Better Yet

 

When you think about it, it could always be worse.

Have you ever wondered why we worry about so many things?  Things like; will I disappoint my customers?  Will I fail to provide for my family?  Will I have clean socks tomorrow?  Will it rain this week?  Will my fantasy baseball team win this week? What will I have for supper tonight?

Strange that I live in a world that loves to worry and nitpick. I live in free country which is a huge privilege.  Then I imagine for a brief moment how difficult it must be in some places.

My wife found an article about a pastor in a Middle East country who was being persecuted by local terrorists.  He was even beaten up and then hidden.  And when his enemies came to finish him off some lions mysteriously appeared and attacked the bad guys.  Then the lions continued to attack till the pastor’s pursuers ran away.  The most amazing thing about the whole story was that the lions had never been sighted in that area of the country before the incident.  God certainly works in mysterious ways.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t have to battle lions on a daily basis.  However, my biggest battle tends to be my own contentment and that outcome rests squarely on my shoulders.

Better yet, my life is not always easy, but good because I serve a good God.

Swavel

Grace Street

 

May all the streets in your life take you to where you want to be, so to speak.

In my line of work, bug killing that is, I am always on a street or heading to one. Destinations are what I do on a daily basis. Why is it we all don’t travel o Grace Street more often?

Grace is a name of a street I have seen in my travels from time to time.  One we all should travel on more than not.  Without it we would be unable to operate civilly.  I know on a daily basis that I do things that require grace from others like running late, or acting awkwardly or misspeaking.  Who hasn’t made a mistake and what better way to get back on track than resetting with an act of grace.

Allow me to take a side street for just a brief moment.  One day I was reading a Snapple lid and it asked the question what is the most popular named street?  I will give you multiple choice - (a) First St.  (b) Church St.  (c) Main St.  (d) Second St.  If you said the answer was (A) you would be wrong.   That seemed like the obvious answer, but it is actually Second St.  The reason being in some towns they use First St. and others use Main St. 

Now, let’s get back to grace.  The word grace has become a popular one to me over the years and is even the middle name of my second daughter The reason I took a side street was to make the point the when it comes to grace it is certainly not an obvious outcome.  For you see, grace means unmerited favor or in layman’s terms getting something you don’t deserve. 

 

Here are a few practical uses for grace.  First, grace can be used when you find yourself wanting to finish something someone else started.  Like the other day I found myself disgruntled by a grocery store cashier who continued to try to goad me into losing it on him.  Second, grace can be found when we go out of our way to make someone’s day by just sitting with them and making them smile.  Third, grace can be discovered when we help someone who can’t get by on their own. 

The list goes on and on, but basically all we need to be is someone who is friendly and be someone who is  full of grace..

Grace Street is a nice place to visit, but a better place to live..

Swavel