Blog - Page 7 of 61 - Diana Derringer

Scarce as Hens’ Teeth

September 25, 2023 Diana Derringer Comments 10 comments

This photo, with lots of ducks and a rooster, has no hens. Hens are as scarce as hens’ teeth here.

Scarce as hens’ teeth means very scarce.

What we seek is:

Rare
Impossible or almost impossible to find

We seldom find a:

Mud puddle in the desert
Polar bear in Kentucky
Pessimist at an optimists’ meeting

Hens have no teeth.

That fact emphasizes how scarce an item can be. Finding what we want is like looking for a needle in a haystack. However, as with mud puddles in the desert, we may find them once in a blue moon.

We often give greater value to scarce items.

Supply and demand teach that demand (and prices) go up when supply goes down. We see that with:

One-of-a-kind art
Antiques
Limited editions of anything

Truth frequently feels as scarce as hens’ teeth.

Everywhere we turn, we find people trying to deceive us. Scams appear:

On our phones
In the mail
During business deals

Such occurrences make us mad as a wet hen.

Occasionally, we wonder if truth exists anymore.

However, one truth never fails.

God, who is truth, offers each of us grace and truth through the gift of Jesus. Hang on to that truth and never let go.

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14 NIV).

Thanks to Emily Akin for the suggestion.

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Happy-Go-Lucky

September 18, 2023 Diana Derringer Comments 12 comments

Children on swings usually look and sound happy-go-lucky.

However, like those swings, most of us have our ups and downs. Circumstances often dictate whether we feel:

Happy
Sad
Lonely
Mad
Scared

Yet, a few people remain happy-go-lucky regardless of their situations. Little, if anything, gets them down.

Happy-go-lucky means always happy.

Such people’s moods remain cheery and good natured. Life never seems to trouble them. They stay happy as a lark and worry free.

Happy-go-lucky people dwell on the positives.

Although they don’t deny negative experiences, they remain optimistic. They treat problems like water off a duck’s back by shaking off any negative reactions.

We may not always feel happy, but we can always experience joy.

God offers each of us the joy of a relationship with Jesus as Savior and Lord. For many people in the world, that decision leads to persecution and/or death. In spite of the dangers, they continue to share their joy with others. True joy makes that great a difference.

“In all our troubles my joy knows no bounds.” (2 Corinthians 7:4 NIV.)

Thanks to Brad Leverett for the suggestion and to Darrin Jenkins for the photo.

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All Hands on Deck

September 11, 2023 Diana Derringer Comments 8 comments

If a ship requires help from the entire crew, it calls for all hands on deck. Everyone must get in position to batten down the hatches. They prepare for the storm ahead. The crisis may result from:

Severe weather
Enemy attack
Mechanical problems

According to The Free Dictionary, a ship’s crew members are also known as hands. The ship’s floor is its deck.

However, the definition for this expression has expanded beyond ships.

All hands on deck means everyone needs to help.

After recent natural disasters, calls came for assistance from every available resource. Troubles included:

Floods
Wildfires
Earthquakes
Drought
Tornadoes

In addition to government agencies, volunteer groups assisted.

Several in our church help with disaster relief services. They keep supplies and vehicles ready to go when calls come.

This expression applies to small problems as well as large ones.

Everyone has a role to play in:

Families
Sports teams
Offices
Schools

In every situation, many hands make light work.

Whatever our position, God calls us to remain ready.

That applies regardless of our age, abilities, or social status. God’s call is not always easy. However, it is always worthwhile.

“Stand steady, and don’t be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Bring others to Christ. Leave nothing undone that you ought to do” (2 Timothy 4:5 TLB).

Thanks to Jane Ashley Pace for the suggestion. Image by Brigitte Werner from Pixabay

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All Thumbs

September 4, 2023 Diana Derringer Comments 8 comments

When we try to do detailed work, many of us become all thumbs. Although texting has made thumbs an important part of daily life, we still prefer not to be all thumbs.

All thumbs means clumsy, especially with our hands.

Like a person with two left feet, we have trouble with physical coordination. Awkward and unskilled, we can’t get everything to work together.

We might experience this out-of-whack feeling with:

Crocheting, knitting, or other needlework
Playing a musical instrument
Handwriting, especially calligraphy
Anything that requires fine motor skills

If all thumbs, we lack grace.

It’s hard to look dignified when we can’t manage our physical reactions. Often, the harder we try, the worse everything grows.

With work, we can usually improve.

That is why we take lessons. Practice may not make us perfect. It does usually make us better.

When we can’t improve, we look for other abilities.

God created each of us with unique skills. If we don’t have certain talents, we can enjoy the work of those who do. We can also grow in what we do best.

I doubt the woman described in Proverbs 31 could do everything. Nevertheless, she did her best at what she did in service to God, her family, and others.

“She is clothed with strength and dignity. Honor her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate” (Proverbs 31:25, 31 NIV).

Subscribe to receive Diana’s weekly posts by email and receive a free copy of “Words of Hope for Days that Hurt.” On September 9, 2023, one name will be randomly selected from Diana’s mailing list to also receive a free copy of Kristy Horine’s In a Season of Mondays. If your name is already on the mailing list, you are automatically entered. Please encourage your friends to subscribe.

Do you have an expression you want explained or a thought about this one? If so, please comment.

Thanks to Debbie Tapscott for the suggestion.

Out of Sorts

August 28, 2023 Diana Derringer Comments 22 comments

Please welcome my friend Kristy Robinson Horine as today’s guest writer. Kristy and I met at Kentucky Christian Writers Conference, where she serves on staff. Kristy makes her life in Paris, Kentucky with her husband, Eric, and is mother to four children – Hanson, Anna, Emily, and Sadie. Her professional and creative work has been published in newspapers, magazines and anthologies in Kentucky and beyond. She offers encouragement for each day through her book, In a Season of Mondays: A 30-Day Devotional Journal.

I knew before I came into the kitchen, I was in trouble. My daily responsibilities took longer than anticipated. I still had to put away groceries and unload the dishwasher before I could start supper. My day had not gone as planned, and I was out of sorts.

To be out of sorts means to be jumbled together or mixed up.

Sometimes, being out of sorts happens the moment our feet hit the floor in the mornings. There is no rhyme or reason for the feeling. It just happens.

Sometimes, being out of sorts happens because of other people’s decisions:

A child volunteers to bring cookies to an event but doesn’t tell us until the night before.
A co-worker drops the ball, and we are left to pick up the pieces.
Another driver gets distracted and crashes into our car.

Other times, being out of sorts happens because of the decisions we make:

We forget to unload the dishwasher at the right time.
We say yes to too many things.
We don’t communicate well, causing chaos and conflict.

Whether being out of sorts comes from within us or from others, we can still choose to act in a way that pleases God.

We find clues in one of my favorite passages in the Bible.

“Since many have undertaken to set in order a narrative concerning those matters which have been fulfilled among us, even as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having traced the course of all things accurately from the first, to write to you in order, most excellent Theophilus, that you might know the certainty concerning the things in which you were instructed” (Luke 1:1-4 World English Bible).

Learning from this passage, we can easily get back on track, even though we find ourselves out of sorts. We can:

Listen to those who have been there.
Look at our situation with accuracy.
Lead others to know the truth.

What are ways you find yourself out of sorts? Can you listen, look, and lead to put things right?

Subscribe to receive Diana’s weekly posts by email and receive a free copy of “Words of Hope for Days that Hurt.” On September 9, 2023, one name will be randomly selected from Diana’s mailing list to also receive a free copy of Kristy’s In a Season of Mondays. If your name is already on the mailing list, you are automatically entered. Please encourage your friends to subscribe.

Do you have an expression you want explained or a thought about this one? If so, please comment.

Ring the Bell

August 21, 2023 Diana Derringer Comments 12 comments

This dinner bell stood in the backyard of my childhood home. We seldom rang it. However, years before, people would ring the bell to let everyone know it was time to eat. Hungry workers listened for it. The bell also notified of announcements or emergencies.

According to The Free Dictionary, ring the bell has several meanings.

Ring the bell refers to something we want or need.

Hungry workers get food. We get what we desire or look for.

Visits
Cars
Homes
Cold water on a hot day

They satisfy us to a T.

The expression also refers to something special or outstanding.

Dinner bells made announcements. The following ring the bell for us.

Entertainment
Events
People
Work

In addition, ring the bell directs our focus.

We may need only be aware, or we may need to act. Like a dinner bell, it can serve as a warning, as in:

Business contracts
Community or national plans
Weather changes
Health crises

These circumstances get our attention. They occasionally upset us or cause us to wring our hands in worry.

Ring the bell does not mean the same as rings a bell.

Anything that rings a bell makes us remember. Ring the bell notifies, informs, or lets us know about something.

Let’s never fail to ring the bell about God’s offer of eternal love and joy.

“Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. “Psalm 90:14 NIV

Thanks to Beckham Wilson for the suggestion and to Gail Gosser for the photo.

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Get Back on the Horse

August 14, 2023 Diana Derringer Comments 12 comments

Get back on the horse. That’s what we often hear if we fall. The horse may have bucked us, or we may have fallen for other reasons. Whatever the cause, we receive encouragement to try again.

My sister disagrees. As a teenager, she did not like to ride horses. A cousin convinced her to ride behind him. She did. On a trip through our orchard, he lowered his head to miss a tree branch. He forgot to tell her. That was her last horse ride.

Get back on the horse means to try again.

We don’t give up. Instead, we get up. We go another time. One failure does not mean we will always fail.

Life gets difficult for everyone. We all fall. People or circumstances hurt us. Nevertheless, we keep going.

We learn from our mistakes.

Rather than kick ourselves, we try to correct what went wrong. We don’t want to live in fear—with cold feet—all our lives.

Get back on the horse applies to every area of life.

We may:

Lose a job
Fail a test
Suffer from illness
Grieve lost friendships
Endure persecution

In every circumstance, we decide whether to shake it off or tie ourselves in knots with worry. If we don’t know how to get back on the horse, we can always rely on God for direction.

“Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up” (Luke 18:1 NIV).

Thanks to Joe and Ann Klotz for the suggestion.

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Keep Your Ear to the Ground

August 7, 2023 Diana Derringer Comments 8 comments

Stampedes of cattle, horses, or bison occur frequently in old Western movies. The herds can often be heard before they can be seen. A few movies teach that if you keep your ear to the ground, you detect the stampede’s vibrations.

That also holds true for:

People
Trains and other vehicles

If you keep your ear to the ground, you stay alert to what is going on around you.

You listen for what is happening or may happen. That helps you keep up with:

Current events
Changes
Opportunities

You benefit if you stay well-informed.

For example, you learn quickly of

Job openings
Special events
Investment options
Trends

If you keep your ear to the ground, you may also learn the latest gossip.

Of course, gossip may or may not be true. You usually benefit if you stay away from busybodies. Even if what they say is true, it is often unkind and unnecessary.

To stay informed, keep your eyes peeled and your ear to the ground.

To learn about the best life, focus on the one who created you and can guide you through all life’s changes. At the end of the road, that’s all that matters.

“The Master told me, ‘Go, post a lookout. Have him report whatever he spots. When he sees horses and wagons in battle formation, lines of donkeys and columns of camels, Tell him to keep his ear to the ground, note every whisper, every rumor.’” (Isaiah 21:6-7 MSG)

Thanks to Lindy Pierce for the suggestion.

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Give It a Whirl

July 31, 2023 Diana Derringer Comments 11 comments

In 2003, my sister and I served on a missions team in Interlaken, Switzerland. During free time, several on our team paraglided off a nearby mountain. I wanted to give it a whirl.

However, our team leader did not want us to participate. She was responsible if anyone was hurt. Out of respect for her, I stayed on the ground. Paragliding remains on my bucket list.

To give it a whirl means to try something.

You see if you:

Like it
Are good at it
Want to do it again

What we give a whirl varies greatly.

We experiment with new:

Food
Hobbies
Adventures
Travel
Jobs
Service

Although I did not jump off a mountain, I did give several activities a whirl.

I was able to:

Tour the region
Try new food
Enjoy other mountain and lake activities
Admire Swiss chalets and flowers
Eat lots of chocolate and raspberry sorbet

The greatest activity was to engage in international ministry, our primary purpose for being there. If you have never served on an international missions team, I would encourage you to do so.

God’s creation offers more than we can try in a lifetime.

However, we can enjoy each day:

Wherever we are
Whatever we do

“Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and all that move in them” (Psalm 69:34 NIV).

What do you enjoy? What is something new you would like to give a whirl?

Thanks to Matt Reiprich for the suggestion. Photo courtesy of Scott Wigginton, author of Adventures to Godliness.

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Down the Drain

July 24, 2023 Diana Derringer Comments 15 comments

We love to watch water fall into a river. However, we rarely want to watch water go down the drain. We lose that water, and it costs us.

Down the drain means wasted.

Our resources have:

Failed
Disappeared
Ruined

This may apply to:

Companies
Finances
Relationships
Personal or professional plans

Sometimes, we control what goes down the drain.

We do that when we:

Make risky investments.
Spend money recklessly.
Fail to nurture relationships.
Focus only on ourselves.

Other times, we have no control.

Banks or companies make poor decisions.
Thieves rob us.
People desert us.

Whether we have control or not, we lose.

Similar metaphors include:

Down the tubes
Down the pan
Down the toilet
Down the plughole

Life constantly changes.

With all its ups and downs, we look for a constant. We find that in a relationship with Jesus. Whatever the situation, Jesus remains with us and will guide us through it.

Circumstances may go down the drain. With Jesus, our eternity remains secure.

Thanks to Beckham Wilson for the suggestion.

Do you have an expression you want explained or a thought about this one? If so, please comment below.

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