8 Talents

Last night I was running an errand, I needed to pickup popcorn for a few children who would soon be watching Cars as their parents attended a meeting. I hadn’t decided where I was going to go to get the popcorn from, but I turned right out of our housing area. One half mile down the road I saw a guy walking and pushing his bicycle, with a flat tire, along at a slow pace. It was a little after 6:30, 37 degrees outside, and very dark. It is a fairly safe guess, due to where we live and the time of day, that he had been pushing his bike from town since he got off work at 5:00. A mile down the road, I decided to go see if he needed a ride. You could hear the frustration in his voice as he stated he only had a half mile left to go. I responded with, “So your fine?” To which he replied gruffly, “Yeah.” I left.

After that a lot of questions popped into my mind. Why did it take me so long to turn around? What kind of question is “So your fine?” in a situation like that? Why didn’t I followup and sincerely offer help to save him the last 10 minutes of his walk? Why had no one else offered to give him a ride? Oh for more compassion.

Over the last three years I have been leading the children’s ministries at Faith Evangelical Free Church. As the Children’s Pastor I oversee the church ministries for children ages 0-12. When I took the position I had the joy of joining a team of high capacity leaders, already in place, who oversaw the various aspects of each piece of the program. Over time those leaders have either moved away or moved on to other areas of ministry. It was after they moved on that I realized just how much each did. As they moved on, many were not replaced, my responsibilities have increased and some of the things we have done in the past are no longer getting done. This has been a discouragement to me several times.

Over the last six months God has stirred my heart in many encouraging ways. I have come to realize that presenting myself as a leader and being a leader are two different things. The latest stirring has been the revelation that I have been asking what is wrong and how do I fix it vs. what should the children’s ministries here at FEFC look like and what do we need to do to get there. In a position where I depend on hundreds of volunteers throughout the course of a year it seems so much easier to ask them to be a part of a dream instead of asking them to place their finger in a hole to plug the leak.

My sister’s birthday was a couple of weeks ago.  I just now got around to writing her card.  As I was thinking of what I wanted to share I realized that my sister values people more than most.  She always has a very genuine sincerity as she expresses her excitement in seeing people.  Her concern is deep when she is worried about you.  Her graciousness comes quickly when offended.  I think this is why she has such a magnetic personality.  

Recently, I was late to a meet-up with her and some friends.  I was running late, no surprise there.  My sister called all of our phones.  Fretted about me to all of her friends.  Then very joyfully welcomed me to the party once I arrived.  I never detected a sense of frustration for one second about my tardiness and lack of consideration in calling.  

I very much wish I appreciated people like my sister does.  That is a gift.

I am a very big proponent of digital conversations.  I think commenting is an important part of being part of the web 2.0 community.  So, why turn off comments?  Mostly because of pride.  If I were to get none, I would feel unimportant.  If I were to get many, I would feel far to important.  Both pride issues.

Since this blog now focuses on reflections, both good and bad, of my own life, I mostly care what comments God has to offer through His still small voice.  If you really have something you feel you need to say or ask, there is always Facebook.

Every six months or so I have to rethink this blog.  The latest idea is that it would focus around events, encounters, lessons, etc that I have learned from.  The style will be as follows:

-Short (Less than 250 words per post)

-No Comments (More on this soon)

-Might add more stylistic characteristics later

So I have been tracking a project of a couple of guys trying to make it in the Music industry.  They recently made a request for ideas on ways they could promote themselves.  I wrote in with an idea.

I didn’t know they were planning on using my idea, so when my idea showed up in their podcast feed I was ecstatic.  They even mentioned my name.

I found myself listening to the commentary they posted a couple of times.  Every-time I heard my name I had felt some pride about having my idea used.  In fact, a little to much pride. What is that? In this situation, sin.

In spite of my pride, I highly recommend New Music Monday.

It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.

Ecclesiastes 7:2

A man by his sin may waste himself, which is to waste that which on earth is most like God.  This is man’s greatest tragedy and God’s heaviest grief.

A.W. Tozer