Problems Archives - Page 25 of 35

Mend Fences

October 3, 2016 Diana Derringer Comments 3 comments

I love fences.

I know some people say, “Don’t fence me in,” meaning they want their freedom. I like freedom too. Still, I enjoy the beauty of fences.

Fences give order.
They look neat.
Sometimes they provide safety.

However, we need to mend (repair) fences occasionally.

Fences break.
They need paint.
Animals damage them.
They start leaning the wrong way.
They get dirty.

If we don’t mend them, they won’t stay safe, neat, orderly, and beautiful.

Occasionally we need to mend fences in our relationships.

We disagree, argue, or fight.
We neglect one another.
Hard times hurt us.
We let others lead us the wrong way.
We betray one another.

We mend fences when we improve our relationships.

How do we do that? We learn to:

Disagree without arguing or fighting
Spend special time together
Refuse to follow bad examples
Support one another through hard times
Apologize when we do wrong

Of course, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. If we take care of our relationships every day, we don’t have to spend so much time mending them. That seems a small price to pay for a safe, neat, orderly, beautiful relationship.

“Turn us back to You, O Lord, and we will be restored; Renew our days as of old” (Lamentations 5:21 NKJV).

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Tackle It

September 26, 2016 Diana Derringer Comments 16 comments

Tackle it. Get started. Get the job done. Don’t wait.

When we tackle anything, we try to solve a problem or complete a job.

Sometimes we tackle problems with our brains.
Other jobs we tackle with physical work.
Perhaps hardest to tackle are relationships with other people.

In football, tackle is both a noun and a verb. Football tackles (players) tackle (stop) players on the other team. We will focus on the verb.

A tackle has two purposes:

To keep the other team from scoring
To help our team score

Some tackles are easy. Some are hard.

Coaches, cheerleaders, and fans cheer for their team during a game. Cheering encourages the team to play their best.

Like football, the jobs we tackle may be easy or hard.

Either way, why not cheer for one another? Why not encourage one another to do our best? Encouragement improves both our attitudes and actions.

We tackle life better with support.

Often when we tackle life’s problems alone, we get down in the dumps. A kind word or a smile may be all we need to get out of the dumps and ready to go again.

“Encourage one another and build each other up” (1 Thessalonians 5:11 NIV).

Thanks to Joy Taylor for the suggestion.

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Worry Wart

September 19, 2016 Diana Derringer Comments 9 comments

Worry Wart-fallen tree covered in weeds I don’t want warts on my skin. Neither do I want to be a worry wart. Both can annoy us.

Worry warts worry all the time.

Sometimes they worry about what has happened or is happening. Often they borrow trouble – they worry about problems that could happen.

Their worries include:

Health
Personal relationships
The weather
Money
Death

Worry warts worry about everything.

We have trees behind our house.

I can enjoy their shade and beauty. Or I can worry that a tree may fall on my house.
I can enjoy the animals that live among those trees. Or I can worry that one will bite me or give me a disease.
I can enjoy the leaves as they change colors. Or I can worry about having to rake all those leaves when they fall.

The tree in this photo did fall. However, it was old and rotten inside. It was far from the house, so the fall was no problem. We cut our trees when we think they may cause problems. The other trees we choose to enjoy.

Why worry?

Marian Woosley lived and taught a good plan for life. One of her favorite expressions was, “Why worry when we can pray?” That’s a good question, don’t you think?

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Philippians 4:6 NIV).

Thanks to Debbie Tapscott for the suggestion.

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That’s the Way the Cookie Crumbles

August 15, 2016 Diana Derringer Comments 3 comments

Eventually we all suffer hard times.

That's the Way the Cookie Crumbles-plate of cookies When that happens, we may say to one another, “That’s the way the cookie crumbles.” We mean:

That’s too bad.
Those things happen.
You could not have prevented your problems.
You cannot change your problems.
I’m sorry about your problems.

We don’t like it. We may want to scream, “Life’s not fair.” Well … it isn’t. So we deal with that fact. Saying “That’s the way the cookie crumbles” encourages us not to get upset.

No one is problem free. In fact, some of the kindest, wisest people I know seem to have one problem after another. They get few breaks.

Yet, many of them ignore their troubles. Instead, they reach out to help others. They do whatever it takes to make other people’s lives easier. They find joy in the middle of all they face.

Will we find joy in spite of our problems?

When life falls apart, will we fall apart as well? Or will we ask God to guide us? Will we help other people deal with their troubles? Will we make the best of a bad situation?

^“You have patiently suffered for me without quitting” (Revelation 2:3 TLB).

Thanks to Carol Sullivan and Sweet Hospitality for the yummy looking cookie photo.

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Face the Music

August 8, 2016 Diana Derringer Comments 7 comments

I love to listen to music.

Music makes me laugh, cry, dance, worship, and more. Few things in life offer as much pleasure.

I still remember the first time I saw the opening scene of The Sound of Music. I wanted to run up that mountain with Julie Andrews and sing just like her. I could probably run up the mountain. I will never sing like that.

I don’t like to face the music.

I don’t want to accept the results of my actions when I have done wrong. When other people do wrong, I usually think they should face the music. They should pay for their mistakes. Yet, I don’t want the same for myself.

However, I live with the consequences of the choices I make.

Most of the time, good choices result in a good life. Bad choices usually result in a bad life. That is not always true, but it is most of the time.

The choices I make also affect other people. I want to help them make good choices and avoid bad ones.

Likewise, I want to choose carefully the people who guide me. Although I see many examples, I choose the ones I follow.

Whether I have good or bad teachers, I choose my actions.
Whether I have good or bad friends, I choose my actions.
Whether I have a good or bad family, I choose my actions.

Making right choices is not always easy. When I fail, I ask God for forgiveness and thank God for a fresh start. God offers that same forgiveness and fresh start to everyone.

I pray you always enjoy beautiful music. I also pray you make good choices so you don’t have to face the music.

“Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:19 NIV).

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Buck Up

July 25, 2016 Diana Derringer Comments 0 Comment

Buck Up--sun shining above dark clouds Cheer up! Perk up! Get over it! Life is not that bad. All these mean the same thing: buck up.

Life is not usually as bad as we think.

Everything looks dark down in the dumps. We see no way out. That often results when we look the wrong way.

When we walk down a cave’s dark path, we see no escape.
When we move toward the entrance, we see the light.

We must choose to move.

The light remains there for us. We decide which way to go.

We do the same in daily life. Will we remain down in the dumps or focus on the light at the end of the tunnel?

Our circumstances may remain the same. We all go through hard times. However, we choose our mood.

What we tell ourselves changes our mood.
Our mood changes our actions.

For physical depression, we may need medical help. For a bad attitude, we need to buck up.

Remember: Every cloud has a silver lining.

“My God turns my darkness into light” (Psalm 18:28 NIV).

Thanks to Joy Taylor for the suggestion.

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Down in the Dumps

July 18, 2016 Diana Derringer Comments 12 comments

No one enjoys being down in the dumps.

We don’t like to feel depressed or unhappy. Yet, we all get down in the dumps sometimes.

Darkness covers us, much like entering a cave with no lights. We wonder if life will ever get better.

A few people suffer depression because of a physical problem. Most of us simply have days we don’t enjoy as much as others.

Our car won’t start.
We argue with someone we love.
We have to work long hours.

Problems keep growing, and so does our bad mood.

Like an old dog, we growl at others.

We frown.
We fuss.
Nothing pleases us.

Because we feel down in the dumps, we often make others feel bad too.

We want them to share our misery. Yet, most of us have a choice.

Will we focus on our bad moments?

Or will we be thankful for all the good we still enjoy? We’ll talk more about that choice next week.

“Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God” (Psalm 42:5 NIV).

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Get Our Feet Wet

July 11, 2016 Diana Derringer Comments 1 comment

If we want to learn to swim, we have to get our feet wet.

A friend’s grandmother taught her to fear water. Therefore, my friend never learned to swim.

My parents had me playing in water when I was a baby. I never feared water, but I did obey safety rules.

My sister, brother, and I enjoyed water games for hours. We:

Stood on our hands
Floated on our backs
Jumped and splashed
Looked for fish

I wanted my friend to know the freedom of such a day. First, she had to get her feet wet.

When we try anything new, we must get our feet wet.

We have to take those first steps. Once we get our feet wet, we can move on to deeper water. We can add new skills.

Yet, fear often keeps us from trying.

What if I fail?
Will I look silly?
What will people think?

The truth is:

We all fail sometimes.
We all look silly sometimes.
People don’t notice us as much as we think they do.
If we make mistakes, we can always go back to the drawing board.

As an old song says, step into the water.

Get your feet wet. Then, one step at a time, experience the fun of learning something new.

“‘Lord, if it’s you,’ Peter replied, ‘tell me to come to you on the water.’ ‘Come,’ he said” (Matthew 14:28-29 NIV).

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Green Thumb

July 4, 2016 Diana Derringer Comments 1 comment

My friend Carolyn’s husband has a green thumb.

Tim grows beautiful flowers, shrubs, trees, and other plants. His flower garden amazes me. In the middle of his garden stands an American flag. The flag serves as a symbol of the freedom we celebrate each July 4.

My thumb is definitely not green.

Most of my plants get sick and die. Therefore, I grow flowers that require little or no care.

In spite of my lack of talent, I admire the beauty of other people’s plants.

I may not know the plants’ names.
I may not be able to grow them.
However, I can enjoy them.

I am thankful for people with a green thumb. I am also thankful I don’t need a green thumb to be used in other ways.

God gives each of us our own special talents.

Like Tim’s flowers, we are all different. Yet, we can all be beautiful in our own way.

Some people work well with numbers.
Others work well with people.
Some are great planners.

Whatever our talents, green thumb or not, let’s bloom where we are planted.

“Then God said, ‘Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.’ And it was so” (Genesis 1:11 NIV).

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Off Base

June 27, 2016 Diana Derringer Comments 1 comment

Off Base, little boy T-ball player with one foot on a base Ryder knows not to move his foot off base. If he does, a baseball player on the other team can tag him out.

In baseball, we never want to get off base.

We also:

Need to run fast from one base to the next.
Must touch all the bases to score a run.
Fail to score a run if we get tagged by the baseball between bases.

In life, we don’t want to get caught off base either.

If we are off base, we are wrong. If someone says we are way off base, they mean we are really wrong. We have made a big mistake.

For example, I am off base if I:

Believe I will never suffer when I make bad choices
Want good pay for poor work
Expect people to like me when I treat them badly

The bad news:

We all get off base from time to time.

The good news:

We can get back in the game and try again.

How do we get back on base?

Watch our steps.
Admit our mistakes.
Go back to the drawing board to correct our mistakes.

I have been off base playing ball. I have been off base in life. I have learned hard but good lessons from both.

“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord” (Acts 3:19 NIV).

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Thanks to Karen Atwood for the photo.