I Used to Be Twenty-Six

a lesson learned in the second batch of twenty-six years

I look back twenty-six years to when I was twenty-six years old. I was mature for my age then. As I close in on the end of my second batch of twenty-six, I think I’m now less mature for my age. But now I got sidetracked from the purpose of this post.

When I reached my twenty-sixth birthday…

  • I had been a husband for five years.
  • We had two children — LaVay (3) and Russell (close to 1).
  • I was just into my fifth year of teaching high school at our church school.
  • I had just begun my second year as principal at that school.
  • It had been about 2.5 years since we had temporarily “retired” as Mexico missionaries.
  • I didn’t own a house, because I was trying to lay up treasures in heaven.

Over the next eight years, I added more to My Accomplishments.

Alas, I also added to My Pride, at least on the inside.

But inside or out, that affliction portends bad things to come. Always.

“…God resisteth the proud…” (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5).

“When pride cometh, then cometh shame…” (Proverbs 11:2).

Since the bad harvest of pride often doesn’t come right away, we get careless and carefree with pride.

Then we pay the price.

Now, twenty-six years later and having tasted its bitter fruit, do I still struggle with pride?

Sure. But now I recognize the struggle (most of the time). And I engage the battle (more of the time).

I loathe pride. And in a healthy way (I think), I fear pride.

When I find myself embracing it, I try to come to my senses and push it away in repentance.

I have experienced pride’s wrecking ball.

“Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18).

“Before destruction the heart of man is haughty…” (Proverbs 18:12).

“A man’s pride shall bring him low…” (Proverbs 29:23).

The proud He knoweth afar off (Psalm 138:6)

So many of My Accomplishments have gone to nothing. And so many of My Opportunities have evaporated.

What a waste!

Yup, I have paid dearly, though not yet fully.

Would I like a do-over? In a sense, my answer really doesn’t matter. The stark reality is that I don’t get to try again. That part of my life is gone, gone, gone.

Maybe God will give me an opportunity to do better tomorrow.

I hope so.

If He does, may I allow His Spirit to continue to craft in me in the mind of Christ so that the Father may see in me at least a faint image of His Son.

Just Words

They're evidence. Make them count for good!

I stared. 😯

I was incredulous at the email. It was bad as a personal email. But sent to a multi-recipient list?!

Wow! Somebody was having a bad day! 🙁

Not only had the email departed the sender’s mind ahead of any grace and tact, it projected itself as mind-bogglingly dumb. I don’t mean that unkindly or disrespectfully. I’m simply saying its cargo excluded basic common sense.

The person who sent it issued a follow-up email 38 minutes later. It was an apology.

Very good! God bless him for his honesty, humility, and integrity.

But guess which email is more likely to be remembered?

Yeah. Too bad.

Words. Just words. Not sticks and stones, you know. But what dismay they can cause.

Words. Just words. Too often I want to excuse mine. And attack the other guy’s (if I deem them ill-advised or outright bad).

Words. Just words. But God doesn’t see the matter so lightly.

He will judge me by my words.

And by how they line up with His Word.

So….

“Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart,
be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD,
my strength, and my redeemer.”
Psalm 19:14

Pleasant words are as an honeycomb.

Full of sweet, nourishing honey — not stinging bees!

This whole deal was one of those wretched teachable moments (can we come up with a different term already?).

The lesson above leaps forward as Number One (or more).

Other lessons?

  1. Be slow to react to email. Come to think of it. Don’t react.
  2. Be slow. There’s no rush. Especially if you’re having a trying day.
  3. Email is forwardable. How far will yours go? That may not matter to you now, but it likely will in a day or two. Or in a minute or two. Or less.
  4. Email lists have the added danger of being archived on the Web “forever”!

There. I don’t want to give them all. What other lessons do you see?

This was to post last evening…but I didn’t get back to my computer and the Internet in time.

Grocery Shopping

Two important lessons, both gleaned from two different grocery stores. And extracted from my cellphone. Beneath each photo, the lesson.

Cholesterol and Fat Liberation Movement
1. Tank up on cholesterol and fat!

Think of it as the CFLM — the Cholesterol and Fat Liberation Movement.

Instead of saying cholesterol-free and fat-free in Spanish, it actually says: cholesterol liberates and fat liberates. 😯

Hence, the lesson caption above.

Alternate lesson: 1b. Have someone knowledgeable edit your translation!

Read it all

Picked On?

Not necessarily! Four measuring sticks to answer the question...

Everyone has felt picked on. (I assume that to be a reasonably accurate statement, don’t you?)

Too easily and too often, though, we feel picked on when we shouldn’t.

So, in the interest of clarifying that statement (as well as in the interest of helping you not feel picked on when you shouldn’t), I offer up four measuring sticks to answer this question:

Are “they” picking on you?

  1. If they are just fault-finding, yes.
  2. If they are sincerely concerned about you, no.
  3. If they want to know your view instead of assuming to know it, no.
  4. If they want you to tell them more about The Issue in order to balance their own views, no

Does that makes sense to you like it does to me?

But what if you truly are being picked on?

What are godly responses to being picked on?

  1. Pray blessing on them.
  2. Be open to what might apply to you anyway.
  3. Forgive them.
  4. Look for the opportunities to love them.
  5. Reject anger, bitterness, self-pity, vengefulness, and further fault-finding.
  6. Don’t gossip or resort to evil speaking of them.
  7. Remember: Any “lumps” you get actually are less than you deserve.
Above all, love God!