Dealing with humans

Matt Conner writes for Relevant Magazine about a lesson he was taught in the grocery check out line about relationships and dealings with humans.

I mentioned the self-checkout lines, asking when they planned on getting them fixed and that I missed them, as if they were some ex-girlfriend who had left me recently. The guy in front of me shrugged and turned and simply said, “I prefer to deal with humans.”
We all have a trade or vocation. I am a pastor. My currency is relationships. My clientele is humanity. Business is good, so to speak, when I am highly involved with the lives of the people around me. And it was the unkempt, lazy-eyed man in front of me who is better at my job than I am.

E-mail and text messaging are my preferred means of communication. They’re fast, they’re easy and they’re on my time schedule – not anyone else’s. But lately I’ve heard some backlash about text messaging from friends. They get annoyed by prayer requests sent over an electronic cell phone. I don’t think it’s the prayer request themselves – it’s the medium they’re conveyed. They’d rather me or someone else pick up the phone and share them. Why text messages differ from e-mails I’m not sure. But either way I still think there’s a desire to deal with humans than a cell phone, computer or other machine.
We (I) must work harder at building those relationships. We’ve got to get down and get our hands dirty in relationships. Stop and answer a phone call. Stop and visit a friend.
While our society has never been more connected we’ve also never been more disconnected on a personal level.

More props

Since I’ve been dropping a couple props today I figured I don’t want to leave anyone out.
Here are a couple more things I’m enjoying as of late thanks to great friends and family:

  1. Two new dress shirts for work (Thanks to Mom, Dad and my grandparents)
  2. A new bluetooth headset for my cell phone (Also thanks to Mom, Dad and my grandparents)
  3. A great framed photo of my sister and I from her wedding (Thanks to Kara)
  4. A four pack of Monster drinks to get me going in the morning (Thanks to Jose and Sally)

I mean seriously I have some great friends and family. And that doesn’t include all the wedding gifts we got on Saturday that are just waiting to be used.

Great weekend

Well I do believe this year’s birthday (28 – geeze) may have been one of the best. I’m really blessed with a great family and great friends.
I think what may have made this year’s birthday so great may have simply been spending it with Laurie and the fact that I really didn’t expect anything for my birthday yet I got a number of great, thoughtful gifts, especially from unexpected places.
Friday night Laurie and I babysat for her brother and sister-in-law in Forney. Jake and Brooklyn are definitely one of a kind. I taught Jake how to play checkers and he didn’t want to do anything else the rest of the night. Now I need to teach him chess and see if he can beat me 4 games to 1 in that as well.
Brooklyn on the other hand went right to bed after dinner at Chick-Fil-A and sharing her ice cream cone with me. That was a fun and very messy experience.
Saturday morning Laurie and I had our first wedding shower at our parent’s church. I was the only guy in the room until my cousin Delaina brought her six-month old son Matthew to the party. I made sure to hang out with him for as long as I could. Of course me holding and feeding Matthew at a wedding shower had all those church ladies talking.
I’m quite certain that everyone believes Laurie and I will have our first child well before my sister Kara and her new husband, Tim — which is somewhat understandable considering Kara’s only 22 — but we’re in no rush either. Give us a year at least.
Saturday evening Laurie and I returned to an old haunt, Schezuan Pavilion for dinner.
I spent many birthday’s there in high school and it was great to be back — especially with Laurie. Their Chinese buffet is still one of the best on my list.
After dinner we went to watch Amazing Grace and I loved it.
It really opens your eyes to the true meaning behind the song and the abolitionist movement in the U.K.
Granted, I’m a big baby but there were several points where I got teary eyed watching the movie.
It was also great to see a movie with a pretty strong Christian message that didn’t suck.
I thought the editing was a little weak at times and it occasionally reminded me of a Hallmark movie feature but otherwise I thought it was a great true story with actors who came across as truly passionate in their craft.
I’m a big fan of Albert Finney since his role in Big Fish. I thought he played the role of John Newton with great passion and skill.
Definitely a must see. (read more on the WDL blog)
Sunday of course was another great time at encounter, followed by Jose helping me install my new Sirius satellite radio and then Laurie joining me for entry Sunday night.
All in all, a full, busy and tiring weekend but well worth it — and no pictures on my part to remember it by. Doh.

Books for my birthday

It’s my birthday today and Laurie and I had a great wedding shower this morning, thrown by ladies at our parent’s church.
I don’t think I’ve ever opened so many gifts on my birthday. Thanks so much for everyone who was there and everyone who brought gifts. I think our gift registry is about 70% full now.
But I got a couple checks for my birthday and I think I’m going to go buy some more books for my 30 in 2007 campaign.
I’ve finished four or five already. Not quite on track to reach 30 but I think it can be done.
If anyone has some suggestions give me a call but I think I’m going to head to the bookstore in a few minutes and see what intrigues me.