You missed the point & the dreaded time change

November 4, 2015November 4, 2015 / kstrick7 / Leave a comment

How many times have you seen people in life that miss the point? While they may be well meaning, their words just don’t help the cause? I have, first hand, seen people who would rather lash out & “let somebody have it” rather than extend a hand to help. I have seen those who get in a tiz & their knee jerk reaction is to tell somebody off. I have actually had someone tell me before, when I have tried to help them see their anger was not beneficial, say to me, “Well, at least they are going to know what I think.” Really? In situations when people are maybe not making the best choices & they need our help- they really don’t care what you think. Being angry with someone for their mistakes & expressing such to them is missing the point. I know we are all human & want what’s best for our loved ones. And yes, sometimes you may want to just shake them & say, “What were you thinking??” All the lecturing & yelling & bawling & squalling will not change the fact that this person needs our love, not our tempers flaring. I truly believe if we reach out a hand in love, we will get a much more positive response than if we are throwing a hissy fit. We need to be showing Jesus through us. How can we do that if we are angry & ranting & raving? We can’t. We all make mistakes. We all miss the point, from time to time, to show Christ’s love. If we have done that, we should pray & ask the other person to forgive us. The apostle Paul talks about true love in I Corinthians 13.

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. ²And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ³And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned,^[a] but have not love, it profits me nothing.

⁴Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; ⁵does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; ⁶does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; ⁷bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

⁸Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. ⁹For we know in part and we prophesy in part. ¹⁰But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.

¹¹When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. ¹²For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

¹³And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. (NKJV)

I love this girl dressed up for Halloween as “Queen of the Nerds.”

This chapter is full of useful & necessary information on how to treat others. From what I can tell, these are commandments. Not suggestions. Let’s be sure we treat them as such. Instead of beating someone over the brow with our version of what they should be doing, we all need to try speaking kindly & understanding where they are coming from with their decisions. A lot of times, I can be more tenderhearted if I know why someone is doing what they are doing. Believe me, there are just some people who need guidance. Even & especially grown men & women. And sadly, some still will not change, even though you go to them in love. That’s not your fault. You have done your part & done it correctly. Continue to show them love & keep them in prayer. Hopefully, they will turn to the Lord before it’s too late. But listen, don’t worry about this. If the Lord could not turn everyone’s heart to the right thing, what makes you think you can? It is what it is. Do your part, with love & move on.

One more thing, you may be asking, “What is “the point” you speak of?” When I refer to missing the point, I am meaning this is your prime opportunity to show Jesus & His love through us. Please, please, please, do your best to not miss the point!

I am so glad you came by to visit with me today. We have had a nasty stomach bug going around our house. I have been able to avoid it, so far. Well, you know there are somethings a stomach bug won’t even chance. Ha. Hope your week has been full of fall weather & pumpkin spice. Oh yeah. And the time changed. What about that daylight savings time that just jumped up & ran off? Still. Not. Over. It. And just to add to your anxiety, Christmas is only 7 weeks away. Love you like candy canes & chocolate covered cherries! Until next time, I have to be going because I should be washing clothes.

I possibly relate to this a little too much.

The time I thought I was wrong & how ’bout them single digit temperatures???

February 19, 2015February 19, 2015 / kstrick7 / 1 Comment

The other day Miss Neenee posed this question:

“Mama, how long have you been out of school?”

I did my best mental math guess & said quickly,

“25 years.”

“Wow,” she said. And then our morning carried on with other scurrying around, trying to get ready, so that I could get her to school on time so that she wouldn’t thus again, be the only 5^th grader to ever have detention in the history of 5^th grade detention for being late. (Which is at the top of my list in my book of

“Things In Life That Are CLEARLY Ridiculous.”

Giving elementary school students detention for something they OBVIOUSLY have no control over is down right awful. What kind of people do that stuff to little kids? At no time has an elementary student, who does not live within walking distance to a school, EVER been able to get themselves to school. In my neck of the woods, someone either gets them ready & puts them on a bus or drives them in a vehicle.

SPOILER ALERT to ALL PRINCIPALS, ASSISTANT PRINCIPALS & ANYONE WHO HAS AUTHORITY TO MAKE RULES & HAS HATE FOR LATE PEOPLE:

Kids cannot drive themselves to school.

Thus having to be at the mercy of people who can drive & will drive them to school. Who may perhaps have a time management issue or a morning disability. Believe me people when I say mornings are hard. They just are & I declare that there is a real disease or virus or something that hits some people every morning. The symptoms of this non-fatal sickness is irritability, being disoriented, the ability to not be able to control how many times you hit snooze, & lateness. If you haven’t ever heard of it, well, now you have. You are welcome. It’s not really catching. However, for those of us that suffer from it, getting out of bed may be the worst thing that has happened to us all day. For me, this is not something new. I have been this way my entire life. Even though I know & hope I will be able to wake up daily. Still. Hard. Stuff. Don’t judge me. Just know this is the world I live in.)

Ahem! You can’t see me, but I am now stepping down off of my soap box.

To the story at hand: After I got to work, I got to thinking about it. Wait a minute. There’s no way I could be out of school for 25 years. I thought about it again. I’ve only been out of school 15 years.

Oh my WORD. (Which is evidently something I say too much because my grandson has started saying it, to my daughter’s dismay.)

I have given incorrect information to my sweet daughter, who unbeknownst will work this into every conversation she has, because 25 years is like 100 years to an 11 year old. How could I have been THAT wrong?

So, for the best part of my day, I could not get it off my mind how my wrong date of high school graduation was being put out there for everybody to know. I mean seriously. I would have to correct this as soon as I could. I thought about having a fake emergency so that I could ask the school secretary to get Miss Neenee out of class, to call me before too much damage was done. But I didn’t.

Then, it happened. Later on in the day, it occurred to me they make these where I come from.

I could just recap my accurateness of my tenure out of high school. So, 2015 minus 1990 equals…

Well, you know the rest. It was a pretty big shock to me, too. Not that I haven’t attended my 20^th year class reunion, well a few years ago. That never crossed my mind AT ALL. So, it ends up, I was not wrong at all. I am old & most days can pretty much vouch for feeling it, as well.

Is forgetfulness a bad thing? Not really. As I get older, I tend to forget how much I am wronged. I forget how to be angry all the time. I forget to let things weigh on my mind. I forget to be judgmental. (Thank you Lord, for letting me get past that one.)

The Hebrew writer said Jesus is good at forgetting, too.

Hebrews 8:12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” (NKJV)

The psalmist said in

Psalms 103: 12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. (NKJV)

Thank goodness the Lord is a good forgetter. That works out real well for me.

I hope you are having a wonderful week. It has been COLD here in northeast Mississippi. Pretty sure somebody left the freezer door open outside last night. It was a blustery 12 degrees at my house this morning. No Southerner is really prepared for that. Bring on spring is all I can say. Until then, I have to be going because I should be washing clothes.

Raising a peacemaker & this is what my Thanksgiving looked like

December 4, 2014December 4, 2014 / kstrick7 / 1 Comment

The other day, I got a phone call from the school. It was my Miss Neenee. She began telling me she was in the nurse’s office. (Which from my experience, has never turned out good.)

She said she had been hit by a boy in P.E. They were playing basketball. They were both going up to catch the ball. The boy slammed into her, to get the ball. Then, the ball hit her in the face. All of that commotion broke her glasses & left a cut on her eyebrow.

She started by telling me,

“Mama, I’m in the nurse’s office. I cut my eye playing ball & broke my glasses.”

“You cut your eye? Your eyeball?” I was just a smidge panicked.

“No, the outside close to my eyebrow. And it’s bleeding.” She said.

“It’s bleeding???” Now, full blown anxiety & confusion has set in. And apparently, I sounded too frantic, because the nurse got on the phone.

The kind nurse reassured me she was not bleeding profusely. That she took a lick on the eye & her glasses were broken. She put the Miss back on the phone. I asked her did she need to be picked up & she did not.

After we got home, I asked her, “Who was this boy & what did you do when you got hit?”

Well, first she cried. Then, she went to the nurse’s office (accompanied by one of her besties, no less).

“What happened with the little boy?” I pressed.

“He kept saying he was sorry & he said he would buy me some new glasses.” She said

“Well, what did you do to him?” I quizzed.

“Umm, nothing. He said he was sorry. A bunch.” She replied.

Really? No big throw down? No show down amongst the 5^th & 6^th grader P.E. students? If it had of been me, I would have probably had to smack some heads. You can’t push somebody around & get by with it. Then, I thought about what Jesus said, in His sermon on the mount:

Matthew 5:9

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. (ESV)

Matthew 5:38-39

³⁸“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ ³⁹But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. (ESV)

By Miss Neenee just letting it go, she became a peacemaker, like Jesus is talking about there in verse 9. She passed on the opportunity to retaliate. She turned the other cheek. Perhaps I could learn a lesson here. Maybe we all could. Keep your temper & anger in check. It’s what Jesus would want us to do.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We most certainly did. I was off work for 4 days. Out of those 4 days I saw my kids & grandkids every day. That’s a lot of happiness for me. I even got to keep my grandbabies for some of that time. Fun was had by all. I hope you have a wonderful week. As for me, I have to be going because I should be washing clothes.

Some Thanksgiving highlights:

My Daddy & sister in law

Me & my big brother

Jay-Dub & Livie – sweetest nephew & niece ever

Daddy & Livie

Livie & Miss Neenee

Thanksgiving breakfast sorta agrees with us.

Star of the show- brined, smoked & ready to eat. Best. turkey. ever.

Some of the Thanksgiving dinner. The rest continued around on the other side of the counter. Whew! We were full!

Here’s some Thanksgiving kids. Coincidentally, they do not like turkey. However, are stuffing their little faces with the “chicken” we had.

Two of my sweet boys

When you can’t find the butterflies for the Elefun game, you try to make other things fly out of his nose.

Like cups or guns….

And here was the guilty culprit! Look at that sweet face. Now, how many times do you think he gets in trouble at Grand & Pap's? If you said none, you were right.

And here was the guilty culprit! Look at that Mr. Sweetie Pants! Now, how many times do you think he gets in trouble at Grand & Pap’s? If you said none, you were right.

photo credit: pinterest

How to approach a mountain lion

April 1, 2013June 7, 2017 / kstrick7 / 1 Comment

Sometimes you may come across individuals in life that are angry. I don’t mean, someone you have said or done something to & anger was their reaction. I am talking about someone who has an angry spirit. This person wakes up mad & goes to bed mad. And all through the day, they continue to be mad.

Smiling at them & asking them how they are, – that makes them mad.

Minding your own business, that makes them mad.

Acting like you care, that makes them mad.

Not acting like you care, that makes them mad.

The sight of you & you breathing in & out, that makes them mad.

See my pattern here. This post is about what to do if you encounter a mountain lion (an angry person). By the end of this, you will know how to effectively handle a mountain lion. I have done some research on mountain lions. A United States Game & Fish Department had this to say:

What to do if you encounter a mountain lion–

Do not hike, jog or ride your bicycle alone in mountain lion country: Go in groups, with adults supervising children. – Keep children close to you: Observations of captured wild mountain lions reveal that the animals seem especially drawn to children. Keep children in your sight at all times. –

Do not approach a mountain lion: Most mountain lions will try to avoid a confrontation. Give them a way to escape. –

Do not run from a mountain lion: Running may stimulate a mountain lion’s instinct to chase. Instead, stand and face the animal. Make eye contact. If there are small children there, pick them up if possible so they don’t panic and run. Although it may be awkward, pick them up without bending over or turning away from the mountain lion. –

Do not crouch or bend over: A person squatting or bending over looks a lot like a four-legged prey animal. When in mountain lion country, avoid squatting, crouching or bending over, even when picking up children. –

Appear larger: Raise your arms. Open your jacket if you are wearing one. Again, pick up small children. Throw stones, branches, or whatever you can reach without crouching or turning your back. Wave your arms slowly and speak firmly in a loud voice. The idea is to convince the mountain lion that you are not prey and that you may be a danger to it. –

Fight back if attacked: Many potential victims have fought back successfully with rocks, sticks, caps, jackets, garden tools and their bare hands. Since a mountain lion usually tries to bite the head or neck, try to remain standing and face the attacking animal.

One suggestion, about encountering a mountain lion, was to go in groups with adults, supervising small children. If you have to be around an angry person, have other people around & keep small children close to you. Like mountain lions, angry people, a lot of times, may not be encouraged if there are several people around. They may just go on their way. Mountain lions don’t really like confrontation. They do run away if given the chance. If you encounter an angry person, do your best to be with other people & keep your kids away from them, too.

What if you have done everything in your power to stay away from an angry person, but somehow you end up face to face with them? Like encountering a mountain lion, make eye contact, smile, & slowly walk away. Do not rush by or run. This might agitate the angry person even more. And ain’t nobody got time for a bunch of foolishness.

Notice one of the tips are- Do NOT approach a mountain lion. If you know a person is angry, don’t go around them. There is no reason, I can think of, for you to put yourself through what they have going on. So, to the best of your ability- JUST STAY AWAY FROM THEM!

I used to wonder why Jesus talked about in the sermon on the mount, Matthew 5:3-7:27 being meek, being a peacemaker, etc.,. Why would you want to be meek & a peacemaker with someone being so rude & mean? That’s hard. However, as I have gotten older, I understand, it’s a good diffuser to anger. Also, if we are in conflict with someone else, arguing, fussing, fighting, then we are taking away from our service to the Lord. Our main goal is to serve God . If we are wasting our time & energy being at odds with an angry person, we are robbing God of our time to serve Him. And that, my friend, is sin.

I think Zig Ziglar said it best about hard to get along with people.

“Life is too short to spend your precious time trying to convince a person who wants to live in gloom and doom otherwise. Give lifting that person your best shot, but don’t hang around long enough for his or her bad attitude to pull you down. Instead, surround yourself with optimistic people.”

My first knee jerk reaction, to people, is to be nice. But once you have been nice, move on. Let them wallow in whatever it is they have going on. Don’t hang around & get marred down in it yourself.

And of course I love Dolly Parton’s quote,

“Get down off the cross, honey, because somebody needs the wood.”

Which to me means get over whatever it is, quit with the self pity. The world doesn’t revolve around you. Take care of your problems & stop looking for someone to feel sorry for you. You are wasting your time when you are wallowing in self pity. Take responsibilities for your angry behavior & get better. And if you can’t get better, go get help. Don’t make everyone else’s world full of misery, just because yours is.

It is mentally exhausting being around someone that is angry, all the time, about everything. Everyone has problems. Everyone has things they wish they did not have to face. However, being thankful is a good place to start changing your life. There is always, always, always, something to thank God for. Humble yourself. Count your blessings. Make right what you can. Then, move on.

I have heard mountain lions are solitary creatures, ready to pounce. Don’t be a mountain lion. If you have wronged someone, make it right. If everything & everyone is wrong, it might be time to start considering a change of heart. Once you make a change in your attitude, things will begin to get better all around you. God doesn’t want us to be angry & bitter. However, it doesn’t take long for the devil to take a hold of our thoughts & motives. Before long, everyone is against us. Or so Satan wants us to think. You can justify your reasons of being angry six ways to Sunday. It still is sinful.

James 1:19-20 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. v. 20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

It still takes a mental & physical toll on you, as a person to stay so upset all the time. If for nothing else, give up the anger for your well being.

“A good way to have the last word, is to apologize.” .

I have enjoyed you coming by today. I love having you stop in. I thank God for you & that you gave me a little piece of your time today. I know I was on my soap box a bit. But that’s why I have this blog. To have an outlet to just get stuff out there. I hope you don’t mind. I do think it very necessary to pray for angry people. They need prayer the most. I wish you a wonderful week. As for me, I have to go now, because I should be washing clothes.