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Get Off on the Wrong Foot

Get Off on the Wrong Foot

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Get Off on the Wrong Foot, military paradeLike people in a military parade, we do not want to get off on the wrong foot. We want to start right.

If we get off on the wrong foot, we do not start well.

Something goes wrong from the beginning. Bad starts happen in:

  • Work
  • Play
  • Relationships

Correcting a bad start can be difficult.

We must work hard to make it right. As John Wooden said, “If you do not have the time to do it right, when will you find the time to do it over?” Giving our best from the beginning makes life easier for everyone.

Correcting a bad start is possible.

Often we get off on the wrong foot by mistake. We did not mean to do it. We must work harder to correct our mistake. Yet, we can do it.

If we never made mistakes, we would not need:

  • Erasers
  • Delete buttons
  • The words I’m sorry

We all get off on the wrong foot sometimes.

When that happens, we want to

  • Come clean. Admit what we did wrong.
  • Face the music. Do what we must to correct the mistake.
  • Make a fresh start. Start over.
  • Forgive others when they get off on the wrong foot.

“When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your unfailing love, Lord, supported me” (Psalm 94:18 NIV).

Thanks to Pat Stapp for the suggestion.

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Word to the Wise

Word to the Wise

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Word to the Wise--Snow covered creek and fieldLet me give you a word to the wise: Don’t drive on slick roads. You don’t want to wreck your car or hurt someone. Another weather-related suggestion: Don’t skate on thin ice. Bad choices can put you under the weather.

A word to the wise is good advice – a word (or words) of wisdom.

A longer version says a word to the wise is sufficient. A wise person does not require a lot of words. A short explanation or hint is enough.

Sometimes a word to the wise tells you what to do.

Do:

  • Wash your hands often (especially during flu season).
  • Listen more than you talk. (God gave you two ears and one mouth for a reason.)
  • Think before you speak.
  • Obey the law. (Follow the straight and narrow.)

Other times it tells you what not to do.

It warns of danger.

Don’t:

  • Take silly chances (like skating on thin ice).
  • Go where you might get in trouble.
  • Stay angry.
  • Forget the importance of relationships.

“Listen closely, pay attention to the words of the wise, and apply your mind to my knowledge” (Proverbs 22:17 HCSB).

Thanks to Cecelia Lester for the suggestion.

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Figure Out

Figure Out

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Figure Out--flowers with butterflySome things in life are hard to figure out.

  • How do flowers grow from buds?
  • What makes winter so cold and summer so hot?
  • How do butterflies grow from cocoons? (Can you find the butterfly in this picture?)

Some people say figure it out instead of figure out.

When we figure out anything, we solve a problem.

We:

  • Learn how to do something
  • Understand what we did not understand before
  • Find an explanation for something
  • Begin to see daylight

Sometimes we figure out things. Other times we figure out people.

  • Not all people think the same way we do.
  • Our actions differ.
  • We have different goals.

We need to figure out how to get along in spite of our differences.

  • We don’t have to agree to be agreeable.
  • We don’t have to act the same way to act with kindness.
  • We don’t have to share the same goals to support one another.

If we look at the other side of the coin, we may learn something.

I have a hard time figuring out math problems. I know all my questions drove my teachers crazy. One would say, “Think. Just think.” I was thinking. However, I could not think like he did. I was in over my head. I am thankful those teachers did not give up on me. Instead, they bent over backwards to help me.

Life is often hard. Why not help one another figure out the best way to live it?

“This is God’s Message, the God who made earth, made it livable and lasting, known everywhere as God: ‘Call to me and I will answer you. I’ll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own’” (Jeremiah 33:2-3 MSG).

Thanks to Judy Clark for the suggestion.

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Fixing to

Fixing to

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Fixing to-Lake Cumberland viewMy mother, sister, cousin, and I were fixing to eat when I took this picture. We planned to enjoy both our food and this great view of Lake Cumberland.

When we are fixing to do something, we are getting ready to do it.

In the southern United States, we often say fixin’ to. However we say it, we mean we are:

  • About to begin
  • Preparing
  • Starting

We plan to do something. For example, we are fixing to:

  • Cook dinner
  • Start a new semester
  • Go shopping

Sometimes people rush us.

We have not tackled a job as soon as they think we should. They want us to get the ball rolling. When that happens, we might say, “Don’t rush me. I’m fixing to do it.” That often happens with:

  • Children doing their schoolwork
  • Teens cleaning their room
  • Husbands or wives working around the house

Are we fixing to do what matters most?

Will what we are fixing to do:

  • Make life better?
  • Help anyone?
  • Have lasting value?

“You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him” (Luke 12:40 NIV).

Thanks to Carol York Patterson Brangers for the idea.

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Begin to See Daylight

Begin to See Daylight

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Begin to See Daylight -- a sunriseIf we get up early, we begin to see daylight as the sun rises. After a long night, daylight appears. We enjoy the promise of a new day.

Sometimes our lives feel like a long night.

We face problems with no end in sight.

  • We think we will never get out of school.
  • Our job never seems to end.
  • Goals appear too far away to reach.

We begin to see daylight when success seems possible.

  • Classes are almost over.
  • We near the end of our long task.
  • Our goals appear within reach.

We finally see light at the end of the tunnel.

We don’t see daylight when we look the wrong way.

If we fail to look outside, we never see the sun rise. If we always look on the bad side of everything, we never see the good. We remain down in the dumps.

As this New Year begins, we choose.

  • Will we focus on our problems and the dark side of life?
  • Or will we look up and begin to see daylight?
  • When we begin to see daylight, will we let our light shine?

“My God turns my darkness into light” (Psalm 18:28 NIV).

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Tall Tale

Tall Tale

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Tall Tale--whales divingA tall tale is a whale of a tale.

It is a big tale — a big story — much bigger than what really happened.

Because a tall tale is so big, it captures our attention. Most people don’t believe it but listen to it anyway. A few of us swallow a tall tale hook, line, and sinker. We believe the storyteller until people start laughing. Then we become part of the joke.

Comedians often tell tall tales. They base many of their stories on truth but add to them. They make their stories:

  • Bigger
  • Funnier
  • Crazier

We also share tall tales with relatives and friends. Some of us hold contests to see who can tell the tallest tale. We often tell such stories around campfires.

Tall tales grow bigger the more often we tell them.

I could tell you just the facts about a recent whale watching trip.

  • We saw between 10 and 20 whales.
  • The whales swam close to the boat.
  • Their tails and fins came out of the water as they dived to find food.

In a tall tale about those whales, I might tell you:

  • We saw at least 100 whales.
  • They swam so close to the boat we could rub their backs.
  • Those whales gave us high fives with their tails and fins.

Most tall tales offer a few moments of fun.

They become lies when told to hurt or deceive. Often when we lie, people know something’s fishy, and we end up in the doghouse.

Avoid tall tales that deceive. Enjoy tall tales told for fun.

“A good man is known by his truthfulness; a false man by deceit and lies” (Proverbs 12:17 TLB).

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Out of the Mouth of Babes

Out of the Mouth of Babes

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Out of the Mouth of Babes--Tracy Crump headshot

Please welcome my friend Tracy Crump as today’s guest writer. Tracy and I met at Kentucky Christian Writers Conference, where she frequently serves on staff. Tracy dispenses hope in her book, Health, Healing, and Wholeness: Devotions of Hope in the Midst of Illness. She has published 22 stories in Chicken Soup for the Soul books and includes tips on writing for the series in her free e-newsletter, The Write Life. I highly recommend both the newsletter and book.

Out of the Mouth of Babes--streams of heavenWe can find wisdom in surprising places.

Even young children may teach us things. They often:

  • See things we don’t.
  • Look at the world in a different way.
  • Are very honest (sometimes more than we would like!).

Children’s fresh ideas may be just what we need.

One evening, my son and five-year-old granddaughter, Nellie, walked out the door. They looked up and saw beautiful thin clouds, lit with pink and orange, sweeping across the sky.

“Those are the streams of heaven,” Nellie told her daddy.

She knew what we often forget, that we can see God’s presence in the simple things.

  • A sunset
  • The touch of a friend
  • A baby’s smile

We can learn something from everyone we meet.

Don’t forget to listen to the words out of the mouth of babes.

“And [they] said to Him, ‘Do You hear what these are saying?’ And Jesus said to them, ‘Yes. Have you never read, “Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise”?” (Matthew 21:16 NKJV)

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That’s the Way the Cookie Crumbles

That’s the Way the Cookie Crumbles

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Eventually we all suffer hard times.

That's the Way the Cookie Crumbles-plate of cookiesWhen that happens, we may say to one another, “That’s the way the cookie crumbles.” We mean:

  • That’s too bad.
  • Those things happen.
  • You could not have prevented your problems.
  • You cannot change your problems.
  • I’m sorry about your problems.

 We don’t like it. We may want to scream, “Life’s not fair.” Well … it isn’t. So we deal with that fact. Saying “That’s the way the cookie crumbles” encourages us not to get upset.

No one is problem free. In fact, some of the kindest, wisest people I know seem to have one problem after another. They get few breaks.

Yet, many of them ignore their troubles. Instead, they reach out to help others. They do whatever it takes to make other people’s lives easier. They find joy in the middle of all they face.

Will we find joy in spite of our problems?

When life falls apart, will we fall apart as well? Or will we ask God to guide us? Will we help other people deal with their troubles? Will we make the best of a bad situation?

“You have patiently suffered for me without quitting” (Revelation 2:3 TLB).

Thanks to Carol Sullivan and Sweet Hospitality for the yummy looking cookie photo.

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Hand-Me-Down

Hand-Me-Down

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Hand Me DownHow many of you have worn a hand-me-down? Or lots of hand-me-downs? If you are the youngest or smallest child in your family, you may know what I mean.

You get to wear clothes or shoes someone else outgrew or no longer uses.

  • Sometimes that’s okay. The clothes look new or you like them.
  • Other times it’s not okay. They look old or awful.

Buying fewer clothes means more money for other needs or wants. Some families share hand-me-downs, because the families have little or no money. Dolly Parton sings about her first coat no one else had worn in “Coat of Many Colors.” Her mother made that coat from rags, a perfect example of making do.

As one of the smallest people in my extended family, I continue to wear hand-me-downs. I hate to shop. The more hand-me-downs I get, the less shopping I have to do. That sounds like a good plan to me.

Whether a person wears hand-me-downs or new clothes matters little. Far more important is whether we clothe ourselves with love, kindness, and truth.

“If we have food and clothing, we will be content with that” (1 Timothy 6:8 NIV).

Thanks to Karen Grimes for her picture of Taylor and Makenzie’s hand-me-down moment.

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You Can’t Judge a Book by Its Cover

You Can’t Judge a Book by Its Cover

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You Can't Judge a Book by Its CoverHave you ever wanted to throw a book in disgust? The title promised the help you needed. The cover picture looked perfect. Reviewers praised it. However, it was worthless to you. The difference in appearance and content prove you can’t judge a book by its cover.

Looking good does not equal goodness.

That’s true for books and true for life.

Businesses use misleading ads. Politicians make campaign promises they fail to keep. Much around us sounds or looks good … until we try them.

Good looking people who dress well get more job interviews. They also get more dates. They don’t always make the best employees or spouses.

Smooth, shiny hybrid apples look perfect. They don’t taste nearly as good as ugly, knotty vintage apples. The hybrid pleases the eye. The vintage gains our loyalty.

Like vintage apples, what looks bad on the outside may hide a treasure inside.

We find pearls in oysters. We find gold and silver in rocks. Don’t overlook possible treasures based simply on outward appearances.

Let’s look beyond the surface to find what matters most in life.

“People look on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7 NET).

Note: I found all the books in this photo true to their cover.

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