Oops!

For all of you with cell phones - put them down while you drive. Don't text. Don't play your little games. And above all, don't take pictures of semi-trucks stuck up to the axle in sand on a construction on-ramp for a new bridge. (I've already done that, just ask me and you can borrow my picture.) In my defense, traffic had backed up and I wasn't moving yet...and it was a great opportunity. How often do you see a stuck truck?...Especially when there's no mud!

Now that the legal "don't try this at home" stuff is in print, I want you to picture yourself as the driver of this truck. For him, (gender specific because all the people on the work site were men) this picture is the epitome of a bad day. Its the kind of day where you say out loud to anyone listening, "I hate my job, I hate my co-workers, I hate my life." Did you notice the group of men standing further up the on-ramp? They are all standing and looking at the truck. This guy's mistake is known by everyone!

I've been there. You have probably been there, too. Paralyzed by the embarrassment, the fear, the shame. Your sin becomes public knowledge and you become the whispers in the hallway. Every giggle is instigated by your presence. The whole world laughs at your expense.

Here's the good news... that truck isn't stuck in the sand anymore. I know that for a fact. The bridge they were building on the day that truck got stuck is completed. I have driven over that bridge several times in the past few months. That bridge is sturdy and will stand for a long time.

So you messed up... big deal. The "whole world" laughed at you... who cares. Don't let that sin, that embarrassment, that shame, that fear paralyze you. Don't stop living the life you were called to live because of one little mistake. Look at it this way - at least no one took a picture of your mistake and posted a blog about it for anyone to see... :^)

Life as I know it is lived best when we don't let our mistakes stop us from doing what we're supposed to do.

A Dog's Life

The rational, scholarly part of me realizes that when this life is over and we are in the presence of God, the questions that we ponder now won't be important at all. That being said, most of us have those "When I get to heaven I'm going to ask God..." questions. These questions are of utmost importance to our lives right now. These are the crucial things that keep us awake worrying all night long. Here's mine: When I get to heaven I'm going to ask God why dogs love things that stink.

Breeze loves laundry day. The Monday morning mountain of dirty clothes becomes her playground. She buries her nose in the pile and digs around until she finds her treasure - the dirtiest, nastiest, smelliest dishrag in the pile. She pulls it out of the pile so that she can roll around on it for a bit and then she carries it in her mouth the rest of the morning.

This behavior probably wouldn't bother me as much if Breeze could hold her licker - but she can't. She loves to lick - hands, jeans, faces, glass doors, bare feet...and I think I'll stop there before I make myself sick. Her tongue touches every stinky dirty thing that she smells and then she licks me. Gross.

What if on that day in the future that will never end, I actually did ask my question to God? What would his answer be? I think that right before I got to the point of asking my question, God would answer it by saying something like, "Didn't you do the same thing? Didn't you roll around in the filth of sin and then come lick me? Didn't you revel in the aroma of the world and then try to draw close to me?"

Life as I know it is best when I keep my nose out of the dirty clothes.