Communication FUNdamentals

I have been waiting ever so impatiently to announce this to you all for what seems like an endless amount of time so I’m just going to blurt it right out!

Christian Comedian, Michael Jr. has agreed to speak at this year’s Say What You Mean Convention (Feb. 3rd, 2010)!!

Can you tell that I’m a wee bit excited? LOL  I’ve been enjoying his amazing God-given talent for quite some time now!  I am such a fan!  He is so incredibly unique!

I ‘eMet’ him on Facebook and Twitter and decided to ask so that I (and all of you) shall receive.  Not only was he very gracious,  but to my great surprise and delight, he agreed to speak!  If you’re also a big fan, you can become a fan of his fan page on Facebook too!

I’ll be posting more on the convention later on so please stay tuned for more information on the amazing fun with communication skills in February at the 5th Annual Say What You Mean Convention.

Mark your calendar to be able to be part of the convention LIVE on February 3rd, 2010 so you don’t miss out!  We will be recording some of the events but you will miss SO much if you aren’t there live!  ESPECIALLY to hear Michael Jr who will be kicking off the entire event at 8am PST/11am EST!

This year’s event is ONLY ONE DAY and will be packed with our usual pre recorded audios, freebies, live seminars, keynote speakers and contests!  As I announced before, Cindy Rushton has also agreed to speak about marriage so you will be doubly blessed as she is one amazing lady with some great info to share with us.

Also speaking that day will be yours truly and my two moderators, Kim Kautzer from Write Shop and Joan Rudder Ward of Positive Image Network!

This year’s Say What You Mean Convention will be something to experience so mark your calendar so you DON’T MISS OUT!

Are You Making Great Time, But Not Sure Where You’re Going?

I subscribe to a lot of fun things and several of them have quotes from the rich and famous.  Yogi Berra is one of my favorites because there is so much wisdom in his humor.  I don’t know for sure if he meant them all to be funny or if it just worked out that way, but there is much to be learned here.

“Yeah, but we’re making great time!” — Yogi Berra, In reply to “Hey Yogi, I think we’re lost.”

I got to thinking about this quote of his and it struck me that there was even more wisdom in there than I had originally spotted.  At first glance, you see that it’s a bit silly to be excited about making good time if you are lost.  However, if you look deeper, you will see a fabulous Biblical lesson in there and a chance to evaluate our communication with the Lord.

How many of you have been so busy doing things that you haven’t stopped to see if what you were doing was what God wanted you to do?  I can raise BOTH hands on that one!  I’m so busy doing stuff that I haven’t even slowed down long enough to be able to hear God speak to me.  I think that’s why sometimes He has to hit me over the head with my pillow at 4am as it’s the only time I can be found without smoke under my feet!

Sometimes it’s a matter of doing so much stuff that I thought was a good thing but wasn’t a God thing!  Sometimes I’m doing stuff that was a God thing, but after a while I can just hear the Lord up there saying something like, “I told you to do it ONCE for 15 minutes!  What are ya doin’?  It’s been 6 years since I said anything about THAT!”   Meanwhile, back at the pillow, God’s been knocking at my thick skull asking me to do something else for the 649th time!

Ever feel like that?  In fact, don’tcha just feel wonderful when you get so much stuff done during the day.  When you can cross 15 things off your “To Do List” even though several others didn’t get “Ta Done”?  I feel so powerful and accomplished UNTIL…  Then you get the wrap on your noggin from the Task Master upstairs who is wondering why you even listed numbers 1-14!

So here I sit reminding myself to listen for the Lord’s leading.  Hear His voice.  Pay attention to what He DOESN’T say to do and to keep seeking Him for continued instruction on things He has already layed out.  I dunno about you, but sometimes I’m a wee bit deaf!  I’m making such great time, that I don’t know I’m lost.  How ’bout you?

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JoJo Tabares holds a degree in Speech Communication, but it is her humorous approach to communication skills which has made her a highly sought-after Christian speaker and writer.  Her articles appear in homeschool publications, such as Homeschool Enrichment Magazine and The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, which also endorses her Say What You Mean curricula.  You can also find JoJo on web sites such as Crosswalk.com and Dr.Laura.com.  For more information on communication FUNdamentals and Christian-based communication skills for the whole family, please visit http://www.ArtofEloquence.com

Sometimes things happen in your life, things you didn’t expect.  Sometimes someone will tell you something, you didn’t want to hear, things that will change your life.

We don’t usually embrace change very well, us human beings.  We often like things to stay the way they are.  We feel comfortable that way even if things aren’t the way we wanted.  We Christians long to follow God, but when we hear Him communicate with us, we often resist change even if we know it’s God’s will for our lives.  Even if we know God will use it for His glory.

Have you ever felt that way?  Have you ever had someone tell you something that you didn’t want to accept because you knew it would rock your entire world?  I did.  Just last week!  And I have come to several difficult decisions as I attempt to follow the Lord’s will for my life.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, you are not alone, but you might have an inkling that it has something to do with tomorrow’s Grace Talk Soup show.  You would be correct.  Tune in tomorrow for some shocking news about the show and join the discussion about communication FROM God, how we can hear it, how we can follow it and what happens when we don’t!

Isn’t it amazing how God can take disturbing news and turn it into something incredibly fun?  Tune in tomorrow and hear what fun!

Tomorrow (Thurs.) 8am PST/11am EST

Join us live via computer:
http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/19736

Join us live via phone:
Phone Number: (724) 444-7444
Call ID: 19736

Can’t join us live?  Listen to the audio on demand!
http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/19736

If you can’t be there live but would like to contribute your thoughts, post them here or shoot me an email.  gts@artofeloquence.com

Anyone old enough to remember Welcome Back Kotter?  This scene is where the Sweathogs debate the Debate Team and, unbelievably, they WIN!  But it’s HOW they do it. Check it out!

Monday Q of the Wk. Here’s how it works:

Each Monday I ask a thought provoking question about life.  Pose the same question to your blog readers on your own blog along with your answer to the question.  Then come back here and post a comment with a link to your blog post so we can all read everyone’s answers!  It’s been a lot of fun getting to know my readers and their readers and so on and so on…

This week’s question:

What is this animal?

If you think you know, take your best shot! You can post your answers here or post this question on YOUR blog and come back here to link your blog post so all of us can read about YOUR readers!  I’ll post the answer tomorrow as a blog comment on this post.

A new poll by the Knights of Columbus in partnership with the Marist Institute for Public Opinion at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York found that 86% favor significant restrictions and the majority believe that abortion hurts a woman long-term.

“Additionally, the data showed that since October nearly every demographic sub-group had moved toward the pro-life position except for non-practicing Catholics and men under 45 years of age.

Independents and liberals showed the greatest shift to the pro-life position since October, while Democrats were slightly less likely to be pro-life now than they were in October.”

In fact, 79% of Americans believe that health care workers should not be mandated to perform an abortion if it conflicts with their beliefs and 64% of strong pro-choice supporters agree!

If you have strong feelings about abortion, allow Art of Eloquence to help you learn to speak up with respect and in grace!

It all started the other day when I found an Abraham Lincoln quote:

“People who like this sort of thing will find this the sort of thing they like.”

It sounded so close to something my Dad always says:

“This is the kind of thing you like if you like that kind of thing.”

I posted them on Facebook and began getting responses that were such great fun like this one:

“Where ever you go, there you are!” -I have no idea who originally said this, do you?

Which reminded me of a funny message my sister and her family had on their answering machine for years:

“None of us are here ‘cuz all of us are somewhere else. When some of us return, one of us will call you back.”

And the circular thinking of things like this one from my good friend BeckyJoie:

“The Department of Redundancy Department”

Then later on that day I was surfing the net trolling for blog fodder when I came  upon this little gem:

“It is bad luck to be superstitious.”-Andrew W. Mathis

Care to join me in my “Quote Madness”?  Post your own favorite Redundant Redundancy here!

Ok so yesterday I told you about the obscure holidays being celebrated around the country this week.  Today, as my subject line suggests, is National Tell an Old Joke Day which is entirely appropriate for Communication FUNdamentals since I usually celebrate each Friday with Friday Funnies.

Today I want to share with you my family’s oldest joke.  It’s a joke my father has to tell whenever anyone joins the family.  It’s was told to my husband when he proposed.  It was recited to both my children upon their birth as it was to each of my father’s five grandchildren upon their respective births.  He tells it at most family gatherings so that the family joke will be remembered for generations to come.

Alex Haley had his family stories and my family has the family “olde joke”.  Which actually isn’t really a joke at all and usually elicits more eye rolling than laughs.  That never stopped the joke from being recited for years of my family… since I was a kid.  I’ll recite it here and you be the judge.

“A funny thing the ketchup bottle.  First none will come and then a lottle!”

Do you have a family joke that has been passed down from generation to generation?  Share it here!  Don’t be shy!  It may not live up to the standards of the Ketchup Bottle Joke, but we promiss to laugh anyway.

Not only is my life funny but, at times, so is life in general! You may not know it, but these days, there is a special obscure holiday just about every day of the week!  I know ‘cuz I found several websites that told me about the special obscure holidays that are being celebrated this week:

This past Monday was National Hug Your Kid Day! Did you?  Maybe you should make up for it today!

Tuesday was National Lollipop Day.  I have no Dental Insurance so I chose to abstain from the celebratory eating of the 1000 lb lollipop! However I did find this adorable little girl who was very persuasive in requesting a lollipop.  Apparently she was celebrating National Lollipop Day too!

Yesterday (Wednesday 22nd) was National Spoonerism Day.  A spoonersim is a play on words began by William Archibald Spooner in which vowels and consonants are switched to form a “sunny fentence”!  Care to try your hand?

Today happens to be National Hot Enough For Ya Day!  I’m sure they had “Aridzona” in mind when they created this holiday!  For the past week it’s been Partly Crispy with a Chance of Heat Stroke!   Our highs have been in the 115s with the overnight lows dipping down into the mid 90s!  Where’s my sweater?!!

Tomorrow it is appropriate that it is National Tell an Old Joke Day!  Every Friday I post a Friday Funny right here on Communication FUNdamentals so y’all come on back now and read my family’s old joke and come share one of yours!

There’re some new words in town

and they’ve put ‘em in the dictionary!

According to Merriam Webster, 25 new words were added to the dictionary in 2009.  Do you know what they mean?  Try your hand and see how “Hip”, “Mod”, “New” and “Happening” you are!

I’ll post the answers (as a comment to this post) tomorrow so y’all come on back!

1.  acai
2. carbon footprint
3. cardioprotective
4. earmark
5. fan fiction
6. flash mob
7. frenemy
8. goji
9. green-collar
10. haram
11. locavore
12. memory foam
13. missalette
14. naproxen
15. neuroprotective
16. pharmacogenetics
17. physiatry
18. reggaeton
19. shawarma
20. sock puppet
21. staycation
22. vlog
23. waterboarding
24. webisode
25. zip line

Don’t forget to join us tomorrow morning 8am PST/11am EST for some Grace Talk Soup as Ethel the Editor shares 5 Quick Fixes to Instantly Improve Your Writing!  AND we may give you some clues to the meanings of these words during the show!!