Life Blogs Archives - Page 17 of 21 - GraceAndWorks

Happy 4th of July. Let’s make some fireworks today. Are you a “Right Winger”, “Left Winger”, “Middle of the Road Winger”, “Chicken Winger” or a “Turkey Winger”? For today it doesn’t matter. Are you Republican, Democrat, Independent, Muslim, Mormon, Catholic, Methodist, Lutheran, Atheist or something else? For today it doesn’t matter.

What does matter for today is–think for yourself!! I’m tired of some left wing or right wing journalist, radio personality, TV commentator or anyone else trying  to tell me what somebody said or what they meant. Let’s get this out in the open–I’m not a fan of Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump!! I will say this though, if this is the best America has to offer for a President, we have SERIOUS problems.  I’m a college graduate and I think I can figure out what someone said or did not say, if I listen to them. What I can’t figure out is, why can’t American citizens, without being given biased opinions from some right or left winger, figure out what is best or who is best. Have we stooped so low that we can’t even think for ourselves. I certainly hope not!!!

Everyone seems to be so concerned about the Presidential election that they forget about electing Senators and Congressmen/women. What could the Obama administration have done if congress and senate hadn’t said NO to some/most of what he wanted done. A constant struggle!! What if this same thing happens for the next four-eight years? Will we still blame the President for everything gone wrong? Or will we finally see that it may be the people in Congress or the Senators that are the problem?  It is my take on this that if we don’t do some house cleaning in Congress and Senate, it really doesn’t matter who the President is.

Now let’s talk about President Obama. Has he made some mistakes? Yes, who hasn’t? The Affordable Health Care isn’t perfect and it needs some tweaking and the National debt is atrocious. Good luck to the next Administration with these two things. He inherited a war we should not have been in, saved the auto industry, saved the banking industry, the housing market is good once again, the stock market has come back to almost 18,000 from around 7,000 (Dow Jones), the price of gasoline is down to $2.25-$2.50 from around $4 and the unemployment rate is down considerably from where it was. Not bad for an administration that has fought and struggled with Congress and Senate for 8 tears. Good luck with the next Administration on doing the same or better.

God tells us to pray for our leaders. Why can’t we do this, instead of continually complaining and being non-supportive? We need to be careful this year about what we want as a nation. Think for yourself and do your due diligence to vote for the best people to run this GREAT Nation for the next 4 years. That includes the President, Congress, Senate and all the way on down the line!!

Now let’s celebrate the 240th year of independence of this GREAT UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and have a good time!! Let’s also send a prayer to God to keep all safe that fight for our freedom!!

Do you know the difference between a fairy tale and a reunion story? A fairy tale starts off “Once upon a time”–A reunion story starts out “This ain’t no BS–Do you remember…..?”

Saturday and Sunday, July 18th and 19th, we celebrated the 50 year  reunion of 1966 class from Dix, Ne. Dix is a small town in Western Nebraska with a population of about 350 in 1966. We had a whoppin’ 15 graduates that year.

The trip started Friday from Las Vegas and Friday night we stayed in Grand Junction, Colo. Saturday we drove into Denver and finally found the Hyatt where we were staying. We were actually early for our check-in, but, I “Sweet talked” the desk girl into getting us a room.  We get all checked in and found our reception room where everyone was getting together and start the stories. And WOW did the stories ever get started. The first thing that started was that I got someone’s room instead of them. Oh, well–I told Paul I would sell him the rights to it and that started the things rolling. We had dinner planned for 7:00 and it turned out wonderful. Steak was one of three entree’s available–yep that’s what I’m talkin’ about–DELICIOUS!! Gary Gustafson made the arrangements for the rooms, food and hospitality at the Hyatt. Good job!!

After dinner we went back to the reception room and let the stories roll. We talked about Halloween and what happened. Well we moved machinery out into the streets, upset outside toilets, had the police chase us and once even had someone threaten us with a shotgun (He was serious enough to shoot warning shots). We talked about hunting pheasant, duck and geese. I lived on a farm about 2 1/2 miles west of Dix and we had a creek running through it. The creek got dubbed Craig’s Creek and is still referred that way today. It was on the flyway for ducks and geese, so we had some really good hunting. Craig’s Creek then led to stories about the ice skating parties on the creek. We also had a big meadow that Dad would flood in the winter with the creek water and create a huge skating pond. We had huge bonfires made from tires and wood. Oh the fun that was had by all. Lots of stories about our sports enjoyed by  all and especially Coach Montag, who was in attendance, and coached our football team to the first state rating (6th) in school history. Track records by the girls track team. Basketball stories form junior High through High school and on and on we went.

Sunday we had a breakfast buffet and more stories. Sunday night we settled in and watched the final game of the NBA championship game that the Cleveland Cavaliers won and upset the Golden State Warriors. Oh, and of course, we had pizza brought in.

Of the 15 classmates, 2 have passed on–David Allison and Jim Easton. 2 couldn’t make it and the other 11 enjoyed the weekend. Those in attendance were: Gary Gustafson and Wife (Colorado)–Gary Marks and Wife (Iowa)–Susan Southard (Montana)–Marlene Lockwood (Michigan)–Janet Gunderson and Hubby (Alabama)–Rick Craig and Wife (Nevada)–Chuck Kugler and Wife (Virginia)–Betty Peterson and Hubby (Nebraska)–Judy Peterson (Nebraska)–Jim McKinney and Wife (Nebraska)–Jerry Williams (Colorado). And of course Coach Montag.

Monday morning Peg and I went to Estes Park and enjoyed the afternoon and evening. Yeah we made our $100 stop at the fudge shop and had pizza at Bob And Tony’s. Tuesday we drove over Trail Ridge, through the mountains and stayed in Grand Junction. Wednesday we made it home. The end to a FABULOUS trip!!

Prayers are need for Jim McGowan, his wife and Gary Marks as they deal with health issues. Thanks.

As I pondered this particular subject, I started to realize how often we use the words catch and caught. I caught a fish. I caught a ball. I caught you___. You caught me__. The police caught me__. My spouse caught me__. My friend caught me__. I finally caught on. This isn’t easy to catch onto. I got caught up with. I can’t catch up with that car. I can’t catch up with the other runners. You can’t catch me. All of these probably have nothing to do with whether we live or die.

I caught a cold. I caught the flu. I caught the measles. I caught whooping cough. Those allergies finally caught up with me. Heart problems caught up with me. Cancer caught up with me. Old age will catch up with me. Arthritis will probably catch up with me. Bad knees and bad hips may catch up with me. Some of these will or could cause an early death and some will or could just make life miserable and you will recover. The one thing we do know is there will come a day when we will all die a physical death.

In my eyes, the “Deadliest Catch” is when Satin catches hold of you. Years ago Flip Wilson came out with a saying that lives on today–“The Devil Made Me Do It”!! It’s an excuse that is used over and over when we do something that is sinful. Well, the devil made me do it. NO HE DIDN’T!! God gave us the ability to make choices. We choose whether we want to sin or not. The Devil does not make us do anything. Here I’m referring to the Deadliest Catch as being, Satin, the one who catches us and causes a Spiritual Death. A Spiritual death that will cause us to lose our home with God.

As I was writing this, I came to realize that upon doing something good, I have never heard, “God made me do it”!! Why is that? Is it because we don’t do good? Is because we can’t give God credit? We certainly blame the bad on Satin. The fact is, just as the devil can’t make us do anything, God doesn’t make us do anything either. It is all our choice.

So, let’s not get caught by the devil–let’s get caught up with God!!

I want to take this opportunity to thank God for some of what He has done. Many times I think we take God for granted and forget to thank Him.

Thank You, God, for the Son You sent to live on this earth, to die on this earth, to be buried on this earth and to be resurrected. All this was done so that all could have a chance of salvation and forgiveness of sins simply by obeying Your commands.

Thank You, God, for establishing Your Church on the Day of Pentecost. 3000 souls were baptized that day and the Good News spread across the land, thank You!! We know from Your teaching in Ephesians that there is only one Church, only one God, only one Baptism, and only one Father of all. Thank You.

Thank You, God, that we have the opportunity to approach Your throne to talk with You and give honor, glory and praise to Your name. Thank you, God that through this communication (Prayer)  we can make requests for You to help us with our Spirituality and our Christian Walk with You.

Thank You, God, that by raising our voices to You, without help of instruments as is the example of your Church, we can praise You through hymns and spiritual songs.

Thank You , God, that we can gather together and commune with You each first day of the week as was established with Your Church. To remember Your Son and what He went through for us.

Thank You, God, for all those that have taken it upon themselves to become educated in Your Word so that they may teach those that don’t know the way. Thank You for the gifts You have given them and their ability to use those gifts.

Thank You, God, for all the blessings we have in this life. Both worldly possessions and Spiritual knowledge and wisdom. Thank You for our families, homes, jobs, and health. Thank You for watching over us and caring for us.

We truly are a wealthy society with all the worldly and Spiritual blessings that You have bestowed upon us. Thank You, God!!

As I told you all last week, my Dad was a stickler for getting the work done. However he was also always in for a good joke or some awesome horseplay. The one thing that he would not stand for was fiction (Telling non truths). No matter how hard one tried to get away with something, Dad would always find the truth. There was this one time my sister had gotten home later than she was supposed to and she told Dad that she had had a flat tire and was sticking by her story. Until—-Dad said, “Lets get in the pickup and you can show me where it happened.” That was the end telling fiction that night!! Turns out she had gotten into a pillow fight and lost track of time. Sure would have been easier to tell the truth to start with. Then there was this time when I was shooting my 22 rifle at the rain gauge on a fence post and as bad of a shot as I was, I hit the gauge!! Dad started questioning me about the shooting of the gauge. I think it went by for 2 or three days and I was sticking to my story that I did not do the shooting. Until—–Dad said, “I’m taking the bullet and have a ballistics test done on it.” That was the end of that fiction!!! Turns out I was the one doing the shooting. Sure would have been easier to tell the truth to start with.

The truth of the matter, I WAS rained out!! It was a Saturday, I was about 18 years of age and I wanted to quit early Saturday afternoon and Dad had said NO!! Remember he always wanted the work done before play time. He was sending me to a field to work that was 30 miles from home and about a 40 minute drive. Needless to say I was not a happy camper when I left home that morning to go to work. I got to the field and started tilling the ground, must have been about 8 AM. I started right then talking to God about making it rain and there was not a cloud in the sky. Noon came, ate lunch, fueled the tractor and greased the machinery–still no clouds!! Well, about 2 PM the sky opened up and just flat drenched me. YAY!! I could go home early. I got about a half a mile from the field, and I’m telling you, everything was dry as a bone. When I got home, here was Dad. “What are  doing home?” he said. I told him I had been rained out. He looked at the sky and not one cloud, “hadn’t been any all day,” he said. Yep, you guessed it. He said, “get in the pickup and we’re going to go see.” Not a cloud in the sky and no rain had fallen–until about a half mile from the field and the road was complete mud. Dad said, “Well I’ll be…” and turned around and went home. By now it’s about 5 PM, so much for getting to quit early.

God is a lot like my Dad. He has a sense of humor and will let us get by with many things. However He won’t tolerate fiction from us. You can’t tell Him you didn’t do it—He knows everything. Just like Dad!! God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Just like my Dad was.  Couldn’t fool Dad and can’t fool God. Guess it will be Fact NOT Fiction.

It must have been around 1960 because we were still living on the farm. I was 10 or 11 years of age. My Dad was strict on getting work done. We always got up at 6 AM and usually quit around 6 PM. He had a plan and knew about how much could be done in a day. When the work was done, we could have some fun or do what we wanted. This story is about what happened one Saturday. Dad was working another field away from home and he had left me in charge of taking care of irrigating the alfalfa field. It was a fairly large field and was flat. We irrigated out of ditches, which is called flood irrigation. The water would come from the underground pump and flow through the ditch to the field. We would set canvasses in the ditch to stop the water and irrigate the field. When that part of the field had enough water, we would set another canvass further down the ditch and pull the one that we had been using.

Saturday afternoon there was a bus leaving from our small town to a larger town with a swimming pool. Dad had told me I could go, but, the water had to be set before I left and had to be reset when I got home. Well, everything was going fine through the morning. About 1:00 now and time to set a canvass and go swimming. I pulled the canvass that I was using and sent the water to the canvass down the ditch that I had set. To set a canvass, you had to take a shovel and poke the edges in the ground and then pack dirt all around the edges so it would hold when the water hit it. I was just hoping the canvass would hold because sometimes they didn’t and would have to be reset while the water was running down the ditch. Yeah–you guessed it–it DID NOT hold. Remember I’m only about 10 years old and now I have to fight the moving water and try to reset the canvass and get done quick enough to go swimming. The harder I worked the worse it got. FINALLY I got it reset and all was good, except, it was now too late to go swimming–the bus had already left. Disappointment set in. Then as I thought about what had happened, I knew Dad would be proud of me because the work was getting done. We’ll go swimming another day!!

God is strict about getting His work done also. He has so much planned for each one of us before we can go home. 12 years ago I had a heart attack and if it weren’t for God and the Doctors, I would not be here today. My conclusion was that I still had more of God’s work to do before I could be called Home. Today I do some preaching, teach adult Bible class 1 quarter per year, take care of this web site and individual teaching and consulting as needed. At 68 years of age I do what I can so when God says I have done enough, He will say, “Well done good and faithful servant you have earned the crown of life”, and he will call me Home with Him. Are you doing your share? And, is God be happy with what you are doing?

God’s work first and then it’s time to play!!

When I was a sales manager, I taught different types of closing techniques. One of my favorites is Alternative of Choice. I want to relate a story to you to show what I mean.

Back in the 1970’s when I lived in Sidney, Ne., I had a friend that was a car salesman. Here’s what he did when a customer would walk in: He would greet them and visit with them enough to make them feel comfortable. Then he started asking Alternate of Choice questions. Do you want a full size, mid size or compact? Do you want a two door or a four door? Do you want a dark, medium or light color? Do you want vinyl or cloth interior? Do you want a V6 or a V8 engine? As you can see, the customer was making choices that were suggested by someone else. At no time was there a choice given to say they didn’t want the car. Once all the initial criteria was gathered, he would go get the keys to the car best suited to what the customer wanted. On the north side of Sidney, there was a butte that overlooked the city. He would hand the customer the keys to the car and have them drive to the top of the butte. There he would have them get out of the car and stand beside it. He then would take their picture overlooking the city with them standing by the new car. He would now have them drive back to the dealership and take them into his office. He would sit them down and put the picture on the desk between them and tell them how great they looked with their new car. (They were done at this point) Next he would put all the numbers together so they were pleased with the price. When it came to paying for the car, the first question was: Do you want to pay cash or do you want financing? If it was financing, Do you want 36, 48 or 60 months? Once again the choice being made was given by someone else and there was no place to say they didn’t want the car. That folks is the art of sales and using the Alternate of Choice technique to it’s fullest. Husband and wife are out shopping and she tries on two dresses, a blue one and a green one. Question to hubby–should I keep the blue one or the green one. (Alternate of Choice used again)

What about when it comes to God? Do we have choices we can make? Or is it all God’s way? YES we make choices–God created us so we can. Here’s what God wants: Repent and be baptized, believe and be baptized, obey my commands and I’ll prepare for you a place, love your brother, don’t forsake the assembly of saints, commune with Him every week, and list goes on. As you see God wants the best for us. Here’s some of what Satin wants: Murderers, adulterers, drunks, druggies, disobedience toward God, homosexuals, and the list goes on. We have a choice to make every day in life–do we do it God’s way or do we do it Satin’s way? This is the same as we talked about before–Alternate of Choice and no way to say we don’t want either one. The choice here is, are we going to choose Satin and spend eternity with him or do we choose God and spend eternity in Heaven with Him? It’s YOUR choice!! Make it a wise one.

We have all been told “Good Luck” many times. Going for an interview for a new job–“Good Luck”, looking for a new house–“Good Luck”, getting married–“Good Luck” and it goes on and on. But what does it REALLY mean to have “Good Luck?” It’s been said luck is what you make of it.

Luck by definition: A force that brings good fortune or adversity. Being lucky means: Fortuitous, Having good luck, Happening by chance. So–What is “Good Luck?”

Opportunity by definition: Suitable or convenient for a particular occurrence. A favorable juncture of circumstances; a good chance for advancement or progress. Now draw a horizontal line on a piece of paper.

Prepare by definition: To make ready; to procure as suitable or necessary; PROVIDE; To get ready, to arrange things in readiness. Preparation is the action or process of making something ready for use or service. Now draw a vertical line on the paper, intersecting the horizontal line.

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for. the conviction of things not seen. For this article I want to narrow this to faith in oneself. You have the horizontal and vertical lines intersecting, now draw a circle around the intersection, we’ll call that a dome and that dome is faith in yourself.

Where opportunity intersects with preparation, we’ll call that “Good Luck.” You see, if you are prepared, and an opportunity shows itself, “Good Luck” is created.  If you are not prepared, you can’t take advantage of an opportunity.

Now for “Luck is what you make of it”, let’s take that intersection of preparation and opportunity and put the dome over it, so now we have an all encompassing faith covering the opportunities we can take advantage of. The conclusion is, “Luck” had nothing to do with what happens to you, you have full control. Are you prepared and do you have the faith to take advantage of the opportunities of life?

I want to take a look at some examples God gives us to help make more sense of this. Jeremiah was summoned by God at an early age to give a speech later on in his life. He told God he was too young. God put the words, to be said, in Jeremiah’s mouth. God prepared him, so when the opportunity came to give the speech, Jeremiah had no problems. What really carried him was his overall faith in God. Preparation + Opportunity + Faith In Self = Success.

God went to Noah to build an ark. God gave Noah the exact plan of what He wanted Noah to do. Noah had an opportunity and God prepared him, then Noah’s faith covered the rest. Preparation + Opportunity + Faith In Self  = Success.

When Christ’s church was established on the day of Pentecost, Peter preached to the multitudes. God had prepared Peter on what to say and when the opportunity showed, Peter was able to succeed. The multitudes asked, “What shall we do?” Peter said, “Repent AND be Baptized’, and 3000 souls were saved that day. Preparation + Opportunity + Faith In Self = Success.

The whole point of this story is for you/me to always have Faith in ourselves and be prepared for what ever situation we find ourselves in and be able to take advantage of any opportunity. God will give us the Faith we need. God has given us His written Word to prepare us. Now we can take advantage of the opportunity, which is Heaven.

When someone says, “Good Luck” to you, you now know what it means!! Peter didn’t need it, Noah didn’t need it, Jeremiah didn’t need it and you certainly don’t need it.

This blog comes to you by my sister, Connie Willoughby. Connie is a 60 year Christian and attends the Waterview Church of Christ in Dallas, Texas. Enjoy the read.

Over the years on my walk with God I have studied the Ephesian letter many times. As I was preparing to lead my little neighborhood class in a study of Ephesians, a window of understanding opened to me that I want to share.

After Paul’s greeting, which is packed with important information, Paul praises God for the blessings received. He is referring to the spiritual blessings God has granted. These are blessings that effect the spirit or the soul of man. He defines three parts of this blessing: 1) We are chosen or called by God. 2) We are made acceptable to God through Christ. This is, of course, an act man cannot do on his own because he is a sinner. 3) The third part of the blessing is the removal of man’s sin. This is called redemption and is due to the sacrificial death of Christ and requires our acceptance.These three parts of the blessing given by God to man are the nuts and bolts of Christianity.

Ephesians 1:4-5 reads: For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ in accordance with His pleasure and will. These two verses are the open window of understanding I earlier referred to. They are among the most exciting verses I have studied.

We are all chosen or predestined as God’s adoptive children before God even created the world!!

I WAS CHOSEN (predestined) by God to be His adopted daughter before the world was formed—before the beginning of time!!

HOW EXCITING IS THAT??

In the past I have heard many Bible students stumble over the word, predestined, trying to figure out why one would be chosen over another.

In God’s reality, we are NOT chosen because one person is better than the other. It is NOT a matter of luck or reward. We are ALL chosen.

However, we learn in Romans 3:21 that mankind sins and Isaiah 59:2 tells us that man’s sinful nature separates him from God. If our fate ended here, we would all fall short. But, remember, before God created the world, He had a plan. That plan included offering man a way to be redeemed of his sin. God gave His Son as a sacrificial lamb that all might have the opportunity to live with Him as He had planned. Part of His plan was to give man free will. We have evidence of this part of His plan as early as God’s command to Eve in the garden of Eden (Genesis 2:16-17).

I rejoice that God has already chosen ME as His adopted daughter. All He requires of me is that I choose to believe, follow and obey His Son. When I’ve done that, I will receive the blessings promised me as His adopted daughter.

This is WIN-WIN!!!!!

Here’s the question, who do you want to be like? Who do you look up to? Why do you want to be like him/her? As I pondered this word and subject several ideas about role players/leaders came into my thought process. Maybe it is Mom or Dad that I want to be like or a brother or sister. Maybe it is a boss or co-worker. What about an athlete or coach? It could be a policeman/woman, fireman/woman, service man or woman. Could it be a teacher or preacher? Maybe an actor or possibly a good friend. We all have different interests and likes and the people we look up to, or want to be like, will vary greatly.

When I was in my mid teens, I had a preacher that I wanted to emulate and be like him. I watched what he did. I studied the methods he used. I started putting the ideas to work. I built sermons just like he did. I listened and observed how he taught his classes. His name was Al Tennant. As I got older in life, I used what I had learned from him. He became one of the most influential persons in my life. What I had learned from him in the way he taught became vital in my sales career. His way of teaching not only helped with relating to people but also in showing my product and why someone needed it. As I advanced in sales and became a sales manager the same teaching process that I had learned in my mid teens was still working into my 40’s-50’s and 60’s. He indeed was a valuable person to look up to, be like, and emulate. Thank you Al Tennant!!

I left one person for last on purpose. Jesus!! He was/is THE most looked up to person in my life. He is the one that I have tried to pattern my life after. Many times  I think Jesus gets put last in lives, when, indeed, He should be number one. In 1st Corinthians 11:1, Paul tells the church in Corinth to be imitators of him because, ” I am of Christ.” 3rd John verse 11 says to imitate good.

Back to the original question. Who do you imitate? The Bible teaches us to not be followers of men, but, to be followers of Jesus.