So You Want to be Dignified

  The New Testament calls for us to be semnos also translated as dignified, august, venerable, or reverend especially as we get older. I do, I do, I do, I dooooo so want to  be dignified. 

 Now I'm 40-ish years old and the wrinkles and gray hairs are coming along just fine but the semnos, not so much...and I check at least twice a week. 


The problem, I fear, is the over-colonization of dorky and klutzy with maybe some artsy-ness, but not the good kind that produces cool stuff. I can make a mean ugly Christmas sweater. Seriously, it won 3 years in a row. 

  See, that right there. Dignified would not be making an ugly Christmas sweater and definitely not wearing one. And maybe I should stop the watching of cartoons, which is not on a regular basis by the way. And give up trying to learn to whistle through my fingers...at least while my teenager is around with her phone. I could change all that.

 But then there is the stuff that I cannot control like the spills and the falling and the dropping stuff. It happens alone and in public. For example, take the soda fiasco:

 The in-laws were coming and the hubby told me to purchase their favorite beverage in 12 pack form, so I did. Being the good wife, I put it in the fridge and proceeded to open the box so that one could remove a can with ease (so very Proverbs 31 of me). 

 Maybe I provided too much ease because a can rolled out onto the floor and burst open. When I reached for it, another one hit the floor and then another, each one splitting open in the middle. The fourth one had two small holes and the pressure from falling to the floor set it to spin whilst shooting soda to the higher regions of the kitchen. As the fifth can crashed to the floor, I grabbed up the carton but the mess was overwhelming. 60 ounces of soda all over the kitchen and t-minus 20 minutes until in-laws arrived. 

Dignified-looking lady...not me

 It was very cartoonish, the stuff of comedy sketches. Uncontrollably dorky and undignified.

 Graciously, God always finishes what He starts. He does not  leave us where He finds us nor does He walk away from us, even those of us who are challenging. The truth is He created us and He loves us. Although some may gain wisdom faster and some may gain semnos before others, God's timing is perfect and purposeful. So I pray, "Lord, teach me to honor you through the goof-ups and mishaps. Show me how to glorify You and grow in the moments where I fall so very short. Let these times be reminders that it is not about me and it is always about You all the time."

 Waaaaait...could it be that being august, venerable, and reverend is not completely about one's physical actions???? 

Maybe one day soon