Does anyone listen anymore & May Scripture Writing Plan

April 28, 2016April 28, 2016 / kstrick7 / Leave a comment

Sometimes I wonder. I just wonder what kind of people we are becoming. Raising a generation on technology. Our cell phones, for instance. You don’t have to know much of anything going out into the world. Why? Because you can call anyone at any time & find out what to do. How many times has my 12 year old puzzled me to the point my knee jerk reaction is “Google it.” Not to be confused with it’s close cousin “Googol”, which if I remember correctly from 7^th grade math class, that a googol is a 1 with 100 zeros behind it. And not JUST an internet sensation that I am mainly dependent on for vast amounts of knowledge. Just a little history lesson on math. Bet you don’t get that often.

ANYWHOO- There are many times that I personally may not hold myself responsible for listening as closely as I need to because why? I can call or text at any time & find out what that person said. Perhaps for example when my sweetie is giving me his grocery list, as I head out the door, I may or may not listen as intentively as I could, because, well you know, I have a LOT of other things I need to be remembering right then. I know once I get to the Kroger, I can text him & find out everything he told me, plus some other things he forgot. Sometimes I wonder, do I do this with God, too? Am I guilty of not listening, not heeding the warnings of sin, until I get into a fix, then I start trying to pray my way out of it? Then, I have time to listen & talk to God. I believe that is why we should daily stay in contact with God. I feel like if we are listening to the Lord, by studying our Bibles & talking to Him through prayer, we will have little time to be judging, looking down our noses at others, & fault finding.

Solomon had some beautiful words about listening in the book of Proverbs-

Proverbs 1:5 A wise man will hear and increase learning, And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel

Proverbs 19:20 Listen to counsel and receive instruction, That you may be wise in your latter days.

And this wonderful piece that is titled “The beginning of knowledge”

Proverbs 1: 10-19

My son, if sinners entice you,
Do not consent.
¹¹If they say, “Come with us,
Let us lie in wait to shed blood;
Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;
¹²Let us swallow them alive like Sheol,^[a]
And whole, like those who go down to the Pit;
¹³We shall find all kinds of precious possessions,
We shall fill our houses with spoil;
¹⁴Cast in your lot among us,
Let us all have one purse”—
¹⁵My son, do not walk in the way with them,
Keep your foot from their path;
¹⁶For their feet run to evil,
And they make haste to shed blood.
¹⁷Surely, in vain the net is spread
In the sight of any bird;
¹⁸But they lie in wait for their own blood,
They lurk secretly for their own lives.
¹⁹So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain;
It takes away the life of its owners.

How relevant is that over 3,000 years later? We should listen & stay away from sin, as much as possible. I truly believe staying in God’s Word is one of the most important ways to keep listening.

My sweet friend Shannon, over at Sweet Blessings, said I could share her scripture writing plans. This is the one for May.

If you get a chance, go on over there & let her know what a “sweet blessing” she is for creating these scripture plans.

Y’all, I have so much to catch y’all up on. I will be back with pictures, before long! Until next time, I should be going, because I should be washing clothes.

A shout out to my favorite stores

March 25, 2015March 25, 2015 / kstrick7 / 2 Comments

I know Christmas is way over. However, I wanted to give a shout out to some remarkable merchants out there. Since I broke up with Wal-Mart or Walmart or Walmarts (as my Mamaw called it) my cash flow has been much more flowy-er. You can read about that here.

Just want to give a public & personal thank you to the following stores:

Kmart

Dollar Tree

Walgreens

Dollar General (which my Mamaw called the General Dollar Store)

Thank you, understanding merchants, for not having a maximum time you can visit your store, in a few days period. Thank you for allowing me to patronize your store every time, which seemed like I had just left your store, & then I remembered something I forgot. For the nine days I was off work at Christmas, I shopped just like it was my job. You allowed that. No questions asked. After I went back to work, one of your dear employees probably was chatting at break with a fellow coworker & said

“You know that lady we saw in here so much that one week during Christmas time? I have not seen her in a while.”

That’s because I have to face reality and go back to my real job. But thanks for not judging me.

And I can’t not say something about these folks without mentioning Kroger. Listen ya’ll, Kroger has been a life changer for me. They give you free stuff. Not just once or twice a year. Every. Single. Week. Just for shopping with them. They give you a free item every Friday. You just have to get online & download the freebie. When you check out, you give them your Kroger Card & it adds up on your ticket to be FREE. They also GIVE you in FREE UNITED STATES DOLLARS $.10 or $.20 off of each gallon of gas your purchase. That truly makes me weepy. I drove a gas guzzling Suburban for years. Only to trade into a Ford Focus that gets 75 miles to the gallon. Well, maybe not that much. But after spending my kid’s inheirtance on gas for that Suburban, it sure does seem that way. (Sorry kids. I know you thought you got all that shuttling around for free.)

And I can’t say something about Kroger without mentioning the lovely Katie at Kroger Krazy. That sweet girl just wants everybody to save money. If she lived closer to me, I know we would be tearing the Kroger store down together. Her blog is chocked full of life changing, game changing, deals. I love Kroger Krazy. Anybody that wants to do all the leg work for me, hey, we are friends for life. (Katie, you may or may not want to put out a restraining order on me right now, ha!) Seriously, this is a wonderful resource for anybody that want to save money.

My next new store to patronize & love is Dirt Cheap. Let me just say I bought a BUNCH of clothes for my Grand Baby Girl for not a lot in there. We are talking Target brand shirts for Dirt Cheap. EEEKK! I get happy all over again just thinking of it. And, too my daughter was a page for the Senate one year & got to meet the owner of Dirt Cheap. He was some sort of government official. He was a really nice man & held in high regard by his peers. I like doing business with nice people.

Some people may view my thriftiness as cheap. No, no, no. There is a difference. I seek out bargains, but will spend the big bucks when needed. As I get older, I realize, when it comes to my purchases, there’s more than one way to skin a cat. (Don’t get PETA after me. It’s just a Southern expression meaning there’s more than one way to do something.) With a little time & effort, you don’t have to pay full price for stuff. I do think it kinda my responsibility to take care of my home & the people there in. Just like the woman in Proverbs 31. I love this passage because I believe this is still a wonderful example laid out for us today.

Proverbs 31: 27 She watches over the ways of her household, And does not eat the bread of idleness. (NKJV)

If you get the chance, reading the whole passage about the virtuous woman, will truly bless your heart. (Proverbs 31:10-31) It always inspires me to be better. I have been blessed to be acquainted with some of the most wonderful virtuous women ever. My Mama, Mamaw, Mama Boyce, & mother-in-law are the ones that come to mind. They all were wonderful examples that I try to pattern my life after. My Mamaw & mother-in-law would be tickled to death to see me saving money at the grocery store. They both LOVED a bargain.

Mamaw & Mama

I hope you have gotten some use out of this little blog post today. I know I love to shop. But I don’t think I have to spend ALL my money. Until there’s another sale at the dollar store, I have to be going because I should be washing clothes.

photo credits: walgreens, dollar tree, dollar general, http://www.krogerkrazy.com , Kroger, Dirt Cheap

On That Red Dirt Road

March 14, 2013 / kstrick7 / 6 Comments

I was listening to the radio the other day. I love country music. So, of course it was on a country station. I have heard the song “Red Dirt Road” by Brooks & Dunn ever since it came out. It’s a song about a person’s life that was experienced on a “Red Dirt Road”. Well, of course I relate to that. I was raised on Rural Route 2, right where the black top ended. (Which is just about the wording of the 1^st line of this song). In Northeast Mississippi we had lots of red dirt roads. But while I was listening to this song, for some reason it clicked finally what the duo was saying. They talk about all this stuff that happened on the red dirt road, which was their life. The song’s chorus goes like this:

It’s where I drank my first beer.

It’s where I found Jesus.

Where I wrecked my first car: I tore it all to pieces.

I learned the path to Heaven, Is full of sinners an’ believers.

Learned that happiness on earth, Ain’t just for high achievers.

I’ve learned; I come to know, There’s life at both ends, Of that red dirt road.

I think there is a lot of truth in this. The part about happiness on earth ain’t just for high achievers- really is true. Even the simplest of people can be completely happy. Happiness is an easy thing to achieve, if you are willing to do what the Bible says. In Proverbs there was a man named Agur. He declared what he had learned on his “Red Dirt Road”.

Proverbs 30:7-9

Two [things] have I required of thee; deny me [them] not before I die:

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].

Agur wanted to be rid of a life of excessive pride & lying. Then, he did not want to be rich or poor, since there are problems with both. In verse 9 he explains if we are prideful or rich we think we don’t need God. If we are poor, we could be tempted to steal & curse God (a big ol’ helpin’ of a “Why me, Lord?” attitude). I think there is a BIG lesson in those couple of verses. One that I needed to hear for sure. I need to be more content. I need to enjoy what God has allowed me to achieve on my red dirt road of life. (Instead of always looking for something more to make me happy.) Did you notice Agur did not want a lot of money? I think if we had a lot of money we would be in a constant state of greed, making sure nobody’s trying to get our money. Then we could be worried that something would happen to our money. All that time spent trying to keep hold to all that we have. When, you can’t take it with you. In my life time, I have seen so many people act so silly over stuff. You know what? When the Lord calls them home, what’s going to happen to that stuff? Somebody else is going to end up with it. I haven’t ever seen a U-Haul (full of stuff) pulled behind a hearse. Have you? I think ol’ Agur hit it all right on the head.

I hope you don’t mind that my post today includes, Jesus, beer, & happiness. Because I don’t believe in any way, that those things go together. It just worked out that way, for once. I will ask for forgiveness because Lord have mercy, I don’t want anybody to be offended by it. Ya’ll just have to understand where I am coming from with this. I’m so glad you chose to stop by & visit with me. I love it when you come by! I have to be going for now, because I should be washing clothes.