What is Really Happening?

“I can serve with excellence only after I have listened with earnestness.” (Lesson from Martha & Mary) _Sonja K. Kemp

Here’s a good question to guide you when facing a decision. Ask: In light of what is going on around me, what should I do?

Obvious isn’t it?

But it can be so obvious that it blinds you.

The Christmas story is a good example. Joseph discovered that his fiancée was pregnant and to make matters worse, the child was not his. What to do was obvious. The next question was how to do it in the kindest and most reasonable way.

But wait a minute Joseph! Before you push that panic button take a moment to assess what is actually happening. Turns out he was right but not quite right.

This happens every day.

The ONE THING for today: Take the time to discovered what is really happening around you before deciding what to do next. A good place to start is with two words: It’s complicated.

Extra credit reading:

Years ago a wise pastor give me some great advice about interviewing potential staff. At the interview, he recommended asking for two more references. His reasoning was that the person being interviewed would put references (usually forewarned) on their resume that they knew would give them a good recommendation, but the two new off-the-cuff references were often the ones who gave you the information you really needed to make a wise decision.

His advice has been invaluable to me over the years and saved me a lot of grief.

What he was doing was giving me a tool to help ferret out what was really happening around me.

Photo by Evgeny Matveev on Unsplash