Friday, July 3, 2026

Waxed Knees

 


Two weeks ago, Marleen and I stripped the floor in the fellowship hall at church and rewaxed it.  Well, technically, it wasn’t wax; it was polymer surfactant.  But polymer surfactant doesn’t just roll off your tongue like the word wax does, so I’ll just call it wax.  As I would kneel to scrape the edges and corners of the floor, my jeans became soaked with the old, dissolved wax.  And the next day, my jean knees were hardened like body armor.  Even after washing, the knees were still stiff (it took several washings).  They reminded me of those iron-on patches that my mother used when I was a kid.  My three brothers and I were hard on clothes, and my mother patched our jeans just to keep them in one piece.  My 2026 waxed jeans felt just like my 1960 patched jeans.  And I ought to know, because I remember that feeling quite well.  Matthew 9:16. “No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse.”  Often my newly patched jeans would tear at the point where the old cloth met the new patch.  Hey, God’s Word is accurate, whether it is 60 A.D. or 1960 A.D.  Keep your clothes in good order.  Keep your fellowship hall floor in good order.  And keep your spiritual soul in good order.  You keep your soul in good spiritual order by staying close to the dear Lord.  He can keep you in good order.  Yes, He can.

Wednesday, July 1, 2026

Confident?

 


When I bought a gently used 2012 Hyundai, I thought that I was in good shape.  No more breakdowns; no more stranded on the side of the road.  But one month later, I came out to find a flat tire.  Bummer.  I opened the trunk but found no spare tire or jack.  I got my floor jack from the garage and jacked up the car.  I reached for the tire wrench, but that was missing too.  Then I discovered locking lug nuts on the tire with no key in the glove box.  So, I got out my tire plugger, crawled under the car, and plugged the leak with the tire still on the car.  The next day I drove to the dealership (not in a good mood) to get new lug nuts, spare tire, tire wrench, and jack.  I only thought that I was ready for an emergency.  But when I actually had an emergency, I found out that I really wasn’t ready.  Hey, are you prepared for eternity?  Are you sure?  You don’t want to find out at the last minute that you aren’t prepared.  There isn’t a do-over after death.  The writer of the book of Hebrews said in Hebrews 9:27, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”  Prepare now for eternity while there is still time.  If you aren’t sure that you are prepared, please message me right now and let’s chat.  Don’t put it off; you may have an emergency today.

Tuesday, June 30, 2026

"Wh" File Folder

 


I got tired of searching for my file folder at cardiac rehab.  There were too many “W’s” in the “W” hanging file folder, so I had a clever idea.  I brought a hanging folder from home, a plastic tab, and a paper tab that I had labeled “Wh” with a Sharpie just like all of the other file folders   So now I have my own private file folder in the second drawer of the cardiac rehab file cabinet.  But my idea backfired because the cardiac rehab staff began filing everyone’s folders in my private hanging folder with those names alphabetically after “Whitely”.  Wilson, Williams, Wortman, … and the list goes on and on.  I am the victim of my own cleverness!  Ugg!  I Corinthians 10:12, “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.”  I may think that I am clever and wise, but the dear Lord is always wiser than any of us.  Yes, He is!