Pet Peeve

By Elaine James –

Oh boy! My husband left the shower head arm up again. I like it put down after use; it is a pet peeve of mine. If he leaves a cabinet door open I can care less, but it just bugs me when the shower head is up. I can’t explain it!

It is so hard to be nice when I remind him to please leave it down. He nonchalantly asks “What’s the big deal?”

A pet peeve (or pet hate) is a minor annoyance that an individual identifies to a greater degree than others may find it. Your spouse, children, dear friend, or co-worker might ask “what’s your problem?” or “what’s the big deal?” In addition to their question, and to annoy you further, they roll their eyes or curl their lip.

In response, you boil over inside and wonder, “Why don’t they see what a big deal this is?”
Here’s an idea. Got to www.getannoyed.com for the world’s largest list of pet peeves. As a family, we looked at the list and laughed. Conversation proved to be interesting.

In our fast paced, quick solution world we snap at those we love when we are annoyed. You have done it, right?

I hate when my husband leaves mail on the counter. I want to belt out “For the hundredth time please don’t leave the mail on the counter.” But last time this happened, I held my tongue. I was convicted. I asked the Lord for His perspective, “What do I do about this situation?” The Holy Spirit brought to my mind the verse found in Colossians below.

It took time to sort it out. Good thing I did not say a word. I later learned that he forgot the mail because he was busy putting the dog out. The dog almost had an accident on the floor. My husband’s pet peeve is that no one pays attention to the dog accept for him. Literally a pet peeve!

We can pray for someone to change, but quite often they don’t. But we can ask God to help us to change our response. I am humbled after writing articles like this. I am reminded of how much I need a Savior.

Learning to laugh a little it could take the edge off a tense situation.

PRAYER: Lord quite often people annoy me. Help me love others with Your peace reigning in my heart. Thanks for not letting go of me. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

“Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing; sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way” (Colossians 3:15 MSG).

The Workout High

by Elaine James –

I wanted to try something different and have some fun, so I went to a Zumba class at my gym. It was so stinking hard. I couldn’t keep up with the instructor. My feet went one way while my hips went the other. My dancing looked nothing like my the moves my instructor demonstrated.

“With time, the dance will become more familiar and things will get easier.” She said, encouraging me to keep coming. Things were going well until she changed the routine. Ugh!

I continue to drag myself to some kind of exercise class or to use the machines. My crotchety body still gets sore. But you know the old cliché “No pain, no gain.” I have to admit a membership to a club, cute proper workout clothes and protein power bar (need that boost) help make the experience a little better. Still, it is not always something I look forward to.

If I get in a rut and slack off. I remind myself of the reasons why I workout; I feel better, it is good for my health, helps keep my weight down and gets those endorphins going in my brain. I feel that work-out high or “Runners high”.

But I still needed more motivation. That is when I came up with the idea to get a personal trainer. It was her job to help motivate, challenge, support me and give me fresh perspective. But it became too expensive, and as soon as I stopped training, my motivation dropped again.

Lasting motivation and zeal for life needs to come from my true personal trainer, Jesus Christ. I decided to give myself permission to have a McDonalds drive through mentality. I want things fast so I can go, go, go. So, for motivation, I pick a verse and go. I know I will benefit from it. Here is the first one I selected: “So that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power” (1 Corinthians 2:5 NIV).

Man’s wisdom for exercise is excellent today because of technology. You can get an eating and exercise app on your phone. Greater than all of that knowledge and resources man gives us is reassurance from God.

Where does your faith rest? You can’t rely on the workout high. This simple reminder helps me pray for faith so the power of God will rest on me to get through the day.

PRAYER: Father in heaven, forgive me for leaving You home and not taking You with me at times. Thanks for Your word that gives me a power boost for the day.

Hatorade

by Elaine James –

I overheard my daughter asking her angry friend “did you, like, drink some Hatorade today?” One of her friends had made a hateful comment toward another friend. My daughter took up for her, which is why she asked the Hatorade question. I heard her say ‘Hatorade’ and thought “What a funny question and word.” This is precisely the way slang words are created today.

Gatorade was invented with the idea that it is a high performance drink that absorbs quickly into your body to give you energy to activate your muscles. If there was a drink called Hatorade, I would imagine that after drinking some, it would absorb quickly into your soul and then cause you to spew hate out your mouth. Spewing words is an age old problem. Speaking without thinking will always get you into trouble.

Controlling the tongue is a difficult thing to do. You wouldn’t have got snappy with your husband if he did not get snappy with you. You are hurting so you want to hurt someone back. It is easy to be nice when life is going well.

Perhaps you feel like Paul when he said “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate I do.”

A binding exchange of promises with God should help us to watch what we say. That is the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

I don’t think we will see a drink called Hatorade at the grocery store anytime soon. It wouldn’t surprise me to see it in a Hollywood movie someday.

Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

PRAYER: Father in heaven I have trouble at times doing good. I ask you to give me the strength to say and do the right things. Thanks for listening. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

“People with understanding control their anger; a hot temper shows great foolishness” (Proverbs 14:29 NLT).

Exhilarating

By Elaine James –

“Oh my gosh,” I screamed as I approached the top of a small hill. I clinched the brake handles of my bicycle and came to a screeching halt. There I was, face to face with a deer. I got off my bike in utter disbelief as eight other deer pranced across my path. They stopped only 10 feet away, then turned to stare at me. My heart was racing with delight. Life seemed to stop.

“This is exhilarating!” I thought to myself. “God does this moment really have to end?” It would be dark soon so I knew I couldn’t stay much longer.

The deer stood motionless for minutes, but began to leave one at a time, before I was ready, confirming the moment was over.

Some people approached from behind. When they caught up to me, I asked, with enthusiasm “Did you see that?”

“See what? “They retorted.

I gulped. “The nine deer that just surrounded me. ”

“No, we did not see anything.”

I could not believe it. I am so electronically challenged. You would think that I would be able to get my cell phone camera working to capture the moment! Without proof, would anyone even believe me?

“God, what just happened?”

God’s still small voice answered, “I brought you out to this forest preserve, just as I brought Elijah out of the cave to the cliff edge so I could pass by him. He discovered I was not in the wind, earthquake or fire that appeared before him. I am not in the deer. I am the creator of the deer. I chose to reveal myself to you.”

As I left the park that day, crying, I knew this was no coincidence. You see, I had been asking God to help me prepare to teach at an upcoming retreat that weekend. I had been meditating on 1 Kings 19, which is the story of Elijah.

As I laid my head on my pillow that night, I felt giddy, just as I felt as a little girl when I saw my favorite animal at the zoo. I giggled with excitement, for I knew I was ready to testify that “God wants to reveal himself to you too! Seek Him and you will find Him.”.

PRAYER: Father in heaven, help me to stay close to You so I can experience You more in my life.

“But as His anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in Him” (1 John 2:27b).

Nudge

by Elaine James –

When my Grandma was in the nursing home, others kept saying “you should visit your Grandma every other day.” Everyone had advice about how and when I should visit. I was fretting over the right time to go and how often my schedule could handle this. I finally had it with being “should-ed” by others. So I prayed the following.

“Lord, You know everything; I need a nudge to help me know when to visit my Grandma at the nursing home.”

Days went by with no nudge until I got up one morning and thought ‘you need to go see Grandma.’ I asked God, “Was that from you?” The thought persisted.

On my way to the nursing home, God prompted me again. I heard Him tell me, bring your Grandma her favorite food. I knew exactly what to get. Wendy’s Chili! The chili was a delicacy and the visit was divine. The next day I got a call to come to the home quickly because my Grandma had a stroke. After evaluating her they found her throat to be paralyzed and she would not be able to swallow. God nudged me to help my Grandma have her last solid meal. Thank you God!

Instead of worrying, do you talk to God about the many decisions you have each day?

I read a story recently about a husband who had a sick wife. He had trouble sleeping at night because she would wake up and need to be administered medicine for a life threatening disease. He feared he would not wake up. He prayed “God could You nudge me when I need to be awake and take care of my wife.” He told story after story of how God woke him to help his wife.

Instead of freaking out, trust God to nudge you.

Think about where you should turn first.

PRAYER: Father in heaven I turn to You first not last! Continue to help me to hear Your nudge and trust and act on it! In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
“Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him and He will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun” (Psalm 37:5-6 NIV).

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