Poly-Ticks

Why do politicians (small time to big time) who are running for office always seem to bring up stupid, insignificant things like “My grandmother struggled to raise my mom and the six other children. She was single after my grandfather died and had to work two full time jobs as a secretary and a waitress just to make ends meet.  She had an ulcer and gray hair by the time she was 29.  That’s why I’m here today.”  OR “My dad was a mechanic and my mom stayed at home with us kids.  We barely had enough food to survive.  But now, here I am, here for you.”  Did they have to walk uphill both ways in 3 feet of snow, too?  Ugh!  It seems nearly everyone’s parents, grandparents or great-grandparents suffered, not just politicians, so why they use this as a tool to make them more appealing to the crowd is weird.  Weirder still are the folks there cheering after such statements are made.   

Personally, though I feel for your grandma and all her hardships, I don’t care to hear about them now.  It’s old news.  It won’t make me vote for you.  How about we just figure out what to do about the hardships our people are facing today.  Focus on the present and future.  The past is over with.  Let’s learn and move on.  Clearly, you politicians are doing so well because of all of your predecessors efforts, and that’s why you have to talk about THEM…because maybe YOU never faced it yourself.   But, locally, I’ve got teens in my town with NO home, no parents who will sacrifice for them like yours may have for you.  15 year olds who are still in the 7th grade.  Teens turning to drugs for “comfort”…drugs some of them are DOING with their parents.  Absurd to me, but real.  They’re rejected by the people who are supposed to love them most, so don’t you ditch them too.  They are worthy of time and effort.

Let’s just stop all the “fluffy” talk and schmoozing and get down to business.  AND let’s be adults and not slander each other to make ourselves look good.  That’s just lame.  Just be real.

I’m just saying…

One of the funniest things I’ve heard recently is from a teenager.  She says that her Dr.  said she couldn’t use a regular cell phone for texting.  She should use one of the expensive ones with the full keyboard on them because she COULD get hyper-extended thumb muscles.  Seriously???  Could anyone REALLY text that much?  Do any of YOU have this problem?  I don’t text people, so I guess I can’t say first hand whether this is true.  I have been typing at about 70wpm for about..oh…20 years and my fingers have survived.  Granted, now that we have computers, I make a whole bunch more errors because it’s so easy to erase, but if anything, that should be causing my pinky great damage.  Maybe I’ll never really know the extent of my pinky damage until I’m elderly.

Oh what a scene of troubled teens…(poetry)

Tossed away like out of style jeans, oh what a scene of troubled teens
Looking for love in all the wrong things, oh what a scene of troubled teens
when will we learn as a society
that there’s more to life than you and me
and do what’s right for the kids you see
we must take responsibility
or the grief we’ll make for future’s sake
the lives we break
through the things we take
it’s such a shame
this same old game
who’s to blame
I want there name
And so we keep on feeding
the old folks needing
more money we bets
creates bigger debts
creates huge regrets
but hey….it’s for the vets
do they really need another park
with another plaque
that will sit in the dark
what about the child
that’s growing wild
with the crazy dad
for the life he had
and the long lost dream
of a future man
with a future plan
and a future scheme
and what about the kids around
and the kids downtown
and the way they frown
it’s such a shame
to know their name
and to see them in
to be stuck in sin
to be hooked on drugs
like helpless bugs
under a scope
hung by a rope
and bound by dope
do we help them
nope.

WHEN WILL WE GIVE THE FUTURE OF BERLIN NH THE SAME AS WHAT WE GIVE TO THE PAST GENERATIONS
DO WE NEED ANOTHER MEMORIAL TO REMIND US OF OUR PAST?
DO WE NEED ANOTHER FACILITY TO TAKE CARE OF PAST GENERATIONS?
BUILD MORE FOR THE KIDS!!!
BUILD MORE FOR THE KIDS!!!

By Pastor Joey Roberts www.dcnne.com

Your Problems Are Big To You

I heard that line from someone who heard it from their lawyer and it really stuck with me.  The lawyer was telling this man, who was overwhelmed with bad feelings about his situation, that to him this was an every day occurance.  Just another case, really.  He told the man not to worry about it, just get him the documents he needed and he’d take care of the rest.  Soon it would all ancient history.

It makes me think of how God must think of us.  Our problems are big to us and we scurry around over thinking things, trying this and trying that while making bigger messes of the situation and getting ourselves all worked up about it all.  God has to be like “Trust me, I’ve seen this before and I’ve got your back.  Just trust me and I’ll take care of it.  Soon it will be a thing of the past.” 

 ”Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ” Philippians 4:6-7

Be anxious over finances? No.  Be anxious over gas prices? No.  Be anxious about your relationships? No.  Be axious over sickness? No.  Be anxious for NOTHING.  He’ll never forget you because you are the apple of His eye.  He’ll never be too early or too late, but always right on time.

A Fun-eral?

I would suspect that the majority of people view funerals as a sad, depressing reality of life.  Your loved one has passed on and you think of all the moments you will no longer share with him/her.  Well, in our family, we have looked at them in a much different way.  We look at funerals as a time to celebrate the deceased’s life.  Though we mourn the loss, we flip it around to focus on how that person was a blessing to all that knew him/her. 

For example, my Dad, who was the greatest man I ever knew, came down with lung cancer about 10 years back.  He was only 60.  He and my Mom have been my heroes my whole life, I couldn’t ask for any better parents, by the way.  Well, even though Dad was a military man, very strict and stern, he was also full of love and life.  He joked constantly.   My sister used to buy him funny gifts.  One year, she bought him a little box that when you walked by it, it would begin to knock and shake and a voice yelled out, “Excuse me! Excuse me! Will you let me outta here?”  Dad thought that was the greatest thing and set it up in the house so everyone could experience it. 

Dad took all the recommended treatments and even a few that were just experimental, but it became apparent that nothing was working.  When he knew there was no longer hope of him being cured in this life, he decided that he was going to have the last laugh, so he set out to plan his own funeral.   After deciding he would be cremated, he then spoke to our Pastor about how he wanted the service to go.  The Pastor was hesitant to do what he wanted, but Dad made him agree to it and filled us in on the plan.

So, after battling cancer for about a year, the day came that my Dad passed on.  For weeks, maybe months before it happened, I balled almost every moment I was alone, begging for a different outcome.  Imagining life without him was just horrifying.  But, the day of his funeral, I felt an unexpected calmness.  Partly denial, I suppose, and partly taking comfort in knowing he was now at peace. 

There were tons of people at the church.  People were standing all around even out the door because the church was full.  His urn was displayed in the front with a picture of him and an American flag nicely folded next to that.  The Pastor began the funeral and said at one point that Dad had asked him to do something that would make this funeral one they wouldn’t soon forget.  As the church sat silently waiting for the Pastor to go on, he nervously stepped behind the urn and suddenly, “Excuse me! Excuse me! Would you let me outta here?” echoed through the silence.  The shock on people’s faces for the moment before the laughter and tears broke out was hilarious.  We pictured Dad watching on saying “Ha! I got them!”  Next came tons of funny stories from people in the crowd about the times they shared with Dad.  Truly a celebration of his life.

There comes a time in life when we have to decide if we’re going to live it.  That looks like an incomplete thought, but go read it again.  If you, like my Dad, knew death was creeping up on you, how would you react?  What would you do differently?  Guess what…in this life, no one gets out alive.  Death is inevitable, so what are you waiting for?