Tardiness!

It was funny the looks we got this Sunday morning when we entered a meeting late at church. I had 3 projects going on at the same time in other parts of the church that I was responsible for and thus the tardiness. But that got me to thinking……

I strive very hard to be early or on time to all my meetings and events but most importantly to church on Sunday morning. One of the reasons we’ve always sat closer to the front of the church is because there are fewer distractions. One of my peeves (I'm sure its one of yours too!) is tardiness to church!

I began researching this and these are some reasons people are tardy to most things:

Researcher’s shows that people who are chronically late score lower on tests that measure nurturance, self-esteem, and self discipline and score higher on measures of anxiety and distractibility. Another finding from research is that people who are consistently late underestimate the passage of time.

1. Many people with a lateness problem rationalize it away. They come up with an explanation for their lack of punctuality every time. (If you do this a lot then you are in denial and it prevents you from addressing and correcting it).

2. Many people have to much to do . Busy people are seen as more productive and successful and feel that they should stay busy at all times. So to arrive early would mean just sitting there doing nothing and that would be unacceptable. So they strive to arrive on time but then find several jobs to do before they leave the house and the plan to get there on time now is gone and you are late again….

3. For some its Lack of self-discipline… some find it difficult to change whatever they are doing at the time, sleeping, reading, working on a project and they don’t want to stop. Some of these individuals are disciplined in other areas of their life so it might be hard to accept the fact that they need to work on self-discipline in punctuality.

Other reasons for lateness:

Distractible, Anxiety, Depression or Power Game...

This info is so interesting to me… But most importantly in my own simple words….Over the years of attending various churches…..when people are consistently late to the house of the Lord it really is a lack of respect to God, to the Pastors and to the other worshippers that attend. If you were late to work every day you would probably be reprimanded and then asked to not return if things did not change. Most people make sure they are at work on time everyday yet on Sunday mornings they are late to service. Isn’t God more important that your job? After all He is the one that provided that job for you in the first place…..

One big excuse is "well its my culture"....No! That won't fly cause we can always leave the bad in our cultures and take only the good! I had to work on this myself cause I hated being late to work every morning years ago...I learned to change.

Now the reason given of "Power Game" totally blew my mind cause I had never thought of that before...Hmmm Interesting!

The Invisible Woman

Please watch this clip. Its great!
Copy and paste it to your browser....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YU0aNAHXP0

Respector of Men?

God is no respector of Men (persons) Romans 2:11….

What does that mean? Over the years I’ve heard several sermons on this famous scripture.

But basically it means that God is totally sovereign, giving grace freely to whom he will. He does not care of your eartly condition, your hereditary descent, your outward circumstances. He has no regard in terms of his grace for those things that distinguish you from anyone else. His grace is not attracted by anything good in you. Neither is his grace repelled by anything evil in you.

Now, know that this verse does not mean that God treats all men alike in providence and grace. His grace is his own and he dispenses it according to his own sovereign will and pleasure.

This text does not teach that as long as a person is sincere he will be saved, no matter what his religion is. All who do not know Christ are lost.

So, if He is our example and we all want to be more like Christ why don’t we follow this example at all times and in all circles of life?

Our love, generosity, care and fellowship must not be determined by a person’s position, wealth, race, social standing, age, or gender. We are not to court the rich or the poor. We must learn to treat all men alike.

During my visit to Guatemala we visited the town of Antigua. As we were walking around the town square I noticed an old indigenous woman sitting outside the restaurant begging for alms. Then I noticed a tourist stop and take several pictures while this poor women held her hand out to passers-by, I stopped and said to the tourist in a very light manner not to offend her ”you know she charges for a picture”? The tourist looked up at me and said “of course I will give her something” and she place some coins in her hand. Now, I don’t know why I intervened,(except that I always do somehow) but something welled up inside of me and I felt here was a poor woman that probably for the most part is overlooked on a daily basis by hundreds of people because of her status of being indigenous and poor…and here was a rich tourist, comparitively speaking, taking a picture of her status and totally ignoring her hand. Hmmm, my inside was erupting like a volcano....but I am happy to report that I was gentle and christianlike....(really)!

As we gather in our circle of co-workers, friends, social groups, church groups etc… lets care for one another with the respect as human beings we need to have for one another.

Can you learn from someone that is younger?
Can you, or do you, have a close relationship with someone of a different race?
Can you listen and be patient with an elderly relative or acquaintance?
Can you treat the poor with the same respect that you give a rich person?
Can you be patient with a person that does not think like you?

See, we all have our set boundaries… and we all judge a book by its cover…. But in reality, it is not a very nice thing to do. We limit ourselves and miss out what others different from us can bring to our awareness.

I have a friend that is a few years younger than I am (10 or 12 years) and she has a small child. What do we have in common? We love the Lord passionately, we respect each other, she is very wise and I’m amazed at how wise. I look back to where I was at her age and man she has me beat by a long shot. So I listen to her heart and do learn from her. The fact that she is younger should and does not faze me.

All I’m saying is… let’s live like Christ did while he was on earth. He loved everyone, he did not Judge the women at the well…..he helped her. He loved her and showed her a better way of living. Her life was transformed just by that 15 minute encounte with Jesus. He did not care that she had been promiscuous, or that she drank alcohol, or that she was dressed inappropriately, or that she was a little strange, or that she had a bad attitude, or that she was bitter, etc.
Let’s love like He loves……

Culture

We just returned from our trip to Guatemala. We went to spend time with Harold's parents. His dad is 82 years old and has been deteriorating healthwise. It was a great trip. We spent time with the whole family and some cousins that were in town. One thing I enjoy most about this country of old, our birthplace, is that no matter what is happening there is always such politeness and manners exhibited at all times.

As soon as you arrive there people greet you. Many say "God Bless you". There was a women at the baggage pickup that worked for American Airlines that was directing people with their luggage and she was constantly saying "Welcome home, Welcome to Guatemala, May God bless you're stay". It was so refreshing.

If you go eat, the greeting is always the same..."Good Morning Madame" or Good evening....or How can I serve you? This is from all ages and anywhere you go...There is a politeness and great manners.

If you enter a household....everyone greets you with a kiss to the cheek. Now the proper way of this kiss is cheek to cheek and the kiss is blown to the air. Never kiss this cheek directly. Even the littlest child knows how to greet this way.

If you are sitting at a doctors office or any kind of office and someone walks in they greet everyone that is sitting. As they walk in they automatically say "good afternoon" to all that are waiting. Or if someone walks out they say "have a good day"... Even the teenagers do this...its amazing!

Another thing I love is the fact that when you arrive the whole family is there to greet you at the airport. When you leave the whole family goes with you to the airport to send you off. There is always alot of hugs, crying and kisses. You should see the airport is filled with families where one person is leaving and the family of about 20 show up to say goodbye! I love this Country of Guatemala because its my parents country and this is where I met Harold.

There are obviously some culture differences but I've been blessed to have the option of taking the good of this Latin culture as well as taking the good of my American culture.

This is a place full of memories for me....some good and some bad. I am however, so glad to be home because I love the U.S. and its where I've lived most of my life.

As I walked into the elevator in my building this morning....I greeted everyone with a "good morning" instead of my usual nod or smile....I got a reply from them all (strangers)....it was a good beginning.....

We need to be more respectful of each other is the main point and lets greet one another even if we don't know each other.....

Ruth