Welcome to the April 20th 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.
Our family spent the weekend at our favourite resort.
One of the things we like about it is that it is full board. This means we don’t have to bother about what to eat.
We simply show up and pick from the buffet assortment in front of us.
While we were there, some of the other guests had their birthdays.
On one of the nights at dinner, a kid at one of the other tables was having his birthday. The restaurant staff came in with his cake singing Happy Birthday for him.
One of our kids left our table to go and join the family. I don’t try to curtail the sense of adventure in our kids but I thought he didn’t need to go.
At some point, I called out to him to come back.
He did come back.
Something surprising happened.
The boy's mum brought us part of the birthday cake. She said she was really touched by his coming over to share in the birthday fun with them.
I thought about why I didn’t want him to go initially. Eventually, my mind went back to my growing-up years. Our parents didn’t want us to show up at an event we were not invited to. It was one way of teaching us not to long for meals at other people’s tables.
My son, on the other hand, had a knack for wanting to bring the joy bomb whenever he could.
Once upon a time, when we lived in Spain, while on a train, he went and hugged someone he had not met before. The lady was stunned and touched.
Much later, my wife went to a cooking training and was surprised when one of the organisers there said she thought they had met before.
It turns out that she was the lady on the train. She was a religious sister in the Catholic order running the training. She said she felt so happy that day from the heartfelt hug that our son gave her.
This is one of the reasons I try not to bring the practices of my upbringing into how I raise my kids.
They are different and come with their own gifts. And must be nurtured to the highest expressions of those gifts.
Things I Learnt
1 - The Simple is Sometimes Too Simple: During the week, I shared an old article I wrote some while ago to explain how Jesus was able to make the “3 days and 3 nights” in the grave.
Using simple scriptural references, I gave a conclusion on the possible correct day of Jesus’ crucifixion. You can read it here.
Guess what? Someone responded to me and presented something convoluted and complicated.
Man…simplicity is not easy for everyone to accept.
And I accept that, too.
So, I have learned to let that go.
When people can’t accept a simple reason or method and they want something more mysterious or complicated.
Don’t fight that tide.
I am not.
2- When Reality Hurts: Someone reached out to me during the week. He had made a presentation where he clearly articulated the below-par performance that the team was in.
Some members of his team did not like that. According to them, it made them look bad.
The problem is - they were that bad. But they wanted to look good.
People struggle with reality.
Unless you learn to accept how bad you are, you will struggle to become the best you can be.
In the warning words of Demosthenes, “The easiest thing of all is to deceive one's self; for what a man wishes he generally believes to be true.”
Beware
Postscript
May you live with clear eyes to see your limitations without deceiving yourself. 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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