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Category: Animals/Nature

Over the Hill

Over the Hill

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Over the Hill“You’re not over the hill yet, but my mom just went over the hill.” Those words came from an elementary-age girl whose mother had just celebrated her 35th birthday. The mother laughed. She remembered thinking the same thing about her mother at that age.

Young people often believe middle-age and older adults are over the hill.

They think they have reached their peak in life. In their opinion, anyone 35 or older:

  • Is out of touch with the latest fads, language, and styles
  • Stops having fun
  • Sets no more worthwhile goals
  • Loses their spirit of adventure

Wrong! The fun just begins, if we relax and enjoy the journey.

  • The need to impress, to fit in with the cool crowd, and to prove ourselves diminishes.
  • We learn to enjoy the moment for what it is, not what we wish.
  • That freedom exhilarates, and the future looks promising.

As Robert Browning said:

Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life, for which the first was made:
Our times are in His hand
Who saith ‘A whole I planned,
Youth shows but half; trust God: see all, nor be afraid!’”

“I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live” (Psalm 104:33 NIV).

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Raining Cats and Dogs

Raining Cats and Dogs

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Raining Cats and Dogs“It’s raining cats and dogs” has been heard a lot recently. Because of rain:

  • Streets, roads, and parks closed.
  • Parts of roads and bridges washed away.
  • Basements flooded.
  • Fields turned into ponds.
  • People joked about the Bible’s story of Noah and their need to build an ark.

We have had rain and plenty of it!

People who enjoy the sound of rain when they sleep probably couldn’t keep their eyes open … unless thunder and lightning kept them awake.

Of course, grass, trees, and flowers look wonderful once the sun finally shines through those clouds. We also gaze in awe at a rainbow’s beauty.

Rain showers and rainbows remind us of God’s blessings.

God waits to shower us with joy, peace, hope, love, and more, if we turn to Him. Those showers continue, regardless of the weather outside.

“I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing” (Ezekiel 34:26, NIV)

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Bloom Where You’re Planted

Bloom Where You’re Planted

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Bloom Where You're PlantedThis picture, taken in a geyser basin of Yellowstone National Park, demonstrates bloom where you’re planted perfectly. Surrounded by geysers and hot springs, these flowers thrive. I’m certain a plant scientist could explain that. However, to an untrained eye, it looks impossible. In the midst of boiling water, thick steam, and crusty ground, flowers grow and bloom.

These flowers remind us to bloom where we’re planted.

Our life circumstances (where we’re planted) may be good or bad. Yet we can grow and spread cheer (bloom) regardless of our circumstances. Certainly, that’s easier when life goes well. At the same time, some of the most cheerful people have experienced the hardest lives.

  • A poor man with a sick wife gives snacks to children at his church every week.
  • A dying wife encourages her husband and children to live well after her death.
  • A hungry woman gives the last of her food to neighbors.

Will we bloom where we’re planted and spread joy?

Or will we wilt and spread gloom? Each of us must choose.

“The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon” (Psalm 92:12 NIV).

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A Little Bird Told Me

A Little Bird Told Me

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A Little Bird Told MeWhen people don’t want to reveal their source of information, they may say, “A little bird told me.”

Sometimes they share positive news that gives the listener joy. At other times, their negative words cause great pain.

The information source may never be known. Yet, with modern technology, the origin can usually be found. We hear and read daily of politicians, entertainers, and even working class people who get embarrassed by what they have said or done. They didn’t think anyone heard or saw them. They were wrong.

If we don’t want our words repeated, we’d better not say them.

If we don’t want our actions shown, we’d better not do them. Who knows what little bird may be listening or watching, waiting to reveal what we say and do.

“Do not revile the king even in your thoughts, or curse the rich in your bedroom, because a bird in the sky may carry your words, and a bird on the wing may report what you say.” (Ecclesiastes 10:20 NIV).

Thanks to all who suggested this and other expressions. Do you have a favorite expression or one you want explained? If so, please comment.

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Make Hay While the Sun Shines

Make Hay While the Sun Shines

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Make Hay While the Sun Shines 1-tractor and hay cutter in fieldA farmer has to make hay while the sun shines.

His work depends on the weather.

  • If rain delays cutting the hay, it may be tough and have little food value.
  • Rainfall after hay is cut, but before it’s raked and baled, requires extra work to remove the moisture.
  • If the rain lasts too long, an entire crop could be lost.
  • Without hay for their livestock, farmers have to buy feed or sell their animals.

Make Hay While the Sun Shines-hay balesHow does make hay while the sun shines apply to non-farmers?

We can spend days or years planning what we want to do. However, we have only one certain way to achieve our goals: If the circumstances are right, act now.

Several clichés explain this particular farming expression:

  • Make the most of your opportunities.
  • We have no guarantee of tomorrow.
  • There’s no time like the present.

Let’s act while we have the opportunity.

Let’s make hay while the sun shines! If we wait, we may lose our chance forever.

As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work (John 9:4 NIV).

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Hold Your Horses

Hold Your Horses

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Hold Your HorsesAs small children, my sister and I did not enjoy shopping. Instead, we wanted to play. So, when we had to shop with Mom or Dad, we walked fast.

Like horses ready for a race, we had one goal. We wanted to return home, the quicker the better. Our plan had one problem. When we walked fast, our parents usually yelled, “Hold your horses!” They were telling us to stop. It wasn’t time to go. We needed to buy groceries or clothes.

Similar to horses obeying their riders, we obeyed our parents. We walked slower. We tried to bridle (a nice horsy word) our energy. We didn’t enjoy it. It interfered with our plans. Yet it taught us important lessons.

Listening to our parents helped us avoid danger. Later we learned to identify those dangers for ourselves.  Just like young horses, we needed guidance. We needed patience. We needed to learn to use our energy for the benefit of ourselves and others.

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love (Ephesians 4:2 NIV).

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Don’t Count Your Chickens Before They Hatch

Don’t Count Your Chickens Before They Hatch

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Don't Count Your Chickens Before They HatchPeople who raise chickens understand exactly what this means. They know you don’t count your chickens before they hatch.

Too many disasters can occur to those fragile eggs.

  • Animals may eat them.
  • Children may use them to play ball.
  • Someone may accidentally sit or step on them.

Likewise, we have no guarantee our plans will work.

Not with:

  • Family
  • Work
  • Recreation
  • School
  • The next hour

We can:

  • Plan
  • Organize
  • Prepare for possible problems.

In spite of that, our plans may fail.

So, do we give up? Do we stop trying? Definitely not!

We continue to plan, organize, and prepare for problems. With hard work, our plans often succeed.

But we also remain flexible.

We face the fact that we can’t control everything. We remember that sometimes our best-laid plans fail.

Above all, we remember that when we can’t count on anyone or anything else, we can always count on God. God never fails.

“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future'” (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV).

Thanks to Emily Akin for suggesting this expression.

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Something’s Fishy

Something’s Fishy

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Something's Fishy--fishNo one likes to smell fish left in a hot car, on the beach, or in a trash can. They stink! Only people who cannot smell escape the fishy aroma.

Getting rid of that odor is almost impossible. We rub. We spray. We open doors and windows. We do everything we know to do, but the smell remains.

In much the same way, we sometimes face situations that don’t seem right. We may not know why, but the negative feeling won’t go away.

  • A friend asks us to join an activity that makes us feel uneasy.
  • Someone offers an opportunity that sounds too good to be true.
  • We sense danger but can’t see why.

Those fishy situations disturb us for a reason. By trusting our instincts, we may avoid many future problems.

Flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness (1 Timothy 6:11 NIV).