Bird day

Have a great Thanksgiving while I enjoy Blogsgiving (aka a blogging holiday).  See you next week!!

The one and only

I was in a lecture yesterday and the topic was the uniqueness of Jesus.  We were asked to share ways that Jesus was unique.  What a list that became!  I think it could have gone on and on!  Think about Jesus for just a minute.  Go on, I’ll wait.

 

 

Did you?  What about Jesus makes him unique?  Post your thoughts on the blog.  I’d love to hear from you!

2 tsp. of my own medicine

I feel bad – in two ways.  First, because I’ve had this nagging cough all day.  Second, because of what I’ve said in the past.  What did I say?  “It’s not that bad.  It’s orange-flavored.”  That doesn’t sound bad, but let me explain.  We’ve had a bottle of some new brand of cough syrup.  While I haven’t used it myself, I have administered it several times.  Response of recipients?  Not good.  My response?  You read it a minute ago.  I mean the bottle says “orange flavored” so it can be too horrible.  Tonight I poured some out for me.  YUCK!  Orange flavored?  Maybe an orange that has been at the dump for eight months.  It tasted more like doctor’s offices used to smell in the 70’s.  I got it down, but I realized I spoke out of turn.  I spoke about what I didn’t know about.

How often do we do that?  Someone is in a bad relationship and we think, “She should just ditch him.”  But have we ever been in her situation?  Someone admits to an addiction and we say, “Why don’t they just quit.”  Have we ever been addicted to it?  Do we know what it’s like to quit?  Maybe that’s why God would rather have us loving than judging.  One puts me above another and one puts me in their shoes.  Next time I give medicine, verbal or otherwise, remind me of the “orange flavor.”

Should vs. Can

The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in men who are truthful. (Proverbs 12:22, NIV).

Whether or not someone puts much stock in church or the Bible or even God, they still know the concept of this verse.  They may not practice it themselves, but they still know it has value.  Who doesn’t want to be a part of something honest?  Even 2 bank robbers expect a measure of honesty as they divide their take.  There is something very freeing about honesty.  I hope you have a spouse or friend that you can be totally honest with.  Those kind of relationships where you can be honest not just because you should be but because you can be.  I’m so thankful to those who surround me with an ability to be honest:

• J, what more could I ask for?  That’s the truth!
• Before moving to this part of the country, my buddy M was a guy I could tell anything.  And you know what?  He remained my buddy when I did.
• In this neck of the woods, S became the guy who could be a true confidant.  He not only listens, but he nods in true understanding.
• I recently sat in a green-walled room with 4 guys that conveyed to me I could have ‘can be’ honesty with them.  Only hours before, they were complete strangers to me.  That conversation is what got me to thinking about this.

How can you get people to be honest with you?  Let them be honest with you – not because they should be, but because they can be.  The Lord delights in that!