Bumfuzzled

I love words. The weirder the better, like bumfuzzle/bumfuzzled. It means to confuse, perplex, fluster. It is such a great word because it accurately describes how I feel right now.

I am so blessed to have a Mama that taught me very valuable lessons early on in life. You have naturally curly hair, brushing will hurt. You will always immediately sneeze after applying mascara. I may not see what you are doing but Jesus can. (Ponder that one for a minute- puts the kabosh on a lot of fun things that might get you in trouble.) There will always be someone smarter than you, more talented than you and prettier than you, that is life. It can be unfair but do your best and you will be successful. Now those were not her exact words but that is what I learned from the things she said. And it was the absolute best thing she ever could have taught me. Well that and the teeny tiny little thing called respect. I do believe there was many a b-u-t-t whooping (putting it politely) when I was disrespectful. Now my mama was the queen of wait until your Deddy gets home. She did not like to spank us one bit but you start sassing or being disrespectful and she would go from loving mother by day to choose your means of butt whooping this is going to hurt me more that it will hurt you by night. (Ummm- not so much but I am still scared of her so I will zip it.) And Lord help you (no really, Lord save your scrawny behind) if you had been disrespectful to one of my grandmothers. She would not only get you but then tell Deddy. Do you see the recurring theme here? Disrespect was not allowed in the Turner household. No way Jose. It was not allowed with our family, other adults, our friends or each other.

So that leads to my bumfuzzlement. (That may or may not be a Jodyism but I will look it up later. If it is not a "real" word, it should be!) Didn't the majority of us learn this valuable lesson? If we did, have we forgotten it? I am crushed by the things friends have said to friends; family to family; Christians to Christians during this political season. It breaks my heart. AND that is hard to do, I am Southern. My heart has been blessed at least 784,642 times in my years on this Earth.

I was taught we can agree to disagree but we can never be disrespectful to one another. In preparing for this blog, I looked up the meaning of the words disagree and disrespect. Merriam Webster says:

Disagree- to fail to agree; to differ in opinion

synonyms- differ, dissent, nonconcur, to take issue
antonyms- agree, consent, concur

Disrespect- to have disrespect for to show or express contempt.

Contempt- the act of despising

The synonyms for despise are abhor, abominate, hate. The antonym- LOVE.

No wonder Mama was so tough on us about being disrespectful. Disagree does not carry the negative weight of Disrespect. We can agree to disagree. I can disagree with what you say, offer you a cup of coffee and some cobbler. Disrespect me and well, no cobbler for you.

As we go into Election Day tomorrow remember this- It is okay to disagree. It is what makes this Nation GREAT. We have the right to disagree with one another. We do not all have to be the same. Think of how stinking boring that would be. But we do have to be respectful, especially if we are Christians.

Romans 13:8-10 says it best....

⁸ Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. ⁹ For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,”^[a] “You shall not covet,”^[b] and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”^[c] 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Regardless of what happens today, if your guy wins or loses, remember to respect the ones you love. They are special enough for God to put them in your life and carve in stone to love them as you love yourself.

And also remember, that if your guy wins are loses, PRAY. Pray for our President, our Government, our Country. Pray for each other. I know there is enough going on in my life that if someone wants to randomly or not so randomly pray that I have God's strength and wisdom working in me, I will gladly accept it because I need it. Like someone dying of thirst, I need it.

Love and Respect to everyone! And THANK YOU to any and everyone who has served or is serving in the military and protected my right to stand in line and cast my ballot this morning. It was an honor to do so and I am grateful.