A loud and cheerful greeting early in the morning will be taken as a curse!
Proverbs 27:13 Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
There are times when it seems like just a couple of well-placed lightning bolts would solve quite a few of the world’s problems. Or at least a few of mine. Of course, that’s just another one of a gazillion reasons why I’m not God, and a good thing, too. Irritating, frustrating, and irrational people are, you know ,…irritating and frustrating, and can make one question one’s own rationality.
I should know, having been one of “those people” myself, more times than I probably care to admit.
Many years ago, author Joyce Landorf coined the phrase “irregular people” in her book by the same name. We all have them, as described above, and also as stated, we have all been one at some point, or will be. It goes along with that truism:
Usually, a few bug guts on my windshield aren’t terribly inconvenient; although they’re ugly, I can still see to drive my car. That is, until the sun hits them just the right way, then …
…and suddenly, driving becomes a hazardous enterprise! Really, the responsible thing to do is to pull over and clean off the windshield. Otherwise, I’m not only endangering myself, but those in the car with me and other drivers sharing the road.
Irregular people do that. They can muss up my vision–my perspective, intentions, goals. And if I allow it, even my physical health, and more importantly, my heart.
That’s one of (the many) reasons why this was written into eternity for us:
“Guard your heart above all else,
for it determines the course of your life.”
Naturally, bug guts come in all varieties and colors: offense and unforgiveness, unmet expectations, unfair or harsh criticism, and worse things I care not to put in print. Then there are the times (oh, this is hard one!) when I realize that it’s my emotional guts on someone else’s windshield. It’s one thing to forgive someone else–how mature and altruistic of me. It’s quite a different challenge to ask someone else’s forgiveness. Saying “I’m sorry” may be a bit of a lost art. I’ll admit I’ve gotten quite good at it through the years, and I’m still learning. It sure can go a L-O-N-G way in helping clean up the other party’s visual field, though.
It’s fairly easy to put off the cleaning process, especially when we’re in the fast lane of life, until by God’s grace His light hits our lives and we’re stunned by how much we really can’t see. Best to pull over, STOP, get out of traffic,–whatever that looks like for us individually–thus protecting all involved.
Guaranteed, the ride will be much more enjoyable when the view is unobscured.
The lazy person claims, “There’s a lion on the road! Yes, I’m sure there’s a lion out there!”
Proverbs 26: 13 Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Perhaps it’s both. Haven’t heard much about road rage lately, but I’m wondering if that’s because it’s just become so commonly a part of our culture that it’s no longer considered news-worthy. Anger is a powerful human emotion, and one of the destructively deceptive things about anger is that we feel like we’re in control (in many ways akin to alcohol). But usually, 9 times out of 10, we probably are not.
There was an occasion in my job when I had an encounter with a parent in which I had decided ahead of time to attempt to communicate in the way she chose to communicate with me. Up to that point, her mode of interaction had Continue reading “Whoa! (Or is it, Woe?!?)”
Fools have no interest in understanding;
they only want to air their own opinions.
Proverbs 18:2 Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
No likes a good nap as much as I do. Some may contest that, but I’m certainly in the running for the platform. Particularly on a cold, overcast day, right after lunch around 1PM. Open the windows for the fresh air, and let me wrap up in a blanket to keep warm with my dog on the floor beside the bed, and the faint sound of Bob’s football in the other room. And I’m gone.
Is anyone yawning yet?
No one’s going to contest much about the restorative properties of a midday nap. It’s certainly better than caffeine (okay, some would contest that), and can give us that needed boost in our energy if used correctly.
HOWEVER, there is another kind of napping that is not so productive. Like falling asleep at Continue reading “Lazy, lazy, lazy”
INSPIRATION with an ATTITUDE 