Wednesday, February 20, 2019
Monday, December 31, 2018
Sunday, December 9, 2018
The Best Advice About Christmas Stress Ever -- in the World!
In order to reduce my stress load this Christmas, I am reposting last year's Christmas Stress post instead of writing a new one.
Do you feel that Christmas is a disruption in your life? Are you overwhelmed by trying to provide the best Christmas possible? How do you feel when you read an article or hear a discussion on a talk show telling you that you shouldn’t try to create the “perfect” Christmas? And don’t forget all those movies about a burned out parent (usually Mom) who has a revelation and cries and berates herself for not seeing the meaning of Christmas. Do you feel guilty because you would have been satisfied with just “real nice”? Or are you shooting for perfect and feeling guilty not only for not making it but for even trying?
No matter where you turn, someone is saying something about the stress of Christmas. I stopped reading articles about how to avoid stress, since reading them and trying to put them into action just took up time and led to more stress.
Maybe we just ought to accept that fact that we are going to strive for “the best Christmas ever,” no matter what we read or see on television and hear in church.
But I have a thought.
Christmas disrupts our lives, just as it has disrupted the world. Mary and Joseph had their lives disrupted; so did the shepherds and wise men. When we decide to follow Jesus, our lives are going to be changed and change is disruption. It is a miraculous disruption.
But wouldn’t it be nice to find a little peace?
Maybe on the 26th or the Saturday after Christmas, we can enjoy the leftovers, watch the DVD’s we got, and really read the Christmas cards and newsletters. I’m going to keep the 26th in mind tonight as I wrap presents and worry about whether everyone will like them.
Sunday, October 28, 2018
A Time Management Tip From Miss Kitty
Miss Kitty Says
Halloween is less than a week away.
Now you can start postponing things until “after the holidays.”
You're welcome!
Sunday, September 30, 2018
It's coming harder.
This was posted on November 9, 2016.
This was added and posted November 9, 2017.
Due to some technical glitch, "It Don't Come Easy" may switch to a series of selections, most of which are from my playlist. If that happens, enjoy!
Everything's coming harder!
Due to some technical glitch, "It Don't Come Easy" may switch to a series of selections, most of which are from my playlist. If that happens, enjoy!
Everything's coming harder!
Tuesday, September 4, 2018
Yes, it is that time of the year! A preemptive rant!
It seems that the first sign of fall is not
the school supplies in the aisles of the supermarkets, “The Urge
for Going” playing wistfully on the independent radio stations, or
even the turning of the first leaves. And it's not the first pumpkin
spice cereal, yogurt, and limited edition Peeps. On September 2, I
went to the store to start my pumpkin spice shopping. (I put it on my
bucket list to try every pumpkin spice item I could find except for
cat supplies.) But I couldn't find any! The real first sign of fall
is people complaining, live, in print, and online, about pumpkin
spice. I don't know if they think it doesn't deserve all the
attention it gets or if they just want to be too sophisticated to get
involved. If you told them you liked Starbucks, they would say
everything there was overpriced and everyone there was a wannabe
hipster.
Last year, Frank Bruni, wrote in The New York
Times (“Will Pumpkin Spice
Destroy Us All?” October 17, 2017), “Lock the refrigerator, bolt
the cupboards and barricade the pantry. Pumpkin spice is here. . .
It happens insidiously: a zombie apocalypse, if the zombies wore
nutmeg cologne. And it really must stop.” He's probably waiting for October to produce the next rant.
There's nothing wrong with being bored with pumpkin spice or not liking Starbucks. But there is something mean spirited about trashing something you know makes other people happy. Life is hard enough and reminding yourself that you are better off than most of the world only makes you feel guilty.
JESUS ALERT! HERE COMES THE CHURCHLADY STUFF!
If the purpose of life is to glorify
God, how can Christians (or anybody) do that? One way is to truly
appreciate life. Or as I read in Facebook (those people probably
hate Facebook, too, except as a means to go after pumpkin spice or
Starbucks) “Love the crap out of whatever you love and don't let
anyone take it from you.” That's why I bought my Hello Kitty two
pocket file folder.
It's one thing to rain on someone's
Trick or Treat night about pumpkin spice or Hello Kitty. But the
real rainer-oners are those people who say God (any god; they just
aren't after Christians) and Heaven (or any life after death) don't
exist.
Why do they do it? Are they trying to
save believers from their gullibility? If a worn out target would
say, “OK, you're right. Now that my belief system and
my lifestyle are down the tubes, what can I do and what are you
going to do about it?” Maybe they can recommend one of those
trendy atheist churches.
But if they don't want to save us from
ourselves, why do they bother? Do they enjoy confusing people and
taking joy from their lives?
I think they are, as we used to say as
children, “Just jealous.” Since this is a Christian blog and
should set a good example, I won't add “Nah, nah, nah!”
How can we respond to the rainer-oners,
or to use a blunter word, haters?
I'm too tired to argue religion
anymore. As the old song says, “Haters gonna hate.” We can pray
for them. Frankly, I try to avoid them and limit myself to asking
God to straighten then out.
So love the crap out of your pumpkin
spice M & M's, hedgehog collection and The Hallmark Channel. Just don't forget God,
your neighbor and yourself.
Sunday, August 5, 2018
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