"The Uglies"

Stepping Out in RED Shoes!

- Day 167 -

Perhaps you know them?

Today I set out on a road trip with some friends to visit dear Mama Fire in Rome, Georgia.  Early this morning, seven of us piled into a van and headed off on the ten hour journey.  While en route, one of the gals mentioned she had a friend who had seventeen kids.  Oh my!  Ten of them, the mom delivered personally -- seven were adopted.

Growing up, I remember there was a large family in our community with lots of kids.  Several of them were enrolled in elementary school, a couple were in middle school and a few attended high school  --  all at the same time!  -- and it was like that for years.   Not to mention, they had cousins in the same town, with the same last name, that also had a great big family.   They were so well known because there were so many of them.

Today I heard the story of a man who was filled with rage.  Rage is uncontrollable.  It usually stems from frustration.   It’s wrath and anger, unleashed.  It’s outrage, indignation and resentment. 

Rage lives in the same house as  Jealousy, Anger, Gossip and Lying.  They’re all part of the same family:

“The Uglies”

They are an unruly bunch!

Troubled, to say the least.

They are rabble-rousers and

you must not sit down with them!

Jealousy is envy, covetousness, resentment, bitterness and spite.

Anger is vexation, exasperation, displeasure, crossness, irritation, irritability, indignation and ill-temperedness.

Gossip is a scandalmonger – a busybody – a muckraker.  She gets her nose in other people’s business and stirs things up, creating havoc. 

Lying is untruthfulness -- fibbing.  It’s falsities and white lies.  It’s dishonesty, deceitfulness – it’s one who  “tells stories” and continually misrepresents.

Heed the Word of the LORD:

“Stay out of UGLY conversations, lest you fall in.”

Don’t’ be fooled, though.  The Uglies are a friendly bunch, so to speak.   They’ll welcome you with open arms.  They’ll initiate you onto their team without hesitation.  They’ll give you a t-shirt with your name on it and the family logo.  If you prefer a baseball cap instead, it’s yours!

Psalm 1 is our scriptural reference.  Don’t sit in the counsel of the ungodly.  Get up and walk away.  Find something else to do.  Find another crowd to hang with that encourages you in the ways of the LORD.  Find a family that reflects Christ.  There’s a saying…  You are who you hang out with.   Are you an Ugly?

Psalm 1

“Blessed is the man who does not

walk in the counsel of the wicked

or stand in the way of sinners or

sit in the seat of mockers. 

But his delight is in the law of the LORD

and on His law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water,

which yields its fruit in season and whose

leaf does not wither.  Whatever he does prospers.

Not so the wicked!  They are like chaff that

the wind blows away. 

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked will perish.”

Always careful where I plant my feet, in RED shoes!

Gail