Lessons From The Geese

As Much Sense As God Gave a Goose.....

 Flying in the V

Whew, I don't know about where you live but here in my neck of the woods this summer has been nothing but

HOT, HOT, HOT

However...

It will only be a few weeks before we see flocks of geese flying overhead headed south for the winter.  For My friends in Canada,  many of your birds park their little wings right here in my back yard, local ponds and lakes.  In fact, my husband loves to go fishing in the early pre-dawn just to watch the Canadian geese and Heron take off in flight from Lake Guntersville.  He says the sight and sound is breathtaking.  I wouldn't know since I do not find any thing breath taking about getting up at the butt-crack of dawn to sit in a boat and wait for a fish to bite some slimy worm that # 1 husband put on the hook that I took out of the tackle box that pricked my finger that bled like a stuck pig all over my nice Frog Tog Jacket.  Yes, Frog Togs are for real    (Google Frog Togs)...made locally and sold globally.  

But I digress...

To say I'm anxiously awaiting Autumn would be the understatement of 2011.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE EVERYTHING about Fall, Autumn, The Autumnal Equinox, whatever you want to call it....I LOVE IT!!

While going through my Fall decorations (which so happens to consist of an enormous amount of school related decorations  considering I'm a retired teacher), I found one of those inspirational "Forwards" from that one particular friend we all have...wink  wink..you know who I'm talking about...we all have one.  Right???!!

The following FACTS are from that particular "Forward".  I used it with my faculty one Autumn afternoon.  It happened to be one of those school years when teacher egos were fragile and relationships between grade levels were a bit *strained*.  Elementary teachers can be very competitive...  who gets up the first Pumpkin to whose reading scores are the highest.  Competitiveness and egotism is not exclusive to the sports world but can be found in education, business, science, churches,and even families!

Take some time to reflect upon the Facts and Lessons learned from the lowly Geese.

FACT:  As each goose flaps its wings, it creates an "uplift" for the bird following.  By flying in a "V" formation, the whole flock adds 71% more flying range than if each bird flew alone.
LESSON:  People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they're going quicker and easier as they travel on the thrust of one another.

FACT:  Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to fly alone and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the birds immediately in front.
LESSON:  If we have as much sense as a goose, we will join up in formation or what I like to say "order of authority* (important to the Family structure in my opinion) with those headed in the SAME direction. Sort of like being the wind beneath each others' wings!  

FACT:  When the lead goose gets tired, it rotates back into formation and another goose flies at the point position.

LESSON:  It pays to take turns doing the hard work and sharing leadership with people, just as with geese, everyone depending, leaning, and relying on the other to get the job done or to reach a goal!

FACT:  The geese in formation honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.

LESSON:  We need to make sure our honking from behind is ENCOURAGING...Not DISCOURAGING!

 

FACT:  When a goose gets sick or wounded or shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow their fellow member down to help and provide protection.  They stay with this member of the flock until he or she either is able to fly again or dies.  They then launch out on their own either with another formation of geese or to catch up with their own flock.This is my favorite Fact!

LESSON:  If we have as much sense as a Goose, we'll stand by one another like they do.

A lot of common sense can be found in Nature.  I like to think God designed it that way.  After all, we are a stubborn lot and many times we go off on our own, headed in a different direction, and find out, often too late, we really can feel the "drag and resistance of flying alone".  Reaching our goals and/or destination in life is definitely made easier when we take advantage of the *lifting power* of those in front of us and the *honking* of encouragement by the person/persons behind us! 

We really DO want to have the sense that God Gave A Goose

JUST A FRIENDLY REMINDER 

TO ALL MY LOVELY FOLLOWERS

I'd be ever so appreciative if you would "FLY" on over 

to

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We all have a better chance at winning if follow the leader, fly in the same direction, and *honk* each other on in our quilting and stitching endeavors!

BLESSINGS