keeping my mouth shut!

SO I had a completely different blog post ready for today, but in light of my morning I am changing it. :)

First my verse for today is: Proverbs 10:19 "where there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, but He who restrains his lips is wise. "

This so goes with my morning happenings and is allowing me to use it throughout my day! woot I can see application!!!

I must start this by saying, my co-worker and I often have discussions, and we for sure have very different opinions on situations and how to handle them. We just think very differently... which has in the past two years often led to many conflicts. I need to learn to let things go more easily and just learn.

So P pushes our kids to all leave town go to college, and "do something with their life" I made the comment that no everyone needs to or should go away to school. He views all the kids who come home after a semester or don't leave town as failures. If they work at a plant here they are failures... even though they make twice his salary. Now I'm not saying that money makes you successful, but if you are able to take care of your family, are happy, and enjoy your
life does that not make you successful? Often the people who go away to school, can't handle being away, or don't like being away, does that make all of them failures.. No I don't think so. He pushes kids to the point they don't want to talk to him because he is trying to make them do what he thinks they should. I only said something because I have had kids express to me that they wish he would stop. He says if they come home they are failures, if they never leave they are failures, and it is our fault therefor we are failures. -- he walked away thinking he is right and I am wrong and he was done with this convo.

-- He comes back in and sits down telling me about one of our students who is failing a class because she won't get up to go to tutorials to take a test..." Not my problem" I say, "am not going to baby her." He throws his hands up in the air and says quite loudly, "so your not
going to baby them, but you aren't going to push them" --then walks back out

On top of this, anything I do, or anything anyone else comes in our office and says he feels the need to make a comment. He is the type of person that when walks into a room, makes a comment to or about what he sees not thinking about appropriateness, worth, or merit. Drives me CRAZY!!! He talks to him self about things he sees, and makes comments about or repeats what he reads on the computer... people we SHARE an office! In my mind, have some respect for the share part and shut up!

Ok over my rant... so application of the verse... While it would be easy to share this verse with him, and show him he should maybe just be quiet just for a little while, 1. it would not work b/c he would not get it. 2. His views on being a Christian are reserved for Sundays for an hour or two, otherwise no one would know he even had heard of Jesus and salvation, loving one another etc...

But really, I am applying this verse to myself. One by not verbalizing what I just wrote, and 2. more importantly, I know there are times when I speak before I should, or when I shouldn't. We all have had those times when we look back and reflect only to think "man if only I had kept my mouth shut" So from now on, when he irritates me, annoys me, or tries to bait me I am going to think back to this verse and remember it is more Christlike to keep it shut then see who can have the bigger pile of word vomit!