Saturday, May 9, 2009

Appearances are/can be Deceiving

When you see this picture below, from last year, of TinkaBelle, you may think (correctly) that she absolutely loves water and her swimming pool. So it is possible to jump to the conclusion that she can swim (which most dogs seem to be able to do), but then it would be WRONG! We learned this the hard way while in our neighbor's backyard. Michael and I went down to the far end of her big backyard when I casually looked back for Tinka, who was standing near the pool while we walked away...there was No Tinka, so we rushed to the pool and there she was...head barely up and tail pointing straight down (this is not one dog you want to rescue you at sea). Michael grabbed her and pulled her out...I'm not sure who was more shaken up...Tinkabelle or us!
Now, in this picture you might assume that Tinkabelle is a party animal and...you would be right! BUT she doesn't like this dressing up business even though she may look "enthralled" here.
This picture was posted before, but bears repeating because one could be judgemental here as well and think...hmmm, Michael has found a new woman (or Michael is nuts) and only one of those statements would be true! Much as he likes Haggatha (he even named her), he is sticking with his redhead and agreeing that there are a few screws loose in his head.

Finally, I leave you with a puppy picture of TinkaBelle all dressed up (this was a huge challenge) in a matching scarf and dress (Michael and she had a wrestling match here) and as happy as she doesn't look...you are right, 100% right on this one, no "deception".

It is not only our eyes that deceive us at times, but our other senses come into play, too. We often judge by smell (too much perfume/after shave, too little) or sound (too shrill, too haughty) or touch (too rough, too slick)...yes, there is a point here. I had a really good friend but if I hadn't been in her prayer group and just met her at church, I probably would have shied away from her (and missed out on great Christian sharing) as she wore lots and I mean LOTS of perfume (with my sensitive nose, I did hug her, but at times, 'cautiously'). Another almost missed opportunity would have been my terrific friend Nancy...what I mistook for haughty and a "no one matters that much" attitude was really a super busy, preoccupied with doing so much at once problem (I was trying to get supplies from her for teaching a Confirmation class). As for rough and slick, I would have missed out on great, but rough handshakes, the feel of wood etc. etc. MY lesson was to be open no matter what the visual or senses say, so that God can do His work in this world and me.


Although this joke is cute, I'll bet the Christian lady did nothing to bring the atheist closer to believing in God!


Praise the Lord!


There's a little old Christian lady living next door to an atheist. Every morning the lady comes out onto her front porch and shouts "Praise the Lord!".
The atheist yells back, "There is no God".
She does this every morning with the same result. As time goes on, the lady runs into financial difficulties and has trouble buying food. She goes out onto the porch and asks God for help with groceries, then says "Praise the Lord".
The next morning she goes out onto the porch and there's the groceries she asked for, and of course, she shouts "Praise the Lord!!!".
The atheist jumps out from behind a bush and says, "Ha, I bought those groceries - there is no God".
The lady looks at him and smiles, she shouts "Praise the Lord, not only did you provide for me Lord, you made Satan pay for the groceries!!"


I've been trying to like this bottom joke more, but even the site where I got it only rated it a 3 on a scale of 5. Maybe with some tweaking, sort of like you have to do with some recipes?


Brownie recipe
Here's a recipe to make Mom's famous brownies!
Remove teddy bear from oven and preheat oven to 375.
Melt 1 cup margarine in saucepan.
Remove teddy bear from oven and tell Jr "no, no."
Add margarine to 2 cups sugar.
Take shortening can away from Jr and clean cupboards.
Measure 1/3 cup cocoa.
Take shortening can away from Billy again and bathe cat.
Apply antiseptic and bandages to scratches sustained while removing shortening from cat's tail.
Assemble 4 eggs, 2 tsp. vanilla, and 1-1/2 cups sifted flour.
Take smoldering teddy bear from oven and open all doors and windows for ventilation.
Take telephone away from Jr. and assure party on the line the call was a mistake. Call operator and attempt to have direct dialed call removed from bill.
Measure 1 tsp. salt, 1/2 cup nuts and beat all ingredients well.
Let cat out of refrigerator.
Pour mixture into well-greased 9x13 inch pan. Bake 25 minutes.
Rescue cat and take razor away from Billy.
Explain to kids that you have no idea if shaved cats will sunburn.
Throw cat outside while there's still time and he's still able to run away.
Frosting--Mix the following in saucepan: 1 cup sugar 1 oz unsweetened chocolate 1/4 cup margarine.
Take the %$$&#&% teddy bear out of the @#$% broiler and throw it away -- far away.
Answer the door and meekly explain to nice policeman that you didn't know Jr had slipped out of the house and was heading for the street.
Put Jr. in playpen.
Add 1/3 cup milk, dash of salt, and boil, stirring constantly for 2 minutes.
Answer door and apologize to neighbor for Billy having stuck a garden hose in man's front door mail slot. Promise to pay for ruined carpet.
Tie Billy to clothesline.
Remove burned brownies from oven.
~~~Thank you Lord for blessing/teaching us the ways in which we are blind and for opening our eyes.

10 comments:

  1. This was a great post with great pictures! I am so guilty of judging people by my first impressions, but thank the Good Lord, He has let me see beyond because two of my very close friends today were two women I did not care for at all when I first laid eyes on them!! One ended up being my best friend all through high school (and we're still very close today) and the other women who I felt I had nothing in common with turned out to be one woman that I share so many interests with, we are almost inseparable now! There is a family member too when I first met her I did not like her at all, and now we are best of friends! So your post "Appearance Can Be Deceiving" rings so true for me!
    And I loved that joke at the end! It reminded me of Erma Bombeck's humor!
    Great post, Marcy, I enjoyed it so much!

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  2. I'm with you on the appearances thing. God has really been dealing with me about not being so judgmental. I will miss out on a lot of blessings if I let my attitude keep others at arms' length.

    Thanks for this great post!

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  3. You see this is EXACTLY why I don't like to bake!

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  4. Si, es verdad, como se juzga a lasersonas por su apariencia...y me gusta ver cómo, lo haces notar con tus preciosas mascotas!! besitos!

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  5. Love the lesson here. &:o) It is so easy to judge by appearance. One of the nices guys I've ever met is a big, scary looking biker-dude kinda guy that at first glance would intimidate a sumo wrestler ~ but he's a pussy cat (my brother!)... And a friend of mine in high school told me, to my great consternation, that she was afraid to be my friend at first because she thought I looked like a snob. (gee...me??) , but she was glad she was wrong, she said. &:o)Thank goodness!

    Love the little old lady joke! And, the one about making brownies ~ that can't be a joke; that's my life.

    Blessings on Mother's Day, Marcy! Hope it's a wonderful day!

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  6. Mr Bear here, Marcy.
    Would you please stop giving my mother ideas. Now she thinks that I'd look cute in a clown birthday hat tomorrow!
    It's all your doing!!!!!!!!

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  7. Marcy, I learned this lesson many years ago but it is so nice to be reminded every once in awhile. Tinkabelle is so cute, know wonder you and Mike enjoy her so much. Blessings to you Marcy and may you have a Happy Mother's Day....:-) Hugs, Bernie

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  8. Thanks Marcy for visiting my blog - I love it when someone I haven't met before turns up. You're not over-perfumed are you? JOKE!

    A girl I worked with years ago, B, had a very strong BO, as though she hadnt showered for a couple of weeks, and people used to avoid her like the plague. She took to sitting with me in my office every lunchtime, which made my office smell all afternoon. I did love chatting with her though and I hit on the brilliant idea of me minding the Switchboard at lunchtime, so everybody was happy except the regular switchboard operator! HOW HORRID WAS THAT!!! It turned out B showered twice a day but she had a sweat glands problem and didn't know what to do about it. Eventually she had surgery which solved her problem but I was sorry what I did to the switchboard operator! I would like to hope that B and I would have carried on being friends even if she had carried on being smelly but she moved away after her marriage.

    So now I try not to make snap judgements.

    Love and blessings all day long,
    Angie, xx (can you all hear me at the back)

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  9. what a great post!! I think we're all guilty sometimes of misjudging people. I really try hard not to. When I was growing up my Mom instilled in me that you never know when someone might be an angel. So, I've always tried to be very cautious and kind to everyone. I LOVE the pics of your sweet doggy!! She is adorable!! Love, Jerelene

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  10. As usual I just loved your post. Your pictures are wonderful. Charli can relate to Tinkabell because she doesn't like to dress up either LOL Now Charli is thinking she just might want a little pool of her own. Oh my, Now look what you've started LOL I hope you have a lovely evening ♥

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