This weekend, my family and I were at a restaurant when my four-year-old started having a meltdown at the table because she couldn’t cut her sausage. I recognized that it had the potential of becoming a prolonged cry-fest, so I went over, picked her up, and took her over by the bar, where there were fewer people.
It’s so hard for some of us to say no. But saying no is one of the most self-respecting things we can do. We can’t be available to everyone; we can’t say yes to every need; we can’t show up for every invitation.
One day when I was in seventh grade, I was playing out in the rain when a pickup truck screeched to a halt just a few yards away. Corey Parrott jumped out of the passenger’s side. I froze.
I got on Facebook one day last year and noticed that an acquaintance had posted a rant about a sensitive social issue. I was a little surprised – the status update, which was sure to offend a significant portion of the population, seemed unnecessarily caustic and over-the-top.
Last July, my wife requested that we meet about our finances before the end of summer. I wasn’t particularly inspired — I don’t like to talk about finances because crunching numbers and talking investment were never my strong suit. But September was a couple of months away, so I said yes to appease her.
If you follow this blog on Facebook, you already know that this past weekend, I had a conversation with Mrs. Saucier, the inspiring fifth-grade teacher featured in my recent post, “If Jesus Were a Fifth Grade Teacher.” Here’s the story of how it happened (from the Facebook post) . . .
I used to enjoy seeing my old college friend in my Facebook news feed – but then she had her baby boy. From the moment that child entered the world, his image littered my news feed multiple times every day.
All I wanted to do was vote in peace. Not this Election Day. It all started when my wife went to the bathroom while I waited in line with a few hundred other people to vote. The poll worker came out and appeared to split the line in two – or something – I couldn’t tell, because I was just trying to keep an eye on my two daughters who were playing on the lawn.
My wife and I recently had one of those unpleasant, conflict-related experiences which are fun to laugh about later, but are not at all funny at the moment. I’m not actually sure we’re at the laughing stage yet, but as a therapeutic measure, I’m going to go ahead and tell the story (yes, I have my wife’s permission).
Most people don’t deal with rejection very well, and it’s remarkable how avoiding rejection seems to be the great motivator for so many throughout their entire lives. The fear of being deemed less worthy inspires career choices, marriage proposals, name changes, pregnancies, criminal activity, and a whole host of other, dramatic life choices.
One time, I told my friend Steve that I was going to ask God to humble me. Steve said, “I wouldn’t do that. Scripture says to humble yourself. You don’t want God to have to do it.” Along that vein, about a year ago, I embarked on a self-imposed, humbling journey in self-discovery in which I did interviews with five different people, asking questions that elicited mostly-negative responses about ways I could improve my impact on others.
Joshua Rogers 