*Editor's note: inspired by Erin
Okay, we have all heard sayings that meant something to us. Those phrasings of words that seemed to consisely explain something or was able to bring an issue into clearer focus. There have been untold numbers of books written that contained famous sayings and quotes. What are some of your favorites? Have you made up any? Some that you tend to live by? Here are a few of mine:
The name fo this blog: TANGAT (There Ain't No Grey Area There). This is kind-of, sort-of borrowed. I started using it in reference to God's Word in that there is not alot of room for debate about certain subjects.
Personal motto: Doing the best I can with what I got (I know...I know, it's not grammatically correct).
For us morning people: Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise (I don't care about early birds who eat worms...I eat cereal for breakfast).
What are your thoughts...share with me.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Traditions
Traditions within a family are a great thing. They give us a way to celebrate something. They give us continuity and in some small way they say "this is the way it should be". When I was growing up, one of our traditions was the way we began a family members birthday. The family got up early when it was still dark, there were few lights on in the house and we would wake the celebrant by singing 'Happy Birthday' and giving the gifts first thing in the morning. What a great way to start your special day! It was always fun to try and be quiet so that we could "surprise" the birthday person. Rarely worked but it was great fun. I wish we had been able to do that with our girls but it just never seemed to work. At the time they just weren't morning people.
So...what are some traditions you had growing up or that you have in your home now?
What are your thoughts...share with me.
So...what are some traditions you had growing up or that you have in your home now?
What are your thoughts...share with me.
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Lists
Okay, it's my turn for a list.
Dana called yesterday and said she was at Target. She had found an entire collection of the television show M*A*S*H. It was cost prohibitive (at this time) to purchase the set. This was one of my favorite shows. When it came on, I was there. I liked the zany characters on the show all wrapped up in the military. One of my favorite characters was Col. Flagg ("the wind"). You'll have to see the show to see what I mean about him.
Anyway...what shows, if you have the money, would you purchase for your home video/DVD libary? Remember, money is not an issue. We're dreaming, so dream big. In no particular order, here's my partial list:
Dana called yesterday and said she was at Target. She had found an entire collection of the television show M*A*S*H. It was cost prohibitive (at this time) to purchase the set. This was one of my favorite shows. When it came on, I was there. I liked the zany characters on the show all wrapped up in the military. One of my favorite characters was Col. Flagg ("the wind"). You'll have to see the show to see what I mean about him.
Anyway...what shows, if you have the money, would you purchase for your home video/DVD libary? Remember, money is not an issue. We're dreaming, so dream big. In no particular order, here's my partial list:
- Star Trek - Classic
- Star Trek - Next Generation
- Star Trek - Deep Space Nine
- Star Trek - Voyager
- Star Trek - Enterprise (I haven't seen any of these!)
- Barney Miller
- Mad About You
- M*A*S*H (of course)
- Northern Exposure
- Night Court
- Frasier (Amy says this is the only television show that makes me constantly laugh out loud)
What are your thoughts..share with me.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
728B
I have many church songs that I hum and sing (to myself) all the time. I have sung so many of our songs so often that I know the words and do not need the songbook. I think this can be said of alot of people. But there are those songs that have become so familiar and speak to us in such a way that they become our favorites. And from among those favorites there is usually one or two that just rise above the rest. There is a God, or as we sometimes call it, 728B, is the one for me.
I like Paul Shero's take on this song. He thinks this song should be the 'national anthem' of the churches of Christ. He thinks it would be so cool, in order to determine whether someone was a member of the church, if we would ask, "728?", and the appropriate response would be, "B!".
I was first introduced to this song in college as a very young Christian. From the first time I heard it, it just spoke to me. The song, itself, is a relatively young song compared to the others that we sing. I know all the words and it sings of the affirmation of our faith, the simple basics of our faith. There is a God, He is alive, our lives are inseparately intertwined with His, we live and breathe and get our very life from Him. Without Him we would die and disappear. The song reminds us of the love that God has for us in that he has always taken care of his people...that He gave His Son. It brings to our rememebrance that God is in control no matter how much we think of ourselves and our accomplishments.
So, we sang that song this past Sunday morning just before the sermon. The congregation sang that song with confidence and assurance. It sounded awesome!! I hope God was pleased.
What are your thoughts...share with me.
I like Paul Shero's take on this song. He thinks this song should be the 'national anthem' of the churches of Christ. He thinks it would be so cool, in order to determine whether someone was a member of the church, if we would ask, "728?", and the appropriate response would be, "B!".
I was first introduced to this song in college as a very young Christian. From the first time I heard it, it just spoke to me. The song, itself, is a relatively young song compared to the others that we sing. I know all the words and it sings of the affirmation of our faith, the simple basics of our faith. There is a God, He is alive, our lives are inseparately intertwined with His, we live and breathe and get our very life from Him. Without Him we would die and disappear. The song reminds us of the love that God has for us in that he has always taken care of his people...that He gave His Son. It brings to our rememebrance that God is in control no matter how much we think of ourselves and our accomplishments.
So, we sang that song this past Sunday morning just before the sermon. The congregation sang that song with confidence and assurance. It sounded awesome!! I hope God was pleased.
What are your thoughts...share with me.
Monday, November 06, 2006
Bells
I was raised in a denomination, the Presbyterian Church. I have to confess that there are two things about that church that I miss: some of the special services (Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Good Friday, Easter) and bells. Yup...bells. One of the things that I love to hear at times are church bells. Sometimes they ring to call people to worship services. Other times they ring to mourn the passing of an individual. Some are designed to play a song, usually a church hymn, with the different tones of the bells. Other times they ring to celebrate good news throughout the country or region.
I love the sound of church bells, expecially in a small community. When I worked in Jourdanton my office was in the basement of the courthouse. Each day at noon, if I did not go home for lunch, and at 5:00 pm I would open my window to listen to the bells of St. Matthew's Catholic Church beal the time. For some reason this is very comforing to me.
At the presbyterian church, the bell hung from a small frame that passed for a bell tower directly over the church office. There was a rope that hung down through the roof, through the attic and then through the ceiling of the office. It was a privilege to ring that bell and there were several of us who made a mad dash to the office after Sunday School to get there first so as to ring the bell. It was, however, always done under the supervision of an adult. You had to pull the rope two or three times before the bell would chime and then we were only allowed to let it ring six times. So there was an art to get it started and then to finish without going over the alloted number of gongs. Why six and why that magic number I never knew.
Wlnston Churchill used the bells in British churches and community halls to notify the citizenry of a victory in battle during World War II. On one occassion, he did not allow the bells to ring and held them back for four days so that they could celebrate two battle victories at once and let the beals ring out extra long as they were great victories.
Bells have been used by other organizations to do alot of these same things. Fire stations, cemetaries, city halls, ships, diners... The bottom line is that bells are and have been used to bring our attention to some important event.
We sing a song..."Ring It Out". It speaks of sharing the message of Christ with others to both "the sinful and the sad" to "give them courage new". Bells, when they are in tune, are sharp and clear and there is no mistaking the sound. God's word cannot be anymore clear than it is in telling us about our relationship with Him. We must be willing to share and share alike with others the good news of salvation. There must not be any mistaking of the message. We must be true to our calling.
What are your thoughts...share with me.
I love the sound of church bells, expecially in a small community. When I worked in Jourdanton my office was in the basement of the courthouse. Each day at noon, if I did not go home for lunch, and at 5:00 pm I would open my window to listen to the bells of St. Matthew's Catholic Church beal the time. For some reason this is very comforing to me.
At the presbyterian church, the bell hung from a small frame that passed for a bell tower directly over the church office. There was a rope that hung down through the roof, through the attic and then through the ceiling of the office. It was a privilege to ring that bell and there were several of us who made a mad dash to the office after Sunday School to get there first so as to ring the bell. It was, however, always done under the supervision of an adult. You had to pull the rope two or three times before the bell would chime and then we were only allowed to let it ring six times. So there was an art to get it started and then to finish without going over the alloted number of gongs. Why six and why that magic number I never knew.
Wlnston Churchill used the bells in British churches and community halls to notify the citizenry of a victory in battle during World War II. On one occassion, he did not allow the bells to ring and held them back for four days so that they could celebrate two battle victories at once and let the beals ring out extra long as they were great victories.
Bells have been used by other organizations to do alot of these same things. Fire stations, cemetaries, city halls, ships, diners... The bottom line is that bells are and have been used to bring our attention to some important event.
We sing a song..."Ring It Out". It speaks of sharing the message of Christ with others to both "the sinful and the sad" to "give them courage new". Bells, when they are in tune, are sharp and clear and there is no mistaking the sound. God's word cannot be anymore clear than it is in telling us about our relationship with Him. We must be willing to share and share alike with others the good news of salvation. There must not be any mistaking of the message. We must be true to our calling.
What are your thoughts...share with me.
Friday, November 03, 2006
Empty Pews
There is an old saying. . . "Idle hands (or is it minds) are the devil's workshop".
The other day I came across a saying I had written in my Bible. It was from a talk that I heard several years ago and it is still so true - empty pews are the devil's opportunity. I could not help but think about how our lives are to be full in Christ. By the same token, shouldn't our buildings be full each and every time the doors are open. We come together three times a week at the building for study, devotional, workship, meals, fellowship... There are so many other times during the week that we have an opportunity to be together and we do not take advantage of them. For those of us who do get together we have an amazing blessing. Though we are not together physically all the time, we are together in thought and spirit. What a blessing is missed by those who come together only so often or just every now and then.
An empty pew is just that...empty. As trite as this may sound, that pew is just a chair but it was designed to hold Christians who come to worship. It was not designed to sit empty! It was made to be sat on, sat in, leaned on, layed on (sleeping kids), cryed in, laughed in, jumped on (carefully), climbed over, rocked back and forth with laughter, grabbed with the aniticipation of one soon to be baptized, held onto to as one pours out their hearts and souls in joy and sorrow... You get the idea. We must make it our goal to fill those pews each and every time the door is open with people who want to richly bathe in the word of God. If there are those of our number who do not want to fill those emplty spots, then we must "go out onto the highways and byways" to find others who are interested in doing so. Those pews should be so full that there is not room for others and we have to move the pews to newer and larger buildings to make room for other pews.
What are your thoughts...share with me.
The other day I came across a saying I had written in my Bible. It was from a talk that I heard several years ago and it is still so true - empty pews are the devil's opportunity. I could not help but think about how our lives are to be full in Christ. By the same token, shouldn't our buildings be full each and every time the doors are open. We come together three times a week at the building for study, devotional, workship, meals, fellowship... There are so many other times during the week that we have an opportunity to be together and we do not take advantage of them. For those of us who do get together we have an amazing blessing. Though we are not together physically all the time, we are together in thought and spirit. What a blessing is missed by those who come together only so often or just every now and then.
An empty pew is just that...empty. As trite as this may sound, that pew is just a chair but it was designed to hold Christians who come to worship. It was not designed to sit empty! It was made to be sat on, sat in, leaned on, layed on (sleeping kids), cryed in, laughed in, jumped on (carefully), climbed over, rocked back and forth with laughter, grabbed with the aniticipation of one soon to be baptized, held onto to as one pours out their hearts and souls in joy and sorrow... You get the idea. We must make it our goal to fill those pews each and every time the door is open with people who want to richly bathe in the word of God. If there are those of our number who do not want to fill those emplty spots, then we must "go out onto the highways and byways" to find others who are interested in doing so. Those pews should be so full that there is not room for others and we have to move the pews to newer and larger buildings to make room for other pews.
What are your thoughts...share with me.
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Autumn
Autumn...My favorite season.
After months of hot, sweaty, humid, dank, sizzling, broiling, fiery heat it is so nice for the change. Even if it lasts for only a few months and if we live in an area of the country that peole say "we have no seasons", it is still a pleasant change. The cool(er) mornings and those with a breeze are the best. It is so nice to see and feel the change. It also reminds me that God is in charge. I also think he made the seasons, literally, as a time of refreshing for man. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you (nope, I'm not channeling Gomer Pyle).
Football is in the air. I'm not a football fan , per se, but it signals the end of a period of the year that, temperature-wise, has become almost unbearable for me. Several years ago my body decided it no longer liked the extreme heat. Anything over about 90 degrees is no longer acceptable to me. I'm out there but I don'y have to like it.
It is also a time of anticipation. There are holidays just around the corner, especially Thanksgiving. For some reason I start thinking about Thanksgiving in late August (kind of makes the Christmas season seem tame). The anticipation of a special meal with family and/or friends, a meal that is more than just coming together to eat, a meal that is literally shared with a whole country. Though we all have our separate traditions, the idea of giving thanks is shared together. Though our nation has gotten away from being God-centered I see it as a time of rememberance and thankfulness to our Creator. While we (meaning me and mine) may not say alot about being thnakful on the day other than through prayer and sharing over the meal, our eharts speak volumes as we prepare the meal, the house and the atmosphere as we get ready to come together.
Thanksgiving and autumn. What a great combination! Or as Yakoff Smirnoff used to say, "What a country!" Thank you, God.
After months of hot, sweaty, humid, dank, sizzling, broiling, fiery heat it is so nice for the change. Even if it lasts for only a few months and if we live in an area of the country that peole say "we have no seasons", it is still a pleasant change. The cool(er) mornings and those with a breeze are the best. It is so nice to see and feel the change. It also reminds me that God is in charge. I also think he made the seasons, literally, as a time of refreshing for man. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you (nope, I'm not channeling Gomer Pyle).
Football is in the air. I'm not a football fan , per se, but it signals the end of a period of the year that, temperature-wise, has become almost unbearable for me. Several years ago my body decided it no longer liked the extreme heat. Anything over about 90 degrees is no longer acceptable to me. I'm out there but I don'y have to like it.
It is also a time of anticipation. There are holidays just around the corner, especially Thanksgiving. For some reason I start thinking about Thanksgiving in late August (kind of makes the Christmas season seem tame). The anticipation of a special meal with family and/or friends, a meal that is more than just coming together to eat, a meal that is literally shared with a whole country. Though we all have our separate traditions, the idea of giving thanks is shared together. Though our nation has gotten away from being God-centered I see it as a time of rememberance and thankfulness to our Creator. While we (meaning me and mine) may not say alot about being thnakful on the day other than through prayer and sharing over the meal, our eharts speak volumes as we prepare the meal, the house and the atmosphere as we get ready to come together.
Thanksgiving and autumn. What a great combination! Or as Yakoff Smirnoff used to say, "What a country!" Thank you, God.
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Routines
*Editors Note - Inspired by Jenn
I love routines. They give order to my life and allow me to "think" I am accomplishing something. They do help me to get things done in an orderly fashion. But...sometimes they seem so...so...routine!
I find myself changing in life. While my daily routine (what I do in the morning, what I do when I get home, what I do before I go to bed, etc) can be comforting, I find myself wishing for something different. I have begun to examine my life and, having thought alot about retirement lately, I am wondering if this "is all there is". I have plans for retirement (church volunteerism, travel, relaxation, reading, learning to play piano, learning to play guitar, writing, spending time with you-know-who - :). But there are things I have not done and up until now, quite frankly, have not been really interested in: going to the ballet (WHAAA!!!), going to some of the movies with Amy that she wants to see (FLINCH!!), learning to fish again (gotta get over that sea sickness), becoming more involved in local politics (maybe this is a mistake), and a few other things that do not come to mind at this time. Maybe I'm just learning to be more mellow. For sure i'm rambling.
What are your thoughts? Share with me.
I love routines. They give order to my life and allow me to "think" I am accomplishing something. They do help me to get things done in an orderly fashion. But...sometimes they seem so...so...routine!
I find myself changing in life. While my daily routine (what I do in the morning, what I do when I get home, what I do before I go to bed, etc) can be comforting, I find myself wishing for something different. I have begun to examine my life and, having thought alot about retirement lately, I am wondering if this "is all there is". I have plans for retirement (church volunteerism, travel, relaxation, reading, learning to play piano, learning to play guitar, writing, spending time with you-know-who - :). But there are things I have not done and up until now, quite frankly, have not been really interested in: going to the ballet (WHAAA!!!), going to some of the movies with Amy that she wants to see (FLINCH!!), learning to fish again (gotta get over that sea sickness), becoming more involved in local politics (maybe this is a mistake), and a few other things that do not come to mind at this time. Maybe I'm just learning to be more mellow. For sure i'm rambling.
What are your thoughts? Share with me.
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