“I can’t believe what they said!”
“How can they do this to me?”
“If I were in charge, I would….”
“The church is full of hypocrites.”
“We’re in this crappy situation because of Bush.”
“Obama is driving the country into the ground.”

The list can go on and on.  Being a critic by nature, I know that I’ve griped a lot about things.

What if we traded our complaining and b*t&^# about things and focused on being the solution?

I think that some real change would take place.  At the very least, our attitudes will change.

Don’t let your physical voice be your instrument for change.  Let your actions be your voice.

What is something that you can stop b*t&^# about and affect for change?

From my experience in churches that had choirs, half the choir was either zoned out or falling asleep when the pastor was preaching.  It really was quite comical actually.  It never failed that someone (typically multiple older men) would be nodding off during the sermon.  We used to get a kick out of it growing up, especially when they would snore and wake themselves up.  Did that happen at your church?

Why do I bring it up?  Because the message you have to say probably needs to be repeated.  Don’t assume that you have said what you needed to say enough and that people have bought in to what you are saying.  Keep casting your vision and dreams.  Keep it fresh in their minds.  Keep preaching to the choir…they may have been asleep anyways.

Keep Patty in your prayers right now because nausea has already hit her hard. With Isaiah she was really sick until about 5 or 6 months in and for the last couple of weeks she’s basically be sick nonstop. Pray for Isaiah and me as we try to take care of her.

We have lots of other things going on right now, so check back tomorrow or Monday for an update on the rest of our lives. It’s been an unbelievably crazy (and stressful) time in here Columbia thus far but we know that it would have been more crazy of us to not step out and pursue what God was calling us to do.

(As always, feel free to leave comments below!)

That being said…wouldn’t it be great if John Calipari announced today that he is not going to accept the Head Coaching job at Kentucky and that it was all one big April Fool’s Day joke?

That would be priceless.

So what are we to do in situations like this?  I really don’t know completely but here are some things off the top of my head that I’m choosing to do and take from this and similar experiences:

• Celebrate the life that Brandon lived.  He may have only got 20 years on earth, but God did more through him in that short time than a lot of Christians experience in their long life.
• Celebrate the life that he is now living.  In the words of another friend, “I can’t even imagine the things you are seeing right now. and i must say… i am jealous.”   Brandon is seeing first hand what a lot of us live for. (Wow…I totally quoted Joey West)  I thank God that he had already experienced God’s love here on earth so he can continue to experience it forever.
  
• Mourn.  It’s OK to mourn.  It’s part of our healing process.
• Hug those that I love more.  Tell them that I love them more.  Play more.  Laugh more.  Cry more.  Basically, just enjoy the time that I do have with my family and friends because it can’t be taken away in an instant.
  
• Most importantly, I am reminded to share Christ with everyone around me.  I have to look for more opportunities to show and tell others about what makes me tick….and what makes them tick, too, but they just haven’t discovered or accepted it yet.

What have you learned from experiences like this?

For example, yesterday I had a conversation with a man who decided to bash me personally and let me know about how wise he is.  Should I take his comments personally?  Absolutely not.  And to be quite honest, it really didn’t bother me in the least bit.  Why?  I’ve decided to put in the earplugs and not listen.  It wasn’t worth my time or attention to argue with him nor worthwhile to bash him back.

Here’s why I chose not to listen.  I know who God has called me to be and what he’s called me to do.  God has made in blatantly obvious through His word, through godly counsel, and through circumstance to make it known what it is that He wants me to do.  I know that my worth is found in Him and not in the “wisdom” of someone who has no concern for my life.  Heck…the countless advice and encouragement that I have received from godly men vastly contradicted what he had to say.

I really think that God prepared me a lot this week for this conversation because I had just read and listened to some things that spoke directly about this topic.  For example, did you realize that in Mark 5:36, Jesus himself decided to put the earplugs in by “ignoring what they said.”  Steven Furtick brought this to my attention in this incredible post and said “if any voice is raising itself in contradiction to the will and Word of God concerning you, be like Jesus” and “ignore what they said.” (You absolutely need to check his post out)

So who do we listen to?  I can’t tell you the exact people, but perhaps another pastor, Troy Gramling, said it best in this talk. He said that there are three types of people you should listen to: those who love you, those who believe in you, those who know more than you.  Incredible advice if you ask me.  And if they constantly remind you of how wise they are, grab the earplugs.

Simply put, there is a ton of value in listening to other people.  But practice selective hearing.  Listen to God first and foremost and listen only to those who fit the criteria above.   Are you with me?