Proverbs XXI

If you're going to fish you need the right bait.
If you're going to hunt you need the right weapon.

The Pickle Jar

Proverbs XX

“Guard well your spare moments.  They are like uncut diamonds.  Discard them and their value will never be known.  Improve them and they will become the brightest gems in a useful life.” – Emerson

Proverbs XIX

There's a lesson in there somewhere.

"That's The Way It's Supposed To Be" or "That's The Way It's Always Been"

The family was gathered for Easter dinner. The youngest newly married daughter was preparing her first family dinner. As she was about to put the large ham in the oven to begin baking, her mother stopped her and said "You have to cut three inches off the ham before you bake it." 

Puzzled, the daughter asked her mother why? 

"Because that's the way my mother taught me to do it," said the mother. 

Still puzzled, the daughter went to find her grandmother. 

"Nana," she asked, "Mom says you have to cut 3 inches off of the ham before putting it in the oven to bake. Why?" 

"Well, that's how my mother taught me to do it, and it's the way I've always done it," replied the grandmother. 

Well, the daughter's husband had heard all of this and he wanted to get to the bottom of the mystery. He went into the living room where the family was gathered around great grandmother. 

"Nona," he asked, "Grandma says you taught her to cut 3 inches off of the ham before putting it in the over. I'm puzzled. Why is that necessary?" 

"Well, dear, when I was a new bride, just starting out, I baked my first ham for Easter dinner. The ham was 18 inches long. The largest roasting pan I had was 15 inches long, so I had to cut three inches off of the ham to make it fit the pan."

Proverbs XVIII

Your actions are your statement of faith.

Proverbs XVII

You can't win if you don't play the game.
If you choose not to play the game, you are choosing not to win.
So play the game.

Proverbs XVI

Consequences have Actions

Proverbs XV

"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth". Sherlock Holmes (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Sometimes the simplist truth is the hardest to accept.

Proverbs XIV

Truth is not decided by the number of people subscribing to it. Whether or not certain ideas are “out of the mainstream” is besides the point. A correct conclusion is also not necessarily reached by embracing some middle ground between two opposing viewpoints either. Assuming one view point was correct, the compromised conclusion is not.

Proverbs XIII

I'm not usually a poster of quotes but this one resonated with me.

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
- Theodore Roosevelt

There's nothing sadder than a life not lived.

Proverbs XII

If good things come to those who wait,
procrastination is a virtue.

Proverbs XI

I am going to be doing a little of this over the next few weeks.



It's scary for me to step out into the unknown. Everything I've experienced in the past is telling me I'm about to fall and yet there's just a little faith that God has provided a bridge to cross the chasm. Just because I can't see it at the moment, doesn't mean it isn't there. This last year has taught me that.

I'm going to be praying a lot over the next few days. It's funny, or maybe sad, that something so small can motivate me to pray so much.

God, ... help ...
Amen.

Update: I changed my mind. It's not a small thing. It's a big thing. And it's important to me. And I'm important to God. So it's important to God too.

Proverbs X

Of time and money, time is the one you can't increase.

Proverbs IX

Charisma attracts but character sustains.

Proverbs VIII

You can't win the lottery if you don't buy a ticket.

Proverbs VII

If anything matters then everything matters.  Because you are important, everything you do is important.  Every time you forgive, the universe changes; every time you reach out and touch a heart or a life, the world changes; with every kindness and service, seen or unseen, My (God's) purposes are accomplished and nothing will ever be the same again.

-William P Young in The Shack

Proverbs VI

The church does not have a mission; the mission has a church.

Proverbs V

The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him. Every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming.

Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of
driftwood to protect himself from the elements, and to store his few
possessions.

One day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames,with smoke rolling up to the sky. He felt the worst had happened, and everything was lost. He was stunned with disbelief, grief, and anger. He cried out, 'God! How could you do this to me?'

Early the next day, he was awakened by the sound of a ship approaching the island! It had come to rescue him! 'How did you know I was here?' asked the weary man of his rescuers. 'We saw your smoke signal,' they replied.

It's easy to get discouraged when things are going bad, but we shouldn't lose heart, because God is at work in our lives, even in the midst of our pain and suffering. Remember that the next time your little hut seems to be burning to the ground. It just may be a smoke signal that summons the Grace of God.

forwarded to me by my mom

Proverbs IV

Great minds think alike,
But the thoughts of fools seldom differ.