Stuff I Learned Yesterday Golden Spiral Media

In my family, we have a generational heritage of working on cars. Well, except for my brother. He has no interest in working on cars and has asked me why I do it. He’s been known to buy a car without ever popping the hood to see what the engine bay looks like. It’s okay. He has skills in other areas, so I’ll give him some grace on that. For me, it seems like part of my DNA. I love the satisfaction I get from taking on a new challenge, pushing myself to learn a new kind of repair, taking that post-repair test drive...

So I set aside time every day to pray. While I had no idea where I would end up, God did. While I had no idea what the makeup of my team would be, God did. While I had no idea whether or not I’d take over a new store or an existing store, God did. As I prayed, I asked God to shape me into the leader that my future team would need. I asked him to help me be humble, learn from Sammy the skills I would need, and prepare me for what lay ahead. I prayed for my team. I asked God to help prepare them. I asked him to work in their hearts to give them an attitude of humility and a desire to learn. I asked God to bless them and prepare them for the future we would have together. 

I thought the New Kids were amazing. Girls liked the New Kids because they were cute, I liked the New Kids because they were cool. I heard someone once say that girls want to be with the New Kids, and guys want to be the New Kids. That was certainly true for me. I bought magazines of them and hung their pictures on my wall. I studied their wardrobe and tried to find clothes that looked like them. One time while in Walmart I saw a poster of Jordan that I liked. I asked my dad if he would buy the Jordan poster for me. I still remember the look of disappointment on his face when it turned out to be a poster of Jordan Knight instead of Michael Jordan. He didn’t buy me the poster.

Making the world a better place doesn’t just happen from stages in front of crowds of strangers. Whether it’s your family, co-workers, colleagues, or a room full of total strangers, you have an opportunity before you. That opportunity is one that allows you to communicate love and encouragement, truth and compassion, kindness and generosity. Look around you, ponder, and consider how you might be able to make the world better for even just one person this week. We can all be world changers, and even if it’s only for the world of one, it’s worth the effort. 

I've realized that I get most frustrated with my kids when they are making mistakes that I made when I was their age. Sometimes it’s something involving their friends, other times it’s the way they spend their money, and sometimes it’s mistakes I see them making with their boyfriend or girlfriend. It could be any number of mistakes really. When I talk with my wife about it, I usually end up saying, “I remember the time I did that.” I want so much for each of my kids to heed my advice and not make the stupid mistakes I made. I want to spare them the pain.  But I know that’s just not the way we humans operate. To err is human is painfully true.

I think it’s important to make a distinction in believing the Bible is true, and that the Bible should be taken literally. What I mean is, it’s possible to believe that the Bible is inspired by God, written down under inspiration by humans, and therefore, true (or inerrant). It’s also possible to simultaneously believe that the Bible should not be taken literally. Or better said, it’s possible to simultaneously believe the Bible should not always be taken literally. Rather than taking the Bible literally at all times, I would argue that the Bible should be taken as it’s intended.