Let There Be One

For thirty-one years I started my work-day walking into a classroom anticipating what the day would hold. I would visualize the students that would be sitting at desks waiting for me to deliver the lesson for the day or hoping I wouldn’t. As the school year progressed, I could see each student in their desks before they arrived. I knew which ones would need some extra help, which ones would need extra attention, which ones would be an extra challenge to keep in the room. I could picture the class before they arrived and when I prayed each morning and I could visualize each individual student. I generally knew what to expect and could pray accordingly.

20 Things I Learned Looking for a Church

Recently my wife and I spent several months visiting area churches looking for a place to call home. The process was interesting and eye-opening in both good and not-so-good ways. It was also refreshing and agonizing. I learned things about myself and I learned things about the church. Some things were reinforced from longtime observations, some were reminders of what I already knew, and some things I learned were new.  Mostly I was reminded that there is no perfect church because the church is made of a lot of imperfect people and if I ever joined a perfect church I would immediately ruin its perfection. Take the observations for what they are worth. Maybe they will help you look at your own church differently, but maybe not. Maybe it will just make you look at me differently.

No Free Tickets

I keep getting calls from resorts letting me know that I have been “specially chosen” to receive free tickets to some exotic location where I will be pampered and treated like royalty. All I need to do is talk to a representative and make arrangements and I will be off to a vacation paradise. Of course, it is never quite that easy. There is always some fine print to deal with, a high-pressure sales presentation, follow up phone calls, and limited availability on dates, locations, airlines, airports, etc. By the time you jump through all the hoops, it ends up being more trouble than it is worth and “free” never really means free.