Foggy Mirrors

I’ve mentioned before that our house is not terribly young. As a result, it is designed much more for function than for form. As a result, the bathrooms are very simple, and not too large. What that basically means is that you get what you need, and nothing more. With the exception of some really nice tile work that a good friend did for us, they are very basic. In the Master Bath, the ceiling is literally about seven feet, and you can pretty much touch both walls at the same time if you stand in the middle of the room. There is only a stand-up shower, a toilet, and a sink. There is a vent, but because the room is so small, if anyone takes a hot shower, the mirror in there still fogs up pretty quickly.

About a year ago, I discovered one trick to kind of help with that. We have a little tower fan that stands about eighteen inches high, and we have a little towel rack/shelf combo on the wall perpendicular to the mirror. If we run the fan pointed directly at the mirror while we shower, as well as running the vent, we have no fog, and can see when we get out. However, if you forget to turn on the tower fan, it still takes awhile to de-fog after the steamy shower. Just goes to show that a little preparation goes along way.

I tend to see the world in a way that shows me even little applications that relate back to Biblical principles. I believe it is a blessing that God gives me. Unless it’s one of those times I’m smacked in the head about how I’m doing it wrong. Then I don’t like it so much.

There are definitely things that happen in life that we don’t see coming. If we live every day expecting tragedy and heartache, then we miss out on the abundant life that is available for followers of Christ, as He told us in John 10:10. However, since we also know that things come out of the blue, there are some things we can do in a general sense that will help. As the old saying goes, “An ounce of prevention is worth an apple a day.” Or something like that.

If you read the book of Daniel, you get a glimpse of a man and his friends who were committed to following God no matter what the consequences were. As it turns out, the consequences were death sentences in more than one of those stories, and yet, God showed up and saved the day. I think you can trace it back to one little verse. Daniel 1:8 says, “But Daniel resolved not to defile himself…” In this context, it was a resolution not to eat the food of the King, which because of the way it was prepared, would have been a direct violation of God’s laws.

However, I believe that goes to a deeper issue than just the food. Having been captured and brought to a place where any and all things of a “worldly” nature would have been made available to Daniel, and none of which would have been honoring to God, Daniel made his decision not to dishonor God, no matter what. The words that we translate as “resolved,” or “Made up his mind” in some translations, are Hebrew words that literally mean “to set, ordain, establish, or determine the inclination, resolution, determination of will, conscience, or heart of moral character.” (See why there are so many English Translations and versions?)

In other words, if you’ll indulge me, Daniel decided that no matter what came his way in this little Babylonian adventure, He would honor God first and foremost--even if it cost him his life. Daniel was making some preparations. The food being offered made it very clear to him that in this place away from home, there would be many things within his reach that appealed to his flesh, but were sinful in God’s eyes. He wanted to Honor God, so he established his spiritual and moral boundaries in anticipation of what could possibly happen. As a result, you can read that Daniel not only stayed faithful to God, but earned respect and audience from, and outlived three different kings in the process.

No, we don’t know what this life will bring, but by now, it should be very obvious to anyone that our culture makes sure we have readily available many worldly things. In a consumer world, if we have the cash, we can have the stash. If we’re willing to pay enough, and look in the right places, we can pretty much get whatever we want. This is NOT a good thing, and if we have not already determined and set the inclinations of our inner heart towards the things of God, we might find ourselves up to our eyeballs in sinful behavior.

Our mirrors will be exposed to the steam of this world. Our decision to be prepared and keep the fan on may be what it takes to keep us from getting covered in a sinful “fog.” The more “foggy” things become, the more difficult to even see your sin issues.

What is your fan? Is it reading the Word of God? Is it remaining active in a faith community at church? Are you praying that you will spot the extra-humid places before it’s too late? Do you have friends that will hold you accountable to your “fan plan?” Whatever you choose to do, do something. Be proactive, and keep your heart set to honor God, no matter what.

A Happy Driver

You can tell a lot about people by the way they drive. For example, you can tell when I’m running late, because I tend to believe that by switching lanes fifteen times, I am actually working my way closer to my destination. It shows that I am someone who needs to work on my time management. I also tend to demonstrate my tendency to “space out” when I’m driving by driving really close to the right side of the lane I’m in. I’m not really sure why that side, but it’s what I do. It shows that I should concentrate on the task at hand a bit more, and not be such a “day dreamer.”

This morning, after dropping off my youngest at his day-care provider, I was waiting to back out of her driveway into the street. I saw one more car coming, and then there was a large gap in the traffic that I was planning on hitting. However, as that particular vehicle was getting closer, they slowed down, and then I saw “the wave” letting me know I could pull out. I took the opportunity, returned “the wave” as a thank you, and went on about my business. (Interesting how one waving motion of the hand can mean so many different unspoken things. But that’s a blog for another day…)

I kept wondering if that lady knew that there was plenty of room behind her and that she didn’t really need to let me go. That’s when it occurred to me that it didn’t really matter whether or not there was space behind her. In her mind, the right thing to do was to let me go. If I was appreciative, then great. If my day was made better--awesome. If not, then it still didn’t hurt her to let me go. She decided to let me go, and she did.

Yes, I may be assuming too much about what went on in my fellow driver’s mind. BUT, since it doesn’t paint her in any negative light, I’m okay doing that. How else will I deliver the astounding truth that jumped out at me all the while this is happening?

You see, there are many times that all of us have great intentions. We decide to eat healthier. We intend to stop the late night snacks. We want to be more patient with our children. The plan is to read our Bibles more. We know that prayer works, and we hope to do it more. These are all good things. But, good intentions alone don’t get us where we need to be.

Sometimes God lays things on our hearts that He wants us to do, and we recognize these with no problem--as long as they are things we consider to be “big” things. Time to change jobs? We listen hard for God. Financial troubles? We are more willing to try new principles for our money. Children having trouble? We pray hard that God will take them away. Just kidding--at least about the taking them away part.

But what about the little things? What if we’re leaving the grocery store, and as we walk through the door, there’s an elderly person coming out behind us, but we’d have to wait an additional five seconds to hold the door? Sometimes God says to wait, but our selfishness tells us we need to hurry. How about while we’re out and about somewhere, and we see that the person walking towards us looks very unhappy? We often follow our natural inclination to keep our eyes forward and away from them, while we ignore that still small voice whispering that we should make eye contact and simply smile.

I have one place where I struggle so very often. It’s here in town, and it’s the place on Independence Blvd. (for those in the know) where the I-264 traffic is merging with the right lane heading towards Baxter road. I never know if I should slow down and let someone in and risk getting plowed in the back by an over-eager driver, or just keep moving and let the lights behind us provide the natural holes for cars to enter.  The truth is, if I plan far enough in advance, I can start slowing down early enough to be safe AND to provide room for several cars to merge. I believe this is the right and courteous thing to do. Yes, it’s a little thing that may go completely unnoticed by the merging drivers, and could be a big inconvenience for three-and-a-half seconds for the cars behind me.

But here’s the deal: as silly as it sounds to some people, I have felt a bit convicted about making that plan every time and letting one or two people merge. Like I said before, you can tell a lot about the way a person drives, and I want people to be able to tell I’m a friendly driver. Friendly is one aspect of love, and if I want to truly follow God love my neighbor as myself (Leviticus 19:18, Matthew 22:39), then I need to be willing to extend to others the same courtesies that I would appreciate.

More than once in my life, my day has been lifted by someone smiling at me, holding a door for me, or simply slowing down to let me back my car safely onto the street. Just like little things can become big things in a negative way, they can have equal impact in a positive way. Many, many times it doesn’t even cost us anything but mere seconds, or slight muscle contraction in our cheeks to make a difference for someone else. But even if it did--would we be willing? (John 15:13. Check it out.)

What kind of “driver” are you? Even when you’re not in the car, what can people tell about you by the way you handle the little things in life?

A Life-Lesson From "24"

My wife and I have totally gotten into the show “24.” Yes, we know we’re about nine years late, but we never got into it while it was on TV in the first place. We bought the DVD set for season one after several recommendations, and we got hooked right away.

Agent Jack Bauer is a pretty tough guy with a soft spot for his family. Many of you have already seen all of this, but for those that haven’t, here’s a quick summary of what is happening. The series follows a day-in-the-life of Special Agent Jack Bauer who works for the Counter Terrorism Unit of the United States. (CTU, for those in the know.) At midnight, CTU gets a tip that a Presidential Candidate is the target of a terrorist organization, and gets to work. Meanwhile, Jack’s Daughter and eventually wife get kidnapped by the same group, forcing Jack to do some things they want in order to keep them safe. However, while some things Jack does are outside of his orders, and even against the law, He does his very best to maintain His integrity and follow through with his original assignment to keep the Candidate Safe.

Meanwhile, on the Campaign Trail, Senator David Palmer (the aforementioned candidate) is faced with several integrity issues of his own. He discovers his son was involved in an accident seven years ago, and his wife and kids have kept it from him. Several of his high-paying campaign donors are also involved in keeping some damaging information about this accident away from the media because they really want him in office. In order to keep it quiet, they do some things that are illegal as well. As it turns out Senator Palmer goes public himself with all of this, in spite of what it may do to his career as a politician.

We are exactly one episode away from finishing this first season, and so far, I’ve really related to both of these men. Not, because I’m a tough guy, and certainly not because of my love of politics, but because I see two men who love their family, are doing the best they can to do their jobs well, and they are trying very hard to maintain a life of integrity. This is who I want to be. I WANT to be a good husband and father. I WANT to do my job well, and I WANT to maintain a life of integrity.

I will be the first to admit that I do act selfishly. I’m not immune to that. But I would like to believe that once I realize what I’m doing, I take steps to correct the problem, and even apologize to those who have been slighted or hurt by what I’ve done. I’ve had to apologize to my wife and children on more than one occasion. I hope that what I’ve taught my boys is not that living a perfect life is what I expect from them, but rather that they do their best to live according to what is Right, and when they do make mistakes to own up to them and to accept responsibility for their actions.

Unfortunately, in the world today there are many people who don’t really care about integrity. They do what they want to do, and have little or no regard for the possible consequences. They don’t consider how their actions could negatively (or even positively) affect others, it’s all centered around self. Instead of taking responsibility, they look for someone else to blame, or make excuses and dismiss their mistakes. I see too many students adopting this lifestyle, and it scares me. What scares me more is that in some cases, the folks we depend on to hold people accountable for their actions are also those who have a philosophy that excuses and enables this lack of integrity. Eventually, no one will be held accountable for what they’ve done, and all you will need is a good excuse to dismiss your wrong-doing.

Could I be over stating or taking this a bit too dramatically? I actually hope so, because then none of what I fear will come to bear. But why take chances? If more people lived a life of integrity, it would not eradicate conflict. There would still be disagreements, but the way these are settled would certainly be more civil and not so prone to harmful outcomes. If we all took a bit more time to think about how each of our options will affect others, I believe there would be a drastic, noticeable change in our society, and that it would happen quickly.

While all of Jack Bauer’s plans have not been perfect, and he is not without his faults, at least he appears to be trying to do the right thing in the whacked-out circumstances he’s facing. That, I believe, is what seems to keep him going, has earned him quite a few supporters, and is an admirable quality. I can’t say the same for that surprise traitor...