A new way of thinking

The word of the season this year at our house is JOY. Our Christmas tree proclaims it as well as other signs posted around our house, even a dinner plate. It was our daughter Nancy who suggested that we change our grumpy attitudes about being tired and complaining about body hurts all the time. A better attitude would make our lives better! So now: It is not only the JOY of the birth of our Savior but the JOY of our lives long and well lived. We are JOYful that modern medicine has replaced body parts that ceased functioning well and brought Ann’s stroke back to a TIA with no lasting effects. Then our recovery from a major car wreck. We recognize JOY in the daily mail that brings cards and letters from friends who are near and far.

It is the season for Christmas programs for youth in churches and my great-grandsons didn’t disappoint Sunday evening at our Memorial Methodist Church. The theme was something like the Grinch That Stole Christmas. The acting was good and our eldest great-grandsons sang with the choir. Lots of proud people in the audience and the soup supper that followed was an added treat.

We are looking forward to the Peace Lutheran presentation upcoming at the Red Willow County Fairgrounds. The fine local parochial school Christmas program is the 14th and we won’t miss the Elementary School program to watch our grands in action. It is a JOYous time of year.

My buddies have packed it up and are gone. Deer camp won’t happen again until next year. In some ways, it was a bit of a disappointment this year as their mule deer tags were filled but they went zero on the whitetails. The problem, thanks to the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, the area given to hunt is somewhat limited in whitetail habitat. Additionally, I am not as acquainted with the landowners in the area that they were authorized to hunt in so getting permission was a bit of a problem. Then too it hasn’t been a good year for most wildlife in this area and the numbers to hunt are somewhat limited in comparison to what my hunters have experienced in the past.

Nebraska deer permits for out-of-state hunters are ridiculously expensive in my opinion. Of course, the Commission keeps all that revenue to spend at their leisure and none of it goes to the landowners that provide the habitat and feed for the animals that get hunted. Sadly this year all the areas around our local reservoir was off-limits for hunting. My opinion! Nevertheless, my hunting-minded friends enjoyed their stay in Nebraska. They liked the friendly people, the special Perks restaurant for morning breakfasts and the several caterers that brought them evening meals. Best of all they promise to be back next year to again convert my airplane hangar into a hunting camp for the 18th year.

The war continues in Israel. Now the news is that Hamas will kill all of their hostages if the IDF doesn’t call for a ceasefire. Can you imagine the heartbreak from fear of those who have relatives or friends of those who are held hostage? Of course, that is why Hamas took the hostages in the first place. And then there are those in our country who are marching to demonstrate in defense of the Palestinians!

It has been interesting to watch Representative Elise Stefanic grill the powers that be of some of our Ivy League schools on their tolerance for those who are anti-Jewish. Some of our higher learning institutions are just plain rotten for their stance on what they are teaching their students in this day and age. It is not in accordance with the teaching of Christianity of which our country was founded. It is time that we clean out the rot in our higher institutions of higher learning. I am so thankful that we aren’t having the same problems with our schools in Nebraska. Vote wisely!

Remember: “I have no greater JOY than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth.” 3John 1:4

That is how I saw it.

Dick Trail