Jack’s Winning Words 9/16/20

“Sleep, riches and health, to be truly enjoyed, must be interrupted.”  (Johann P F Richter)  I was upstairs working on a sermon.  From the corner of my eye I saw my daughter smiling at me thru the railing.  She’d crawled up the stairs looking for her “daddy.”  The sermon could wait.  Some things are more important than going to the gym, making money, or getting extra zzzs.  The good life often depends on making the right choices at the right time…Right?  :-)   Jack 

FROM EDUCATOR PAUL:  Memories of the times we didn’t do that haunts us! But, we must remember the times we did and now look at the results. Did that command leadership meeting really take priority over my kid’s music performance? Did the school concert really have a higher priority than my kid!s play?  In our daily lives as parents we have to make some very tough choices. Someone once wrote that as a parent making those kind of decisions should be compared to a baseball player’s batting average. 3 out of 10 makes you an all star! Just some reflections from a very thought provoking WW, ===JACK:  There's no sense in beating up on ourselves over what we "coulda" done.  I think I did a pretty good job doing my job as pastor/parent.  Yes, each could have been better, but at the expense of the other.  ""C'est la vie!"===FROM EP:  You’re right, but that’s not how parent’s function. I don’t mean that we have obsess over those incidents, but we do have to acknowledge that parents have to make difficult decisions and be aware that those decisions have.   consequences.===JACK:  I don't know that my parents obsessed...but I do belied that they cared (loose reins!)  

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  Perfectly correct!===JACK:  I always liked to see your comment written on school papers.  I wish that it had appeared more often.

FROM BB IN CHGO: Now I am trying to guess which daughter?  Hmmmm, begins with a B like me?===JACK:  You had a 50-50 chance of getting it right...and you nailed it.

FROM JK IN MI:  Yes!  Thank You Jack.  Bless You===JACK:  Long time, no C...and long time, no Jerry.  I hope that you are doing well.

FROM KZB:  RIGHT!!!!  It’s why I retired early. I took a less intense job when Dylan was young and he said to me, Mommy I am so glad you are “here” more now. (He meant present). Out of the mouths of babes.===JACK:  ...and I don' think my sermons suffered because of that time-out.  I think that you and I were better parents because of the "time-outs."===KZB:  Couldn’t agree more. 

FROM DR J:  I can almost see it. Jeanne or Beth?===JACK:  Let's see how perceptive you are.  Which one?===DJ:  Sounds like Jeanne to me!  Beth would be too kind to interrupt ;-)===JACK:  I should have used the modifier, "shyly smiling."  Now, you should get it right.===DJ:  yes… then Beth!  If she slammed open the office door and came bouncing in… Jeanne!

FROM ST PAUL:  profound...===JACK:  I don't know about, profound...but it has always stuck with me as a good parenting choice made by me.

FROM DM IN LIV:  Amen to that!  Thank you! 😊===JACK:  Sometimes I like my own writing.

FROM FACEBOOK LIZ:  right!===JACK:  Do you have a..."I got it right! story.===LIZ:  i pretty much have always lived that way. my dad and mom always had time for me. 🌷===JACK:  What have you copied from your parents to apply to your daughter?

FROM OPTY ART:  I hope you and Joan are holding up reasonably well.  Today's winning words really caught my attention.  They seem especially fitting during this time of pandemic, fires, flood and political unrest.  Thanks and be well!!===JACK:  2020 has been a memorable year.  Even with a large downside, there's an up side, too.  "Promise yourself to be so strong that you let (almost) nothing disturb your peace of mind.