20-06-13

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Apologies for the lack of blogs these past few days. I've had a lot going on and haven't been able to figure out best how to write it all into a blog. Poor excuse, I know. Also, the other night I had started writing, but then fell unwell and decided it would be best just to rest and make sure I'm okay and sure enough, I'm much better.

I want to talk about what my old pastor, David Storer, calls dipsticks. He had a classic sermon entitled "Dipsticks" and it was all about those people who come into your life, bring all their baggage, negativity and drama, dump it all into your lap and then just leave you with the mess. Well, we all have those kinds of people in our lives and, to be fair, I'm probably guilty of doing it to some people as well. I think the only person in history who has never done that is Jesus himself.

I've been a tad grumpy and irritated lately because it's felt like I've had a lot of those kinds of people in my life, but when you're in hospital for an extended period, it's very easy to pre-judge and say everyone is the same. The truth is, that's only a small portion of the population and seriously, if we didn't dump our stuff sometimes, we'll get overwhelmed. Seriously, I thank God I've got people in my life who I can go to when I've got stuff going on. I do try as best I can to make sure it's not a one-way situation though and that as many of my relationships as possible are as transparent as can be, but still being appropriate, healthy relationships.

I think it's a good thing to prioritize your time and energy in the most positive places first. Then, you can be energetic and re-filled for when you see those in your life who you find a bit harder to be around. I don't think it's being a snob at all and I'm not saying to ignore those harder people, but we need to make sure we are strong first. Also, we don't get our strength from friends alone because the fact is, they don't have the ability to meet all of our personal needs, even if they are the most amazing person ever. We need to make sure we are going to God because he's our main source of strength for every area in our lives. I must be honest here and state I haven't done my best in that area of late and I think this is a main cause of my inconsistent moods of late.

As I said in a previous blog and I just haven't taken my own advice, do whatever you do to get refreshed. For me, it's usually having coffee with a good book and whatever music I'm in the mood for on the day. Sometimes I can feel better when I write some things down as well. Those things are good, but they are definitely no substitute for some Jesus time because he is the true source of strength. In short, I think that no matter how we are feeling, we need to make it a priority to do at least one fun thing that makes us happy and also have some Jesus time.