Welcome to the March 31st edition of Faith & Life Lessons.
You will see this email full of tidbits from my week. My goal is simple. I hope that from how I live my life, you can find a thing or two that helps you as you try to live a life that matters. I am always trying to do one thing - make Christ-focused decisions in love, work, and life. And this was my week.
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The Story of My Week
Happy Easter.
It's interesting the things not noticed when life is lived within a self-contained group.
As part of Easter celebrations, we and a group of other families agreed to go out for lunch.
We selected a restaurant because of its kid-friendly set-up with a defined play area for the kids. Yes, all the married ones amongst us had young kids who were always ready to play.
On Saturday, one of us called the restaurant only to realise it was closed.
So, after church on Sunday, a bit of brainstorming later, a new restaurant was decided upon.
Turns out the restaurant was also closed. We didn't know until we got there. Fortunately, the restaurant is part of a two-series chain next to each other and the other one was open.
We got there and our group was the main traffic for the afternoon.
It was then I remembered. In a predominantly Muslim country, the fasting season affects the food businesses significantly.
Having most of the restaurant to ourselves was very helpful for our kids who could play around without disturbing any other guests.
Truth be told, this situation made the restaurant a better experience than what the initial one we had chosen would have been.
When things go wrong, they might actually be turning out better in a way you may never have thought.
Enjoy the ride.
Things I Learnt
1 - Laziness in the Soul: A few months ago, while speaking with my spiritual director, I told him that I was not consistent in my spiritual disciplines.
My solution was that I expected my schedule to free up soon and I should be able to return to regular programming.
Fast forward, the schedule freed up but I didn't pick up on my disciplines.
During the week, I told my spiritual director that it was not a problem with my schedule, rather it was a problem of laziness.
Simple and plain.
Now I have to set myself up to make it easier to win against laziness.
No more excuses.
2 - Small Practices That Add to an Identity: On Friday, we had lunch with another family from the church at their home.
After about 4 hours, our conversation went into how each couple met before getting married.
When we told our story, I mentioned a comment that my wife made during our first date.
We were eating at a Chinese restaurant and throughout, I did not pick up my phone.
Later on, my wife realised there was nothing secret about not picking up my phone.
This was formed from a decision I had made years ago. The person from far away (on the phone) will not interrupt my time with the person in front of me.
It was then that our host remarked that he noticed that I hadn't picked up my phone since I had been at their house.
An on-the-spot confirmation of an interesting practice that had become part of my identity.
Small practices kept consistently multiply to form a character.
Postscript
May you consistently practice the small habits that serve you to become a better person. Amen.
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Tola - The Everyday Disciple
I help Christians like you who want to live intentional lives incorporate their faith into everyday life so they can make Christ focused decisions in all areas of life and truly live to make an impact and make God happy.
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