This has been a weird week.
Though, I feel like I start a lot of my posts with that. So maybe it's been a normal week, and the weeks I previously considered normal are actually the abnormal ones.
Maybe I haven't gotten enough sleep.
Whichever it is, every day this week, I've forgotten what day it actually was and attributed to it another name. Multiple times. I think I actually cried once when I woke up and realized it was only Wednesday.
But it is now Friday, and I have a three-day weekend ahead of me! Glory hallelujah.
The Hakha Chin saga continues. I calculated earlier this week that about 75% of my job is now administrative tasks - managing file systems, assigning projects, checking projects, and creating templates for new projects. I miss actually working on booklets, but this work is just as important to keep everything running smoothly. I feel like I'm understanding more of the entire process now, too, which is definitely an improvement.
But, boy, is it ever mentally taxing.
Plus, my computer is having fits again. That got old real fast.
Apropos of nothing, here's my favorite quote heard around the office this week:
"Keep your clothes on, and everything will be fine."
Sometimes I don't know where I work, anymore.
On a more responsible note, I want to talk a little bit about chapel this week. The speaker was our head of Information Services. Honestly, we don't see George much around the office. He's got his head buried in computers and code and all that fun stuff most of the time. But he had some really great stuff to say on Wednesday. I'll try to sum up and paraphrase it as I heard and understood it.
We all have a story. If we're believers, then we have a testimony. It's the story of how and when Jesus opened our eyes to the Truth of who He is and what He does for us. It's something personal and unique to every follower of Christ.
But sometimes it gets co-opted by other people. Sometimes we feel like we don't have as good a testimony as other people. Sometimes we judge other people because of what we hear in their testimony. All of these things and more happen a lot. And it's dumb. Every testimony is amazing because it's the story of how someone didn't know Jesus, but then they did, and EVERYTHING CHANGED. We're going to live forever with Jesus - that's what we should be celebrating.
I understand those who think their testimony isn't as dramatic or inspiring as others'. I felt that way for a long time. I was four when I asked Jesus into my heart, and I was in seventh grade when I decided that I wanted that to be a serious commitment. I hadn't lived a lot of life. It certainly wasn't a hard life. There were no drugs, no prisons, no unexpected children or expected children or near-death experiences (children). There was just my stupid brain and its inability to accept nice things.
My testimony has evolved over the years. I talk more about the ongoing process now than the initial event. But it's just as undramatic as it always was. And that's just fine. Angels rejoiced just as much when I followed Christ as they do when anyone else does. And I don't want anyone else's story. I don't want anyone else's life. I'm equipped to handle my own with Christ's help.
But let's talk about everyone else now. Because here's the only assumption that should be made about other people's lives: they need Jesus. We know this because Jesus said He's the only way to heaven, and God doesn't want anyone to perish. So, everyone needs Jesus.
It's up to them, though, to decide why. How often do you look at someone and assume you know at least part of their story because of how they are dressed or what they are doing or where they live? Maybe you're right. But if you use that as the starting point for why they need Jesus, you probably won't get the response you wanted. People know they are broken. Everyone is broken in some way. But don't assume you know where that brokenness is. Because the thing that would be a defect in your own life may just be life to them. It's all they know. It's like the family that doesn't know they are poor until someone tells them so.
I don't think I'm explaining this well. I've been thinking about this a lot, and it's lining up with other thoughts I've had, mainly about how we shouldn't blame our current situation on past events. Things happen. But it's our response to those things that determines how those things impact us. Don't let someone else tell you how something should impact you. You have a choice. There are things that happened in my life that are sad or bad or however else someone might define them. Some people would look at those things and decide that they know something about me and why I am the way I am or assume that they had a certain effect. But to me, they were just life. I responded to some of those things in a positive way. I responded to others in a negative way. Those responses had more to do with how those events made an impact on my future than the events themselves.
Mostly, I'm just asking you to take a step back and think before you assume where someone's brokenness lies. Jesus is the only one who can fix those spaces anyway.
...
...
Have a good weekend?
Though, I feel like I start a lot of my posts with that. So maybe it's been a normal week, and the weeks I previously considered normal are actually the abnormal ones.
Maybe I haven't gotten enough sleep.
Whichever it is, every day this week, I've forgotten what day it actually was and attributed to it another name. Multiple times. I think I actually cried once when I woke up and realized it was only Wednesday.
But it is now Friday, and I have a three-day weekend ahead of me! Glory hallelujah.
The Hakha Chin saga continues. I calculated earlier this week that about 75% of my job is now administrative tasks - managing file systems, assigning projects, checking projects, and creating templates for new projects. I miss actually working on booklets, but this work is just as important to keep everything running smoothly. I feel like I'm understanding more of the entire process now, too, which is definitely an improvement.
But, boy, is it ever mentally taxing.
Plus, my computer is having fits again. That got old real fast.
Apropos of nothing, here's my favorite quote heard around the office this week:
"Keep your clothes on, and everything will be fine."
Sometimes I don't know where I work, anymore.
On a more responsible note, I want to talk a little bit about chapel this week. The speaker was our head of Information Services. Honestly, we don't see George much around the office. He's got his head buried in computers and code and all that fun stuff most of the time. But he had some really great stuff to say on Wednesday. I'll try to sum up and paraphrase it as I heard and understood it.
We all have a story. If we're believers, then we have a testimony. It's the story of how and when Jesus opened our eyes to the Truth of who He is and what He does for us. It's something personal and unique to every follower of Christ.
But sometimes it gets co-opted by other people. Sometimes we feel like we don't have as good a testimony as other people. Sometimes we judge other people because of what we hear in their testimony. All of these things and more happen a lot. And it's dumb. Every testimony is amazing because it's the story of how someone didn't know Jesus, but then they did, and EVERYTHING CHANGED. We're going to live forever with Jesus - that's what we should be celebrating.
I understand those who think their testimony isn't as dramatic or inspiring as others'. I felt that way for a long time. I was four when I asked Jesus into my heart, and I was in seventh grade when I decided that I wanted that to be a serious commitment. I hadn't lived a lot of life. It certainly wasn't a hard life. There were no drugs, no prisons, no unexpected children or expected children or near-death experiences (children). There was just my stupid brain and its inability to accept nice things.
My testimony has evolved over the years. I talk more about the ongoing process now than the initial event. But it's just as undramatic as it always was. And that's just fine. Angels rejoiced just as much when I followed Christ as they do when anyone else does. And I don't want anyone else's story. I don't want anyone else's life. I'm equipped to handle my own with Christ's help.
But let's talk about everyone else now. Because here's the only assumption that should be made about other people's lives: they need Jesus. We know this because Jesus said He's the only way to heaven, and God doesn't want anyone to perish. So, everyone needs Jesus.
It's up to them, though, to decide why. How often do you look at someone and assume you know at least part of their story because of how they are dressed or what they are doing or where they live? Maybe you're right. But if you use that as the starting point for why they need Jesus, you probably won't get the response you wanted. People know they are broken. Everyone is broken in some way. But don't assume you know where that brokenness is. Because the thing that would be a defect in your own life may just be life to them. It's all they know. It's like the family that doesn't know they are poor until someone tells them so.
I don't think I'm explaining this well. I've been thinking about this a lot, and it's lining up with other thoughts I've had, mainly about how we shouldn't blame our current situation on past events. Things happen. But it's our response to those things that determines how those things impact us. Don't let someone else tell you how something should impact you. You have a choice. There are things that happened in my life that are sad or bad or however else someone might define them. Some people would look at those things and decide that they know something about me and why I am the way I am or assume that they had a certain effect. But to me, they were just life. I responded to some of those things in a positive way. I responded to others in a negative way. Those responses had more to do with how those events made an impact on my future than the events themselves.
Mostly, I'm just asking you to take a step back and think before you assume where someone's brokenness lies. Jesus is the only one who can fix those spaces anyway.
...
...
Have a good weekend?
Excellent rumination.
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