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A Right Smart

A Right Smart

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A Right Smart--Niagara FallsA right smart of water flows over Niagara Falls. On this rainy, windy day, the amount of water seemed far more than usual.

Many people have never heard this expression. It has nothing to do with how smart we are. Rather, it means a large amount.

If I own a right smart of something, I own a lot.

For example, I have a lot of:

  • Cousins (I love all of you.)
  • International friends (I love you too.)
  • Allergies (I don’t love you. Please go away.)

If I give a right smart, I give a lot, such as:

  • Food to people who visit our home
  • Children’s books to new parents
  • Gifts to organizations that help people in need

I have no control over a right smart that happens to me:

  • Trouble
  • Illness
  • Duties

I do have control over my:

  • Patience
  • Kindness
  • Love

To let go and let God have control is a right smart better than any decision I can make.

“God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!” (Ephesians 3:20-21 MSG).

Thanks to Laura Claycomb for the suggestion.

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Let Your Light Shine

Let Your Light Shine

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Let Your Light Shine-Nauset Beach LighthouseWhen lighthouses let their lights shine, they guide ships and protect them from danger.

Like a lighthouse, you need to let your light shine.

You let your light shine when you:

  • Show people the way to go.
  • Warn them of danger.

Shine in your own special way.

Every lighthouse is different. No other lighthouse looks exactly like Cape Cod’s Nauset Beach Light. Ships use that difference to know where they are and where they need to go.

Likewise, no one is exactly like you. Therefore, you have your own special gifts to offer. Share them as only you can. Give the gift of yourself.

Let your light shine every day.

If you see people in need, don’t be tightfisted. Help them.

  • Give food to the hungry.
  • Help the sick receive care.
  • Teach people the truth.
  • Guide people who are in the dark.

As a popular children’s song reminds us, let your little light shine.

“Let your light shine before people, so that they can see your good deeds and give honor to your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16 NIV).

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

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Save Your Breath

Save Your Breath

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Save Your Breath-two little boysSometimes you need to save your breath.

You know that no one will listen to what you say.

  • Talking will do no good.
  • Explaining will not help.
  • Arguing will probably make things worse.

A person not listening to you can be a good thing.

  • You may not have anything useful to say.
  • Your ideas may be wrong.
  • You don’t like to admit it, but you don’t always have the right answers.

A person not listening to you can also be a bad thing.

Most of the time, a person will listen.

That person may not like what you have to say. However, he or she will listen. Therefore:

“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord” (Psalm 150:6 NIV).

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

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Thanks to Joy Hamilton Hale and Mackenzie Smith for the cute photo.

A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss

A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss

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A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss--a stream running between mossy rocksA rolling stone gathers no moss is more than a proverb. It is a fact. Moss grows slowly, and it does not grow well if moved. No moss grows on a rolling stone.

This proverb has a long history and two possible meanings.

  1. The most common meaning: A person who does not stay in one place (a rolling stone) has little success. He never grows (gathers moss) anywhere. The person:
  • Keeps changing jobs or where he lives
  • Owns little or nothing
  • Does not like responsibility

Therefore, we cannot depend on that person, because he:

  • May be gone when we need him
  • Gets nothing done
  1. Another possible meaning for a rolling stone gathers no moss: The ideas of a person who moves around (a rolling stone) do not grow old (gather moss). That person:
  • Finds new ideas
  • Becomes more creative

For him, gathering moss is like spinning his wheels.  He does something but feels like he gets nowhere. Therefore, movement keeps him fresh.

Perhaps we can find truth in both meanings.

We need to:

  • Accept responsibility
  • Stay useful

 At the same time, we want to:

  • Explore new ideas
  • Find better ways to do what needs to be done

Some of us find success in the same place doing the same thing – gathering moss. Others of us do better as a rolling stone – exploring different places and activities.

“Lazy hands make for poverty, but diligent hands bring wealth” (Proverbs 10:4 NIV).

Thanks to Carole Fite for the suggestion.

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Labor of Love

Labor of Love

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Labor of Love--university students around a dinner tableSome work we love. Some work we hate. Much work we do as a labor of love.

A labor of love means a job with no pay or bad pay.

Yet we do the work because we:

  • Want to help someone we love
  • Enjoy it

The job pays us in pleasure rather than money.

Labors of love for me include:

  • Cooking
  • Writing
  • Teaching Sunday school

I have never been paid to cook. Most people would not hire me. I cook because my family, friends, and I get hungry. For years I hated the job. Yet, I learned to like being chief cook and bottle washer. Now, watching people enjoy my meals gives me great pleasure. I want to follow in the footsteps of some of my favorite cooks.

 If I counted the hours I write, my pay would fall far below minimum wage. I occasionally write for no pay, if I believe in an organization’s work. I love writing better than I love eating chocolate. Believe me, that is amazing.

Teaching middle-school girls gives me more joy than receiving a paycheck. Most people do everything they can to avoid that age. Yet, I look forward to time with my girls every Sunday morning. I have known some of them since they were knee high to a grasshopper.

What about you? What are your labors of love? Please comment below.

“We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 1:3 NIV).

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Burn Our Bridges Behind Us

Burn Our Bridges Behind Us

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Burn Our Bridges behind UsWe can’t go back when we burn our bridges behind us.

 An army occasionally burns bridges when it does not want its enemy to follow. However, that also means the army can’t return across those bridges.

Likewise, we burn our bridges behind us when we make decisions we can’t change.

We can’t undo them, just as we can’t unscramble eggs. For example, we might:

  • Get a tattoo
  • Quit school

Our behavior can also burn our bridges behind us.

Some actions make people want us to stay away. This often happens if we:

  • Yell at our boss and quit our job
  • Get a divorce

Rather than build bridges, we destroy them.

Sometimes we can repair burned bridges or build new ones.

Yet, the situation will never be the same. We try to make it as good as possible. Much like we mend fences, we rebuild our bridges.

That may mean we:

  • Walk through water until we build a new bridge
  • Cover our tattoo or have surgery to remove it
  • Return to school as an older student
  • Apologize to our boss or spouse

Water under the bridge means the past can’t be changed. What happened in the past may or may not have been our choice. However, when we burn our bridges behind us, we make the choice. Let’s be sure we want to live with the choices we make.

“If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me” (Jeremiah 15:19 NIV).

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Photo courtesy of Pixabay.

Straight and Narrow

Straight and Narrow

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Straight and Narrow--alleyTo get from one place to another, we must often follow the straight and narrow:

  • Alleys
  • Streets
  • Paths
  • Seas or rivers

Occasionally we see this expression written strait and narrow.

Some narrow sea passages are called straits.

The Strait of Gibraltar leads from the Atlantic Ocean into the Mediterranean Sea. At one place it is only eight miles wide.

You can find more information about the Strait of Gibraltar here.

When we follow the straight and narrow, we do what we should.

That is true for our lives as well as travel.

We follow the straight and narrow when we:

  • Go the right direction
  • Follow rules or laws
  • Act right
  • Speak the truth

 We may get in trouble if we leave the straight and narrow.

Many times we:

  • Get lost
  • Lead other people the wrong way
  • Get hurt or hurt others

Life can be fun off the beaten path.  However, we want to be sure that path does not take us the wrong way.

Let’s enjoy where we go and what we do when we hit the trail. However, let’s also watch our step and go only where we should go.

“Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it. How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it” (Matthew 7:13-14 HCSB).

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

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Come Clean

Come Clean

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Come Clean--muddy river Come clean is the opposite of sweep under the rug.

When we come clean, we admit we did wrong.

We choose to:

  • Stop hiding our mistakes
  • Confess
  • Tell the truth

To come clean is not always fun.

We often act like children who hate to take a bath. Rather than do what we know we should do, we:

  • Deny we are dirty
  • Delay coming clean as long as we can

Yet, when we come clean, we look and feel better.

  • The dirt is gone.
  • The smell is gone.
  • Our health improves.

In many ways, our lives are like a river.

When dirt fills the river, the water gets muddy. It can be used for little.

However, once the dirt washes away, the river becomes useful again.

When God washes the dirt from our lives, we become clean and useful.

Today seems the perfect day for that fresh start. What do you think?

“Wash away my wrongdoing! Cleanse me of my sin!” (Psalm 51:2 NET)

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A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

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A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing--sheep on a mountainWe read about a wolf in sheep’s clothing in Aesop’s Fables and the Bible. Both show the danger of an enemy who looks like a friend.

A wolf in sheep’s clothing looks harmless.

The sheep skin disguises the wolf. However, looks can deceive.

  • The wolf is not a sheep.
  • The wolf is still a wolf.

People with evil plans can look or sound harmless.

They hide their true colors and pretend to be friends. They:

  • Dress well
  • Speak with kindness
  • Act helpful

Yet, they are dangerous. They still have evil plans.

A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing 2--two wolvesWolves in sheep’s clothing can be found almost everywhere:

  • Work
  • Church
  • Families
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • School

Scams occur every day. They come to us through:

  • Telephone
  • Mail
  • Visits
  • Internet

As a result, we must be careful.

We want to love and be kind to everyone. We want to trust people. At the same time, we must not accept what we know is false.

Be prepared. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

  • Learn right from wrong.
  • If something does not sound right, check it out.

God gave us brains. We need to use them.

“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves” (Matthew 7:15 NIV).

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Photos courtesy of Pixabay.

You Can’t Unscramble Eggs

You Can’t Unscramble Eggs

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You Can't Unscramble Eggs--Sue Davis PottsPlease welcome my friend Sue Davis Potts as today’s guest writer. Sue and I met at Kentucky Christian Writers Conference. She has been writing as long as she can remember. In addition to her two books, Sue writes for several magazines and anthologies.  Check out her website and blog, Potts Pages, for more details.

Sometimes we wish we could undo what we have done. However, not everything can be undone. Scrambled eggs are one of those things. No matter how much we want to, we can’t unscramble eggs.

You Can't Unscramble EggsSome things can’t be undone.

  • Broken egg shells can’t be put back together.
  • Mixed egg yolk and white can’t be unmixed.
  • Cooked eggs can’t be uncooked.

In cooking, scramble means mixed together. It also means to hurry. It doesn’t take long to scramble eggs that can’t be unscrambled.

When we hurry, sometimes we do things that can’t be undone.

  • Say angry words
  • Hurt feelings
  • Break trust

Our words can hurt people’s feelings. They may forgive us. Yet, they may feel sad or bad about themselves when they remember our words.

If we always hurry, we may not have time to keep our promises. This will make it hard for others to trust us.

God doesn’t want our lives to get so scrambled (in a hurry), that we hurt others.

He wants us to:

  • Take time to love others
  • Encourage others with our words

Then we won’t wish we could undo what we’ve done.

“Careless words stab like a sword, but wise words bring healing” (Proverbs 12:18 NCV).

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.