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Fly by the Seat of Our Pants

September 1, 2015 Diana Derringer Comments 2 comments

Paragliders often fly by the seat of their pants. They depend on wind and weather for safety and success. Those can change quickly.

Sometimes airplane pilots must also fly by the seat of their pants.

They can’t see because of bad weather.
The plane’s instruments stop working.
They hope to arrive safely on a wing and a prayer.

Like pilots and paragliders, we occasionally face new challenges or problems. We can solve those several ways.

Organize our information
Explore possible solutions
Ask experts
Fly by the seat of our pants

When we fly by the seat of our pants, we:

Have no experience or skills with the situation
Do the best we can by ourselves
Work without a plan

Many people fly by the seat of their pants and do well. Some of us end up in a mess. Often those messes cause no great harm. At times, however, we hurt ourselves and others.

With our most important decisions, let’s choose a better way.

“As for God, his way is perfect; The word of the Lord is true. He shields all who hide behind him” (2 Samuel 22:31 TLB).

Have you experienced a fly by the seat of your pants moment? If so, please comment below.

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Photo courtesy of morgueFile.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

August 25, 2015 Diana Derringer Comments 1 comment

I don’t climb mountains. However, I know mountain climbers often find themselves between a rock and a hard place. They climb in difficult areas. Often they have few good choices.

We may not climb physical mountains. Yet, most of us face mountains of difficulty sometime in our lives. We find ourselves between a rock and a hard place. We must make hard decisions with no easy choices. Any choice causes problems.

Do we quit our job or work in unfair circumstances?
Do we pay rent or buy food?
Do we continue painful medical care or stop treatments?

We must choose what we decide is the lesser of two evils.

Aron Ralston faced such a choice after a climbing accident in 2003. He was trapped more than five days. His choice: Do I die or cut off part of my right arm. He used a dull knife to free himself.

Our choices may not be that hard. However, some choices are worse.

I wish I had an easy answer for such situations, but I don’t. I find the following helpful:

1. List the pros and cons for each choice.
2. Discuss the options with a trusted friend or relative.
3. Pray for wisdom.
4. Accept help from others.
5. Get a grip on what matters most.

I pray you face few times between a rock and a hard place.

“You have let me sink down deep in desperate problems. But you will bring me back to life again, up from the depths of the earth” (Psalm 71:20 TLB).

Have you had a rock and hard place experience? If so, please comment.

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Make Waves

August 11, 2015 Diana Derringer Comments 3 comments

People sometimes warn us not to make waves. Other times, we realize we must. When we choose to make waves, we:

Rock the boat
Upset someone or something
Shock or disturb
Risk being called a trouble maker

Two truths about making waves help us decide what to do.

Waves can do great good, by:

Continuing earth’s natural flow
Calming us
Providing beauty and pleasure

Waves can also do much harm, by causing:

Ship wrecks
Drowning
Destruction of houses or communities.

Likewise, we can do great good or much harm by:

Improving or damaging our world
Correcting or increasing mistakes

Before we make waves, let’s be certain our actions make a positive difference.

“If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your well-being like the waves of the sea” (Isaiah 48:18 NIV).

Do you have a favorite expression or one you want explained? If so, please comment.

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Sink or Swim

July 28, 2015 Diana Derringer Comments 2 comments

Many of us have fallen into water while playing games. Others have had someone throw us into water. Either way, the question remains the same: Will we sink or swim?

Some of us learn to swim quickly from such an experience.

We have to work harder.
Our swimming may not look pretty.
Yet, we swim our way out of danger.

In rough water, the strongest swimmer struggles. A weak swimmer has a much harder time. When a strong swimmer helps a weak one, both grow stronger.

Life is like that. We meet challenges every day. Some we know how to solve with no problem. Others present difficulties we have never experienced. Either way, we sink (fail) or swim (succeed).

A few challenges may be impossible to overcome. With most, we have a choice. Will we:

Give up or try harder?
Listen to negatives or positives?
Accept our limits or grow?
Ignore people weaker than us or help them grow?

“He replied, ‘You of little faith, why are you so afraid?’ Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm” (Matthew 8:26 NIV).

Have you had a sink or swim experience? If so, please comment.

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Like Water off a Duck’s Back

July 14, 2015 Diana Derringer Comments 2 comments

Do you need a solution for anger or frustration? Watch ducks. That’s right; watch ducks.

Ducks often dive under water for food. When they come up, the water glides over their backs and returns to the pond or lake. Occasionally they shake their feathers to get rid of any extra water.

Ducks show no need to:

Watch the water.
Quack at the water.
Fight the water.

They’re too busy swimming and diving for something to eat.

When life upsets us, let the problem go. Treat it like water off a duck’s back. We don’t have to:

Focus on what upsets us.
Yell at what upsets us.
Fight what upsets us.

Getting upset tires us, so in a duck-like manner:

Ignore hateful comments.
Overlook insults.
When we must respond, do so clearly but kindly.
Then shake off any remaining negative feelings.

In the process, we gain freedom — freedom from the control of others and freedom to become our best selves.

We can also pray that those who upset us learn to act like ducks.

“A fool is quick-tempered; a wise man stays cool when insulted” (Proverbs 12:16 TLB).

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Light at the End of the Tunnel

July 7, 2015 Diana Derringer Comments 6 comments

Tunnels may get us through mountains, but the journey can be dark and scary. If we focus on light at the end of the tunnel, we find hope. That light promises an end to our dark and scary time.

Some tunnels seem to go on forever. They amaze me. How can anyone dig a hole through the middle of a mountain without getting crushed?

Yet they can.

The engineer in charge designs a plan. That plan creates a tunnel that will protect both the construction workers and the travelers. However, the design works only if everyone carefully follows the plan.

Like a tunnel, life sometimes seems dark and scary. We feel like we’re digging through a mountain of difficulties. We wonder how we will make it through without getting crushed.

God, who created us, is:

Life’s engineer, who created a perfect plan
Our source of light, who promises an end to any dark and scary time
Our hope, peace, and guidance through every difficulty

The question for each of us: Will we follow?

“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).

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Can’t Win for Losing

June 16, 2015 Diana Derringer Comments 3 comments

Do you know how it feels to lose over and over again?

No matter what you do or how hard you try, you fail. Success seems impossible. You simply can’t win for losing.

Don’t feel bad. Most of us have been there. Some of us have been there many times. A few of us think we have been there most of our lives.

Often we believe we are the only ones who fail.

But consider the following quotes from extremely successful people. They have been there too.

When you come to a roadblock, take a detour. —Mary Kay Ash
Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom. —George S. Patton
I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed. —Michael Jordan
It’s fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure. —Bill Gates
I have not failed. I have just found 10,000 ways that won’t work. —Thomas A. Edison
If you learn from defeat, you haven’t really lost. —Zig Ziglar

When you feel like you can’t win for losing, don’t give up.

You are in good company. As Thomas Edison said, “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”

“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:26 NIV).

Thanks to Becky Nash Rowe for the suggestion.

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Put Your House in Order

June 9, 2015 Diana Derringer Comments 0 Comment

It’s probably too late to put this old house in order. We see signs of decay all over it:

Weeds, trees, and vines growing near and on it
Cracks in the wood, windows, and door
Parts of it leaning, preparing to fall

To put your house in order, you try to return everything to good condition. You don’t usually mean a house. You may want to:

Get your finances in good shape.
Improve your behavior.
Prepare for death.

We see the last meaning in Isaiah 38:1 when Isaiah told King Hezekiah, “This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die.”

Sometimes when people criticize you, you might say, “Put your own house in order.” This tells them to solve their problems instead of criticizing you.

All of us have problems. We can prevent many of them. With houses, we can:

Keep weeds, trees, and vines cut.
Repair cracks as soon as they appear.
Keep the foundation and support strong.

With our lives, we can:

Avoid harmful activities.
Correct mistakes as soon as they occur.
Make God our foundation.
Help one another stay strong.

“The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock” (Matthew 7:25 NIV).

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

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Jump from the Frying Pan into the Fire

May 12, 2015 Diana Derringer Comments 0 Comment

If 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).

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

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Photo courtesy of morgueFile.

On a Wing and a Prayer

March 3, 2015 Diana Derringer Comments 1 comment

Have you ever made it home on a wing and a prayer?

Your airplane starts shaking.
You see smoke from one wing.
The fasten seatbelt light comes on.
The captain says he will have to make an emergency landing.
You begin to pray.

On a wing and a prayer applies to more than airplanes.

However, it first described damaged planes. According to The Phrase Finder, the expression began during World War II. It means “in poor condition but just managing to get the job done.”

The song “On a Wing and a Prayer,” written in 1943, described a damaged warplane barely able to return to base. The movie Wing and a Prayer followed in 1944.

On a wing and a prayer offers hope.

Whatever becomes damaged in our lives can still be used. Like the World War II pilots:

We use the resources we have.
We pray for God’s direction in how to use them.
We finish our task.

We all face difficulties. We all have scars, whether seen or unseen. Those scars remind us we can heal and grow stronger from our experiences.

“Have mercy on me, O God! Have mercy on me! For in you I have taken shelter. In the shadow of your wings I take shelter until trouble passes” (Psalm 57:1 NET).

Thank you to Debbie Tapscott for both the suggested expression and the photo.

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

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