An old geezer, bored in retirement, decided to open a medical clinic.  He put a sign up outside that said, “Dr. Geezer’s clinic. Get your treatment for $500; if not cured, get back $1,000.”

Doctor Young, who was positive this old geezer didn’t know beans about medicine, thought this would be a great opportunity to get $1,000.  So, he went to Dr. Geezer’s clinic.

Dr. Young: “Dr. Geezer, I have lost all taste in my mouth. Can you please help me?”

Dr. Geezer: “Nurse, please bring medicine from box 22 and put 3 drops in Dr. Young’s mouth.”

Dr. Young: “Aaagh !!–This is Gasoline!”

Dr. Geezer: “Congratulations! You’ve got your taste back. That will be $500.”

An annoyed Dr. Young goes back after a couple of days, figuring to recover his money.

Dr. Young: “I have lost my memory; I cannot remember anything.”

Dr. Geezer: “Nurse, please bring medicine from box 22 and put 3 drops in the patient’s mouth.”

Dr. Young: “Oh, no you don’t, — that is Gasoline!”

Dr. Geezer: “Congratulations! You’ve got your memory back. That will be $500.”

Dr. Young (after having lost $1000) leaves angrily and comes back in a few days.

Dr. Young: “My eyesight has become weak — I can hardly see anything!!!!”

Dr. Geezer: “Well, I don’t have any medicine for that, so here’s your $1000 back” (giving him a $10 bill).

Dr. Young: “But this is only $10!”

Dr. Geezer: “Congratulations! You got your vision back! That will be $500.”

Moral of story — Just because you’re “Young” doesn’t mean that you can outsmart an “old Geezer.”

There are few nursing homes in Mexico.  That’s because families make tremendous sacrifices to honor the elderly, keeping them in their homes to care for them until they die.  Siblings and husband/wife teams work various shifts so that the aging parent is not left alone. Shopping centers and restaurants reveal the respect shown, as it is common to see children and grandchildren cradling the arms of their aged relatives, helping them out of the car and walking slowly to their destination.  When the elders speak, everyone listens.  Their wisdom is valued.

For 10 years, Jaime has worked as a bartender where we live in Mazatlán. His mother-in-law has lived with his family for 18 years.  Every morning, he makes breakfast for her; they sit together and catch up on what is going on in each other’s life.  Countless times, he has bowed out of morning invitations because of his “special time” with his wife’s mother.  Mexicans believe that God expects them to appreciate the elderly.  Scripture agrees:

Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (1 Peter 5:5, ESV) Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life. (Prov. 16:31)   Wisdom is with the aged, and understanding in length of days. (Job 12:12)                                                      

  One story is played out in the book of Ruth when Naomi’s husband moved his family from Bethlehem to Moab where he died.  Ten years later, their married, adult sons also died. Naomi opted to move back to her native country. Ruth, Naomi’s widowed daughter-in-law, insisted on accompanying her in spite of Naomi’s protests.  In the end, the Moabite Ruth married the Bethlehemite Boaz, and, generations later, Jesus was born from that union.

I wish I would have done more for my mother before she died.  I certainly had opportunities to do so.  I pray you do better than I did…before it’s too late.

Keys to the Kingdom By Carolyn Tucker

Bad Baby Names

Choosing your child’s name is one of the most-important responsibilities of parents. Children are stuck with their name (unless it’s legally changed) for the rest of their lives. Several years ago, the old-fashioned names were brought back, which was refreshing for something old to become new. All my aunts are now deceased, but here are their first names: Letha, Mildred, Pearl, Floy, Elva, Christine, Ruth, Velda, Delta, Theresa, Ila, and Pauline. I would probably cause parents to have great anxiety if their son married a woman named “Jezebel,” or if their daughter married a man whose name was “Judas Iscariot.”

Judas Iscariot was the greatest pretender. He appeared to be right on the outside (one of Jesus’ chosen twelve disciples) but he became full of darkness and evil on the inside. The other eleven disciples rubbed shoulders with him on a daily basis and didn’t know who he really was. Judas went his own risky way rather than following Jesus. He didn’t allow the light and love of Jesus to penetrate his grasping, greedy heart. He fooled everyone —  except Jesus. The all-knowing Savior was not deceived when He spoke to His followers, “’But some of you do not believe Me.’ (For Jesus knew from the beginning which ones didn’t believe, and He knew who would betray Him.)” (John 6:64 NLT).

Judas had a toxic love affair with money. It’s interesting to note that he was appointed treasurer for the disciples. He pretended to care about the poor, but he was actually covetous of the money spent on the expensive perfume used to anoint Jesus’ feet. Judas said, “’That perfume was worth a year’s wages. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.’ Not that he cared for the poor — he was a thief, and since he was in charge of the disciples’ money, he often stole some for himself” (John 12:4-6 NLT). Apparently, Judas would do anything for money because he became the archtraitor against God’s one and only Son. There’s nothing wrong with having plenty of money, but if the love of money takes precedence over loving God, we’ve got a big priority problem.

Jesus genuinely loved Judas even though He knew what Judas was going to do. Theologians agree that Judas must have been on the left side of Jesus at the table of The Last Supper. The position on the left of the host was the place of highest honor and reserved for the most-intimate friend. How amazing that, if Judas did occupy the seat of honor, it would have been at Jesus’ invitation to do so. Jesus extended His unfailing love, mercy, and grace to Judas right up to the very last minute. Scripture states that, “When Judas had eaten the bread, Satan entered into him” (John 13:27 NLT). Regrettably, Judas had yielded to the evil thoughts in his soul and opened the door to the devil. And Satan hit the doorway with destroying power like an EF5 tornado.

Judas pretended to love Jesus. In the Garden of Gethsemane, he approached the Son of God and betrayed him with a kiss from hell. Jesus then said to him, “Friend, why have you come?” (Matthew 26:50 NKJV). The reason Judas was able to do these appalling things was because he only knew about Jesus, he never really knew Jesus. I wonder if he would have dropped out of the discipleship classes if he’d not been the treasurer. He later regretted his act of betrayal, however, he did not repent. Sadly, Judas Iscariot didn’t know Jesus well enough to understand that he could ask to be forgiven and receive it.

The Key: No matter what bad things you’ve done, you can be forgiven. Just ask Jesus.

Dave and I were visiting our son Andy where he coaches and lives in Arkansas during the baseball season.  The team has a day off every Monday, and when they are home, the staff get together at the rented home of Nellie, one of the coaches.  Last Monday, we were invited.

The photo shows what greeted us when we arrived.  All of these rudimentary gadgets had a purpose to put on a spread that rivals any barbecue restaurant we have ever visited.  Nellie cooked enough ribs, port roast, chicken wings and brats to feed the entire team, each meat with his secret spices and perfectly timed attention. He smiled the entire time and told me that he loves, loves, loves grilling.

No one was in a hurry, and because the grill was so small, the food was spread out over several hours. Occasionally the score of the Royals’ game was checked, or a phone call from home needed answered, but mostly, we just visited.  The young staff loved talking to Dave about his time in baseball 100 years ago and how things have changed.

At the same time, my granddaughter Mo was in Guatemala with her church group.  They had gone there to help with a pastor’s convention, but she fell in love with the Shead family who are missionaries there.  The eight children are home-schooled and then come up with ideas to create activities.

“I think I’m going to build a tree fort,” said the eleven-year-old girl.  “Want to help?”  For the rest of the afternoon, Mo and her new friend built another fort.  (They already had two.) The children hang together outside and are joined occasionally by the school children on recess who come to their yard to play.  There are no cell phones or iPad or Xboxes.  The kids are encouraged to use their imagination.  They have learned Spanish as well as English and look forward to their Bible study time with their parents.  Mo told me that she loved hanging with this family who didn’t need “things” to make them happy.

In both Nellie and Mo’s cases, simplicity was key.  A dying art.  In today’s culture, too many of us aren’t blessed; we are stressed.  We forget what it is like to do without. Instead, we busy our time being frustrated about what we aren’t getting done.  Proverbs 14:30 (NIV) says this: “A heart at peace gives life to the body.” Pastor/author John Ortberg adds to that proverb. “Sometimes, the most spiritual thing you can do is take a nap.”

If you’ve ever stressed about stress, you and I have that in common.  In the noisy clamor of life, we flit from one thing to another and don’t give ourselves permission to just do nothing.  Some of us are too busy to pray, the one thing we need to do that offers peace.  Maybe we crave things we neither need nor enjoy, and we buy things just to “keep up with the Jones’s.”  Of course, the Jones’s are doing the same, so we and the Jones’s all spend our days spinning on our competitive hamster wheels, getting nowhere.

It’s no wonder God made his message a simple one.  We are all sinners.  Christ died and was resurrected for our sins.  If we make him our Lord and Savior, we spend eternity in Heaven.  If simplicity is good enough for God, it should be good enough for us.

Keys to the Kingdom

By Carolyn Tucker

Figs and Innards

My dad was about ten years old when he went fishing with his brother-in-law, John. While walking back to my grandparents’ house, Dad was bitten by a water moccasin. He   yelled out and Uncle John turned around to see what had happened. He offered to carry  Dad home, but he insisted on walking. By the time they reached the house, the poison had circulated all through his little body. My grandmother quickly killed a chicken and laid the innards on the bite. (The heat from the innards was supposed to draw out the poisonous venom.) After several days of being critically ill, Dad finally recovered. The fang marks on his ankle were still visible when he told me this story.

In 2 Kings 20:1-7, we find an interesting incident regarding a boil. King Hezekiah had an infection from a boil that was aggressive and life threatening. The prophet Isaiah came to him and said, “Get your house in order; you’re going to die.” Hezekiah prayed earnestly  and wept bitterly. God told Isaiah to turn around and say to the king, “God has heard your prayer and seen your tears and will heal you. He will add 15 years to your life.” Then Isaiah told the King’s servants to lay a cake of figs on the boil and Hezekiah recovered.

I wonder if Isaiah’s odd instructions made any sense to the king’s servants. I don’t think  Hezekiah would have recovered if the servants had refused to obey orders. Maybe a fig poultice was a common remedy for a malady back then. Maybe not. Believers don’t have to understand the “why” or “how” to what God is whispering in our heart. Just do it in faith. We need to learn to obey without trying to figure it out in our little pea brain. No matter how smart we think we are, we can never outthink or outsmart God. He’ll never be impressed with our IQ, but He is pleased with simple obedience.

At the exodus from Egypt, God told the Israelites, “’Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you.‘ Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but followed the counsels and the dictates of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward” (Jeremiah 7:23-24 NKJV). God expects us to learn His Word and do (obey) what it says…for our own good.

I believe there are times in a Christ follower’s life that God will ask us to do something in order to test our love, obedience, and trust in Him. “Fire tests the purity of silver and gold, but the Lord tests the heart” (Proverbs 17:3 NLT). If we fail the test, we simply get to take it again (and again) until we pass it. God doesn’t tempt us (that’s what Satan does) but He will test us every so often. We don’t enjoy tests, but they reveal our spiritual condition. And the purpose of these tests is usually beyond our human understanding.

Also, God possibly tests us so we can see what we’re made of — God already knows, but we need to know. I always taste test my mashed potatoes several times before I set the bowl on the table. This side dish has to have the perfect amount of salt, butter, and milk before it’s moved to the dinner table. God is always trying to help us become more like Him. “Taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8 NLT).

The Key: Believers need to obey because there’s no other way to pass the test.

An aging man, living in New Jersey, annually planted a tomato garden, his pride and joy.  His only son, Vincent, helped him till the soil, but this year, Vincent was in prison and not there to help.  The father wrote his son.

“I am afraid that I will not be able to have my garden this year because I am unable to till the ground.  After relying on you for years to help me with this, and knowing you were happy to help, I am sad you are not here.  Love you.”

Not long afterward, the father received a letter from his son.  “Dear Papa,” he started, “Please do not dig up the yard.  That is where I hid the bodies.”  The next day, the F.B.I. and local police showed up at the elderly man’s home.  They came with excavating machines and immediately dug up the back yard, finding nothing.

A few days later, the dad received another letter from his son.  “Dear Papa, go ahead and plant the tomatoes now.  That’s the best I can do under the circumstances.”

Last week I wrote about the Olympics and mentioned that there was a good chance none of us would ever compete at that level.  Most of us are not destined for stardom.  We will not pastor a mega-church, become a best-selling author, star on Broadway or perform in the Boston Symphony.  We will not hit three-pointers like Stephen Curry, sing like Celine Dion, vault like Simone Biles, throw a backward pass like Patrick Mahomes (Was that not impressive?), find the cure for cancer or even be as clever as this imprisoned son.

Actually, we might not even win the grand prize for the best pie at the county fair or be recommended as a church deacon or        have our kids compete to care for us in our old age.

If we all were renowned celebrities, life would be boring.  God knows that.  So, He creates us to use our giftedness in other ways, and yes, we all have gifts. The ones lacking fame are all around us, and in my mind, they make life so much easier.  This past week, Dave and I relied on people who changed and balanced our minivan tires and others who replaced a windshield and an antenna that had broken off deep inside the truck.

I needed a chipped tooth repaired and Dr. Patterson, as usual, did his magic. Left to my own ability, a Chiclet would have substituted.  Pilots flew me to KCI, and the flight attendants…well, let’s just say that they were there in case of an emergency.  (How times have changed since I had that job years ago!)  Sonic employees served my hamburger well done with pickles and ketchup only, just like I ordered it.  Famous?  No.  A blessing?  Yes.

While talking to Judy, the woman organizing a ladies’ retreat in Iowa where I will be speaking next month, she filled me in on the details of the theme, the organizational plan and her design for table decorations: pumpkins and autumn leaves in plaster of Paris with lights running through them. (I cannot tell you how gaudy that creation would be, had I been entrusted with those three ingredients.  No doubt hers will be spectacular.)

She shared that she had been her husband’s caretaker after a disease left him unable to speak or walk, so daily she looked for ways to brighten his day. After he died three years ago, God encouraged her to use the gifts He had given her to bless other people…which is why she loves “making the women of her community feel special.”

This past week, Judy, and the other “less famous” people in my life, made me rethink my definition of the word “celebrity.”   After all, in God’s eyes, anyone who uses the gifts He has given them deserves that label.  I just need to do a better job of recognizing it.

Keys to the Kingdom By Carolyn Tucker

Vacation of Miscommunication

My family went on vacation together and we headed to our favorite beach in Alabama. We were in Mississippi by supper time, so we pulled into a drive-through and my son-in-law Levi placed the order for seven people. I was impressed with his ability to communicate all the orders correctly. After placing the order, the voice on the other end of the speaker asked, “What size do you want?” Levi asked, “What size comes with the combo?” After she  asked additional questions that didn’t make sense, Levi finally understood that the original question had been, “What sauce do you want?” My daughter and I completely cracked up over this miscommunication caused by colloquial enunciation.

Since we traveled 12+ hours one way, we had plenty of time to talk about all sorts of things. Usually, it was whatever popped into any of our heads. On the way home, someone mistakenly interchanged the words “duvet” and “bidet” in a sentence. It’s a good thing I wasn’t driving — I would’ve had to pull over from laughing hysterically.

I’m thankful God speaks clearly in the Bible. Yes, there may be some scriptures or chapters we don’t fully understand, but there are plenty we do understand. If we stay busy focusing on what we understand, that will keep us out of trouble and moving forward in our spiritual journey.

Romans Chapter 12 in the TLB uses plain everyday language regarding how to treat people: “Don’t just pretend that you love others: really love them. Hate what is wrong. Stand on the side of the good. Love each other with brotherly affection and take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy in your work but serve the Lord enthusiastically. Be glad for all God is planning for you. Be patient in trouble, and prayerful always. When God’s children are in need, you be the one to help them out. And get into the habit of inviting guests home for dinner or, if they need lodging, for the night. If someone mistreats you because you are a Christian, don’t curse him; pray that God will bless him.”

“When others are happy, be happy with them. If they are sad, share their sorrow. Work happily together. Don’t try to act big. Don’t try to get into the good graces of important people, but enjoy the company of ordinary folks. And don’t think you know it all! Never pay back evil for evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honest clear through. Don’t quarrel with anyone. Be at peace with everyone, just as much as possible.”

“Dear friends, never avenge yourselves. Leave that to God, for He has said that He will repay those who deserve it. [Don’t take the law into your own hands.] Instead, feed your enemy if he is hungry. If he is thirsty give him something to drink and you will be ‘heaping coals of fire on his head.’ In other words, he will feel ashamed of himself for what he has done to you. Don’t let evil get the upper hand but conquer evil by doing good.” We don’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand this chapter; we just may not want to do it. God knows how to get His point across if He can only find willing hearers and doers. God often speaks to His children through the voice of our conscience. Is your conscience communicating properly to your mind?

The Key: Don’t act like you don’t understand what God is saying. He never stutters.

Keys to the Kingdom By Carolyn Tucker

Fried Bird

I had just walked in the kitchen and placed my grocery bags on the counter when I lost all power to the house. I immediately called the electric company and Tom showed up within minutes. It didn’t take long to fix the problem, so I asked him what had caused the power failure. He said that a Starling had stuck it’s beak where it didn’t belong and blew the fuse at the top of the electric pole. After he left, I searched for the fried bird and, sure enough, his feet were curled up and he was dead as a doornail. I thought of putting up a sign that read: “At the bottom of this pole lies a big, big bird.” (You’d have to be my age or older to remember the #1 country hit, “Big Bad John” by Jimmy Dean.)

Starlings have a bad reputation because they peck and ruin fruit in the orchards, get sucked into aircraft engines, and their poop is corrosive to buildings. These birds are annoying nuisances because they get into other people’s business and cause a great deal of harm. We humans have a tendency to stick our noses into other people’s business too. Usually we’re just trying to help, but oftentimes it backfires and a good relationship becomes strained. Just because we have an opinion doesn’t mean we should share it — some things are just better left unsaid.

God’s Word gives Christ followers some excellent guidelines about minding our own business. “Stay calm, mind your own business; do your own job. You’ve heard all this from us [Paul, Silas, and Timothy] before, but a reminder never hurts” (1 Thessalonians 4:11 MSG). If we stay out of other people’s affairs we’ll have less stress in our lives. I admit there’s a fine line between loving an individual enough to speak wisdom into his/her life and butting in when we shouldn‘t. We must be led by the Holy Spirit in this matter, and also remember that prayer changes people when words of concern or advice can’t.

“Suppose you suffer. Then it shouldn’t be because you are a murderer or a thief. It shouldn’t be because you do evil things. It shouldn’t be because you poke your nose into other people’s business” (1 Peter 4:15 NIRV). When we respect other’s boundaries and privacy, we can steer clear of unnecessary drama. Let’s remember that we invested 18 to 22 years to love and teach our now-adult children. Cutting the apron strings and tossing the training wheels enables them to be independent and find their God-given place in life.

“Also, they [young widows] learn to be lazy by going from house to house. They are not only lazy, but they also become gossips and busybodies, talking about things they shouldn’t” (1 Timothy 5:13 CEB). It’s simply a common courtesy not to blab other people’s business. Everyone needs to stay busy running their own life, not someone else’s.   I grew up watching the TV show, “Hee Haw” and I remember four goofy women singing this silly song: “Now, we’re not ones to go ‘round spreadin’ rumors. Why really, we’re just not the gossipy kind. Oh you’ll never hear one of us repeating gossip. So you better be sure and listen close the first time!”

“…we hear that some of you are living idle lives, refusing to work and meddling in other people’s business” (2 Thessalonians 3:11 NLT). If we work and take care of our personal responsibilities, we won’t have time to be curious about our friends’ business. Curious George was always getting into trouble because he was…too curious.

The Key: Keep your beak out of other people’s business so that nobody blows a fuse.

Friends for 50 years delivered the eulogy of my son-in-law’s dad, Paul.  At last month’s celebration-of-life, we learned much about this man.  From the time he was young, Paul sought adventure.  When he was seven years old, he discovered a Christmas present under his parents’ bed.  While they were at work, he opened it, found a bike, assembled it and rode around the block a few times.  When finished, he took the bike apart and placed it back in its box, placing it exactly as he found it.

According to Steve, Paul’s friend, on Christmas morning, his parents were amazed at how quickly he assembled the bike. It was years before they knew their son’s secret. When Paul was 12, he decided to learn to drive, so when his parents were at work, he drove around town in one of their cars.  His dad became suspicious and placed a white mark on the tire so that, if Paul “borrowed” the car, the mark on the tire would end up in a different position and Paul would be busted.  Realizing his father’s tactic, Paul would drive home, jacked up the car and rotate the tire to the exact position in which he had found the white mark.

The stories were endless.  Trophies were awarded for races he won as a young adult (going over 200 mph) in the Bonneville Flats after teaching himself how to increase the power of his engine, and he and Steve rode their jet skis into the Hoover Dam tunnels where they found themselves at the base of the gigantic engines that ran the dam, clearly a dangerous no-no.

Following the funeral, many of us shared the same story: we had no idea Paul had done what we had just heard.  How was that possible?  We had known him for decades, yet we knew little about his life. We lost an incredible opportunity to hear, first-hand, about his crazy adventures and why he made the decisions he did.  His gutsiness was why he took risks and started his own, very successful company.

Relationships take work.  They require listening skills where questions are asked so that others have a chance to share their life.  I love hearing people’s stories, so what kept me from asking Paul about his?  My loss.

When asked the most important commandment, Jesus talked about one’s vertical relationship with God the Father; the horizontal relationship with our fellow man came in a close second.  Clearly, relationships are at the core of Christian living. Sadly, we now have entered a messed-up world where texting has taken over as the main method of correspondence.  You know, “How R U?”  Short and sweet.  Very few, face-to-face encounters.

Sure, we may text-ask someone’s opinion on a scripture or on politics or even about a cute meme we just sent, but true relationships are developed in person.  Around the dinner table.  On the front porch.  On a walk.  They take time.  They take commitment.  They take putting ourselves out.                                                                  \

Frequently, when I run into people, we end our short conversation with, “We have to get together soon.”  But I get busy and fail to follow through. I am short-changing the incredible possibilities for how God has wired people to bless each other when I do not make this happen.

There is one relationship we cannot afford to short-change, and that is ours with God.  Our daily strolls with God, where we set aside minutes each day to talk with Him, to listen to His guidance, to thank Him for our blessings, lets Him know He matters most of all.  I mean, He does…doesn’t He?

Keys to the Kingdom

By Carolyn Tucker

Stinky Stuff

Suzie, a mom of six, came home from running a quick errand and noticed that the house seemed oddly quiet. When she peeked out the back window, she spotted all six of her kids squatting in a circle. As Suzie quietly approached them, she saw that the kids were enamored with six baby skunks. She screamed, “Quick, kids — RUN!” Each one grabbed a skunk and took off lickety-split. Obviously, Mom intended for the kids to leave the skunks and run for dear life.

If we’ve got stuff in our lives that stink, ask God to take it, and leave it with Him. Don’t play with it, carry it around, or baby it. God knows exactly what to do with stinky stuff, but you have to let him have it…for keeps. Sometimes life stinks for different reasons. Sometimes it’s not of our own making, e.g., health issues, financial setbacks, loss of job, economic challenges, etc. These are burdens to give to the Lord. But if our life stinks because it’s too full of appointments, over-commitments, unnecessary hassels, and time stealers, you’re the only person who can take charge of your own stinkin’ schedule. We can all benefit from making wise adjustments to obtain a more-balanced peaceful life.

“Give your burdens to the Lord, and He will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall” (Psalm 55:22 NLT). According to God’s Word, believers are supposed to take our burdens to the Lord and leave them there. We’re not supposed to scoop ‘em up and take ‘em back when we finish praying. When we don’t actually release our burdens when we pray, I wonder if God rolls His eyes and shakes His head.

Charles Tindley, a Methodist pastor, spoke significant words to one of his worried parishioners: “Put all your troubles in a sack, take ‘em to the Lord and leave ‘em there.” Later in 1916, Pastor Tindley used his own advice to pen the lyrics and music for the beloved gospel hymn entitled, “Leave it There.” The fourth verse and chorus follows: “When your youthful days are gone and old age is stealing on, and your body bends beneath the weight of care. He will never leave you then; He’ll go with you to the end. Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there. Leave it there, leave it there. Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there. If you trust and never doubt, He will surely bring you out. Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there. “Pour out all your worries and stress upon Him and leave them there, for He always tenderly cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7 TPT).

Anxiety and prayer are two great opposing forces in the Christian experience. “Commit your way to the Lord [roll and repose each care of your load on Him]; trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) also in Him and He will bring it to pass” (Psalm 37:5 AMP).  We are told repeatedly in the Bible not to fret or have any anxiety or worries about anything. When we neglect to obey these scriptures, we end up with stinky thoughts of  negativity and worry which steals our peace and ruins our days and nights. Instead of sprinkling a stinky mind with baking soda, let’s actually do what we’re supposed to do. Give our burdens to the Lord, then whistle a happy tune and walk away.

The Key: God knows what to do with stinky stuff.  Do you?

If you have not heard of Steven Nederosik, you are in the majority.  My introduction to him came during the 2024 Paris Olympics when the U.S. men’s gymnastics team was vying for a medal, the last one being won in 2008.  The cameras kept showing a man, sitting alone, with eyes closed behind thick glasses, appearing to be taking a nap.  (He later shared that he was focusing.) For almost three hours, Nedoroscik sat on the sideline as his teammates performed routines for the first five events of the competition.

As his other teammates celebrated upon completing the events for which they had qualified (the floor exercise, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars and high bar), Steven brought them water, gave high fives and cheered them on.  During delays, he played with a Rubik’s Cube.  (He can solve one in under 10 seconds.)  I found him quirky.

The 25-year-old American had the pressure-filled task of competing at the end of the team final in the only event for which he had qualified.  As journalist Whitney Fleming wrote, “And then, like Clark Kent turning into Superman, he took off his jacket, removed his glasses, and puffed out his chest—and HE KILLED IT!”  He scored an amazing 14.866 on his routine, securing a bronze medal for his team, and immediately became an internet sensation.

Previously referred to as the “goggles guy” for the sports glasses he wore while competing, he told The Washington Post why he went without them for this event: “It’s all feeling.  I see with my hands.”

Back up a few years.  Though a junior Olympic champion, Nedoroscik had only one college intrigued by his lone ability, the pommel horse. Penn State took the risk, and it was from there the future Olympian graduated with an electrical engineering degree.

Nedoroscik has strabismus, a condition where one eye is turned in a direction that’s different from the other.  In layman’s terms, his eyes are permanently dilated.  As Fleming ended her article, “There is no one way to success, there is no one way to do this life, and there is no one way to find your purpose.”

This young man did not let his handicap hinder him.  Nor did he quit when he realized he was not good enough to compete in various gymnastics’ styles.  He simply mastered what he did best.  And that cinched the bronze medal for the U.S. team.

God gave us all talents…some more than others. How easy it would have been for this oddball gymnast to quit when the odds were against him or envy his teammates who competed in multiple qualifiers when he was talented in only one or use the excuse of his impaired eyesight. He recognized that coveting someone else’s gifts would do nothing to enlarge his, so he simply developed the one skill he could.

The Bible contains many stories of envy, one with tragic consequences.  Adam and Eve’s two sons, Cain and Abel, vied for God’s favor, and because Abel’s sacrifice to God elicited envy from his brother, Cain resorted to murder. Times have not changed.  Social media now can easily prompt us to compare and fall short.

What do we do with these comparisons? Hopefully, exactly what Nedoroscik did…strive to improve the skills God gave us instead of desiring what others have.  Easier said than done.