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Category: Problems

Play with Fire

Play with Fire

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Play with Fire--child in fireman's outfitMatthew knows he should never play with fire. He does not want to get hurt. Neither does he want to hurt others.

Instead, Matthew may become a fireman when he grows up. Rather than play with fire, he hopes to prevent and put out fires.

No one should play with fire.

It is both dangerous and foolish. Most of us would never play with a physical fire. Yet, many of us play with fire in other ways. We take risks when we:

  • Choose bad relationships
  • Cheat
  • Disobey the law
  • Practice bad health habits

When we play with fire, we get burned.

 We may:

  • Hurt or lose those we love
  • Gain a bad reputation
  • Go to jail
  • Suffer poor health

Instead, let’s prevent or put out fires when we can.

Let’s watch our steps, make good choices, and help others do the same.

“Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned?” (Proverbs 6:27 NIV)

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Photo courtesy of Tammy Seyfried.

Little Pitchers Have Big Ears

Little Pitchers Have Big Ears

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Little Pitchers Have Big Ears--a small pitcherThe curved handle on some pitchers looks like a person’s ear. When we say little pitchers have big ears, we warn adults to be careful what they say. Children don’t need to hear it.

We may also protect children by:

  • Spelling words we don’t want them to hear (This works until they can spell.)
  • Moving where they cannot hear us

Children like to listen to adults.

When adults speak, children often become all ears. Yet, they should not hear:

  • Information they are too young to understand
  • Talk that might upset or confuse them
  • Words no one should ever say
  • Gossip

Many times children repeat what they hear.

  • We always want to protect children.
  • We don’t always want them repeating what we say.

If we choose our words wisely, we don’t have to worry who hears them.

Helpful guidelines include:

  • Think before we speak.
  • Say nothing unkind or untrue.
  • Don’t say it if we don’t want it repeated.

As adults, we need to remember little pitchers have big ears. Like children, we also need to mind our Ps and Qs.

“Jesus called the crowd to him and said, ‘Listen and understand. What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them’” (Matthew 15:10-11 NIV).

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Cry Over Spilled Milk

Cry Over Spilled Milk

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Cry Over Spilled Milk--a glass of spilled milk“Dry your tears. There is no need to cry over spilled milk.”

As a child, I often heard those words. Sometimes I had spilled milk. Usually I was unhappy about something I could not change.

We cry over spilled milk when upset about what we cannot control. Often what upset us occurred in the past.

We cannot undo the past.

We cannot unspill milk. Neither can we undo anything that has already happened. The past is water under the bridge.

We can do something about the present and future.

  • If something bad happened in the past, we can learn from the experience.
  • If something good happened, we can remember and smile.
  • If we hurt someone, we can ask forgiveness.
  • If someone hurt us, we can forgive.

Instead of crying over spilled milk, we can let bygones be bygones. We can choose to grow from all that happens, good or bad.

“One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead” (Philippians 3:13 NIV).

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Eyes in the Back of Her Head

Eyes in the Back of Her Head

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Eyes in the Back of Her Head--adult femaleDoes your mom have eyes in the back of her head?

Many children think so. Of course, moms don’t have eyes in the back of their heads. Yet, they seem to know when their children have done wrong.

Children’s behaviors usually show they have disobeyed. They may:

  • Avoid their parents
  • Fail to look them in the eye
  • Say “I didn’t do it,” before parents ask if they did anything

As adults, we share some of those same behaviors.

We usually act guilty if we are guilty.

Some people hide guilt better than others. Yet, when we try to hide our guilt, we make a bad situation worse. We may:

  • Fear contact with the person we wronged
  • Change our behavior when around that person
  • Lie and lose that person’s trust

Why not choose a better way?

Then we won’t have to worry if Mom, or anyone else, has eyes in the back of her head.

“Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:13 NIV).

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Fall Flat

Fall Flat

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Fall Flat--Yellowstone waterfallWaterfalls in Yellowstone National Park may fall on flat land. Yet, they never fall flat. They never fail to amaze us.

When we fall flat, we fail.

We fail in a big way. Often, we say we fall flat on our face.

We all fail.

We may wish for a failure-free life, but that will never happen. Sometimes our failures are small. Other times we fail in a big way – we fall flat. We feel like we can’t win for losing.

Since we all fail, what will we do with those failures?

  • Will we stop trying?
  • Will we blame others?
  • Or will we learn from our mistakes?

Why not turn failures into opportunities?

Failures teach us what does not work. Each failure moves us one step closer to success. We may find that success when we:

  • Make small changes to what we did before
  • Take a short break to rest our brains and bodies
  • Ask other people to help us
  • Spend our time on something different

If we learn, we have not failed.

Therefore, when we fall flat, let’s get up and try again.

“You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it’s useless. Cultivate God-confidence” (1 Corinthians 10:12 MSG).

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In the Dark

In the Dark

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In the Dark--Northern LightsI love the beauty of a night sky. I enjoy standing in the dark watching changes in the moon and stars.

Someday I hope to see the Northern Lights. Pictures of them give me itchy feet. I want to hit the trail and watch those amazing lights shine.

Yet, a dark night with no light can be scary.

We often live in the dark.

  1. When we do something in secret, we say we do it in the dark.
  2. In the dark also means we do not have the information we need.

We will look at the second meaning.

Sometimes we choose to keep people in the dark.

  1. We fail to give them information we know.
  2. Or, they choose not to give us information they know.

When we are in the dark, we need light. We need information to make good decisions. Life can be scary without that information.

We can light the way for one another.

We do that by sharing:

  • Information
  • Guidance
  • Concern

 The smallest light shines brightly in the dark.

  • One candle can brighten a room.
  • One star can brighten the sky.
  • One person can brighten the world.

During Christmas, we sing of Jesus bringing light into our dark world. Let’s remember to celebrate and share Jesus, the light of the world, all year long.

“No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light” (Luke 11:33 NIV).

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Photo courtesy of Pixabay.

Don’t Rain on My Parade

Don’t Rain on My Parade

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Don't Rain on My Parade--small horse-drawn cart in paradePeople all over the world watch Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. Many communities plan smaller parades for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the New Year. Don’t rain on my parade is probably on most of their minds.

We celebrate Campbellsville’s favorite parade on July 4. No one wants rain that day either. If it does rain, we hope it rains before or after the parade.

When we rain on people’s parade, we:

  • Ruin their plans
  • Take away from their fun
  • Spoil their celebration

We see this when Barbra Streisand sings “Don’t Rain on My Parade” in the movie Funny Girl. She does not want anyone to discourage her plans.

Sometimes we need to rain on people’s parade.

We may not want to, but we must. If we know their plans will hurt them or others, we:

  • Tell them
  • Try to stop them

They may not like what we say. Yet, we warn them of the danger.

When possible, let’s celebrate plans together. When necessary, let’s rain on one another’s parade.

“The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice” (Proverbs 12:15 NIV).

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Talk Turkey

Talk Turkey

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Talk TurkeyWe talk turkey a lot during Thanksgiving.

We discuss:

  • Buying turkeys
  • Baking turkeys
  • Stuffing turkeys
  • Eating turkeys
  • What to do with leftover turkey

We talk turkey any time of year when we discuss a problem.

As we talk, we:

  • Get serious about the problem and try to solve it
  • Speak in clear language
  • Focus on what needs to be said

Many times we know something is wrong but do nothing about it. We ignore the problem and hope it goes away. Often it only gets worse the longer we wait. We become worry warts who get nothing done.

Talking turkey is not always easy.

Like a kitchen after a Thanksgiving meal, life gets messy. If we want to clean up our mess, we need to tackle it.

  • Talk about what is wrong.
  • Do what we can to make it right.

Talking turkey usually makes life better.

We don’t talk turkey to quarrel. We talk turkey to:

  • Solve our problems
  • Get business done
  • Get along better with one another.

“A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict, but the one who is patient calms a quarrel” (Proverbs 15:18 NIV).

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Image courtesy of Pixabay.

Okey-dokey

Okey-dokey

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okey-dokey--flowersWe find okey-dokey spelled several ways.

  • Okie-dokie
  • Okay-doke
  • Okey-doke
  • Okee-dokee

However we spell it, the meaning remains the same.

Okey-dokey means okay.

  • It’s a fun way to agree to something or to say yes. (Will you open the door for me? Okey-dokey.)
  • It also means all is well. (How are you? Okey-dokey.) This meaning is similar to hunky-dory or fit as a fiddle.

Recently I asked a friend to do something for me. She said, “Okey-dokey,” so I knew she would do it.

I asked another friend how she was feeling. She replied, “Okey-dokey.” I knew she was not sick any longer.

Sometimes we need to say no instead of okey-dokey.

No can be a hard for some of us to say. Yet, if we fail to say no when we should, we may:

  • Agree to do something we don’t have time to do
  • Help with bad behavior
  • Do what the other people should do themselves

Sometimes we need help instead of saying we are okey-dokey.

We all feel bad occasionally. We get under the weather. Most of the time, we feel better quickly. However, we should ask for help when we need it.

What helps you feel okey-dokey?

Rainbows, waterfalls, and flowers work for me.

“If God says it’s okay, it’s okay” (Acts 10:15 MSG).

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Snake in the Grass

Snake in the Grass

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Snake in the Grass--a snake's head coming out of grassI don’t like to get too close to a snake in the grass.

I’m not afraid of most snakes. They help keep mice away. However, I don’t want snakes to hide in my yard.

A few snakes can kill with their bites. I am afraid of them.

I prefer not having a person who is a snake in the grass near me either.

A snake in the grass cannot be trusted. That person will:

  • Cheat
  • Lie
  • Steal
  • Hurt others to get what he or she wants

Like a dangerous snake (animal) hiding in the grass, a snake in the grass person tries to hide bad behavior. The person attacks or hurts others when they least expect it.

God offers a better way.

I pray that everyone who tries to trick and hurt others will choose God’s way. Just as God forgives me when I confess my wrongs, God will also forgive them. Sometimes we all need a fresh start.

“Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon” (Isaiah 55:7 NIV).

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

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Photo courtesy of Pixabay.