wisdom Archives - Page 12 of 15

Search High and Low

November 5, 2018 Diana Derringer Comments 3 comments

If we search high and low, we look everywhere.

We try our best to find something or someone. Examples of people who search high and low include:

Children playing “Hide and Seek”
Adults having a senior moment (forgetting where they put something)
Shoppers searching for the perfect gift

Similar expressions include:

Hunt high and low
Look high and low
Search from here to yonder

My friend Laurel Blevins found this tree on a local walking trail. Animals can hole up high and low inside it.

Many of us search high and low for joy.

Yet, our search fails when we look for joy in:

Money
Power
Popularity
Drugs and alcohol
Anything that does not last

We don’t need to wear ourselves out searching. Look to God, our only source of true joy.

“The joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10 NIV).

Does this tree remind anyone else of a cookie commercial?

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Easy Does It

October 29, 2018 Diana Derringer Comments 4 comments

Easy does it tells us to move slowly and carefully.

Like gently flowing water, we:

Take our time
Work around hard spots
Go with the flow

If we move too fast, we quickly learn that haste makes waste.

Sometimes easy does it relates to work.

We remain careful when we:

Move a heavy piece of furniture
Carry a special painting or piece of pottery

We don’t want to drop or break any of those.

Other times easy does it relates to our emotions.

When we feel out of control, rather than blow off steam, we:

Calm down
Relax
Control our temper
Treat everyone as we want to be treated

Ways to stay in control include:

Taking deep breaths
Lowering our shoulders, so our muscles relax
Closing our eyes and thinking of a favorite place
Praying
Asking if what upsets us will matter in ten years

Easy does it works well for everything and everybody.

“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23 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.

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Nip It in the Bud--plant with flowers and buds “Nip it in the bud. Just nip it in the bud.” Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show said that over and over. We laughed at Barney’s many messes. However, he did get a few things right.

We often need to nip it in the bud.

We want to:

Stop something at an early stage
Prevent a problem before it happens
End a problem before it gets bigger

Taking action now may prevent regret later. Better safe than sorry.

If we don’t want a flower to bloom, we nip it in the bud.

We cut or break off the bud before it blooms. Sometimes, cold weather nips a flower in the bud.

Like flowers, some situations need nipping. To prevent problems or danger:

Parents punish their children’s bad behaviors.
Bosses fire lazy workers.
We quit bad habits.

Whether we nip buds or let them bloom, we can trust the Creator of them all.

Also, with God’s help, we can always bloom where we’re planted.

“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior” (Habakkuk 3:17-18 NIV).

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

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Watershed Moment

October 15, 2018 Diana Derringer Comments 0 Comment

The first time I saw the ocean was a watershed moment.

I realized:

I love to travel (especially to places off the beaten path).
God created an amazing world.
The world has more to see than I can imagine.

A watershed moment is a turning point.

It involves a:

Time of discovery
Moment of change
Dividing point

This expression comes from geography. According to Merriam-Webster, a watershed is “a ridge of land separating rivers and streams flowing in one direction from those flowing in the opposite direction.” It may also include the area where the divided water flows.

Watershed moments in history include:

Discovery of electricity
Invention of the telephone
Beginning of space travel
Travel by automobile

The greatest watershed moment occurred when God came to earth as a man.

Jesus did no wrong. Yet, He paid the price for our wrongs. He:

Died in our place
Arose from the dead, defeating sin and death
Offers forgiveness and eternal life to everyone who turns to Him as Savior and Lord

“Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (I Timothy 1:15 NIV).

What was a watershed moment for you? Please comment below.

Thanks to Timothy Lewis for the suggestion.

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Up a Stump

October 8, 2018 Diana Derringer Comments 12 comments

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

With 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

October 1, 2018 Diana Derringer Comments 6 comments

You 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.

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

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Not My Cup of Tea

September 24, 2018 Diana Derringer Comments 6 comments

Coffee is not my cup of tea. I don’t like it. Water, milk, and tea are. I enjoy all three.

Not my cup of tea refers to anything I don’t like.

I don’t want or enjoy:

Its taste
How it looks
Spending time with it

Other items on my dislike list include:

Lobster
Video games
Poison ivy

Something is my cup of tea if I like it.

Items on that list include:

Chocolate
Reading
Walking
Traveling off the beaten path
Writing

My likes may differ from yours.

That makes life more interesting. Don’t you agree?

Whatever is or is not your cup of tea, I pray your cup runs over with God’s blessings.

“He has made everything beautiful in its time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11 NIV).

Thanks to Carole Fite for the suggestion.

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

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That’s Life

September 17, 2018 Diana Derringer Comments 10 comments

We 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).

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

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Lock Horns

September 10, 2018 Diana Derringer Comments 3 comments

Lock Horns--Elk fighting If you have seen elk or other animals lock horns, you know exactly what this expression means. Two animals fight one another. The fight often results in locked horns (or antlers).

A fight usually begins when the animals:

Face one another
Dig their feet in the dirt
Run toward each other
Hit their heads together

Two males often fight over a female.

If we lock horns with one another, we have conflict.

Our conflict may be:

Physical fights
Verbal arguments

Locking horns may also affect us:

Mentally
Emotionally
Spiritually

Conflict may arise over:

Money
Jobs
Relationships (romance, family, friends)
Silly disagreements

Sometimes we must lock horns.

We see wrongs that need to be made right. Our efforts may not be easy. Yet, we must figure out how to make necessary changes happen.

Usually, we want to avoid locking horns.

Much that we fight over is not worth the fight. We end up hurting others and ourselves. We get off on the wrong foot. Then we have to mend fences.

We can disagree without locking horns. That sounds like the better plan.

“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” (Romans 12:18 NIV).

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

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If the Shoe Fits, Wear It

September 3, 2018 Diana Derringer Comments 2 comments

If the shoe fits, wear it sounds like a shoe ad. However, we usually mean something much different:

If people say anything bad, but true, about us, admit it.

We may not like to hear it. Yet, if we complain, someone may say, “If the shoe fits, wear it.” In other words, if it applies, accept it. Face the music.

If the shoe fits, wear it may follow:

“He called me lazy.”
“She said I can’t cook.”
“The doctor said I need to exercise more.”

Perhaps we need to change shoes.

Just because a shoe fits, we don’t have to keep wearing it. We can choose other shoes.

If we have a bad habit, we don’t have to keep doing it. We can come clean. We can choose a different way to live.

Work harder, if we don’t want to be called lazy.
Take cooking lessons, if our food tastes bad.
Exercise more to get a better doctor’s report.

We may have our work cut out for us, but we can do it.

Choose the best shoes for the best fit.

“Wear shoes that are able to speed you on as you preach the Good News of peace with God” (Ephesians 6:15 TLB).

Thanks to Carole Fite for the suggestion.

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

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