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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).

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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.

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When It Rains, It Pours

October 21, 2014 Diana Derringer Comments 2 comments

Have you ever had one of those days … or weeks … or years when nothing goes right? Anything that can go wrong does go wrong. When it rains, its pours.

You suffer:

Illness
Family problems
Financial difficulties
Work stresses or loss of work
Friends who let you down
Other troubles, too numerous to mention

As a result, you:

Tire of the struggle
Feel like a failure
Have hit rock bottom
Want to give up

If your life were rain, those days would be thunderstorms, monsoons, hurricanes, and typhoons all rolled into one. On those days you feel like you will drown in your difficulties.

I wish I could offer a simple solution to get rid of those days. I can’t. If you live long enough, you will experience them.

However, I know one who offers peace during life’s storms. With Jesus in your life, the storms may not immediately go away, but you:

No longer drown in them.
No longer fight them alone.
Know they will be over one day.

In addition, you may someday discover that all that trouble was a blessing in disguise.

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39 NIV).

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Get a Grip

September 30, 2014 Diana Derringer Comments 5 comments

Like a rock climber searching for a hand or foot hold, we sometimes need to get a grip.

Everything seems to go wrong. We feel out of control. We are falling apart at the seams.

When that happens, we

Search for something to keep us from falling.
Seek stability.
Try to move forward.

But we are stuck.

When we tell people to get a grip, we see their need to calm down, to control themselves.

We often expect them to handle their problems alone, to pull themselves up by their bootstraps.

We must remember, however, that we may be their source for a better grip.

By extending a helping hand, we may keep them from falling. By walking with them, we may show them the best way to go.

When life goes wrong, let’s get a grip. Let’s also offer a grip to our fellow climbers. Above all, let’s turn to the one who promises to guide us safely in every circumstance.

“I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber” (Psalm 121:1-3 NIV).

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

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Rock Bottom

August 5, 2014 Diana Derringer Comments 1 comment

Have you ever hit rock bottom, when you have gone as low as you can go?

Rock bottom may mean you have lost any or all of the following, plus more:

Money
Home
Job
Friends
Family
Self-respect
Energy
Desire to live

Our suffering may be no fault of our own. However, we often hit rock bottom because of poor choices. In addition, we may have to hit the bottom before we see the need to change.

At the bottom, we realize we can’t keep making the same mistakes. Like hiking to the bottom of Bryce Canyon, going down is easier than going up. Yet, in order to survive, we must get out. So one step at a time, we slowly make our way to the top.

Once we make it, we look back and understand how far we have come.

At the same time, poor choices may continue to tempt us. When that happens, how do we keep from hitting rock bottom again?

Remember where we were and where we want to be.
Don’t go places that will tempt us.
Don’t spend time with people who will tempt us.
Find support from people who have also come up from the bottom.
Base our lives on a foundation that is as solid as a rock.

“The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge” (Psalm 18:2 NIV).

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

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