I'd Like To Be As Good A Friend As My Dog...

As I type this, my sweet dog, Ranger is laying on my feet on the sofa.  

He has already followed me around the house, walked with me to the bus stop, patrolled our backyard against strangers (or strange birds... or just regular birds), dissected his Kong of treats, and wandered around the house glancing out the windows in search of the evil chipmunks who taunt him through the glass.

God really knew what He was doing when he made "Man's Best Friend" - I think this chapter missed it's spot in Genesis:

If you have a furry companion, you are blessed.  They may have their infuriating moments, but dogs show this amazing loyalty and friendship to their people.  I was thinking this morning, that I hope I'm as good of a friend to others as my dog is to me.

I'd like to think that I'm ready to play or hang out at any moment... that I'm quick to forgive and forget... that I'm loyal, and a good listener, and happy, and outgoing, and adaptable.  I'm sure I fail all the time, but hopefully I succeed more than not.

The Bible has some great verses on friendship... One of my favorites is when Jesus is speaking:

John 15:12-15 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.

How amazing is it that Jesus wants to call me, you, all of us, his friend?!
And if my dog can get it right, can't we all?
:)
Your friend,
Mags

Nice To Meet You... Oh... We've Met Before?

Between our two sons, we've seen a LOT of sports and teams.  We started with Tumblebees (toddler tumbling), to T-ball, then baseball, followed by basketball, flag football, tackle football, karate, and tennis lessons.  I'm probably missing something too!  And that means we meet a LOT of kids and a LOT of parents that go with them.  And, that doesn't even count all of the different classes and teams of classes we've had so far.  It's too hard to keep everybody straight!

So, I had to create a policy when it comes to learning everyone's names.  It may not be the best policy, but it was to preserve my own sanity.  Don't judge... but here it is:

Until we have TWO points of connection, I don't have to learn your name.

Our kids do not have to play.  You do not have to invite us to your kids' birthday parties; we won't be inviting you to ours.  Until we have two points of connection, I'm going to assume that quite possibly, after this sports season, we may never cross paths again.  And to learn everyone's name, kids & parents, across all of these sports and classrooms and teams is just more than my brain can handle.

It sounds harsh, I know.  But it works for me... most of the time, anyway.  There was the football season... where I was sure that Jack would only play one year.  I mean we lost EVERY game... by a lot.  There were practices 5 days a week for leading up to a two-hour game in the rain, cold, and sleet where we would lose... every time.  Surely Jack would realize that this was an awful lot of work for very little payout?  So I didn't learn any parents' names.  I knew a few before football - so I had people to sit with.  I laughed and talked and joked with everyone, I just address anyone by name.

And Jack decided to play the next year.

D'OH!  Second season rolls around and I have to pretend I know everyone while secretly learning all the names I didn't learn the year before!  Oops.

But overall, this has been a good policy.  When my kids want to have a birthday party, they must adhere by the 2 POINTS Rule.  The kid they want to invite must have two connections:  school & church, school & sports, sports & another sport/season, church & neighbor... Two of anything will work.  And if they want to a kid's party, we need to have two points of connection with them.  We've had very few exceptions, and this had made our life much easier.

But while this works for my social life and that of my kids, imagine how sad if it would be if God adhered to this policy?  What if God said, "Until you find two points of connection with Me, I don't have to learn your name... or help you... or know you?"  How lonely and frustrating that would be!  Fortunately God knew us before we were even born:

“Before I shaped you in the womb,
    I knew all about you.
Before you saw the light of day,
    I had holy plans for you:
A prophet to the nations—
    that’s what I had in mind for you.”

Jeremiah 1:5 (Msg)

God knitted us stitch by stitch, cell by cell, molecule by molecule before we even saw our first day of light.  He doesn't wait until we find Him (twice!); He has met us and loves us - despite all of our flaws, shortcomings, and sin.

I'm thankful that my God is bigger than anything I can imagine.  And thankful that with Him, I don't have to pretend.

As for you, obscure parent I've seen before, somewhere... have we met?  My name is Maggie.

:) Mags

God & Tools

When I was a kid, my mom bought my dad a lathe at an antique shop. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, this was a gigantic monster of a machine that is supposed to help a carpenter shape table legs-- the theory being that my dad could make some table tops (the easy part) and use this $200+ hunk of metal to create the detailed legs (the harder part).

That lathe sat UNUSED in our garage for several years... before my parents finally sold it at a garage sale.... they probably should have dumped it much earlier, but they clung to the thought that SOMEDAY... Dad would use it.

Our church just completed a month-long study on a book by Kerry & Chris Shook called One Month To Live." If you only had 30 days left on earth, what would you do? How would your behavior change? And WHY aren't you doing that already?

One of the chapters talks about people that bug you - and equates those people to different types of tools:

• The HAMMERS - the ones who are always forcing their way and railroading everyone into their way of thinking.
• The SKILL SAWS - who know just the thing to say that cuts to the quick and hurts feelings.
• The VISE GRIPS - the needy ones who ignore social boundaries and suck the energy right out of you with their issues and drama.
• The GRINDERS - people whose emotions are always on the edge - ready to explode at the slightest infraction.
• The AXES - who tear down the hopes and dreams of others with their negative attitude and comments
• The HATCHETS - who hang on to those o-l-d grudges... forever!!
• The PUTTY People - the ones with no spine, who agree with everything and never stand up for themselves nor anyone else. These people can't say no, and you never know what they are thinking because they can't think for themselves.

It'd be easy to think, CHUCK 'EM! These tools are defective! Irritating! Broken! Why should I keep hanging around these tools in the shed when they are such drainers???! Just like Dad's lathe, I should have dumped them a long time ago...! However, we're not talking an old bucket of toxic chemicals - these are just the regular tools in the shed...

God hasn't placed these "sandpaper" people in your life just to annoy you. One of the reasons He may have gifted you with a Vise or a Hammer-friend is to help you learn to deal with all types of people AND... to maybe point out one of your own tool-type behaviors.

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye."
Matthew 7:3-5 (NIV)

It's not our job to judge these people - or point out how they are such a tool... Rather our job is to serve as a healing agent... To use the gifts we have been blessed with to help others and to accommodate others' needs. We cannot point out all of the faults of others all the while ignoring our own quirks and issues. I can be such a tool sometimes... a little hammer mixed with a tiny bit of hatchet with some grinder moments mixed in. I'm just thankful that the other tools in the shed overlook (or just resign themselves to dealing with) my quirks and continue to be my friend.

What tools are in your life? How can you be the best possible friend to them?

And what friends are you SO THANKFUL for because they put up with you and your own tool-type behaviors...?
:)