More is not always better...

Twice a month, I clean an office to make extra cash. Truth be told, we all know it ain't "extra". Actually, I began this miserable chore wonderful opportunity several years ago to help pay for piano lessons and gymnastics. It really does work out well (usually) and pays quite nicely. In the summer, I make encourage with great authority, the girls to take turns going with me, so they can appreciate how humbling it is to clean up after people who are not your family and also understand that our family has made sacrifices in order to provide them the experience to pursue their hobbies and interests. O.K., all that blab blab to get to the point.

A little over a month ago, Hannah had an incident with her violin bow and the bow lost. Apparently it was behaving badly and Hannah's discipline method rendered it........well.......worthless. So, in an effort to purchase a new bow and also learn the rigid lessons in discipline, self-control and most importantly, MONEY DON'T GROW ON TREES, YA KNOW, Hannah has been my little employee.

I have enjoyed her company during the cleaning time, but we have had an especially good time just on the drive to and fro. She's quick with the comeback & full of wit and is one of the few people that make me truly laugh out loud. On the way home, we pulled through a car wash so we could take Big Daddy's truck back to him in pristine condition. While we waited this big ol' white school bus with an obnoxiously loud engine pulled into the gas station. We both laughed hysterically at what we saw.

The bus was basically a diner on wheels and there was no hankering that these guys couldn't satisfy. Here's a list of the delectable items you could purchase:

Sub Sandwiches, Chips, Cookies (normal enough, right), Philly Steak Sandwiches, Candy, Oysters (yep, right after the steak sandwiches), pudding, hamburgers, steamed crab legs......CRAB LEGS ON A SCHOOL BUS!!!! Who is the brave soul that eats crab and oyster off a school bus? I am a seafood lover, but I draw the line when the exhaust smell is competing for my attention.

I know I have whet your appetite for more, so here ya go. You could also get snow-cones and shrimp.......Oh yeah, and cigarettes.

My thought on this food fair was that how could any of it possibly taste good? I mean, the chips and candy were fine because they were prepared in a place that focused on making chips and candy. The other stuff would have to all taste like imitation something-or-other, fried up in some portable vat of grease. You really shouldn't half-way do something as special as crab legs or oysters because when you miss the mark on this kind of seafood, you get something downright vile and might I say....dangerous???

Focusing on too many things in order to please the masses will always yield the same results....more quantity, less quality. The effort to make so many different kinds of food, leaves most of the food lacking in something. More often the food that is the least healthy and of the lowest value will taste mostly like it should. However, the higher end product will suffer the most. It is more costly to purchase, more time consuming to prepare and requires a higher price from the consumer.

This old white bus is a great portrait of people today.. This defines who we are in 2007. A people who want a bus that serves kool-aid on ice and oysters. We want a school that takes our kids early, keeps them all day, teaches them *everything* they need to know, and absolve us of any responsibility. We want a store that sells all things-all the time. We want jobs where we can do what we "dream" of, but without any hard work, dedication, or disappointment.

Church is hardly the exception, but more often the rule. What do the people want?

Oh, the people would like to come dressed more casually? No problem. How about Flip-Flop Friday, Sundress Saturday, & Short-shorts Sunday?

What's that? The people would like to sing more and pray less?
Oh, and hear less preaching.... No problem. Everybody likes some good singing.

Question now is what kind of singing? Ohhhhhh, we need ALL kinds of singing. Country & Western, Pop, Rock & Roll, Traditional, Blue Grass, Hip-Hop, you name it, we got it.

Oh, yeah and the preacher can't say Crucifixion, Jesus Christ, resurrection, and sin. Sin is an absolute deal-breaker. People hate to hear that. Can you cut that out? Certainly, we can cut that out. We certainly don't want anyone to be offended.

Do remember though that when we focus on flip-flops, electric guitars, laser light shows and shallow thoughts from a motivational speaker RATHER than God's Word you will end up with everything tasting rather bland, possibly even vile, and might I say......dangerous?

"For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear." 2 Timothy 4:3