It was a Sunday morning. As I was getting ready for church, out of the corner of my eye I saw something red flying in my bedroom. I looked again and caught a quick glimpse of a wasp. I am a waspaphobic (I made up the word, but it is a fear of being stung by wasps). I quickly grabbed something with which to kill the wasp. Turning my head for just a minute allowing the wasp to disappear from sight. I closed the door and began my hunt. Nothing!

As it was getting time to go to church I was sure to keep the door closed when I left. Sunday afternoon was dedicated to a wasp hunt. Nothing! My wife even hunted him a time or two. Nothing! A few hours later and it was time for bed. With great trepidation I crawled into bed.

How does one sleep with a wasp in the room? The answer is “lightly.” When I did not see the wasp for two days and soon convinced myself that he went out of the house the same way he came into it. Tuesday morning at 2 AM I woke up and saw him back in my room. Just as quickly as he came, he disappeared again. I sat on the edge of the bed holding a fly swatter until 3 AM. It wasn’t until Friday that I saw and killed him. There was peace in my house again.

So, where did this wasp come from? Here is the answer: While I was gone on a vacation, the top part of my upstairs window, slide down a couple of inches. It was not noticeable, but someone pointed it out. When I saw the problem, I fixed it. In this story, I learned the three-step method for fixing problems.

1. Discover the source of the problem. You can find it yourself or get someone who sees it more clearly than you, but you have to find the source before you can fix it.

2. Fix the problem. Knowing the window was open won’t help unless I shut the window.

3. Clean out the consequences. I made sure there were no more wasps in the house.

Problem solved! Of course, it could come back, but this process works.

Discover, fix, and clean.  It is a process that works on just about any problem.

~Lonnie Davis

May 15, 2011

Years ago a farmer advertised for hired hands. 

As the farmer interviewed applicants for the job, a short, thin man, well past middle age, approached the farmer. “Are you a good farm hand?” the farmer asked him. Well, I can sleep when the wind blows,” answered the little man. Although puzzled by this answer, the farmer, desperate for help, hired him.

The little man worked well around the farm, busy from dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the man’s work. Then one night the wind howled loudly. Jumping out of bed, the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hired hand’s sleeping quarters.

He shook the little man and yelled, “Get up! A storm is coming! Tie things down before they blow away!” The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, “No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows.”

Enraged by the response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot. Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm. To his amazement, he discovered that all of the haystacks had been covered. The cows were in the barn, the chickens were in the coops, and the doors were barred. The shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied down. Nothing could blow away. 

The farmer then understood what his hired hand meant, so he returned to his bed to also sleep while the wind blew.

What is the lesson we should learn? Here it is: The storm will come!

Do your work in such a way that when the storm comes, you can still sleep. 

Everybody needs somebody. There is a great verse in Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

“Two are better than one.”

Wait! That doesn’t seem right. We live in an age that emphasizes doing things yourself and being self-sufficient. Despite this modern philosophy, it is right.

The wise man continues with this verse to explain, “If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.”

Sometimes we all need help. I read a cute story that emphasizes this.

An out-of-towner drove his car into a ditch in a desolated area. Luckily, a local farmer came to help with his big strong horse, named Buddy. He hitched Buddy up to the car and yelled, “Pull, Nellie, pull!” Buddy didn’t move. Then the farmer hollered, “Pull, Buster, pull!” Buddy didn’t respond. Once more the farmer commanded, “Pull, Coco, pull!”

Nothing.

Then the farmer nonchalantly said, “Pull, Buddy, pull!” And the horse easily dragged the car out of the ditch. The motorist was most appreciative and very curious. He asked the farmer why he called his horse by the wrong name three times.

The farmer said, “Oh, Buddy is blind and if he thought he was the only one pulling, he wouldn’t even try.”

A funny story but it really does illustrate how we all need someone. We need someone to pick us up when we fall. We need someone to help us work when we are discouraged or tired.

I believe this truth is why the Hebrew writer said, “Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together.” (Heb 10:25). We are made for family. We are made for pairing and grouping. We are strongest when we assemble together for whatever our cause is.

So, who is your somebody? Find that one and be loyal to them. Be a friend. Be a family. Be that someone that not only needs them, but the someone they need too.

Team up and then “Pull Buddy pull.”

Lonnie Davis

Have you read the book, “Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus?” That is a cute title, but the book got it wrong. It’s not that close!

Men and women are completely different species. Since we are so different, how do we learn about each other? It is complicated. Truthfully, no one really knows the person they marry. If they think they do, wait 10 years and ask them if they knew each other when they first married. The secret to a good marriage is that marriage is not about marrying the person you love, but loving the person you marry.

Along the marriage journey there are many lessons to be learned. The first lesson is this: “Your marriage is not your parent’s marriage.” I know, I know, one thing you wanted was a marriage that was different than your parents. Whatever your intentions, when you first married you probably had expectations learned from watching marriages around you. Even that of your parents.

I remember learning this in my own marriage. When I was a kid, money sometimes got tight around the house and even ten dollars could make a difference. When things got hard, my dad would go to mom and ask if she had any money hidden away. Amazingly, she often did. Mom had a practice of saving a few dollars here and there and then hoarding it away for a rainy day.

When Liz and I got married, I thought that is what wives did. We were both in college and finances were tight. The first time we ran out of money, I asked my wife and asked if she had any money hidden away. She looked at me like I was from Pluto or maybe was Pluto. In her house that is not what happened and that is not what she did.

I did not explain all this to her at the time, but I learned that she and I would have our own marriage. It turns out that it was better because it was ours. Through the years there have been many more lessons, but this was the first one. Our marriage was our own and would be what we make it.

Lonnie Davis

Sometimes I identify with Jesse James, you know the gunslinger of the old west. Let me explain.

When I lived in Virginia, every year I dreaded the first week of April. On the first day of April, I would start driving like a criminal. I don’t mean I drive fast or recklessly. I mean I would drive down the street very cautiously and look for hidden policemen around every corner. You see, my inspection sticker expired at the end of March. I had a whole month to get my car inspected, but sometimes I didn’t notice it is expired, sometimes I would forget, and sometimes I was going to do it tomorrow.

So, for several days I would drive like a criminal. Finally, several days into April, I would get a new sticker. It took all of 30 minutes and I got to sit and read while they did it. I always vowed that next year I would be better. 

There are a couple of lessons I learned from this experience:

#1. Procrastination never does any good. 

I’ve never saved a dime by having an expired sticker, but I have had to take time out of my day, drive to the courthouse, and show the lady behind the window my receipt for my new sticker. Ugh! I would not have had to do this if I had only handled things in a more timely way. Remember, that which you do immediately you actually do!

#2. There is joy in a clear conscience. 

Conscience is not our only guide, but your conscience has to be right. Solomon wrote, “The wicked man flees though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.” (Pro 28:1)  A tainted conscience will make you do things that are unhelpful and may be downright hurtful to your journey.

After getting the new inspection sticker, when you pull out of the parking lot with that new sticker all neatly installed it feels really good. It doesn’t feel good to drive like a criminal.

~Lonnie Davis

I love the fellow who told an atheist, “Sir, you are worse than a fool.” Then he explained, “The Bible says ‘The fool has said in his heart there is no God.’ You are worse than that. You have said it out loud.” 

Ruth Green is one such example of atheism. 

Ruth Green was born in 1912. In the early 1960s she was stricken by cancer and decided to read the Bible “cover to cover.” 

Ms. Green claims to have been brought up as a Christian, but after two years of reading the Bible “cover to cover,” she decided that there is no God. Shortly thereafter she wrote a book called “The Born Again Skeptic’s Guide to the Bible.” 

In the midst of her ranting about “no God” she wrote, “I am pleased as punch no longer to believe in a God…who can choose his companions in eternity and prefers Jerry Falwell and Tammy Bakker over Albert Einstein and Marie Curie.”

One obvious response to her is to note how brilliant she must be to rant against the ignorance of silly men like Sir Isaac Newton, Nicholas Copernicus, Sir Francis Bacon, Galileo, and Albert Einstein. All of these men believed in God.  Ruth Green thought she was too brilliant to believe what those men believed.

Ruth Green was not unlike many atheists today.  She learned a little and thought she learned a lot. Alexander Pope wrote, “A little learning is a dangerous thing.” It still is.

In 1981 Ruth Green committed suicide. Godlessness is hopelessness.

~Lonnie Davis

Having only had old-fashioned wood-burning fireplaces, when Liz and I moved into our Virginia house, I was excited to see that it had gas logs. No more would I have to haul wood. No longer would I have to smell smoke in the house. Never again did I have to fool with an old-fashioned wood fireplace.

When the first cold front hit, we hit the gas fireplace. It was beautiful. I turned it high enough so that I could see the flames dancing. The warmth in the room was amazing. Midway through the second month something else hit – the gas bill. It was huge! I figured they got it wrong and kept using the fireplace while I waited for the next bill to normalize. The next bill arrived and it turned out that the high bill was normal. Since then those gas logs are mainly used as decoration.

Later, I looked at that seldom-used fireplace and thought about the lessons from the fireplace. Here are two great lessons:

Lesson 1. A person usually does the wrong things until learning better. Ignorance is not bliss. I used the gas logs during the first and second months but then I learned the lesson. I now use them only sparingly.

Lesson 2. If one keeps doing the wrong things, one must be ready to pay the bill. I paid the bill until I came to grips with the lesson. One can drive fast, burn gas logs, or waste money, but those who do must pay the price. The bill will come due. Remember what John Wayne said, “Life is hard; it’s harder when you’re stupid.” (Sands of Iwo Jima, 1949).

We had that fireplace for many more years and seldom used it. I guess the gas still worked. It is only a guess because I wouldn’t know for sure.

I learned the lesson! What lesson have you learned the hard way?

~Lonnie Davis

Imagine you are standing in front of a blank canvas, with a palette full of colors and a brush in your hand. You have the freedom to paint whatever you want on this canvas – you are the architect of your own creation. In the same way, you are the architect of your own life and happiness.

If we doubt this, reflect on the words of Jesus, “Ask and it shall be given unto you. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7-8)

With God’s help, you do create your own picture. Even if you are 40 or 80, you still have a blank canvas called the future. What will you paint? What will you do? What will you ask of God?

The choice is yours. 

God has conspired with you to make it so. I love the haunting words from “Life’s Scars” by Ella Wheeler Wilcox. 

“I bargained with life for a penny,
And life would pay no more,
However, I begged at evening
When I counted my scanty store;

For life is just an employer,
He gives you what you ask,
But once you have set the wages,
Why, you must bear the task.

I worked for a menial’s hire,
Only to learn, dismayed,
That any wage I had asked of life,
Life would have willingly paid.”

Lonnie Davis

I call them “Wise-Words.”

You know, those words that are so wise that you feel like they must be in the Bible somewhere. 

Here is one of my favorite: “A luxury once tried becomes a necessity.” In my family, I can start that quote and any of them can finish it. I thought about this truth a lot during the 2008 Olympics. I enjoy watching it on my plasma television in high definition. I cannot imagine watching it on an old black-and-white television or even a 32-inch color TV.

It was long ago, but I remember once when a friend used the phone in our house and was talking to his wife. I heard him say, “They even have a color TV.” Now that which seemed to wonderful to him has become a common possession. We can’t go back to how things used to be. So here is that Wise-word, “A luxury once tried becomes a necessity.” We get so used to luxury that it becomes ordinary to us.

I read about one young bride who was showing her great-grandmother all of the modern conveniences in her kitchen. She showed her a garbage disposal, dishwasher, ice maker, and trash compactor. When she got through she asked her great-grandmother which modern convenience she liked best. Her great-grandmother replied, “I think I like running water the best.”

Not only does a luxury once tried become a necessity, but it also becomes an expectation and an entitlement. We must remember to be appreciative or else our possessions will possess us.

Lonnie Davis