A Little Something
Sorry about yesterday's post. When I signed on this morning, there it sat in my draft folder. Hmmm. I guess NO TECH TUESDAY must've applied to me as well. :)
Life lesson #7922: Little things can hurt real bad.
Have you ever gotten a splinter? Or a paper cut? Owwww!! How does something so small hurt so bad??
Yesterday evening, I was sitting on our deck (which needs sanded and stained, but that's for another day) with my best friend beside me, our feet dangling in the pool, enjoying the sunshine and good company. I started to get up (which seems to take more and more effort these days!) when a tiny splinter of wood stuck in the meaty pad of my little finger. Ouch!
I jerked my hand up to see what got me and couldn't believe the tiny speck of wood that was causing me such pain. I looked at my friend and started to speak and God said it before I could.
Sometimes the things that seem little to us, may seem big (very important) to someone else. It's always about perception. How the other person receives it and what they think you mean by it, in the end, is all that matters.
I'm sure I have mentioned before that my husband's love language is 'Acts of Service'. That means if he asks me to do something for him (pick up dry cleaning, drop off a package, make a call, etc.) and I don't, it's a BIG deal to him. He feels unloved. While I, on the other hand, am thinking, "Geez! It's no big deal. I'll do it tomorrow." And I minimize the event, which makes him feel less important to me than the dog, since I did remember to pick up dog food.
With our kids it can happen so easily. We are busy cooking dinner, cleaning up messes, unloading the dishwasher, when little Bobby shows up with a rock that he found in the drive way that looks like a heart. He begs that we look at it, and get excited with him, but we have so many other things on our mind that without even glancing at it we say, "Yeah. That's cool! (with all the fake enthusiasm we can muster) Now go wash your hands for dinner." We don't notice when his whole demeanor visibly falls. Shoulders drop, his gaze hits the floor and he sloughs away feeling defeated and ignored. Unimportant. Unloved. Something that didn't seem like a big deal to us, was a huge deal to him.
You'd think these little things would be easy to fix...but that splinter can be in pretty deep and it may take some time to dig it out.
It takes some effort to pay attention to how we are responding to and treating others. You have to be present in the moment. You have to acknowledge the value of each person and make every effort not to be the splinter that causes them pain.
In his book, The Greatest Salesman in the World, Og Mandino teaches readers to think, "I love you" in your mind before speaking a word to each and every person you interact with. It might sound corny, but if we are striving to be Christ-like then we are called to love one another. And every person was created by God in His image, so we should love them. It would be a great way to buffer against being a splinter in someone's heart.
Maybe the most important thing we can do to avoid being that splinter, is to sand ourselves, remove our rough edges, and soften our hearts toward one another. Stain yourself with the blood of Christ.
Then we will be less likely to inflict pain through those little things.
Be blessed!
Life lesson #7922: Little things can hurt real bad.
Have you ever gotten a splinter? Or a paper cut? Owwww!! How does something so small hurt so bad??
Yesterday evening, I was sitting on our deck (which needs sanded and stained, but that's for another day) with my best friend beside me, our feet dangling in the pool, enjoying the sunshine and good company. I started to get up (which seems to take more and more effort these days!) when a tiny splinter of wood stuck in the meaty pad of my little finger. Ouch!
I jerked my hand up to see what got me and couldn't believe the tiny speck of wood that was causing me such pain. I looked at my friend and started to speak and God said it before I could.
"Sometimes it's the smallest things that cause the most pain."One hurtful word. One missed opportunity. One glance. One oversight. One tone. One little thing.
Sometimes the things that seem little to us, may seem big (very important) to someone else. It's always about perception. How the other person receives it and what they think you mean by it, in the end, is all that matters.
I'm sure I have mentioned before that my husband's love language is 'Acts of Service'. That means if he asks me to do something for him (pick up dry cleaning, drop off a package, make a call, etc.) and I don't, it's a BIG deal to him. He feels unloved. While I, on the other hand, am thinking, "Geez! It's no big deal. I'll do it tomorrow." And I minimize the event, which makes him feel less important to me than the dog, since I did remember to pick up dog food.
With our kids it can happen so easily. We are busy cooking dinner, cleaning up messes, unloading the dishwasher, when little Bobby shows up with a rock that he found in the drive way that looks like a heart. He begs that we look at it, and get excited with him, but we have so many other things on our mind that without even glancing at it we say, "Yeah. That's cool! (with all the fake enthusiasm we can muster) Now go wash your hands for dinner." We don't notice when his whole demeanor visibly falls. Shoulders drop, his gaze hits the floor and he sloughs away feeling defeated and ignored. Unimportant. Unloved. Something that didn't seem like a big deal to us, was a huge deal to him.
You'd think these little things would be easy to fix...but that splinter can be in pretty deep and it may take some time to dig it out.
It takes some effort to pay attention to how we are responding to and treating others. You have to be present in the moment. You have to acknowledge the value of each person and make every effort not to be the splinter that causes them pain.
In his book, The Greatest Salesman in the World, Og Mandino teaches readers to think, "I love you" in your mind before speaking a word to each and every person you interact with. It might sound corny, but if we are striving to be Christ-like then we are called to love one another. And every person was created by God in His image, so we should love them. It would be a great way to buffer against being a splinter in someone's heart.
Maybe the most important thing we can do to avoid being that splinter, is to sand ourselves, remove our rough edges, and soften our hearts toward one another. Stain yourself with the blood of Christ.
Then we will be less likely to inflict pain through those little things.
Be blessed!
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