The talk of the town

There is no doubt what the talk of the town is today. I could write that the talk of the town is the talk of the Country and even the world. The Coronavirus, or simply Covid19 is what folks are talking about everywhere. In December 2019 I know for me, I wasn’t thinking that in September 2021 we would be talking about this virus as I am writing and thinking about it today. Over 200 Countries in the world with over 76,023,488 individual cases as of December 2020. A lot transpired in one year, and now, 9 months later, we see the variant continues to impact the lives of thousands upon thousands alone here in the United States. It was January 21, 2020 that the first case was documented in Washington State. The person to person contact has been devastating on every imaginable front, and worse, every front unimaginable. Who would have thought automobile production would be halted because parts were unavailable? Food shortages as suppliers and distributors were unable to gather and ship food because of the spread of the virus. Who would have thought that students would go to school as their classrooms would become virtual as their schools would be locked down because of this pandemic? Did you imagine that tiller parts and lawn mover production would be halted or even the fact that Mason Jars would become an item stores would be unable to stock? The impact of Covid19 has touched every aspect of normal living to the point where today, the conversation of what is normal is challenging to describe or predict. What has become normal is that no one knows. The government has not been reliable with information. Our medical family practitioners, the doctors we have known our entire lives, or at least for many years, the doctors we refer to as family, they have been wondering, shaking their heads and at a loss as to what to advise, prescribe or how to explain this crisis that continues across our land. The talk of the town is our disbelief as to the impact on our families, the hospitalizations, and the most costly impact, the deaths of our loved ones, close friends, co-workers and those we know through life's travels. The talk of the town is now at a point where people are mad, confused, angry, stunned ad not sure what to do as we all should be looking for our role in this crisis that is not somewhere else, but that rather is right here at home, in our communities, in our churches, on our son or daughters sports team and in our schools. There is no facet of life not impacted today. My heart breaks for those whose lives have been lost, for those who have battled for their lives and for those standing around wishing to find someway to make things better. I personally have taken the vaccine, I took two shots. Having been someone who has faced serious life health issues, and as someone who has taken plenty of medications where I signed to release liability understanding the medical communities suggested treatment was all just a trial test. It was a guess with a hope that things would help me and I gladly signed up. Why you might ask, well thanks for asking, my answer is simply. I will choose quality of life over quantity of years every time. Everyone must make their own decisions, I get it, but your decision also has a huge impact on those you know and don’t know. I’m asking those I know to please do the right thing, if not for you, for those you know. I believe it really matters. Until then

No one wants to be dependent on anyone or anything. Independence is the goal. We love the idea of freedom. Being able to pick and choose, do what we like and want to do. The thoughts of being dependent on someone else makes us feel weak and we might even have the image of “us” waiting around, just twiddling our thumbs, waiting on “that” other person to show up, to let us in, or do what we can’t. If that’s you're thinking, there is no questions about those feelings. We’ve all been there a time or two in our lives and we might even be in such a situation right now. That is the feeling of helplessness and most of us immediately reject such type of thinking. Being strong is considered a positive image and I’m not disputing that is a positive image, because it is. However, strength can be demonstrated or measured in many ways. The word strength does’t seem to match with the word dependency. The word independence doesn’t seem to match well with the word dependency. The word freedom doesn’t seem to work well with the word dependence. However, I am suggesting that to recognize appropriate dependency is a great strength. Recognizing needs and solutions is a great strength. Recognizing surrender is a step to freedom, might seem to be totally out of step, but dependency and understanding work hand in hand when properly applied. In an attempt to be wise, I heard an individual say, “I make my own decisions.” I like the confidence and resolution of the statement, I even like the thought and attitude, but such a position that eliminates the clear need of help, assistance, direction, support and aid in life, will leave you stranded along life’s highway if you don’t take due notice. Dependency identifies a condition. I have been many things in life and I continue to remain dependent upon God. I am not writing this to be spiritually superior, I am sharing this because it is a truth that took the repeated experience of Him carrying me, to finally recognize. Being dependent Sid the best spot for me. I’ve branched out enough, I’ve done my own thing, and repeated that process over and over, thinking that I might discover a different result somehow. Sounds like insanity, because it is. I know I have no ability to control anything. I can share this because I’ve attempted to control many things. I have thought, I had things figured out, to just discover myself broken down along that same road of life you might be traveling today. I found strength in surrendering to God’s plan and purpose for my life. I found strength in acknowledging my survival depended totally on the shoulders of another. That other person is Jesus Christ in my life. I found strength in confessing my need for direction, wisdom and help. I have actually found more than I could have ever imaged through faith, because of God and His plan and because of Jesus and His obedience to God’s purpose for His life. The best decision I ever made in my life, was to begin my journey of faith and following God’s call on my life. I am confident you too will discover this same truth, but trusting God’s plan and purpose for your life. Until then

Two wishes

Of all the things one could wish upon another, here are two that I believe we can all use. Thankfulness and purpose. We will often overhear someone say “I wish you well”, “we have confidence, you can do this”, which are positive, but the same can be said for hearing the negative too. People wish a lot of thing on others and it is not always good. Hearing another say “I hope they get what is coming to them”, that is normally a negative expression, as if when this happens it will be an opportunity to get even or see justice performed. I never want to wish negative things on folks. To be honest, the positive can be challenging enough to handle so I’m staying away from any negative wishes on any friends or foes of mine. Thankfulness and purpose are attitudes that I believe are a benefit that also work hand in hand with each other. Being thankful one could describe as a needed discipline almost. It appears that there are many that have no sense of thankfulness for anything, anyone, any experience or any opportunity. The only way, I suppose one develops such an attitude, is because of the lack of exposure to gratefulness. I can easily create a list of things that I’m thankful for and that list always begins with a list of names for me. People who took time from their lives and their families and who gave themselves and their time to invest into my life is a gift. Their gift I want to be thankful because I recognize its impact on my life. Time is a beautiful thing, especially after we have granted time the opportunity to grow and we can clearly spot the impact of another’s investment into our lives. Purpose and thankfulness work well together because once we can count the contribution of an opportunity before us, we can clarify our interest in things, we can consider directions we could go and we can set goals that will help us fulfill our new found purpose or we can re-established that which we allowed to fall by the way side because of distractions. Purpose is that moment in our lives when the lights go off, purpose is that moment when things align together and we see the bigger picture for the first time. Wishing luck, sending out good vibes, and hoping the best for folks is positive and I’m confident that no-one in their right thinking would reject such an attitude suggestion of good wishes. Yet, thankfulness and purpose, when embraced, appreciated and understood have a lifetime of change and impact. There are many expressions that describe a hand in hand connection. We comfortably say without any explanation, peanut butter and bread, cheese and crackers. These things we understanding clearly, but thankfulness and purpose might need little more attention on our part. An action plan for being thankfulness and an action plan on living with purpose changes everything. The next time you get ready to wish anything on a friend, neighbor or a family member, I’m suggesting you wish thankfulness and purpose. They might be a little taken back by your expression, but tell them “preacher” said, these two are good traveling companions, Until then