Crock Pots & Microwaves

Bear Truth tagged along with Pastor Jim and Pat to their church’s annual marriage retreat! This appears to be a time when married couples dump their kids with relatives so they can act like kids for a weekend. It was also a time for the ladies to be pampered and the men to play the role of white knight.

There were some serious moments, when the group would allow it, for the guest speaker, Bro Rodney, to share some insight about marriage and the marriage relationship. For example, the first night I learned that men are like microwaves and women are like crock pots. Men tend to quickly make decisions and act while ladies are more prone to think things out. Men heat up quickly while the gals come to a slow boil. I can testify of this to be true between Sister Pat and Pastor Jim. I can also confirm that, while these differences can be a source of conflict, they can also be a source of strength and can actually complement one another.

However, I do have a problem! Every time I now look at Pastor Jim, he looks like the broken down microwave we carried to garbage a few years ago and Sister Pat looks like the shimmering new crock pot we purchased last spring. Don’t tell Pastor Jim but that is the Bear Truth.

Witticisms about Marriage

"All married couples should learn the art of battle as they should learn the art of making love. Good battle is objective and honest--never vicious or cruel. Good battle is healthy and constructive, and brings to a marriage the principle of equal partnership." -Ann Landers, Ann Landers Says Truth Is Stranger..., 1968

"For two people in a marriage to live together day after day is unquestionably the one miracle the Vatican has overlooked." -Bill Cosby

"All young women begin by believing they can change and reform the men they marry. They can't." -George Bernard Shaw

"Love seems the swiftest, but it is the slowest of all growths. No man or woman really knows what perfect love is until they have been married a quarter of a century." -Mark Twain

"A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person." -Mignon McLaughlin

Road Trip Signs

Few remember the old Burma-Shave signs that once appeared along the road as you traveled. They were cute and catchy but also offered some really good advise for drivers. Below are a few I have gathered. Enjoy! And if you are under 30, learn from the wisdom.

On curves ahead
Remember, sonny
That rabbit's foot
Didn't save
The bunny
Burma-Shave

A guy
Who drives
A car wide open
Is not thinkin'
He's just hopin'
Burma-Shave

Violets are blue
Roses are pink
On graves
Of those
Who drive and drink
Burma-Shave

He tried
To cross
As fast train neared
Death didn't draft him
He volunteered
Burma-Shave

Bear’s Road Trip

Bear has spent a few days in Milan Illinois, which is near Moline Illinois. Sister Pat was visiting her mother. Sister Pat’s mother is eight-two years young and can proof it. She can and did keep up with the best of shoppers including Sister Pat. That is really saying something since Sister Pat believes her spiritual gift is shopping.

Today we took a road trip looking for a quilting store that took us about thirty miles out of town only to find that the store had closed a few months earlier. On the way back Sister Pat tried to find an old school she had once attended using one of Pastor Jim’s newest toys, a GPS. Either the GPS is broken or Sister Pat programmed it wrong because we ended on gravel road going no where. I sat quietly as the discussed matter!

There is a little wisdom to be found in our gravel road adventure. If you really want true guidance on where you are going and the right way to go then depend on the Bible – people and doohickeys can let you down. When it comes to knowing God’s will for your life don’t look to horoscopes or the crowd for direction, look to the Word. And that’s the Bear Truth!

Vacation Witticisms

“Vacation is what you take when you can't take what you've been taking any longer.”

“On vacations: We hit the sunny beaches where we occupy ourselves keeping the sun off our skin, the saltwater off our bodies, and the sand out of our belongings.” -Erma Bombeck

“A vacation is like love - anticipated with pleasure, experienced with discomfort and remembered with nostalgia”

Babies don't need a vacation but I still see them at the beach. I'll go over to them and say, 'What are you doing here, you've never worked a day in your life!'. -- Stephen Wright

No man needs a vacation so much as the person who has just had one. -- Elbert Hubbard

Bear goes to church

I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD. - Psalms 122:1

With the arrival of summer (Officially starting June 21st), many will answer the call of the sun and make their way to vacation activities. Bear Truth has no problem with vacations or the enjoyment of summer but he does worry when people put recreation before worship.

Do as bear does, always take the time to gather with the people of God and give the honor and glory the Lord is worthy of on the Lord’s Day. It may surprise you to find that the joy of summer can be found in the presences of the Lord.

Bear Sees Red and Meets Attitude

Delbert, also known by his friends as Red, had a visit from Bear the other day. Red has suffered a stroke. After a four week stay in the hospital, Red has spent the last three weeks in Rehab. Bear was happy to see that his friend was making great progress despite this major set back in his life. A few minutes with Red and you would understand why. Delbert has a great attitude.

When it comes to life, attitude can either be a great obstacle or a super energy. A bad attitude will insure defeat; and a good attitude can help you climb mountains. And the wonderful thing about attitude is that it’s infectious – you can catch it. Be around someone with a bad attitude and there is a good chance you’ll leave with a bad attitude. Bear left the Rehab Unit with a positive attitude. If Bear should visit you, would he leave with a good or bad attitude?

Attitude Witticisms

“The problem is not the problem; the problem is your attitude about the problem”

“Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” - Winston Churchill

“Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude” - Zig Ziglar

“A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.” - Herm Albright

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.” - Charles R. Swindoll

Money Facts

About 43% of American families spend more than they earn each year. The latest statistics on consumer credit from the Federal Reserve says that average American family owes about $18,654 per household, a figure that doesn’t include mortgage debt. (Source: How does your debt compare?)

Money Witticisms

"Money grows on the tree of patience." -Proverb

"Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can." John Wesley

"Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pound ought and six, result misery." - Charles Dickens David Copperfield

"If you would be wealthy, think of saving as well as getting." - Benjamin Franklin

"The safest way to double your money is to fold it over and put it in your pocket." - Kin Hubbard

"Never spend your money before you have it." - Thomas Jefferson

Creditors have better memories than debtors. -Benjamin Franklin

A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore. -Yogi Berra

The real measure of your wealth is how much you'd be worth if you lost all your money. -Unknown

Wisdom from an Ant Hole

Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: (Proverbs 6:6)

While most ladies do not want ants in their home, all families would gain from having a few of the ants’ traits in their life. Ants are industrious little creatures who understand the importance of saving – a trait few American families have.

James J. Hill gave this advice on success and the necessity of saving money:

If you want to know whether you are destined to be a success or a failure in life, you can easily find out. The test is simple and it is infallible. Are you able to save money? If not, drop out. You will lose … You will lose as sure as you live. The seed of success is not in you.

I don’t suggest to check out or “drop out” if you have not been a saver but I do suggest that you get into the game and start saving. Think you’re too old? A funny thing about ants, they never stop storing up food. They never stop saving! They save in the spring and in the fall. Even if all you can do is put a dollar a week in a plastic bank, consider the ant and start saving. And that’s the Bear Truth