"You're kinda in my way."

At the beginning of our Awana kids club, we open with standing up and presenting the colors. I sit in the front row with the three and four year olds. As we got ready to say the pledge, a kindergartner standing behind me tapped me gently on the back. I turned around. He leaned forward and quietly said, "Miss JoEllen, you're kinda in my way." I apologized and moved to the side. His politeness made me smile, but it also made me think. Are we in somebody's way today? Have we been a stumbling block?

My husband did a sermon on Jonah one time and talked about how they had to throw Jonah overboard before the storm would calm. He briefly mentioned things that might be Jonahs in our lives that need to be tossed overboard. Then he asked a tougher question: "Are you a Jonah in somebody else's life? Are you causing a storm in the life of another?" Are you in somebody's way?

If you are having to confront a person in your life, the very first thing you want to do is take it to the Lord in prayer. Don't make any rash decisions. It may be a storm that will blow over. Maybe you or the other person just had a bad day. If the behavior continues, you may need to evaluate your part in the situation. Many times, I am ashamed to say , it has been my own heart that was in the wrong. After getting advice one day, my friend told me the deciding factor as to when to speak up was if the behavior was affecting somebody else or if other people are being drawn into the situation. If that's the case it needs to be addressed according to the Bible verses in Matthew 18:15-17.

There may come a time that you need to tell somebody "You're kinda in my way."  But make sure to examine your own heart from time to time to make sure you won't be hearing those words from somebody else.  Communication is key!

Whatcha Thinkin'?

We all probably understand at this point how much different a woman's mind is from a man's. Men are said to be waffles and they compartmentalize their thoughts. They think only about what is inside the ONE box they are in at that time.  Women on the other hand are said to be like plates of spaghetti. Their thought process is such that they have to touch each noodle that is on that plate.

My husband asked me one day, "Whatcha thinkin'?"  I am reminded of the first episode I watched of the sitcom, Titus, in which it was flashing back to when Christopher Titus was a small boy and he was heading towards a light socket and was going to put something in it. His mother is frantic but Papa Titus is sitting calmly in his chair, saying, "No, no. Let him do it. He will only do it once." The kid gets zapped and learns his lesson. Sort of the same thing that happened when my husband asked me "Whatcha thinkin'?" I touched every piece of spaghetti on my plate to answer that one question. Hmmm. Yep. The kid got zapped and lesson learned. 

That's okay. I made the same mistake and was just as disappointed.  We were watching TV one night and I snuggled up next to my husband, hoping he would notice my new perfume and comment on it.  "Whatcha thinkin'," I asked flirtatiously.  He looked at me with his deep blue eyes. "I'm thinking about the show on TV," he said as if that were a silly question.  He was in the TV box and that was all he could think about at that time. 

Although it was hard for us to understand each other that way, we have been able to get used to it. My husband very hesitantly asked me one day the question again. "Whatcha thinkin'?" I could almost see him wince. I didn't overwhelm him with information this time. I gave a very simple answer and  I smiled and said, "Was that so hard?"

On the other hand, I have studied and learned my husband also. As we were following a slow moving vehicle the other day, I noticed how quiet he was. I wondered what he was thinking and reasoned that he was probably cursing the car in front of us since that was what was in "his box" at the time. However, I questioned myself because normally he would voice that frustration out loud. I wanted to test my theory and asked, "Whatcha thinkin'?"   His answer was spot on, "I'm wondering why this car is going so slow!" We chuckled as I told him my thought process in that moment and I pondered how we were able to make our vast thinking differences work without it causing major conflict every time.

The moral(?) of the story I guess would be:  Waffles and spaghetti can go well together as long as they are seasoned correctly. 

Enjoy your day!