Five Minute Friday: Disagree

 I wrote this post (in approximately five minutes) in response to a one-word prompt (disagree) from Kate Motaung. For more information and to read other posts, visit www.fiveminutefriday.com

Disagreements are unavoidable, aren’t they? When they arise, I remind myself of these four bits of wise counsel:

(1) “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity [love]” (circa 1627).

(2) “Say what you mean, mean what you say, but don’t be mean when you say it.” (I don’t know the source, but a fellow member of the Toastmasters club I attend shares that advice when it’s time to evaluate speeches made during the meeting.)

(3) “A soft answer turns away wrath, / But a harsh word stirs up anger" (Proverbs 15:1, NKJV).

(4) "If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all people” (Romans 12:18, CSB).

Give Thanks!

Do you know anyone who has not dealt with suffering and sadness and loss this year? I don't. Although we can't help mourning all that we've lost, I hope we will also notice the abundance of good that remains and thank God for it. 

For example, my spirits lifted (despite experiencing ongoing heartaches and worries and physical challenges) as I spent a few minutes in my yard a couple of days ago. I thanked God that I was physically able to walk around my yard for the first time since my surgery a couple of months ago. As I limped along (using my cane), I smiled as I saw a few signs of spring--in mid-November! I thanked God not only for the beauty (and the promise of more) but also for the ability to see the pink blooms on an azalea bush and the green paperwhite shoots that had struggled to push through the soil and were standing tall. I enjoyed listening to the birds and thanked God for them--and for the ability to hear them. 

Those experiences in the yard didn't change any of the heartbreaking situations or recover any of the great losses, but giving thanks changed me! 

May we realize daily this truth expressed by the psalmist centuries ago: "It is good to give thanks to the LORD..." (Psalm 92:1, NKJV).

Right Attitude

Friday the 13th...

Friday the 13th—a day considered by many as a “bad luck day.” I prefer to think, as the psalmist did in Psalm 118:24, that this day, like all other days, is “a day that the LORD has made.” Therefore, I choose to rejoice and be glad in it even though I know not what will happen in the hours that remain in it. 

Although I can’t control much of what happens, I do get to choose my responses, as do you.

I choose, in advance, to thank God for the gift of this day.

I choose to thank Him for the gift of His presence with me—and He is with me (and with you!) at ALL times (Joshua 1:9), including Friday the 13th. 

I choose to thank Him for causing all things to work out for His glory and the good of His children (Romans 8:28). 

Is that what you choose, too?

Put LOVE in Your Actions

Just Bloom!

Flowers don't compete with each other. 

They just bloom, well content to be what their Creator designed them to be.

Might we learn a lesson from them?

Right Attitude

Sanibel Island (Florida) Sunset

Create in me a clean heart, O God; 

and renew a right spirit within me.

Psalm 51:10, King James Version

Have To?

I remember well an insight I received while reading a blog post many years ago. The man who had written the words that were burned into my heart and brain the moment I read them had no idea the impact his words had on me. (Thankfully, I did get the opportunity to tell him, much later on!)

In the post, he wrote about what was going on as his brother battled cancer. He wrote, “I have to do [thus and so] for him today.” But the writer immediately corrected himself, saying, “I get to do [thus and so] for him today.” I don’t recall whether the writer explained the huge difference in “have to” and “get to” but I saw it and resolved to avoid saying (and feeling) that I “have to” do this or that. For example, instead of saying, “I have to unload the dishwasher,” I will learn to say, “I get to unload the dishwasher.”

Now, that’s not a job I look forward to, but by changing from “I have to” to “I get to” my attitude shifts from negative to positive. Saying, “I get to” reminds me to be thankful for so many things: that I have dishes to use, that those dishes were filled with food and drink, that family members and I enjoyed meals together as we “dirtied” the dishes, that I have a dishwasher, that I have clean (and hot) water in which to wash them, that I am physically able to do household chores, that I am living in my own home….

Dear Reader, do you see how what appears to be a simple word change makes an ENORMOUS difference in our attitude? If you do see it, then resolve with me to banish “I have to” from all conversations.

Open my eyes that I may see

Glimpses of truth thou hast for me.

~Clara H. Scott, 1895