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Oktoberfest 2011

Saturday was the official opening of Oktoberfest. This is a festival that Jeff and I look forward to celebrating each year. This year, Oktoberfest began 9/17/11 and ends 10/03/11. Taking into consideration family travel arrangements, we will be extending Oktoberfest one additional week; officially ending this yearly tradition on Saturday 10/08/11.

Saturday the 8th, also marks the last day of Yom Kippur, a Jewish holiday that celebrates the atonement for sins. It actually marks the day God forgave the Israelites for worshiping a golden cafe while Moses was up on the mountain getting the 10 commandments. Isn’t that an image? God/Moses vs. People and a cow. There are times I find it difficult to see humans as the intelligent species.  Yom Kippur is to be a day of fasting. Fasting vs. brats, pretzels and beer? There can be challenges when one tries to merge traditions from a German, Jewish and Scottish heritage. This year Oktoberfest will be celebrated and Yom Kippur will be remembered.

The invitations have been sent, menu planned, recipes collected. Each year we try to incorporate a new aspect, this year the addition is Lederhosen…oi, we’ll see how that goes. So the count down begins, 19 days to prepare.

Check out the History of Oktoberfest:    http://www.ofest.com/history.html

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The Easy Road

Something happens to us between being a teenager and having teenagers of our own. What we as teens thought was adventure somehow becomes danger. What we saw as a challenge becomes foolishness. We want to protect our kids from any struggles, any danger; we want them to be on the easy road.

My son had a choice nine months ago to take the easy road. He could have taken one child and ran, but instead he stayed to fight for four. Just this week I found myself saying, “God, please make his road easy.” Then I heard that voice…”Jeannie, why would you want his road to be easy? He didn’t choose the easy one!” He didn’t choose what was easy and as a result, there is going to be struggles. He took the tough road.

If you have started your own business; you’ve taken the tough road.
If you are attempting to break out of a difficult relations – tough road.
If you are determined to free yourself from an addiction – tough road.
If you’re trying to climb out from under piling debt – tough road.

The tough road has many exits, unlike the easy road; who wants to exit that one? For those who have chosen the tough road, I pray that your load is manageable and that you have the strength, endurance, and determination to make it to the end. May you only turn off to rest and never to exit. Tonight I salute those who have decided to take the tough road.

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Don’t know nothin’

The speaker paused and said, “You sit around whining and complaining saying, ‘Why doesn’t God use me?’ (pause) Because you don’t know nothin’! Would you use you?”  Each time I replay it in my mind, I laugh.

Our world is full of experts who don’t know nothin’. This doesn’t prevent them from shouting their non-expertise from the rooftops. There are a handful of individuals who truly are experts, we don’t hear about them much – they have no need to shout.

I wonder if there is a course offered to the true experts on dealing with the experts who don’t know nothin’. I envision the textbook being very large to compensate for the lack of pages. There’s not much to say on the subject besides simple concepts such as:

  1. Don’t bother
  2. It’s a waste of your time.
  3. They won’t listen anyway.
  4. You have more important things to do.
  5. Just keep learning, they’ll figure it out someday.

I want to be a true expert. I want to know what I believe about life. And when I don’t, I want the guts to be able to say, “Don’t know about that yet, so I can’t comment.” I want to be so confident in what I know that I stop getting angry when I hear the experts who don’t know nothin’ shouting. I guess I need to take the course on dealing with the experts who don’t know nothin’. After all, most of what they say is non-sense; and as a wise old man once told me, “You can’t make sense of non-sense!”

I am wondering, would you use you?

 

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FFF…free from fear

I had the privilege to observe someone who had been living in fear, suddenly begin to live without fear. It was amazing! There was a noticeable change. It was obvious, it was measurable, it was contagious!

Living in fear of what is ahead, or what others may think or what might happen, affects the way we make decisions, even the smallest ones. Watching someone move from being fearful to being fearless is like watching some amazing event in nature unfold before you.

It not only impacts decision-making, it changes conversations, attitudes, level of happiness, and energy levels. Living free of fear draws other in, its like a magnet (unlike the maggots that fear creates).

I don’t think there’s a formula for becoming free for fear. If I had it, I would be writing a book not a blog. I do know it’s worth searching for it. It’s worth making the decision to become free. It’s worth taking step toward the goal. I highly recommending hanging out with others that are free…cause it’s a sight to behold.

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Today He’s 30

Thirty years ago today he was born. The doctor who delivered him was called away from his son’s wedding to do so, it was apparent he had been celebrating a bit too much to be the doctor on call. But he made it and so did Raun Alexander Bruenning.

From the beginning Raun has been my laughter. He has also been so far ahead of me that it’s almost impossible to keep up. He learned to walk on his tip toes, never a good sign. He couldn’t hold still for a moment – something always had to be moving. He was the teacher’s helper in pre-school because he could put all the puzzles together by the age of 2 , while carrying on a conversation. He scored a 150 on the IQ test given to him in kindergarten. He was reading John Gresham when he was in 5th grade.

The aliens came and took him away as they do with most teens, but he was safely returned when he was 20.  It took awhile for him to decide to go to college,  when he did, he effortlessly made the Deans List all 4 years.

He stepped into a situation that most would have run from and in doing so, he learned about himself and how to get free. He defines what being a dad is. He is “My son in whom I am well pleased!” …and he still keeps me laughing.

Raun’s story: http://hereshoping471.wordpress.com