Send to Kindle

The other night, my kids went in to clean the kitchen. We’d cleaned earlier, so this was just straightening up before bed.

One of the kids picked up the plastic bin of popcorn kernels, and for some reason, opened the lid. Some discussion about the proper placement of this bin then took place, and I knew there’d be trouble. Before I could get there though, the inevitable happened. Tripping, a little tugging, and suddenly, you guessed it, tiny kernels all over the floor.

The kitchen was literally cleaner before they went in there to ‘clean’ it.

Well, the spill was easily swept up, the room put in order, and the kids on their way to bed. But it got me thinkin’.

Sometimes we go in trying to clean up a mess, and wind up spreading it around worse. When we try and fix things our own way, without thinking things through or praying about it we can make things worse than they were before. We may assess a situation incorrectly, or perhaps we are approaching the need in the wrong way.

Something may need to be ‘cleaned up’, that’s true, but if we come at the thing out of fear or with anger, we can easily trip up and make the whole thing much bigger than it really needed to be.

Fear overreacts. Anything that you’re overreacting to looks far worse than it really is, and you can’t clean it up right if you’re overreacting to it.

Anger makes things messy. Anger taints what you’re seeing, pushing out other people’s perspectives and making your own point of view the only thing that counts. You can’t clean up something right if you’re only thinking of yourself.

And that’s just a couple examples of reasons we may come at something in the wrong spirit.

Just like those popcorn kernels all over the kitchen floor, it can be cleaned up, but it took extra effort and extra time to do it.

How much better is it to do things the right way the first time?

Take extra time, pray, think before rushing in to fix a mess.

Proverbs 3:6

In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and he shall direct thy paths.

About the Author:

Sherry grew up in various cities around northern and central California. This gave her all sorts of stories that sat and festered in her brain, waiting to be let loose. She eventually went to college in Wisconsin, where she met her equally frenetic husband, Rich. They have six (yes, count them) children, two dogs and a cat, and currently reside in a madhouse in the southern California area. As a family, they enjoy being active in their local church. Sherry spends her time writing when not caring for Granny, the kids, the dogs, the cat and any number of strays in the neighborhood.

Sherry Chamblee can be found at http://www.sherrychamblee.weebly.com Or check out her books at http://www.amazon.com/Sherry-Chamblee/e/B00BA06RJ2/