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Get Our Feet Wet

Get Our Feet Wet

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Get Our Feet Wet: ocean washing against a beachIf 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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Off Base

Off Base

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Off Base, little boy T-ball player with one foot on a baseRyder 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?

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.

Jump from the Frying Pan into the Fire

Jump from the Frying Pan into the Fire

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Jump from the Frying Pan into the Fire 2If we touch a hot frying pan, we let go fast.  We want to avoid the pain and scars. Holding on does not make good sense.

We suffer far worse if we touch the source of that heat. We definitely want to stay out of the fire. Therefore, we don’t touch:

• Hot stoves
• Bonfires
• Fireplaces
• Torches

Yet, how often do we try to solve one mistake by making another? In the process, we make our bad situation worse. We jump from the frying pan into the fire.

• We cover one lie with another.
• We hurt people and then avoid them.
• We do poor work but blame someone else.

We can do better:

• Admit our mistakes.
• Apologize and repair relationships.
• Do our best, and help others do their best.

Let go of the frying pan. Stay out of the fire.

“Fools mock at making amends for sin, but goodwill is found among the upright” (Proverbs 14:9 NIV).

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Photo courtesy of morgueFile.

Back to the Drawing Board

Back to the Drawing Board

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Back to the Drawing BoardWhen we make a mistake, we need to go back to the drawing board.

A drawing board is an architect’s table. If a design fails or doesn’t work as desired, the architect starts all over. He goes back to the drawing board to plan again.

No one enjoys having to redo work.

At the same time, don’t you find it encouraging that we can:

  • Correct mistakes?
  • Start over?
  • Improve projects that fail to work the first time?

That’s why we have erasers on pencils, and delete and undo buttons on computers.

We all make mistakes, so no one has the right to feel superior. Rather, by working together and sharing knowledge gained from successes and errors, everyone benefits.

How wonderful that God provides second chances.

  • When we make a total mess of our lives, we can go back to life’s drawing board.
  • When we see no hope for the future, God shows us a better way.
  • If we turn to God, He reveals His perfect design for our lives.

I can think of no greater way to begin a new year.

“Just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:4 NIV).

Do you have an expression you want explained? If so, please comment below.

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