Today I am thankful for.. a red solo cup.
And that it doesn’t mean what it used to.
Today it contains peach lemonade. The product of a neighbor child’s entrepreneurial venture with her friends. They named their roadside stand in memoriam of Rocky, a mouse they met (and lost) last summer.
At $1 each, I proudly walked home through my subdivision with two red solo cups, smiling to myself and remembering college parties whose beverages were less innocent.
But more than the cups or their ingredients, I remember the friends I met the first week of college. And our rules for every party. We all go together and we all leave together. Guys and girls. No exceptions. Oddly wise for a group of 18 year olds who’d known each other less than seven days.
We didn’t really know each other, but we knew a little self-imposed discipline would mean no one would be forgotten or left behind. New friends could come home with us, but new friends were never a reason to stay longer on your own. Hard rule. But no long term regret.
Which gets me thinking about wisdom and discipline, whether you’re 18 or 45. Learning about wisdom is a journey I’ve been on, reading the book of Proverbs this year. Where does wisdom come from, what does it sound like, what does it act like? What doesn’t it do?
Here are three highlights that I keep coming back to and digging into:
- Wisdom prepares. It doesn’t procrastinate.
- Wisdom walks. It doesn’t only sit in a room reflecting. It gets up. Gets dressed. And is active.
- Wisdom looks for the doors and the exits.
Wisdom prepares. It doesn’t procrastinate.
The Proverbs 31 woman gets a bad rap these days. When women feel overburdened and overwhelmed, the perceived perfection of this particular woman feels unattainable and unrealistic. But if we drop the specifics for a moment, maybe you’ll notice a pattern that I did.
She isn’t wise because does all of those things.
She is considered wise because of how she does the things she’s responsible for.
She’s not running around at the last minute. She is intentional, making choices far in advance that will have positive downstream impacts for herself and everyone around her. She’s not doomscrolling or engaging in amazon brown box retail therapy.
Wisdom walks. It gets up. Gets dressed. And is active.
Knowledge and wisdom are different words for a reason.
Knowledge knows what to do.
Wisdom actually does it. Wisdom is the follow through.
Throughout the old and new testament you’ll find passages about walking. Walking with God, walking in the Spirit, walking in truth and love. Yes there is a time to sit and read and reflect and rest and pray. But there is also a time to get up, get dressed, and do the things that convey love, truth, and responsibility.
Wisdom looks for the doors and the exits.
My dad will never sit with his back to the door. A habit from his job in law enforcement that carries well into retirement and every social situation. Look for the doors and the exits and be sure you can see both when you sit down.
He plans before he chooses.
Prudence is wisdom planning to choose obedience. It looks at the menu before going to the restaurant so you can decide in advance what will be the best choice for your current goals, instead of defaulting to french fries (talking to myself with that one.) Prudence says “I’m invited to a gathering where I’m pretty sure gossip will take place. What ways can I gracefully walk away or change the topic?” instead of hoping you’re witty or clever enough in the moment.
Wisdom doesn’t script every moment, but it looks ahead just enough to say, “God I want to honor you in the moments I find myself in today. Help me think through the ones I already know about.”
As I continue sipping on my peach lemonade from a nostalgia inducing red solo cup…
- I am thankful for a group of girls who put themselves out there and tried something new (honoring Rocky at the same time).
- I am thankful for the collective wisdom of my first set of college friends that never left anyone behind.
- I am thankful God provided an entire book of wisdom to help me in this lifetime.
This week, I’d encourage you to prepare, not procrastinate. No matter how you feel. Get dressed, consider how to do the thing well, then get out and do the thing.
Future You will be grateful you did.
*Inspired by Rocky’s Lemonade and Proverbs 31
** This post was written and edited by an actual human, me. No AI was used for the content, copy, editing, photo, etc. All of the words and thoughts are my own. And that picture is me, with a real peach lemonade in a real red solo cup on my real porch in front of my real house next to my real tree.
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