Conversation Preparation

I was thinking about this on a walk last year
I can go for hours without ever speaking, yet still communicating
that just promotes my behavior of living in this surreal reality dictated entirely by my expectations
where I’m never surprised
and it makes it easy to withdraw into myself
or step back from reality while “I” keep doing whatever it is that I’m doing
but it sucks
so I started talking to myself (on my walk)
And I talked aloud, because I hadn’t for so long that day

I wish I was saying this, rather than typing it
it gives you practice for actual social interaction
where you can’t edit yourself
I like to edit myself
I do it all the time
with almost everything I write
but that’s poor preparation for a conversation
you need the real talking to get better at not needing to edit yourself

that is a good point
and it’s beautifully written
I loved that line
“poor preparation for a conversation”
it rings with awesomeness
and I didn’t have to edit it

Insecurity

There is nothing like asking a girl out to realize how insecure you are.

Or rather, how insecure I am.

Just Worry Less

Apparently, my blog has a theme:

From http://www.wordle.net/

Inspired by Jenny.

Don’t Worry, You Have No Control

From JT:

The Paradox of Important but Impossible Tasks in Ministry

“The most important things we want to do in ministry are the things we are absolutely powerless to do. And that ought to be the most freeing thing in your life.”

—Kevin DeYoung, speaking at NEXT (audio clip here).

HT: GirlTalk

Here’s the situation: Something is uncontrollable, you are given the opportunity to worry about it.

The typical response is “don’t worry about it, you can’t do anything about it.” This is unsatisfying, because regardless of your influence, you still care about the outcome. The worry (and thus bondage, to contrast with the quote) comes from concern, and unless that concern is eliminated, there will be cause for anxiety.

The true reliever of anxiety is found in the sovereignty of God, coupled with His promises of good for those who love Him. Apart from that, you ought to worry.

Let’s Be Vulnerable

Molly Piper seems to be one of the most vulnerable bloggers out there. She’s gone through a terrible loss and writes about it. And people hear her. They resonate with the pain she feels. Empathy draws people in so powerfully. She’s written about vulnerability before also, and her authenticity is obvious.

But it’s also clear that she doesn’t complain. She voices frustrations and pain, but in a way that isn’t seeking pity or comfort. It’s revealing and messy, but not degrading or depressing. It leaves a taste of hope in your heart, that things will get better, either in this life or the next. That God is faithful and is working everything for the good of those who love Him. Even the hardest things.

I don’t mention Molly to puff her up, but to hold her up as an example to follow. Let’s draw others in like that. Let’s speak truly about our struggles, our weaknesses, and be encouraged by each other toward Christ. Let’s invite others into our lives to bring about healing and help one another through the good, bad and ugly.

Let’s be vulnerable.

A Concise Statement On Meditation

@ScottJIsAOk:

Substantial thought on a subject is most helpful if it is communicated. Individual implementation is less effective in the relational realm.

 

Thoughts About Heaven

I was reading the fighter verse blog and was struck by the Rev 7 passage Johnathon referenced. It got me thinking about heaven.

Sometimes I get worried that I won’t enjoy heaven, that it’ll be boring or not what I want. This passage says Jesus will shelter us with His presence? How can a presence shelter us? By doing the things John writes next. It removes all my concern that we will not like serving him day and night before the throne, because He will be our Shepherd, guiding us to streams of living water and God will wipe every tear from our eyes. In his presence there are pleasures forevermore!

Let us not forget that heaven would be hell if Jesus wasn’t there!

Social Media: Twitter

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about social media. Questions like “What role should twitter play in my day to day life?” and “What is appropriate to blog about?” and “What information should I share on my Facebook profile?” just beg to be answered (if you’re me). So I thought I’d give it a shot. Lets start with…

Twitter
Lets start small. Like 140 characters small. At first, I had no idea how to use Twitter.

But after a while, you start to understand that Twitter is so much more than a status update. It’s a conversation. Or it’s a place to ask questions. Or it’s a place to keep current on a cool movie. I hear the search is really useful.

I like to use it for those thoughts that are too short to blog about. And as a giant chat room. You can follow me if you want.

Of course Twitter has it’s drawbacks, but I’ll save all the social media negatives for one post. That way you will only see the bad stuff once, and it’ll seem less important. Kind of like how a kid would choose 10 pennies over 4 quarters. So I’m manipulating you, like I would a child.

Next I’ll do blogging. Stay tuned!

Community – Fear Of Man

Fear of failure.
Fear of looking foolish.
Fear of looking less than perfect.

Fear of rejection.
Fear of others judging me.
Fear of not impressing others.

Fear of not looking extraordinary.

My fears are silly. It’s all about my ego. When it comes to living in community, I need to get out of the way.

Community – Putting On A Communication Face

A friend posted about Community. Read it for the context of this post.

I have thought about this too! My opinion: it’s easier to write than speak. It gives every party time to think through their response, to phrase and rephrase things to their liking, eventually submitting some comment that reveals their best and wisest face. I even did it while writing the previous sentence (and this one).

Writing allows our thoughts to be refined and precise. The issue is, people aren’t like that. People are rough, flawed, fallen. To present our thoughts in a pristine, beautiful form has great value, but it loses some of our character. We don’t get to interact with the messy side of people. And the messy side is big deal.

Dealing with imperfect people also allows for closer fellowship. Understanding and copping with others’ flaws helps me know them, love them, be gracious with them, in spite of the difficulties. And not only do I know them, but they get to know me! My sin gets stirred up when someone aggravates me. I have tons of flaws, more than enough to go around. Yet through it all, community can survive, even flourish!

None of this really addresses how to reach out to that neighbor, coworker, or friend of a friend. But it starts the discussion. I’ll save those thoughts for a future post.

(p.s. I am looking for folks to run with, so hit me up if you’re interested)