Gotcha -- Tagged! Six Things to Value...or Not!

My new friend Andi from the cute blog Andi's Everyday Adventures tagged me recently for a MeMe post about the things I do and don't value. Here's my list, and if you make it through to the verrrrry end, you'll see who else got tagged from this blog! Who knows, it might be you! ;-)

"Six Things I Value" by Mrs. Magpie

1) A precious friend gave me that cute little pillow above, but I have a confession to make... I'm probably the only Southerner alive who prefers hot herbal tea to sweet iced tea! However, I do love porch swings and value good manners. Good manners go hand in hand with happiness in my book. And I'm taking it beyond good table manners and "Yes M'am" and "No M'am" to include good breeding which is under-girded by basic human kindness. That is something definitely not limited to region or country. The bloggers I know are proof positive that civility knows no geographical bounds! :-)

Etiquette is based on civility, and civility is at the basis of being a good person. It’s because we value others and God that we have good manners, that we don’t try to deliberately hurt others, and that there is a system of rules that helps everyone to know how to behave. You know that you should invite someone to your party if they invite you to theirs', that company does as company pleases, and that you should serve your guests first and that they should get the biggest slices of cake. It makes life infinitely more livable and enjoyable as well as stopping feelings from being hurt. That’s BIG in my book. In elementary school it was called, “Plays Well With Others.” ;-)

Civility is based on the greatest commandments, which according to Jesus are: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." And how do we love others? First Corinthians 13 is the true lesson in civility!

2) I value good friends… And to have a good friend, you must first be one. These two ladies know how to do that to perfection. They're as beautiful on the inside as they are on the outside (and no, the picture is not of me, LOL!)...



I try to treat my friends the way I would like to be treated. And I think you should treat your spouse as well as you treat your friends! Mr. Magpie, I hope I do this for you! :-)



3) I value my freedom to worship God as I choose. I’m thankful I can go to the church of my choice and read the religious materials of my choice. And I'm very thankful that I have the freedom to glorify and enjoy the Lord publicly as well as in private. :-)



4) I value people who work to protect children, frail seniors, and animals… in other words, those who can’t always protect themselves. These two cuties were being re-homed through a rescue website after the death of their owner. Adorable babies that they are!



5) I value historic preservation… it’s critically important to protect our architectural treasures and heritage. We have to know from whence we came to even begin to know where we’re going! The photograph is of the historic Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine which is currently being restored to its former glory.



6) I value a sense of humor and the ability to find joy in life. Life can be so hard at times, and being able to laugh, particularly at yourself, is critical! I enjoy laughing, and I think it’s good medicine (as the Bible says). This is the day that the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it! The cover of this Christmas song book published by the Metropolitan Museum of Art speaks directly to this point. Just look how jolly they are and how much they are enjoying themselves! He obviously got the message: Dance like no one is watching! ;-)



In terms of six things I don’t value, allow me to say the following...

1) I value warm, friendly people and have a hard time dealing with snooty-patootiness...



As the Proverb says,"There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness that pours out lies, and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers." Proverbs 6:16-19 I guess I could stop with God's list, but I have some to add, too! ;-)

2) I value an attitude of gratitude, and I have a difficult time valuing ingratitude. Ingratitude is the first cousin to entitlement, and entitlement is the first cousin to selfishness. Because of this, Scrooge was a mighty lonely man!



2) I value a climb toward God...



And have little tolerance for social climbing...

3) I don’t value tailgating as in following too closely behind a car as opposed to what you do at a football game which is fun! It makes me furious when another car is buried five feet up my bumper. Cars are serious business, and it upsets me when people drive with reckless abandon. Annie, do YOU hear that??? ;-)



4) I have a low tolerance for whining, but even more so for complaining (talk about a dripping faucet!)...



My parents had a hard time with whining, and once after my whining about “please can we stay another day, please, please!” all the way from Sarasota to Pensacola, my father finally turned to me and proclaimed, “If you don’t stop that whining, I’m going to put you out of this car, and you can just live down here with all of these alligators!” As you can tell, I’m still down here with the gators, but hopefully not whining anymore! ;-)



5) I have a hard time when I'm at the movies, and someone near me is either talking to the person next to her, calling out the plot before it happens, talking on a cell phone, or the worst... kicking my chair! It's important to keep one's feet on the FLOOR where they belong, one's hands off the cell phone, and one's lips zipped! LOL!



"Look, Mom, no cell phones!" And if a couple of monkeys can do it, we can, too! ;-)

6) I have very little patience for rudeness from a store clerk. I worked in retail during college and graduate school and in economic development as an adult, and we were taught that the customer is always right. The worst form of PR a business of any kind can have is to hire someone who can't handle customers. It's like anti-PR. It's the kiss of death to any business, and usually when I tell Mr. Magpie a business is going to sink due to their poor public relations, the business is gone in less than six months. Trust me, if they're doing it to you or to me, they are doing it to other people as well! COURTESY RULES! If you're courteous, Annie and I are happy to return for shiny objects! :-)



Now, it's my turn to tag. Here are the rules:

Six Things You Value
Six Things You Don't
Tag Six Other Bloggers
Link Back to the Blog who Tagged you!

I drew six names at random, and if they had been tagged before, they got a pass from me which means I drew again. Gotta spread the blog love around! :-)

Okay, here goes...

Jeanne (Backdoor Neighbor)
Daphine (Just Stuff)
Linnea (Neabear and B'Daddy's Nest)
Jen (The Laundry is Never Finished)
Rhonda (Scutterblu's Whimsy)
Bo (Winks and Blinks from Brown Eyes)

Can't wait to see what you ladies value!

Quintessentially,

Mrs. Magpie (Sheila)