A Difference

I was asked (by my wife), "Whose life do you want to make a difference in?"

Easy Answer: Yours, Honey
Selfish Answer: My own

But what's the right answer? I'm afraid to think about how many opportunities I miss to impact someone's life in a positive way.

There's no particular challenge to this... nothing I'm going to start immediately doing differently. I'm just going to think about it for a day or so.

Whose life do you want to make a difference in?

I Win, I Win, I Win!

Thanks Jill for choosing me to win your contest!

I wear the shirt with pride.


dsiclaimer: there was no alcohol consumed before or during the taking of this picture or creation of this post.

Surprise Daddy, I love you!

Wife has the flu, so I'm taking care of the kids solo. Since I have four, I've got a little bit of experience and it's not that big of a deal. But I wasn't ready for the gift my nearly 2 year old daughter gave me tonight.

I checked on Janey, then started cooking dinner. Had it going, went to get Elsie up from her nap. I decided not to change her wet diaper at that moment because the Red Beans and Rice needed attention. When dinner was finished cooking, I told the boys it was time to turn off the video games and put the books down... Dinner time!

I then thought, "I'll go ahead andd change her diaper real quick before dinner."

I said, "Elsie, get a diaper and lay down." Amazingly, she did.

The next thing anyone heard me say, besides "ewwwwwwwww" was, "Jonnie- get me something!" Jonathan said, "What?"

"I don't know... anything. kleenex... paper towel, anything!"

He grabbed the nearest box of kleenex and dropped it about 3 feet out of my reach then slid it over to me.

You see, what he saw was Elsie's Surprise Dirty Diaper she left for me. It was stealthily without smell. Or at least it was until I opened it up and noticed what was a saturated diaper with a ... I'll stop describing it. It was gross.


So that's how I ended up in the middle of the living room floor holding a two year-old's feet in the air while gagging and asking my 8 year old for help.

Which War?

This is a classic, "oops, I didn't mean to call you old" story. And its short, so you don't have to worry about your short attention span or the fact that you're old and bladder can't handle more than 5 minutes without running to the bathroom, because, well, we're older than we think.

During a meeting tonight someone asked me what I did prior to working for my current employer. I said I spent ten years and one day in the Army serving as an officer.

Guy Who Can't Do Math or Estimate Ages (Guy)- "Oh really, my brother's in right now. He's a Captain."

Me- "That's great. Does he love it?"

Guy- "were you.. uhh, did you go play in the sandbox?" (trying to use military slang he picked up from his brother)

Me- "Yes, I spent a year in Iraq."

Guy- "The first or the second?"

Me (thinking he is talking about some unofficial numbering system for the early rotations through Iraq OIF 1, OIF 2, OIF 3, etc but still going to ask a clarifying question- "first?"

Guy (kidding because he's actually a really nice guy)- "Well, if you woulda done your job right in 91 my brother wouldn't have to be there now!"

Me (Laughing)- "I spent ten years in, but just got out 2 years ago. I was in high school during the Gulf War."

Guy- "..."

Me- "..."

Guy- "... I guess I'm a few years older than you, huh?"


Ugggh- I'm old.

on an unrelated note, its been almost another full year since I left the Army- time for my Army Anniversary Run. This may turn into a tradition.

Alright- go to the bathroom- I know you need to.

Decisions

I make poor decisions all the time. Selfishness and laziness are two reasons I decide to do what I do. I decide to stay up and watch another TV show instead of going to bed; I surf Facebook instead of working in the garage; I drink a beer and watch the sunset instead of doing the dishes. Nothing huge, just not the smartest things to do.

---break---

A single event is a data point. Repeat that event? You get a line. Do it a third time and what do you get? You've established a trend. The 473rd time? A trend over a long period of time. I have a trend of following God. I always seem to turn back to him. That turning back is the part I want to stop. I want to make it so that I don't HAVE to turn back to God and live my life in such a way that I don't turn away in the first place.

---unbreak---

So, I was doing that most dangerous activity the other day- thinking. And I thought- "Hey, Seth. That Fireproof movie got a lot of good reviews. It doesn't apply to me though." It really doesn't. I have a great marriage. And then I thought, "Hey Seth. What about your God? How're things going with Him?" Uhhhh. Yeah. So I thought about the concept put forth in the movie (although I have not seen it) and thought about my on again/ off again relationship with God and thought 9yes, once again, "Hey Seth. Why don't you give God a 'Trust Dare'?"

What a strange thought. What if I, Below-Average-Christian, trusted God completely with every decision I made for 40 days? What a horrifyingly scary thought. I touched my toe in the water today and realized I make a LOT of decisions each day.

Go to lunch? Chek out the news online? Have that tough conversation at work or put it off for another day? Do the dishes now? Get up early and read my bible? play a little longer with the kids? Grab a coffee on the way to work?

I will start fully tomorrow. I will begin my day with prayer, asking God to help me to remember to consider Him in my decsions throughout the day; thanking him for taking his time to pay attention to one such as me; and asking him to guide my choices. I will finish up my night with a prayer as well. And the time between those two prayers? Also filled with prayers.

I'll keep a little log of how I do here. It'll be interesting to see if I can be as honest with you as I should be with myself.

You're not from around here, are you?

Oh, where am I going with THIS? I haven't been from "around here" in a little over 12 years. The funny thing about living in so many different states is that I have only rarely been asked that question.

Normally, the question is worded this way: "Where are you from originally?" That means something different. The asker is interested in the subjects roots. Its a question directed at a person with the point of finding out about them.

But when someone states "You're not from around here, are you?" They aren't interested in the least about your roots. They are stating that your roots are different from theirs. Not just your roots, but your values are based on different experiences than those "from around here".

Someone I work with (with whom I haven't always had the smoothest relationship) asked me this question once. We were in the midst of a philosophical discussion about maintenance. When he asked this question, his point was that I wouldn't and couldn't understand because I do not possess the shared experiences of those who are from here. That's too harsh. He wasn't saying that I couldn't understand. He was saying that I don't and it took some explaining and a historical discussion of why certain sawmills failed ("I thought EVERYONE knew that it closed in 1983 because of ...") and closed for me to understand his point.

What's the point? A lot goes into good communication. Besides words, voice inflection, and body language, you need to consider assumptions based on past events. Misunderstanding happen that easily.

Wordless Wednesday: Stuck