Our internet service was down for a couple of days and I couldn't blog (or attend my University of Phoenix online class). I kept thinking it would come back on, so I didn't head for the mall and free wi-fi... but this morning when I got up and it was STILL off, I started to pack up the laptop. Then it came back on.
My fingers were bruised and sore, but not as badly as I'd feared. It's weird how the littlest cut or scrape ends up making a humongous ugly scar, while a bone-crunching whack can have almost no effect at all.
We spent yesterday evening at the home of our pastor & his family. They live on a small acreage and have chickens and barn cats and vegetable gardens and lots of room to run and play. They grilled hamburgers and made homemade ice cream, and the weather was simply idyllic. The kids had a blast playing together and the grownups kicked back and yakked for several hours. They are totally decent, honest people and I'm glad they're leading my church. I never have trouble being led by any authority figure that I respect, even if I don't always agree with them. At a totally basic level, I'm only a leader when I sense a leadership vacuum... otherwise I'm a great follower (with frequent forays off on my own, not leading OR following, just wandering around). A man's family is one key indicator of integrity -- and that family seems to be rock-solid.
A question was brought up to me some time ago about how complimentary I've been of my church and the people I work with there... specifically, what if I were to suddenly get mad at someone there? Would I then spend time on my blog ripping them apart? The answer to that is categorically NO. That's just not my style. I've had personal issues with lots of people over the past number of months, but you haven't read about them here on my blog.
One reason for that is that tearing people down is not my policy. I see no purpose in expending anger by tearing someone down... it does not solve the problem, but only adds to it.
A caveat to this -- if it's someone in the news that I don't know personally and who has done or is doing something worthy of reproach or reproof, I'll probably be unflinching in my appraisals. I can judge behaviors -- so can you, so can anyone. It's incumbent upon us as rational individuals to weigh matters for ourselves. I will fearlessly tell you that I think Senator Tom Harkin is a sleazy politician bordering on lunacy, for example. But you can read about him and come to that same conclusion because he's a public figure whose record stands available for judgement, and by sharing our opinions, we can effect change in political leadership. I would never say the same thing about someone at my church because (1)you likely don't know who I'm talking about, so it would just be vicious and (2)that's not the way to bring about change within a church.
I am totally aware that my church is not perfect, nor are the people in it perfect, nor is its leadership perfect. I'm still very happy there and believe it's a place where my family and I can grow and become the people God wants us to be.
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