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The little foxes

​I’m in the sunset of my life, have said farewell to late afternoon and not yet ready to welcome the twilight. And find that long forgotten hymns and Bible verses from Bible study in my teens are parading through my Whirlpool (aka my brain) along with all the other laundry items.

To complicate matters these are usually in my mother tongue, Afrikaans. I grab my English Bible to check it out and find it doesn’t say what I want to say, the English is too “nice.”

Aaarrgh! The bane of being truly bi-lingual. Now if only I could read Greek and Hebrew …………but I can’t.

At this point I decide to go with Afrikaans. It’s stronger, more definite, more, oh, I don’t know, more “in your face.”

English: Song of Solomon 2:15. “Take us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes.”

Afrikaans: Hooglied van Salomo 2:15. “Vang julle vir ons die jakkalse, die klein jakkalse wat the wingerde verniel, want ons wingerde staan in die bloei.”

My translation of the catchphrase:

“the little foxes that spoil/destroy/damage/ruin/wreck the vineyard.”

Take your pick. Yup, I know it doesn’t “sing” like the Biblical version but I’m no Emily Dickenson. But why, oh why, wouldn’t this verse let go?

I sat down and took a hard look at my vineyard to see what little foxes were still lurking. I spread my net wider than the vineyard that is my marriage.

Wanting things my way.

If I want something done, I want it done NOW, according to my husband.

Grouchy when things don’t go my way, the silent kind of grouchy that speak volumes.

Facial expressions. Neutral can be as damning as frowning.

Irritable because I wasn’t having enough “me” time. (and what does that say about me?)

Eating too much. (Did I really need those Oatmeal/Walnut cookies?)

And that’s enough sharing!

I’m not going to list the wee foxes I’ve managed to get rid of but a good example would be returning the empty shopping cart to the return spot instead of leaving it in the adjacent parking space or half under a tree.

It could be fun sitting down with a good friend and asking what wee critters you see in each other’s vineyards.

Remember to make it fun! I would be wary of doing it with a spouse or partner for obvious reasons….

Next I’m tackling James 3: 5-12

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