Case of the Mundays!!!!

Welcome to Monday, a thought that I have every week. It doesn’t get better each week and doesn’t get worse, just welcome to Monday. Ok so now that I have gotten my pity party out of the way.

So we just went through the weekend that was to be cursed with hurricane Ike and I was horribly disappointed with Ike. Please do not get me wrong in saying that. My heart and prayers do go out to the individuals in the south Texas coast. They did receive the brunt of the storm and they have challenges ahead of them. But with what the (so-called) weather man said was going to happen here and what really happened….. I think that if I performed my job the way that they perform theirs I would be jobless. I know that weather changes on a minute by minute basis, but give me a break. We have been watching this storm for two weeks it feels like and they still can’t get it right. I have been through worse spring showers. Again, now that I have said that….. I digress.

Thursday of last week I had a conversation with a colleague that has stuck with me and made me ponder upon who I was when it came to repentance. We started off the conversation of forgiveness and what it was to repent. This is not a conversation that I expected to ever have at work. This colleague and I usually have conversations that really have no bearing on the world or either of us and one of us usually plays the devils advocate. It also normally ends with me saying “Well that is just the way it is in my world and get over it”. We end the conversation with no good outcome except that we have wasted some time and had the opportunity to become passionate about some thing we really don’t care about. We had been discussing something randomly and then the question came out….. “Define the act to repent?” I looked at him as if he just asked me why the sky was blue. This was not a question that I was prepared to answer and not a question that I expected from him. After a few seconds I saw that he had asked me the question with the answer he was looking for already in his head. So I started to answer carefully mostly because I just didn’t want to be wrong and to show him that I had an intelligence that was greater than his. (Please see the definition of male ego) Well while I was answering in a very basic defense of asking him to define his question so that I could continue to understand his question as well as buy me some time to think, a light bulb turned on. I went with the simple first step of identifying the issue. What was wrong, why it was wrong, and who it affected and then to apologize and ask for forgiveness. Wait for the forgiveness and move on with life. Then a thought went through my head with the idea of forgiveness. Forgiveness is defined as “act of forgiving; state of being forgiven”. I thought to myself why do we ask for forgiveness? What benefit do I get by asking for forgiveness? Why not change what I do and how I do it to? Prove that I am sorry or regretful for what it is that I have done in the past. Give the individual(s) the opportunity to see that I have identified what I have done wrong and that I am truly sorry by changing what I do. With my action changed, then the person that I have wronged can feel justified in their forgiveness of me. Then the answer to his question poured out of my mouth with out even considering if it was the answer he was looking for or better than he was looking for.(again see male ego)
Dictonary.com
re·pent1
–verb (used without object)
1.
to feel sorry, self-reproachful, or contrite for past conduct; regret or be conscience-stricken about a past action, attitude, etc. (often fol. by of): He repented after his thoughtless act.

My definition: To feel sorry, and consistently change your actions to reflect what you identify to be right, correct. You have already identified your current actions incorrect.

The key word there is to CHANGE. What is that purpose of being forgiven if you are going to turn around and continue to demonstrate the same actions that you were just forgiven for?


With that stated we looked at each other and with blank stares nodded our heads and continued right back to work. About five minuets passed and we returned to the conversation. He stated “your right, that is what I was getting at but you expanded on it even more”. We continued to talk about life and the situations that we each encounter and of course we battle back and for challenging each others statements to become right (again see male ego).

So as we finalized that conversation and went on with the day the thought stayed with me all weekend. I though to myself “do I just ask and expect forgiveness, or do I change my ways and earn the forgiveness that was so graciously given.” Again I don’t have an answer that I either want to hear, or want to give.

So I am going to continually work on an answer for that question and challenge each of you to ask yourself the same question. Define the act to repent, what is it to repent?

I would love some of your thoughts.

Brett.

Great Freinds

So this weekend we made some great friends, let me refraze "we got to know our friends better". We took Kristen and Sabastian to dinner Saturday and then had separate outings with them on Sunday. Kristen and Sabastian are the sweetest and most genuine couple i think I have ever meet. They will move mountains with there marriage to come. We are so grateful to have such amazing friends like them too. We plan to make sure that our friendship with them will be a long one.
I also came to realize that the group we joined has been a incredible blessing. We have made some lasting relationships with friends. Me and Brett were stuck in a place were we needed to be surrounded by friends who loved Christ and still loved to enjoy having friends to go shop with or play golf. We are so happy we joined Valley Creek and joined the Seadowrfs small group. I can not wait to see what other friendships arise out of this group.
Also to the girls (Angie, Audrey, and Katie) thank you for thinking of us in a bridal shower, it means the world to us truly.

Birthdays and Engagements

Well today is my B-day, and it has been a crazy one. Well now that I think about it, it has been pretty melow compared to my last few. I work with all men now and came to the relazation that men could not give a care as to if it is your b-day at all. But it was kinda nice not to have all the hype. To be honest I would much rather a B-day of just taking my kid to laugh and play then have a party or have all the hype. I spent the day at work crazy busy, then came home to have pizza and a cookie (my sson picked out) then took the little one to the park to play. Now besides the working part it was perfect. Today when I was getting ready for work, i walked ouot and looked at my son sleeping in his room and thought........ "I am truly blessed, Thank you God for blessing me with all the wonderful things in my life, like my two men".
Today also I got some interresting news, news that most kids would never imagine there parent to say right before you yourself is getting married or your birthday. My mom annouced that she is getting married, and a month or so after I am. This will be my mothers third marriage, the other two not only ended badley for me but of course my mother. I haven't quite processed what i think about this whole thing. I am happy for my mother if she is happy, but they have fought a lot in the past (and I have heard it was overr several times). I am not sure what i feel about getting a new family. I have been hurt pretty bad in the past, so my gaurd is up on having the complete family life. This why I strive so hard for Kohan to have what i didn't, to make sure that he has the love and compasion from a father figure that i didn't. I think I might be a little selfish, because I am not ready for myself to have this family. Howevere I want my mom to have the best, she deserves the best, and I believe he will be the best to her. So I am going to step back, and breath, and pray to God that he will bless there marriage and our familys.
So although this weird day has still left me a little out in the wind, I know at the end of the day God will take care of evereything. My moto is "God doesn't give you anything you can't handle" so God please show me the way.....