Being on vacation, I’ll include a best of article from July 2012

My wife has a saying that has always rung true with me, some people are sandpaper. I think all of us have someone in mind when you read these words. We all know that some people can be a little irritating while others can be a high grit hooligan. This is the sandpaper God has placed in our lives to smooth our own deficiencies. We must practice restraint, protect our peaceful aura, all the while blessing the individuals who sometimes rub us raw.

I have a bad back and I find floating in the pool to be both peaceful and therapeutic. Usually my wife and I wrap up a taxing day with a quiet conversation in a serene setting, the pool. Not tonight. A little boy swimming at the pool had zeroed in on me the moment I climbed into the pool. He jumped on my back, and each time I tried to get away from him, he would flail at me and scratch me. I couldn’t even swim into the deep end to lose him because he had big yellow floaties around his chubby little arms.

I was ashamed that my first thought was to make a mental note: bring a huge bobbie pin for my next encounter and pop his flotation device to keep him in the shallow end. Then it hit me, I was so embarrassed, my sandpaper for the day this little kid, had brought out the worse trait in me. I can’t believe that I wanted to pop his floaties! As I reflected on my shame I had an epiphany. If I did pop his gargantuan yellow water wings, it might have sent him flying and careening around the pool like a quickly deflating balloon. That thought made me smile!

Boy, does God still have some work to do on me!