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It’s been said before: No matter where you go, there you are. Grin.
No matter where I go, there I am. And there she is too, sticking to me like tar on a roof.
Wherever I go, she’s there, that self-centered, broken-down, worn-out, noisy, disreputable, egotistical, judgmental, foul-mouthed, tear-stained, thorny sin nature of mine. Every day the old bag follows me no matter how many times I try to coax her into staying home.
I tell her all the time, “Be quiet. Wait your turn. Be nice. Let it go. Stop griping. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” but she doesn’t listen! Instead she hurls the meanest words at those closest to her, opening her big mouth when she ought to keep it shut. She lets harsh words fly instead of speaking gently. She is petty when she should be patient, and self-righteous when she ought to be compassionate. What a shrew!
She always thinks she’s right and she always has to have the last word! Have you any idea of what it’s like to have to listen to her argue endlessly with my mom over who’s right? It’s like the demented leading the demented. I tell her to let things go, but she just has to be the Queen Bee. At these times, I can quote Scripture until I’m blue in the face and still she insists on doing everything her way. It’s maddening. I get tired of trying to keep her behavior in check.
“She drives me crazy
like no one else.
She drives me crazy,
I can’t help myself.
- She Drives Me Crazy, Fine Young Cannibals, 1989
I’ll give her this: She usually confesses these sins to God and those whom she has hurt. But like I always say, “It would be ever so much better if you would just behave yourself. It’s better to behave than to say “sorry” all the time.
I have to keep a strict eye on her, making her rest when she’s tired because if I don’t she gets picky and irritable, then lets her emotions fly off the handle. Before I know it, she’s making statements like, “It’s my way or the highway!” or “What have you done for me lately?” I especially hate it when she’s bossy and unkind to those in my care.
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Sometimes she sleeps for the longest time, but then something happens to wake her up and BOOM! She’s back to being Little Miss Nasty Pants, perpetually up on the wrong side of the bed.
I wish she’d get it together, but Father says she won’t. He says she has terminal Peter Pan syndrome. ”But the good news,” he says, “is that in Me, you have all the strength you need to gain the upper hand. The key is Me. I will help you conquer Little Miss Nasty Pants. Abide in Me and I will take care of the rest.”
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Yes, Lord. Just knowing Father is on my side makes all the difference. And it is true that I get the better of the Queen Bee a lot more than I used to do. Best of all, Father says he’ll never leave me nor forsake me. Now I’m sure of what I hope for and certain of what I do not see yet:
Everything will be ok. No matter where I go. No matter where you go, too. You know it.
*Photo Credit: http://dreamstime.com
