TODAY THE WORDS are TOOLS OF THE TRADE. When I was a young girl, I loved to be outside and if my Daddy was busy with his head under the hood of the truck, I was right there with my head under the hood too. Of course, I didn’t understand what he was doing, but I watched and I learned. He asked me to hand him the correct tool he needed and sometimes, I would hand him the wrong one an he would show me the tools and their names. It didn’t take me long to know the names and what job he was using them. Each tool had a distinct use and it didn’t matter how great the other tool was; it had to be the right one for the job. In those days, my Daddy could tune an engine to a point where it purred. Only ones of our ages are going to understand what I mean by purring, but when he set the idling of the engine, it ran so quiet, I had to listen very intensely to hear it running at all. I learned all of kinds of things with my head under the hood that helped me later with my own vehicles; mostly I had fun learning about how to pick out the right tools for the different tasks. Those are precious memories along with hunting and fishing, but that was further training about the right tools for the job. In life, no matter what we do, it requires using the right tools in completing a task. Maybe the tools are not the same ones I gave to Daddy as technology has progressed immeasurably since that time. The fact still remains; the right tool for the right accomplishment from your efforts. Now for the deeper thought…..We need the right tools for our minds, heart, and souls. In this busy life and materialistic world, it is not hard to find “tools” but are those tools the right tools for our eternal life. I speak from the heart on this matter; it is too easy to pick up the wrong tools as bad habits, friends, places of sin, temper, and a bad attitude. It takes a dedicated heart to show love instead of hate; a committed heart for charitable giving; a forgiving heart to forgive and forget; and a loyal heart to God, family, friends, and employers and/or employees. These are the right tools to insure that our souls “purr” in eternity and as my Daddy always said when he was making the idling adjustment, “If you can hear it running, you need to idle it down.” In our lives, we need to idle down our reactions and let our engines “purr” with love and understanding. (a side note: Tomorrow will be our Daddy’s birthday that he is celebrating in Heaven and I hope they let him idle a truck or car once in a while as he was happy when his head was under the hood. Love you Daddy and miss you!)
DAILY FEATURED BIBLE VERSE:
Exodus 20:12
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
(c) copyright 2012 Arline Lott Miller. The material here copyrighted, use only by permission.
