way to be better prepared?
By Jim Lewis Did you ever play, “Blind Man’s Bluff” as a kid? When we played, we put someone in a swivel chair, blindfolded them and spun them until they were quite dizzy. Then the unstable and disoriented kid would have to locate and touch one of the other players in the room. Then the kid that was touched would be, “it” and have a turn in the chair. I remember up, down, left and right being somewhat in question after the spinning was done. Fortunately this dazed and confused state lasted for only a short time, (as far as you know).
By Jim Lewis Once again Easter has come and gone. Like Christmas and perhaps the 4th of July, it is a day we look forward to and a day we remember. We can often remember what happened last Easter and what we did, be it a family get together, hiding candy for children, a church service or an Easter egg hunt. It can also be a reminder that another year has passed. Was it a good year? Bad? Has anything really changed?
By Jim Lewis What is up with ISIS (Islamic state in Iraq and Syria), (or ISIL)? Videotaped beheadings, suicide bombings, genocide, kidnapping and all sorts of terror activity are being reported almost daily. What can make people come to the place where they are driven to murder and destroy others, (even themselves!) simply because they disagree with them? For some it appears to be a personal need to belong along with an outlet for hate, but for most it is done as a means to please their god. They believe that it is their duty to make the whole world Islamic, no matter what it takes. Even though we strongly disagree with their actions and are quite angry about them, we cannot deny that they are truly dedicated to what they believe. What can be done about it? Do you think that they could ever change? Is there any hope?
By Jim Lewis I have a friend that quite a few years ago, was put in a difficult situation. His wife left him and he had to take care of two very young children, (Sounds like a Kenny Rogers song). He didn’t have, “crops in the field” but he did have a responsibility as a truck driver. Now what could he do? I’ll tell you what he did, he took them with him! How do you feed bottles and change diapers going down the road? Well DON”T try this at home, but this is how it happened. He rigged a, “bungee cord” bottle feeding system and did the, “one hand changing the baby on the dash, one hand on the wheel” diaper change method. Not exactly how it was written up in the parenting manual, but he did what he had to for his children. They were more important than the inconvenience. I’m not sure that his children today truly understand the love and sacrifice that their father made.
By Jim Lewis Let’s see, you are one person in over 7 billion (7,000,000,000) people on the planet. We are but a speck on this smaller planet that rotates around a smaller sun. This smaller sun is one of at least 200 billion, (200,000,000,000) suns, (stars) in just our Milky Way Galaxy alone. Two hundred billion! Our galaxy is just one of over one billion galaxies in the universe. How small of a speck am I compared to the unimaginable enormity of the universe? Really think about it. Does this make you feel unimportant or insignificant? It shouldn’t and here’s why.
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