Direct Hit 🎯🤮

One year when my girls were in grade school, their rec soccer team called themselves the Pink Panthers, inspired by the junior-college Panthers who coached them. ⚽️

On one of the game days, I was standing on the sidelines talking to a friend when one of my girls came running up to me like she wanted to tell me something.

Just as she got right in front of me—she projectile vomited.

Direct hit. 🎯🤮

She hadn’t come over to throw up on me. But there I was, receiving what her little body couldn’t hold anymore.

I thought about that moment again recently at the car wash. 🚗

Two young men working there were friendly and professional as they helped me. They told me the driver beside me had just unloaded on them over a problem with the car wash—something they had no control over. He even told them he was having a bad day.

Yep. Direct hit. 🎯🤮

Have you ever been blindsided by someone’s reaction? A sharp comment, an outburst, or a sudden coldness that seemed to come from nowhere?

Sometimes we’re simply the person standing in front of someone when what they’ve been carrying comes out.

Fear can sound like anger. Hurt can come out as criticism. A hard day can spill onto whoever happens to be nearby.

What landed on me may not have started with me.

But we can’t assume every direct hit is entirely about the other person. Proverbs 15:1 says, “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” Sometimes something we said or did contributed to the exchange, and we need to own our part.

When it didn’t start with us, we don’t have to take it on as a verdict about ourselves. We can leave room for compassion without pretending the behavior was okay.

And whether we contributed to the moment or were simply on the receiving end, we can respond with wisdom. Sometimes that means addressing what happened, especially if it becomes a pattern. Sometimes it means letting a passing moment pass and just giving someone grace.

Some days, we’re the one who gets the direct hit. Other days, we’re the one who spills.

When it’s us, that moment can be a check engine light. 🚨 We can take responsibility for what came out and ask, “What’s going on in me that needs attention?”

That’s a question worth bringing to God—and, when we need it, to people who can help us sort through it. Maybe we were having a hard day and need to make things right. Or maybe the same reaction keeps surfacing, and there’s hurt, fear, or something else underneath that needs attention. We can take responsibility for what came out, be honest about what’s driving it, and do the work needed to grow healthier.