Rereading this Scripture today, I was struck differently by Paul’s words than I have read them before…
Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 2 Corinthians 12:6-7 NIV
He says here that God gave him a thorn in the flesh in order to keep him humble. It caused me to question my own heart and ask, How often do I pray that God would take away a hardship, a trial, or even a personality flaw that I find to be such a weakness?
Immediately following the scripture, Paul says that God’s grace is sufficient for us, and that His power is made perfect in our weaknesses. Paul then says, that because of this, he will glory in his own weaknesses. He says that, although he has much to boast about, he will not boast in those things, but rather boast about his weaknesses, so that Christ’s power will be revealed and His glory would be known.
How often do we take pride in our own abilities, our skills, our talents, and our strengths that make us “look good” to those around us? How often do we boast about the success we have achieved, the good deeds we have done, or the great strength we believe we have?
We never want our weaknesses exposed for the world to see. No. We’d rather they see the picture-perfect life we choose to present.
Yet. Paul said he’d glory in his weakness so that Jesus’ strength might be revealed through it…
This isn’t the first time I’ve read this. Not was it the first time I’ve thought more about it or even taught it to someone else through discipleship.
But it might be the first time it’s truly awakening something within me…
I believe I will be thankful for that thorn in my flesh. Even when it makes me bleed, and I pray to God He’d take it from me.
I went for a walk the other day, actually two days in a row, and I caught a glimpse of beautiful sunsets both nights. The pictures I was able to capture just really didn’t do great justice to the reality of the moments because they were truly breathtaking.
Yet literally 2 minutes before each of these sunsets, I ran into this. Both nights. Almost in the same place. Had I not been on high alert, watching each night, those moments could have ended so differently…
The first night, I looked down, saw that little guy almost under my foot. And I jumped over him like a gazelle! Talk about an adrenaline rush. I turned around just to make sure it wasn’t a stick I’d imagined. Nope. It was real. He looked at me with his menacing, beady little eye. I laughed at myself minutes later, thinking if anyone had seen me, they might have wondered if I just had a sudden hurdle-jumping-imagination. Haha. Surely, they couldn’t see what I saw right there on the pavement.
The second night, right about the same time, I was looking and searching, just to make sure there wasn’t another. Lo and behold, there he was again. Pretty sure it was the same little guy. I walked clear around him this time and circled back, thinking he must be dead and just simply stuck on the road. Nope. He turned his head to look my way. I skedaddled quickly out of range.
Got the pictures to prove it, though. And you better believe that third night, I went way on the other side of the road. Nope. I’m not gonna give him a chance at “three times a charm” to strike me! I actually don’t think he was still there, but nope. Not gonna take a chance!
However, here is my whole point in this story: I have a choice to dwell on the beauty of the sunset or the anxiety producing copperhead. I can think about the endless possibilities of running into that little game changer again, or I can reminisce about those golden pink streaked skies and search for another awestruck evening. It’s my choice.
And that’s exactly how life is. There’s always going to be good and bad. There always going to be days when everything seems to be beautiful, and we feel like we are “topping trees.” And then, there’s gonna be others when we’d like to be buried under those trees. Those marks on our calendar will appear when we wish they’d never have come to us and when we’d like to see them never come again.
And every single time, we will have a choice to decide what and where we will place our focus. We get to determine what stays in our realm of contemplations and what we toss out.
And what stays often establishes what we see tomorrow and the next day and the next.
See, even though that third day, I cautiously walked on the other side of the road, even though I might have fought a little internal flutter of trepidation, I was intentionally going to look for that setting sun to show out just a little brighter. And just as I got ready to go chasing that sunset, my eye caught movement up on the little incline. Right about the place that mean ol’ juvenile was the night before…
(A little out of focus, but a sweet memory still.)
Had I stayed away out of fear, walked by too quickly out of anxiety, or just simply looked away to avoid the horror, I would’ve missed this new little guy who came along to visit.
Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things arejust, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.
Philippians 4:8-9
You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.
We were sitting at the local Italian restaurant with a group of young people. We’d come straight from church, still dressed in our “Sunday Best.” And I’d been bragging about this delicious dessert coffee they have, essentially made up of chocolate and strong coffee. (SO good!)
We’d ordered and asked for the server to put all five in to-go cups because we all had places to go, things to do, and that in and of itself was a wise decision, as it took such a long time for the coffees to arrive and the check to be tallied. So, our servers passed out the drinks, and I’m quick to insert my straw to assess if it had been made “just right.” After all, I’d told everyone how wonderfully delicious these beverages were, and I didn’t want to be wrong because maybe someone in the back failed to mix them correctly.
I grab my straw and pop it into the whipped-cream- created-domed plastic lid and picked up the cup to take a sip. It was like a volcano had erupted! It spewed all over my mouth, down my shirt (inside and out) and onto my freshly dry cleaned suit pants!! 😳😳🤦♀️ How seriously embarrassing! Especially for me, when I’d prefer to keep all spotlight shined in the opposite direction of my moment.
The girls, circling my center of the table seating arrangement, immediately were concerned for my welfare. “Are you ok?? … That didn’t burn you, did it? … Oh no, it got on your pretty suit!” All eyes were on me, and I surely would rather have simply crawled under the table. And then, as I was trying to reassure everyone I am alright and to hopefully encourage them to just ignore me and carry on with their conversations, one young lady sweetly said, “Well, at least it just looks like it blends into your shirt!”
Immediately recognizing the reality of her statement, alongside the camaraderie of understanding between us, we shared a burst of laughter together, and the embarrassing moment seemed to fade away into the next conversation at hand. This little lady, young enough to be my daughter, spoke something out of the authenticity and gentleness of her heart that brought such a calm to my frantic flutter of trying to clean up the mess…
As messy and chaotic as this moment is, at least it blends into your shirt (blue and brown tie-dye). As potentially ruining as that chocolate might be, at least it is camouflaged by the artist design of your shirt. As disastrous as this moment feels, both to your emotions and your outfit, there’s no need to worry about it. Just roll with the punches and fix it when you get home.
And it made me think, this is the same responses we get to choose in life. No matter if it’s chocolate coffee splattered all over my shirt and suit pants, or whether it’s a broken promise, shattered dreams, or a feared diagnosis, how we respond determines the next season of our life.
Choice is a beautiful thing, and we each get to choose how we will reciprocate those hard moments.
How do you respond when the milk gets spilled at breakfast? How do you speak when it not only begins to rain, but it pours a torrential downspout, and your umbrella has a hole in it? How do you look when someone blatantly cuts you to the core with betrayal? How do you show your hand when all the beauty of life seems to be swallowed up in a brush fire, and no one even appears to give a thought or a care?
I know. It’s just sticky, dark stained, chocolate coffee on my shirt. It’s just solidified sugar seeped into my pantsuit that may or may not come out with a little scrub. It’s just another high dollar dry cleaning bill that I don’t really want to spend this week. But is it only that?
Maybe we can step back and reassess for a moment…
Had I responded with shock and anger, how would that have made my dinner guests feel about the wonderful lunch we were having? Had I thrown my napkin down in a tantrum, cried out, or even lamented sorrowfully to the server that he had filled the cup so much?
After all, he’d ingeniously and unknowingly created a pressure cooker inside that 16oz styrofoam cup! What kind of impression would I have given, what kind of example would I have been placing in front of all those present?
Instead I chose to laugh. Instead I chose to try to mop up the liquid just as quickly and efficiently as I could. I tried to discreetly walk away to the restroom to assure I found all the spots and dabbed a little water droplets to help battle the stains. I returned to the table and carried on as if nothing had gone wrong.
And everyone texted later that they had a delightful time.
A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones.
There was a girl who got through the day with routines, laughter. and some memes...chores, laughs, smiles, and some cats...food, naps, plus coffee too...then yoga for the win... a warm bath, some books, and You Tube📺-hdtj💜
My journey didn’t stop with mere time travel or writing; it led me to become one of the most sought-after empaths, a soulful psychic who reads the hidden depths of the human spirit. I’ve been blessed—or perhaps burdened—with an ability that allows me to feel the emotions of people from every corner of time.
I am a licensed psychologist based in Greece. My love for housekeeping has inspired me to create this blog about home management and family relationships. I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing!
Dedicated to movie nerdom, nostalgia, and soul invigoration. In the late 90s, I worked at Blockbuster Video where they let me take home two free movies a day. I caught up on the classics and reviewed theatrical releases for Denver 'burbs newspapers and magazines. Today, while raising two young, beautiful daughters with my amazing wife, I look forward to anything rated R and not Bluey. Comments and dialogue encouraged!
the grizzle grist mill 