Find the Happy Hodgepodge

Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi
I've got some deep thoughts moving around...I'm not sure they're ever going to make it to the blog; I just don't know that I could articulate it well enough.. In the meantime, this week's Hodgepodge meme is looking for happy, and I think it would be a good thing to share some.

Click the button to see what the others have to say...

1. Let's all think happy thoughts...share one of yours here.

Thanksgiving is next week.  NEXT WEEK.  Aside from the panic of 'not ready!!! not ready!!' I'm actually happy about it.  It's my favorite holiday, even though it's a lot of work.  We have much to be thankful for...however you slice it.

2. There's a Chinese proverb that says, "If you want happiness for an hour take a nap, if you want happiness for a day-go fishing...." What say you? If you want happiness for a day _____________.

Sew something! :-)  

3. Where do you go to decompress from the world around you? 

My favorite refuge is a quiet spot...and I'm not particular where, just so it's quiet...with my Bible, my journal and a good pen.  Some reading/listening/journaling never fails to change my perspective. 

4. What song never fails to make you happy? 

An obscure worship song by Morning Star... 'Fly Me Like the Wind' ...on a live recording from a conference about, oh, 18 - 20 years ago?  It's one of my walking songs...

Come Let's Go Up To The Mountain/Fly Me Like The Wind - Morningstar from Stephen Bezdicek on Vimeo.

I wanna worship You like the Levites in the temple,

I wanna worship You like David in the field,

But sometimes, Lord, you know I get so temperamental,

I need You to lift me up and fly me like the wind... 

5. Wednesday is National Fast Food Day. Should that be a thing? Apparently it is, so tell us what's the last 'fast food' you consumed? If you were putting together your own version of a 'happy meal' what would you include? 

Honestly, National Fast Food Day should be the day before Thanksgiving.  A national day of fasting would certainly make us better appreciate the feast.

Oh, wait, that's not you meant, was it? 

Last 'Fast Food' was probably a turkey gyro from Arby's.  Those are actually pretty good.

A 'Happy Meal' for me....hm....I'm gonna say a cheeseburger, because those are pretty much off my diet now for several reasons...but I love me a cheeseburger.  Also a small salad...and, believe it or not, my internal medicine doctor tells me salads are very bad for the gastritis that I have and I should never eat them.  And of course I love a good fresh salad.  Chocolate Milk and a cookie.  Oatmeal raisin would be lovely.  If I could have that, hold the guilt, it would be a happy meal.

6. In a few sentences tell us why you blog. 

Oy. The sewing blog...because I like sharing the creative side with like minded folks. And it's been an amazing record of life.  Something like 200 folks follow that blog...which is pretty small potatoes in the blogging world, but it's is being read.  This blog...has about a dozen followers, maybe, and I blog here because I like recording life for myself to read down the road, if nothing else.  I like the discipline....even though I'm not very disciplined. And it does give me some structure for Bible study from time to time.  Mostly, I love the fact that blogging in general has connected me to folks I would never, ever had gotten to meet otherwise.   

7. List seven things you're feeling especially grateful for today.

 -- 1) I'm grateful for all the men and women who stand guard in our military, police forces, firefighters, first responders...all the folks who risk themselves to keep the rest of us safe.

 --2) I'm grateful to still have my parents and my inlaws to call, visit, share with....and that they are cool and interesting people.  They range in age from 77 to 91, and they are a blessing.

 -- 3) I'm grateful for four kids who are certainly not perfect but who are fun people to know and hang out with.  And 

 -- 4) I'm grateful that the kids come 'round and hang out with us from time to time

 -- 5) I'm grateful for my hubby and the 36+ years that we've had together.  Not perfect, but comfortable and good.  Very good.

 -- 6) I'm grateful for everyone who actually took the time to visit the blog and read this far.  You're the folks who keep me from talking solely to myself! :-)

-- 7) I'm grateful for red shoes.  Sometimes it's fun to wear something a little quirky.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

My BFF from high school will be celebrating her dad's 90th birthday this weekend.  We were invited, but it's 450 miles away and it just wasn't going to work.  She suggested sending a card with a joke.  So I dug up a terrible joke...and I will share it with you.

Guy goes to his doctor.  'Doc, I'm having some really weird things happening.  I wake up in the morning and call my wife 'Minnie'.  I eat breakfast and sing, 'Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work I go' as I drive through rush hour.  Then when I get to work, for some reason I keep calling all my co-workers 'Doc', 'Dopey', 'Sleepy', 'Bashful'  and so on.  I can't seem to help it.  What's wrong with me?'

'Oh, that's an easy diagnosis,' the doctor replied.  'You're just having a few Disney spells.'

Ba-DUM-dum...

The Post I Meant to Write Yesterday but Ran Out of Time: I Wore Purple.

posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

Four years ago, feeling snarky, I tried to make an underhanded statement of support of my chosen candidate at the polls, which backfired hysterically.   Next time, I stated in a reply to a comment, I will wear purple.

I remembered that statement as I stood in the closet on this Election Day, and pulled out a purple kind-of-sort-of twin set to wear.  My own humble pie for trying to be too clever last go-round.

 You can see a bit of it in the obligatory 'I voted' selfie I posted to Instagram...

But in the back of my head I had a thought all day that, just maybe, wearing purple was a sort of statement after all.

Purple is, after all, a blend of red and blue.  Once blended, they can't be pulled out again.  There's something new.

Had I written this post yesterday, as intended, I would not yet have known the results of the election.  My plan was to write something along the lines of ...whoever wins, we've got to unite as people.  We've got to quit the 'us vs. them' business and figure out how to get along even though we may not agree.  We've got to quit being red states and blue states and be purple together.

I remember doing a mock election during the presidential election of 1972 when I was in Junior High school; one of my classmates pulled me into a toilet stall with an unflushed, completely foul commode and announced, 'That's [the candidate you're supporting]!'  Even as a 13 year old, such a statement made absolutely no sense to me. The truth was, she didn't know enough about the issues and the platforms to make a reasoned argument against the candidate my team was supporting...and so crude insults were her argument.

I have seen way too much of such junior high behavior from way too many people in this election process... from supporters of both major parties and a good number of independent voters.    Maybe the person you voted for won, maybe that person did not.  But guess what...the folks that voted for the 'other candidate' probably didn't do it for the reasons the [liberal or conservative] press may be touting.  Most folks who cast valid votes do so for the person they think will do the best job for the USA from the available choices (I am not so sure about the 11,000  or so folks who voted for a dead gorilla.  Surely they could have written in one of the independent candidates who better represented their values). I may not understand why someone would vote for a particular candidate, but I have to respect their choice.  I know I don't appreciate reading some blanket statement applied to the folks who colored in the same circle I did; I'm quite sure folks who filled in other circles will not be encouraged or uplifted by some similar blanket statement applied to them.  And we will not heal up until we learn that individuals vote for individual reasons and we cannot lump everyone who voted for [this candidate] under one offensive epithet.

There are people who revel in such notoriety, who are rewarded by the shock and pain on the face of the person whom they judge worthy of a an unflushed toilet, but the truth is when you try to shoot down those folks, you inevitably hit the folks who were standing on the same side, who thought their choice through and, because they might have slightly different perceptions or priorities or foundations for their thinking made what they believed to be a reasoned choice...but different from yours.  And they would be just as horrified to be shoved into a bathroom stall for their choice.

So be judicious, not judgemental. Because God says there's a better way to change a nation.

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.  -- 2 Chron. 7:14 NIV 84