The true nature of a second chance

Some journeys are harder than others.  One of the hardest is when you have to go back to revisit the place where you failed.  Failing at something effects us in so many ways.  Sometimes it’s depression, sometimes it’s physical.  The thoughts and feelings that you go through when you fail at something that is important to you can be devastating.

Peter was back in his boat, fishing.  The last few days had been awful and he certainly felt the ill effects of failure.  To make matters worse, the fish weren’t there, so he felt like a failed fisherman as well.  He was with John and each time they tossed their massive net, they pulled it back in to find nothing inside them.  To Peter, it must have felt like the whole world was punishing him for failing at such an important thing a few days prior.

Then they both heard a voice from the shore, calling out to them.  “Catching any fish?”  I’m sure that Peter and John both thought that it was just a casual villager, trying to be polite.  The same way fisherman today ask the very same question.  “Are the fish biting?  Did you catch anything?”

But today, the only answer they could give was the one they shouted back at the shore, “No!”

Like many people, the person on the shore offered advice.  “Try the other side of the boat!”.  I’ve done the same thing, by telling someone to try the other side of the lake.  I can almost imagine Peter sighing and thinking to himself, “well why not, nothing else is working”.  I’m sure he thought that once again, he would be met with an empty net.  Despite those feelings however, Peter and John tossed their net on the other side of the boat.  They waited, as usual, before they could pull it in.  But something quite odd happened.  Immediately, the line to the net grew taught.  With what I’m sure was surprise, they pulled in their net and it was full!

Now, at this point, I have to try and understand what Peter was feeling.  For days now, he had been feeling like a failure.  Suddenly, good fortune had struck and I’m sure he was standing their with his mouth hanging open in shock.  I’m certain that Peter, the one who always spoke quickly, was stuck dumb.  But John on the other hand…..

No, John was feeling something a little different.  Oh, I’m sure he was amazed, but John knew that this was no ordinary run of good fortune.  Not when they had been fishing all morning with nothing to show for their efforts.  John looked back to the shore, and it hit him.  “Peter!  It’s the Lord!”

At this point, Peter whipped his head back to the person on the shore and saw the same thing John did.  It was Jesus on the shore!

Despite what he had done, despite what he was feeling, Peter did the only thing he knew to do.  He jumped out of the boat and swam as fast as he could to the shore… to Jesus.  Finally reaching the shore, he hauls himself out, wet, dripping and chilled, and sees Jesus.  Instead of speaking immediately, and making excuses, he saw what Jesus was doing.  Jesus had prepared a bed of coals to cook fish on.

Just days ago, Peter had betrayed his friend, his best friend, and the man who he said was the true Son of God.  Betrayed him!  There he stood, not knowing what to say, or even what to do.  I’m sure that he was expecting something along the lines of “I told you so”, but whatever he was expecting, was not what he got.  For once, Peter is silent.  What words could he say to his Master?  This moment sends shivers up and down my spine.  It is so Holy, that words can not explain it.  Peter, facing the one he had betrayed, watched as the Savior is offering him breakfast.  Once more, Peter is finding Grace in the presence of Jesus.

Now, think about your own failure.  Are you to scared to admit it?  To scared to talk to God, like Peter?  You shouldn’t be.  Just like Jesus offered no condemnation to the woman who was about to be stoned, he offered none to Peter, who had betrayed him.  How can you expect less from him yourself?  Jesus knows us, knows us better than we know ourselves.  He knows that there will be times when we fail.  But he won’t hold it against us, no, instead, he will do what he did for Peter.

You might think about doing the same thing Peter did.  Just stand in his presence, and be silent.  Stand still and wait.  After all, sometimes that is all a soul can do.  To repentant to speak, too hopeful to leave.

You stand there, and you will be amazed.

He has come back.  With love.

Keep trying, keep going, leave your failures in the past, and move forward and try again.  This time, with Him.  That’s the true nature of a second chance.

~ Kev

Supreme Jealousy

One day, God stood upon the earth that he had created.  It was the day.  It was the next part of his plan in creation.  The last and greatest part, which he had saved for last.  It was the sixth day.

I can imagine Him standing on the earth that he had brought forth from the void.  I can imagine Him looking around, smiling at everything He had created.  Surely this day, of all days, He was in the best mood ever.  For this was THE day.  It is easy for me to imagine that it was a perfectly beautiful day.  A blue sky, everything green, animals calling out, waves crashing on the beaches.  He stood in a special place, a place He had created for His last act of creation.  It was a garden.

Then, God leaned down, took earth in his hand and began to make a form.  If we could see back in time, that form would have seemed familiar, as it would have looked like the figure of a man.  With the type of love only God can completely comprehend, He formed His clay man.  I can imagine Him using His will and fingers to shape the finest details, from hair to fingernails to eyelashes.  It was a labor of love, and we know He worked on it for a large part, if not the whole part, of the day.

Then, He was satisfied.  The form was shaped just so.  Perfect.  But not yet finished.  I can imagine that curious angels, servants of God, gathered around.  They knew what He was doing.  They had heard His Voice echo out across the universe.

“Let us make man in our image”

Curious angels?  Is that so hard to believe?  Not to me.  For what God was making was human, totally different from them and without doubt, His greatest creation of all.  I can see them in my minds eye, standing off, giving God room, whispering among themselves.

“Just look at the face, it’s…. it’s beautiful!”

“And the hair!  Will it be soft when He is done?”

“Look at the detail!”

“Didn’t He say He was going to make man is His image though?  Something seems to be missing.”

I’m sure God heard every whisper and probably smiled at each one, especially the last.  But He wasn’t finished quite yet.  The finishing touch still had to be applied.

Then God reached out, and he gave.

I’m sure the angels watching gasped in astonishment.  I’m sure some of them exclaimed in surprise.

“He made it eternal!  It truly is like God!”

Once God put life into the first human man, I’m sure the angels tried to crowd around, to touch, to get a better look, and I can almost hear God saying, “no, no, give him some room.  Soon he will awaken, and then you can look”.

God had done it.  His final creation of six days of labor, He had created man, in His image, with free will and a soul.  An object of flesh, mortal flesh, with an eternal soul.  With free will.  A will to choose to love God or not.  I’m certain it was the talk of the angels around the water cooler for weeks.

But one wasn’t so amazed.  One was jealous.  How could God have done this?  How could He have created a creature with free will and a soul?  Something even he didn’t have.  No, the one known as Lucifer, the fallen one, the angel who defied God’s ultimate supremacy, had a case of supreme jealousy.

Already he was set against God, wanting to be more than he was.  In one single day, God had created a creature that would forever, no matter what, be greater than him.  He was angry, jealous, confused.  But one thing Lucifer wasn’t, was stupid.  So he hatched a plan.  He would bide his time.

Shortly after, God created a companion for the first man, Adam, and her name was Eve.  The first woman.  No doubt she was as beautiful as Adam was.

And Lucifer bided his time.  When he saw his opportunity, he took it, and started a conflict that has existed through the ages.  He talked Eve into eating the forbidden fruit, then Adam did the same.  Lucifer had gotten God’s creation to defy him.  Lucifer’s punishment was to be cast out, and no doubt he hoped the same would happen to them.  Or better yet, God would destroy them.

But Lucifer doesn’t, and can’t, understand God’s love.  Although he cast them from the garden, and gave them hardships to deal with, His love never waivered.  No, man was His greatest creation and nothing Lucifer could, or would, ever do would alter that fact.

We know that the conflict between man and the father of lies has already been won.  It’s a war that God fought for us.  The ultimate victory came when Jesus died on the cross for all mankind.

But it’s wonderful to go back, and revisit the very first conflict, and know that the victory started then and there.

~ Kev

Bitterness

Bitterness is, unfortunately, a part of everyone’s life.  Perhaps your bitterness stems from the loss of a parent, or a horrible and unexpected divorce.  Perhaps, worse yet, yours stems from the loss of a child. An unexpected layoff with no hope for employment in sight.  A lingering and debilitating illness.  An incurable disease.  Bitterness comes in many forms.

Bitterness is like a dark and very cold room.  Once inside, with the door closed, it’s impossible to see the way out.  You could search for it, and eventually find it, but there are other things that lurk in the dark, cold room that scare you.  If you were able to provide light, there you will see others who suffer from bitterness.  Each one has been chained to the wall.  Chained because they too couldn’t find the way out.  Eventually, the same will happen to you.  Your own bitterness from loss and deception and hurts will chain you as surely as the others you would see in that dark, cold room.  The chains are heavy, and being metal, they crown you with the cold of the room.  Stealing you warmth faster as more and more chains bind you.

Once there, with the others, you will find yourself crying out in despair.  You will grumble, complain, wail.  All against eh unfairness that is life.  Soon, like the others, you will think the whole world is out to get you.  Bitterness breeds and spreads like a virus.

But there is an option.  You could choose.  You could choose to put away your hurts before you get chained.  You could go to a party.  There is a place there for you.  In fact, your name is beside a plate, a place reserved just for you.  If you are a child of God, no one can take your place, no one can take away your sonship, your birthright.

The father said this to the oldest son.  “Son,  you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.”

And that is exactly what your heavenly Father says to you.  How does God deal with your bitter heart?  By reminding you of the things you have and how much more important they are than the things you don’t have.

The most important thing you have is your relationship with God.  No one can take that away from you.  No one can even touch it.  No one can take your place at the table at the party.  You name is there, the place is reserved, just for you.  How can this be?  Because you are His child, and His love is perfect.

What exactly did they expect? It’s the Pope!

It would seem that the Pope has caused a bit of a stir with his recent stance on condoms and AIDS.  Organizations and people all over the world went into a whirlwind of denouncement after the Pope said that the use of condoms was not the answer in fighting AIDS.

AIDS is a terrible disease.  Being in my early 40’s, I remember a time before AIDS and I also remember the countless deaths when the disease reared it’s ugly head.  I have many memories of the numerous news reports of deaths, of quilts, of scientists working hard to discover everything they could to fight it.  I remember the talks of how it came to be, of the conspiracy theories and the stories of the side affects of AZT.  I was there at the beginning and unfortunately, there seems to be no end in sight.  I’ve known a few people who have died from AIDS and I have watched famous people sicken and die, first from HIV, then full blown AIDS.  Although medicine has extended the life of people who contract HIV, there is still a long way to go before a cure can be found.  If it can be found.

There has always been two stances on preventing HIV.  Abstinence and the use of condoms.  That has been around for a long time.  So it is with great confusion that I sit here and read about the various organizations and people who are slamming the Pope about his stance and his remarks.

Has everyone forgotten who the Pope is?  He is the leader of the Catholic Church.  A Christian Religion that preaches abstinence until marriage.  I know, you are going to say the Catholic Church preaches against the use of condoms period, but I’m not writing to discuss the Catholic Church’s stance on birth control, only about the current news events.

The Bible, whether it is the Christian (Protestant) version, or the Catholic version, speaks very plainly about abstaining from sex before marriage.  The reasons are clearly given, even if disease is not specifically mentioned.  I won’t even bother going into them now.  Most everyone should be somewhat familiar with at least some of what the Bible says about sex before marriage.  To sum it up, the Bible says that sex before marriage is sexual immorality.

Now you have to understand that the Pope has integrity.  That his stance about the use of condoms not being the answer to AIDS should not be a surprise to anyone.

What is integrity?  Let me give you the definition.

in·teg·ri·ty

Pronunciation:

\in-ˈte-grə-tē\

Function:

noun

Etymology:

Middle English integrite, from Middle French & Latin; Middle French integrité, from Latin integritat-, integritas, from integr-, integer entire

Date:

14th century

1 : firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values : incorruptibility 2 : an unimpaired condition : soundness 3 : the quality or state of being complete or undivided : completeness

The definition is linked from the on-line version of Merriam-Webster dictionary.

So, as you can see, the Pope stands by his integrity in the belief of what the Bible says.  How can anyone say that if you abstain from pre-marital sex, that HIV, and therefore AIDS, would not be the great problem that it is today?

I know that there are people in third world countries, or some not quite so third world, who don’t follow the Bible.  But isn’t that the job of Christians to correct?  I can tell you that the Pope and thousands of Pastors from all walks of life would say YES!  However, because of the difficulties in spreading The Word, there are still places that do abominable things.  Take places in Africa, where gangs of men rape lesbians to “cure” them of their problem.  Or other places in Africa, such as Congo, where bands of men kill families and rape women, leaving them for dead.  I also know there are plenty of people who will ignore what the Bible says, just because they want to have sex with anyone they can manage it with.  I guess, in those cases, trying to pass out condoms to prevent HIV is understandable, except for the just plain evil people who rape women.  I doubt you will get them to use a condom for their rapes.

So don’t be deceived.  The Pope isn’t spouting nonsense of any type.  He isn’t being “old fashioned” or ridiculous.  He is simply sticking with what the Bible says about the problems of promiscuous sex.  Don’t slam him for it, applaud him for it.  Think about it.  If suddenly, as impossible as it is to imagine, the world stopped having indiscriminate sex, what would happen to HIV and AIDS?  It would die.

~ Kev

Kicked out of Church and…. Words of Wisdom

I received a call from a friend last this afternoon.  It was someone who I have not talked to in a while.  While we were catching up, he told me about a situation at a church he had been attending that disturbed me.  No doubt, I don’t have the full story, but if it stands as he told me, then I really should be a lot more disturbed than what I am.

It seems that a member of the church he was attending for a while got kicked out the church and told she was no longer even allowed to set foot on the property.  According to the story, the reason for being kicked out was asking a question of the Pastor concerning a friend of hers who had an issue with one of the elders.

Now, you might be thinking that first of all, this woman shouldn’t have been involved in the first place.  However, considering the rest of the story, I can understand why this woman got involved.  The woman who was kicked out was trying to ensure that a friend of hers, also a member, was being taken care of.  Apparently this other woman had an issue with an Elder, and the Pastor said it would be taken care of.  From what I understand, the situation was quite bad and there was talk of the man being told he could no longer serve as an elder.  Then, he was promoted to head elder and the woman was told that he was receiving counseling for a problem.  The whole story seems odd I know, but the fact that a person was kicked out of the congregation is disturbing on a level I care not to expand on.

I know that under certain circumstances, it might be necessary to ask a person never to come back.  I’m not naive after all, but we are supposed to be Christians, following Christ, who preached loved and forgiveness.  To my mind, the situation would have to be very extreme in order to justify “kicking someone out of your church”.

It always amazes me that sometimes Christians tend to get themselves in trouble with words and actions with other Christians.  Despite the fact we are supposed to be loving and able to forgive, we often display actions that aren’t anything but.  I think, no, I believe, that this stems from a spirit of avoidance.  When faced with controversy and uncomfortable situations, we avoid it instead of having open and honest communication.  Instead of avoiding the problem, we need to take special care in facing problems head on.  If you don’t, it tends to cause resentment and hurt feelings.  A church is a place of learning and healing and there is no room for these things.

If you have a problem with someone, be open and honest and get it taken care of.  Likewise, if someone has a problem with you, let them speak their mind and have a open discussion with them.  Keep and open mind and try to set things right.  If nothing else, sometimes people will get upset and only need to vent their frustration, and once done, can move on.  Just because we are Christians does not mean we can’t be frustrated, annoyed or even angry with each other.  It can even mean that we make sure to keep a distance from certain Christians if there comes a point where you just can’t see eye to eye.  But to turn your back on them?  That is just plain wrong.

On a separate note, yesterday I was doing a lot of driving and was able to catch some radio preaching.  I always enjoy listening to sermons on the radio when time permits.  But yesterday, a preacher said something that took me by surprise.  So I decided to offer my words of wisdom on the matter.

According to this preacher, if you find that you don’t have enough time in the day to get everything you need to get done, done, then you are doing something wrong and need to have a talk with God so that he can straighten you out.

That’s the gist of it.  His sermon was about time, and not about the above in particular, but this is one of things that was said during the course of the sermon.  I just can’t find it in myself to agree.  We all have different lives and our time varies from person to person.  Take me for example.  There are days that I don’t have enough time to get everything done.  Yesterday, I worked for 14 hours.  When I got home, I have to put in some more time to get some paperwork completed.  There was more things on the agenda, but at this point, I was the walking dead and needed sleep.  I am a very busy person, especially with the type of job I have.  There are times when things come up at one customer’s that will delay me and I find I can’t get everything done that day.  But I also know that with my job, because I see so many people day in and day out, I can be a blessing to them in some way.  This doesn’t mean I have to talk about God.  It may mean that I simply get something done for them that makes their life easier.

So, I think you need to be careful when you make statements like this preacher did.  To me, it borders on a spirit of judgment.  We can’t know every situation in someone’s life so we need to make sure that the things we say are encouraging.  Just something to think about.

~ Kev

Jesus loves me, this I know.

Sometimes, an e-mail is definitely worth reading.  This was one I received and man, it was right on time!  I hope  you enjoy!

While watching a little TV on Sunday instead of going to church, I watched a church in Atlanta honoring one of its senior pastors who had been retired many years. He was 92 at that time and I wondered why the church even bothered to ask the old gentleman to preach at that age.

After a warm welcome, introduction of this speaker, and as the applause quieted down, he rose from his high back chair and walked slowly, with great effort and a sliding gate to the podium. Without a note or written paper of any kind he placed both hands on the pulpit to steady himself and then quietly and slowly he began to speak….

"When I was asked to come here today and talk to you, your pastor asked me to tell you what was the greatest lesson ever learned in my 50-odd years of preaching. I thought about it for a few days and boiled it down to just one thing that made the most difference in my life and sustained me through all my trials. The one thing that I could always rely on when tears and heartbreak and pain and fear and sorrow paralyzed me… the only thing that would comfort was this verse………

"Jesus loves me this I know.
For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong,
we are weak but He is strong…..

Yes, Jesus loves me…
The Bible tells me so."

When he finished, the church was quiet. You actually could hear his foot  steps as he shuffled back to his chair. I don’t believe I will ever forget it.

A pastor once stated, "I always noticed that it was the adults who chose the children’s hymn ‘Jesus Loves Me’ (for the children of course) during a hymn sing, and it was the adults who sang the loudest because I could see they knew it the best."

"Senior version of Jesus Loves Me"
Here is a new version just for us who have white hair or no hair at all. For us over middle age (or even those almost there) and all you others check out this newest version of Jesus Loves Me.

JESUS LOVES ME
Jesus loves me, this I know,
Though my hair is white as snow
Though my sight is growing dim,

Still He bids me trust in Him.

(CHORUS)
YES, JESUS LOVES ME.. YES, JESUS LOVES ME..
YES, JESUS LOVES ME, FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO.

Though my steps are oh, so slow,
With my hand in His I’ll go
On through life, let come what may,
He’ll be there to lead the way.
(CHORUS)

When the nights are dark and long,
In my heart He puts a song..
Telling me in words so clear,
"Have no fear, for I am near."
(CHORUS)

When my work on earth is done,
And life’s victories have been won.
He will take me home above,
Then I’ll understand His love
(CHORUS)

I love Jesus, does He know?
Have I ever told Him so?
Jesus loves to hear me say,
That I love Him every day.
(CHORUS)

The Curse

Have you ever been cursed? Maybe you don’t know. Maybe you do. If you are a Christian, chances are you have been, or will be, cursed.

I don’t mean when someone screams their favorite 4 letter word at you. I’m talking about a CURSE. Do you even know what a curse is?

Let me give you an example.

Mark 11:13-14

Seeing at a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.

He said to it, May no one ever eat fruit from you again! And his disciples were listening.

This is an example of a curse. Jesus was hungry, and found a fig tree that had no fruit. He then cursed it. Later, when they passed that way again, the disciples noticed the tree and saw that it had withered.

This is an example of a BIBLICAL curse. There are others in the Bible. In the New American Standard Bible, the word curse or cursed appears 172 times. There are also NON-Biblical curses.

We, as Christians, get wrapped up in everyday life, even when we take great pains to remain “separate” from the world.  We fail to realize exactly how much power we hold in our hands.  It’s easy enough to remember that power when we are praying for someone.  Prayer is a powerful thing.  It’s our words, in prayer, that sets deliverance in motion.  Whether we are praying for someone to be healed, or to be delivered, we know that God hears our voice.  The same can be said for the negative things we sometimes say about, or to, people.  As Christians, God hears our voices.  Just because you aren’t in “prayer mode” doesn’t mean He doesn’t hear you.  If you recognize the power you have with positive prayer, you must also recognize the power you have with negative words.

Regardless of the type, curses have power. When you curse something, as a Christian, your words have power. We know this because of what Jesus taught us. He said, what you bind on earth, will be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth, will be loosed in Heaven. (See Matt 16:19 and Matt 18:18).

For those who aren’t Christians, their curses become the tool of satan. This type of curse falls into the realm of witchcraft.  I  know, if you’re a modern person, you might be thinking “Come on Kev, witchcraft is so.. yesterday”.  Well, of course that is your thinking.  Why?  Because satan has ensured that the realm of science says witchcraft doesn’t, and can’t exist.  Well, remember that they say the same thing about prayer.

As Christians, we can certainly expect to be cursed. Why? If we are working FOR God’s kingdom, the enemy will attack. But, as Christians, we must LEAN to choose our words most carefully. When we lose our temper, and we say, I hope so and so, has such and such happen to them well, be careful what you wish for. We must learn to restrict our curses to the enemy and his labors and his laborers. As a Christian, you should never curse another person. Even if they aren’t saved, they are still a person, and therefore subject to Gods grace.

So what do you do if you are cursed, or have been cursed? Simple. You break it. Breaking it isnt the hard part, recognizing it is the problem.

It can be difficult to see that you have been cursed. Having a difficult time all of sudden? Been sick all of a sudden? You just might be the recipient of a curse. You must be walking in the spirit to have it revealed to you. Also, if you are walking in the spirit, you might also have it revealed to you that someone you know has been cursed.

If this happens, you most definitely tell them and then offer to pray for them and break the curse. If they reject what you say, well that is up to them.

Before I finish, I want to address walking in the spirit. I wont go into great detail, but for those who don’t know, I want you to understand something about it. Walking in the spirit is when you are praying to God, asking him for his wisdom and knowledge. If you do this often enough, you will begin to walk more and more in the spirit. This is a great thing! When you are walking in the spirit, you are less likely to get yourself into trouble, because you are actively allowing Christ to guide you.

So, to close, how to break a curse? You pray that it is broken. You stand up, in the name of Christ, and declare it broken. You BIND the curse here on earth, therefore it will be bound in Heaven. A cautionary note though. Don’t ask for vengeance on the one who gave or spoke the curse. Leave that up to God. Instead, ask God to reveal this person or persons rebellious nature to them so that they can repent and get matters right with Him.

You don’t have to live with a curse!

Out of the frying pan and into the fire

I had high hopes and dreams.  But, it’s time I faced the truth and get over myself.

I love to write.  I love to share my opinion.  I happen to think I’m clever, funny, and witty.  Problem is, I’m not half as clever, funny, and witty as I like to pretend.

I’m not really sure what I expected out of starting this whole blogging adventure.  But somewhere deep inside, I think there were visions of hordes of fans who wanted to read what I had to say.  Not only about my passion, Christ, but also about everyday matters and things I get into.  I imagined those hordes of fans leaving comment after comment, to show me I was touching people, or making them laugh, or getting them to tell me I was full of crap on some of my opinions.

But reality is often a harsh mistress, know what I mean?  Instead of hordes of fans, I have a handful.  It’s unfortunate, but even my family isn’t interested in keeping up.  Which is ok.

I’ve been blogging now since 2006.  I started out on Myspace and then went though about a year where I posted nothing.  All of my posts were related to Jesus and the Word.  I don’t know how many people have actually read my posts, but I’ve always felt like I was making a difference somewhere, somehow, in someone’s life.

So I threw myself out of the frying pan, and into the fire, and started blogging with intent.  As much as I hate to admit it, it was an experiment and it’s time for that experiment to come to a close.  As of this moment, I’ve had 668 views of my blogs here on WordPress.  Unfortunately, 95% of those have come from blog rolls like the site Condron.us.  3 % has come from people doing specific google or yahoo searches for items mentioned in the news and they are expanding their knowledge.  The other 2% have come from people who I know, or who have stumbled across my blog.  With stats like that, it’s time I face the music, and throw in the towel.  This is just not working out like I had hoped.

I will still be posting, but it will be with far less frequency.  Most everything I post will be related to Jesus, or the Word.  No more Twittering, no more blogs with me trying to be amusing.  I’ll still post things not related to Jesus and the Word, but it will mostly be for myself, not with expectations of anyone following along with avid interest.

If you really want some awesome information and insights into the Word of God, and Jesus, make sure you check out Pastor Nathan Boehm’s Blog, as well as his other blog Word Nuggets.  You will love both of them.

So, I will see you when I see you, and have something better to post.  For those of you have kept up, thank you and I hope you will continue to do so.

~ Kevin

Shopping Fun

Since times are hard, one of the ways we like to try and save money is by shopping at second hand stores.  It’s something we have liked to do for many years now, but now more than ever, it’s quite helpful.

While my lovely wife is doing her shopping, I run around the store like a typical man go on hunts for things she might find useful.  I’m very helpful like that.

Somehow or other, I end up pawing browsing though items that people have thrown away decided they didn’t want anymore.  What is amazing is the things you will actually find.  Some of the things I come across are wonderful finds, while others quite frankly leave me scratching my head.  It’s not that I think people have strange tastes.  One man’s tastes will differ from another’s.  What amazes me is that companies actually make some of the things they do.

Take these wonderful child plates for example.  What better way to force fast food on children to induce a child to eat their veggies than such at these plates!  Just imagine the joy a child will feel, eating his veggies to reveal his favorite fast food characters so that they can terrorize their parents into going back again and again!

Then, I came across evidence of either a very upset Nascar family, or one going through Rehab for addiction to cars driving in circles.

Now I know some people have some strange tastes.  I also know designers have strange tastes.  But this?  This is monstrous to say the least.  This is supposed to be.. some kind of lamp.  No seriously.

 

thiJust imagine the wonderful ambient lighting you can get from that.  Personally, I think it’s kind of creepy.

Now I know that sometimes, companies don’t pay attention to details like they should.  This one is pretty easy to accept, but I can’t help but poke at it.  I’m glad they were ready for the start of the new Millennium, a year early.

This next one, bought to you by the folks who are constantly asking “What’s in your wallet”, just plain confuses me.  What is this supposed to be?  What were they thinking?

Ah well.  To be honest, I’m really not interested in finding out.  Well, there ends the fun in second hand shopping for this trip.  Take care all!

~ Kevin

Just say please, please.

I’ve often said we live in a strange world.  I’ve also often said that times are hard.  I certainly understand that due to hard times and other life difficulties, we all tend to have a bad day now and then.  It’s unfortunate that sometimes, some moron person will find just the right button to push on us when having a bad day and push it over and over again with open glee and we get caught acting a bit out of character.

Hey, life happens right?

But a recent story from the National Post caught my eye.  It seems a moose jerky chewing gentleman has found the right button to push on some of our fellow American Border Guards.  As a result, he is a little angry because a Border Guard’s bad day turned into him getting pepper spray in the eyes.

Well boo da la boo for you Mr. Man.  I know that seems mean spirited a little cold, but sometimes people need to learn things the hard way.  Desiderio Fortunato, a Coquitlam, B.C., resident, demanded some courtesy when crossing the border.  After a U.S. Border Agent asked him to turn off his car for a search, Mr. Fortunato demanded that he say please.  He was asked again, which prompted the gleeful button pushing him to repeat his demand.  Apparently, our fellow American was not having a good day.  So, as a result, he pepper sprayed Mr. Fortunato, then held him for several hours for questioning.

I should feel some sympathy for this gentleman and you know?  Usually I would.  But apparently this is not the first time he has pulled this stunt.  He owns a place in the U.S. and frequently crosses the border.

Why people fail to realize that security, especially U.S. National Security, is tight right now is beyond me.  Sorry, but we’re all just a little tense from the events of 9/11.  Did I say tense?  Maybe I’m understating the issue.

Personally, I think this man is a jerk.  On one hand I can understand the desire for a little common courtesy, but this man probably never worked with the public.  If you have, you understand what I’m talking about.  As a species, we tend to whine and moan and complain about everything.  Especially when we want things to go exactly our way.  When things don’t go our way we tend to act like 2 year olds a tad odd.

But when you’re facing a group of workers, who have the monotonous job of checking people across the border, you need to be a little more forgiving.  If they seem to be a little short on courtesy?  Well, it’s probably from dealing with people like Mr. Fortunato, or Mrs. Smith, asking silly questions like “What do you mean I have to declare my truck load of Moose Beer.  Just because I have 30 Kegs in the back of my truck doesn’t meant it’s not for my person consumption right?”

So, in a nut shell, I hope Mr. Fortunato learned something the second go-round with our friendly but overworked Border Guards.

Now.  For the second part.  There is simply no reason that our border guards couldn’t be a little more courteous.  Courtesy gets  you a lot more results than just droning out orders.  Adding a simple please can go a long way.  So shame on you Mr. Guard.  But that is all I’m going to say about it, because after all, maybe they saw Mr. Fortunato coming and that is what put said guard in a bad mood.  But we do have a reputation, and I would like to see that reputation improve.

So, to close it all out, no one wins.  Mr. Fortunato is full of FAIL and our border guard should remember the manners his mamma taught him.  Ok, maybe one person won.  Mr. Smith, who is, even now, probably over charging for her 30 Kegs of Moose Beer on a corner in Seattle and having a grand old time.

Until next time, please and thank you,

~ Kevin

Source: "Say Please" at U.S. Border