Starting Over Is Not Bad

Our men's small group meets every Saturday morning. Ten men build each other up in the faith with small talk and a brief Bible study. Today Mark, one of our members, shared a need for tires on his car. That got the conversation buzzing.

The topic got me to thinking about the good old days when I needed tires for my own car. I recall the time I visited a shop in a Chicago suburb. Without much money in those days and credit cards weren't popular, I learned about recap tires.

Recap tires are old worn out tires that needed a new cover. They were not the best tires without a warranty like new tires had, but were a good substitute. The discount price made them well worth the investment and I had no regrets. 

So new beginnings were not bad. Starting over may be the best thing going for some people.

I am a church attender all my life. Yes you heard me correctly My first experience in church was in our church nursery. At church camp when I was twelve years old I became a Christ-follower. Change is a part of life and I never looked back. I have no regrets.

The baseball player struck out, slammed down his bat, and in anger walked back to the dugout. Relax, not all is lost. There will be another chance. Perhaps three or four times during the game. Life would be terrible if all we had was one chance in life. 

A new start is what I needed. Throughout my many days on planet earth I've started over many times, and each time my life got better. Can you identify with this experience? To live in denial may create a road block. And we wonder why so many are unsuccessful on their job, community, family, and church. Learn how to make wise decisions and don't be afraid to start over if necessary. 

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Why Does Inflation Hurt?

Do you like a good joke? Writers like to use humor in their stories. People often have different ideas about jokes. Do you believe a good joke?

Yesterday I was in my doctor's office for a followup visit to a recent surgery. While there the subject came up why elder people can't have any more kids. The answer may surprise you.

At 79 years of age I'm too old to have more kids. Why? I'm too busy paying medical bills and can't afford to have kids. The morale to the story is that senior citizens can't have kids.

Ha! Ha! Ha! Everybody in the office laughed if you believe this one.

Healthcare is expensive. Insurance premiums, medicare, copays, and everything else under the sun, you name it. Do you get my gist? 

Inflation is real. I recall in my business class in college the professor warning us about inflation. He said while we struggle to maintain a budget and have a good job, please don't forget about inflation, it could ruin you. To ride the city bus in Chicago use to be a dime, now it's over a dollar. Even a hot dog at a baseball game cost ten dollars. A package of eight hot dogs at the grocery store cost 99 cents. 

Our economy is going crazy. Gasoline at the pump is skyrocketing. Food prices are at an all time high. Housing is not affordable for a hardworking family. What next?

The word cope is old and trite. We must learn and develop new mechanisms to deal with this devastating problem. Perhaps we should tell the government to stop printing and putting into circulation more money. Maybe we should slow down in purchasing goods and services. Be practical, get only what is necessary to survive, and use our coping mechanisms more wisely. 

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Books are Sacred

Books are sacred and deserve lots of respect. Even though they are not the same as the Bible, they open up to us the world.

Library Day was always big time to us at our local school. Every Thursday we rushed like mad dogs to clear the shelves of everything imaginable. Encyclopedias, National Geographic, and more stacks than we could possibly imagine filled the long tables enclosed by walls of book shelves. 

The local libraries scattered throughout our town also drew a lot of attention. Anything free brought large crowds with a desire to learn new things. My cousin frequented our library every week and brought home a stack of books. No take out limit in those days.

Department stores, often four stories high, had entire floors just devoted to books. And book stores like Barnes & Noble attracted large groups of people in shopping malls. 

No books have not gone out of style. Now we depend on the electrical wires to purchase books online through the internet or Amazon. Even students in the classroom use their cell phone that drives the teacher crazy. What is this world coming to?

I am a book lover. I like to read just like many of you. Do you have a favorite that you are currently reading? I have read most of Robin Cook's medical mysteries and saw Coma on the big screen. I read all of John Grisham books including Calico Joe that any baseball fan would enjoy.

Books open up a whole new world to us. Adventure, mystery, documentary, fiction, or nonfiction, the choice is yours to enjoy. So do you want to laugh or cry?

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