Proverbs 17:22

“A cheerful heart is good medicine.”  Proverbs 17:22

I include in this blog site a lot of humor. I hope it helps. This is a sad world, filled with sick people. I am trying to lighten up your day just a little. It is good medicine.

I do not know how you picture Jesus in your mind. I believe that Jesus laughed and laughed. I think he laughed so hard, tears came to his eyes. I think that is one of the attractions that drew people to him. I think he enjoyed children in his lap and the silly things they say. I think he saw the reaction of his disciples to what he had to say  or the silly things they said and laughed.

The title to this blog is Learning, LAUGHING, Loving, & Living for HIM. Let us laugh with Him and for Him until eternity ends.

Thank You

I do not say “Thank you” enough. You know who you are, if the thank you fits, please recieve it from my heart. I am committed to show love by “keeping keeping records of right”. (Mirror of 1 Cor. 13) Love starts with a thank you.

Thank you for being the kind of person you are.

Thank you for caring about others and, yet, finding yourself sick over how selfish you are on too many occasions.

Thank you for believing God is awesome and, yet, finding you are plagued with a double-portion of Thomas’s doubting.

Thank you for believing in me when I can no longer believe in myself.

Thank you for seeing the good in me when I botch one effort after another.

Thank you for your patience when I am at the end of the rope with mine.

Thank you for continuing to give to me when I am a huge taker.

You bless the world….and I’m glad I’m in on it. You thrill so many….and thank you for including time for me.

Dreams From God

Everyone has in-built dreams from God. I wonder how many life-changing, church-changing, eternity-changing concepts go unannounced because we forget to dream from God’s ability. Walt Disney is reported to have said, “Anytime I propose a great idea to the board and it is unanimously rejected, I start work on the project immediately.”

Walt Disney was a dreamer. Joseph was a dreamer. You are a dreamer. If one billion concepts have been successfully released upon mankind, there surely are a million billion mega-zillion ideas awaiting hatchment. All of the potential ideas have not yet been thought.

Do your best to cooperate in harmony with one another. Then, dare to imagine what could be if God were to land in the center of another great idea.

Terry Rush

Quote of the Day

When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us. Helen Keller

I like this quote , but I was startled when I saw who said it. I feel like I am generally an optimist, but I find myself at times looking at the closed door or I am trying to re-open the door. God is good to open the best doors for us. I pray that we will see the open doors , to His glory. 

Getting Older

Today is my birthday. While I have a young mind, my body is getting older.

You know you’re getting older when:

• You back goes out more than you do.
• Your knees buckle, but your belt won’t.
• You get winded playing chess.
• You set in a rocking chair and can’t make it go.
• You turn out the light for economic rather than romantic reasons.
• Dialing long distance wears you out.

I came across this about a year ago. It was suppose to be part of one of George Carlin’s monologues. I understand now it might not be his work….whatever, it is so true!

George Carlin’s Views on Aging

 

Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we’re kids? If you’re less than 10 years old, you’re so excited about aging that you think in fractions.

 

“How old are you?” “I’m four and a half!” You’re never thirty-six and a half. You’re four and a half, going on five! That’s the key.

 

You get into your teens, now they can’t hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead.

 

“How old are you?”  ”I’m gonna be 16!” You could be 13, but hey, you’re gonna be 16!  And then the greatest day of your life . . . you become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony. . YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!!                  

 

But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There’s no fun now, you’re Just a sour-dumpling. What’s wrong?    What’s changed?

 

You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you’re PUSHING 40. Whoa! Put on the brakes, it’s all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50 and your dreams are gone.

 

But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn’t think you would!

 

So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.

 

You’ve built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it’s a day-by-day thing; you   HIT Wednesday!

 

You get into your 80s and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn’t end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards; “I Was JUST 92.”

 

Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. “I’m 100 and a half!”

May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!

HOW TO STAY YOUNG

 

 

1. Throw out   nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay “them”                  

 

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

 

3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. “An idle mind is the devil’s workshop.” And the devil’s name is Alzheimer’s.

4. Enjoy the simple things.

 

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.                  

 

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The   only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.

 

7. Surround yourself with   what you love, whether it’s family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

 

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

 

9 Don’t take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.                 

 

10. Tell the   people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.  

 

 

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.                 

Prayer

Lord Jesus, help us to remain in you. On our own we are incapable of bearing fruit. We confess our insufficiency and ask that you would cleanse us.

Holy Spirit, produce fruit in our lives, to the Glory of the Father.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Signs

Prayer

Father, thank you for sending your Son into this world—a light calling us out of darkness. We pray that you would shine your light through us into the lives of the people we meet—especially those in our neighborhood. Call them out of darkness into your light.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

TomTom

Patricia and I went on a trip last month that covered four states. We successfully got to each destination with help from TomTom, my GPS navigational device. “Turn left ahead”, “Enter onto highway then stay right”, “Stay right”, TomTom would speak commands that must be obeyed.

Whenever you turn TomTom on for the first time each day, he would locate where he is. A newly entered address would challenge TomTom to find the best roads to take and maps out a route. If you strayed off the road to fuel up, TomTom would get frustrated and say “go back.” When you did not go back, TomTom would revise the route based on your decision.

It came to me that God is like TomTom. He has mapped out my life’s course. He gives me accurate instructions to get me to where I should be and where I am going. When I get off course by my poor decisions or failing to follow His commands, I am sure He gets frustrated at me and says”go back”. Then He recalculates where I am and maps out a new course for me.

One of the hardest lessons to learn with TomTom is to follow the directions and do not question them. When you arrive at your targeted goal, TomTom will then proclaim, “You have reached your destination”. It is great that I can trust TomTom to take care of me.

Likewise, if heaven is my final goal, I must trust God to get me there. Then He will proclaim, “You have reached your final destination.”

Psalms 146

Praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD, my soul.

I will praise the LORD all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

Do not put your trust in princes,
in human beings, who cannot save.

When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
on that very day their plans come to nothing.

Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD their God.

He is the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea, and everything in them—
he remains faithful forever.

He upholds the cause of the oppressed
and gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets prisoners free,

the LORD gives sight to the blind,
the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down,
the LORD loves the righteous.

The LORD watches over the foreigner
and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

The LORD reigns forever,
your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the LORD.