Saying Goodbye

I am the worst at saying goodbye.

During the 3 months that I worked at Disney, I remember going on a blind date.

After I got crushed at air hockey and destroyed playing miniature golf, we came to the part of our “date” where we had to say goodbye. Awkwardly, not knowing what to do, I stuck out my hand and said, “handshake”.

We never went on another date again.

I was backing out of the driveway today, my wife having just gave me a book to take back to the library.

Answering her phone in one hand and giving me the book in the other hand, she said, “thank you”.

And I said, “thank you” back.

Thank you?

I could have said, “I love you”.

Or even a simple, “goodbye”.

Instead the moment took me back to the time I said “handshake”.

Saying goodbye is awkward.

The Bible, Video Games, and Hanging Out

In a hush-hush corner of the world, I decided to start something. That something combines my love of the Bible, video games, and hanging out. You see, I started a Bible study for junior high/high school guys.

Once a month, for two hours on a Sunday afternoon, I host a Guy’s Bible Study at my house. The guys come over, hang out, study the Bible and eat food. That’s it. Super simple and to the point.

Yesterday, we studied Joshua 2. We talked about:

  • Rahab. Who is a part of Jesus’ lineage. (See Matthew 1.)
  • Her being a prostitute. (When I asked the boys what a prostitute was, one chimed in, “That means she did very bad things.” I can’t argue there.)
  • Rahab told the spies that she knew who the Israelite’s were and that they served the “supreme God” (as the NLT puts it).
  • In a profession where hearts grow hard, Rahab’s heart was soft enough to be used by God. She hid the spies and because of this, her family was ultimately saved.

Had a really enjoyable time discussing the Bible, playing video games, and eating hot dogs with a cheesy center. We even topped off our time by eating smores over the fire. So good.

I love being able to have the guys over to my house. I love spending time with them.

I locked myself out of the house this morning.

I double checked my pockets just before walking out the door. Everything I needed seemed to be there:

  • Cell phone – Check!
  • Wallet – Check!
  • Headphones – Check!

With the above things on my person, I grabbed my coffee cup and headed out the door. Stopping along the way to pet the dog, “Good morning, Gus”. At the car, I placed my coffee cup on the car roof so I could grab my keys. I patted my pockets. Where are they? It slowly dawned on me, I didn’t grab my keys.

“How can a grown man lock himself out of the house?”

After a quick text to work telling them that I had locked myself out of the house, I began to explore my options. I tried one window; I tried another window. No luck. I evaluated my options again, my tired brain screamed for more caffeine. How can a grown man lock himself out of the house? Let’s recap:

  • Tab and Wyatt were gone.
  • My inlaws weren’t picking up their phone.
  • The spare key was inside the house.

Meanwhile, Gus excitedly was wagging his tail, ready to go inside. I managed to get the screen off one of the windows and awkwardly climb into the house. (Would have loved to see what I looked like from the outside.) I quickly located the keys, put everything back into place (I had grabbed a ladder to get into the window, a screw driver, etc.), and got in the car.

On my way to work, my mother-in-law returned my phone call. I told her everything.

From Across the Net – Applying “Husband of One Wife”

Found this response to be helpful:

“Second, if the divorce was his fault in one way or another, how does he talk about it? Does he pass it off to youthful indiscretion or does he describe it as sin that required repentance? Does he recognize the moral gravity and tragedy of divorce, no matter whose fault and no matter when it occurred? Basically, I’d want to know that a man mourns the divorce, hates that it ever happened (as much as he trusts the Lord’s sovereignty and loves his wife today), and is now utterly committed to never repeating such a thing. In other words, I’d want to know that the man who got the divorce is a “different man” than the one I and the congregation know today.”

AND

“One more important pastoral matter, though: if a sizable minority of your church disagrees with you, I very well may hold back from nominating this man. You want your church to trust its elders and agree they should be elders. So, even if you know a majority would agree to this man’s nomination, don’t risk division if it’s a bare majority. If I’m in a church of 200, and two people have problems, I would probably push ahead. But if I’m in a church of 22, and 7 people really struggle with this, I would slow down. Teach. Give the seven more time to be persuaded of your position. Or even just back off entirely for a while. This man can still “elder” even if he doesn’t have the title. His “status” as elder is not worth division or causing other sheep to stumble.”

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