I think old Solomon was right when he said, “there is no new thing under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9 KJV).

So, I am never intimidated by some new gizmo or gadget that comes down the line. One of the things I have no intention of upgrading is in the area of giving credit. I believe in giving credit where credit is due. After all, I need all the credit I can get these days.

If somebody does something that blesses me, I am beholden to give them their due credit. I am under the opinion that if I give enough people enough credit that one day I just may be able to cash in.

This all came to me this past week when I had my visit to the dentist. I make it a rule that once a decade to visit my dentist whether I need to or not. The thing that spurred my visit to the dentist this time was one of my fillings had fallen out. Actually, I am assuming it fell out because where it used to be was a hole in my tooth. Upon pondering the situation to its logical conclusion, I must have eaten my filling.

This dental hygienic situation brought me to my latest visit with my dental hygienist. While I was there, I thought I would save time, if not money, and have my teeth cleaned. Every decade I like to have my teeth cleaned. According to my dentist’s records, the last time I had my teeth cleaned was 13 years ago. So, it is time.

Because it was so long since my last visit with the dentist, he insisted on taking pictures of all my teeth. I hope to get copies so I can post it on my Facebook. After all, what would my Facebook be without pictures of teeth?

I had forgotten the whole procedure of dental photography. It took an entire hour to photograph all my teeth one at a time. During the sixty minutes of my photography shoot, I had to keep my mouth open. I have never had my mouth open for so long in all my life.

After this, I have a new appreciation for women. How they keep their mouth open for so long is one of those mysteries husbands will never be able to unravel.

The upshot of my visit with the dentist was I had a clean bill of health regarding my teeth and gums. I must have been doing something right to have such healthy teeth and gums for a person my age.

When the dentist said “a person my age,” I was not sure if he was insulting me or congratulating me for good health. Being the gentleman that I am, I took the latter.

“I don’t know what you’re doing,” the dentist said cheerfully as I left his office, “just keep it up.” With that, I left the dentist office.

I thought a lot about what he said and I have come to a major conclusion. I like giving credit where credit is due, so I had to think long and hard about whom to credit for my good dental health.

Certainly, I could congratulate the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage on her superb dietary work in the kitchen. Without doubt, it pays to eat the right food if you are going to have good health. But I think it goes much further than this.

What am I doing to credit such a good dental health report?

Then it came to me.

Have you ever given serious thought about something for so long, you seem to be getting nowhere, and then all of a sudden, it hits you?

I know what I can credit my excellent dental health. Apple Fritters. That is right. The reason I have good teeth and good gums is because of a consistent diet of apple fritters. After all, everybody knows the main ingredient of an apple fritter is an apple. There is nothing better for a person than an apple.

Where the fritter comes in is very simple. The fritter part of an apple fritter is the means by which my body can assimilate the nutritional aspects of the apple. The fritter facilitates the good parts of the apple to every part of my body.

Therefore, with a deep sense of humility and gratefulness, I credit my dental health to the regular consumption of Apple Fritters. A friend of mine recently suggested that I might be addicted to Apple Fritters, but I kindly remonstrated him by explaining I am addicted to good dental health.

My spiritual health is a different matter.

“Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and for ever. Amen.”  Jude 1:24-25 KJV

God gets all the credit in my life for my spiritual health now and forever.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: The Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship, PO Box 831313, Ocala, FL 34483. He lives with his wife, Martha, in Silver Springs Shores. Call him at 352-687-4240 or e-mail jamessnyder2@att.net. The church web site is www.whatafellowship.com.

As I suffused my weary body into my La-Z-Boy chair, I knew I was tired but I could not figure out what I had done during the week to make me this tired. After all, it did not seem like I had accomplished anything of significance this week. I was trying to do something, of course, but I had absolutely nothing to show for it. What was I trying to do this past week?

A verse of Scripture began haunting me as I thought about this. “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin” (James 4:17). What was I supposed to “doeth” that I did not get around to “doething”?

Of course, there was that funeral I had this past week. Unfortunately, I opened my book to the wrong page and begin the funeral by saying, “Dearly beloved we are gathered together here to unite these two in holy matrimony.”

Holy macaroni!

What a difference the wrong page makes. At least I was not officiating at a wedding and said, “Ashes to ashes, and dirt to dirt.” Although, to be honest about it, I have had some weddings where I thought that phrase fit.

I was tempted, only for a moment, to query the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage but I feared she would tell me. There is something to say about mystery. Nothing is more mysterious than the feminine side of the marriage equation. Odd isn’t it, that the marriage equation is not always even.

As I reflected upon my week past, I duly noted the activities that occupied most of my week. Apart from the funeral, I had several hospital visits to make. As is usually the case, people conspire to go to the hospital at the same time but never at the same hospital. One even went out of town to go to a hospital.

Other visits were made and other activities attended. Certain deadlines were staring me in the face and I stared right back at them defiantly. I am not sure who won.

Services and Bible studies needed to be prepared for which can take up a lot of time. Then, don’t you know it; my truck is always out of gas when I am in a hurry. I suppose I could fill my tank up when it got down to a certain level, but where would the fun be in that? Nothing compares to the adrenaline of being in a hurry and late for an appointment and then running out of gas.

Do not get me wrong here. It is not that I do not enjoy giving my wife a call on the cell phone when stranded along the side of the road. It is the highlight of the stranded experience. Usually, her response to my phone call is what stresses me out.

“What,” she declares in that sarcastic tone of hers, “have you run out of gas again?”

It is her theatrical use of the word “again” that I believe could easily earn her an Oscar. I once presented her with an Oscar Meyer wiener, but she did not enjoy the joke. Personally, I thought it was a great joke and I really did not appreciate her reaction. Needless to say, I have not repeated that sin, although temptation is what it is.

I suppose I did do things and accomplished something this past week, but it really does not explain why I am as tired as I am tonight. I can remember there was a time that I did not even know the meaning of tired. I got tired all right; I just did not know the meaning of the word tired.

Then the whole thing dawned on me. It was almost like being hit on the head with an iron skillet by you know whom. The lights flashed. The lightbulb went on. I had an epiphany to end all epiphanies.

At this point, I am surprised my wife did not get the jump on me with this one. The reason I am so tired is because I am old. There, I said it. I have come to that point in life where being young is a fond fading memory.

As this bit of information began marinating in my cranium, it had a very comforting effect. Up to this point, I had been worrying about the fact that I was tired and I could not link that condition with any specific activity. As is usually the case, there are good sound reasons for everything. I began to look at my tired condition in a completely different light.

I have earned my being tired. It is something I have worked for all my life. Now, here it is. I am now collecting those wonderful dividends from all that activity of the past.

As I thought about this, a marvelous verse of Scripture came to my mind.

“The glory of young men is their strength: and the beauty of old men is the gray head.”  Proverbs 20:29

Being tired is the crown of a lifetime of activity.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: The Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship, PO Box 831313, Ocala, FL 34483. He lives with his wife, Martha, in Silver Springs Shores. Call him at 352-687-4240 or e-mail jamessnyder2@att.net. The church web site is www.whatafellowship.com.

With a confused look on her face she responded, “I have enough interest in my money, nobody else needs to bother about it.” That was that!

After my grandfather died, my wife and I had the opportunity to take Grandma out for supper. It was a delightful restaurant and we thought it would be a real treat for her. More than once, I had to keep her from getting up and serving coffee to the rest of the people in the restaurant. After all, she did that at the church suppers; why not here? “I’ve got two good legs,” she protested.

Then came time to pay the check and the waiter brought the check and laid it in front of me. I immediately took a credit card out of my wallet and laid it on the check.

I could tell Grandma had never seen a credit card before.

“Put that away,” she said. “I believe that man wants you to pay for our supper. Don’t you have any money?”

“I”m paying for our supper with my credit card,” I explained.

“Oh, dear,” she moaned. “You know I don’t believe in cards. Cards are of the devil, and I have never had a deck of cards in my house. I’m a little surprised that you, a minister, would be fooling around with such things of the devil.”

She insisted we tip the waiter in “good ole American cash.” I am not sure if Grandma ever really understood the credit card. She bought nothing on credit and did not accept credit. Everything had to be done in cash. She often quoted the scripture verse that says, “Owe no man any thing . . .” (Romans 13:8KJV), which she took quite literally.

As grandma got older, she began to rethink the business of opening a bank account. Without telling anyone, she decided to go to the bank and open an account. She had saved up $50 for this purpose. Grandma nervously entered the bank and walked up to the man sitting at the desk marked “New Accounts.”

“Good morning, ma’am. I’m Gary Goodman. How can I help you today?”

The man seemed pleasant enough, and Grandma thought entrusting him with the delicate job at hand was probably safe.

“I wanna open an account,” she mumbled.

“Fine. I’ll get you all set up. It won’t take but a few minutes.” With that, he took out some papers and laid them on his desk in front of grandma.

“Now,” he said, “let’s begin. What is your name?”

She told him.

“Okay. What is your address?”

“What?”

“What is your address?”

“Why do you need to know that?”

“I’m just filling out the form, ma’am.”

The young man a little confused with her hesitancy said, “We can come back to that. What is your date of birth?”

Grandma’s face turned a little red. “What do you want to know that for,” she gasped?

“I’m just filling out the forms. Can you give me your telephone number?”

That did it for Grandma. She got up from her seat and looked him right in the face and said, “Young man, I don’t know who you think you are, but I am not interested in your advances. I’m old enough to be your mother. You ought to be ashamed.”

Just then the manager of the bank walked by.

“Mary, what are you doing here?”

The manager quickly assessed the situation and told the young man he would take care of this customer and tried to console my grandmother.

“I don’t know what’s gotten into young folk these days,” she whispered.

Barely concealing his manager his smile he said, “I’ll take care of you, Mary,” he assured her. He knew all the information about her and quickly filled in the paper work and walked Grandma to the teller for her first deposit.

Grandma handed the teller a crumpled $50 bill. The teller took it and gave her a deposit receipt.

“Where’s my money?” grandma demanded.

“It’s safe in the bank, ma’am.”

“How do you know my money from everyone else’s?”

“The money is all deposited in the bank, and if you need any, all you do is write a check.”

She showed Grandma how to write out a check. By now Grandma was confused and more than a little exasperated. Quickly Grandma wrote out a check for $50 and handed it back to the teller.

“You’re withdrawing all your money?”

“Yes.”

The teller counted out $50 and handed it to her. Grandma looked at the teller and said, “No. I want MY money.” The teller retrieved the crumpled $50 bill and handed it to Grandma.

As she walked out, the teller heard her mumble, “What a crazy way to run business. No wonder banks fail.”

There is only one sure account I can bank on. Jesus said,

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.” (Matthew 6:19-20KJV)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  The Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship, PO Box 831313, Ocala, FL 34483. He lives with his wife, Martha, in Silver Springs Shores. Call him at 352-687-4240 or e-mail jamessnyder2@att.net. The church web site is www.whatafellowship.com.

Topping the list this year of words not to be used is the word “amazing.” Allegedly [which I think is one word that should not be used this year], 1500 people voted to ban the word “amazing.”

I think it is rather amazing that out of the 312,867,000 people living in the United States, 1500 people tell us what not to say. Who are these 1500 people? What do they have against the word “amazing?” Have they ever seen anything that was actually amazing?

Of all the words I would like to see canceled during this year, “amazing” is not one of them.

A few words have come to my attention that I would like to eliminate for the coming year. I know I am only one person but by Jehoshaphat, I am going to have my say.

The first word I would like to see banned would be, “caucus.” I have no idea what this word means. Sure, I can look it up in the dictionary and find out what it is supposed to mean, but when used in the political arena, I am all confused. It would surprise me if some of the commentators that use the word knew exactly what it means. After all, it takes all their concentration to read the teleprompter.

Yet, this word is employed in the process of determining who will be the nominee for the political office of President of the United States. I think it is interesting that in order to get to the White House every politician needs to start with a Native American caucus. Of all objecting in using this word, the Native Americans should be the loudest.

Another word I would like to see banned for the year is the word “polling.” It seems no politician can do anything without first doing some polling. They will spend millions of dollars doing this polling. I would not mind so much if they did not call me on the telephone and waste my time. If everybody whom they call on the telephone in their polling was as sarcastic as I am, I do not put any faith in their polling at all. Mr. Politician, call me at your peril.

Contemporary politicians would not know what day of the week it was if it was not for the latest poll. Even though the Creator gave each politician two legs to stand on, they are always switching from one leg to the next. Now I know why a politician has a left foot and a right foot.

The only natural thing that lives by polls is a polecat. There may be some resemblance here.

The word “earmarks,” is another one I would like to see banned for this coming year. A politician without his or her earmarks is like a skunk without his stink. If you take a skunk, you are going to have to put up with his stink.

I guess the politician needs to do something with his or her ears for they certainly are not employed in hearing anything from their constituents. If a politician insists on earmarks, I think we ought to do some marking of their ears.

When I was a youngster in school, my teachers found a wonderful use for my ears. Whenever they wanted me to do something, they would grab me by the ears and jerk me into the right direction. Where are those teachers when you really need her? I would like to help them with their ear jerking operation. I know. Let’s call it the Ear Jerking Operation (EJO).

One final word I would like to see obliterated is the word “party.” Especially when associated with something political. Let’s face it. The political world is just one great big party after another, usually, at someone else’s expense. If I could go to a party with somebody else sponsoring it and paying for it, I guess I would go to.

Whenever somebody asks me which political party I belong to I usually respond by saying, “The birthday party.” At a birthday party, at least you get to eat cake and sometimes in the excitement get a little bit on your face. At political parties, everybody is eating their own words and ending up with egg on their face.

If are going to have a party let’s make it a birthday party where everybody is invited and everybody gets a slice of cake. Make that two slices of cake.

I suppose there would be a whole lot of other words I could add to my list but there is one word I am not going to ban and that is God’s Word. There is nothing more amazing to me than the relevance of God’s word in my life today. One word I love is,

“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

I am quite content to allow God have the last word in my life. I have found it to be amazingly true.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  The Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship, PO Box 831313, Ocala, FL 34483. He lives with his wife, Martha, in Silver Springs Shores. Call him at 352-687-4240 or e-mail jamessnyder2@att.net. The church web site is www.whatafellowship.com.

An old year is fading and a new year is upon us again. Each year I go kicking and screaming into the New Year, and not because I am against change. My pants pocket is full of change.

I simply cannot remember to change the year on the checks I write until May. By the time, I remember the correct year I have forgotten to make deposits into my checking account. I need a reality check, which with any luck will not bounce as high as my checkbook.

That is not the only reason I hesitate going into a new year. The biggest reason has to do with the mistakes I made during the old year.

Looking back over the old year, I worry that my blunders were not as bad as they could have been. Did I make all the gaffes I possibly could? Did I fill my quota? What is my quota, anyway?

For many people, the New Year offers the opportunity to start over again. Actually, what happens is people simply make new mistakes curiously similar to the mistakes made during the old year.

If I have any resolution for the New Year it would be to perfect the mistakes I have already made. I do not see any sense in making new bloopers when I can easily requisition the old ones for duty during the New Year.

And what is wrong with my old mistakes? The only thing I can think of is that I did not work hard enough to make the most of them. It is one thing to make a mistake, but it is quite another thing to perfect the art of making a mistake so that you do not have to repeat it ever again. Too many amateurs have given mistake-making a bad name.

Most of my mistakes have been so poorly discharged that in the coming New Year I will have to re-do many of them. And, frankly, I am tired of it all. I am anxious to move on to new areas of mistake making.

I am convinced there are faux pas to make that I have not dreamed of at this point in my life. Believe me, I have been dreaming. Actually, the gracious mistress of the Parsonage things they are all nightmares. However, my horsing around is not limited to the nighttime.

With that in mind, my resolution for the New Year is to make sure all mistakes I make (and there will be plenty, I assure you) will be as thorough as possible. I refuse to execute any mistake before its time.

Some mistakes take lots of time to fully mature, but when its time comes, I want to make sure it is implemented as smoothly and as perfectly as possible.

If I am any judge of character, the majority of people will not make any new mistakes this coming New Year. Oh, they think they are making new mistakes but in reality, they are dusting off old ones and re-dating them for the current year. What a waste of time, in my opinion.

For those who take mistake-making seriously, allow me to offer some help to guide this pursuit in the coming New Year.

Look back over the old year and make a list of all of the mistakes you have made. If you are a husband, solicit help from your wife, who will be able to remember all of those mistakes you have forgotten. (Not to mention one or two you did not make.)

Go over each mistake on your list and determine if it needs repeated for the New Year. It does not make sense in doing new mistakes if you are not finished with the old ones. Nothing is more disheartening than a half-baked mistake.

For every mistake from the previous year not needing repeated, place a nice red star in front of it. That mistake can now go into your Hall of Blame, which you will never have to repeat again.

Of course, you will have some mistakes, even though they have been perfectly executed are well worth repeating. You know which ones they are. Don’t you?

Now look at all of those mistakes listed for repeating during the New Year. Prioritize them so you can begin the New Year with a good plan.

As you prioritize this list, think of ways in which you can improve on your mistakes over the past year. No satisfaction compares with doing something as good as you can. One man’s blunder is another man’s gaffe.

Everyone generates mistakes, which is healthy. What is unhealthy is thinking you have not made any mistakes, which is a mistake. Some people have the strange idea that they live a completely mistake free life.

A mistake well executed is a mistake never needing repeating. During the New Year, execute as many mistakes as your conscience will allow.

The Bible, an authority on mistakes, says this;

“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (1 John 1:8-10 KJV.)

The great hope we have is that there is no mistake bigger than God’s ability to forgive.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: The Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship, PO Box 831313, Ocala, FL 34483. He lives with his wife, Martha, in Silver Springs Shores. Call him at 352-687-4240 or e-mail jamessnyder2@att.net. The church web site is www.whatafellowship.com.

Forgive me if I have said this before, but, “Happy New Year.” It may be the epitome of redundancy but I have given this greeting for 60 years and I mean it as sincerely this year as I have all the years preceding.

The first few years of my life, I had no teeth and so all I could say was “Goo-goo, daa-daa.” It meant the same thing. This year I have all of my teeth but I am not certain how many more years.

The way we start life is the way we usually end life, with no teeth and drooling all the time with a silly grin on our face.

Why is it so cute to have a toothless drool at three months but rather disgusting when you are 93 years old?

We all start life wearing diapers and if we live long enough we will end our life wearing the same apparatus. I guess it all depends upon what we do between the two events.

I suppose I could be guilty of not learning as much as I could at my age, but one thing I have learned and that is the good things in life are always repeated. Sure, there are some things that we do once in a lifetime and cherish their memories, but the good things in life are those things we continually repeat.

I would wager that in this New Year there would be relatively few, if any, new things. The past year was supposed to carry with it a lot of brand-new things. Most things were those repeated ad nausea for many years.

This year is an election year. Of course, the purpose of this year is to elect a new president. Every four years we elect a “new” president and I have participated in many presidential elections. At least, I went to the voting booth and voted. In all those years of electing a “new” president it has usually worked out that the new president was remarkably quite like the old president.

Some political pundits make a great deal between a Republican and a Democrat. It may be my age, but it seems to me that most Democrats are Republicans in disguise and most Republicans are Democrats in disguise. If I was backed up against a wall with a firing squad in front of me and asked to tell the difference between a Democrat and a Republican, the only thing I could come up with would be the spelling.

A Republican when elected will always act like a Democrat and a Democrat when elected will usually act like a Republican. Then they wonder why the voting public is confused.

As far as I am concerned, a rattlesnake wearing a rabbit outfit does not change its nature. It still has poisonous fangs looking for some human flesh.

What has not changed is the fact that a politician running for office will say anything to get elected and then once elected will develop an acute sense of amnesia, which is not that cute.

Whenever I hear politicians say that when they are elected they are going to change things I know I am either listening to a fool or someone who is trying to fool me. Hundreds of politicians have run on the platform of changing Washington DC. Well, how has that been working?

The coming presidential election will be the same as every other one in the history of the United States.

In spite of that, there are a few things I am glad will not change.

The things that are really important in life are those things that do not change.

For instance, I am glad the sun comes up every morning. Even though every day is a new day, the same sun starts the day with its rising. The beautiful thing about this is that we can only live one day at a time. I cannot remember how much time I have spent worrying about something in the future and when that day came, I worried in vain.

I am so glad that the rising of the sun is not in the hands of some political committee somewhere. Wherever two or three politicians are gathered together, there is gridlock. If a political committee were responsible for the rising of the sun, it would never rise. The only thing a political committee can do when it comes to the phenomenon of rising is in the area of taxes and their salaries.

As sure as the sun will rise tomorrow so will our taxes and so will the salaries of the politicians. Would be great the politician’s salary was tied to the economy? If the economy was up, the politicians would get a raise. If the economy went down, the politicians would take a cut in salary.

I am not sure how to do that, but if it ever became law in our country, the economy of our country would be on the rise for generations to come.

Another redundancy that I am delighted to participate in and that is the mercies of God.

“It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness” (Lamentations 3: 22-23 KJV).

Although repeated daily, God’s mercies are never redundant.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  The Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship, PO Box 831313, Ocala, FL 34483. He lives with his wife, Martha, in Silver Springs Shores. Call him at 352-687-4240 or e-mail jamessnyder2@att.net. The church web site is www.whatafellowship.com.

For the last few years, I have never had to check my calendar to know when it is time to celebrate the Christmas season. It seems that the Thanksgiving turkey always gives rise to what I shall refer to as the Holiday Turkey. No sooner is my Thanksgiving turkey resting snugly inside of me when the Holiday Turkeys begin their assault on Christmas.

Do not let this get out, but I love it.

Some people are quite offended when these Holiday Turkeys begin their assault on Christmas. I would be insulted if they did not. I expect them to attack anything to do with Christmas. It just goes to show that the Christmas story has not lost its offense.

Those of us who celebrate the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ embrace this time of the year with a great deal of joy and praise. After all, we are celebrating the fact that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. What better message to celebrate at this time of year when most people are having a difficult time.

Don’t get me wrong here. I believe in celebrating Jesus Christ every day. There is something special about setting aside one day out of the year to recognize his birth. I do not worship the manger nor do I venerate the three wise men. I do, however, appreciate the fact that Jesus Christ came into this world and it certainly is my privilege once a year to celebrate His birthday. I know He was not born on December 25, but it is the thought that counts.

Even those who do celebrate Christmas sometime celebrate the wrong thing. People who do not have much money spend themselves poor getting Christmas presents for their family, and then they spend the rest of the year trying to pay off those purchases. That is a nice gesture but that is not the reason for the season. Instead of spending money this year for your family, why not spend a little time with them. That will do more good than something you buy in the store that will be obsolete by the time they open it Christmas morning.

Then there are those who take this time of the year to do nothing but party, party, party. By party, I mean getting so inebriated they have no idea what they are doing or saying. Many people will die during the celebration of Christ’s birth because of some intoxicated driver.

This is not the reason for the season.

You can always tell the quality of a person by what they celebrate and how they celebrate. Of course, the Holiday Turkeys will accuse me right here of being judgmental. Perhaps they are right.

What is wrong with a little bit of being judgmental?

Why is it we can be judgmental in every area of our life except those areas that are matters of life and death.

My doctor is so judgmental that sometimes I would like to punch him in the nose. What right does he have to tell me that I have something wrong with me? Well, he’s the doctor. How many people have shortened their life by not listening to their judgmental doctor?

Some alcohol-saturated person will challenge me and say, “You have no right telling me what to do. I’m going to have a good time. Don’t you judge me.” Then they get smashed, jump in their car and end up killing some young family coming home from a Christmas party.

That certainly is not the reason for the season.

The Christmas season is not the season to get so drunk you do not know what you are doing that you hurt other people and it is not the season to spend yourself into the poor house for the next year or so.

The Christmas season is the season to celebrate God’s answer to man’s incurable dilemma.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16 KJV).

The answer to all of man’s problem is Jesus Christ.

The Christmas season is the season to join with family and neighbor and sing of God’s amazing Grace. Go ahead. Deck your halls with Holly but in the midst of it all, give God the glory in the highest. This is the season for our streets to echo with the joyous celebration of Christ coming into this world.

Then there are those who object.

I have a proposition for all of the Holiday Turkeys who object to me celebrating Christmas or trying to call it something other than what it really is.

You do not have to celebrate the Christmas season; just allow me to celebrate it in a way that I see fit. Then, I will not celebrate April 1 or Halloween but will allow you to celebrate your holidays anyway you want to. I think that is fair. It is a two-for-one deal I am not sure anybody could ever pass up.

Celebrate your holiday, and I will celebrate the Christmas season and wish all my friends a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  The Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship, PO Box 831313, Ocala, FL 34483. He lives with his wife, Martha, in Silver Springs Shores. Call him at 352-687-4240 or e-mail jamessnyder2@att.net. The church web site is www.whatafellowship.com.

What is it about talking that is so incredible? God gave us humans this incredible ability to communicate in words.  Using that ability is vital.  As I would sit with my friend we would share our lives.  We would review the past – sometimes yesterday, sometimes events from long ago and how they affected our present.  We would discuss the present – what was going on that day or that week.  We would put into words our hopes and fears for the future.  It was a safe place to share.

Sometimes we would whisper our woes.  Many times we would discuss our kids or more likely our failures as a parent!  But what was important is that we shared – the good, the bad, and the ugly.

It seems to me that as a business owner working from home one of the greatest needs we have is to not to get isolated.  You know, if God gave us a voice, and words to go with it then we were meant to use it.  Now I know we all have a friend who can talk the hind leg off a donkey but even so we were born to talk. We know the tyranny of “I’ve got to get this or that done.” For busy parents that will always be the case but “me” time is vital too.  I remember as a kid seeing steam trains standing in a station and “letting off steam”.  We humans need to do that too.

So remember these three principles.

1. Select a friend carefully.  You want someone who you feel able to be honest with yet know that your conversations will stay private. You also want to ensure that this is a two-way street, give and take so that both of you are enriched as a result of being together.
2. Find a time that really works for you both so that you are not feeling the pressure to be somewhere else. You want to be 100% “present” for those conversations.
3. Find a place that becomes “your place” for these times.  A conducive atmosphere will make a difference.

As I think back to those days in Cardiff, Wales and the little coffee shop we would frequent I realize just how vital those times were to my spiritual and emotional wellbeing.  So why not pick up the phone, dial their number and say “feel like a coffee”!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jonathan Booth is the National Coach of the School of Entrepreneurship.  He is formerly the CEO of CARE for the Family in the UK, a sister organization to Focus on the Family.  Jonathan has led three Christian organizations and worked in over 50 countries.  He lives in Oregon with his wife, Karleen and an Aussie exchange student plus two dogs and has children and grandchildren in Indiana and London.

I felt it was an incredible achievement and returned to my beach hotel excited by all I had seen and done.  However I suspect that Sir Edmund Hilary and his sherpa Tenzing Norgay would have smiled at what I thought was a great achievement.  In May of 1953 they became the first pair to set foot on the highest point on earth, Mt Everest at 29,029 feet.  Out of the 6 billion people on the planet only just over 3,000 have ever set foot on that pinnacle.

But then again, how would Neil Armstrong have viewed things when on July 20th, 1969 he became the first human to set foot on the moon and uttered the immortal words “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”  From 238,000 miles away Mt Everest didn’t look quite the same as it looked to Sir Edmund and Tenzing 16 years earlier.

But then stop for a minute and look at things through God’s eyes.  He is the God of the universe.  It is thought that all we can see in our sky with our best telescopes is but a mere 5% of the universe and Armstrong’s moon is like our next door neighbor compared to the stars just in our galaxy.  The universe is commonly defined as the totality of everything that exists.  So our God smiles kindly as man travels a mere 230,000 miles to the moon and looks down on Everest with a feeling of superiority.  And yes Sir Edmund may have looked down from Everest on Mt Sinai and chuckled that I thought it was so amazing to have clambered up Sinai and got to the top.

Why am I telling you this?  For two main reasons.  Perspective and progress.  We all need to keep our lives in some perspective.  I’ve climbed many a hill to find another one appear where I thought the summit ought to be.  But progress is the movement in a forward and upward direction that will lead all of us nearer to the pinnacle of our lives.  I’m always impressed by what the elderly can do.  It was a 76 year old who became the oldest person to climb Everest in May of 2008.

My point … let nothing stop you climb, soar, dream, achieve and be the person you were meant to be.  Rejoice in your milestones and never give up climbing Mt life! The view from the top is always glorious.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jonathan Booth is the National Coach of the School of Entrepreneurship.  He is formerly the CEO of CARE for the Family in the UK, a sister organization to Focus on the Family.  Jonathan has led three Christian organizations and worked in over 50 countries.  He lives in Oregon with his wife, Karleen and an Aussie exchange student plus two dogs and has children and grandchildren in Indiana and London.

I believe in two things (well actually I believe in a lot of things but I have just two to prattle on about in this paragraph!)  I believe in life long learning.  Every day I try and read 10 pages of a good book to feed me and listen to 15 minutes or so of good audio to inspire me.  I passionately believe I will never be done with learning.  Do you feel that way too?  Secondly, I believe that my leadership skills can always use a little stretching.  After 30+ years of leadership in a variety of contexts I still feel as if I am only just beginning.

So, today, what can you contribute to your circle of influence that will make a difference to your family, your work colleagues, your friends, your team mates or others you interact with. It might be that you suggest an idea to them or you remind them of a past promise or a future event.  You might make a suggestion, explore an idea, contribute some analysis – it doesn’t much matter what – it is the fact that you are taking initiative and not just sitting back and expecting life to fall into your lap.

There are three kinds of people in life – those that “make it happen” those that “wish they had made it happen” and those who “wonder what happened” as life rushes by.

You want to be a “make it happen” person as whatever level you do it.

I love the notion that our creativity can be like that of the maker.  It was God who said “Let there be light” and there was light.  We are filled with the spirit of the all mighty.  Believe in your ability to make a difference, however small and watch the results of your leadership blossom.

I recently discovered what I want written on my tombstone.  I can honestly tell you that it has been a 40 years search for this one phrase but now I have it I feel content.  For me I want to see (although I’m not I will) my tombstone and to read “He inspired others everyday”  What would you like them to write about you?  Now that might be an interesting search for you as a leader.  Maybe it is even the subject of a discussion with your friend, your colleague, your Bible study group etc.  Maybe this thought will be a way you will express leadership even today!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jonathan Booth is the National Coach of the School of Entrepreneurship.  He is formerly the CEO of CARE for the Family in the UK, a sister organization to Focus on the Family.  Jonathan has led three Christian organizations and worked in over 50 countries.  He lives in Oregon with his wife, Karleen and an Aussie exchange student plus two dogs and has children and grandchildren in Indiana and London.

Thanksgiving is the beginning of a feasting frenzy that would make Richard Simmons sweat to the goodies. Any thoughts of dieting at this time of the year are merely blowing in the wind. Hopefully, not in my direction.

Our Pilgrim Fathers came up with the idea of a Thanksgiving feast. The Pilgrim Mothers were too busy doing the wash and caring for the children to think of any more work.

The Pilgrim Fathers were sitting around waiting for someone to invent television so they could all watch a football game when someone had an idea. Most ideas are born in the midst of great boredom. That is why so many of them are…well…stupid.

“There’s nothing to do,” one bored Pilgrim Father said. “Let’s get together and have a feast.” Because nothing else was happening, the other Pilgrim Fathers got excited about this idea. The Pilgrim Mothers, however, had some different thoughts about this crazy feast idea.

After all, they would have to do all the work and Oprah Winfrey had not been born yet to lead them in a chorus of whining and complaining and getting in touch with their real feelings.

The Pilgrim Mothers wanted a Tupperware party, but since it was not yet a two-party system, they could only do one party. The Pilgrim Fathers won this one.

However, like the good Puritan wives they were, they humored their husbands and began preparations for the first Thanksgiving feast. Because this was the first Thanksgiving, it was a simple affair compared with the ones to follow.

At the first one nobody said, “We’ve always done it this way.” Because it was never done before. However, the second Thanksgiving was beset with this sort of thing. A tradition, someone wisely pointed out, is something done at least once.

What the Pilgrim Mothers did not count on was company for dinner. After all, they were thousands of miles from their nearest relatives with a big pond between them. They assumed, and rightly so, that they were safe from the intrusion of company on what would be the heaviest workday for the kitchen crew.

Have you ever noticed that when you are planning a feast of some kind, relatives who never bother you the rest of the year (something to be thankful for) seem to gravitate to your gravy bowl?

There is nothing like unexpected company to put pizzazz in a Thanksgiving celebration. And who wants pizza for Thanksgiving when there is so much turkey?

Imagine the Pilgrim Mother’s surprise when the Pilgrim Fathers told them (probably on Thanksgiving morning) that they had invited guests for the feast. I can imagine some ears were stinging that first Thanksgiving Day. The Pilgrim Fathers braved through the stinging rebukes from their wives…for months.

Perhaps the biggest anomaly of Thanksgiving is the mountain of leftovers the next day and for weeks to follow. No matter how much turkey is gobbled up or how many people are around that Thanksgiving table, the leftovers are enormous.

There is more turkey on Friday than on Thanksgiving.

I cannot prove this, but I highly suspect the turkeys we have today keep growing even after we cook them. Maybe when placed in a cold refrigerator over night, they expand.

I really do not know what takes place, but something happens to that turkey when left overnight in a refrigerator. The big challenge is how to prepare leftover turkey so it does not look or taste like turkey.

Thanksgiving is a marvelous time for family and friends to get together to celebrate the goodness of the Lord. Each family has its own special tradition that seems to bring it together. This year, especially, we have so much to be thankful.

For some it starts with a Thanksgiving Eve service. Gathering as a congregation to express to God thanks for another year of bounty and blessing is important for Christians.

Personally, I like a Thanksgiving eve service over a Thanksgiving morning service. In the evening service, you do not have to rush through the celebration to get home in time for the big feast. Giving thanks to God should be a leisurely thing, not something rushed through while thinking of something else.

At Thanksgiving, we should bring a bouquet of blessing that fills the room with a sweet fragrance of praise that lingers all year long.

Some of the best and most fragrant bouquets are the small ones. Remembering the big blessings is easy. The smaller blessings are much harder to keep in mind. Some of them we even take for granted.

This Thanksgiving I’m going to make a point to look over some blessing I have been overlooking. It is those small blessing that truly sustains us throughout the year.

The Bible reminds us why we are to give thanks, not only at Thanksgiving time, but also all year long.

“But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 15:57-58 KJV).

There is so much to thank God for; one day is not near enough. Let us thank God every day for His goodness. Even for leftover blessings.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  The Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship, PO Box 831313, Ocala, FL 34483. He lives with his wife, Martha, in Silver Springs Shores. Call him at 352-687-4240 or e-mailjamessnyder2@att.net. The church web site is www.whatafellowship.com.

I had been away for so long I had forgotten many things about my family. My recent visit served as a refresher course reminding me why I had moved away in the first place. Memory sometimes pays little tricks causing us to remember the “good old days” and forgetting that sprinkled in among the good are ample portions of what I call good-challenged moments and characters.

I cannot speak about anybody else’s family; my family seems to run the gamut between good and bad. I certainly have some wonderful relatives but then, I also have those who are on the other side of that description. Overall, they serve to make my family what it is today.

I enjoyed visiting with some of my relatives I had not seen for years. In fact, I could not remember the last time I had seen some of them. For the most part, it was a wonderful time of family reunion.

I had really forgotten about good old aunt Bessie. She has always been one of my favorite aunts. Nobody knows how old she really is, and she ain’t telling. Conferring with some of my older relatives none could remember a time when good old aunt Bessie was not around. Some of us have guessed her age and we figure she is probably our oldest living relative.

One of the oddities about good old aunt Bessie has to do with her physical appearance. As far as anybody could remember, she was always consumed with her looks. Not just her clothing but her face as well. The one thing that was anathema to her was a wrinkle. She has what we all said behind her back, a wrinkle-phobia. If I had the money she spent on wrinkle creams I could retire and live a life of luxury.

I do remember a time (and I had forgotten it until now and I just hoped she did) when I was not aunt Bessie’s favorite nephew. It was years ago and I had not seen her for a while and when I did see her, I said, half jokingly, “Is that a new wrinkle, aunt Bessie?”

You would have thought I had shot her only child. She shrieked and then went to the bathroom to examine her face. She was so irate with me that she did not speak to me for over a year. Of course, looking back, there was no downside to that. I was tempted to remind her of that incident, but I remembered the old hymn, “Yield not to temptation, for yielding is sin.”

Then there was Uncle Harold. I had not seen him for I cannot remember how long. When I saw him, I noticed he had not changed. I think he was wearing the same suspenders he wore the last time I saw him. His suspenders were a fashion statement, according to him, but nobody knew exactly what they were saying.

The great thing about Uncle Howard was his stories. He had a repertoire of stories that he repeated ad nauseam. Behind his back we often said, “Uncle Howard will tell no stories he hasn’t told a thousand times before.” Probably the most amusing thing about his stories was the fact that he often confused the punchline of one-story with the punchline of another story. None of his punchlines ever went with the story. That made them even funnier. We laughed, he thought we were laughing at his story, we were really laughing at him.

Just before I was ready to leave, who should come in but dear old Aunt Sylvia. As soon as I saw her, I smiled. Not only was I glad to see her, but I remembered her. If anybody was the cat’s meow, it was Aunt Sylvia.

She loved to go out to eat, particularly with a group. I thought of the last time we all went out to eat together and Aunt Sylvia was with us. One of her peculiarities was along the line of tipping the waitress. She was the self-appointed guru of making sure the waitress got a good tip. When everybody finished eating and the bill had come, Aunt Sylvia would take charge.

She would collect money from each person for the tip. If you did not give enough, she made you dig into your pocket again until you came up with an amount she was happy with to give to the waitress. With appropriate pomp and circumstance, she would call the waitress over to our table and present her with the tip of the evening.

As I was flying home, a thought tugged at my mind; if the world is made up of such people like my relatives, what chance does the world really have?

The world, as God has designed it, is made up of all kinds of people that He loves with an everlasting love.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 KJV

Thinking of my family on the plane coming home I thought, why am I the only sane person in my family? Then another thought emerged. Or, am I?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  The Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship, PO Box 831313, Ocala, FL 34483. He lives with his wife, Martha, in Silver Springs Shores. Call him at 352-687-4240 or e-mailjamessnyder2@att.net. The church web site is www.whatafellowship.com.

But for Patty, being a Mom is a constant every day challenge. Her son is ADHD – he is in his twenties now but still after all these years he is an enormous challenge to his wonderful Mom.  His behavior has had his parents up many nights searching for their teenager or dealing with his latest drama.

But Patty has learnt to be thankful – in finding something to be grateful for she has kept her heart from growing cold and embittered. Of course the reason that Patty can do that is she can always find someone worse off than her even though sometimes life feels like a living hell

Now Patty isn’t always “up” – sometimes she despairs as we all do at times and all I can do for my friend is simply be there – she doesn’t need me to try and “fix” anything (although I’ve given my two pennyworth at times and often regretted it). But to be there is to mirror the very essence of the God we love and serve. The fragrance Patty and I often smell is the one that tells us that God is Emmanuel – “God with us.”  Just to know God is there for us is sufficient to get us through a trying day or a trying time..

Several aspects about airplanes that give me cause for alarm. The person who designed the modern-day airplane must have used one of the dwarfs for a model. I’m thinking, Grumpy. The seats, for example, are not built for the average posterior. I know I need to go on a diet but my airplane seat does not have to remind me of that auspicious fact.

The restrooms do not have any room whatsoever to rest in them. The last one I was in I had to step outside in order to change my mind. What were they thinking when they designed and built these restrooms?

Personally, I think it is a conspiracy on the part of the entire airline industry to harass those of us who are diminutive challenged.

However, I can live with some of these inconveniences. I do not really mind flying it is the airports that I cannot stand.

If there were some way to fly the friendly skies and eliminate airports I would be a happy flyer.

It has been a while since I flew the friendly skies and so I had forgotten some of the airport rigmarole that paying customers must go through. I am surprised with all of the fees associated with flying these days someone has not come up with the bright idea of charging a fee for everyone to be patted down.

In order to get to the airplane you have to go through a very sophisticated technological gateway. I had forgotten how thoroughly they check out their passengers.

Everything needs placed into a tray, which then goes through a scanner to make sure nobody is transporting a bomb in his or her baggage.

Then comes the dangerous part.

Everybody has to take off his or her shoes, which makes the whole airport smell as if some bomb did go off. Not only shoes, but also everybody has to empty their pockets and take off all jewelry.

Then, after putting all of my stuff in these trays, I was to walk through an archway to make sure I was not transporting a bomb in my underwear.

As I walked through the buzzer went off.

“Sir, do you have anything in your pockets?”

I looked and found a pen, so I had to take that out and put in a tray.

Again, I walked through and the buzzer went off again.

“Sir, is there anything else in your pockets?”

My wallet with credit cards and such things, which I did not realize was setting the buzzer off. I placed my wallet into the tray and then walked to the archway again.

The buzzer went off again.

At this point I was a little confused because I did not know what else I could take off. Therefore, I took off my sweater. Maybe something in the buttons that the archway did not like.

Then the man on the other side of the archway spied what he thought was the trouble and said, “Sir, you have to take off your suspenders.”

“Say what?” I said in alarm.

“You have to remove your suspenders.”

I looked at the man and then said, “You do know the purpose of suspenders, don’t you?”

With a distant disdain in his voice he simply said, “Sir, you will have to remove your suspenders.”

By the tone of his voice, I ascertained that he did not have the foggiest idea of the purpose of a gentleman’s suspenders. I wear suspenders because they are fashionable, comfortable and serve a vital purpose for me.

I looked at him and said, “Have you ever heard of wardrobe malfunction?”

“Sir,” he said in a practiced monotone, “you will have to remove your suspenders.”

I saw no way around this obstacle and if I wanted to get onto the airplane, I would need to go through this archway. Slowly I took off my suspenders and put them in a tray to send through the scanner.

The archway buzzer did not go off this time, which was a relief to me, but once I was through the archway things happened. As I reached for the tray on the conveyor, I suddenly felt a gentle breeze, heard several shrieks behind me and felt something grab my ankles.

Wardrobe malfunction!

Sure, you can grab your trousers and pull them up but you still have to live with the fact that you actually mooned potential fellow passengers on the airplane.

I am not sure which is worse. A bomb in your underwear, or, your underwear on display.

After adjusting everything and picking up my briefcase, I noticed several people pointing in my direction and laughing. Believe me, a wardrobe malfunction is not anything to laugh at unless of course it happens to someone else.

Sitting in the airplane waiting to take off a verse of Scripture dominated my thinking.

“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33KJV).

Whatever our tribulations might be, we can rest unabashed in the finished work of Jesus Christ.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  The Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship, PO Box 831313, Ocala, FL 34483. He lives with his wife, Martha, in Silver Springs Shores. Call him at 352-687-4240 or e-mail jamessnyder2@att.net. The church web site is www.whatafellowship.com.

I don’t have any problem whatsoever catching a cold. I once even caught a fly in my mouth while preaching, and it is as easy as New York style cheesecake to catch the dickens from the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage. Catching up is another matter all together.

Two things happened last week that brought this to my attention.

First, I took someone out to lunch. That in itself is not outstanding. My wife tells me I am out to lunch all the time.

Have you ever tried to impress someone by taking them out to lunch and insist on paying for lunch? That is exactly what I did this past week. Why I ever try to impress anyone is beyond my wife’s wildest imagination, but I try, much to her chagrin.

What do I mean by think?  If you want to be different from the crowd then thinking is the way to go.  I guarantee you that if once per day you think for 15 minutes about how you want to construct you day your will find that your planned day will be at least an hour more productive than your unplanned one is now.

Maybe another day I will tell you some of the things that you can do – once a week, once a month and once a year to be more productive than you are now. However for now, let’s concentrate on that wonderful gift called a day!

What does a day need to consist of for you – of course the answer to that question will be different for every person but let me share some common denominators that you might include in your day.

We’ve said the first thing to do in each day is to plan.  How?  Well you might start by listing the appointments you already have planned.  This will give you a framework for the day.

Secondly, you want to add the things that you do every day to contribute to your overall health.  For example this might mean planning 30 minutes of exercise, 5 minutes of stretching and 30 sit ups!  The number of things you can do on a regular basis to be healthy is almost unlimited.  You might consider what you do in the following four areas to give you a framework.

Physical – your exercise program and activity.

Emotional – your relationships and your “me” time for re-creation (Remember the God of creation wants us to “Re-create” throughout our lives)

Mental – every day we have the opportunity to be committed to lifelong learning – what we read and listen too matters.  If we fill our minds with wholesome, life building rather than life sapping material we will be stronger today than yesterday.

Lastly, spiritual – we build spiritual muscle as we spiritually exercise regularly.  These 4 aspects of life will really help us to live a balanced life.

Having scheduled our time and planned to exercise physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually the next step is to ask ourselves what are my priorities for today?  This task will be much easier if you have a framework for deciding what my priorities are and we will consider this another time but for now just list what it is you feel you have to get done and put a star by the six most important ones to achieve.  (That’s how I got this blog written today – it was one of my highest priorities and so I planned time to do it!)  When you have the six things I must do today rank them #1 to #6.

Finally plan your “six things most important things” into your day beginning with #1.    Now your day is planned and I promise you that if you do this each day it will seem as if you have just gained another hour in each of your days and now, you do have a “25 hour day”!    Take this daily plan out for a spin – do it for 30 days in a row and your life will be changed I promise you!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jonathan Booth is the National Coach of the School of Entrepreneurship.  He is formerly the CEO of CARE for the Family in the UK, a sister organization to Focus on the Family.  Jonathan has led three Christian organizations and worked in over 50 countries.  He lives in Oregon with his wife, Karleen and an Aussie exchange student plus two dogs and has children and grandchildren in Indiana and London.

I sensed a growing controversy between my wife and myself. Its genesis came about because of some silly mix-up, I assure you. Usually, mix-ups come about because of some misunderstanding and boy, do I sure miss my understanding. I have misplaced mine for so long I honestly cannot remember when I had it last

If my memory serves me, and it has not to date, the last time I had a glimpse of my understanding, I was standing at some altar repeating the words, “I do.” After that, life has been a glorious blur.

The faux pas between us simply was a matter of attitude. My better half took the high road and I, per usual, took the low road. The reason I take the low road is simply that when I fall, and falling for me is inevitable, I do not have far to plummet.

Regrettably, this past week we experienced a clash of attitudes.

I can sum up my attitude in life quite nicely: Never do today what can be put off until tomorrow. Who knows? I may forget the whole thing by then, something I am renowned for around the parsonage, if you know what I mean.

On the other hand, my life’s companion firmly believes in doing things ahead of time. For instance, by the end of August all her Christmas shopping is finished, wrapped and stored in the garage waiting for the Christmas tree.

She has a wonderful knack for planning. What I want to know is how does she know if I am going to be naughty or nice?

Usually, I give in to my better half. After all, that is what a great marriage is all about; give and take. As a dutiful husband, I take everything she gives me.

This time, however, an important principle was at stake. Some things in life are worth fighting for and this represented one of those times.

For years, I have suffered from a condition known as Afternoon Siesta Syndrome. Each afternoon I stretch out for an hour of rest. In that hour, I meditate on some of the more important issues of life.

I cannot tell you how many significant problems I have resolved during my daily afternoon forty winks. I say I can’t tell you not because I don’t want to, but when aroused from my snooze I can’t remember the solution.

All I know is that somewhere in the recesses of my mind are wonderful resolutions to some of the most intricate problems facing our world today. In this regard, I do not know how often my wife has said to me, “You need to see a psychiatrist.”

This leads me to the subject of our difference this past week. I am a firm believer in the “Art of Casual Loafing.”

Loafing gets such a bad rap because so many amateurs try their hand at it. Let me say right here that loafing is definitely not for the inexperienced. A level of skill and expertise that only comes from diligent practice.

Personally, I have invested over 50 years in the Art of Casual Loafing, which qualifies me as some sort of an expert on the subject. I am a proud, card-carrying member of the ACL union. I could have been elected president but we have not got around to elections yet. Many, and when I say many, I am especially including my companion, take loafing as something that comes rather easy.

Oh, quite contraire, Mon Frére. Nothing could be further from the truth.

My spouse thinks loafing is a tragic waste of time. She thinks things need doing in a timely fashion, like “right now.”

The garbage must be taken out “right now.”

The backyard needs mowing “right now.”

The groceries in the back of the car need brought in “right now.”

A person can take this “right now” business too far, if you ask me. I like to take things a little more casual than that.

This “right now” hang-up can create some serious stress in relationships; especially between hers and mine.

“There’s no time like the present,” my wife often tells me with a look in her eye defying me not to do what she just requested. To her,”right now” is very important.

When I want to resolve a difficulty, I resort to the Bible. This was no exception.

Much to my amazement, the word “now” occurs in the Bible 1,356 times, which is rather impressive. I never thought of it before.

What I discovered startled me. I had to admit that in certain things my dear wife is correct. Some things must be done right now.

Two Bible verses emphasize the importance of right now.

In the book of Isaiah,

“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18 KJV).

Then, in the New Testament

“… behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2 KJV).

“Right now” is the best time to address your relationship with Jesus Christ.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: The Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship, PO Box 831313, Ocala, FL 34483. He lives with his wife, Martha, in Silver Springs Shores. Call him at 352-687-4240 or e-mail jamessnyder2@att.net. The church web site is www.whatafellowship.com.

It was then I was struck with an awful thought. I am now a child of this contemporary technological world. I never thought I would succumb to this sort of thing. But here I am; I’m not the man I used to be, and I’m not even sure I’m the man I want to be.

On my way home, I thought about how far I have come in this modern world. Then, for some reason I thought of my old grandfather. He died in 1974 and every once in a while I think about him. This was one of those times.

What came to my mind this particular time was when my grandmother got a new contraption for their home. Grandfather was not enthused about some of these modern advances.

My grandfather allowed grandmother to get electricity in the house, but when it came to indoor plumbing he was dead set against it. He had used the old outhouse in the back as far as he could remember. His father had used it before him. As far as grandfather was concerned, he was going to use that outhouse until he died. He did not need any of this newfangled indoor plumbing. And that was that.

My grandmother said to him at the time, “Pap, is that your last word on the subject?”

“It sure is,” my grandfather responded.

Grandmother looked at him and said, “Great, the plumber is coming tomorrow and I won’t have to put up with any more of your guff.”

The next morning, right on grandmother’s schedule, the plumber came and fitted the house with indoor plumbing. Just to be spiteful, my grandfather never used the indoor plumbing. He showed grandmother that he was boss in some certain regard, and used the outhouse for the rest of his life.

Then the time came when the telephone line went down the valley where grandmother and grandfather lived. Knowing the hard time grandfather gave her with the indoor plumbing, she decided not to tell him about the installation of the telephone. She knew he would disapprove, so why ask.

Grandfather came home that night, as usual, and sat down to a very nice supper. So far, he had not noticed the addition in the living room. Grandmother, the diplomat that she was, did not bother to point it out to him.

Grandfather, as was his custom, settled down to read the evening newspaper in the living room completely unaware of the change that had come to this sanctuary of his.

Grandmother was in the kitchen busy cleaning off the table, washing the dishes and getting her kitchen back into shape before retiring to the living room for an evening of relaxation.

Suddenly, a ringing noise exploded in the living room. Grandfather, not knowing what had happened, jumped out of his chair and exited the living room faster than he had ever done so before.

In the kitchen, grandmother had been so busy with her work she forgot about this new contraption. She too was scared.

The ringing continued without stopping. Grandfather was beside himself and considered getting his shotgun not knowing who or what had invaded his living room.

Then it dawned on grandmother. “Oh,” she said with a sigh of relief. “That’s the telephone ringing.”

“The what?”

“Telephone.”

“Who’s Phone, and what the world do you want to tell him?”

“No,” grandmother said and ran into the living room to answer the phone. “It’s the telephone ringing.”

By this time, she had got to the telephone and had answered it.

My grandfather stared at her as she talked into the telephone receiver.

“Woman,” he said with a great deal of alarm, “what in the world is wrong with you?”

Grandmother ignored him and continued talking on the telephone.

Now grandfather was worried. Watching his wife talk to someone who was not there and even at times laughing when there wasn’t anything funny, caused him alarm.

Finally, out of sheer desperation, he went over, took the contraption out of her hand and taking her by the arm and, “Now, dear. There’s nothing to worry about. Just come over and sit down here in your chair and everything will be all right.”

“But I’m talking to…”

“I know, I know. But you see, dear, there’s nobody there. You’re just having one of your spells.”

Grandfather never came to terms with grandmother’s newfangled contraption. To my knowledge, he never used it, never spoke to anybody on it, never listened to anybody talking to him on it. As far as he was concerned, it was one of grandmother’s hallucinations.

It has been a long time since I thought about grandmother’s telephone. On my way home from my luncheon meeting I thought about all the inventions that have come into our world. I thought of what the Bible said,

“Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions” (Ecclesiastes 7:29 KJV).

We seem to be quick on our inventions, but rather slow on connecting with God. With all our inventions, are we any better off? Instead of seeking inventions, we would be better served in seeking God.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: The Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship, PO Box 831313, Ocala, FL 34483. He lives with his wife, Martha, in Silver Springs Shores. Call him at 352-687-4240 or e-mail jamessnyder2@att.net. The church web site is www.whatafellowship.com.

The Chinese have an expression – the journey of a 1,000 miles begins with the first step and you can be sure that in parenthood that first step is taken when your little one arrives on time, early or maybe late (that might give you a hint of future behavior – Being Late!)  is a significant step.  For most parents, particularly new ones, it ushers in several decades of worry!  We worry what they are eating, what they are not eating.  Who they are hanging around with (even when they are three years old!)  We worry about their grades, there boy or girl friends, there hairstyles and everything else under the sun.

However there is one thing that is exceedingly helpful which is to understand that you are not alone!  It is always good to know that what you are going through right now is a shared experience and very common.  I remember the first time I looked out from a stage and saw a sea of parents before me.  I began with confessions of a failed parent.  You see,  we are helped more by others weakness than by there strengths.  When you whisper to a close friend that you are worried about little Johnny and they reply that they are worried about their little one too it feels so good to hear “me too”.

I love the fact that the bible is so brutally honest about its heroes.  Right from early times bible characters had trouble with their children.  (Not to mention some children who were having trouble with their parents!)

“Fear not, for I am with you” is a familiar phrase to many of us but it is that “with you” experience that is so very powerful.  A man was severely wounded in the Gulf War and lost both is legs.  His friends would visit and say they understood but it seemed hollow to him and he lay there in that hospital bed believing his life was over – until – another soldier came into his hospital room on crutches with no legs and said “I understand” and he did,  That fine soldier made a new start for himself as he drew on the strength, courage and understanding of someone who really did understand him.

So if you are worried about something going on in your child’s life right now remember you are not alone.  Worry is the normal experience of every parent.  Just pace yourself though – remember this parenting race is a marathon not a sprint!

Maybe today you will speak a God given word of encouragement to another worried parent and it won’t be your great parenting skills which will bless them but your confession of a troubled moment that will let them know that they too, like you, are not alone. It will set them, and you, free!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jonathan Booth is the National Coach of the School of Entrepreneurship.  He is formerly the CEO of CARE for the Family in the UK, a sister organization to Focus on the Family.  Jonathan has led three Christian organizations and worked in over 50 countries.  He lives in Oregon with his wife, Karleen and an Aussie exchange student plus two dogs and has children and grandchildren in Indiana and London.

I have made it one of the primary purposes of my life to stay in my body as long as I live. In fact, I have so developed my body so that there is ample room for my La-Z-Boy chair and me. I like to be comfortable.

Truth compels me to say that I have never experienced an out-of-body experience. Every night when I go to sleep, I am unconscious until morning but I do not think that counts except when it comes to sheep, but who gives a baa-baa about sheep. I have a hard time relating to these people with such esoteric experiences. I do not doubt them, I just do not relate to them.

One thing that I can relate to is “an out-of-cash” experience. There, I said it. Confession is good for the soul. For many years, I was ashamed of having these kinds of experiences. I thought I was the only one in the whole world that ever experienced such trauma in their lives. I kept it a secret for many years.

But all that has changed. I am ready to come out of the closet and confess that when it comes to cash, I am simply out of it.

It’s not that I have always had an over abundance of cash. Throughout the years, it has come in a little here and a little there but mostly nowhere. I can never remember a time when my life was flooded with so much cash I did not know what to do with it all.

Being out-of-cash must not be as bad as it sounds. I suppose the terrible thing is how a person gets to that point in life.

I wanted to write a book about my out-of-cash experience but I only got up to chapter 11.

From everything I can gather, everybody seems to be out-of-cash. Even our government has come to such a perilous place as this. The government used to say, “I feel your pain,” and now they are really feeling our pain. The government is not broken as some people attest; the government is simply broke. Now they know how I really feel.

Being out-of-cash does have some advantage.

Last Tuesday, for example, was a long hard day and I was glad to get home. When I did get home, my wife greeted me at the door and said, “Let’s go out for supper tonight. I don’t feel like cooking.”

I looked at her and said rather soberly, “I sure would love to go out tonight for supper, but I’m really out-of-cash.”

My wife gave me one of her trademark looks and said, “Let’s use your credit card.”

I would have argued but I was simply out-of-arguments. I must say that through the years she has been very generous with my credit card, which may be why I am really out-of-cash.

Being out-of-cash is not really the worst thing that can happen to a person. About three weeks ago, I had to go out of town for a little trip and forgot to fill up my gas tank. I didn’t even think about it. After all, with all the car payments and the monthly insurance payments you would think the car would come up with a little bit of cash on its own. But no, it leaves everything to me. My car once told me it was the responsibility of the owner.

I am not saying that my car is contrary but I was about 7 miles out of town when I ran out-of-gas. It does not matter how much cash you have on hand, if you run out of gas without a gas station nearby it just does not matter.

The men’s store where I usually buy my clothing was running a sale on shirts, the kind I usually wear. I had some errands to run and by the time I got to the men’s store, they had sold the last shirt. “I’m sorry,” the salesperson said, “but you’re out-of-luck.”

I am not quite sure which is worse, being out-of-cash or being out-of-luck. The truth of the matter is, no matter how much cash you have on hand if there are no more shirts left, you are simply out-of-luck.

A long time ago, I faced the simple truth that money cannot buy everything. I might be able to rent a little bit of happiness but it does not last forever. I have learned that the most important thing in life is to be balanced. Too much of anything, even a good thing, can really be harmful.

This must be what Solomon had in mind when he wrote,

“Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain” (Proverbs 30:8-9 KJV).

The problem today is not that we do not have enough; we simply are not thankful enough for what we have.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: The Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship, PO Box 831313, Ocala, FL 34483. He lives with his wife, Martha, in Silver Springs Shores. Call him at 352-687-4240 or e-mail jamessnyder2@att.net. The church web site is www.whatafellowship.com.

I remember my grandfather and his hearing aid. When there was a family gathering and he was sitting quietly smiling, I came to understand he had turned his hearing aid off. How I envy him now. If only I could turn my hearing aid off.

I have tried ignoring my wife, but I can assure you that was not a very good plan. To ignore your wife is to place your health in dire jeopardy. Who wants Alex Trebek breathing down your neck? “I’ll take American history for $100, Alex.”

Not long ago I had to take a trip flying the friendly skies. I do not mind flying, but it is not my favorite mode of travel. I would rather stay at home and dream of traveling. On a recent trip, I happened to sit next to an elderly man.

We exchanged pleasantries and I settled down with a book hoping to get in a few pages before the trip ended. I had selected a very special book for this trip. My elderly friend settled down with the full intention of rehearsing to me his entire autobiography. For an old gentleman, he had a fantastic memory. I think, but do not quote me here, he recited to me every blessed day of his life. If my recollection is correct, and I know I was brain fuzzy during the whole process, he related one incident at least four different times. Either he is the father of “Groundhog Day,” or many things in his life happened repeatedly.

Last week I went to get my haircut at a local hair salon. I usually go to a particular one near my house and I stopped in for my regular haircut. A few people were ahead of me, so I sat down, picked up a magazine and was going to have a pleasant time waiting my turn.

Not paying too much attention to the clientele, there was sitting next to me today very nice little girl. I made one mistake. I looked at her and said, “And how are you today, little girl?”

That was the last sentence I got in for the next hour. She talked so much I thought her tongue would fall out. Then she talked some more and I thought my ears would fall off. How can anybody so young have so much to say? I am 10 times her age and I do not have one 10th as much to say to her, as she had to say to me. Who in the world is teaching these children to talk?

Then, in the middle of her chat diarrhea, she looked at me and said, “What do you think about that, mister?” Not expecting it and not really knowing what she was talking about, I hesitated for a moment.

My second mistake.

Before I could take a good breath, she began her chat diarrhea as though she was just beginning. She was probably about six years of age with not a very large vocabulary but she knew how to use every word in her vocabulary a multitude of times. Some of her sentences were five minutes long, and at the end, I had no idea what she was saying. The end of her sentence had no apparent relationship to the beginning of her sentence. And the middle, well, who could follow that.

Oh, how I pity her English teacher.

I date back to the time before cell phones. I know not many people are living today who dates back that far. We have become a generation of cell phones. Before the cell phone era, that was the day, I could sneak off somewhere and nobody could find me.

Oh, how I envy those glorious days of yesteryear.

Now I pack one of those blasted cell phones wherever I go. No matter where I am, somebody can get a hold of me. When I say somebody, I am actually referring to my wife. As it stands now, I am within dialing distance of her Majesty.

Thinking about this I have come up with, maybe not a solution, but at least a little reprieve for those of us who are tired of the noise. I propose a national noise-free-day celebrated every year. For 24 hours, nobody would be permitted to say anything.

I know this would hit the politicians rather hard. Everybody knows if a politician does not speak for a 24-hour period the fickle electorate would forget about him or her. And, for a politician not to say anything for a 24-hour period it would cause him or her to die of suffocation.

Actually, in either case the American public wins.

This brings me to my favorite Bible verse.

“Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth” (Psalms 46:10 KJV).

It is in the stillness that we begin to know God. What would happen if for a brief moment each day we became still before the presence of God?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: The Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship, PO Box 831313, Ocala, FL 34483. He lives with his wife, Martha, in Silver Springs Shores. Call him at 352-687-4240 or e-mailjamessnyder2@att.net. The church web site is www.whatafellowship.com.

My wife and I drug our feet for a long time until we finally took the plunge. Both of us finally went to the cell phone store and signed up for cell phone service. She picked out a phone for her and then picked up another phone and turned to me and said, “I think this will suit you.”

I learned long ago that when my wife is “thinking,” I should not interrupt the phenomenon.

I must say she did not hog the whole experience of purchasing cell phones. She rather graciously allowed me to pull out my checkbook and write a check for our cell phone service. I wrote that check and signed it with a smile not knowing what I was really doing.

I have found not knowing what I am doing really is a very peaceful part of my life. There is no stress when you do not know what you are doing. However, when you have some idea what you are doing, then comes the stress. I must admit, most of my life is stress free.

Now, that we have upgraded our lifestyle, life has become rather easy for us.

I really did not know how the simple act of signing up for cell phone service would so drastically change our life. There is something with our service called texting. I have heard of this of course, but I had no idea what it was all about. But I was shortly to discover the bliss of the world of texting.

Not long after we purchased our cell phone service we were at a restaurant celebrating our wedding anniversary. Yes sir, 40 years ago we tied the knot and we have had a wonderful time together. Oh sure, there have been those “knotty” situations, but overall everything has held together. That sure was a tight knot we tied back in the day.

We were celebrating at a certain restaurant and my wife needed to go to the lady’s room for whatever ladies do in the lady’s room. While she was gone, the waitress came to take our drink order. Even though I have been blissfully married for 40 years, I never take it on my own to make decisions for my better half. I have not had enough practice making decisions for my half. So, when the waitress asked for her drink order I did not quite know what she wanted.

Then it dawned on me. I will text her. After all, isn’t that why we got this cell phone service in the first place? So I text her and ask her what she wanted me to order her for her drink.

Within a very short time, my cell phone buzzed and I looked at her text. “Coffee.”

I looked at the waitress who was looking rather strangely at me, and said to her, “My wife will have coffee.”

This was just the beginning of the textualization of our formal blissful relationship. We really do not have to talk anymore; we can just text each other, which cuts down on the shouting.

Just the other night I was sitting in my easy chair reading a book and a text message came on my cell phone. I picked it up and looked at the text message and it said, “Can you come to the bedroom immediately.” Not knowing what opportunities awaited I rushed into the bedroom.

There my wife was on one side of the bed and said to me, “Help me turn this mattress over.”

We were at the mall together and we usually go to different stores. My cell phone rang and a text message came, “Where are you?”

I immediately text back, “Right behind you.”

A text message returned quickly saying, “Oh, I thought you were lost.”

“No,” I fast text back to her, “but it can be arranged.”

I am neither a psychiatrist nor a psychologist but I think my wife has become intexticated by this new technology.

I said to her once, “Lay down the cell phone and nobody will get hurt.”

She quickly text me and said, “Touch my cell phone and you die.”

I’m not sure if there is a rehab center for textaholics yet, but I know someone who should go there. Wait a minute… I have a text coming in.

“What do you want for supper? Meatloaf or fried chicken?”

“Fried chicken is fine with me,” I text back.

Now, where was I? Ah yes, a rehab center for textaholics. Wait a minute… I have another text coming in.

“Can you pick up a quart of milk at the store?”

“Okay.”

Yes, a rehab center for textaholics. If anybody knows one you can text me with the information.

But then again, maybe being addicted to texting isn’t all that bad. After all, it facilitates keeping in touch with someone without actually having to talk to them. That can’t be all bad.

It still does not trump God’s ability to keep in touch with us. I like what the prophet says, “And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear” (Isaiah 65:24 KJV).

I think God has texting beat, thumbs down.

The Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship, 1471 Pine Road, Ocala, FL 34472. He lives with his wife, Martha, in Silver Springs Shores. Call him at 352-687-4240 or e-mail jamessnyder2@att.net. The church web site is www.whatafellowship.com.

Oddly enough, my checkbook balance is never the same as the balance on the statement from the bank. My bank’s haughty assumption is that they are right and I am wrong.

The thing that gripes me is, as much money as I am paying my bank through all of the miscellaneous fees, I should not have to balance my checkbook. That should be a service gladly rendered by my financial institution.

The last time I was in my bank, I coyly suggested this to the teller and she looked at me, laughed as though I was telling her a joke and then handed me a lollipop. Believe me; balancing my checkbook is no joking matter.

As I was working over my checkbook, I was groaning, moaning and sighing rather deeply. Enough so, that it disturbed my residential companion. Finally, she said to me in that sarcastic tone of voice reserved just for me, “What’s got you so disturbed tonight?”

At first, I did not want to tell her. After all, it is my responsibility to balance the checkbook. We have a wonderful give-and-take relationship. My responsibility is to deposit money into the checkbook while her responsibility is to make sure the checks fly out of our checkbook as quickly and smoothly as possible. Then, somebody at our financial institution came up with the brilliant idea of the check card. Now the money flies out faster than it ever did before.

Our money flies faster than the speed of sound, but occasionally my groans do catch-up, and tonight was one such night.

I looked at my wife, swallowed several times, and then blurted out, “I think we’re broke.”

After I said that, I did feel a little bit relieved. However, it did not last long.

“What do you mean ‘we’re broke?’”

The way she emphasized the word “we’re” caused me a little bit of uneasiness.

“I mean,” I tried to explain; “we have run out of money.”

“Why should that get you all riled up,” she said with a little bit of chipper in her voice. Just a little more than I was comfortable with under our present circumstances. “The president’s on television right now telling us that the country’s broke. So I guess that means were all in the same boat.”

Both of us were quiet as we listened to the president continue his speech on the economy. Actually, I was a wee bit more concerned about the economical condition of my checkbook then the country’s economy.

I’m broke simply because I have more bills than I have money.

The country is broke because it spends money on things other than bills. And, when the government runs out of money all it has to do is to print more money. The thing that really aggravates me is that if I would treat my checkbook like the government treats its checkbook the government would have me arrested and thrown in jail for the rest of my life. Which, upon further thought, maybe a plan out of my desperate economic disposition. For in jail, the government would pay all my bills.

In jail, I would not have a grocery bill. All of my medical needs would be taken care of by good ole Uncle Sam. I certainly would not have to save money for a rainy day.

Further consideration brought me to the conclusion that I may not like some of the people in prison. After all, there may be former politicians who are locked up for some scandalous activity they were caught at. Who wants to spend their time with that crowd?

Just as I was sinking deeper into the slough of despondency, my wife, as usual, came to my rescue. If I gave her a nickel for every bright idea she has come up with in our married life I would be broke. Which, by the way, maybe why I am broke now.

Her amazing solution was simply this, “We’re not broke, we’re just financially challenged.”

Why do I never come up with all of these brilliant ideas? Being broke is one thing but being financially challenged is something altogether different. I do not want to be broke. Now, thanks to my wife, I am no longer broke I am simply financially challenged.

That sounds so much better. I worried my heart sick thinking I was broke when in reality I was merely financially challenged. I wonder if I could somehow get this message to our dear president. If I can get him a message I would simply say this, “Mr. President, our country is not broke as you are insinuating. We are simply financially challenged.”

Everybody has his or her own solution to problems. Especially if it is a political problem. I like how the Bible puts it.

“There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:12 KJV).

Someone said it like this, “a rose by any other name is still a rose.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: The Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship, PO Box 831313, Ocala, FL 34483. He lives with his wife, Martha, in Silver Springs Shores. Call him at 352-687-4240 or e-mail jamessnyder2@att.net. The church web site is www.whatafellowship.com.

As far as I am concerned, I have had enough. There is absolutely no use in trying to talk me out of it; I have had enough.

My wife and I just finished supper and were relaxing while watching a bit of television. We were busy chatting and rehashing the day’s events and not paying too much attention to what was on television. It finally dawned on us what the television program was all about. It was completely devoted to scandals that have happened recently. The program went through an almost endless list of people caught up in some kind of scandal.

There were politicians, actors and actresses, musicians, businesspeople and, much to our chagrin, ministers. The slime of scandal seems to touch every level of human society.

Recently, a well-known minister in our area was found dead in a New York City hotel. Even though he was from our area, I really did not know too much about him. The TV program brought me up to date on his far-reaching scandal. It seems he had been living in adultery, which led to the divorce of his wife and the demise of his family.

The thing that bothered me is that his scandal did not cause him to lose his job. He was still the pastor of a mega-church and his weekly sermons were broadcast on television and the Internet. As long as people like him, according to the story, he was allowed to get away with anything and everything.

I absolutely object.

Recently, an actor from Hollywood, the center of all that is indecent and immoral, was caught in an adulterous affair, which led to the divorce of his wife. He then comes on TV and tries to convince me, an absolute skeptic, that he is really a good person, a wonderful father and just an all-around nice guy.

I absolutely object.

In order to be a good father you have to be a good husband and in order to be a good husband you have to be a good man. A good man does not cheat. A good man does not hurt his family. What happened to the idea of putting your family first?

A politician can be caught in some scandalous affair and all he has to do is go on television and say how sorry he is and that he is going to go to some rehab for his problem. In the meantime, this ethically challenged person is drawing a paycheck from the taxpayers of this country.

I absolutely object.

If this politician were sorry for his act, he would resign office right away and return to the public every cent of his salary and benefits that he has absconded while in office. Why do these people believe they can get away with everything and bear no consequence? If it started to touch their pocketbook, they might think a second time before doing some of these immoral cartwheels that has been happening lately.

According to the TV program we were watching, these men in places of power cannot help what they are doing.

I absolutely object.

What I want to know is, how can some ethically challenged, immoral rascal make decisions for the rest of us that is going to be beneficial and helpful?

I guess I have had just about all I can take.

I am tired of hearing about sex scandals, money scandals and politicians who are involved in both. I’m tired of hearing about ministers who have been caught up in the same scandalous web of immorality and greed. Some people shrug their shoulder and say, “Well, I guess it’s just the American way.”

I absolutely object.

Where are the men and women who have integrity in this country? Where are those who have some semblance of a good conscience? Where are those who think of others rather than themselves?

As the TV program was concluding my wife and I looked at each other and sighed rather deeply. We both knew what each other was thinking. After 40 years of marital bliss, we have come to know one another rather well. Actually, she knows me better than I even know myself.

In spite of all the problems in our country the real problem is that we have too much of everything. The average person in America is bored to death and looking for ways to spice up their life. In this feverish, nervous condition, people are looking outward to be dazzled and thrilled. And the next thrill has to be bigger and better and more spectacular than the previous thrill.

I absolutely object.

I long for those peaceful days of contentment and inner satisfaction. Maybe it’s my age, maybe it’s because I have been married for a long time, but nothing really beats the quietness of a life contented with what I have.

That was the advice that the apostle Paul gave.

“Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content” (Philippians 4:11 KJV).

To be content with what you have is to have all you need.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: The Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship, 1471 Pine Road, Ocala, FL 34472. He lives with his wife, Martha, in Silver Springs Shores. Call him at 352-687-4240 or e-mail jamessnyder2@att.net. The church web site is www.whatafellowship.com.

Just this past week when I was enjoying an unusually wonderful sense of balance in my life, the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage changed my whole demeanor.

We were watching the news on television. When I say “we,” I am not insinuating in any regard that I was paying any attention whatsoever to what was happening on the television screen. I usually have a book in hand I am perusing while I am allegedly watching TV.

Out of nowhere, I heard her exclaim, “They just wouldn’t do that.”

I continued in my book and paid no attention to her.

“What in the world is wrong with those people?” I heard her say.

By now, my curiosity had gotten the best of me and I laid my book down and said, “What has got you all riled up tonight?”

“Didn’t you hear what they just said?”

“I’m sorry; I was looking at my book.”

“Well,” she said in a very disgusted manner, “the government is thinking about taxing junk food. Can you imagine anything more ludicrous than that?”

I always like to, at least try to think of the positive side of things. With the way our beloved politicians have been going these days, it is very hard to find the positive side. Although I am not in favor of taxes, I know that as a citizen I need to pay my fair share. I have no problem with that. I’m not, however, in favor of tacking on some new taxes. What’s wrong with the old ones?

Then my wife said something that turned my thinking all the way around.

“You do know what junk food is, don’t you?”

That was a crazy thing to say. Of course, I knew what junk food was. I stay away from that food category and pride myself in eating healthy food every day. No junk food for me, thank you.

I shrugged it off at the time and replied to my wife, “Oh well, the government has to do whatever it has to do in times like these.”

“You do know that Apple Fritters are considered junk food by our government? And when they start taxing junk food they will be taxing your Apple Fritters.”

“They don’t.”

“They wouldn’t.”

“They better not!”

At this point, my even keel was experiencing some very turbulent tendencies. I try to be a good citizen but there comes a time when a person has to put his foot down. I had come to the point where as that old philosopher who said, “That’s all I can stands, I can’t stands no more!”

What I want to say to good old Mr. Uncle Sam is simply; do not touch my Apple Fritters. Some things in life are sacred and for somebody to fool with them will only rile the anger of those religious people devoted to Apple Fritter Veneration. Believe me; you do not want the Apple Fritter Gang to get riled.

The Creed of these Apple Fritter followers is simply, an Apple Fritter a day keeps the blues away. Nothing cheers the day like starting it with a freshly baked Apple Fritter. Regardless of the problems I have to face during the day, if I start with an Apple Fritter the day seems to go much better.

Now, Mr. Uncle Sam, let me explain some of the facts of life to you.

First, “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” is one of the most famous phrases in the United States Declaration of Independence and considered by some as part of one of the most well crafted, influential sentences in the history of the English language. These three aspects are listed among the “unalienable rights” or sovereign rights of man. Everybody knows that the phrase “the pursuit of happiness,” is a reference to Apple Fritters. No more pure form of happiness exists then enjoying a freshly baked Apple Fritter.

And another thing, why blame the lowly Apple Fritter on the debt problem? I have been associated with Apple Fritters most of my life and I have never known an Apple Fritter to spend money it does not have.

I have given this a lot of thought. Apple Fritters are not responsible for the debt problem in our country but rather politicians are responsible. My thought is simply this. Instead of considering Apple Fritters as “junk food,” why not consider politicians as “junk politicians” and tax them. That would make much more sense.

Out in the real world everybody operates along these lines; if you create a debt, you have an obligation to pay that debt and not shove it off on somebody else. The only ones who do this are all those “Junk Politicians” who have no sense of how much a dollar is really worth let alone where it comes from.

I still stand by the words of Jesus.

“And he [Jesus] said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar’s, and unto God the things which be God’s” (Luke 20:25 KJV).

Mr. Uncle Sam, touch my Apple Fritter at your own peril.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: The Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship, 1471 Pine Road, Ocala, FL 34472. He lives with his wife, Martha, in Silver Springs Shores. Call him at 352-687-4240 or e-mail jamessnyder2@att.net. The church web site is www.whatafellowship.com.

Whoever said, “All good things must come to an end,” knew whereof he spoke. Why is it that something really good goes by so quickly and something really bad hangs around forever, or so it seems.

Let me explain a little bit of what I mean.

When the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage, over my vociferous objections, cooks broccoli, the smell stays in the air for months. However, the invigorating aroma of an Apple fritter dissipates in a matter of moments. Except, of course, when I’m trying to eat one behind you know whose back and she can smell it five days before I eat it.

“I don’t smell an Apple fritter do I?” she inquires.

“You’re not eating an apple fritter?” she prods.

“There better not be any apple fritters in this house,” she demands.

My philosophy is simply this, what she can smell can’t hurt me. The only problem is, she can smell, and usually it’s a rat, namely me.

However, if I would pontificate 1/10 of the time about the smell of broccoli in the house I would not have to worry about smelling broccoli in the house. If you know what I mean.

But if it is good, it seems to go by so very quickly. This past week something very good came to a very conclusive end. Through no effort of my own, I concluded the fifth decade of my life. I am just glad that at the conclusion of this decade I was around to see it. What I remember about the 50s is another matter altogether.

As part of the baby boomer generation, another birthday boomed for me. This boom was a very significant one. I have bidden a fond farewell to my 50s. Ah, what a decade that was. It is a very good thing that the 50s come between the 40s and the 60s. Whoever devised this scenario knew something about human nature.

When you are in your 40s, you, for some unknown reason, think you are still in your 20s. Many people in their 40s have bought into the notion that the 40s is the new 20s. Henceforth, most people, usually men, treat their body as if it was a 25-year-old man in perfect health. Now, a 45-year-old body does not have the wisdom to realize that it is no longer 25. And so you have men in their 40s running and jumping and doing things that their body thinks it can do but it really can’t.

A body in the 40s is not mature enough for pain to register. In fact, no man in his 40s would acknowledge the fact that he has the pain. His wife, contrariwise, acknowledges the pain in her life. But that’s another story.

Once a man gets into his 50s, he has matured enough to the fact that he knows there are many things he physically cannot do. He knows, for instance, a 50-something body is not like a 20-something body, therefore, he can begin slacking off on the physical stuff. Although, some 50-something men have not matured enough to understand the significance of the fifth decade.

But in spite of all of that, the 60s have been a wonderful time for me. It is during the 50-something the man accomplishes most of his work. During his 40s, he is trying to pretend he is still in his 20s, but by the time he hits that magic 50, he is more interested in accomplishing things in his career. Work is very important at this phase of life.

And work he does, because at this stage he has a mortgage, a family and bills coming out both his back pockets faster than it goes in. If he has children, he enters the 50s with several teenagers in the house and maybe some grandchildren. This is enough to drive any man to work, if not crazy. For any man to conclude the fifth decade without permanent residence in the Looney farm is quite an accomplishment.

By the mid-50s, things begin to become all quiet on the Western front. Many people refer to this as the empty nest syndrome. All I can say is, hallelujah for the empty nest syndrome. I just hope some doctor does not come up with a cure for this empty nest syndrome.

The empty nest syndrome is God’s way of saying thank you for bringing up your family. Now, the house is all quiet and when I go to the refrigerator, there is actually something in the refrigerator. Sometimes I just open the refrigerator door and stare at the contents. It is wonderful to go to the refrigerator and actually find something in it you can eat.

It has been a little difficult for me to say farewell to the 50s. I have enjoyed every year of that decade. I am not prepared to say that I am any wiser but I am prepared to say I am older. And my goal in life is to get older and older. Because, when you stop getting older it is all over.

The Bible gives him instructions about getting older.

“The glory of young men is their strength: and the beauty of old men is the grey head” (Proverbs 20:29 KJV).

“The hoary [grey] head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness” (Proverbs 16:31 KJV).

I bid a fond farewell to the 50s. Thanks for the memories.

The Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship, 1471 Pine Road, Ocala, FL 34472. He lives with his wife, Martha, in Silver Springs Shores. Call him at 352-687-4240 or e-mail jamessnyder2@att.net. The church web site is www.whatafellowship.com.

Occasionally, I hear about somebody objecting to prayer. Usually, it is somebody who has no idea what he or she is talking about. It must be a slow news day when the media highlights this as one of their news stories. I guess nothing else is going on in the world demanding our attention. However, when someone suggests praying in public somebody always rises in open protest. After all, everybody knows how dangerous prayer really is.

Recently, a high school graduate wanted to include in her baccalaureate speech a prayer for her fellow graduates. I thought it was a rather nice gesture on her part. But certain people got wind of this and a nasty roar rose to the highest heavens. Certainly, public prayer is a violation of our constitutional rights, or so the objection went. Freedom of speech, obviously, covers everything but prayer, particularly prayer to the Christian God.

If I know anything about high school graduates, they need all the prayer they can get. After all, our government is not doing them any favors lately. If I were graduating from high school this year, I would want all the help I could get, including prayer. Most of them do not have a prayer of a chance of getting a job upon graduation.

Certain people banter this notion of separation of church and state, which had never entered the freedom loving minds of our forefathers. If anybody would take the time to read it carefully, our forefathers did not want the government to weld any influence over any church in this country. Unlike Europe from which they fled, there was to be no state church in America. Now, we have it backwards and the government is trying to influence religion in our country. They can’t even balance a budget, yet they want to balance my spiritual life.

If you ask me, the biggest religion in our country is politics. If you do not think it is a religion, then carefully think again. Politics has all the accoutrements of religion right down to kissing someone’s ring for some blessing. I think they call that lobbying. Every politician has a list of do’s and don’ts, which, of course, changes depending on what audience he is talking to at the time. Then there is that St. Francis of Assisi smile that all politicians have perfected.

Someone recently said to me, “I don’t believe in religion.” I am not quite sure what he meant by that statement, and I am quite sure he did not know what he meant. All I can think of is somebody used that word in his presence and, like an infant hearing a word for the first time, goes around saying it, usually out of context. Some pontificate the idea that they are absolutely nonreligious. Of course, no such creature has ever walked on the face of God’s earth.

Those who boast of being nonreligious are absolutely religious in propagating their non-religiousness. You will not find a more faithful congregation of people than those who claim to be nonreligious. If Christians were as religious as some of these nonreligious people, the church would be exploding today.

Every person born of woman worships something or someone. If we do not worship God, we are going to worship something else and some even go as far as to worship themselves. I think God Himself chuckles at this last category. Imagine, somebody actually worshiping himself.

Prayer is one of those things that come natural to a person. Even those who do not pray on a regular basis will pray when they get into trouble. They may not pray to God. They pray to somebody or something, which is the absurdity of it all.

I find it rather amusing, but sad, that most people do not know whom they are praying to. Everybody, if they have a sober and honest moment, recognizes that there is a power beyond them. If they do not recognize such a power, they assume they are that power.

Those who do not recognize God have become a god unto themselves. I have often wondered how these people pray to themselves. So, to help them out as much as possible, I have come up with a prayer for those who believe they are in fact God.

“I am my own father, hallowed be my name. My kingdom come, my will be done, on earth as it is in my dreams. I give myself this day my daily bread, and I foreclose on all my debts, as I have eluded my debtors. And I go right into temptation, because I really enjoy evil. For mine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for as long as I say so. Amen.”

It must be nice to pray to yourself. I would not know, because I have never tried it. I have given myself a good talking to, but that sure is not prayer.

The Bible says a lot about prayer. Some of my favorite quotes are, “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17 KJV), “Is any among you afflicted? let him pray” (James 5:13a KJV), ^“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints” (Ephesians 6:18 KJV).

For me, the question is never to pray or not to pray. I enjoy my daily time of prayer with my Father which art in heaven.

The Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship, 1471 Pine Road, Ocala, FL 34472. He lives with his wife, Martha, in Silver Springs Shores. Call him at 352-687-4240 or e-mail jamessnyder2@att.net. The church web site is www.whatafellowship.com.

I do not get as many letters as I used to do, which may be due to the Internet or to the fact that I do not have as many literate friends as I used to. I still like getting a letter, as long as it is a letter and not a bill. Bill used to write me but he was always asking for money.

I did get a letter this past week. It was unexpected but it was from a family member. Good old Uncle Sam sent me an epistle this past week. I was anxious to see how he was getting along. I hear all these rumors, you know, but it is good to hear straight from the donkey’s mouth.

When I opened the letter it was not a personal letter. It was addressed to me, all right, and it had to do with personal matters, of a sort. But he was not chatting about what he was up to these days. Rather, it was a request for money.

It seems that way back in the year of our Lord 2003, there was a mix-up in my tax return and somehow I still owed the IRS money. My attitude was, let bygones be bygones. That is ancient history. Let us just get along.

There was a phone number on the letter inviting me to call. It was right after lunch so I thought why not get this over with and get on with the rest of my life. I hummed a little tune as I dialed the number and then waited for it to ring.

I finally got an automated service and was asked to press a certain number if I wanted to continue in English. My English is not that good and in high school, I got a D-plus in my senior year. But as it is the best language I know, I opted for English. For some reason I pressed the wrong number and got something that sounded a little bit like Spanish. My Spanish is not good, actually not at all, I had no idea what they were saying. I really hate to hang up on people while they are talking but I finally hung up and re-dialed the number.

I do not want to complain, but I hate punching a number for this and punching numbers for that and finally getting someone on the other end of the line that is not a real person but they’re telling me what to do. Who do they think they are? My wife?

After several tries and punching more numbers, I finally got back to the automated system. Through no skill of my own, I finally punched the right numbers and actually got a live person. Now, I thought to myself, I will get this taken care of, and that will be that.

The gentleman on the other end of the line was none other than a friendly IRS person. After exchanging a few pleasantries, we finally got down to business. I finally was able to ask what all of the paperwork meant that I received.

He began what turned out to be a very long spiel and it sounded somewhat similar to my high school teacher’s explanation of Einstein’s theory of relativity. I could not relate to my high school teacher’s explanation anymore than I could relate to what my IRS man was talking about on the other end of the phone. If what he was talking about was in any way relative to my well-being, I had no way of knowing.

When he was finished with his long, drawn-out explanation all I could say was, “Huh?”

He then proceeded to go through the whole process again, ad nausea. After the second time of explaining what these taxes were, I knew less about its then after the first time of explaining it. I am beginning to see a conspiracy here.

“Exactly why do I owe these taxes?”

Obviously, he thought I said, “Where do you buy your axes?” And began talking in Chinese, or so it sounded like Chinese. When he was finished, I could not remember why I called him in the first place.

Finally, in somewhat of a desperate mood, I asked him how much I owed. As it turned out, I owed the IRS $363.94. Why I owed that much, I still have not figured out. I must say good old Uncle Sam knows what he is doing when he hires people to man the IRS phone lines who know Chinese.

The only thing I could say was, “The check is in the mail.” He did mention something about putting a lien on my bank account. Ha ha! There is barely enough money in my banking account to keep my account open. If anybody, especially the IRS, liens on my bank account they will fall smack on their face. I would like to be around for that one.

Paying taxes is one of the responsibilities of every American. Someone has well said that the only certain thing in life is death and taxes. Good old Uncle Sam has found a way for us to pay taxes after we have died.

I remember the words of Jesus. “And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar’s, and unto God the things which be God’s” (Luke 20:25 KJV).

That is the best separation of church and state I know.

The Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship, 1471 Pine Road, Ocala, FL 34472. He lives with his wife, Martha, in Silver Springs Shores. Call him at 352-687-4240 or e-mail jamessnyder2@att.net. The church web site is www.whatafellowship.com.

The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage and Yours Truly just finished supper and we were resting in the living room watching the TV news. Actually, my wife was watching the news while I was perusing a book. As far as I am concerned, nothing equals the relaxation of a good book after a good supper. My definition of a good book is the one I am reading at the time.

I had just settled into my book when I heard a groan coming from the other side of the room where my wife was setting. Thinking it was her just winding down after a busy day, I paid no attention to it.

Then I heard it again followed by, “I just cannot believe that!” Assuming she was talking to herself and not addressing me in particular, I ignored her and continued in my book.

Then she said, “Do you believe what they did?” When I looked at her, I discovered she was looking at me. The question was addressed to me. Not knowing what she was talking about I responded with my typical, “Huh?” Huh, as most people know, is short for “I have no idea what in the world you’re talking about.” This seems to be where I am most of the time.

Then my wife explained to me the story on the news. It seems, in some school somewhere, someone was objecting to standing and pledging allegiance to the American flag. My wife, and right she should be, was irritated at these people refusing to pledge their allegiance to the American flag.

“What in the world is wrong with these people?” she queried me. Then she went into her typical diatribe about how important it is to be a good citizen. “How can you call yourself an American,” she continued, “and not want to salute the American flag?”

Well, I think she has a good point. I tried to go back to my book and she went back to watching the news but I could not get back into my book. I thought about all of these people objecting to pledging their allegiance to the American flag.

What is the big deal? What is their objection? Why are some people offended by the American flag? I think the biggest question I might ask, why do they want to live in America?

I am a firm believer in the First Amendment and the right of everybody to express his or her opinion. If people do not want to pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, that is their right. I just do not get it.

I would be the first to admit our country is not perfect. After all, we have politicians running this country. Even though there are things about this country that are not right and that I do not agree with all the time, I still pledge allegiance to the American flag, I still pray for our country and I pray for the president of the United States and all those in leadership positions.

I have thought further about these people refusing to pledge allegiance to the American flag and how inconsistent they are in their whole life.

For example, most of these people refusing to pledge allegiance to the flag will pledge allegiance to some credit card. They will sign up, gladly paid the fee, willingly accepts a high interest rate and then go on a spending spree. Every month they will salute and pledge allegiance to that credit card by sending in a check.

Others will pledge their allegiance to some mortgage company for their house. Month after month, these people pledge their allegiance to the mortgage company or the bank by writing out a hefty check, including interest and fees.

The same people will pledge allegiance to some car loan company in order to buy a new car. Month after month as regular as the sun rising in the morning, these people will pledge their allegiance to the car loan institution by sending them a check. By the time they have paid for a $20,000 automobile they will have given to the car loan institution $60,000. Of course, I could be a little wrong on my math, but not by much.

It seems a little amusing to me that the same people who object to pledging their allegiance to the American flag and who object to prayer in any public setting will pay their allegiance to the credit card company, the mortgage and loan company, and the auto loan institution with money that has printed on it in bold type, “In God we trust.”

Let those who object to these things object to them but not in such a way as to hinder me from pledging my allegiance to the American flag. If you do not believe in prayer, fine, but do not force your unbelief on me. If there is no such thing as God, why are some people so upset when someone like me prays to God?

I go by the scriptural admonition, “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;  For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty” (1 Timothy 2:1-2 KJV).

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America…

The Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship, 1471 Pine Road, Ocala, FL 34472. He lives with his wife, Martha, in Silver Springs Shores. Call him at 352-687-4240 or e-mail jamessnyder2@att.net. The church web site is www.whatafellowship.com.

Most things in life are not always as they seem. For some reason one person will say one thing and the person hearing will hear something altogether different. This appears to be the case between the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage and Yours Truly.

One of the most frequent comments around our residence is, “Did you hear what I just said?”

Of course, that does not really bother me. What does bother me is when I answer in the affirmative, she will reply by saying, “What did I just say?”

It is not that I do not hear what she says; I’m just not listening to what she says. There is a big difference between hearing and listening. I hear many things but I certainly do not pay attention to most of it. If you would listen to most of the stuff said these days, not much of it is worth listening to, at least for long.

This illustrates the basic difference between a husband and wife. A husband always says what he means; but the wife always means what she says. Complication comes when the husband does not understand what she says and it is almost as if they are using a different language or at least a code most husbands are not privy to.

The problem is the most people do not say what they mean.

When someone says they are having a Garage Sale they do not mean they are going to sell their garage. In fact, they do not even mean that they are going to sell things from their garage. What they do mean is they plan to jam their garage full of junk to sell to unsuspecting customers. Most of what sells at a garage sale has nothing whatsoever to do with the garage. In fact, only half of what they are selling can fit into the garage while the rest spills out into the driveway.

The same thing goes with a Yard Sale. When somebody advertises they are going to have a Yard Sale they have no intention whatsoever of selling their yard. What they are going to do is pile their yard full of junk they do not want and sell to customers who will in turn put it in their yard sale next week.

When it comes to Yard Sales, I think there is only a certain amount of items that keep circulating throughout the community.

I once had an easy chair that I did not want anymore and set it out by the street. It was badly broken and I did not have the time to run it over to the dump. By next morning, my chair was gone. Two nights later, it appeared out in front of the house five doors down. The next morning it was gone only to reappear five more doors down two days later. I believe that chair is still circulating through the community.

If people were honest in what they were doing, they would put up a sign that says, “Junk for Sale.” I did see a sign on the thrift store once that said, “We buy junk and sell treasures.”

For some reason people think that, if they buy something at a yard sale it must be a treasure. But the way I think is this, if somebody has something in his or her yard sale to sell at a greatly discounted price how good could it be?

This brings me back to the hearing and listening dilemma. I got up last Friday morning, as usual, and discovered that the other resident of our house was missing. I went to the kitchen and found a little note that said, “Make your own breakfast I’m at our daughter’s yard sale.”

At first, I did not quite get it. Then I remembered sometime during the week there was some mention about a yard sale on Friday. But I was not listening. After all, what in the world do I have to do with a yard sale?

I had a cup of coffee and then went back to the bedroom to get dressed for the day. I went to the closet looking for one of my favorite shirts to wear for the day. I could not find it.

I then tried to find my favorite sneakers I have had for 29 years. It is taken that long just to break them into where they are comfortable to wear. As with my favorite shirt, my shoes were nowhere to be found.

Some books I have had for years were missing along with some other personal items. I was beginning to think we had been robbed. What robber would steal such things? It would have to be a rather desperate person to do that kind of cherry picking during a robbery.

Then a thought grabbed hold of my mind with the ferocity of a mama grizzly. If I recollect correctly, she was talking about these things in the same context as the yard sale at our daughter’s place. She wouldn’t!

Later that afternoon she came home, handed me $3.78, and said, “Here’s your share of the yard sale.”

Not listening to what you are hearing carries an awful price.

The Bible is faithful in warning us, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches” (Revelation 3:6 KJV).

God always says what He means and means what He says.