Burma Shave

A man, a miss,

A car, a curve.

He kissed the miss,

And missed the curve.

Burma Shave

          Burma Shave surely saved some lives. People laughed and became more careful!  It was a REAL "service" to America.  Even though it was an advertisement. It was one of the RARE really useful ones!

          Burma Shave signs provide a quick lesson in our history.   Before interstate highways, when everyone drove the old 2 lane roads, Burma Shave signs were posted all over the country in farmers' fields. They were small red signs with white letters. Five signs, about 100 feet apart, each containing 1 of the 4 lines. The obligatory 5th sign advertised Burma Shave, a popular shaving cream.

DON'T STICK YOUR ELBOW

OUT SO FAR

IT MAY GO HOME

IN ANOTHER CAR.

Burma Shave

TRAINS DON'T WANDER

ALL OVER THE MAP

'CAUSE NOBODY SITS

IN THE ENGINEER'S LAP.

Burma Shave

SHE KISSED THE HAIRBRUSH

BY MISTAKE

SHE THOUGHT IT WAS

HER HUSBAND JAKE.

Burma Shave  

DON'T LOSE YOUR HEAD

TO GAIN A MINUTE

YOU NEED YOUR HEAD

YOUR BRAINS ARE IN IT.

Burma Shave

DROVE TOO LONG

DRIVER SNOOZING

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT

IS NOT AMUSING.

Burma Shave

                        

BROTHER SPEEDER

LET'S REHEARSE

ALL TOGETHER

GOOD MORNING, NURSE

Burma Shave

CAUTIOUS RIDER

TO HER RECKLESS DEAR

LET'S HAVE LESS BULL

AND A LITTLE MORE STEER.

Burma Shave

SPEED WAS HIGH

WEATHER WAS NOT

TIRES WERE THIN

X MARKS THE SPOT.

Burma Shave

THE MIDNIGHT RIDE

OF PAUL FOR BEER

LED TO A WARMER

HEMISPHERE.

Burma Shave

AROUND THE CURVE

LICKETY-SPLIT

BEAUTIFUL CAR

WASN'T IT?

Burma Shave

NO MATTER THE PRICE

NO MATTER HOW NEW

THE BEST SAFETY DEVICE

IN THE CAR IS YOU.

Burma Shave

A GUY WHO DRIVES

A CAR WIDE OPEN

IS NOT THINKIN'

HE'S JUST HOPIN'

Burma Shave

AT INTERSECTIONS

LOOK EACH WAY

A HARP SOUNDS NICE

BUT IT'S HARD TO PLAY.

Burma Shave

BOTH HANDS ON THE WHEEL

EYES ON THE ROAD

THAT'S THE SKILLFUL

DRIVER'S CODE.

Burma Shave

THE ONE WHO DRIVES

WHEN HE'S BEEN DRINKING

DEPENDS ON YOU

TO DO HIS THINKING.

Burma Shave

CAR IN DITCH

DRIVER IN TREE

THE MOON WAS FULL

AND SO WAS HE.

Burma Shave

PASSING SCHOOL ZONE

TAKE IT SLOW

LET OUR LITTLE

SHAVERS GROW.

Burma Shave

Do these bring back any old memories?

A Legacy

          We all leave a legacy even if we never think about doing so.  Friends and especially family members will remember much about us whether it be good or not so good.  Much of our legacy will depend on how we live, what we say and what we do. I noted this in my blog on January 8 about Neil Turner, when after his death, he was remembered by many for his faith and his trust in Jesus.  What a legacy!

          Now I have been blest to have a great heritage and it has been my desire for many years to pass this heritage on to my family as part of my legacy.  And there are so many ways that this can be done.

          One way that I have chosen is to pass on writings about events in my life and things that I think are important.  I began this about 15 years ago and have passed on nearly 200 pages of writings and pictures to each of my seven grandchildren.  For many years these were also posted online as part of the Awana website which I operated.  However, a few years ago software problems forced me to end this website so these writings are no longer available to others who might be interested in them.  So maybe I  will begin to share some of these here in future blogs.

          Another thing  that I have done since 2006 is to prepare an annual family DVD which I give to my children each Christmas.  It includes a variety of family pictures from the past year, a Bible verse and a background of music appropriate for the year.  On Christmas Eve we play the DVD from ten years ago to remember the past and then we play the new one to remember the present.

          This year the music I chose was an old hymn written in 1903 by George A. Young.  Young was an obscure 19th Century preacher and carpenter who spent a lifetime serving in small rural communities. Often his financial support was small, and it was hard on his family. But through all the ups and downs his faithful wife never wavered in her loyalty to God and to her husband. After a long struggle, the family was able to move into their own small home which George built himself. But then, on an occasion when George was away preaching, some local thugs who didn't like his Gospel preaching, set fire to the house, and it was totally destroyed. It was out of that experience that Young reaffirmed his faith in God by writing God Leads Us Along.

          While going through the pandemic I couldn't help but feel the words of this great hymn were appropriate for my 2021 DVD.   "Sometimes on the mount where the sun shines so bright,  God leads His dear children along.  Sometimes in the valley, in darkest of night, God leads His dear children along."

          2021 was hard - Isolation was difficult, covid was scary, the loss of friends and loved ones was tough.  But God was faithful and led us, His dear children, along.  He gave us a song in the night season and all the day long.  And we know that He will continue to lead us.

In shady, green pastures, so rich and so sweet,

God leads His dear children along;

Where the water's cool flow bathes the weary one's feet,

God leads His dear children along.

Some through the waters, some through the flood,

Some through the fire, but all through the blood;

Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song,

In the night season and all the day long.

Sometimes on the mount where the sun shines so bright,

God leads His dear children along;

Sometimes in the valley, in darkest of night,

God leads His dear children along.

Some through the waters, some through the flood,

Some through the fire, but all through the blood;

Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song,

In the night season and all the day long.

Though sorrows befall us and evils oppose,

God leads His dear children along;

Through grace we can conquer, defeat all our foes,

God leads His dear children along.

Some through the waters, some through the flood,

Some through the fire, but all through the blood;

Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song,

In the night season and all the day long.

Away from the mire, and away from the clay,

God leads His dear children along;

Away up in glory, eternity's day,

God leads His dear children along.

Some through the waters, some through the flood,

Some through the fire, but all through the blood;

Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song,I

n the night season and all the day long.

Remember

          At times I like to share things that other writers have shared.  Recently I came upon an article written by a Pastor Barry Black.   It stirred my thinking and hopefully it might do the same for you.  Incidentally it was written in 2015 so it was written before all of our pandemic experiences.  But I think it is still appropriate.

Deuteronomy 11.12: "...the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year."

I AM THE NEW YEAR - I will help you to say goodbye to the previous year filled with "yesterdays" and comprised of 

Disappointments and surprises 

Losses and gains

Failures and Successes

Defeats and victories 

A year which may be remembered by recalling... 

Fleeting moments

Delightful memories and good times

The sobering reality of missed opportunity 

The insight gained from daily living

The unexpected surprise of reconnecting with old friends.

The joy of sins forgiven

Golden words fitly spoken (Proverbs 25:11) 

And the fruit of obedience and pleasing the Lord 

Yes, the old year is a time in which we can recall with gratitude...

Blessings, protection, and rewards from the Providential hand of God 

Grace that was sufficient for our every need

Mercy received when justice would have just as easily been fitting for us. 

And realizing that even bad things that happened could have been worse ... much worse.

May your past productively transition to the future as you experience...

The warm daylight of lessons hard learned, 

and the fading sunset of the pain that was long endured while living through them.

The priceless value found in genuine friends, 

and the sober understanding of the shackles of superficial people who merely use us.  

The glorious journey of...

The unmatched wealth in reading and studying the Bible

The unparalleled stability of Christian fellowship 

And the unrivaled enjoyment of serving the Lord.

And as you experience the wise departure from... 

The comfortable enticement of procrastination

The deceptive decoy of excuses 

The childish pleasure of pettiness 

And the dull applause of mediocrity.

I AM THE NEW YEAR.  

I am...

The challenge of new goals

The desire for spiritual growth 

The continual burden for lost souls 

The anticipation of answered prayer 

And the eager expectation of Christ's soon return for His Bride, the Church.

I am the New Year, I may only be lived one moment at at time. 

I am replete with the unknown 

and rife with...

Opportunities to trust

Unexpected moments of blessing and delight 

Satisfaction for spiritual truth and hunger

Motivations to give of your time and effort to people and projects

And the joy and privilege of serving the Lord in new and exciting ways.  

YES, I AM THE NEW YEAR!

Bits And Pieces

          As I begin a new year of blogging I am finding it hard to come up with a new topic  - even an unexciting one - for a new week.  Instead I find myself limited to a variety of probably uninteresting bits and pieces which I have been thinking about.  So here I go with a little bit of this and a little bit of that.

1.     An Interesting Legacy

A few weeks ago the Lancaster Newspaper ran a feature on a "legendary" local wrestling coach, Neil Turner, who died unexpectedly at the age of 83 following a day watching his son's team wrestle in a Holiday Wrestling Classic.  Now I didn't know Turner. I never met him. But I admire the legacy he has left.  He reminds me of my late brother who may have even known Turner.  The writer described Turner as a "husband, father, and grandfather, a man of deep faith."  Another coach remarked  "I have so many stories about Coach Turner, but most importantly you could not spend time with him without knowing his love for wrestling, his family, and Jesus."  Another coach remarked "so much of what I do as a person, as a Christian, as a coach comes from him.  That's how much he meant to me."  And finally, his son said "Ultimately his life was about his walk with Christ.  His faith was always on full display."  

          I never met Coach Turner, but I admire him.  What a legacy he has left.  Did you ever wonder what folks will say about us when we are gone?

2.      A Kind Receptionist

Last week I sat for nearly three hours in the small waiting room of the Lancaster MRI Group while my wife was being "filmed".  I listened to Gloria, the kind receptionist working there, as she handled dozens of telephone calls requesting appointments and information.  I was impressed how she handled herself and the kind responses that she made.  But I was even more impressed at how she could quickly carry on conversations with Spanish speaking callers.  It was amazing.  The MRI  Group is fortunate to have such a good receptionist.  That is not common today.

          I wish that I could be fluent in another language.  I took Latin and French in high school and German in college, but I really can't speak or even read in any of those languages.  And taking them wasn't even fun.

3.     Following Directions

As a retired teacher of 39 years you would think that I would be used to people who don't follow instructions.  But I am not.  Recently I asked participants of a prayer chain which I operate if they wanted to continue in 2022.  To avoid having to read 107 responses I said that they should respond to me only if they wanted to drop off the chain.  In turn I received almost two dozen responses from folks telling me they wanted to remain on the chain.  Can't folks read?  And my message wasn't even in Latin.

          When I served as Judge of Elections I printed our signs and directions and used ropes to guide folks to the proper places to register and vote. I wanted to make it easy for voters.  But every time numerous folks did not read or follow the directions and some even climbed over the ropes to do it their way.  They probably acted the same when they were in school.

          We now do all our grocery shopping online and pick it up by parking in special reserved spots in the store's parking lot.  But often those spots are filled by those looking for a quick space to park and shop.  We've seen people empty their own carts into their cars using these reserved spots and recently we saw a woman park and run in just to buy a pack of cigarettes.  Either they can't read or they only took Latin in high school.  Or they think they are above obeying the signs.  It's sometimes the same with handicapped parking spots. The employees told us that they are not allowed to correct those taking up these spots illegally because they might get angry.  It's all part of "it's my right to do what I want".  

4.     Wild Careless Drivers

Disobeying parking regulations might just inconvenience some folks, but disobeying driving laws and lacking courtesy is a more serious matter.   Recently we stopped at a traffic light and some crazy driver pulled up to the right of us and ran the traffic light, never even slowing down.  Thankfully nobody was coming the other way because at the speed he was driving he probably would have killed them.  Then we recently had two other cases where a driver turned through a red light and we almost hit them as we we were pulling out.  That reminded us of the lady who ran a red light a few years ago and hit us broadside.  When the insurance claims were filed she changed her story and denied going through the light and we had no witnesses.  I guess we learned to beware of "kind" old ladies.

          Sadly, we risk our lives every time we drive.  We need to seek the Lord's protection for both long and short rides.

5.     Be Thankful for 2021

The scripture tell us to be thankful for all things.  But that is hard, especially when a pandemic threatens our way of living.  At the end of the year Pastor Chuck Swindoll used the words of Moses from Deuteronomy 8:1-8 to share their experiences from 2021.  They began the year with terrible winter storms and were without heat and power for weeks. Next came political unrest. Then came the pandemic and they were faced with closings and many modifications.  He said that he had no idea how they would survive.  He had never heard of live streaming.  How could they operate without meeting and without taking offerings.  But his church leadership made many major changes, some of which he resisted.  And during that year they began to minister to thousands of new participants - including us - by live streaming.  Offerings came in.  They paid off their huge mortgage and expanded ministries to the poor and homeless and to folks - like us - from all over the world.  The Lord used these obstacles to greatly expand their outreach like they never could have expected.  He thanked the Lord for all that had happened during memorable 2021.

          Maybe we need to stop and consider what positive changes we have seen and made during 2021.  We must be reminded that God is in control and will use us when we are yielded to Him.

6.     Conclusion

bonne journée ... haben Sie einen guten Tag ... tenga un buen día ...  buona giornata ...  Ω ±   ≠ « µ π ¬   º π ±   Ã º ø ¡ ∆ ∑   º ≠ ¡ ±.    And of course,  Habere bonum diem.

Thankful Hearts

          The end of one year and the beginning of a new year should be a time when we review what has happened in the past and concentrate on the things that are to come.  And so in today's blog I want to pause and share my thanks for those who have helped me this past year.

          As I shared in our annual Christmas letter, 2021 has been a year of special challenges.  Because of covid we have isolated for most of the past two years and I am especially thankful for the few who have called, written and visited during these months.  Your friendship and fellowship has been very appreciated and needed.  Thank you.

           The past year has involved about 145 medical visits, tests and procedures.  Of these 145 appointments, 19 involved weekly trips to Hershey for my treatments.  I am thankful for my wife who provided the transportation, even when she didn't feel well.

          I'm also thankful for the many excellent doctors and specialists that are available near us to provide help, even in a time when covid has been dangerous to them as well.  We are very fortunate.

          Our morning newspaper is always "delivered" at the end of our driveway.  A good friend and neighbor, Rick Miller, faithfully walks to our home each morning to place the newspaper on our doorstep.  This gesture has meant so much to us and we can't thank him enough.

          Then there is Rick Grimm, my brother-in-law, who is a retired electrician.  Twice he showed up to help us with two serious electrical problems, eliminating potentially dangerous situations and saving us large expenditures.  One did eventually require a new main electrical box and he gave us a good contact to get this done.

           Another neighbor, Carol, and her friend did our weeding for us.  They did an excellent job at a very reasonable price.  She also led us to a man who did our shrubbery trimming.  He also did more than we expected at a very reasonable rate.  We've reached the point where we now need to hire folks to do much of the work that a few years ago we could do ourselves.  Now I wish we could find an honest, reliable cleaning person for a few hours a month.

          Then there is my grandson, Zachary, who is presently working online doing editing.  He has been a tremendous help coming almost every week to cut grass, clean up our leaves and do all sorts of household tasks for us.  I don't know what we would have done this year without him.

          Unfortunately the fine young men who did all of our snow removal the past few years have now moved.  I am so thankful for them.  The Lord provided them as an answer to our prayers and we will miss them greatly.  We have been praying for replacements and I think our neighbor might help.  We have a snow blower but with our heart problems we may not do it ourselves.

          And I am especially thankful for some cousins who are real prayer warriors and encouragers.  Such folks are few and far between and we know from our communications that they really are praying.  Some folks say they pray but I know these really do.  How wonderful that is especially during a year like 2021 has been.

          And I am thankful for a former neighbor who is a widow but calls Dianne once in awhile and prays for her over the phone. Then there is a pastor friend from Allentown who has called several times to pray with me over the phone  What a blessing it is to have somebody pray for you over the phone.

           I am also thankful for a loving family who has done so much for us.  We appreciate their visits and calls. They have helped with some chores and have provided some food.  They have helped with our loneliness. It makes me wish that we had done more for our parents when they were still alive.

           But most of all I thank the Lord for his guidance, protection, provision and peace.  We are facing several serious new and continuing challenges in 2022 but we know that He is in control and will continue to take care of us.

          So, on to another new year and more of God's provision and care!