Sticks and Stones

My Take

DiVoran Lites

When I was a child and other children called me names, mother always said to ignore them or say: “Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”  Mother was trying to comfort me and at the time I accepted the words as true even though there was a niggling in the back of my mind about them.

Lately, the Lord has let me see and hear many of the names I have been called since about high school. There’s a grand array of them. And although some are crude, others are clever and have a bit more color to them.

Maybe everyone calls other people by unsavory names. I’m sure I do, but blessedly, I’m not being reminded of my sins in this area at this time. That would be heavy to bear. Besides, Jesus washed away all our sins, he threw them as far as the east is from the west never to think of them again.  

Robert Burns said in one of his poems, (the one that has the lady with a flea on her hat) “Oh that we could see ourselves as other people see us.” Uhh, how about changing that to: oh, that we could see ourselves as God sees us?

I’ve been reading some wonderful scripture today. It’s from Psalm 91 and it says: “The uncompromisingly righteous shall flourish like the palm tree, be long-lived, stately, upright, useful, and fruitful: they shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon-majestic, stable, durable, and incorruptible. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be full of sap and spiritual vitality and rich in trust, love, and contentment. They are living memorials to show that I, the Lord am upright and faithful to my promises; I am your rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Me.” (Rom. 9:14). 

Now, isn’t that wonderful? Wouldn’t you rather hear something like that about yourself than being called bad names? I would. Of course, I will be treated as I treat others, so I’m sure I’ve got a ways to go. But anyhow for peace of mind and encouragement, we can’t beat the love and approval of God our Father, Jesus the Son, and Holy Spirit the messenger. 

I forgive all the people who have called me by unsavory names over these many years. Whoever you are, wherever you are, I pray you will forgive me for the times when I have hurt you.

Heavenly Father, thank you for blessing us with showers of love every single day we live and even when we die.

Showers of Blessing

DiVoran has been writing for most of her life. Her first attempt at a story was when she was seven years old and her mother got a new typewriter. DiVoran got to use it and when her dad saw her writing he asked what she was writing about. DiVoran answered that she was writing the story of her life. Her dad’s only comment was, “Well, it’s going to be a very short story.” After most of a lifetime of writing and helping other writers, DiVoran finally launched her own dream which was to write a novel of her own. She now has her Florida Springs trilogy and her novel, a Christian Western Romance, Go West available on Amazon. When speaking about her road to publication, she gives thanks to the Lord for all the people who helped her grow and learn.  She says, “I could never have done it by myself, but when I got going everything fell beautifully into place, and I was glad I had started on my dream.”

Tags: Forgiveness, Sticks and stones