7 More Quick Takes

1) My daughter was reading an old paperback she found on her bookshelf and reminded me of my advanced years when she asked quite innocently, "Mom, what's a Walkman?" (If some of you reading this don't know either, keep it to yourself. I don't even want to know.)

2) I hate generalizations. HATE them. My underwear gets in a wad whenever mass generalizations are used, statements like,

"Teens are rude and disrespectful."
Not my teens, at least not on a regular basis. Besides, aren't we all rude and disrespectful at times?

"Politicians are a bunch of corrupt power mongers."
While it may be true some are, please don't group the good ones, the ones who sacrifice their time and energy, those whose families sacrifice their presence, all for the sake of protecting what is right. It is unfair to say this of those who spend hours in research and drafting policies to benefit others who rarely thank them.

"The church is too hypocritical."
References to "the church" make me want to scream! WHO? Who exactly are you talking about? I'm part of the church and I try very hard NOT to be hypocritical. I'm sure I fail at times, but don't we all?

I often wonder if a person making such a blanket statement would have the courage to say it to someone one-on-one. It's easy to say "the church is intolerant," (and why do we think we're making profound pronouncements when we use generalizations?) but it takes a much higher level of confidence to say to an individual "You are intolerant." Should these generalizations come out of our mouths if we aren't willing to consider the individuals we refer to as part of the group?

Man, this stuff rattles my cage. I need to catch my breath.

3) FYI--Amid all the hullabaloo over changing their terms of use, Facebook went back to their initial terms, but have something up their sleeve to change the format of home pages. They have a link to check it out, but I haven't been game to look. Too much other stuff to do.

4) My year of FOCUS continues. God is faithfully confronting me with tough questions. The other night I listened to a woman talk about busyness and she challenged us to look at our suckers. What is taking up my time, stealing my energy? Many things are good to be part of, valuable and helpful, worthy of my time, but does that make them necessary? Should I do them simply because I can? I can teach Sunday school, but should I? I can sing, but does it mean I should be in choir? I can do all sorts of things, but it doesn't necessarily mean I should.

This is really tough for me, because I figure if I don't do a particular job, someone else will have to, and their time is just as valuable as mine. In thinking about this, I recall often how Jesus admonishes Martha saying, "Mary has chosen what is better. . ." Does this mean I need to be more selective in how I spend my time? What is better for me? I'm glad I've got a year to work on it.

5) I have a Twitter account, but I just can't get into it. I have the opportunity to spout 140 characters about myself as many times a day as I deem fit and let the world know how my day is going, but I keep asking myself, Who cares?! Do you really want the play by play on an ordinary housewife in small town Nebraska? Yawn. It's supposed to be good for networking and I'm trying, but I'm afraid there's no big rush to be in my circle. What I'd like to do is import my Twitter feed into my Facebook status so I can kill two birds with one stone, but I haven't been able to figure it out yet. Can anybody help me out?

6) An old emotional wound started seeping again this week. Sigh. I'm interpreting it as a sign I've missed something. Apparently I'm lacking perspective or wisdom regarding this hurt. There must be something more God wants me to do with it, something else I need to learn. Some would say the devil is trying to plague me, which could be true, but something in my gut says it's about me and my growth this time. How do you decide what you should and shouldn't examine in life?

Wait, I already know what you're going to say--Tami, quit thinking so hard.

7) How about a word that really matters now? I leave you with some words from Psalm 18 which touched me this week.

To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless, to the pure you show yourself pure. . .You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty. You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light. . .As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in Him. For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the Rock except our God?

Aah. Doesn't that feel better? Be sure to click to Conversion Diary to read more Quick Takes and see pictures of Jen's new baby! Have a good weekend.