Tough conversations

Have you ever needed to confront someone or address a difficult topic with a friend? Did you look forward to it? Man, that is one of the toughest things for me to do. I spend quite a bit of time trying to find just the right way to approach it and still dread actually starting the conversation. I look for excuses not to have the conversation. When that fails I look for reasons that someone else would probably be better at having the conversation. When that lame excuse fails, if I decided not to run away from it, then I suck it up and hesitantly try to say what needs to be said. The closer the friend, the harder to get the conversation started. I started reading Isaiah today and thought about how tough it must have been to be one of God's prophets. To be the one chosen to have that tough conversation with your family, friends, and complete strangers. Delivering a needed message, but one that may not be received well. Knowing it is right doesn't always make it easier to deliver. Sometimes that only hurts you more because you know someone you love needs to hear it.

Are you willing to say the loving thing? Are you willing to confront? The loving thing may not always be easy to hear or say, but the loving thing is doing what is in the other persons best interest. I hope the people in my life are willing to have those tough conversations with me. I hope I can do the same for them even if it is awkward. Do you need to start one of those conversations today? At least you hopefully won't be called to have that confrontation for years like the prophets often ended up doing.

Airport thoughts

Spent a little time hanging out at the Dallas airport today. I always find this interesting. Here are few things I noticed while there and some additional random thoughts from the day.

• On the automatic door going into the airport this morning, I notice in big, bold letters that it says "This door opens". Wait a second, are there doors that don't open? Aren't those called windows or walls? Not sure what to do with this. Are people really confused that a door would open? Seems obvious to me, but maybe I am just quicker than the average airport visitor.
• I had this thought as I waited in the security line at 5:30 this morning. (Random thought... why are this many people here this early in the morning? Seriously, the line was as long as I've ever seen it. Who wants to fly this early?) So why do liquids have to be in 3 ounce or smaller containers? If you are going to make a bomb on a plane with these items, couldn't you still make one... only it would be a small one? Also, could you just take 6 small bottles of the liquid you needed? I don't think there is a limit except that they have to fit in a small plastic bag. Seems a small bomb would still be effective, but this is outside my expertise.
• Going through security in Dallas I noticed that you couldn't take tools longer than 7 inches on board. So are ones that are 6 1/2 inches okay? Does that extra 1/2 inch make that much difference? Also after this it listed that chainsaws, drills, etc. were not allowed. Really? Are there that many travelers wanting to take their chainsaws with them that you need to specifically address this?
• Also I got "randomly" selected for extra security measures. They ran the electronic wand over my hands and then the tips of my fingers. Not sure what to make of this? What exactly were they looking for? This was a first for me. Also is it just me or does anyone else start feeling guilty just because they are selected for the extra security? I start wondering if the other passengers will now avoid sitting by me on the plane as I might be a threat.
• Like that they post what color threat we are currently under. Purple? Lime green? Plaid? Really it doesn't matter because I don't know what the various colors mean. This isn't like when you are on the beach and they fly the red flag warning you not to go into the water. I can see the huge waves and understand the danger. No matter what the color security threat we are under, it all looks the same to me at the airport. Also I don't think I will suddenly change my mind to fly because we are now under an orange security code. Maybe I ought to check that out before I go to the airport. I could always get up at 4:00 a.m. and check the security color code first before I decide if I want to take a ride on the airplane.
• Where else, but on an airplane, would you be excited to get a package of 6 peanuts? People act like they have just won the lottery because they got a "free" snack and a bathroom size cup to have a drink. Maybe if you are lucky, you might also get some crackers. Wonder if we started handing out small snacks at church like goldfish crackers if people would get excited? I mean I know the 3 and 4 years old like this, but would it be as exciting as the 6 peanuts you get on the plane?
  

That doesn't even touch on the people watching that I got to do. Definitely an interesting mix of people at the airport, but that is another post all to itself. Hope your Friday was as entertaining as mine was at the airport. Actually, I hope yours more exciting than that. And remember be careful with those long tools.

Improv or scripted?

Yesterday was a day of curve balls for me. Things thrown at me that I didn't really see coming. Oh, they were things I knew were out there. Things I sort of had a plan for. But what I thought was the situation... changed... without warning.

We can prepare for things, but I recommend holding on loosely to those plans. Things rarely go as expected. And I am okay with that. It may take me a little while to process the sudden change, but then you adjust and move on. What other option do you have?

Kind of think life may be lived best as improv. You make it up as you go along. It rarely looks like a movie because it doesn't follow the script very well. A sudden change in characters, an unexpected twist in the story, a prop you didn't see coming... you adapt and improvise. Seems to be how life happens for me. May be different for you. Maybe you have it figured out, have a plan and stick to it... me, well, I'm just winging it.

The unexpected can be both good or bad. We can't control the unknown, but the great thing is we get to decide how to deal with it. We get to choose our attitude and our perspective. We learn, adapt and keep moving forward.

Don't know what life is throwing your direction right now, but I hope you choose to make the wise choice. Not the easy choice, not even the "right" choice.. but the wise one. Ready... here comes life so hang on and do your best.

Where is the line?

Do you ever think you have it all figured out? You know exactly what needs to happen. You take the matters into your own hands so that it will get done the right way.

Is there a line between confidence and arrogance? If so, what is it? When it is my plan, it is confidence... when it is someone else's plan, then it is arrogance?

Is there humility in your life? Do you allow that you might be wrong? When your expectations aren't met does it collide with your pride and sense of intelligence? Don't we do that with God? We tell him what the plan should be. This is how we should accomplish it. Oh, we don't say it that boldly most of the time. We hide it comfortably in the "right" words to make it sound spiritual. We convince ourselves that because He hasn't handled it in our time frame that we will just take care of it. Aren't we really just full of crap?

Do we see things the way Jesus does? He seems to take everything and turn it upside down. What we value may be the wrong things. We love the person who speaks their mind. The smart person. The one who is driven to succeed. We look at the principled and declare them to be trustworthy.

But the one who ignores the social norms, the one who asks the awkward question, the one who is invasive and a little too personal, the one who is bold in their worship... those types scare us and we shy away from them.

Those two people are describe in Mark 14. Guess which one Jesus praised? The woman with the questionable past who was outrageous in her worship. The other, the one we deem as a role model today, was Judas. One approached with complete humility and the other with his own plan. One was unrestrained in their worship of Jesus while the other couldn't understand God's plan because Jesus was suppose to come as a conquering hero, not serving the forgotten and awkward.

Are you worshipping or worried about your plan? Doesn't seem to me that we can hold on to both of these at the same time. Does humility describe your life? Don't mistake humility for weakness. It takes great strength to humbly chase after Jesus. Arrogance is easy.

Never the same ending twice

I was talking with Lisa last night about what to do in a friendship that appears to be coming to an end. See I don't do endings well. I don't expect relationships to end so therefore I don't know how to wind them up when they do. I've been through friendships that have ended before, but no two are ever the same, so I can't take what I've learned from those and apply it to the current one. I've had ones that changed due to the pull of time and distance. I've had ones end because of the mistakes I've made. I've had the short lived ones that were for a season or for a particular reason. Lots of different kinds of friendship, but none that I ever went into thinking there was an end coming. When I become friends with someone I just don't expect it to end. Naive? Probably. Unrealistic? Probably. But I just can't see the exit strategy. I don't see it stalling and failing to grow. I don't see the change of personalities coming. It comes as a surprise to me any time it has happened (may be that I am just a really, really slow learner.) So here I am and sense it happening again. A change coming. We are walking away and I'm not sure how to end it. Oh, they probably don't see it as ending. Just life and circumstances changing. Things happen and you move on. I just have trouble with the moving on because that says it is over. I'm not ready to give up, but that doesn't change where I am at. How do you end a friendship that you have invested yourself in? How do end something that is part of you? How do you stop caring? How does it end?