Just hanging with the herd

My wife and I argue regularly about two things in our life. Argue might be too strong of a word. It’s more like regularly spaced, prolonged, futile debates.

We’ve been ‘discussing’ them for so long that we actually smile during these confrontations, realizing neither one will move the other… and, we’re growing kind of conformable with that scenario.

I guess thats just marriage…

The first area of our disagreement is related to time. I was born in Los Angeles and maybe that’s why I want to be ten minutes early everywhere I go. Kat was born in Stillwater and let’s just say, it appears time is less of a priority. We fuss, we fight, we whine… nothing changes, moving on.

The second arena of discord is in decorating. Kathy loves decorating. She watches all the shows on what’s hip and trendy. She’s also a Do-It-Yourselfer who can paint, sheetrock, retile, everything. Pretty sure she could lay asphalt if she needed. Her idea of a “cute” room is one with a vibrant color scheme, wall to wall matching furnishings and eclectically collected knick knacks placed prominently around the perimeter of the cabinetry.

I am a fan of hospital rooms.

I guess in the decorating world they call me a minimalist. My ideal room is white paint on concrete walls with a single painting screwed into the wall… I don’t even care what the painting is.

Ahhh… now that’s refreshing.

No need to comment, I know I have issues, but I love simple. Crowded, busy, decoupaged, warm, inviting and ‘cute” are all a little overwhelming to me.

Unfortunately, that’s not just a problem for my decorating tastes. I have a tendency to want everything in my life to be simple, clean, compartmentalized and categorized.

But, when you work with people that’s just simply not a possibility.

Working with people is a messy business. Coordinating schedules, dealing with personalities, the potential for failure and the unmistakeable (yet never spoken) belief that “If I just do it myself it will get done right” make most of us shy away from the best stuff in life.

God has called us to teamwork (that’s exactly what the church is) and massive projects (that’s exactly what the Great Commission is). Sure it would be simpler, cleaner and easier to scale down the work and just take bite-sized stabs at it that one person (namely you, all by yourself) can handle.

But, if we don’t open ourselves up to the possibilities of the mess, the confusion, the complexity, the headache, the failure… then we will miss out on the possibilities of friendship, purpose, passion and success on a scale we’ve never imagined.

Proverbs 14:4
“Without oxen a stable stays clean, but you need a strong ox for a large harvest.”

Let me challenge you to let a few more oxen in your barn. Sure, a clean stable is awesome, but the possibility of a large harvest is even more awesome.

In your life you may need to join a church, a small group, a ministry, a program, or you might even need to start something that is way too overwhelming for you, but perfect for a messy group of volunteers.

Don’t be afraid of a mess, the trouble and the potential for epic fail. Let this year be the year you link arms with others and see more happen in your life than you ever thought possible.

Let’s work on letting that stable get messy, the harvest is too important. Get out there and be a part of something bigger than yourself.