Sometimes, when I need a break, I watch Big Bang Theory. The characters are hilarious and one reminds me so much of one of my boys. On one episode, Sheldon and Leonard have to divide assets. Their years of being roommates has come to an end. Sheldon doesn't want to part with anything. He has a plethora of excuses as to why he should keep all the things. In order to excuse his selfish behavior, he told Leonard he skipped kindergarten so he never learned how to share. I thought that sounds like our world. We never seemed to learn how to share.
We live in a big wide world. That world houses billions of people. This big wide world is not solely yours or solely mine. I think we get that. But, I don't think we are living that. Instead of living arms wide open, we are living selfishly. Like Sheldon in the Big Bang Theory, we didn't learn how to share.
Sharing for us these days means you live like me, act like me, speak like me, and talk like me. When you do those things, I can share this world with you. If you don't, I get really angry and frustrated snapping at the smallest of offenses.
"My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry..." James 1:19
I think we live out James 1:19 backwards. We are quick to become angry and slow to listen. We snap before a person can get a word in. We jump on others without having all the facts or understanding their situation.
I was in the carpool line after school the other day. We all know carpool is in and of itself its own kind of beast. I was temporarily blocking one of the streets in the neighborhood where my boys' go to school. The mama in front of me had been enjoying the silence in her car by reading a magazine and didn't realize the car ahead of her had moved up leaving me stuck blocking an entrance. I was maybe there for 10-15 seconds. While stopped, a man pulled up. He rolled down his window, pushed his baseball cap up on his head, honked, and began to berate me for blocking his path. He did not get me two seconds to even move. He just immediately lost all his cool trying to instigate an argument with me yelling at me to roll my window down. People, we all know carpool can get a little crazy but OH MY WORD. How on earth do we go from zero to sixty at warp speed?
This man has not left my mind. I smiled and waved at him and then looked away not wanting to further antagonize the situation. I am sure that further frustrated him. It made me wonder what his home looked like; what his daily life entailed. Did he live his life so angry all the time or was this his one and only pet peeve that sets him off? I wondered how such a minor incident escalated so rapidly into such anger.
I feel like our world has become a lot like the carpool line. One person gets out of line and we lose our cool like nobody's business. We have determined that we have been exponentially wronged and that person must immediately pay for their injustice.
This is not the way God intended us to live. He desires us to live life in abundance (John 10:10). Letting a Facebook post send you off the edge of the cliff is not a life of abundance. It's a life of poverty of the soul. We are so easily offended, so easily angered at the drop of a hat, and our children are watching our every move.
Some things, most things, just aren't worth getting that upset over. My boys were bickering over something this morning. I can't even remember what it was it was so minor. I remember getting in the car telling them that while it is good to fight for certain things, some things just aren't worth getting that upset over (like the carpool line).
I have a mantra I wrote on my Instagram bio and have made it our family anthem; my life anthem, really.
Find wonder.
Rest in mercy.
Give grace.
Be kind.
Love relentlessly.
We need to find the wonder in others again. We need to value people more than ourselves and know that they are just trying to make it through this life like us.
When we rest in mercy for ourselves, we are much more generous in giving it out to others. Give yourself a little mercy today so you can give it out more freely to others.
Grace. Oh, how we all need grace. Again, the more grace we give to ourselves, the more willing we will be to give it to others. Through grace out like candy on Halloween. Grace never expires. There is an unlimited supply. For you. For me. And especially for those who "wrong" you.
Be kind. People, just be nice. When we get frustrated and all tensed up because someone wronged us, the only person who suffers in that equation is you. I went picked up my precious boys, went home, and had an incredible evening with my husband, kiddos, and a few friends. I can't imagine what that angry gentleman went home to. A smile and a kind word goes a LONG way. Use both today.
When Jesus came to this earth he absolutely turned it upside down. He loved in a way that seemed so backwards. But, when you look at his ministry, you see a love that is so freeing not only for ourselves but for those we give it to. Find freedom today by loving others; especially those that don't deserve it. I promise you'll feel a freedom from the inside out.
Our world can be unrelenting, cold, and harsh. But your four corners don't have to be. In every situation you have a choice: will I choose kindness or an abrasive spirit? Kindness sets you free. Abrasiveness entraps you.
Today, find wonder, rest in mercy, give grace, be kind, and love relentlessly.
To a world more kind!
Love & Blessings,
Meg
We live in a big wide world. That world houses billions of people. This big wide world is not solely yours or solely mine. I think we get that. But, I don't think we are living that. Instead of living arms wide open, we are living selfishly. Like Sheldon in the Big Bang Theory, we didn't learn how to share.
Sharing for us these days means you live like me, act like me, speak like me, and talk like me. When you do those things, I can share this world with you. If you don't, I get really angry and frustrated snapping at the smallest of offenses.
"My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry..." James 1:19
I think we live out James 1:19 backwards. We are quick to become angry and slow to listen. We snap before a person can get a word in. We jump on others without having all the facts or understanding their situation.
I was in the carpool line after school the other day. We all know carpool is in and of itself its own kind of beast. I was temporarily blocking one of the streets in the neighborhood where my boys' go to school. The mama in front of me had been enjoying the silence in her car by reading a magazine and didn't realize the car ahead of her had moved up leaving me stuck blocking an entrance. I was maybe there for 10-15 seconds. While stopped, a man pulled up. He rolled down his window, pushed his baseball cap up on his head, honked, and began to berate me for blocking his path. He did not get me two seconds to even move. He just immediately lost all his cool trying to instigate an argument with me yelling at me to roll my window down. People, we all know carpool can get a little crazy but OH MY WORD. How on earth do we go from zero to sixty at warp speed?
This man has not left my mind. I smiled and waved at him and then looked away not wanting to further antagonize the situation. I am sure that further frustrated him. It made me wonder what his home looked like; what his daily life entailed. Did he live his life so angry all the time or was this his one and only pet peeve that sets him off? I wondered how such a minor incident escalated so rapidly into such anger.
I feel like our world has become a lot like the carpool line. One person gets out of line and we lose our cool like nobody's business. We have determined that we have been exponentially wronged and that person must immediately pay for their injustice.
This is not the way God intended us to live. He desires us to live life in abundance (John 10:10). Letting a Facebook post send you off the edge of the cliff is not a life of abundance. It's a life of poverty of the soul. We are so easily offended, so easily angered at the drop of a hat, and our children are watching our every move.
Some things, most things, just aren't worth getting that upset over. My boys were bickering over something this morning. I can't even remember what it was it was so minor. I remember getting in the car telling them that while it is good to fight for certain things, some things just aren't worth getting that upset over (like the carpool line).
I have a mantra I wrote on my Instagram bio and have made it our family anthem; my life anthem, really.
Find wonder.
Rest in mercy.
Give grace.
Be kind.
Love relentlessly.
We need to find the wonder in others again. We need to value people more than ourselves and know that they are just trying to make it through this life like us.
When we rest in mercy for ourselves, we are much more generous in giving it out to others. Give yourself a little mercy today so you can give it out more freely to others.
Grace. Oh, how we all need grace. Again, the more grace we give to ourselves, the more willing we will be to give it to others. Through grace out like candy on Halloween. Grace never expires. There is an unlimited supply. For you. For me. And especially for those who "wrong" you.
Be kind. People, just be nice. When we get frustrated and all tensed up because someone wronged us, the only person who suffers in that equation is you. I went picked up my precious boys, went home, and had an incredible evening with my husband, kiddos, and a few friends. I can't imagine what that angry gentleman went home to. A smile and a kind word goes a LONG way. Use both today.
When Jesus came to this earth he absolutely turned it upside down. He loved in a way that seemed so backwards. But, when you look at his ministry, you see a love that is so freeing not only for ourselves but for those we give it to. Find freedom today by loving others; especially those that don't deserve it. I promise you'll feel a freedom from the inside out.
Our world can be unrelenting, cold, and harsh. But your four corners don't have to be. In every situation you have a choice: will I choose kindness or an abrasive spirit? Kindness sets you free. Abrasiveness entraps you.
Today, find wonder, rest in mercy, give grace, be kind, and love relentlessly.
To a world more kind!
Love & Blessings,
Meg
Comments