Points2Ponder By Alan P. Scaglione

                                        

Points2Ponder

You’d be surprised what you can find…at a yard sale!

My wife and I went with our friends Sandy and Derrick to their little town’s monthly yard sale. Happens first Saturday of each month. All the residents bring out their stuff and line up their display units for a few blocks, lining both sides of the road, right down Mainstreet SmalltownUSA.

You just never know what you will see…just when you think you’ve seen it all, there comes along:

A woman selling handmade adult bibs, for the elderly who have reached the place in life when…they need a bib.

I just never thought of that!

Or a ViewMaster with all 30 original disks. Kids today would be so bored to be forced to use it, but…my generation remembers it well.

How about a 1963 Archie Comics comic book—originally sold for 12 cents but…you can be the proud owner for only a dollar—what a steal!

I was taken aback by an old school desk. Not from 100 years ago—no, this one was about 45 years old. I remembered it well. I got stuck in that desk every day! I was that rotund boy who never quite fit in the school desk, the one with the fixed arm and desktop with the built in pencil holder. Yep—that was me. Squeezed in the desk- everyday!

So… sometimes, what you find takes you back to days gone by…and you’re glad—they’re long gone by!

Oh the things you can find…at a yard sale!

Like a metal mannequin made out of washers—I have to admit, I was mesmerized. I had to touch it…and I did! And my friend Sandy observed this moment—and she laughed out loud—literally, not the way we type LOL—she really did laugh out loud!

Glad there was NOT a picture to go with that memory!   Embarrassing!

POINTS2PONDER  Why is it that one man’s junk can be another man’s treasure? Why does one man throw away what another’s been searching for? Why does it take someone else wanting it for us to know how much we want to keep it? What does it take for us to just be grateful for what we have?

And in the midst of all of this-- I found it!

And it only cost a dollar!

What a find!

In a pile of stuff marked—“Everything’s a Dollar!”

It was my life’s mantra— being picked up and put back by everybody else—just waiting for me!

I say this every day of my life; at work, at home, on the phone, to myself.

And I had never run across it on a piece of wood, painted for all to see!

It said, “It’s All Good! My attitude is gratitude!”

I just stopped and did that LOL—literally! I could not believe it—there it was, just waiting for me—I’d been waiting my whole life to find it..and it was only a dollar!

You could tell it was a relic from the 1970’s – one of those catchphrases that apparently did NOT catch on—except with me!

It’s the way I live…it’s what I say, sometimes sincerely, sometimes…sarcastically, but…I really DO say it every day!

“It’s all good!” and I shrug my shoulders and smile that smile that says…it’s just good to be alive!

Do you ever feel that way? No matter how many curves in the road, you know--.you can still see the sun in the horizon, and…It’s all good!

Maybe you need someone to want something you have that you take for granted…before you will realize the value in what you have in your hand!

Like your health? Or your spouse? Or your kids? Or your grandkids? Or just your attitude toward life?

You’d be surprised-- the things we take for granted…others would die to have!

One man’s junk…just may be another man’s treasure!

It’s all good!

I'm Just Sayin by Alan P. Scaglione

“Our Princess MacieGirl—Tiara and Flipflops- Style All Her Own!”

                                          “I’m Just Sayin’”

                                                                 by Alan P. Scaglione

I woke up to the sound of rain outside my window.

And I thought, “into every sunshiny life, a little rain must fall!”

It’s Saturday morning, and I have had plans for us all week!

There’s this Art Festival in our town. I love to go and listen to the artisans talk about their craft.

Well….that’s not gonna happen!

Into every sunshiny life….a little rain must fall.

I have this friend. I have known him since he was about 17. He was always a dependable, honorable son and friend.

He has now grown into a dependable and honorable husband and father of two.

And tries so hard to provide a good life for his family and yet…there is always a little rain falling in his life.

And he questions? Why is this always happening to me? Just seems like I just get over one hurdle and BAM…there’s another.

I remind him that “Life is what happens when you’re making other plans!”

Remember: God will never lead us where He cannot feed us!

I have this saying-- “All you need to know “good”…is to have had bad!”

Into every sunshiny life…a little rain must fall.

Got a call from my daughter last night around 11:30pm!

She said, “You still up?”

Little does she know. I sleep with the cell phone always by my side, just in case…one of my three kids need me…I don’t want to miss their call!

She proceeded to tell me that my 4 year old princess of a granddaughter Macie is going to have her tonsils out and her tubes in her ears taken out and her eardrums patched, all at the same time.

I asked how Macie felt about that. You have to know my Macie. She is 4 yours old but!!! She is headstrong, knows what she wants AND what she doesn’t, and will not budge if she decides she does NOT want to do something. She is loud and energetic and…a noisy bundle of joy! I adore her!

“Macie has decided she is not having surgery!”

We both laughed. At 4 years old, our MacieGirl has made the decision that…she doesn’t know what surgery is, but she knows...she’s NOT having it!

My daughter says she is praying for grace to deal with her headstrong daughter. I chuckle to myself and remember…I had a headstrong daughter.

And now…she has one too! As a parent, sometimes life has a wonderful way of repeating itself!

Into every sunshiny life, a little rain must fall.

I hear stories every day. To me, they are stories. To them, they are “lives interrupted by…life!”

They were minding their own business, waiting at a traffic light when someone runs the light and plows right into them.

As is life, the person who ran the red light walked away…the person whose life was interrupted did not.

Or the 34 year old new mother who had to postpone chemo because she was pregnant…and is now in stage 4, no chance for remission.

I always tell them…”Life is what happens when you’re making other plans… and no one plans for this!”

Then I tell them that I will pray for them. Pray for strength, pray for patience, pray for understanding, pray for comfort, pray for hope.

Maybe a little rain is falling in your life?

Maybe your Saturday plans have been unexpectedly changed by the sound of rain outside your window?

Maybe life has happened while you were making other plans.

The Word reminds us in Matthew 5:45…”That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.”

All we need to know “good” is to have had bad!
Do we really appreciate the sun until after we have had days of rain?
Sometimes Life happens to remind us that…
We really do have this “great gift” God gave us called “our life”…
It just took some rain to remind us!
Instead of dreading the rain… why not learn to dance in it!

Until next time…

I’m Just Sayin’…

Brother “A”

Points2Ponder By Alan P. Scaglione

“Old Nano BlueEyes and his favorite sidekick—Jett!”

                                          Points2Ponder

Sometimes, it takes a child to state the obvious.

I spent the first day of our 2011 Fall Staycation with my grandson Jett at his new home in Wesley Chapel. They had moved in a few days earlier and my wife and I volunteered to help with the remains of moving…the fun stuff, unpacking.

We helped with whatever was needed, from unpacking to placing items in rooms to arranging furniture to purchasing some housewarming items.

Notice we didn’t say a word about cleaning? Precisely! The greatest part of moving into a brand spanking new home is—everything is CLEAN!

Definitely makes unpacking so much easier!

Jett and his Dad were with us all day, but…with chores to do, didn’t have a lot of time for what really mattered to me…until later in the day!

Then we got to the fun stuff…my time with Jett!

I had promised Jett that we could go swimming in the community pool—it’s a brand new community, so the pool is new also.

Jett loves to swim, and he had not been there yet, so…Nano got to take him first!

We get to the pool but don’t have any floaties for his arms, so Nano will have to hold him the whole time.

For those who know me and Jett…the first thing he does when he sees me is runs to me and lifts his arms for me to hold him, so…

Holding him will not be a problem

I hear you, I hear you…when he’s 25 and running for Nano to hold him-- that will be a whole different story!

But for now, he’s only two and a half, so…it’s okay, right? Sure it is!

POINTS2PONDER  Why is it that a child can see what’s right in front of them when so many adults just overlook and forget to see what’s staring right back at them? Sometimes, we need to state the obvious!

So…we are playing and jumping and letting Jett float above my outstretched arms.

There is shrieking and giggling and laughter – and that’s all coming from Nano!

Jett is having a great time jumping off the side of the pool into Nano’s arms!

He and I are making bubbles in the water—NOT THAT WAY—by blowing air onto the top of the water.

Jett is shrieking with joy!

I start to make a whirlpool effect in the pool, with Jett holding on to my arms.

 All of a sudden, Jett looks at me and smiles that smile that you only see when they have uncovered something new!

Jett screams, “Nano! Blue Eyes!”

And points at my eyes.

I couldn’t believe it…this two year old had just noticed Nano had blue eyes. All three of my kids have blue eyes and all three of my grandkids also.

But Jett just noticed my eyes for the first time.

 And…he just made my day!

I responded, “Yes, Nano has blue eyes and so does Jett!”

He pointed at his eyes with a quizzical look like, “I have blue eyes too?”

Then he laughed!

I thought it was over…a magical moment shared between grandfather and grandson.

Then he looks over at Nana, and points at her eyes, shrugs his shoulders and questions “Nana???”

I bust out laughing and go, “No, Nana has brown eyes!”

Jett looks at me and then looks at Nana and goes, “Sorry!”

How funny is that?

Jett (and Nana!) noticed what so many people have NEVER pointed out—Nano has blue eyes!

What is it in your view that you aren’t seeing?

Maybe we adults need to state the obvious—it may just be looking right back at us!

And who knows? You just may make someone’s day…just by noticing!

I'm Just Sayin by Alan P. Scaglione

“Simba and Mufasa—seems like just yesterday!”

                                          “I’m Just Sayin’”

                                                                 by Alan P. Scaglione

Picture it!

Mufasa lifts up his newborn son Simba above his head and says “all that you see will someday be yours, my son!”

It’s the perfect picture of parental pride, the age old connection between father and son.

Every father who has one son, just one son…knows… that sense of legacy.

I felt it.

Picture it!

9:41 am on February 21^st, 1985, the doctor lifts my son into the air, having just performed a C-section,

And says, “It’s a…” at the same time, my son decides to spray his new world, and I say, “yes, I see!”

And it begins…

Your sense that someday, “all I have, all I know, all I value…will be passed on to you, my son.”

You spend years trying to share lessons of life that you’ve learned, so…he will not have to re-invent the wheel!

At some point you realize-- this kid just wants to learn it all on his own, do his own thing and make his own mistakes.

In other words, he wants to figure it out himself, by himself, with no help from you.

This is not about holding on, it’s about letting go.

My son and his bride just moved into their brand spanking new house. Jett has a home!

It’s beautiful—4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 2 car garage.

It’s everything you would want for your child.

I told him this past week, “Well, it’s official. You are all grown up now. It wasn’t the getting married or the becoming a father that did it. No, now you have a mortgage—It’s official, you are a member of the middle class. We owe, we owe, so off to work we go!”

We both laughed.

But somewhere in the laughter, I realized, my son really had grown up, and now…it was his turn.

It was time for me to let go…

It was time to pass the baton…

To go from leading the race to…standing on the sideline, cheering him on as he now ran “his” race!

The race to work, to school, to home, to soccer practice, to cub scouts, to basketball games, to school events, to award ceremonies, to all the firsts he will experience as a parent, to graduation, to packing up the car as his son goes away to college(note to self-do NOT pack the laundry detergent in the same tote as you pack his X-box! It will NOT bode well!)

The race, the one you ran, the one you won!

Now, it’s his turn!

The Bible talks about running a race. The race of life.

“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us!” Hebrews 12:1

We who have run the race before him know...it’s a race of endurance; a marathon, not a sprint.

And the sin which so easily besets us? I have always found it to be - indifference. When we cease to care, we cease to live!

Remember when you taught him to ride his bike? You took off the training wheels and ran alongside him, holding on to the seat until…

Until that moment when…he was so excited about being able to ride and balance it all…he didn’t even notice that…

You had let go and he… was on his own!

Well…this time….he hasn’t noticed in a while and you have finally… let go!

And he’s doing just fine!

He’s learned to balance on his bike —his life!

It’s not just like yours, it’s his. He may not do things the way you taught him or showed him,

But they are his decisions to make and lessons to learn.

Remember, they are never mistakes as long as we learn from them!

As I walk into his brand new house, with his possessions, his way of doing things, his “home”…

I am overwhelmed… “my” Simba is now the King of “his” jungle!

And…there’s this sense of pride that only a father feels when he knows…he did a good job and, it’s okay to let go!

After all? Who ever saw an adult riding around with training wheels?

I’m Just Sayin’…

Brother “A”