difficulties Archives - Page 3 of 8

Go Off the Deep End

November 14, 2022 Diana Derringer Comments 11 comments

As children, my sister, brother, and I loved to go off the deep end of a swimming pool. We wanted to see what was under the water. Usually, we found nothing but the bottom of the pool.

In contrast, a dive into the depths of rivers or oceans reveals a new world. We find ourselves surrounded by:

Fish
Rocks
Plants
Other natural wonders

However, a word to the wise: Learn to swim before jumping into deep water.

To go off the deep end means to act crazy.

What we do makes no sense. Our behavior may result from feeling:

Upset
Angry
Excited
Grieved
Lovesick

We go overboard.

When we go off the deep end, we let our emotions take control.

Like a person who can’t swim but jumps into deep water, we fail to use reason. We overreact. We:

Speak before we think
Hurt others or ourselves
Act before we get the facts
Withdraw from sources of help
Move too fast in a relationship

God gave us emotions, but God also gave us brains. Let’s use our heads for more than hat racks.

“Leave behind your foolishness and begin to live; learn how to be wise” (Proverbs 9:6 TLB).

Thanks to Janna Babak for the suggestion.

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

Subscribe to receive my weekly posts by email and receive a free copy of “Words of Hope for Days that Hurt.”

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends.

Turn the Tables

November 7, 2022 Diana Derringer Comments 8 comments

I never played much chess. However, I played checkers with my dad and sister for years. When I was losing, I hoped to turn the tables. I wanted to win.

I never physically turned the tables to play from the opposite side. However, I tried to change the outcome of the game.

When we turn the tables, we reverse a situation.

It becomes the opposite of what it was. We see such major changes in:

Board games, like chess or checkers
Sports events
Job positions
Any competition

This expression also applies to major changes in plans.

Usually, the change helps the person who had an earlier disadvantage. Roles reverse. The shoe is on the other foot.

How did this expression begin?

According to The Free Dictionary, “Until the mid-18^th century, tables was the usual name for the board game backgammon. Early instances of the use of this phrase, dating from the mid-17^th century, made it clear that it comes from the practice of turning the board so that a player had to play what had previously been their opponent’s position.”

We find examples of turned tables throughout history.

The Bible tells the story of Joseph and his brothers. Joseph’s brothers were jealous of him and sold him into slavery. Eventually, Joseph achieved an important leadership position. When famine struck, Joseph’s brothers went to him for grain. They did not recognize him. After Joseph identified himself, his brothers feared for their lives.

Yet, Joseph did not act high and mighty when their roles changed. Instead, he forgave his brothers and provided for them.

Like Joseph, we have an opportunity to help others when the tables turn our way.

^“‘But Joseph said to them, ‘Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.’ And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them” (Genesis 50:20-21 NIV).

Thanks to Debbie Tapscott and Beckham Wilson for the suggestion. Image by Waldemar Bajda from Pixabay.

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

Subscribe to receive my weekly posts by email and receive a free copy of “Words of Hope for Days that Hurt.”

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends.

It Is What It Is

October 17, 2022 Diana Derringer Comments 11 comments

It is what it is. That reality applies to all of life. Much we can change, but not everything.

It is what it is refers to a situation we can’t change.

We don’t like it, but we can’t undo what has been done, so we:

Accept it
Do the best we can
Move on with our lives

We must deal with life as it comes.

When we can’t change it, we make the most of it. Yes, it is frustrating. Yes, it is hard. That’s life. We deal with it as it is.

A simple example: What do we do with a stump? The tree is gone. Do we:

Do nothing and leave the stump where it is?
Dig it up and fill the hole with dirt?
Try to make it beautiful?

Tree carvers turn stumps into works of art. Most of us don’t have that skill. My family’s solution: We let honeysuckle cover the stump. Honeysuckle is a weed, but we love its blooms.

Our stump is still a stump, but we chose to make the best of a bad situation.

Before I took the honeysuckle picture, a deer ate most of its blooms. I was disappointed, but it is what it is. I took the picture anyway.

Occasionally, it is what it is becomes an excuse to do nothing.

Although hard, most difficulties are not impossible. We simply don’t want to deal with them.

Let’s use this expression to motivate, not to excuse.

Make the most of life as it is.

“Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (Hebrews 10:24 NIV).

Thanks to Karen Atwood for the suggestion. First image by Kai from Pixabay.

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

On Saturday, October 22, I will randomly select the name of one person on my mailing list to receive a free copy of Shirley Crowder and Harriet Michaels’s devotional book, Glimpses of the Savior: 50 Meditations for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the New Year. If you are not already on my mailing list, you can sign up here.

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends.

Set Your Face Like Flint

September 19, 2022 Diana Derringer Comments 6 comments

Do you occasionally face tasks that seem impossible? Yet, you refuse to quit? Instead, you set your face like flint and finish the job before you?

Flint is a hard, dark rock.

It was often used in earlier times to make tools and start fires. Flint also makes strong stone walls.

To set your face like flint means to be determined.

When you face difficulties, you refuse to give up. Instead, you:

Focus on the task before you.
Dedicate yourself to its completion.

The prophet Isaiah described the Messiah, Jesus, as having “set my face like flint.”

Isaiah tells of Jesus’ determination to complete the role of a suffering servant. Jesus sacrificed His life on a cross to make eternal life possible for all who accept His gift.

You can follow Jesus’ example.

Life gets hard. Many tasks are tough. However, with God’s help, you can endure. You can keep on keeping on. You can also make a positive difference in an often negative world.

“Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame” (Isaiah 50:7 NIV).

Thanks to Linda Russell for the suggestion. Image by Wesley Rocha from Pixabay

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

Subscribe to receive my weekly posts by email and receive a free copy of “Words of Hope for Days that Hurt.”

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends.

Many Hands Make Light Work

August 15, 2022 Diana Derringer Comments 6 comments

Do you have little helpers who remind you that many hands make light work? Maybe your children or grandchildren? Perhaps a neighbor or friend?

Many of my favorite experiences involve children who helped me. Their help may have meant extra time or a bigger mess. Yet, what fun. They learned to work together and to help one another.

Many hands make light work means the more who work together, the easier and faster the work.

Work may be on:

A garden’s long hard rows to hoe
Large family meals
Caregiving for family members
A youth group project

Many hands may not make the work easy as pie. It will make the work easier.

Many hands make light work applies to all areas of life.

Jobs
Family
Friends
Community
Church
Volunteer work

Take advantage of opportunities to lend a helping hand.

Supporting one another makes life better for everyone – the one who receives help plus the one who helps.

“May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us—yes, establish the work of our hands” (Psalm 90:17 NIV).

Thanks to Tracy Crump for the suggestion and to Karen Atwood for the photo.

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

Subscribe to receive my weekly posts by email and receive a free copy of “Words of Hope for Days that Hurt.”

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends.

Make Groceries

July 25, 2022 Diana Derringer Comments 6 comments

Have you ever made groceries? I have many times. However, I did not know it until recently.

To make groceries means to shop for groceries.

I have been to the grocery store all my life. I would never have called that trip making groceries. Yet, the expression is common in New Orleans.

According to New Orleans.com, “Old-timers in New Orleans ‘make groceries’ at the store. This is another one that has French origins, as a rough translation from “faire son marché,” which means to do one’s grocery shopping. Since ‘faire’ means both ‘to do’ and ‘to make,’ making groceries came from a slight error in translation from French to English.”

Whatever we call it, we need food.

If we have never been hungry for long periods of time, we are richer than many. Millions have nothing or slim pickings. If we say we are starving, we usually mean only that we hunger. Yet, starvation remains a harsh reality for our world.

When we make meals after we make groceries, let’s give thanks.

Thank the farmers who grow the food.
Thank the stores that stock the food.
Thank the cooks who prepare the food.
Thank our Creator and Savior, the everlasting Bread of Life.

Then, let’s put feet to our prayers.

Share with others in need.
Donate food or money to local food pantries.
Give to reliable agencies that help feed the world.

A little food for thought.

“Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty’” (John 6:35 NIV).

If you have been to New Orleans or have heard this expression, I would love to hear from you. Please comment.

Thanks to Laura Lee Leathers for the suggestion. Image by Gabe Raggio from Pixabay

Subscribe to receive my weekly posts by email and receive a free copy of “Words of Hope for Days that Hurt.”

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends.

There Now

June 13, 2022 Diana Derringer Comments 2 comments

When I needed comfort as a child, I could go to several relatives. They often responded with, “There now. Don’t cry. Everything will be okay.” I felt better immediately. Everything usually was okay.

My troubles included such tragedies as:

Bee stings
Poison ivy
Falls
Childhood quarrels

For bigger problems, they doubled their comfort. “There, there now” gave an extra word for extra cheer.

A few problems lasted longer than usual. For those, they reminded me everything would come out in the wash.

I learned from their comfort how to comfort others.

There now soothes or reassures someone having a tough time.

It helps a hurting person:

Calm down
Cheer up
Stop crying
Relax
Remember every cloud has a silver lining

The need for comfort does not stop as an adult.

Troubles may differ, but they remain as real.

Health crises
Relationship woes
Financial stresses
Work demands

Ways to cheer one another include:

Prayers
Notes
Calls
Visits
Texts
Hugs, if appropriate

Listening is more important than talking. Availability is more important than activity.

Shout for joy, you heavens; rejoice, you earth; burst into song, you mountains! For the Lord comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones (Isaiah 49:13 NIV).

Thanks to Rita Smalley for the suggestion.

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

Subscribe to receive my weekly posts by email and receive a free copy of “Words of Hope for Days that Hurt.”

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends.

Take the Cake

May 30, 2022 Diana Derringer Comments 6 comments

This expression would probably take the cake in a contest of contradictions.

To take the cake can mean either the best or the worst.

We see examples of the best when a person:

Wins a contest and receives the prize
Excels in school or work
Stands out from everyone else

We might say, “She has created great art before, but this piece takes the cake.”

Examples of the worst include someone who:

Acts horrible
Mistreats others
Appears foolish

We might say, “He has done stupid things before, but that takes the cake.

Take the cake can also mean something unbelievable.

The hard to believe may be important or simply fun. For example, the horse that won the recent Kentucky Derby was the least expected to win.

It may also be horrible or wonderful. In several instances, family members of murdered missionaries continued to serve their loved ones’ killers.

If we want to take the cake, let’s do so in the best way. Make it unbelievably good.

“This is what the Lord says—your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. (Isaiah 48:17 NIV).

Thanks to Ann Maniscalco and Janna Babak for the suggestion and to Cakes by Camille for the photo.

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

Subscribe to receive my weekly posts by email and receive a free copy of “Words of Hope for Days that Hurt.”

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends.

Forever and a Day

April 18, 2022 Diana Derringer Comments 2 comments

Thousands of people hike the twenty-one-mile Rim to Rim Grand Canyon trail. They probably feel like it takes forever and a day during the heat of summer. The trail includes a one-mile hike down and another up. Most hikers require an overnight stay in the canyon. The park suggests most visitors not try that trail in the hottest weather. Temperatures reach over 100° F.

Forever and a day means a long time.

Forever is eternal or always. It will never end, so we cannot add time to it. Forever and a day simply adds emphasis. It exaggerates the idea.

We wish some experiences would end quickly.

They feel like they last forever.

Illness
Tests
Boring speeches
Workdays when we want to go home

We look for the light at the end of the tunnel.

We wish other experiences would last forever.

Favorite vacations
Love for family
Fun with friends

All who follow Jesus have an eternal home in heaven.

Time without end in perfect peace with God
No more sorrow or pain (or boring speeches)
Joy beyond anything we can imagine.

At the end of the road, we have no better way to spend forever and a day.

“After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever” (1 Thessalonians 4:17 NIV).

Thanks to Janna Babak for the suggestion.

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

Subscribe to receive my weekly posts by email and receive a free copy of “Words of Hope for Days that Hurt.”

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends.

Alive and Kicking

March 7, 2022 Diana Derringer Comments 4 comments

Few of us can kick as high as Stella. Yet, we can move at our own pace. We are alive and kicking.

I recently talked with a friend I had not seen in several years. When I asked how she was, she said, “I’m still kicking.” Like most people, she had experienced ups and downs. Some days she kicks higher than others.

Alive and kicking means alive and well.

As my father loved to say, we are “full of vim, vigor, and vitality.” We have:

Energy
Enthusiasm
Health

We are:

Strong
Alert
Active

We still exist, so we still have purpose.

Alive and kicking does not mean a perfect life.

We all deal with less than perfect experiences. That’s life. We may suffer:

Health crises
Financial woes
Relationship problems
Daily challenges

Yet, we don’t give up. Rather, we rise and shine. We give thanks for each day and determine to make the most of the resources and abilities we possess.

We kick as high as we can.

“I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands” (Psalm 63:4 NIV).

Thanks to Virginia Harris Sturgeon for the suggestion and to Rhonda Wade Royster for the photo.

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

Subscribe to receive my weekly posts by email and receive a free copy of “Words of Hope for Days that Hurt.”

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends.