God's Penman
The Reverend James L. Snyder is an award winning author whose writings have appeared in more than eighty periodicals including GUIDEPOSTS. In Pursuit of God: The Life of A. W. Tozer, Snyder?s first book, won the Reader?s Choice Award in 1992 by Christianity Today. Snyder has authored 8 books altogether.
Rev. James L. Snyder has a knack for making fun of daily frustrations and will increase your humor aptitude so you too can discover that life is less stressful when you?re laughing. Through these essays, you will realize that humor and religion belong together and that its OK to keep from taking yourself and others too seriously.
If anybody believes in "do-over," it is Yours Truly. This stems back to my pre-adult days littered with carefreeness and fun of all sizes and shapes. At that time, my whole life revolved around games. I was part of that unfortunate generation that had to make up their own games, as we were not privileged to have video games, iPods and Blueberries. Although I did enjoy a freshly baked blueberry pie with two scoops of ice cream whenever the opportunity presented itself.
One rule we had in our made-to-order games was quite simple and practical. If anybody fouled up in some way, he had 3 seconds to yell "Do-over." If the person was able to yell this before anybody else discovered the foul, they had the privilege of doing it all over again. I always thought this a very nice rule and used it quite generously.
Unfortunately, when I became a man (whenever that sad day happened, and my wife is still trying to find out when) I did not put away all of my boyish pranks. The one I carried over into adulthood was this attitude of "do-over."
Read more: The Amazing Grace of "Do-Over," the Art of Second Chance
From a practical standpoint, and if I am anything I am practical, well, practically, this year has gone by rather quickly. The fact I have survived this past year has to count for something.
Every family has those traditions and days that help define their family. I personally know some families (although I shall not divulge any names unless there is enough cash present) that are adequately defined by April 1. For me, Christmas Eve clearly defines me.
Our home, like every other home this time of year, bears the decorations of the Christmas season. This is all thanks to the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage. My assigned role in the whole Christmas affair was to keep out of her way. And, out of her way, I kept.
Now that Thanksgiving is over, I am able to sit back and recoup from the activity. I'm not sure about anybody else, but a holiday such as Thanksgiving takes a lot out of me. Of course, it puts a lot in me, but that's another story.