Boy- You would worry the horns off a brass billy goat

My Deddy said that to me all the time. It usually meant I was worrying him over something I wanted or wanted him to do. You see he was a laid back kind of guy, a bless his heart way of saying he did things when he wanted to do them and at the pace he wanted. I am sitting here trying to think of a time when I ever saw him rushed and I got nothing for you. I cannot remember him panicking, he dealt with things as they came up. He may have thrown a tool or two and let slip a cuss word but panic, no. And yes he called me boy and no he was not confused, he just did. With yesterday being Father's Day, I have been thinking of him and missing him tremendously.

The poor man spent almost 30 years in an old farmhouse with one bathroom and three females. 1 Bathroom and everyone survived!! So when my parents moved, he built a hideout, I mean workshop. It is 2000 square feet and has a pool table, dance floor, bathroom and upstairs bedroom. The man was hiding from fingernail polish, perfume, make-up, break-ups and all things girlie. He had earned it. The thing that always tickled me was my parents called each other. He would be in the man-cave and mama would be in the living room and they would call each other to chat. When my parents bought this house, I was out of the house and married and my sister was grown. Mama could finally get the nice stuff she wanted and not be concerned about us spilling, dripping or dropping. One of the things she got was light beige carpet and threatened deddy within an inch of his life if he got it dirty. And when mama threatens, people listen. You can imagine mama's surprise when one Saturday her phone rings and it is deddy. He tells her he is standing on the deck and that he thinks he needs to go the Emergency Room since he cut his leg. He started the chainsaw while holding it and the kick back caused the chainsaw to "brush" his leg. (I feel I need to stop here and say he was okay and the cut only needed a few stitches. He was good with his hands and tools, but being good caused him to sometimes be careless.) Mama rushes outside sees blood and throws him in the car and off they go. Again, he was okay. When asked why he called her instead of going into the house to get her, his response was "Your mama would have killed me if I had gotten her carpet bloody." See no panicking...

I am sure this would be one of those instances that my mama would say deddy could worry the horns off of a brass billy goat. It probably was not the first time she ever thought it.

I think we all know people that we feel that way about. They drive you cRaZy. It can be someone from work, church, a friend, a friend of a friend or even someone you in which you share an abode. Unfortunately, the world that we live in is not the way God orginally intended. That is a heck of an understatement, isn't it? If the world was as God intended it, it would be perfect and I mean the now unobtainable on this Earth perfect. Excellent and complete beyond practical and theoretical improvement. We would LOVE everyone. Those things that we find annoying, would be adorable. It would be like when you first fall in love ALL the time. You know when squeezing the toothpaste tube from the middle was cute and not the catalyst for World War III. Or when that cute little snort of a laugh she has was ADORABLE instead of eye-roll inducing. Or when the your 6'3" hubby puts all the stuff the 5'3" wifey needs on the tippy top shelf of the cabinet and hides the step stool. Sorry- I had a moment.

It is sometimes very difficult to show the love of Jesus to people that annoy us. Why? Because they ANNOY us. I catch myself being nicer to strangers when shopping than I am with people who see me on a regular basis. I mean if you annoy me in the Target line I have about 5 minutes before one of us will be gone so I can keep that smile on just long enough to show good "Christian" love. You hit 5 minutes and 18 seconds and it may possibly be a different story.

I am not a convential prayer. I have a very conversational approach. I am trying to be better about how I pray because sometimes starting off  "Okay Lord, I am having a day." is probably not as reverential as I intend it to be. I do not expect to ever be a thee and thou kind of person but I don't want to be disrespectful. I never mean it as such but just to be on the safe side I am working on it. So I do sometimes catch myself saying- "Lord, this so needs to be all you and not me because if it is all me, we are going to have a hot mess to clean up."

How do we be the Christians we need to be to the people that know which buttons to press, push and stage a ten minute tap dance on? I sure do hope y'all are not expecting me to share some brilliant answer- cause I got nothing. This is one I get wrong all-the-time!!!! I let my frustration get in the way of letting God handle the situation and I make a mess that he has to clean up.

Romans 5:3-5 says

3. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

4. And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 5. And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

 

Once again the brilliant answer comes straight from the Good Book. Patience. Be patient. It is good for you. "But- Uh- Well" you say. Oh, I get it. I missed class the day God was handing out patience. I also missed the make-up day. But our tribulations make us patient. Patient equals experience. And aren't our experiences good and bad what makes us wiser and stronger? I know one thing for certain, I have seen some amazing things happen from the absolute worst times in my life. Things that made the bad worth it. So maybe if we take time and have patience and put God in the driver's seat with those that drive us crazy, we can see amazing things happen. We will not be ashamed of our actions "because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts".

 

Now, if you will excuse me I am going to go have a little one-on-one time about this whole patience thing.

 

love- j