Jack’s Winning Words 8/14/14
“Good habits, once established, are just as hard to break as bad habits.”  (Robert Fuller)  I read of a restaurant that gives a 15% discount for people who pray before their meal.  Fair or not, Mary’s Diner chooses to reward those in the habit offering a table prayer.  We often hear of how hard it is for people to break bad habits.  Are there good habits, learned at home, that are still with you today?    ;-)  Jack

FROM CS IN WISCONSIN: Life lesson learned at our home…Jesus Loves Me.. Lovely walking this morning, seeing the sun come up and turn the moon pure white! Awesome early morning beauties!  Have a super day making someone smile today.====JACK:  Thanks for the reminder.  I was baptized in the living room of our house, so my religious roots go waaaay back.  BTW, I once saw this slogan:  Jesus knows me, this I love.

FROM TARMART REV:  An exceptional "Winning Word" for today, Jack . . . more habits, both the good and the bad, are established for a lifetime right there in the home and during those formative years of our lives.====JACK:  I wonder what our children's responses might be to..."What habits did you learn in your growing-up home?"====REV:  Varied I'm sure with a parent or two responding: "Where or who did you get that from?!?!"

FROM SHARIN' SHARON:  My Mom and Dad enjoyed staying at home a lot. Except for the couple of times a year when my husband and I take a vacation, must say we both are at home every night. It's kind of a strong habit and fortunately we haven't broken it so far. I attribute that to God's work in our family especially because Jerry's homelife when he was growing up was much the same. Not anything I could have thought up on my own anyway.====JACK:  When I have talked with couples before marriage, I often have asked the question, "What things do you enjoy doing together?"  I don't think that anyone has answered, "Staying home every night," but maybe, "We just enjoy hanging out together," is a way of saying that.

FROM RS IN TEXAS:  I think values, as well as habits, are established early in life and hopefully (if they are good values) are a good foundation and stay with us forever.  Guess that's why it's so important to have strong values at home.  Values learned at school and elsewhere are nice, but often don't "take" if they are offset by the lack of values at home.  I need to establish the "habit" of a consistent golf swing!  Where's Rory McIlroy when you need him??====JACK:  Rory's golf game has certainly improved since his breakup with Caroline.  Of course we don't know the whole story, but often breakups of relationships have reasons beyond playing better golf.  A difference in values can be an important reason, too.

FROM BLAZING OAKS:  Yes, I read about Mary Haglund's Diner, too. She said "Gratitude opens the heart "chakra"...what is "chakra"?!  Have to look that up!  My mom often quoted "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all",   and "It doesn't cost anything to be kind"...Which when you are growing up with a gang of teenagers is good to remember. Looking back, our childhood and adolescence was  pretty innocuous, but we had fun!====JACK:  My parents always saw to it that we went to church and Sunday School, but we didn't mind, because church was fun, and our friends were there.  Since we didn't have a car, we always walked.  BTW, a "chakra" is an energy point.  The Hindus believe that the body has several chakra points.