welcome and accept

      Choosing to welcome and accept somebody is a lot more enjoyable than choosing to judge and criticize.

“Welcome and accept each other, just as Christ welcomes and accepts you. . . .” Romans 15:7

“Love is the true means by which the world is enjoyed. . . .” Thomas Traherne

listening well

      One giant step toward listening well is gently noticing how often you aren’t listening well (and why).

“Humility in listening means that we let go . . . of the need to be right . . . and we let go of the need to appear wise . . . in order to be present with the other.” Alice Fryling

“[Q]uick to listen, slow to speak. . . .” James 1:19

as a garden

      If God is planting good seeds in a difficult person you know (and watching and waiting and enjoying every sign of new growth in her), it might be fun to start watching and waiting and enjoying with Him.

Father, please help me to imagine ­­­_____’s life as a garden, as You do.

“God . . . calls into being that which does not yet exist.” Romans 4:17

you don't understand

      When hard things happen and you don’t understand what in the world God is doing, maybe it’s an invitation to trust even when you don’t understand.

“So [Curdie] stepped straight in -- I will not say without a little tremble at the thought of finding no floor beneath his foot.” George Macdonald

“Jesus answered, ‘You don’t understand now what I’m doing, but it will be clear to you later.’” John 13:7

one threatening thing

     The more you envy somebody else’s reputation or lifestyle or success or whatever, the more you’ll see her as only one threatening thing: your competition.      

“To the truly envious person, other persons . . . are so much underbrush that needs to be trimmed away so that one’s own tall tree can stand unobscured.” Cornelius Plantinga

“There must be no competition among you.” Philippians 2:3

creating catastrophes

      Imagination is far too good a gift to waste on creating catastrophes.

“I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which had never happened.” Winston Churchill

“And He said, . . . ‘Don’t be afraid, little flock.’” Luke 12:22, 32