One of my favorite movie quotes of all time is from the Princess Bride. Wesley (still disguised as the Dread Pirate Roberts) says, “Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.” I usually change pain to hard, but the assessment is the same. It’s such a true statement that it has stuck with me for years.
I think the one truth in life no one can really argue with is that everyone has problems. Some are basic. Where is my next meal coming from? Some are more complicated. I have every worldly possession my heart desires, but I’m in a loveless marriage because I spent too much time working to get all those worldly possessions. Christian’s are not immune to these worldly problems either. Though some people (not necessarily Christians) think we should be. Jesus was very clear that it would be hard to follow him. See Luke 14:25-33 and Matthew 10:16-39. He was not selling something. He was speaking the truth.
This is all set up for two observations.
First, a lot of my prayer life is about deliverance. Fix this situation for me Lord. Save me. Lift this burden. Is that what God really wants to do though? Is that the point of life? I believe God is forming us into the image of His son through our experience in this life. Is it really beneficial for our problems to be resolved from on high? That being said the point is to rely on God. There is a balance here that I don’t know that I’ve achieved.
Second, in church last weekend while preaching Keith said, “We should be encouraged because God is with us.” This phrase really stood out to me. God is with us. Right here living our lives with us. If you’ll notice there is nothing in there about making things easier on us. Just that it will be okay because He is with us.
Life is hard then you die. Death is but a door. Let us walk through and meet our Lord on the other side.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Random Question...
If I have a close personnel relationship with a being that knows all things do I by default know all things?
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Workaholic
All I do is work. I sat down the other morning with Mackenzie to color and I thought, “Ooooh I can write a list of things I need to do at work. “ Sick. I decided to write this instead. So, the first draft of this blog was done in crayon.
Am I a workaholic? I certainly don’t feel like I am. I do enjoy working, but it’s not like I wouldn’t rather be doing something else. Slow walk in the park with Mack. Have a cup of coffee with Kay. Nice long bike ride. That’s just not the way I’m wired though. If I’ve got something that needs to be done I want to be doing it. I see this in my father a lot. It’s a general kind of restlessness when there are things (work) to be done.
This feeling goes away when I achieve what I call balance. That is a balance between having enough done to avoid being “yelled” at and actually being caught up completely. Balance is a state of being neither behind nor ahead. What I’m talking about isn’t a math formula. It’s not a list. I can mark any number of things off my to-do list and still not be balanced. The only way I can describe it is as an extremely complicated calculation that runs subconsciously in my head. It’s hard to predict when I will achieve balance. Mostly I just work straight through until it happens. If I do stop working I’m restless as I mentioned above.
The formula has become even more complicated lately as I’ve started to manage even more projects and people. Motel 6 has expanded from ADA work to include Technical Services remodels, and new construction. At any given time I will have five to ten people working for me and they will each be working on two to three projects at the same time. By the end of last week my brain was done and I literally ran out of the office on Friday. I thought if I can just get to the weekend I can reorganize and be ready to start again on Monday.
Is there a point to this blog? Not really. From the above I can draw one conclusion though. I was built to be a manager. I know that one of God’s purposes for making me the way I am was to manage and direct people. When I accepted this several months ago I got the distinct impression God was saying I would someday manage managers. I tried of my own efforts to achieve this prophecy, but only after I had given up and let life run its course did it get fulfilled. There’s a lesson there. I just hope I’ve learned it.
Am I a workaholic? I certainly don’t feel like I am. I do enjoy working, but it’s not like I wouldn’t rather be doing something else. Slow walk in the park with Mack. Have a cup of coffee with Kay. Nice long bike ride. That’s just not the way I’m wired though. If I’ve got something that needs to be done I want to be doing it. I see this in my father a lot. It’s a general kind of restlessness when there are things (work) to be done.
This feeling goes away when I achieve what I call balance. That is a balance between having enough done to avoid being “yelled” at and actually being caught up completely. Balance is a state of being neither behind nor ahead. What I’m talking about isn’t a math formula. It’s not a list. I can mark any number of things off my to-do list and still not be balanced. The only way I can describe it is as an extremely complicated calculation that runs subconsciously in my head. It’s hard to predict when I will achieve balance. Mostly I just work straight through until it happens. If I do stop working I’m restless as I mentioned above.
The formula has become even more complicated lately as I’ve started to manage even more projects and people. Motel 6 has expanded from ADA work to include Technical Services remodels, and new construction. At any given time I will have five to ten people working for me and they will each be working on two to three projects at the same time. By the end of last week my brain was done and I literally ran out of the office on Friday. I thought if I can just get to the weekend I can reorganize and be ready to start again on Monday.
Is there a point to this blog? Not really. From the above I can draw one conclusion though. I was built to be a manager. I know that one of God’s purposes for making me the way I am was to manage and direct people. When I accepted this several months ago I got the distinct impression God was saying I would someday manage managers. I tried of my own efforts to achieve this prophecy, but only after I had given up and let life run its course did it get fulfilled. There’s a lesson there. I just hope I’ve learned it.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Psalm 1:3
Speaking of a righteous man Psalm 1:3 says,
These days we all want instant results and I am probably the king of that. We allow no time for process. This Psalm shows that is not the way the world works. It says yields fruit in its season not right after you plant it.
I see someone that wanted an apple planting a sapling hastily and expecting it to bear fruit right then and there. Ridiculous right? I’ll bet that most of us live that way though.
“He is like a tree planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season...”
These days we all want instant results and I am probably the king of that. We allow no time for process. This Psalm shows that is not the way the world works. It says yields fruit in its season not right after you plant it.
I see someone that wanted an apple planting a sapling hastily and expecting it to bear fruit right then and there. Ridiculous right? I’ll bet that most of us live that way though.
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