June 21, 2020

I am certain we have all been there….sometimes funny, sometimes not so much. And, I an certain, if we are honest, we have all been there with our actions and our words.. I sure have! I’ve also been on the receiving end.

Lately, I have had couple instances that have been somewhat funny that made me think of this.

One morning earlier this week, I saw a text from a friend that looked like a response, and I wondered why so I look at the previous text and it was obviously something I had written though I do not remember writing any of it. I looked at the timing, and it was minutes before I was in a deep sleep (according to my Fitbit time and the time I sent it).

I also remember talking to my husband this particular evening, but had thought I had fallen asleep before we had finished our conversation. After seeing the text, I asked him if I had fallen completely asleep before he left the room, and he said we actually had finished talking. I didn’t remember. He said I had my iPad on my lap while sitting in bed so I had obviously texted her after my conversation with him.

My text was with many misspellings and not complete thoughts. It has been scary to think my mind completely blanks lately, and I can’t remember things over the last three months such as not being able to find my home right away…while walking right by it or what my kitchen looks like while out looking at kitchen decorations.

However, I read the text to my husband and some of the things I wrote did make us laugh because some of it was quite funny, such as being in a boat and baptized with Christ!

Then last night I wrote a short note to my doctor about having my oxygen tank and home fill machine picked up, and I read it three times before sending it. Today I checked my messages and read it again! The last sentence was, “Can you please tell gremlins to pick it up?” I am sure that was somehow an auto correct for “them”.

I have no idea what her response will be. She knows I’ve had a hard time with my health so maybe she’ll think I am just fed up. I have no idea! Hopefully it will bring her and her staff a chuckle! I am so glad her staff is not the ones to pick it up; however, when the person from home health comes in, they may just have caught wind of my noun replacement. Oh my!

I know there are many things we do that we can’t believe we’ve done and depending on your audience, you may wish you had the gift of invisibility.

Things such as working at an ice cream shop and as you are going to the counter of toppings you may trip, knocking over the topping containers onto the floor. You then may try to clean up the mess, but the supervisor sees you’ve done enough damage and sends you home.

Or working at a restaurant, where a family of four maybe five, finish their meals and order yummy desserts. After the desserts are ready, you put the big round tray on your forearm as you’ve done many times before, and steady all desserts on the tray. You walk upright and confident with a smile on your face over to the table to deliver their mouthwatering desserts, but once you remove the first one from the tray, they all come tumbling down onto the table, not one dessert making it, so you must go back to the kitchen and have the cook remake them all. No brownie points made there on either end.

Or sitting on lunch break with a handful of coworkers and all of a sudden, out of nowhere….flatulence from the alimentary canal.

Or laughing so hard pizza comes out of your nostril. That is not so embarrassing if it is around your family, and you can all crack up laughing.

Or trying to open up a fence, thinking it’s an entrance to a restaurant as people stare at you as if you are a crazy person who continues to yank on the fence so you then have to ask where the door is. They politely point a few feet away.

Anyhow, enough of the examples. You get the picture.

Sometimes, we say things because we mean well and are trying to be helpful but instead maybe it was a time we should’ve just listened or sometimes we say something foolish because we just don’t think before we speak. I’ve done both.

Other times, you may say things well intended but then you don’t follow through. I’ve been guilty of this I am sure, but I do try my best to always “mean what I say and say what I mean” and follow through. I don’t want to extend invitations or say I will pray for someone yet not do it.

Then there are times that we may say things we regret. Too many times I have. Too many times I have said and written things I regret. You can’t take it back, just like the toothpaste in the tube, you cannot put it back.

Years ago, for a family night, we had our children each have a tube of toothpaste and empty it as quick as they could onto a plate. That was fun and easy. Then, we told them to race to see who could put it back in the fastest. Of course, they couldn’t. The point of that lesson was to teach them that them our words, once gone from our mouth, cannot be taken back.

Oh boy, do I need that reminder often. So many times we allow our emotions to guide our words and actions and that is the worst thing we can do because our emotions come from our hearts, and our hearts are deceitful above all things.

I remember watching Survivor many years ago when it was the first reality television show. We didn’t watch it for many years after, and I started watching it again recently. It is not the most family friendly show at times, but I remember watching one season where a young man who had a not so great past had become a Christian and wanted to share Jesus. He wanted to make a good name for his family as well. He said that he struggles with good and evil, always warring within him.

He then returned on another season, and he was a different person. It was because after the first show, he had so much conflict with family because he was very vocal about his faith, praying often on the show and that was seen to so many as weak. He chose to be who his family wanted to see and went back to his old ways, allowing his emotions to get the best of him. As the show continued, his emotions turned into rage, and he had to be removed.

Although I was taken back, I found myself hurting for him because we have all been there with sin. As we continually work out our salvation, we will be a huge threat to the enemy, and the things we struggle with most will come out in the ugliest way at times.

I thought of Paul from the Bible saying he didn’t do the things he wanted to but instead did the things that he hated. All throughout the Bible, the followers of Christ struggle with good and evil. This is why the Armor of God is so important to have in our life every single day, every single moment. Many times we can forget to fully put on the Armor of God; therefore opening ourselves up to spiritual attack.

We tend to make decisions on emotions but must step back and away from the situation. At times, there will be times we shouldn’t respond to someone until the next day when you are calm. This is where relationships go south so quickly because we respond in the heat of the moment, causing hurt and regret.

So, although there are many things that we may have said and done that can give comical relief, we need to make sure that we think before we act or speak, knowing that it can bring life or death.

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Blessings,
Jennifer