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Playing Jenga

16 May
Español: Torre Jenga cayendo.

Español: Torre Jenga cayendo. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Have you ever played Jenga? It’s the torturous game where you remove blocks from a wooden tower and reposition them at increasingly higher levels. The game is over when some poor soul gets too aggressive in their placement and causes the entire tower to come crashing down.

It’s a fun game if you can handle the pressure, and if you don’t mind winning by default. That’s the thing about Jenga—you don’t actually win per se you just don’t lose. You win by surviving until someone else makes a fatal move.

This nerve-wracking, little game has a life lesson to teach us: it’s not the final move that determines our ultimate success—it’s all of the incremental moves along the way. I’ve lost my share of Jenga matches, and I’ve seldom lost because I was too reckless or aggressive in my final move—I’ve lost when my previous decisions weren’t able to support my final move.

I haven’t known many people who made one random, uncharacteristic move that destroyed the tower of their life. Rather, I’ve seen people make small, incremental decisions that gradually led to a significant downfall.

God wants us to make it for the long haul, and He wants our lives anchored firmly to a rock that is stronger than any of life’s storms (Matthew 7:24-27). We anchor ourselves to that rock by making the right individual decisions along the way.

When we crash in Jenga we can laugh and talk about what a stupid game it is, but we can’t afford to crash in life. Whether we’re trying to avoid a crash or rebuild after suffering from one, let’s make wise, daily decisions that anchor us to God’s storm-proof rock.

A different kind of identity theft

18 Aug
The Fortunes of a Street Waif, an illustration...

Image via Wikipedia

Many of us who would never even consider robbing someone of their hard-earned possessions are less reluctant to rob them of their hard-earned reputation. If, as the proverb writer suggests, “A good name is more desirable than riches,” then robbing someone of their good name is no less injurious than inflicting physical damage on them.

And people commit this kind of robbery all the time. They might not steal your money or your car keys, but when you leave the room after being with them, they’ll turn to others and express negative, critical, or revealing words about you. In doing so, they’re committing a theft that is very hard to recover from—a theft of reputation. It’s a different kind of identity theft, one in which words can forever taint the way that someone’s name is viewed.

A good name that has been hard-won can be robbed by careless, insensitive words. Shame on us if we’re ever found guilty of that kind of identity theft!

Let’s police one another in this area and refuse to allow thieving words in to our midst. Let’s live up to our name and forever be a community of “grace.”

Scripture reference: Proverbs 22:1; Ecclesiastes 7:1

The ten-minute walk

4 Aug
Girl walking in a beach. Porto Covo, Portugal.

Image via Wikipedia

How much time do you need to cool off when you get ticked? Are you an instant processor that needs to talk ASAP, or do you need time to think, evaluate, and reflect before re-engaging in conversation?

Neither temperament is wrong; both approaches contain inherent strengths and weaknesses. The instant processor avoids the simmering and build-up of negative emotions, but they also risk the premature expression of raw emotions. On the other hand, while the slower processor might avoid saying the wrong things, sometimes they take too long to say the right things. To minimize the downside of these approaches, I suggest that each temperament should practice a specific technique called “the ten-minute walk.”

The ten-minute walk is a quick trip to the altar of God where we cry, vent, express our emotion, and then wait for His comfort, conviction, and quiet guidance. It’s a brief time of intentionally seeking God’s counsel and perspective before re-engaging in conversation.

Helpful prayers during this time include: “Lord, heal my heart where it’s beat up and bruised…forgive me of my own ugliness…give me Your take on this situation…crush every scheme of Satan/the enemy that might be at play…and help me to please you with all of my responses.”

We don’t need to instantly blurt out our every emotion, and nor do we need an evening of silent treatment and withdrawal—sometimes a ten-minute walk is all that is necessary.

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