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Keep Your Ear to the Ground

Keep Your Ear to the Ground

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Keep Your Ear to the Ground--bison grazing

Stampedes of cattle, horses, or bison occur frequently in old Western movies. The herds can often be heard before they can be seen. A few movies teach that if you keep your ear to the ground, you detect the stampede’s vibrations.

That also holds true for:

  • People
  • Trains and other vehicles

If you keep your ear to the ground, you stay alert to what is going on around you.

You listen for what is happening or may happen. That helps you keep up with:

  • Current events
  • Changes
  • Opportunities

You benefit if you stay well-informed.

For example, you learn quickly of

  • Job openings
  • Special events
  • Investment options
  • Trends

If you keep your ear to the ground, you may also learn the latest gossip.

Of course, gossip may or may not be true. You usually benefit if you stay away from busybodies. Even if what they say is true, it is often unkind and unnecessary.

To stay informed, keep your eyes peeled and your ear to the ground.

To learn about the best life, focus on the one who created you and can guide you through all life’s changes. At the end of the road, that’s all that matters.

“The Master told me, ‘Go, post a lookout. Have him report whatever he spots. When he sees horses and wagons in battle formation, lines of donkeys and columns of camels, Tell him to keep his ear to the ground, note every whisper, every rumor.’” (Isaiah 21:6-7 MSG)

Thanks to Lindy Pierce for the suggestion.

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Down the Drain

Down the Drain

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Down the Drain--waterfall between cliff wallsWe love to watch water fall into a river. However, we rarely want to watch water go down the drain. We lose that water, and it costs us.

Down the drain means wasted.

Our resources have:

  • Failed
  • Disappeared
  • Ruined

This may apply to:

  • Companies
  • Finances
  • Relationships
  • Personal or professional plans

Sometimes, we control what goes down the drain.

We do that when we:

  • Make risky investments.
  • Spend money recklessly.
  • Fail to nurture relationships.
  • Focus only on ourselves.

Other times, we have no control.

  • Banks or companies make poor decisions.
  • Thieves rob us.
  • People desert us.

Whether we have control or not, we lose.

Similar metaphors include:

  • Down the tubes
  • Down the pan
  • Down the toilet
  • Down the plughole

Life constantly changes.

With all its ups and downs, we look for a constant. We find that in a relationship with Jesus. Whatever the situation, Jesus remains with us and will guide us through it.

Circumstances may go down the drain. With Jesus, our eternity remains secure.

Thanks to Beckham Wilson for the suggestion.

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Happy Camper

Happy Camper

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Happy Camper--Bryce CanyonWhat makes you a happy camper?

  • Vacations to national parks such as Bryce Canyon?
  • Roasting marshmallows and making smores?
  • Fishing at a local lake?
  • Attending or remembering summer camps?
  • Relaxing in the back yard after a hard day’s work?

If you are a happy camper, you are content.

You enjoy life or at least the moment.

 Contentment may occur in two ways:

  1. Based on circumstances: If everything goes as you wish, you are a happy camper. If circumstances don’t go your way, you are not.

  1. Regardless of circumstances: You may have occasional unhappy moments. However, you usually remain satisfied whatever happens.

If you never learn to be content, you will never be a happy camper.

You will often feel:

  • Angry
  • Irritable
  • Upset
  • Displeased with everyone and everything

Let God’s joy fill you with contentment.

When you find joy in life, circumstances may not always make you feel happy. However, you can be a happy camper. You experience purpose and pleasure in all life’s ups and downs, You also share God’s joy with others.

“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want “(Philippians 4:12 NIV).

Thanks to Carole Fite for the suggestion.

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Get to the Root of

Get to the Root of

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Get to the Root of--large tree with exposed roots, sun shining through the leavesFor trees or other plants to grow, they need good roots. If they start to die, we look for a reason. We get to the root of the problem.

Recently, we had two large trees cut. We loved the trees. However, they were dying. Their roots no longer supplied what they needed to survive.

If we find the source of any problem, we get to the root of it.

We may not find physical roots like a tree. Yet, any problem has a cause.

My husband suffered several physical symptoms in 2003 and 2004. No one found a reason at first. Because we did not give up, doctors finally got to the root of it. He had a brain tumor.

We get to the root of most problems the same way.

We determine:

  • Signs of the problem
  • Probable causes
  • The actual cause
  • Ways to correct it

Those steps apply to a variety of difficulties.

  • Medical
  • Relationship
  • Employment
  • Property

We often need experts to help us get to the root of it.

Regardless of our abilities, none of us has all the answers. Two heads are better than one. Especially if one of those heads has special training and skills. Even more so, if both heads bow in prayer to seek God’s direction.

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, And whose hope is the Lord.  For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit. (Jeremiah 17:7-8 NKJV).

Thanks to Becky Nash Rowe for the suggestion. Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash.

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Get It Off My Chest

Get It Off My Chest

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Get It Off My Chest--Man bench pressing weights with woman coaching him

Sometimes a weightlifter tries to bench press too much. When that happens, the lifter may think or say, “Get it off my chest.”

We may not be weightlifters. However, we do occasionally need to get things off our chest.

To get it off my chest means to say something we have wanted to say a long time.

We may:

  • Confess a wrong.
  • Complain about or criticize an injustice.
  • Reveal hidden information.
  • Discuss a problem that worries us.

To get it off my chest usually results in relief.

We feel better when we let go of that excess baggage. The burden of emotional discomfort from pent-up feelings lifts.

When burdens weigh us down, seek support.

Life is too difficult to deal with on our own. Request help from:

  • Friends
  • Family
  • Support groups
  • Pastors
  • Counselors

Everyone can use extra encouragement. We never have to bear our cross alone.

Our greatest help comes from God. When we give all our lives—burdens, sins, hurts—to God, we gain a fresh start and the reassurance of God’s never-failing presence.

Thanks to Katherine Pasour for the suggestion. Photo by Michael DeMoya on Unsplash.

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Fiddlesticks

Fiddlesticks

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Fiddlesticks- a violin and bow on grass amid autumn leavesFiddlesticks often flies from my mouth. Not the actual bows used to play fiddles, but an expression of frustration. I say it when I:

  • Forget an important item or event.
  • Drop what I’m carrying.
  • Believe something is foolish.

Fiddlesticks expresses frustration or impatience.

It also means to be annoyed or to think something makes no sense. The situation or statement sounds or looks like garbage.

Fiddlesticks moments can change into creative ones.

We can turn our frustration or impatience into opportunity. If we don’t like the way things are, we do something about it. When we don’t have the resources we want, we use the resources we have.

For example, another little-known form of fiddlesticks exists. According to The Creole State Exhibit of Louisiana’s Living Traditions, fiddlesticks were “a traditional way of adding percussion…. As one person played the fiddle, another tapped out a rhythm on the strings.”

Wikipedia explains that the second person used “a pair of straws, sticks, or knitting needles to tap out a rhythm on the strings over the upper fingerboard (between the bow and the fiddler’s fingering hand).”

By using their existing resources, they added variety to their music.

We choose: Remain upset or adjust our circumstances.

Like the makers of the rhythmic fiddlesticks, we may have to make do with what we have. Yet, who knows what a difference we can make until we try?

“O my soul, don’t be discouraged. Don’t be upset. Expect God to act! For I know that I shall again have plenty of reason to praise him for all that he will do. He is my help! He is my God!” (Psalm 42:11 TLB).

Thanks to Laurel Blevins and Karen Hart for the suggestion. Image by Iryna Bakurskaya from Pixabay.

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Gobsmacked

Gobsmacked

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Gobsmacked--Pacific Ocean-Hwy 101-Arch Rock The first time I saw the ocean, I was gobsmacked. My jaw dropped. My eyes popped. All my senses went on overload. Never had I experienced such awe.

The beauty and majesty of God’s creation left me breathless. I did not want to move. I felt like I could stay there forever.

Similar reactions occurred at Yellowstone and other parts of our world.

Gobsmacked means “overwhelmed with wonder, surprise, or shock.”

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, it is primarily a slang British expression.

Gob can mean mouth. According to the Macmillan Dictionary blog, gobsmacked is “the kind of shock you would feel if you were suddenly hit in the face…. Clapping a hand to your mouth … is a less violent interpretation.” The shock leaves you speechless.

Causes for gobsmacked reactions may be good or bad.

Not every surprise or shock feels pleasant. That’s life with all its ups and downs.

Under God’s leadership, we survive and thrive whatever the experience.

Whether gobsmacked from good or bad, God offers joy, hope, and purpose.

I pray you enjoy a glorious gobsmacked day.

The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy (Psalm 65:8 NIV).

Thanks to Pat Childress Conner Stapp for the suggestion.

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Throw for a Loop

Throw for a Loop

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Throw for a Loop--roller coaster with loopsMy husband used to surprise me on a regular basis. One of his surprises literally threw me for a loop.

We visited an amusement park with friends. I was not a big roller coaster fan and usually preferred kiddie rides. However, he finally talked me into trying a bigger one.

The closer we walked toward the roller coaster, the more concerned I became.

My reaction: “That thing goes upside down!”

His response: A laugh and “It just looks that way.” He held onto my arm to keep me in line.

When we sat down and the safety bar locked in front of us, he offered to hold my hand. Both of my hands gripped the bar. I gave him an unmistakable, “No!”

Of course, the coaster did make loops. I promised myself if I ever got off that thing, I would never ride it again. And I have not.

Throw for a loop (or knock for a loop) means to shock or surprise.

 We may be confused. Someone does something totally unexpected.

Throw for a loop may involve a pleasant surprise such as a:

  • Marriage or pregnancy announcement
  • Special activity with family
  • Gift for an extended vacation

It may also involve an unpleasant shock such as:

  • Job loss
  • Health crisis
  • Divorce
  • Death

Life may throw us for a loop, but a relationship with God keeps us secure.

Whether we are on top of the world or in the pits, God remains with us. God does not always remove negative circumstances. Yet, we can keep on keeping on because of God’s peace, joy, and comfort. Hope holds secure.

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27 NIV).

Thanks to Janna Babak for the suggestion. Image by Paul Brennan from Pixabay.

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Kick Myself

Kick Myself

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Kick Myself--boy posed to kickI hate to lose anything. When that happens, I could just kick myself.

My dad often quoted the proverbial “a place for everything and everything in its place.” That does make life easier. However, things occasionally get misplaced.

Kick myself means I get upset or angry about something I did or failed to do.

  • I’m frustrated.
  • I scold myself, either aloud or in my mind.
  • I’m disappointed by my actions or inactions.

 It also means to regret my behavior or failure.

Examples include when:

  • I miss an opportunity to help others.
  • My words or actions hurt anyone.
  • I forget an important occasion.

Rather than kick myself, I need to correct what I did.

I want to:

  • Search for what I lost.
  • Take advantage of future opportunities.
  • Use my words and actions to help rather than hurt.
  • Apologize for misdeeds.

No one is perfect.

As long as I am alive and kicking, I will make mistakes.

God offers a better way than to kick myself.

 When I fail to follow God’s perfect way, confession is good for the soul. God extends forgiveness and the opportunity for a fresh start when I come clean.

God offers that same opportunity to you.

“‘I turned away from God, but I was sorry afterwards. I kicked myself for my stupidity. I was thoroughly ashamed of all I did in younger days.’ And the Lord replies: Ephraim is still my son, my darling child. I had to punish him, but I still love him. I long for him and surely will have mercy on him.’” (Jeremiah 31:19-20 TLB).

Thanks to Laura Lee Leathers for the suggestion and to Katherine Bonds for the photo.

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Hem and Haw

Hem and Haw

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Hem and Haw: fork in road with a sign pointing the two ways to "later" or "now"A young cousin visited our family years ago. When no one was looking, she helped herself to Mom’s perfume. Lots of perfume. Stink-you-out-of-the-house strong. When Mom asked about it, Kim chose to hem and haw.

Kim looked at the ground, the sky, and the trees. Never at Mom. Regardless of what Mom said, she responded, “I’m just tired.”

Kim did not want to answer Mom’s question. She was not caught red-handed, but she was obviously guilty.

According to The Free Dictionary, to hem and haw is “to refuse to give a definite answer.”

“‘Hem,’ similar … to … ‘ahem,’ [means] to hesitate. ‘Haw’ [means] much the same…. Combine the two, and you have someone who’s stalling for time and hoping not to have to respond any further.”

Some people simply say “hem haw.”

To hem and haw also means to act with uncertainty.

Both meanings often involve:

  • Pauses
  • Unclear speech
  • Poor eye contact
  • Vague answers
  • Frequent throat clearing (a similar sound to the expression)

Such behavior occurs when people don’t know how to answer or don’t want to answer.

Rather than a direct reply, they stall with meaningless sounds or words.

Saying “I don’t know” or “I did it” sounds better than avoiding the truth.

Honesty helps keep people out of hot water. Choose the right way now to stay out of trouble now and later.

“Speak the truth to each other” (Zechariah 8:16 NIV).

Thanks to Terrie Wilson for the suggestion. Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay.

NOTE: While exploring related expressions, I discovered I used a similar introduction for beat around the bush. However, it works so well for both, I decided to keep it here too.

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

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