Thursday, June 13, 2013

The Andy Griffith Show

It's the Andy Griffith Show! Starring Andy Griffith and Ron Howard. Brought to you by the Gorgeous Grandma club!

Every day at noon, monday through friday, after a morning of homeschool drama, my boys and I would anticipate their dad walking through the door finished with work for the day, throw off his baseball cap, take off his boots and join the three of us in front of the TV with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich .
It was lunch time at the Donaldsons and we loved watching the kooky, ridiculous, but moral inducing TV entertainment...The Andy Griffith show.

When I first met my husband I witnessed him sitting in his apartment with his guy friends watching their favorite show.  It didn't take long for me to realize they all thought this was the best thing since sliced bread. It was a ritual every day for as long as my history with my husband goes back. They all slept in till 11:30 or 12 after closing the resturant/bar the night before then congregated in the nearest apartment. Yawning and rubbing their eyes they leaned forward as soon as they heard the whistling theme song. Then derogatory comments and gutteral laughing and snickering continued until the 30 min. show ended.
  I never understood why any of them liked the fumbling, bumbling deputy (my husbands favorite) or the town drunk (he always looked greasy), the plump Aunt Bea (who I swear these guys thought was real and often dreamt there would be a pie stting in their window when they returned to their apartment) or the goofy, simple minded gas attendent (Gomer or was it Goober). But they did and it didn't take long for my two little Opies to fall in love with their daddy's favorite retroTV show.
Over the years I have met other women with husbands who loooooove Mayberry and all it entails. And of course we have quickly become friends. By golly if you can get two men who have something in common like the Andy Griffith Show you have conquered the myth that men are not relational!

So......the gorgeous grandmas had a Mayberry gathering. We potlucked...
Miss Ellie brought Confetti Vegetables, Charlene brought Wilted Lettuce Salad, Helen brought Honor Rolls, Aunt Bea brought Write-On Chicken Marsala, and Thelma Lou brought Very Chocolate Cheesecake.
Miss Peggy supplied an array of soda pop. Opie, Andy, Harold, Goober, Barney, and Earnest T. all came. We enjoyed the delicious meal then watched an episode of the Andy Griffith show. O did I mention that there is a Bible study that goes along with several of the episodes? yup that's right! Someone capitalized on the man cave gathering actually realizing there were some pretty good moral endings to these shows. So we watched the episode (for those of you who know these shows frontwards and backwards) of Opie deciding he didn't want to work for his allowance anymore. Then we circled around the fire pit in the backyard dicussing why Andy said this and Opie did that.
One guy(I think it was Harold) commented that the show was not real.(obviously not an avid Mayberry fan) It was just a show and you can make anything happen in a show. It all turns out just the way it should! GASP! O my goodness, I think a slight prick tried to burst a bubble but the rest of them nipped it in the bud. Nope this was real life and these are real people with the same issues you and I have. We can learn from this! Such is life in the Mayberry bubble.

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Number 2

NUMBER 2  from my  "Some of the Most Important Lessons I've Learned" blog post.


2. In  alot of cases some people don't have a clue if they just hurt you or offended you. Think the best of people and extend grace and forgive. You've probably done the same thing to someone.

Forgiveness...it's a way to start fresh.
Because I believe in Jesus, the ultimate forgiver, I have learned with out a doubt that forgiveness makes the heart grow fonder.
Some one once said "When you forgive it becomes your story not their story." such truth.

I suggested one day on a birthday road trip with my sisters and mom that we should invent a game called "Assume". Since  "assuming " can get you into trouble and almost always makes an "ASS out of U and ME" (wise words spoken from my little sister) it is a catalyst for offense. Jesus tells us not to be offended. As believers we are to brush the dust from our shoes and move on forgiving and leaving it all behind. So much easier when you read it, not so much easier to do it. I am talking about those day to day little foxes that get into your garden. The annoying, harrassing thoughts that we carry in our heads when we are judging or grumbling.  Someone just jabbed at you with a word or their body language looked rejecting. Let's play the Assuming Game! "She didn't even acknowledge me when she walked by! I must have done something wrong." "I haven't heard from him for days. I guess he took what I said seriously. I was just kidding!"
Yes Assumptions! Later you find she just found out her mom has cancer and she didn't notice you. Or he was so busy with the event he was in charge of he didn't have time to call and he can't even remember what you said a few days ago. So many of us have been in those places. So why not "assume" the best of someone rather than the worse. I don't know ...is it human nature?...maybe it's self centerness. It's more than likely a poor self image with super sized insecurities.
I have been caught in the middle of an explosive discussion because someone assumed I was doing something deliberately in spite of them. It just was not so no matter how I tried to explain my side of the situation. And I've been the one who has assumed. For that I have had regrets. So I have tried to quietly go to my prayer closet, sit before the ultimate Forgiver, and tell Him I forgive so and so even if they don't know they hurt me.
It works.... It changes my heart towards that person and I am released from my hurt feelings, my anger and feelings of rejection.  It becomes my story instead of theirs.
Take the high road and think the best of people. If it turns out to be wrong you haven't lost anything.