...And the Spirit Came Upon Me

We have finally completed the Holidays! Yesterday we celebrated our traditional "New Year Christmas Day" and it was an exercise in excess once again! God has blessed us every one! In the aftermath I sat down to consider the new year and new beginnings. Last year I devoted to lowering my sarcasm level. I tended to do the Bell Curve over and over again with reminding myself to be less sarcastic and more encouraging but I think over all my encouragement level has gone up and my sarcasm has decreased (even though I have almost bit my tongue in two several times). For those of you who feel I still need some work in this area please feel free to comment...I really will continue in my endeavor.

Now for something new...ever notice that with the Spirit of Christmas comes another spirit? One that sneaks in the back door with that uncle or aunt (sister or brother, mom or dad) that kinda kicks the jolly right out of the holiday? I have named that spirit The Spirit of Offense (TSOO for short) and my resolution this year is to totally starve him to death! I will give him no food to feed on out of my mouth or actions, in fact I will slip him a bit of poisonous laughter now and then! And then totally ignore him as he writhes in anguish! When he tries to jab me with my own rights, I will lay them down on the floor where they are completely useless (unless I try to pick them up and then remind myself that TSOO is in control of them, HAH!) When he comes at me through words spoken in anger or thoughtlessness, I will leaven a bit of love into the conversation and make some bread of life out of it then not allow TSOO to have a bite of it! I will keep sweetness, kindness and gentleness at hand in a spray bottle to freshen the air a bit after I have kick him out of the house and then sic my big dog on him...my dogs' name is Prayer, and he is one tough dog! I have seen him wrestle The Spirit of Offense over and over again and never get tired of running him off! I then will protect my life with the best security system available...the Spirit of God's Word: J.E.S.U.S. Inc. (They are a company with three divisions...you get the idea :) All I have to do is enter the special code of praise and TSOO can never come back! That is unless I invite him....guess I need to go pet my dog for awhile if I am tempted to do something as silly as that. I will see how my new year's resolution holds up...it's a tough one this year, but a good one, don't you think?