Blind

I love snow.

It’s beautiful.

It just invites me to slow down and curl up next to a fire with a cup of coffee and a book.

But there’s a downside to snow. It kind of gets in the way of everyday life.

A couple of years ago we got a massive amount of snow (at least for St. Louis). The meteorologists called it a “polar vortex.” I’m still not entirely sure what that means. I do know that we got a lot of snow.

Crews were sent out to clear the streets and parking lots so that people could get out.

The challenge of clearing a parking lot, though, is that there aren’t a lot of places to put the accumulated snow.

So, at the grocery store I frequent, they simply shoveled it all to the end of an aisle. They freed up parking spaces but effectively created a “no outlet” situation.

I pulled into a row of parking spaces only to find that there were none available, and the plowed snow was blocking my way. I had to do a twenty-point turn to get back out the way I came.

Another car had followed me. She couldn’t see that the road was blocked and that there was nothing to do but turn around. She was livid at how long I was taking to get out. The whole time I was trying to correct course she was flipping me off and even rolled down her window to hurl curses at me.

I rolled my window down, too, and tried to explain that there were no parking spaces and that the snow was blocking the way but to no avail. She kept yelling about how I was wasting her time and needed to learn how to drive.

But she didn’t know what I knew. She didn’t know there was a roadblock ahead.

As I pulled forward, I saw her doing the same twenty-point turn in my rearview mirror.

I wonder how often I do that. I wonder how often I criticize others simply because I can’t see what they see. I wonder how often I’m blind to what lies ahead. I wonder how often I’ve failed to pay attention to those that have gone before me and heeded their wisdom.

Let’s make sure we have all the information before we get impatient or angry.

It may be that we don’t have the whole story.

Think First

Val St. John and Scott Fish used to co-host a morning radio show in Florida.

The two decided to pull an April Fool’s Day prank during their airtime in 2013.

They warned the masses that local water sources had been contaminated with dihydrogen monoxide – a compound found in insecticides, jet fuel, acid rain, and chemical weapons.

They weren’t lying. The water supply did contain dihydrogen monoxide.

It’s just that if you break it down, dihydrogen monoxide equates to two hydrogen molecules and one oxygen molecule.

In other words, it’s H2O. Water.

Fortunately, most people got the joke. Unfortunately, a small but loud minority did not.

They flooded (pun absolutely intended) the county water board phonelines demanding to know how such a lethal substance could have been allowed to pollute their water supply.

St. John and Fish were temporarily taken off the air, but their suspension was revoked, and they resumed their regularly scheduled programming.

It was, admittedly, an unwise prank.

But I imagine that the folks who called the county water board were more than a little embarrassed when they realized their mistake.

I wonder how often we make a similar mistake, though. I wonder how often we accept what we hear without considering the source or the merit of the claim itself. I wonder how often we respond emotionally before we respond thoughtfully.

Let’s be a little more discerning. Let’s resist the pull of urgency. Let’s refuse to be taken in by unwarranted fear.

Let’s think before we act.

Stuck

I have a niece named Kennedy.

Kennedy is pure joy and constant motion. She loves to run and jump and dance – all the while pumping her little arms with all her might.

She also hates to be contained. When she was little, we’d have to strap her into her booster seat at dinnertime or she’d throw herself out of her chair.

When she was tired of being strapped in, she’d shout, “Stuck!”

My brother and sister-in-law would smile, shake their heads, and say, “You’re not stuck. We put you there.”

I’ve felt stuck before.

I’ve felt like I couldn’t get out of a difficult situation. I’ve felt trapped in discouragement or disappointment. I’ve felt contained and confined.

I’ve shouted, “Stuck!” to God more than once.

And more than once God has smiled and said, “You’re not stuck. I put you there.”

The times I’ve felt stuck have often turned out to be the times I’ve learned the most about trusting and depending upon Him.

If you feel stuck, look around. The way out might simply be better or different choices.

But it may be that God put you there on purpose. It may be that He wants you to learn to trust and depend upon Him.

I promise you this. God is working in and through you – wherever you are.

Walking with the Wise

“Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.” (Proverbs 13:20)

One of the wisest women I’ve ever known was Gertrude Jordan – my great-grandmother. I was only able to walk with her for the first thirteen years of my life, but she keeps changing me.

After she passed away, I inherited one of her most precious belongings – her Bible. My great-grandfather Stanley gave it to her as a birthday gift in 1935. In the margins, she wrote her thoughts and prayers. She recorded decades of heartache and pain. She poured out her soul to her Father on these pages.

On the first page, she wrote down twelve principles that she pursued every day of her life. She called them her “Daily Dozen.” I thought I’d share with you the words of this sweet and godly woman.

The Daily Dozen

1. Make up your mind to be happy. Learn to find pleasure in the simple things.

2. Make the best of your circumstances. No one has everything and everyone has something of sorrow intermingled with the gladness of life. The trick is to make the laughter outweigh the tears.

3. Don't take yourself too seriously. Don't think that somehow you should be protected from misfortunes that befall others.

4. You can't please everybody. Don't let criticism worry you.

5. Don't let your neighbor set your standards. Be yourself.

6. Do the things you enjoy doing. But stay out of debt.

7. Don't borrow trouble. Imaginary things are harder to bear than the actual ones.

8. Since hate poisons the soul, do not cherish grudges. Avoid people who make you unhappy.

9. Have many interests. If you can't travel, read about new places.

10. Don't hold postmortems. Don't spend your life brooding over sorrows and mistakes.

11. Do what you can for those less fortunate than yourself.

12. Keep busy on something. A very busy person never has time to be unhappy.

Every Christian is called to live wisely. Learning to live wisely, though, taking intentionality. It requires submitting to the source of all wisdom - God Himself - and surrounding ourselves with godly men and women. As Proverbs tells us, "Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise." I'm forever grateful that I had such a wise grandmother. She continues to impact me. I hope she impacts you, too.

Click Here to Download the List

Brevity and Meaning

You’ve probably never heard of Theodor Geisel, but you’ve read his books. He wrote under the pseudonym of “Dr. Seuss.”

In 1957, Random House released The Cat in the Hat, a book destined to hold a prominent place in millions of childhood memories in the decades to come. What made this story so remarkable to Geisel’s editor, Bennett Cerf, was that it’s 65 pages contained only 225 unique words.

Cerf was astounded that Geisel managed to tell this delightful story with such brevity and so he issued Geisel an interesting challenge. He gambled that Geisel could not write an equally meaningful book with a mere fifty words. Geisel accepted the challenge and on August 12, 1906, Random House published Green Eggs and Ham, a book of only fifty unique words over 62 pages. It outsold The Cat and the Hat and is still one of the bestselling children’s books of all time.

What if we took a page from Dr. Seuss? What if we stopped speaking as though more words necessarily made for more meaning?

We are a people long on information and short on wisdom, long on knowledge and short on meaning, long on explanation and short on clarity.

Think about your words. Spend them sparingly and spend them prudently - on wisdom, meaning, and clarity.