I was minding my own business last night. My kids were in bed. My wife was watching a crime drama downstairs (hopefully not one about a wife murdering her husband while he is asleep) and I was zoning in and out of consciousness in the bed upstairs while also watching some television. As you can tell, Leah and I have very distinct TV viewing habits. She likes shows where people die and I like shows where animals are given life! I can’t even remember what I was watching, but out of the corner of my eye I detected some quick movement. For whatever reason, I immediately went from oblivious mode to ninja mode (I think I pulled a muscle) by jumping out of the bed and toward whatever had moved. Instead of the object of movement being a crime drama crazed wife or an intruder, I discovered that a white moth had entered one of the doors of our house, which was probably left open by one of our non-energy conscious kids. I guess they are trying to do their part in the fight against global warming by letting all the cool air in our house outside into the atmosphere. Al Gore would be proud.

After getting a handle on my surroundings, I realized that I had overreacted. Rather than rapidly going on the offensive against an “unidentified object,” I should have been slow to counter. Many conflicts could be avoided if people would show restraint and examine all the facts before responding.

Have you gone on the offensive against someone or something without first exploring the whole truth?

RIP – the moth

My mom has been in town this past weekend and oftentimes we go out to eat when we have out-of-town guests. On Saturday we ate at a restaurant near our house because we were under some time constraints so we ordered some pretty simple things from the menu and were talking before the food arrived. My son Ty, who was sitting beside me, was talking very dramatically using his hands to emphasize a point, as is typical for him, and by mistake he accidentally knocked over his glass of water. Given that water moves quickly across a table, I tried to push my chair away from the oncoming typhoon, but my reactionary skills are a little slow in my old age. Not one drop of that full glass of water soaked the clothes of my son; however, the entire content of the glass found its way onto my pants. Oh no…water spilled at a restaurant table NEVER just goes on your pant leg or in an inconspicuous place. My pants were now the bearer of a big, wet spot right on that place…you know what I am talking about. My first thought was – I should yell at him for doing that, but better judgment gripped me before a bad reaction followed. He didn’t mean to do it. Of course it didn’t help matters that Ty was now saying that it looked like I had wet my pants as he was pointing and laughing at me. I just smiled and prayed that our food would be delayed until my pants were dry. That didn’t happen. Although in this particular situation I did not react in a wrong way, I could share many more times when my reactions were inappropriate.Our reactions to every situation in life are very important because I believe they are one of the biggest revealers of what is really in our hearts. When anger and bitterness have captured the heart of an individual, they will eventually manifest themselves. As far as I can tell, truth is the only thing worth defending. Even the writer of Proverbs 15:1 tells us that “a soft answer turns away wrath, but harsh words stir up anger.” Instead of letting your voice be heard and your wrath be felt by family, friends, and strangers try reacting with kindness and gentleness.