Good morning and welcome to the second day of this brand new week, today being Monday, May 12, 2025. I've been up a while already, but, hadn't taken time to climb the stairs to my writing station that attaches me to the blogosphere. Wow! Mother's Day! We were able to show honor, respect, and love to the wife and she got to visit with all the boys yesterday. I grilled up her favorite on Saturday and we ended up eating it Saturday afternoon and Sunday after Church. I am responsible for the beautiful clothes worn by my bride. See? I can, occasionally, do something right. Yeah. You are right. The stopped clock is correct twice each day. As for the grilling, well, I used to do quite a lot of it, but, to tell the truth, and I know this will not be a big surprise to many out there, I am not quite as capable as I was say even five years ago. The good news is the meat turned out great and she was very well pleased. I do love it when a plan comes together. We have a huge widely distributed brood which means she got calls, texts, and messages throughout the day. When we arrived home from Church I told her she was the prettiest one there. She laughed but even at our age compliments are much better than criticisms. My compliment to her was sincere. It was. Sometimes even a compliment can come across as not being much of one. Like these, for instance, (copied from an internet posting about backhanded compliments):
1 I always feel more intelligent after reading your work.
2 It’s really difficult to underestimate you.
3 Your haircut makes your nose look smaller.
4 You look really nice in this light.
5 That’s a beautiful photo of you. I didn’t recognize you at first.
6 You’re not as dumb as you look.
7 I love how you just don’t care what anyone thinks of you.
8 I don’t care what others say about you. You’re alright in my book.
9 Your Instagram makes you seem so fun!
10 I didn’t expect you to get the job - Congratulations!
11 I wish I was as relaxed as you are about messiness.
12 You’re so charming when you make an effort.
13 Those earrings are so nice. My grandma would love them.
14 Your house feels so cozy and lived in.
15 Well, that’s a level of incompetence I’ve never seen before.
16 You’re pretty… on the inside.
17 That’s not the ugliest shirt I’ve seen you wear.
18 You might not be the prettiest, but you’re definitely the funniest!
19 You clean up nice.
20 You’re smarter than two dumb guys.
I think finding a way to encourage others is the mark of someone who seeks to build others up. God would have us to do so with intentionality. Sadly, and too often I might add, the backhanded compliment is actually an attempt to put another person down perhaps to make oneself feel superior. Yikes. I will throw in a confession here. I am good at making others feel small or less. It's something I need to work on. I do. It's one of those 24x7 projects because of the knowledge I have of me, myself, and I. You don't have that problem? Good. Work on the sin that so easily besets you, (Hebrews 12:1). That might have sounded like a gotcha, but, I'm just saying we all are works in progress and as believers we are in the hands of the Master Potter, Jeremiah 18, who wants to shape us into an object of notable excellence, (comment by the late Dr. Charles Stanley). Kidding around, just joking, don't take it personally, are ways we often excuse the put down instead of a build up. I am thinking right now of some individuals who have been seriously hurt by comments made towards them, at home, at work, in social gatherings, and, yes, even within gatherings at their local Church. Really? Yes. Really! I'm not saying there's not a place for Don Rickles types of humor, but, we need to be careful, or at least I need to be careful. The other thing I want to mention is how I've known and continue to know folks who do so very well in building others up. They consistently do it so well. I say we should, I should, want to be like them. Right? Amen.
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