As Iron Sharpens Iron

Disclaimer: I'm terrible at grammar.  I even misspelled grammar, thank God for auto correct.  Have mercy on me and be encouraged by the content, not distracted by the mistakes.  Thanks!


Proverbs 27:17 "As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another."

One night, as my daughter, who is 4, was having an EPIC meltdown at a friends house, a new perspective on this scripture came into view.  Unfortunately my husband wasn't there for backup and I had a very trying day with #1 already.  Her meltdown, brought me to tears.  I handled the situation with correction and discipline, had Daddy call #1 and talk to her and I headed out the door trying to look like the picture of grace. Ever been there? Talking slowly and calmly, standing with good posture, collecting items slowly and saying an apologetic goodbye to our friends. The damage was done, I probably didn't look as graceful as I imagined and likely looked more like the frazzled mess I was on the inside.  I forbid #1 to talk on the ride home, I had to pull myself together.  While I was stopped I sent a quick message to our friends apologizing again and it was in that moment that God spoke to me.  Iron gets sharpened by pressing up against one another.  WOW!  How close would you need to be to become sharpened?  How vulnerable?  How exposed? 

That night, our friends didn't gaff at me, they didn't say, "You need to work on your parenting skills." or "Your child is out of control.".  They loved on me, reminded me that all children have meltdowns, this was normal.  There were things I learned that night that I wouldn't have if I hadn't been exposed.  Two points on that....1. Sometimes we can choose to expose ourselves and 2. sometimes we get exposed involuntarily.

Ever since that night I've been open, upon God's leading, to expose myself in situations that I might not have before to allow myself to be sharpened.  Being sharpened is a tough kind of business, but boy do I like being sharp.  Get me sharp Lord!

CH