OMG! A talking rat!!!

Hello everybody,

The news and reports on the culture have been so depressing last week (no matter what side you take) that I avoided as much of the daily news as I could, listening to jazz in my car on the way to and from work (I’m old school – Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Wes Montgomery, etc.) relaxing with meditation podcasts, and working on my Marvel Civil War and Deadpool coloring books -they are actually stress reliving books for adults, no nudity…just ask a nerd.
In the spirit of needing a break, below are some goofy jokes sent to me by my daughter Taylor. As I get older, I enjoy the natural belly laugh from a good goofy joke as opposed to profanity-laden stuff from young comics. People like Jim Gaffigan, Martin Short, Sinbad and Ellen Degeneres are skillful at being funny without going “blue”, so I don’t have to worry about immediately turning down the volume when my 12 year old comes downstairs. Feel free to share with your toddlers/middle schoolers. They will roll their eyes, but it’s quality time too.
Without further ado, and for your reading pleasure…take it away, Taylor…

Why can’t your nose be 12 inches long? Because then it would be a foot.
What did the traffic light say to the car? Don’t look, I’m about to change.
Why can’t 101 dalmatians can’t play hide and seek? Because they’d get SPOTTED.
What did one coat say to the other? You go ahead, I’ll just hang over here.
God spelled backward is Dog…I just found out the Lord is my Shepard.
Why was the little strawberry crying? His mom was in a jam.
How do you befriend a squirrel? Just act like a nut.
Two rats are in an alley eating garbage. The first rat says, “The stale hamburgers are not so bad today.” The second rat says, “OMG! A talking rat!!!”

I’d like to leave you with a passage of scripture I heard in church today. I’ve felt that leading a family with love is always more effective than leading by fear, or without engagement. 1 Corinthians 1-13 for me really breaks down how love is a strength, and should not be considered as being “soft”.   We just might need to do a lot more listening, and a lot less judgement based on surface perception (New American Standard Bible):
1. If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.
4. Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5. Love does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6. Love does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8. Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. 9. For we know in part and we prophesy in part; 10. But when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. 11. When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. 12. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. 13. But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Love is a strong, impactful force..  We’re all here because of love.  The only way we will survive will be because of love.

Have a great week.