Odd, Ends and a special honor.

Good evening!

It is Sunday afternoon and the weekend has been full! First, I have to discuss what is on the forefront of most all of our minds (or it should be, at least!), the Cowboys! Although upsetting that they lost, it is pre-season and they are feeling everyone out. But it was good to see them on the field on a screen near me! Oh the joy football brings me!

Not a whole lot to share....it was an exhausting weekend. The loneliness birds continue to hover about me, but I am not distressed.

An interesting story.
Today I went to a different church than I normally do because I was going to meet a friend so I needed to go to an earlier service. It was a small church using an elementary school to build their sanctuary. I walked in and everyone had the typical "welcome to the best place on earth" Christian face as I was greeted every 5 paces. (and no, I am not being cynical! They DID have the super happy face you only find in churches!) As everyone is standing around sipping their complimentary coffee and feasting on the donuts the church has provided, I flip through the program. "Jonah", it reads. WOW! What a coincidence! At my church, they just got done teaching an AMAZING series about Jonah! The pastor did such a great job with it, I bought the CD's! That is interesting they are teaching on it here too!
A man in his early 30's, bald, wearing a long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up to reveal his fully tattooed right arm gets up to the mic and says, "would you stand with me."
After the music is over, a man comes up from behind the stage, as if out of the dark. His presence is somber. His eyes are compassionate, shoulders somewhat slumped and he leans over the podium. "I am glad to be back home, family. I was at our sister church last week and I got to speak in three services with over 800 people in each service. It was cool. I look forward to a day when we will be reaching as many." I look at the row in front of me. "1-2-3..." I count there are 5 chairs per row, and there are 6 rows on my side, 7 on the other. I conclude there are about 60 people in the room.
Expectant to hear another great lesson on Jonah, I am left somewhat....uh..no...totally...confused?!?
His entire lesson was spoken out of SUCH a somber demeanor. I lost count how many times hes asked, "who haven't you forgiven?" after 34. He is not even half way through the sermon and the tattooed guy comes out and hits the keys with the, "come to the altar" music we all know. I was like, "how can it be that out of the 4 chapters in Jonah, all he got to teach of it was that Jonah was angry with God and had unforgiveness, and we shouldn't be like that?" WOW!
All of this to say this.
It is not my place to be "rating" sermons. That is not what it is about. I just find it very interesting that in my first visit to that church (which, by the way, I found out has been there an entire year) I could here how dis-content the pastor was. So much to a point that I felt he took a story that has SO many theological learning lessons and made it one sad, sad point.

I started thinking about how there are times in my life that I make things into what they are not, just because of my own skewed mindset. I don't know what is going on in that pastor's life. I can only imagine....they pay such a HIGH price to stand on a pulpit and put their lives out there. However, it really challenged me to check myself. What am I pulling out of conversations with friends and families because my attitude is skewed? What am I hearing or NOT hearing? How is my attitude towards obstacles and opportunities being impacted because of it?

Just some questions that arose today after my "church with the somber pastor" experience.

Now, before I close out this blog, I would be remiss not to mention that today was the birthday of a VERY incredible man in my life. You all might think this strange, but I don't. He has known me most all of my life and I have and will always see him as my "other dad". Though I am saddened that I could not be there to give you a great big hug on your big day or see your eyes well up with tears because of your incredible gratitude, I thought of you today. You are a man with such a gentle spirit and you will forever be in my heart as one of the best men I know. I can only hope that the generations that follow mine will have an ounce of the heart you have! Not a day goes by that I don't think about the kindness and love you have always shown to so many people. You are, to me, a beautiful man! I love you, Dad! Happy Birthday!!!