It's Time to Take a Time-Out!

My hands are in the time-out “T” sign right now, and I’m saying “We need to take a time-out!" That’s what I was doing last Sunday when my family introduced me to “their own new family rules” of playing UNO. Of course, they had been mastering their new rules, so I, the newcomer to this source of a high-stress way of playing a simple game that had simple-to-follow rules, was in overload. I kept pleading “TIME-OUT” using those hand signals, especially when they’d say (because of their new rules) “Nana, take a card. Take another card.” That was because their new rules included if a “7” is thrown out, you can’t talk until another “7” is thrown out. Well, of course, my hand was full of cards because I couldn’t help myself. I had to talk! That’s when my time-out “T” sign came out!

Whew! And, isn’t that what we need to do in this world of “He said. She said. They said.” And, “It’s his/her fault.” TIME-OUT! Thankfully, the mid-term elections are over. We made it! It was a tough one. People took sides on every issue under the sun, armed themselves with opinions and rights and offenses and wrongs, and proceeded to hurl word-grenades at each other, one after another, until the air became so thick with anger and frustration that we could barely see what they were fighting for. I silenced my TV or fast-forwarded through campaign rhetoric. I didn’t want to see another campaign speech that degraded another opponent. I'm just done with "those rules of improper behavior and lack of respect for our fellow man".

But even when we’re not in an election season, it can still be easy to get so worked up over a spoken word that we forget the person on the other side of our words. I know when it’s time to take a TIME-OUT and “refresh” like I refresh my computer when it gets stuck.

When I “refresh” after a time-out, I realize that I’m the product of my upbringing, my faith, my environment. Other people were brought up differently from my world. Other people have opinions based on their own core values and opinions. As wrong as their opinions and values seem to me, they still deserve my respect. It’s time for me to remember that I’m VERY human myself and that all of those people are God’s children, too. It’s time for me to ask Him for a heart to love them.

Today, let’s ask God for eyes to see His children the way He does — and the patience to put up with them like He does, especially when they seem “particularly CRAZEE!!!” Just like playing my family’s new version of UNO and when I needed a time-out, it’s TIME to take a TIME-OUT when you need one (and I promise to do the same), and let’s be grateful for everyone who loves us on our particularly CRAZEE days, too.

“May the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow, just as our love for you overflows.”
{1 Thessalonians 3:12}