I was recently listening to a podcast with Carey Nieuwhof and Barnabas Piper when the word “doubt” came into the conversation. Barnabas said something that really impacted me as a leader: “There are different levels of doubt.”
I have been in a lot of emotional conversations lately. The people I have been meeting with are really emotional about their position, their situation, and their story. I love emotional people. I can relate to them; I am one of them. I am pretty sure that with the right motivation I could even create an emotional argument about the type of paper that is best for the Sunday bulletin.
This week we started a brand new message series in worship. I can’t tell you the last time I was this excited about starting a new message series. I am giddy with anticipation of giving the community one important message: The real work of God happens outside of the church.
Last weekend Karen left the nest so that she could go to visit her brother’s growing family. It was a great trip for her, and there was nowhere else in the entire world I wanted her to be. The problem is that when momma is gone the house goes crazy
When I first got married to Karen, I would run the moment she started to cry. If there was one tear rolling down her face, I was giving in and doing whatever I could to make her feel better. Early in my Army career I would do the same thing, except it would look as if I was not speaking up for something that I knew needed to be done.
I pride myself on being able to relate to people. I work hard at being authentic and showing up in a way that honors who God is calling me to be. It just so happened that I was taking questions at an event the other day and I failed miserably at relating.
I need to let you know something: You have unspoken agreements, all of us do. Unspoken agreements are behaviors or actions that we adhere to without giving them verbal permission to be in our lives.
I just finished another year of coaching t-ball. Caleb was an absolute stud on the field, and it was clear that watching his brother helped him grow into a great t-ball player. As a team we improved as well. The boys learned how to be better hitters, how to scoop the ball with the glove, and some of them even found first base! (It was a miracle, trust me.)
So many of us get caught in the rut of life that the opportunity for fun is missed or, even worse, intentionally forgotten. Relationships need fun, awe, and unity in order to survive.
The more I wrestled with this, the more I thought about it in my own life. What has caused me to change? I’ve never changed for someone screaming at me from the corner. I’ve never changed because someone waived a Bible at me and told me I was wrong. I’ve never changed because of a rant on Facebook.