Just a Couple of Croakers

It’s been said that we only have two seasons in South Texas, hot and cold, and that can come with or without rain or snow in any month, except August which is always HOT. About the only true barometer of what season it is, summer or winter, is the day-light hours which are significantly different. Another indicator is the presence of migrating birds in the neighborhood; by the hundreds! The noise they produce can be almost deafening at times and still scares my poor little Chihuahua. Today was one of those transition days from Summer into Fall. A cold front sailed through bringing a little wind, rain and lower temperature, for about three hours. Now it’s summer again, except it will be dark out by seven-thirty this evening. Just another day in paradise.
I’m generally out and about before six-thirty each morning, and because my wife doesn’t do coffee, I frequent a café for a cup or two and a taco with a friend, and to also talk about stuff. Some would call it gossip, but men don’t gossip, we exchange important information and work on solving the problems of the world. Some have asked me in the past why I don’t make my wife fix me coffee in the morning. I can relate that to a story I heard back in the eighties when self help books were in fashion. It seems a man had just finished reading a new book entitled, “You Can Be the Man of Your Own House”. He stormed into the kitchen and announced to his wife, “You need to know that from now on I’m the man of this house and my word is law!” After a short silent pause he continued, “You’ll prepare and serve me a gourmet meal tonight topped off with a sumptuous dessert. After dinner you’re going to draw me a bath so I can relax. You’ll wash my back, towel me dry and bring me my robe. Then you’ll massage my feet and hands. And tomorrow, guess who’s going to dress me and comb my hair?” His wife didn’t even hesitate before saying, “The funeral director would be my first guess.” No sir, I don’t need to be boss of my wife, if you know what I mean.
[Psalm 73] A man who had just purchased his first house in the country traveled to the nearby rural town and asked the owner of the restaurant there if he could use a million frog legs. The proprietor asked where he could find so many frogs. “I’ve got a pond on my new property that’s full of them” the new resident replied, “they drive me crazy day and night.” After they made an agreement for several hundred frogs, the gentleman farmer went back home. A week later he returned to the restaurant with two scrawny frogs in hand and a sheepish grin on his face. “I guess I was wrong” he stammered, “there were just two frogs in the pond, but they sure were making a lot of noise!” The world today sure is making a lot of noise and on the forefront of it all is war and pestilence. It’s a shame to hear that more and more people are becoming loud complain-ers and gossiping blame-ers rather than pray-ers looking to God for strength to endure and overcome the vile of the world. “…each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor… “In your anger do not sin”; Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold” (Ephesians 4: 25-27). The next time you hear a lot of noise about how bad things are, remember, God is still on the throne and His power is far beyond our comprehension (Job 37:1-13). The noise you hear may be nothing more than a couple of chronic complainers who have little more to do than sit around like a couple of scrawny frogs croaking their time away.