Winning Words 12/4/12
“Every path has its puddle.”  (George Herbert)  Robert Frost wrote a poem about having to choose between two paths.  One was beautiful and grassy; the other was bent and covered with undergrowth.  Which path would you take?  I like to take the interstate, but I must admit that detours have provided some interesting experiences.  Life has a way of putting detours and puddles in our path.  Kids find puddles fascinating.    ;-)  Jack

 OLD JOKE:  He;  It's raining cats and dogs outside.  She:  I know.  I just stepped into a poodle.

 FROM WALMART REV:  Interesting path today...two hour trip to the Cities to add moral support to one of our new believers who lost her sister to a long battle with cancer...the young believer has been chastised for sharing her faith with the family...how could there be a God that would allow this to happen...young family w/children... should be an interesting time pondering the results of my presence during the two hour ride back home. 0:-l////FROM JACK:  When it rains, there are bound to be some puddles.  You have the "privilege" of helping people to understand why this happens.

 FROM HONEST JOHN:  I am known for going on the back roads....I like to take them....much more interesting and a lot less frenetic....And I like the puddles....still a little boy who likes to splash in the puddles. ////FROM JACK:  ...and I'm an interstate person.  Is there a theological meaning?

 FROM SHARIN' SHARON:  Just reflecting that, when we first started our Community Farm on the acre next to the church parking lot, the land was beautiful and grassy--having been conscientiously mowed for over 50 years but when we started getting rid of some of the grass so we could plant vegetables, fruits and herbs, it definitely did seem like it was covered with dense weeds/undergrowth. What a chore taking the grass out by hand-tools!!!! That's my life too--I think I'm starting out on an easy path and then it inevitably gets hard. Marriage, having children, joining a church, starting a vocation--it's always started out dreamy and then become real but I find greater satisfaction in the real and living in God's Grace.  Good WW again this morning.////FROM JACK:  There is a purpose for everything...grass, weeds, flowers, briars, gardens, and even pavement.  God different uses for people, too.

 FROM TAMPA SHIRL:  I don't drive interstates anymore.  Everyone faster  than I want to go  In the 80's the speed limit down here was 55.  Now everyone. it seems, is doing 80.  Yesterday I drove to New Port Richey on the Veterans Expressway, which was beautiful, and then on state road 54, which was pastoral and like Old Florida until getting to LIttle  Road. Then it was like bumper and bumper for five miles, and I never did figure why.  I finally found Hobby Lobby where I was on a search for something special for a grandson's rehearsal dinner for my daughter.  All in all, it was an adventure and a learning experience. Which is what life is, don't you think?////FROM JACK:  Yes, life is an adventure.  The adventure for some is to go to a NASCAR race.  For others, it's a stroll through a flower garden.  It's a matter of choice.  Your car and mine each have a steering wheel.

 FROM BBC IN ILLINOIS:  Always enjoy your reflections, even when they are in puddles!////FROM JACK:  "Puddles" is a cute word, but not all puddles are cute.  Life is sometimes cute, but not always.  We have to go with the flow.

 FROM HR IN MICHIGAN:  Yogi (Berra) said when you come to a fork in the road, take it.  I think he meant that he lived on a circle and either direction would bring you to his house Or he may have meant you have to decide what direction to head.////FROM JACK:  A "yogi" is a wise man.

 FROM SAINT JAMES:  I believe that taking the difficult path is the only way to go.  Most people tend to take the "easy" way out, but true growth stems from growth that challenges present.////FROM JACK:  "But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it."  (Matthew 7:14)

 FROM LP IN PLYMOUTH:  Verity hates to take the highway. She insists it takes longer. Recently we've been caught in some traffic congestion on our family outings so from her experience it does!////FROM JACK:  Kids have different agendas than the adults do. 

 FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  Loved this one.  Gary and I often take the back roads....all the way home from Florida, North Carolina and always from up north.  Sometimes it works out and sometimes we end up who knows where.  We love to see the "real" people in the state we are driving through.  Sometimes we hit wonderful paths and sometimes we hit puddles.  In Texas, the roads sometimes end in a lake....no joke.  We have seen them but never ended up on one.  We often wonder if people drive  into them at night...there are no lights.  Weird.  We have seen many different back roads that just end or end in a field or whatever.  We have learned to check the county maps before we venture out.////FROM JACK:  I remember one time when our children were small...We drove through a rainstorm and the winds seemed rather strong.  Mary wanted to pull over, but we kept going on.  Later, we found out that we had driven through a tornado.