A woman was in a hurry to get to her plane from the airport shop she was in, so she grabbed a bag of cookies and a magazine, hurried to her gate and got to her seat.
Once the plane was in the air she pulled out her magazine and reached for one of her cookies in the magazine pouch in front of her. A second later, the man sitting next to her reached forward and grabbed a cookie out of the same bag. The woman was shocked and looked at him with dismay, wondering at the audacity of this perfect stranger eating her cookies without so much as asking. She reached forward, looking straight at him the entire time as though to say, "These are mine!", and took two cookies. Immediately the man reached forward, took the last cookie, split it in half and offered half to her. She couldn't believe it. She yanked the cookie out of his hand, shaking her head at him. She sat silently the rest of the flight, stewing inside about this rude stranger who ate her cookies.
When the plane landed, she got up and dusted the cookie crumbs off her shirt, grabbed her purse to leave, and noticed her bag of cookies, unopened in her purse. She was mortified! She looked at the man who smiled humorously at her and said, "Have a nice day!" She had eaten HIS bag of cookies thinking the entire time that she had the right to be angry with the man. And he had graciously let her eat his cookies.
I really don't know what's going on. I think I know. In fact, I'm insensed sometimes because I'm quite certain the other person is flat wrong. But in reality I am probably missing something. I might even be the one in the wrong. Therefore I can lighten up and show the same mercy to the one I'm convinced is doing me wrong as I want them to give me when it turns out I've been the one doing the wrong.
Marriage is a good place to put this into practice. Its so easy (in some marriages its easier than others) to get fixated on the other person's violations. Especially the ones that seem to be stealing your cookies... or sleep, or money, or whatever. Even when there's been a serious offense, one has to consider that there are two people in the relationship.
The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him. -Proverbs 18:17
My boys head back to school tomorrow. Fall break is over. Its a fast track to Christmas. Ryland finished his book report today. He did a really good job of fleshing out the report from his bare bones sentences with a few probing questions from his mom to get him thinking. Asking good questions is a skill I'm learning. I told him he needs can start thinking of those questions himself when asked to speak or write about a story he's read.
I'm excited about this NaNoWriMo challenge. I have all these character ideas coming to mind and story titles. I'm looking forward to seeing what I come up with. Real life is full of interesting characters. And when you get to know people, they have a story. God's written some very interesting stories. The lists of names in the Bible, salutations to folks we'd skim right over if we could pronounce their names, point to some very inspiring account if you dig into them. I've personally (foolishly) always wished my story was boring. Not novel material. But, drawing from some of the more strange or dramatic times in my life and history, I might be able to come up with a novel or two.
You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. - Psalm 139:16
I came home from church to find dog vomit on the carpet. Well, at least the house will smell like freshly cleaned carpets when my husband gets home today. Sigh. Smile.
As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his foolishness.- Proverbs 26:11
Quieted,
Sheila
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