Mother’s Day

On this Mother’s Day, I thought it fitting to honor two women in my life who have helped me become who I am: my mother and my wife.

I found this quote online from Jessica Lange:

“The natural state of motherhood is unselfishness. When you become a mother, you are no longer the center of your own universe. You relinquish that position to your children.”

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/j/jessicalan364785.html

I would take this one step further because what I see in the lives and beings of both of these women is not just unselfishness, but total sacrifice. A willingness to lay down their own interests, their own needs, and even their own feelings for the sake of their children.

God blessed me to be born to a woman who was willing to do that for me and God blessed me to pair me with a wife who would do that for my children. I’m a better dad and man of God because of these two women.

Mom, I love you!

Sweetheart, you’re the best!

Busy people…

“Busy people always have time.” I first heard this sentiment in my mid-20’s and strongly disagreed. I had a full-time job, was an active volunteer in my church, and had a circle of single friends that did activities nearly three to four nights per week. I didn’t have extra time. In fact, I was wondering how I’d ever find time to get the things done that seemed very important to me. 

In the last ten years, I’ve gotten married, had two kids, have a significantly more engaging job, and wonder what happened to all the free time I had then, because certainly I don’t have any extra now. 

Over time, I discovered that the statement is true. Busy people figure out how to use time well. Because of that, they can also make time for new things fairly easily. Once they decide something is important, they figure out how to work it in.

If you’re interested, check out this blog post I wrote a while back with some time management tips.

Introverted Evangelist?

Earlier this year, I wrote about coming to my own self-realization that I am an insecure extrovert here. Well, I just met my match or perhaps my exact opposite.
Over the weekend, I was talking with a friend who is a gifted evangelist. Backstory here, this friend would spend all day talking to non-believers about the Gospel and even confront them about their own choices in ways that I would find challenging. As a pastor whose job is ministering to people, I have to admit I am jealous of his gifts in this area because I’m more comfortable with a relational style of evangelism. Early in my Christian walk, I discounted my own style and wished I could overcome my wiring to be more like this guy. Over the last couple of years though, God has given me peace about who He designed me to be. I now recognize how both styles will bring people to salvation as long as we’re both praying and working that direction.
Anyway, as we were talking, he admitted that he was extremely tired. We had come out of a significant ministry event that had taken lots of preparation so tired was understandable. Yet, internally, I felt pumped. Why the difference?
And then it hit me. As I wrote in my earlier post, my new understanding on introvert/extrovert is that it’s not where you are comfortable, but about how you get refreshed and refueled. For me, three hours in a crowd connecting with hundreds of people was rejuvenating. For him, it wore him out and all he wanted to do was go take a nap. I realized the opposite implication would apply to him, if he was an introvert, he would need regular times of refreshing to be alone, in between the times he’s engaged in the ministry of evangelism that God has called him to.
Prior to this realization, I would have assumed all evangelists were extroverted. Of course, if that were true, then who would reach the introverts?
Have you determined whether you’re an introvert or extrovert? It can be a valuable revelation.