Mind Over Everything

I may have told this story before, a long time ago, but it is poignant. An elderly man has developed a sever allergy to a tree outside his bedroom window. He is so congested, he cannot sleep and it is becoming a huge health problem. Being betrayed by his wife, who told the doctor he still sleeps with the window opened, the doctor demands he keep the windows closed so the purifier will work and he will be relieved of his symptoms and have the relief of sleep. His elderly wife closes the windows with strict instructions to keep them closed and follow the doctor’s advice. She took out her hearing aids and tried for sleep. The man could finally breathe but was feeling so claustrophobic that he still could not sleep. He always slept with the window open. He had to. He knew his wife would wake if he got up but he knew without her hearing aids, she could not hear a thing. So after she started snoring, he picks up and throws the alarm clock and hears glass shatter. Feeling so relieved that the window was now open, he slept a long, deep sleep as he had not in ages. In the morning, his wife yells this, “Why on God’s green earth did you break the mirror?”

See, he thought the window was open so he behaved as if it were. We are like this man, sorry to say. We are stubborn and prideful and convinced we should do what we want or feel we need to do. And God tells us to do the opposite. God says be humble, be teachable, do what I say for I know the past, present and future and can help you best. And so following God is our choice. We can obey or fight it. God will get His way eventually for He is God, and we will be rewarded if we help and not dig in against Him. ❤

The Games People Play

I like Trouble and Sorry, Euchre, Dutch Blitz, Uno, chess, checkers, many others. I grew up playing these games. I even like Monopoly even though I am not greedy enough to win, it is still fun. 🙂 But of the many, many games I have played growing up, I never saw such manipulative, selfish, hateful, deceitful games in my life as I have witnessed and that have been forced upon me as an adult. Other adults play these elaborate games, and I to this day see no reward in them other than death and eternal housing in a very hot place. And I think what a liar Satan is, what liars have told us we have to look a certain way, believe and repeat back what they say to be loved or important but the love and importance is not real or permanent and guilt follows and death is the reward for your efforts. These games are in direct opposition to the truth and thus God. God is truth and His message is so simple and pure. Believe and trust in Jesus Christ as Savior and be saved and have eternal lasting peace and joy and love. Wow! A breath of fresh air. Light. There is no trick, no deception, no twist or rug pulled out from under you, no broken heart, no regrets, no demands on your appearance just guidelines of modesty and cleanliness, good things that serve us better that promote moral integrity. No games. No games!! I like that so much I live it and you should too. 🙂 I want you happy and game free unless it is one we choose, like rummy with friends. 🙂

Why Board Games are Still Good

My kids and I play board or card games regu!arly still. There are many reasons we do. The first is that it is one big of time without tech where we look at each other (it is good to know what we look like in case we have to give descriptions) and talk out loud. Eye contact can never be underplayed. It is vital to good social connections. And bnoard games are fun. They are a nice break from everything else just to enter a mutually agreed upon world of competition and maybe a little make believe. I mean playing pieces are people, getting to a the finish carrot is important, etc. It is a shared time and place and experience. Thirdly, it teaches kids that someone always wins. In life nowadays where every kid gets a trophy and everyone is a winner is the stupidest thing on earth. I lived in the corporate world for a while and in medicine and in life and someone always is the winner and you lose a lot. And that is a good thing because there is nobility in being happy for someone else’s success and motivating you to maybe go for the gold next time. Also, you sincerely learn more from losing. Maybe you learn you don’t like it, maybe that there are things you could do differently, maybe humility, maybe that participation has its own rewards, whatever. Board games build relationships and fosters connections in a fun way. Worth stopping what you are doing for a bit and invest in each other.

The Games People Play

I grew up enjoying board games and card games with my family. Every family get together involved lots of playing games. Love them. However, I am not talking about those kind of games, not Euchre, not Uno, not Sorry. No, unfortunately when people grow up they play games of different sorts. These games are usually somewhere between knee deep and chin deep with pride and ego. Many wounded people want to feel important, be right, prove they are worth more, are determined to lift up their importance at the unfortunate cost of anyone else’s importance. Pride makes most everyone do what they do with these games people play. There are games of “I matter” or “I have been hurt so I’m going to hurt someone else” or “I deserve better treatment than this other person”. These games delude the player and the player believes firmly that their intentions are pure or honorable or, scariest of all, Godly. And that only makes them sleep better at night but is not any closer to the truth of the matter than that one person’s importance being greater than another. It simply is not true. Every person is created equally and importantly and lovingly. No one deserves more than anyone else. This truth is being distorted in our world. Marketing agencies and the businesses that employ them are raking in profit sowing this false concept to boost egos, exploit your pride and use that to get you to spend money on their stuff to validate that perceived importance. People in power firmly believe their decisions and lives and luxury are more important than other people’s. And the truth is that the servant is greater than the served because they get it. Being humble is the key to life because those who are humble have the ear of the Almighty Creator God. Those who believe their importance rivals such a holy, powerful Being are in constant danger of being reminded of their place by the only One of limitless power, Master of the Universe. So games rooted in pride will never win, despite the lie you bought into to justify this stupidity. Games are not fun unless everyone wants to play and has fun and knows the rules. Beware of the games people play and their intentions. And those will come to light in time.