This morning Elizabeth, who still isn’t saying anything that we can understand, pointed to several letters on a shirt I was wearing and very confidently made the sounds for each letter. So strange. She is going to keep me guessing the rest of my life.
Warning: Paul’s Strange Thoughts Ahead!
Cathy and I had the pleasure of attending our first Evangelical Free Church this last Sunday. It was somewhat different than the PCA churches we are used to, but it was very good to be there. The sermon talked about the soul and the part of the soul that is set apart from the spirit. Growing up, I always heard that the soul is the part of the spirit that is our will with the spirit being the mind, will and emotions of the person. The will, I always thought, was that part of a person that was the reason for doing things. It was their ego, I guess. Not in a conceited way, but in a who you are apart from the world way.
That set me to thinking about our will. While some say that we have free will (I don’t), it is that will which drives what we pursue in life. Then there is the old phrase so often repeated in the church “dying to self”. If our self, that is us apart from the world, is our will, then are we supposed to kill our soul? That was what I was thinking about very determinedly this morning from 2ish until 5ish (that’s right, I actually lost sleep over this). What part of ourself should we be trying to kill?
I am happy today to have just received Directv service with almost no hassle and an extremely nice call from the service department. Why am I so happy? Well, it’s not because I can’t survive without TV and it’s not because I think Directv is the easiest way to view. Mostly it has to do with the way people treat other people.
Prior to Directv I was Dish man. I really liked the programming I got at Dish and I was usually very happy with the way I was treated. Right before I moved to Birmingham, something happened though. One of our “LNBs” went out and Dish had to make a service call. A $49 service call. They wanted me to pay for coming out and fixing the equipment I was leasing from them. That sounded a bit weird to pay them to fix their own equipment, so I told them I would just rather get AppleTV when it came out. Suddenly the charges were dropped. Recently my service stopped all together. I put in a call to the service reps and they scheduled an appointment (12 - 5). So at 5:30 they came and looked at my set up and told me that I should never have had an install in the first place. Apparently, it was impossible to get Dish anywhere on my property. But just to make sure, they were going to send out a “specialist” to make sure. I never heard from them. So in the two weeks time since the original service call I tried some other options.
Charter Cable is the only cable service in my area. Though it was more expensive by far than what I was paying, I thought that I would try cable TV. Again, I was given a time (between 8-12) that the install would take place. I received two calls from the installer explaining that he was running late and finally gave up after 12 since my children had to have their naps. So Charter was a cancel.
Then there is Directv. Install was set from 8-12 just like th others, but he called at 8 and said he would be there at 9, which he was. He was a little hesitant about service but got it running fine and was out of there by 10:30. I haven’t used the service much, but it seems to be at least as good as Dish and I got more channels for the same price.
So here is what companies could learn from this.
1. Don’t make people threaten to move their service to treat them well. Give them service and respect from the start.
2. Do everything in your power to help, and follow up with your service.
3. Be on time. It is understandable to run late here and there, but not more than an hour. That is just bad scheduling and mis management of resources.
Finally to my service rep whose ID is of all things “RIP”. You were not very nice to me. You could have salvaged a strained business relationship by being nice, but instead, you insured that I would do everything in my power to leave Dish forever. Not only that, I am now an evangelist for Directv and have ample reason to promote them over Dish.
OK, so I really like the writings and ideas of Seth Godin a lot. He has inspired me to many new thoughts in my faith. Having said that, I had a thought that totally contradicted his this last Sunday morning. I was listening to my new church home pastor preach about how we have to change the way we talk to people about our faith. He used a nooma clip that rebukes bullhorn man. Basically he outlined a bunch of ways that we should not try to relate to people when it comes to faith. I was paying attention, but some of my attention strayed to Seth. He has said that interruption marketing is dying or dead. That means all of those banner ads, tv commercials, spray and pray flyers an telemarketing are all done. People do not want to be interrupted! But as I listened to the ideas about sharing faith, I though, “People do want to be interrupted.”
People want something to interrupt their lives and bring them something better. They want something to change them into what they want to be but are afraid of trying to be. They will take that interruption any time of the day. I think people are looking for an excuse to be brave enough to do what they want, instead of what they think they should do. I see high school seniors constantly do what they think they should instead of what they want to do. I see grown adults stick it out in dead end jobs because they are afraid to do what they love. Basically, I see a lot of people who want that mythic interruption that brings them into a live that they love. Just like Bilbo in the LOTR when Gandalf interrupts him, or Neo when Trinity interrupts him or so many other heroes that are heroes only because they were interrupted.
The sad part of this idea is that people feel they need an interruption to do something out of the ordinary. They feel like they can’t just go do those things. Maybe evangelism is just that kind of interruption.
What does it feel like to be three months or more outside your call? I think it’s a lot like seeing the finish-line. Not so much in that I’m ready to give up or that it is almost over, but in that I know where I am going to end up. Truthfully, I thought I would have a job by now, and I had in my head that if I didn’t then this would be it - I would give up. Yet, after all this time I am more convinced of my calling. I couldn’t have made it this far if it weren’t for what God was teaching through me. Every time I have felt despair (daily, sometimes hourly) I remember things I talked to kids or parents about, or preached, or discipled into others. My list of big things to remember:
1. Faith isn’t looking at what is happening around you. There’s a guy in my former Sunday school class who can now repeat my ideas on faith verbatum. Faith is believing the promises of God, even when it seems like He’s a liar.
2. Faith is not listening to the lies in your head that how bad you are. There is someone who wants us to give up hope and tells lies to discourage us. Faith is answering those lies with God’s promises.
3. Faith is an unwavering belief that God is good and He works everything for the good of those He loves and are called into His kingdom. So no matter what is happening, God is working it out to be good for the kingdom. That means some will suffer while others rejoice.
So last night Cathy and I watched a documentary on the Spartan battle based on the upcoming movie 300. Maybe it was just the right thing at just the right time. Those warriors were willing to die for something. That is where I am today. I am more convinced of my calling than ever. Even if I work in a secular field, I will always work with teens and their families and try to relate the truth I have been given.
This has allowed me to embrace something Cathy brought home for a new Martin team motto. It’s called “embrace the suck.” Apparently this originated in the military camps in Iraq. Conditions were so bad there and there really was nothing to be done but live with it and keep doing your job. Hopefully Cathy will have time to enlighten our readers as only she can.
So here’s to the finish line. Embrace the suck.
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