OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE

OK--Listen up. This is probably the most "revealing" blog I've written. I make a habit of reading my Bob Gass Devotional, 5 Psalms and a Proverb. Yesterday I read most of Ecclesiastes. All of this is to say that you'd think the older I'm getting, I'd be getting wiser, and since the wisest man who ever lived concluded 'what difference does it make anyway'--I'd let stuff go, right?

The more I meditate on wisdom, the more assured I am that I'm not wiser. Here's what The Amplified Bible describes wisdom to be: "But the wisdom from above is first of all pure (undefiled); then it is peace-loving, courteous (considerate, gentle). [It is willing to] yield to reason, full of compassion and good fruits; it is wholehearted and straightforward, impartial and unfeigned (free from doubts, wavering, and insincerity)."

Wikipedia gives this definition: "The phrase "obsessive-compulsive" has become part of the English lexicon, and is often used in an informal or caricatured manner to describe someone who is meticulous, perfectionistic, absorbed in a cause, or otherwise fixated on something or someone."

I include this definition because sometimes I get like that! Hard for you who know me to believe I know :>) The reason I added the compass as my inspirational picture for this blog is that recently at our condo potluck, after meeting a new neighbor, I entered into a discussion about which direction the back of his unit faced. After he stated it faced east, but told me his address and I realized it was perpendicular to ours, I was "certain" it had to face south....I know my directions....hmmph.

Well, after much discussion and considering that the sun slides in a much more southerly direction during the winter months, which is when they moved in, I considered he probably felt it was East (Southeast) especially during the winter.

We've lived here for two years and I know that in the heat of summer the sun comes STRAIGHT up in the morning, directly barreling into our lanai and that means EAST, therefore, if they're perpendicular to us, something has to be different, right?

We drove into each of the driveways so our car compasses could read the directions and ours indicated NE and theirs SE. You'd think that would be satisfactory to end my straining mind to figure out where we sit on the planet.

Nope, I got the brochure the Realtor had when the condo was being marketed which had the Google Planet Earth photo with a compass indicating N,S,E,W and where each of our units is located. We are a little to the North of east making us a whole lot more NE and he is way, way South of East, much closer to South but definitely not SOUTH as I'd originally thought.

I hate being wrong! It wouldn't have mattered as much if Bob wouldn't have made me feel I was WRONG. What does that tell ya? I'm obsessive-compulsive! I guess my only hope is that God's not finished with me yet.

I'm going to include the following Daily Devotional because it has some redeeming things to say about someone who might be like me:

"The crew of young doctors cowered under the tongue-lashing given to them by the chief-of-surgeons. Each doctor knew that their mentor was right, but it was difficult to receive such harsh criticism. Each doctor also knew that the only reason the chief surgeon was so tough was to make sure they were the best they could be. The man demanded perfection, and he wasn't going to settle for less. Only doctors who wanted to be the best could stand to take the kind of scrutiny the chief surgeon put them under. No matter what else might happen, each new doctor knew that they would receive truth and guidance from the older man. They trusted him because they knew he was doing everything he knew to do to make them the best they could be.

How willing are we to place ourselves in positions to be criticized? It is hard to invite others to tell us what we do wrong and how we can improve. Yet, if we want to grow, we need to have criticism given to us. The Lord offers us guidance as we try to grow, and we can be sure that it will be given to us with the greatest love, even though it is often hard to acknowledge that we are lacking. Thank goodness that God is so patient with us, and that He gives us time to change and grow.

PRAYER: Help me to trust the wise counsel of others. I know that I have so much room to grow. Grant that I might have the wisdom to accept the helpful criticism of others and make me to seek your ways . Amen." (Taken from Wisdom From The Bible..Daily Thoughts From the Proverbs)