Skip to main content

New Article: Five Words to Improve Your Relationships

 

               In the late 1800s, it was common for railway companies to plant formal gardens beside their stations.  These gardens were filled with trees, shrubs, flowers, and fruit trees.  Sometimes they also featured a kitchen garden growing lettuce, carrots, corn, and potatoes.  Estevan’s Canadian Pacific Railway Garden was once located where Mid-City Plumbing and Heating is today.

               The purpose of these gardens was to show what the land could produce.  After hours and sometimes days of riding across the featureless prairies, the railways wanted to show settlers the potential of their new home.  The gardens showed what was possible and they encouraged the settlers to transform their own land and discover its potential too.

               Today’s verse acts similarly, in that it challenges us to find the potential in our relationships by transforming how we approach them.  Colossians 3:12 says, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience”.   

               Imagine how our interactions would change if we made it our priority to approach every situation and every person with an attitude that was compassionate, kind, humble, gentle, and patient.  How much friction would be eliminated if those five attitudes guided our thoughts, words, and actions? Maybe the best way to realize how powerful those thoughts are is to think about what happens when they are absent.

               While sitting on a bench in Riding Mountain National Park eating ice cream, I watched families walk past me.  In almost every case, someone was mad, upset, or yelling at someone else.  The mom was grouchy because the kids were whining.  The kids were whining because they wanted to go to the beach.  The dad was impatient because he did not want to wait on the rest of them.  Instead of enjoying their long-awaited vacation, family after family looked miserable.    

Now, I get that!  I used to be (and sometimes still am) the grouchy, impatient dad.  However, I wanted to say to those families, “You would have a much better day if you tried being compassionate, kind, humble, gentle, and patient!”  By the way, it is worth remembering that those five words describe how God deals with us. 

               When we act in Godly ways, we find the blessings of God.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Art of Noticing.... Seeing what we need to see and what we miss when we don't

 What we focus on in life matters. Here are some scriptural reminders that will help us see correctly.  https://youtu.be/Rn76tV0ZH8s    
Post a Comment
Read more

Consider This.... Which Way Are You Leaning?

   When Ben Patterson agreed to join three friends climbing Mount Lyell, the highest point in Yosemite National Park, he did not realize what he was signing up for.  Early in the day, it became clear that he was completely unprepared for the task.  In an effort to keep up with his more experienced friends, Ben took a shortcut.  It did not occur to him that there might be a reason the others had not selected this route, but he soon found out why.  Ben became stuck on the glacier.  He could not move up, down or sideways and one wrong move would send him sliding down a forty-five-degree slope to the valley floor miles below.   That is when one of his friends came to the rescue. His buddy leaned over the edge and carved some footholds in the ice.  He told Ben to step to the first foothold and immediately swing his other foot to the second, then his buddy would pull him to safety.  Lastly, his friend gave him one more piece of advice....
Post a Comment
Read more

Consider This: Press The Button!

  Consider This:  Press the Button! My favourite TV game show is Jeopardy.  I used to like it even more when my kids were younger, because I could easily beat them and look smart.  These days, after they have grown up and gone to university, it is much more difficult.  However, Jeopardy is still the only game show I will watch. In a book I read, a contestant who did very well on the show shared the secret to his success.  He said (and I am paraphrasing here), “You must press the button before you know the answer.  Everyone on Jeopardy is smart. Everyone knows the answer. The key to winning is to act.  You must jump in and press the button, assuming that your brain will catch up and supply the answer.  If you wait until you are sure, you will be too late!” Press the button! Too often, we hesitate, not because we do not know what to do, but because we do not want to do it.  Sometimes, we fail to act because we are not sure how the situatio...
Post a Comment
Read more