Wednesday, October 12, 2011

and now a word from our sponsor

dear emily,

a year ago my friend patricia shared a definition for being offended:
the bright light hurts.  another friend and i were then talking about
how much angrier we get when our loved ones have been treated
harshly than when we are treated that way.

we're taking up an offense on their behalf, shining a bright light on
behavior we find reprehensible.  and you know who that hurts?  us.

when i was a little girl, my grandmother used to love her 'stories'
which were really soap operas.    i thought they were silly, but
occasionally i would get drawn in when a pretty lady would shout
at a handsome man for something i didn't understand.  right then at
the most interesting part, the program would transition to a boring
commercial, and a voice would say, "and now a word from our
sponsor."



sometimes my family has felt like that soap opera, pretty woman
yelling at handsome man.  :)  when i was terribly discouraged,
then i would hear a word from my Sponsor, "He who began a
good work in you, will carry it on to completion until the day of
Christ Jesus."  philippians 1:6

love,
lea

ps.  this is an edited post from a couple of years ago.

20 comments:

Meg said...

Going through a family drama right now ourselves - you always pop up right when I need you with encouragement and scripture! :)

myletterstoemily said...

meg: i am praying that the Lord will
soothe hurt feelings and brush away
the offenses.

Silver Strands said...

Wow Lea! What an impressive, dramatic way to make this point! Point well taken - and thank you for the very important reminder!
oxox
Denalee

Jeanette Levellie said...

oh, what insight. I like thinking that the Lord is my sponsor.

"The Lord is my sponsor, I shall not whine..."

Janettessage.blogspot.com said...

Yes...and Amen...oh taking up offenses...don't they always come back and bite us?

Thanks for the sponsor I can lay them at His feet...He is my defender

Cindy said...

Loved this! I have to be careful because I'm someone who wants to right all wrongs and go figure, sometimes God doesn't want me to be Holy Spirit Junior! lol

Anne Lyken-Garner said...

Ah, so sweet. I'd love to say, 'Pretty woman yelling at a handsome man'.

I however, enjoy giving the silent treatment instead :-)

Jen said...

Good way to make your point. I needed the word from the sponsor today. In fact I have needed several lately. You have a wonderful way with putting it. =)
((Hugs))

Blondie's Journal said...

Very well said!

XO,
Jane

Tamara said...

Ah Lea... loved this! As the Unofficial Defender of the Underdog (or UDU... or Who Do?) I often need a Word from Our Sponsor.

Hugz!

Emily said...

This is such a cool post Lea. I remember that voice that would say "and now a word from our sponsors". I grew up with mom watching Days and then me later. You really have a gift for making things real.

http://bitsandpieces-sonja.blogspot.com/ said...

I've had more words from 'the sponsor' than I could ever count, but I'm SO thankful He said this...

"He who began a
good work in you, will carry it on to completion until the day of
Christ Jesus."

I love the way your mind thinks! :)

xo

Stacy @ The Next-to-Nothing House said...

Lea, thank you for this. My life seems to be filled with drama at the moment, but this post reminds me to stop and listen to a word from my 'sponsor'. Lovely post as usual.

Joan Elizabeth said...

Grin .... "But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." James 1:4 Gotta way to go at this end.

myletterstoemily said...

joan: you seem pretty darn close, to me.

A Tale of Two Cities said...

May we keep an open ear for those words from our Sponsor when we need them the most.

Vee said...

Yes, I certainly have noticed that phenomenon—feeling more offended for the one we love than she or he does himself. If we share it, it can really fan the flames, too. Not so good.

Personalized Sketches and Sentiments said...

Oh yes... again a wonderful post...often times we are in the midst of things, events, situations that can cause hurt feelings. I thank the Lord for His love that covers a multitude of sins...this may mean those "sins" in a form of actions or words that are directed to us or our loved ones. In the case of those harsh words or times of non-deserving slanders, I pray that I always look to Him and decide not to take that offense. I love that in His Word we are able to find wisdom and comfort.

Blessings & Aloha1
Thank you also my dear friend for stopping by...I have so many art and calligraphy orders, so am behind in my blog visits! I appreciate and look froward to each of your lovely visits to mine.

Anita said...

Good metaphor and message!

Jenny said...

A word from our sponsor so often comes just when we need a nudge.

I've gotten a lot more direct with people who are cruel. Maybe it's old age, maybe I've just finally figured out that standing up for myself doesn't make me less as a person. And it doesn't mean that people will no longer like me if I do.

Now, when someone is cruel or negative or hurtful I stop. I look them in the eye. I say to them, 'Why would you say such a thing to me?" And then I wait.

Rarely can they answer.

Rarely can they justify their cruelty.

But I've noticed that the hurtful remarks occur a lot less now.

My daughter is a heroin addict. My husband and I have attended many, many family support meetings trying to find coping mechanisms and ways to survive our lives.

We have decided that awfulness just for the sake of awfulness will not be tolerated.

A saying that crops up all over the NA meetings in one form or another is, "If you do what you always do, you get what you always got!"

That applied to me and putting up with crap from people who are supposed to love me.

I don't do it and I don't allow it anymore.

If you can't be nice...then...geez...well...just go away!

Sorry for the 10 chapter comment here. This is just a subject I feel really passionate about!