Blog

Bite the Bullet

Bite the Bullet

Comments 4 comments

Bite the Bullet-bullet between teethI recently had to bite the bullet. In one week, I made two major house repairs and replaced the brakes on my car. I was out of town when the brakes stopped working.

I did not enjoy any of those events. Yet, they had to be done.

A friend talked about having to bite the bullet when she learned to operate a new computer program. Many of us have had to do the same.

To bite the bullet is to accept a difficult situation.

Although not pleasant, we:

  • Prepare ourselves for what lies ahead
  • Do what must be done
  • Act brave whether we feel brave or not
  • Learn to live with the pain

This phrase may have originated with soldiers biting a bullet during painful medical treatment.

Without anesthesia, they would bite a bullet to prevent:

  • Crying out in pain
  • Biting their tongue

As with most of life, we choose our response.

When life gets hard, will we get down in the dumps? Or will we bite the bullet and make the best of a bad situation?

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV).

Thanks to Carole Fite, Janna Babak, and Ann Knowles for this suggestion. Thanks to Travis Gosser for the photo.

Do you have an expression you want explained? If so, please comment below.

Subscribe to receive my weekly posts by email and receive a free copy of “Words of Hope for Days that Hurt.”

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends.

Deer in the Headlights

Deer in the Headlights

Comments 2 comments

Deer in the Headlights-deer on a foggy road In our garden spot of the world, we have to watch for deer in the headlights. We have several trees on one side of the road and farm fields on the other. Although beautiful and fun to watch, deer cause many accidents.

Deer in the headlights freeze in the middle of the road.

Both cars and the people in them suffer damage if they fail to stop in time. Therefore, we drive slower in certain areas.

If we act like deer in the headlights, we also freeze in place.

Causes include:

  • Fear
  • Surprise
  • Confusion
  • Strong emotions

We might:

  • Get caught red-handed
  • Experience unexpected and overwhelming responsibilities
  • Face decisions with no easy answers
  • Receive news of a birth, marriage, death, or other major family event

Although we freeze at times, unsure what to do, we don’t have to face the future alone.

God offers guidance and hope, whatever our situation.

“Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord” (Psalm 31:24 NIV).

Thanks to Carole Fite for the suggestion. Image by enriquelopezgarre from Pixabay.

Do you have an expression you want explained? If so, please comment below.

Subscribe to receive my weekly posts by email and receive a free copy of “Words of Hope for Days that Hurt.”

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends.

Salt in a Wound

Salt in a Wound

Comments 2 comments

Salt in a Wound -container of saltYears ago, people treated many medical emergencies at home. One common remedy was to pour or rub salt in a wound. That solution often caused more pain than the original problem.

Salt in a wound hurts.

 Although salt (or saltwater) helps heal or sooth certain conditions, it causes damage to others. Even if it helps, salt on an open sore stings.

To pour or rub salt in a wound means to make a bad situation worse.

 Our words or actions hurt rather than help.

  • A friend loses a contest, and we praise the winner.
  • Our neighbor’s boss fires him, and we brag about our promotion.
  • A relative’s wife leaves him, and we talk about her handsome boyfriend.

Whether deliberate or not, we increase the person’s hardship, shame, or sadness.

Rather than rub salt in a wound, let’s serve as salt of the earth.

 When other people feel down in the dumps, let’s lift them up. We have the privilege to share their sorrow as well as their joy.

“Being happy-go-lucky around a person whose heart is heavy is as bad as stealing his jacket in cold weather or rubbing salt in his wounds” (Proverbs 25:20 TLB).

Thanks to Pat Childress Conner Stapp for the suggestion. Image courtesy of  Pixabay.

Do you have an expression you want explained? If so, please comment below.

Subscribe to receive my weekly posts by email and receive a free copy of “Words of Hope for Days that Hurt.”

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends.

In the Sticks

In the Sticks

Comments 4 comments

In the Sticks-leaf-covered road through treesMany of us grew up in the sticks. We had to travel several miles to the closest town. Our travel time increased to reach a city. Some of us remain in the sticks or visit often.

In the sticks means in the country.

 It describes life in the middle of nowhere. Business usually involves plants and animals, not stores or factories.

People who hate country life describe it as:

  • Unsophisticated
  • Culturally backward

People who love country life call it:

  • Rustic
  • Back to nature

Nothing compares to country living.  

 Work is usually hard. However, the calmer, slower lifestyle makes such hard work worth it.

Our family loves our garden spot of the world. A few relatives remain where we grew up. Others live closer to modern conveniences … but not too close.

Whether we live in the sticks, visit when we can, or travel through them, we can all enjoy our time there.

Thanks to Janna Babak for the suggestion.

Do you have an expression you want explained? If so, please comment below.

Subscribe to receive my weekly posts by email and receive a free copy of “Words of Hope for Days that Hurt.”

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends.

Boil the Ocean

Boil the Ocean

Comments 6 comments

Boil the Ocean - volcano lava above the oceanHow many times have we attempted an impossible task? We try to do something no one can do. Remember, we don’t have to boil the ocean.

Lava from an erupting volcano heats the ocean. However, all that lava affects only a tiny portion of the water. It puts on quite a show but with limits.

To boil the ocean means to try the impossible.

We work like a mule and burn our candle at both ends. However, like lava in the ocean, we have limits. We cannot do everything.

  • Students cannot complete years of work in one semester.
  • Builders cannot create a city in a day.
  • Doctors cannot cure every person in the world of every disease.

We make progress one step at a time.

Working together, we move forward. Trying to do everything alone dooms us to failure. Too many jobs make all our jobs more difficult.

We want vision without a waste of time.

Dream big. Reach for the sky. Yet, recognize reality. We never want to destroy ourselves striving for the impossible.

“Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall” (Isaiah 40:30 NIV).

Thanks to Kristy Robinson Horine for the suggestion. Image courtesy of Pixabay

Do you have an expression you want explained? If so, please comment below.

Subscribe to receive my weekly posts by email and receive a free copy of “Words of Hope for Days that Hurt.”

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends.

Stick Like Glue

Stick Like Glue

Comments 8 comments

Stick Like Glue-Dashaway between young couple on porchMy dog Dashaway was my favorite pet. She would stick like glue anytime I went outside.

Dashaway and I became best buddies while I was in high school. Snow kept everyone home for weeks. My parents and sister had the flu, so all the house and farm chores became my responsibility. A cousin down the road milked the cows, but Dashaway and I did the rest.

When I became tuckered out, too tired to move, Dashaway nudged me with her nose. That reminded me to keep on keeping on. She knew once work was over, we could play in the snow.

After I began dating, Dashaway still stuck like glue. If my boyfriend (now husband), and I walked outside, Dashaway walked between us. When we sat on the front porch steps, Dashaway stood or sat in the middle. She loved us, and we loved her.

To stick like glue means to stay close to someone.

For people or animals, that means we want to be together all the time. We hate to be away from one another.

Other meanings include hard-to-remove items that attach to us, such as:

  • Sticky food
  • Ink
  • Grass stain

This expression may be literal or figurative.

The above are literal examples. Figurative examples include our:

  • Reputation
  • Nickname
  • Memories

Dashaway earned her reputation as a good dog. She actually had six names, with Dashaway as first of the six. Memories of our time together stick like glue in my mind.

“One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24 NIV).

Thanks to Sharon Berry for the suggestion.

Do you have an expression you want explained? If so, please comment below.

Subscribe to receive my weekly posts by email and receive a free copy of “Words of Hope for Days that Hurt.”

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends.

Confession Is Good for the Soul

Confession Is Good for the Soul

Comments 5 comments

Confession Is Good for the Soul- mother kneels to comfort a crying child“Tell me the truth. You will feel better if you do. Confession is good for the soul.”

How many times have children heard those or similar words? They do something wrong and get caught red-handed. The more they try to hide their wrong, the worse they feel. If they don’t tell the truth, they get in more trouble.

Of course, the same relates to adults. Trying to hide our mistakes or deliberate evil only makes a bad situation worse. We feel guilty. Our guilt makes us sick physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Confession is good for the soul declares great truth.

When we confess, we free ourselves from:

  • Guilt
  • Shame
  • Stress

We come clean. This applies whether we commit small or large misdeeds.

Confession is good for the soul pertains to all our relationships.

  • Family
  • Friends
  • Enemies
  • Strangers

The other person may or may not forgive us. We are not responsible for their reaction. However, we are responsible for our own.

We find this truth in the Bible.

The words vary, but the truth remains the same. Its greatest application is in our relationship with God.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9 NIV).

Thanks to Phyllis Patton for the suggestion and the photo.

Do you have an expression you want explained? If so, please comment below.

Subscribe to receive my weekly posts by email and receive a free copy of “Words of Hope for Days that Hurt.”

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends.

Small Potatoes

Small Potatoes

Comments 10 comments

Small Potatoes - freshly dug potatoes of different sizesWhen gardeners dig potatoes, they usually look for lots of large ones. Small potatoes often get thrown away.

Grocery shoppers and cooks also prefer large potatoes most of the time.

Anything small or unimportant may be described as small potatoes.

 Most people consider them of little worth. In the business world, they might include:

Unfortunately, people frequently receive the small potatoes label too.

  • Children or youth
  • Older adults
  • Poor
  • Unemployed
  • Homeless
  • Disabled
  • Anyone different

Others often treat them like they are a dime a dozen.

Yet, small potatoes offer great benefits.

Freshly dug tiny potatoes taste better than larger ones. Unpeeled and cooked with fresh green beans, those small, tender spuds delight the taste buds.

Likewise, small moments, small items, and people of all sizes and backgrounds offer much. A saltshaker on our kitchen counter reads, “Happiness is found in little things.”

Never underestimate the power of the pint-sized. They may not carry great wealth or social status. However, many offer happiness neither wealth nor social status can give.

The God of creation loves everyone — a great plan for all creation to follow.

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me’” (Matthew 25:40 NIV).

Thanks to Carla Purvis for the suggestion. Photo courtesy of Unsplash.

Do you have an expression you want explained? If so, please comment below.

Subscribe to receive my weekly posts by email and receive a free copy of “Words of Hope for Days that Hurt.”

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends.

Cut Off Your Nose to Spite Your Face

Cut Off Your Nose to Spite Your Face

Comments 6 comments

Cut Off Your Nose to Spite Your Face--closeup of a white dog's noseWhen you try to harm others, you often end up harming yourself more. You cut off your nose to spite your face. This happens at any age.

  • Children run away from good homes because they don’t like the rules.
  • Athletes play less than their best when they get mad at their coaches.
  • Bosses fire their best workers because they are jealous of the workers’ skills.

To cut off your nose to spite your face means you hurt yourself when you try to hurt others.

Anger rather than wisdom rules your actions. You often bite the hand that feeds you.

Never let self-defeating behavior rule.

It may destroy others but will eventually destroy you. Nip it in the bud. If you get angry and must blow off steam, do it in a safe way where no one gets hurt.

“There is a time when a man lords it over others to his own hurt” (Ecclesiastes 8:9 NIV).

Thanks to Emily Akin for the suggestion. Image by Foto-Rabe from Pixabay.

Do you have an expression you want explained? If so, please comment below.

Subscribe to receive my weekly posts by email and receive a free copy of “Words of Hope for Days that Hurt.”

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends.

Happy as a Pig

Happy as a Pig

Comments 6 comments

Happy as a Pig-Gail JohnsonPlease welcome my friend Gail Johnson as today’s guest writer. Gail wrote her first song when she was twelve years old. Since then, she’s written more than 100 songs. She’s currently writing a contemporary romance series on the family farm where she enjoys her husband, kids, animals, and nature. To learn more about Gail, visit www.gailjohnsonauthor.com.

I’ve heard the phrase “Happy as a pig in the sunshine” all my life. In fact, I’ve used it several times when describing the animals on the farm.

According to Google, the correct saying is “Happy as a dead pig in the sunshine.” Eww! Big difference. When a pig dies, the sun will dry the skin, pulling it tight and leaving a grin on the face.

The old southern phrase describes someone who is blissfully ignorant of reality.

Happy as a Pig-two small pigsRather than face the truth of a matter, one happily ignores it.

Examples include:

  • Ignoring chores to sit in the sunshine with a child or a friend.
  • Turning off the news for a quiet day of rest.
  • Avoiding social media for alone time.
  • Escaping current problems for a day at the beach.

Ignorance is not bliss.

Contrary to popular belief, ignoring something doesn’t make it go away. Disregarding something for too long can cause a person to be caught unaware or become overwhelmed. Think of the mess that would accumulate if we didn’t do our housework. How would we keep up with the world around us if we never listened to the news? What about our online responsibilities? The people who depend on us don’t disappear when we disengage. Finally, who wants to become a beach bum.

Be disciplined when choosing to ignore something.

Checking out occasionally is great for refilling our hearts, souls, and minds. But there comes a time to face reality once more. When thinking about ignoring something, think about the pig in the sunshine and remember he died to get that smile. Know when to stop ignoring the issue and start engaging with life again.

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving” (Colossians 3:23-24 NIV).

Do you have an expression you want explained? If so, please comment below.

Subscribe to receive my weekly posts by email and receive a free copy of “Words of Hope for Days that Hurt.”

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends.

Photo courtesy of Gerhard G. from Pixabay.