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Up a Stump

Up a Stump

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Up a Stump--stump I always thought up a stump meant the same as stumped. My friend Patty Cooper Emerson explained a difference in the two.

Stumped means confused or puzzled.

We cut a few trees in our back year. I was stumped about what to do with the stumps. Should I:

  • Dig them up
  • Burn them
  • Leave them alone

Up a Stump--honeysuckle-covered stumpWith one stump, I let nature take control. Honeysuckle grew near it. I allowed the honeysuckle to keep growing. Now, it covers the stump and blooms all summer. Problem solved.

No longer stumped, I have a pretty stump.

Up a stump means a situation too big to manage.

I cannot solve the problem. I:

  • Have no choice
  • Must live with it

Patty gave the example of a young man who arrives 30 minutes late to work every day. If he is my sister’s son, I might feel up a stump – like I can do nothing.

What makes me feel up a stump may not make you feel that way.  

  • You may be comfortable firing your sister’s son.
  • I may feel comfortable with a problem you cannot manage.

Nothing leaves God up a stump. Rather than tying myself in knots or becoming a worry wart, I can take all my problems to God. So can you.

“A life devoted to things is a dead life, a stump; a God-shaped life is a flourishing tree” (Proverbs 11:28 MSG).

If you use up a stump and stumped, do you mean the same? Please comment below.

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

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You Can’t Squeeze Blood from a Turnip

You Can’t Squeeze Blood from a Turnip

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You Can't Squeeze Blood from a Turnip--basket of turnipsYou can’t squeeze blood from a turnip means something is extremely hard to do.

You may also hear:

  • It is like getting blood from a turnip.
  • You can’t draw blood from a turnip.
  • It is like getting blood from a stone.

All usually deal with efforts to get money or information from someone.

 The person:

  • Has what we need but will not share or help
  • Or has little or no money or information

Often a person has a bill but no way to pay it.

A few businesspeople understand. Others do not.

During my social work years, a doctor cared for a couple and their children. One day we discussed their many needs. The doctor said, “You can’t squeeze blood from a turnip.” He knew the family was poor as a church mouse. They would probably never be able to pay his bill.

However, the doctor continued to treat the family. He also gave them the same respect he gave everyone else. The family paid him $1 every month. He admired their effort to pay what they could.

You can’t squeeze blood from a turnip. You can treat everyone with respect.

 Count your blessings. Then share those blessings with others.

“Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God” (Proverbs 14:31 NIV).

Thanks to Rhonda Wade Royster for the suggestion.

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That’s Life

That’s Life

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That's Life-tree with hard lifeWe can’t control everything in our lives.

  • Both good and bad happen.
  • We celebrate, and we mourn.
  • Everything can change in an instant.

That’s life.

This tree reminds me of life. All wrapped together, we see:

  • Healthy limbs
  • Dead limbs
  • Missing limbs
  • Injured limbs
  • Other plants pulling life from it

The poor tree, a victim of many storms, looks terrible. Yet, it stands. It:

  • Continues to grow
  • Refuses to fall
  • Still offers shade to everything and everyone under it

We can control parts of our lives.

Like this lovely old tree, we may have suffered much.

  • We probably caused part of our pain.
  • Others may have hurt us.
  • Life storms often leave us scarred.
  • We feel in over our heads.

That’s life.

In spite of our suffering, will we choose to stand? Will we:

  • Stand tall
  • Continue to grow
  • Refuse to fall
  • Still offer help to those around us

Will we pick up the pieces of our lives, give them to God, and keep going?

Life and death
Struggles and scars
Beauty and ugliness
All wrapped together
That’s life.

“[God] comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God” (2 Corinthians 1:4 NIV).

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Down in the Mouth

Down in the Mouth

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Down in the Mouth-sad puppy between two smiling scarecrowsWe all get down in the mouth sometimes.

Down in the mouth and down in the dumps mean almost the same. We feel:

  • Sad
  • Depressed
  • Hopeless

In the middle of smiling faces, we still feel bad.

We may be able to hide how we feel when we get down in the dumps.

Usually people know when we feel down in the mouth.

Happy faces disappear. Smiles turn upside down. We:

  • Frown
  • Cry
  • Have nothing good to say

Hard times often make us down in the mouth.

We have trouble with:

  • Relationships
  • Jobs
  • Health
  • Daily life
  • Bad news of any kind

We don’t have to stay down in the mouth.

Sure, life gets hard. We all have problems. However, good can come from the hardest times. God offers hope in both good times and bad.

Therefore, let’s remember to always:

  • Count our blessings
  • Learn from tough cookies who have gone through worse times than ours
  • Look to God for guidance

“My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you” (Psalm 42:6 NIV).

Thanks to Brad Leverett for the suggestion and to Gosser Farms for the photo.

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Senior Moment

Senior Moment

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Senior Moment--child tying string around an adult's fingerReady to sing, I stood before the crowd in my aunt’s church. However, the first words out of my mouth were, “I forgot.” At three-years-old, I had a senior moment.

Actually, I had a bad case of stage fright. That fear made me pull my skirt to my mouth and forget the words of my song.

A senior moment means we forget something or make a silly mistake.

As senior (older) adults entering our golden years, we may:

  • Forget where we put our glasses and then find them on top of our head
  • File something in a safe place and forget where that safe place is
  • Fail to remember a good friend’s name
  • Tie a string around our finger to help us remember but forget why we tied the string

 As we age, we forget more often.

We can get upset about those egg-on-our-face moments, or we can laugh.

Like the people at my aunt’s church, most of us laugh. However, we want to laugh with, not at, one another. Never make fun of someone with memory problems.

Any of us can have a senior moment.

In addition to age, we forget because of:

  • Fear
  • Too much on our minds
  • Excitement
  • Illness or medication
  • Accidents

From seniors in high school to senior adults, we forget. Why not accept that fact and enjoy every moment?

“Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits” (Psalm 103:2 NIV).

Thanks to Carole Fite 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.

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Beat Your Head against a Wall

Beat Your Head against a Wall

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Beat Your Head against a Wall--stone wall with redbud trees in frontIf you beat your head against a wall, you try to do something that looks hopeless.

You may also say you:

  • Bang your head against a wall
  • Bang your head against a brick wall

However you say it, the expression means you waste your time.

You beat your head against a wall when you try again and again with no success.

Few people beat their head against a real wall. However, some do. Unless you want a terrible headache, don’t try it.

Beat your head against a wall means you feel frustrated.

You may want to:

  • Reach a goal that appears impossible
  • Help someone who refuses your help
  • Stop a bad habit you keep repeating

You cannot figure out what to do. As a result, you get down in the dumps.

Although frustrated, you don’t want to give up too soon.

  • You may reach your goal if you try one more time.
  • The person you want to help may succeed with one more chance.
  • You will never break that bad habit unless you keep trying.

With one more try, you may begin to see daylight.

Sometimes you turn your frustrations into beauty.

What can a farmer do with rocks in his field?

  • He can beat his head against a wall because of all the rocks.
  • Or he can build a fence that becomes a work of art.

Occasionally you do need to give up.

You decide to spend your time more wisely. Therefore, you:

  • Do what you can.
  • Accept what you cannot.
  • Make the best use of the time you have.

“Why bother even trying to do anything with you when you just keep to your bullheaded ways? You keep beating your heads against brick walls. (Isaiah 1:5 MSG).

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

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Rise from the Ashes

Rise from the Ashes

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Fise from the Ashes-Mount St. Helens
Mount St. Helens, July 2011

On Sunday, May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens blew.

Everything disappeared under the volcano’s ash and heat.

  • Trees
  • Plants
  • Houses
  • Animals
  • People

Yet, soon after, life began to rise from the ashes.

Plants grew. Animals returned. The land’s rebirth amazes all who see it.

Rise from the ashes comes from a myth about a bird.

The bird burns to death and then rises from the ashes.

However, the possibility of a fresh start is no myth. Anyone can begin again after hard times.

People must decide if they will rise from the ashes.

Will they refuse to allow a bad experience to keep them down? Or will they pick up the pieces of their life and keep going.

Sometimes people recover by themselves.

They heal from:

  • Illness
  • Job loss
  • Death of a loved one
  • Theft
  • Failure

Other times people recover as a group.

They heal from:

  • School shootings
  • War
  • Business failure
  • Floods
  • Fires
  • Tornados
  • Other man-made or natural disasters

With Jesus, anyone can rise from the ashes of sin and death.

When Jesus rose from the dead that first Easter morning, He defeated sin and death.

All who accept Jesus as Savior and Lord receive:

  • Forgiveness of sin
  • New life
  • An eternal home in heaven
  • Peace in all life’s storms

Not every problem disappears, but Jesus walks with believers through every problem.

“He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay” (Matthew 28:6 NIV).

Have you had a rise from the ashes experience? If so, please comment.

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From the Heart

From the Heart

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From the Heart-quilt on a rockerToday’s post comes from the heart. I share it with:

  • Deep feelings
  • Sincere emotions
  • Love for the families I mention

Foster parents share their homes and their hearts.

They care for children who need a temporary home. They help children and families pick up the pieces of their lives.

Foster parents serve from the heart.

They love their children during good times and bad. They celebrate when children do well. They choose to love when children:

  • Reject their love
  • Damage their home
  • Break their hearts with bad choices

Foster parents receive few rewards.

News reports usually tell only bad foster parent stories. They rarely mention the families who give good care. Yet, foster parents continue their labor of love anyway.

My parents provided foster care several years. I worked with foster families almost 30 years. I saw their love and shared their hurt.

When I retired, foster parents gave me this quilt from their hearts. I recently wrote about it for Kentucky Living magazine.

When you see foster parents, thank them from your heart for:

  • Caring
  • Sharing
  • Giving
  • Healing

Happy Valentine’s Day to families who make our world a better place.

“Love one another deeply, from the heart” (1 Peter 1:22 NIV).

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

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Count Your Blessings

Count Your Blessings

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Count Your Blessings-cornucopia with pumpkins

I love to hear Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney sing “Count Your Blessings” in the movie White Christmas. I also love the words of the hymn “Count Your Blessings.” In recent years, Laura Story’s “Blessings” has become another favorite.

Laura wrote “Blessings” after she learned her husband had a brain tumor. I first heard it after my husband’s brain tumor diagnosis. Laura tells her family’s story in this video.

All three of these songs remind me (and you) to be thankful.

We can count our blessings at all times and in all circumstances.

  • During good times and bad
  • Whether rich or poor
  • When alone or with others

Hard times can be blessings in disguise.

  • Illness often gives us a greater love for life.
  • Job loss sometimes leads to a better job.
  • Pain can make us stronger.
  • Money problems can teach us better spending habits.

Let’s think about the good in our lives and give thanks. When life gets hard, let’s ask God to show us the blessings in those experiences.

Happy Thanksgiving!

“May God our Father shower you with blessings and fill you with his great peace” (Colossians 1:2 TLB)

What are some of your greatest blessings? Please comment below.

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Make a Mountain Out of a Molehill

Make a Mountain Out of a Molehill

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Make a Mountain out of a molehill--mountain reflected in waterWe often let the smallest problem bother us most.

We make a mountain out of a molehill. We make:

  • Something easy seem hard
  • A small problem seem big
  • Something unimportant seem important

Moles are small animals. So are the hills they make. Yet, we don’t like them.

  • They make a mess in yards and fields.
  • We may fall if we step on them.

However, if we watch our step, we can walk around or over molehills. We must climb for days to the top of some mountains.

Molehills destroy a yard’s beauty. A mountain’s volcano can destroy everything for miles.

We often forget how small our problems are.

Think about:

  • Colds compared to cancer
  • Flat tires compared to car wrecks
  • A bad meal compared to no food
  • A rained-out ballgame compared to an island destroyed by a storm

We may not feel on top of the world all the time. However, most days can be hunky dory.

Make a Mountain out of a MolehillLet’s not allow small problems to ruin our lives.

Rather than make a mountain out of a molehill, remember what matters most. Also remember, whether our problems are big or small, we never have to walk alone.

“We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us—they help us learn to be patient” (Romans 5:3 TLB).

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

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