Monday, November 03, 2008

I don’t have anything particularly of substance to write about today…just some things I’ve been thinking about.

* I had a dream about a skunk. When I looked it up, it said
To see a skunk in your dream suggests that you may be driving people away or turning people off. Alternatively, it indicates that all is calm about a certain situation but you do not necessarily like it or agree with it.
I’m not sure what this means for me yet…I don’t think I’m driving people away, yet I’m not sure which situation I may or may not be content with…I’ll keep you posted.

*Last week at TRIBE, we talked about being salty. I must admit I had a hard time defining what it means to be salty. Here’s the best explanation I’ve found:
A person committed to Jesus Christ whose purpose it is to season the world with His unconditional love, showing His grace and mercy, causing a general feeling of excitement and heightened interest in others so they will fall in love with Him, too. Causing a state of widespread public excitement and interest through which the external world is apprehended and turned back to God through the bold love of Jesus Christ, resulting in the good news to be preserved and passed on from generation to generation!
While we were discussing, our leader, Josh, asked us to identify people in our lives who we thought were salty. The first person that came to my mind was a fellow TRIBEr, Laurel, who is a patient mother, a healer by occupation, and an eloquent speaker who’s prayers to God are all-encompassing of how everyone in the room feels, yet can’t seem to say quite so beautifully. Her comments and observations are obviously full of a great understanding of and faith in God’s love.

We focused on many verses, but this one in particular hit me.
Colossians 4:6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

I’ve made a lot of realizations about myself since we started attending the Gathering. Helping others without feeling the need to “toot my own horn” is one of the things I have learned. Jesus said “Whatever you do for the least of these, you do for me.” Since being at the Gathering and around all of the other members, I have felt not only much more compelled to help others as much as I can, but also I have felt much more compassionate, which I have sadly been lacking, for various reasons. I am eager to spread this feeling onto the kids, whether it be helping out here in Tulsa or going on a mission trip.

Another thing I have learned is trying to think before I speak. I absolutely detest people who make comments with an intention of hurting someone’s feelings or making them feel like they have made bad choices or are less of a person. I refuse to make myself feel better by making someone else feel worse. However, I am afraid I do this accidentally sometimes. I make just general observations, and then later realize that what I said may have inadvertently made someone feel bad. Unfortunately, I have quite a few examples of this…like when I make a comment about how awkward pregnancy is or how painful labor is, only to realize I’m conversing with someone who has never experienced the joy of carrying a baby or giving birth, or when I make a comment about what a great man my husband is for taking care of our birth control needs permanently, only to feel bad for unintentionally implying that a man who hasn’t done so isn’t great. I don’t want anyone to think that I am judging them. I don’t know about everyone’s situations or reasons for making the choices they make. It’s their choice and I am in no position to even presume to make a judgment about anything. This is something I’m trying to be careful with every day. I hate to even imagine how many times I have hurt someone’s feelings. I just have to keep working at being more aware of what I’m saying.

*So…these observations turned into much more than I expected…oh well…I got a lot off my chest.

1 comment:

2mamadoc said...

Wow, Misty. What a great compliment. Thanks! I don't feel very salty most days, so this makes me feel better. And I can totally relate to the other things you were saying, too. My careless words have hurt any number of people.