Welcome to my blog, or should I say to the ramblings of an old man. I doubt that my ramblings are of much value, but at least I have an opportunity to share them.  So, please be kind and humor me. If nothing else of value stands out in these thoughts, I hope that you at least sense the value I place on a daily walk with the Lord.  That walk is what has provided me with motivation and a sense of purpose throughout my lifetime.  My prayer is that you, too, are experiencing this direction and joy in daily living which is available to everyone who puts his trust in Christ.  So, thanks again for joining me.  Please don't go without leaving some comments here so I can get to know you better as our paths intersect today in this blog.

Saturday, December 14, 2024

Are You Special?

It was a good time to be born and grow up.
 
The 1% Age Group"...
This special group was born between 1930 & 1946 = a 16-year span.   In 2022, the age range is between 76 & 92.

You are in the smallest group of children born since the early 1900's.


You are the last generation, climbing out of the Depression, who can remember the winds of war and the impact of a world at war that rattled the structure of our daily lives for years.


You are the last to remember ration books for everything from gas to sugar to shoes to stoves.


You saved tin foil and poured fat into tin cans.

You can remember milk being delivered to your house early in the morning and placed in the "milk box" on the porch.

You are the last generation who spent childhood without television; instead, you "imagined" what you heard on the radio.

With no TV until the 1950's, you spent your childhood "playing outside." There was no Little League.

There was no city playground for kids.

The lack of television in your early years meant that you had little real understanding of what the world was like.

Telephones were one to a house, often shared (party lines), and hung on the wall in the kitchen (no cares about privacy).

Computers were called calculators; they were hand-cranked.

Typewriters were driven by pounding fingers, throwing the carriage, and changing the ribbon.

'INTERNET' and 'GOOGLE' were words that did not exist.

Newspapers and magazines were written for adults, and the news was broadcast on your radio in the evening.
 
New highways would bring jobs and mobility.

The radio network expanded from 3 stations to thousands.

 
Your parents were suddenly free from the confines of the depression and the war, and they threw themselves into working hard to make a living for their families.
 
You weren't neglected, but you weren't today's all-consuming family focus.
 
They were glad you played by yourselves.
 
They were busy discovering the postwar world.
 
You entered a world of overflowing plenty and opportunity; a world where you were welcomed, enjoyed yourselves, felt secure in your future although the depression and poverty was deeply remembered.
 
Polio was still a crippler.
 
You came of age in the '50s and '60s.
 
You are the last generation to experience an interlude there were no threats to our homeland.
 
The second world war was over and the cold war, terrorism, global warming, and perpetual economic insecurity had yet to haunt life with unease.
 
Only your generation can remember both a time of great war and a time when our world was secure and full of bright promise and plenty.
 
You grew up at the best possible time, a time when the world was getting better.... 
 
More than 99% of you are retired and you should feel privileged to have "lived in the best of times!"
 
If you have already reached the age of 80 years old, you have outlived 99% of all the other people currently in the world! "You are a 1%'er"!

I qualify, do you?

Saturday, December 7, 2024

God Forgive Me When I Whine

Today, upon a bus,

I saw a girl with golden hair.
I envied her, she seemed so gay,
And I wished I was as fair.

When suddenly she rose to leave,
I saw her hobble down the aisle.
She had one leg and used a crutch.
But as she passed, she gave a smile.

Oh, God, forgive me when I whine.
I have 2 legs, the world is mine.

I stopped to buy some candy.
The lad who sold it had such charm.
I talked with him, he seemed so glad.
If I were late, it'd do no harm.

And as I left, he said to me,
"I thank you, you've been so kind.
It's nice to talk with folks like you.
You see," he said, "I'm blind."

Oh, God, forgive me when I whine.
I have 2 eyes, the world is mine.

Later while walking down the street,
I saw a child with eyes of blue.
He stood and watched the others play.
He seemed not to know what to do.

I stopped a moment and then I said,
"Why don't you join the others dear?"
He looked ahead without a word.
And then I knew he couldn't hear.

Oh, God, forgive me when I whine.
I have 2 ears, the world is mine.

With feet to take me where I'd go.
With eyes to see the sunset's glow.
With ears to hear what I'd know.
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine


Something for each of us to remember.  God knows and He cares!.