Discretion Will Protect You | Previous Challenge Entry

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TITLE: Discretion Will Protect You | Previous Challenge Entry
By Roy Proctor
04/08/15
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I will never forget meeting Sharon, an attractive middle-aged woman. She and I were volunteer parent counselors for a week-long youth retreat. She was from another church that pooled resources with mine for the event.

Sharon was a very good conversationalist, so we naturally connected with each other. It wasn’t long until our personal conversations partially excluded others in the group. All of this developed in a setting that one might think would never happen.

There was one thing about Sharon. One could tell by some subtle comments that she was bored in her marriage. I asked myself one of the most dangerous questions a married man can entertain regarding another woman, “How could any guy let an interesting woman like this become bored?”

Summer time in our part of the country is hot, so the pool was a daily attraction. The youth, as usual, did their level best to dunk the counselors. But there was Sharon, standing beside the pool with a couple of other women. Her bathing suit was of a discretionary design but she still looked attractive enough that any man would notice. Without any forethought, I got out of the pool and walked over to her.

“Aren’t you going to get into the pool?” I said.

“No,” she replied. “I don’t want to get my hair wet.”

I planned to let things lie. Then she said, “Well now, are you going to throw me in?”

To this day, I don’t know what kept my hands at my sides. Perhaps it was a miraculous intervention. That would have been a real eye-raising scene. Two middle aged parent counselors playing with each other in the pool, both of them married but not to each other.

Youth seldom miss anything, especially when they see just the possibility of indiscretions. On the fourth day of the retreat the director scheduled a unique event. Each boy was to arrange a date with a girl for that evening. Trying to be funny, I expressed disappointment that my wife was home and I couldn’t get a date. Immediately, a male youth said, “Well, how about Sharon?”

An embarrassing hush came over the room. Fortunately the youth director brushed it off and went on to something else. I sat motionless, and said nothing.

Throughout the remaining two days of the week, Sharon and I maintained a platonic distance from each other. Nothing more was said.
I’m able to look back on the situation and see the humor in it. I was able to share the experience with my wife and we laughed about it. “I better go with you next time you’re a counselor at a youth camp,” she chided.

I sighed with relief that nothing came of my meeting Sharon. But I also learned a valuable lesson that all guys need to seriously consider. It is easy even for Christian men to fall into acts of indiscretion. So what preventive measures can husbands and fathers take during such times?

Proverbs 2:11 says, “Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you.” (NLT) So it might be wise for men to pray that the Lord will place discretion in
their hearts and to give understanding to their minds.

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