Proverbs 16:18
(NIV) 18 Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.
My dad was a woodworker. When I was young (before my brother was old enough to help him) I worked with him on his projects. He would share information with me about each of the different woods….including wood veneer. Wood veneer, like veneer of any materiel is just a thin layer of the product over a less costly materiel. It looks good, but a fingernail or a button could easily scratch the veneer, and it is very difficult to repair! If you were not aware that your piece of furniture was a veneer, you would be very disappointed when the truth came out in the first scratch!
Sometimes the truth can be difficult to believe! We get bad news about a family member it seems unreal. We hear the things that are going on in other areas of our country; storms, tornadoes, hurricanes. It is hard to believe without being there to see it. Sometimes it’s hard to believe when it’s up close too! I remember when my Mom taught me to swim and then tried to teach me to float on my back. Mom, you are telling me I can lay on the top of this water and I will not sink? Ya, right. I could not wrap my head around that one! She gently put her hands under me, I laid back on them and she removed her hands. I was floating! Her truth telling instilled confidence in me so the next time she told me something hard to believe-I believed her.
I recently had two occasions when truth stretching could have been used to make us happy. I was at a Doctors office with a problem. After an x-ray and ultrasound of my arm, the Dr. came in to tell me…I don’t know! I am not sure if I ever heard that from a Dr. before, but I felt he became more human and real when he admitted that to me. Truth can be our best friend.
Later we went out to dinner at a very busy neighborhood cafe. The waitress seated us and said, ‘we are understaffed and very busy, it will be at least a 45 minute wait. While I did not like the answer, I did appreciate the honesty and we were pleasantly surprised when it was only 35 minutes before they took our order!
A third occasion has not had the same outcome, and we are still in great stress over it. We ordered (and paid for)) some new furniture. A delivery date was given that was before Thanksgiving. In reality, we will not get the furniture until after the new year! Living room furniture! Three holidays when inviting people over is the norm, we have no place for them to sit! It’s laughable. My living room looks like a dance hall. We gave our furniture away from the lower level and put the living room furniture in the lower level. Now our living room is bare! The grand-kids love to lay out their games and play. The older generations go to the lower level. Fortunately that old living room set down there. That area used to be for the kids!
Hubby called daily to find out what the problem is. Daily he was given an answer that seemed plausible, we believed it, still the date would come and go with no new couch at my door. Finally, my exasperated husband called and asked for the truth! Apologetically the man on the other end explained what we pretty much suspected…trucker shortage! My husband had to keep scratching at that ‘veneer’ the delivery company was trying to maintain until the truth was finally exposed.
Do we have a veneer? Do we keep that ‘public face’ where everything is just ‘hunky dory’ but the truth is far from it? Are we teaching our children by example to do the same? Let’s examine ourselves and re-align with the truth if it is warranted. It is our pride that keeps us from being honest with each other. Remember where pride gets you!
By the way, the furniture finally arrived. It looks beautiful, and if I did not write this blog I might not even remember that long wait! Wait, that’s not true!
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