Please don't put me in the tea canister...

...unless you want coffee.

I love words. I love to label my world. I just am not too picky about having the words actually match what they are attached to.

This might have something to do with many things in my life that ended up being much different from what I had been led to believe. Much different.

Over at Mel's blog www.melodee128.blogspot.com she has an excellent post about labels. This got me thinking about labels, and the fact that I have many inconsistencies where labels are concerned.

I consider myself a political conservative, yet I'm not a fan of the death penalty, or war.

I'm a church librarian, yet I've rarely read any christian romance novels, end times novels or the stuff on display at the christian bookstores. It all gives me a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I DO love George MacDonald, C.S. Lewis and have an undying love for Oswald Chambers' devotional book, "My Utmost for His Highest".

I've made scrapbooks for other people, yet I don't have any for myself. My pictures are all in a three drawer pink dresser (i painted it pink when i was 12). I make my own cards, and even sell them. Yet, Mother's Day somehow flew past me this year, and no mothers that I know (including my own) got any card at all. Neither did any of the college graduates that I know.

I'm horribly opposed to parents who do anything to cause their children to question their security. But, one day I told Youngest Son that I was going to have to sell him to the gypsies. Just then, the doorbell rang. I announce to him, "That must be them now." A very mean thing for me to do, and I strongly advise against trying that yourself.

I hate lying. Won't tolerate it. But yesterday when I was approached by a man downtown who told a very well rehearsed and movingly articulate story about having a flat tire and needing money to have it repaired, I said I had no cash on me. That wasn't true. I had three dollars and 50 cents in quarters in my pocket. But, as a rule, I do not lie.

I love to have things neat and in order. You would never know that if you visited my house. Especially today. Label me a slob, but deep inside, I know that the real problem is that I want it PERFECT, and I just don't have the energy to get it that way, so why bother?

I'm extremely pro-life. I did start to waver a little bit on that a few years ago. I started to wonder if God really wanted a woman to change the course of her life because of a pregnancy that occurred due to rape. God brought my three year old friend into my life, to bring me back to the truth.

There is a labeling system that I WOULD like to employ. I call it the 'dot' system. One can purchase these dots at office supply stores. Where I used to work, they labeled systems tapes for the computer. Today, they seem to be used most often at multifamily garage sales. What you get are red, blue, green and yellow circle stickers. The entire world should get these. Each morning, upon awaking, choose the sticker that most closely represents your mood. Yellow - approach with caution. Green - bring it on, all is well, I can handle anything. Blue - sad, moody, near tears, depressed. Red - back off! approach only if you have a death wish.
There, I just solved many of the world's problems.

Go get your stickers and label away! Put it on the middle of your forehead. This kind of labeling, I can handle.

What color is your sticker today?

Mine is green, but is subject to change. And my coffee remains in the tea canister. I've no real explanation as to why, except that it seems to fit better.

Labels lie. Examining the contents is still the best way to know what's in there. And if you can't distinguish tea from coffee just by looking at it, you've got a lot more to concern yourself with than labels.