” The Doors”

• Not The Only One!
• Post #88
• 13  Jul  23  
•                           ”    The Doors”
• Howdy!,
• Thank you guys for once again  being  there.  One of my favorite  things to  do is to be a people  watcher. I just love people  with  all of their quirks. I will even occasionally  give them a back story. This has been  hampered  by covid and by technology.  We got social  distancing for almost  over three years due to covid. People  became  fearful of contact with  other  individuals and even  sometimes  with  family  members.  I  don’t  think  prior  to  this time we had ever  put the words social and  distancing  together☺️☺️.  Technology  has also  played a  part  because so many  people are shopping online and malls all across the  country  are closing  down and disappearing faster than  an ice cube on a ninety degree day.☺️  The places that use to be ideal for people  watching,  are not so much!, anymore.  I  believe that  we  are all created in the image of  God,  we just  don’t  always  behave  or act accordingly ☺️☺️. I have  attempted  this  activity  in mobile  phone  stores,  but the reactions can often  be very  universal,  as people are  feeling  taken  advantage  of, as they  wonder how we got to appoint where we couldn’t  exist without  our constant  smart friend  in our pockets.☺️ I  think this whole  thing  with  the  people  watching started about  four decades ago and  it has just  become  more sophisticated as people on some level have become  more  reclusive.  I  remember  back  in  the  day when  parents  would  have  something  very  much  like  a leash between  themselves and  their  off spring.  Instead of  it going  around  the  kids neck, which  in some cases would be  more appropriate ☺️☺️,,it was from  the parents  wrist to the child’s wrist.  I  recall being in  a department store and watching  a kid wrap  themselves around a clothing rack and  the  chaos that ensued.  As you can  imagine,  the parents  would  become  extremely  frustrated and  for  me, I just  looked  at  it and took it as birth  control,  as in never  ever  in my life would  I be doing that ☺️☺️. I also really  like  Airports  for structure and  context,  as people  come and go , but between  having  to  pay for parking and  dealing with  TSA, I  have  placed  strict  limits on  myself  unless I’m traveling.  So, one of my great joys now days , are the kin folk. It’s the people that I  find  myself  related to because we are all in the family of  God.  Yes, these are some  of  the  same  people that  You  see on those” People  of Walmart videos” ☺️☺️. If you  have never  guess this or heard me make reference of it before,  I’m an extrovert and  an extrovert  who loves to  mess with  other  people.  I  think  it’s a  tragedy when  we  can’t  smile or laugh at ourselves,  but  those people  do exist.  So if you put extrovert  with  people  watcher,  some how they  add up to church  greeter☺️. ,, Yep, I’m one of those smiling faces in the morning at church,  when  most people  are  just  still  trying to  wake their  faces up☺️. The  churchy  word for this is  called  “First Impressions “. I’m a greeter at my church,  much like the ones at Walmart,  only I don’t  get  paid  for  it,  well, that’s not exactly true. I  get paid in smiles, hugs and  hand shakes,  and  sometimes  something  quite unexpected.  So I  go to a fairly  good size church  , so it has multiple points of  entry. And this is what I call “The Doors “. I basically  rotate  between  three different  doors, even  though there are others.  Each  one of the doors  that I serve at, brings  a different  crowd, and  each  rewarding  in their  own  right.  So , first up is a door near the main street that the church  is  located on,  but its not the main entrance,  but we will  get to that one next. This is the door where a lot of people  come in , whom are serving in  some other  compacity in the church.  They  usually  park  across the  street  off campus,  to make room for others  as they  will probably  be there for more than  one of the three services.  They  maybe  musicians,  teachers,  tech support,  ushers,  people  serving  coffee, parking  lot attendants,  or a half dozen  of other  jobs in the church that I  didn’t  mention.  So these guys are usually  pretty  focused,  because they  are  on a mission.  They  are  also  known  as the twenty percenters.  If you  are  guessing  money,  then you would  be incorrect.  There is this strange  dynamic that   goes on in  most churches,  where twenty  percent .of the people  do eighty  percent of the  work in the majority of  churches.  It’s not a rule  that is has to happen  this way, it just  usually  seems  to  work out this way.  I  believe  that  God loves it when  we  have a  servant heart,  but sometimes  we  just  need to  learn to say “No”, or it’s not my monkey ☺️. The next door  up is the main entrance and just  happens to be  the  place with  the majority of the  handicap  parking.  This is the door where you  get the  majority of older couples who  have  seemed to be just  married forever.  They are just  amazing as they  help one another navigate the terrain with  canes, walkers,  or sometimes with  just  the occasional  shoulder or held hand. These guys represent the multiple generations  that can  be  found in  this house of God.  So , while  most are parents,  some are grandparents or great grands as well.  These guys both warm my heart and strengthen my  faith . Sometimes I  read scripture and  it may talk about the Heroes of the faith,  and  some of their  feats or journeys seem unattainable,  so, now it’s like God  is giving  me  real life examples of  those who have  gone before  me.  I  don’t  know  all of their  stories,, but occasionally you get just  a  glimpse of  the scars that  made them  battle  tested and battle  ready as they have  prayed  themselves and others  through the  many seasons  of  life.  There is  more  here to them and their  stories,  but let’s  move on  to  door three and we will  double  back  here later if we have time . Sometimes  I feel like  a parent who has three children  and you know  that you aren’t  supposed to have a  favorite , but  one just  shines a little brighter than  the  other two.  Well  for me it’s door three, it’s my favorite,  and  it’s the place where I may get  something  a little  unexpected.  Door three is  where  the  children’s  wing is located, so all of the young  parents with  their  kiddos. I  don’t  have any grandchildren  here locally  here with  me  anymore,  so  this is  a  good cheat  sheet  for  me. Little  kids are the  greatest,  because  there is no pretenses with  them.  They will  let You  know  that it wasn’t  their  idea to get  up this  early in the morning.  They  haven’t  mastered the fake church  smiles,  that says I’m ok , while  I’m deeply  hurting  on the inside. Some are prissy, you just know that is how  they  are wired, but many look like dark side from the  ” Odd Couple ” despite  their  parents  best efforts.  They  don’t  know  and are not  afraid  to give hugs or a snooty  high five as they  arrive.  One morning I  had a  little  boy look up at me and  just handed me his sippy cup, like here dude, you need this more than I do☺️☺️.  My pastor will  often  make  reference to  the things that we don’t have to teach  our kids ,such  as  to be selfish  or to  lie. That  being  said,  makes it extra special  when  they  offer you their  favorite  toy, that they held tightly in their  clutch, as they are  hoping that you will  give  it  back,  or not take  them up on their  offer to share. I  think  about  God’s word that says we come to Him and  enter into  His presence with  a childlike  faith and I  think to myself that  I  have  such  a  long way to go.  Life can  often  leave  us from  anywhere or anything close to being  childlike. Life has  many  bumps and bruises,  that can  leave  us hardened and hardened of heart.  This  is  the last  place  in the world that You  want to  be if you  are  a  legitimate follower of Christ. I  know  how difficult  it  can  be to keep  a tender heart and  especially when  there is so much  evil in  the  world. Just think  for a second  and ask  yourself,  did you  pause for a second,  just  one brief  moment,  when  you  heard about the  last  mass shooting,  or did you just  think  another one! ,or here we go again. That one may  be to extreme for you,  but how about the  last time you saw someone standing on  corner with  a  sign. Did you  even  bother  to  read  what  it said, or did you just  look away,  or just  right  pass them? I  think  having a  hard heart makes  us less useful to God. I  can  at times  be a little  critical of my kin folk, because  we often  look like ,smell like and  behave  like the very same people  that  we  are  supposed  to  be reaching for the Kingdom. Again  the question is  what good is salt , if it looses its flavor? See there is a really  good reason  why we are kin folk, and  that is because  I’m just  like them.  I  constantly  miss the mark and  have  selfish  thoughts  and  intentions.  Just  last  week,  I  was sitting  in church,  when  a family came  in. It was a mom and  a dad with  three  kids. My focus  went  immediately  to  an older teen  daughter  who  had on what my girlfriend would  call  Booty  shorts, and  I  thought,  how inappropriate.  Almost in that very same  minute  God said to me, they didn’t  come here to worship  you, it’s not about  you, and  that  I  need  to  get  over myself.  It’s just  all to often  that  our  focus  is  in  the  wrong  place.  We desperately want  to make  it about  us. We get  wrapped  around the axel about the  carpet,  the type of  music  they sing, or the pastor’s sermon,  or other  little  things , such as to what someone is wearing,  and  really  it’s all about the  audience of  One.  All of the things said and  done, both  inside and  outside of  church walls  ,should  bring honor and glory to  God, and  that just  isn’t  happening.  Someone just  recently  sent me a  clip from  a  graduation commencement ceremony,  and  the  speaker was  very  eloquent with  his words, but he spoke of the evolution of mankind,  which I  just  haven’t  seen.  We are the same  old people that were back  in the  garden and I  think the only  evolutionary thing that we truly  ever wrap our brains  around is  that  God is in control and  that  we don’t  achieve anything  on our own.  That  is  true  universally,, whether  people  recognize it  and acknowledge  God or not! If you  go back  and look at history and  the old testament,  we are the same  and still  just  don’t  get it, which  is  frankly a little  sad because  we have  a  written record of  it. I  look back  and I see a very legalistic church  culture, which  still  exist today.  We like  to  judge  others  based on how they  look, smell,  or what they drive. We like  saying  churchy things  such as  if not for the grace of God, there go I, while  all along  thinking  that could  never  be me.  We never  give  a second thought to  walking  in someone’s else’s  shoes,  we just  want  to  judge the  shoes that they are  wearing. I  don’t  know, maybe  the Booty shorts  was all she had to wear and the  important thing is  that  she was there to worship  God, when  she  could have  been  so many  other  places and doing  so  many  other  things, again,  it’s not about  me. If you  go back  and  study or look at old  testament  Israel,  we are on a parallel  course, or something  very  close to  looking  in the mirror. Israel   was a nobody that  God took  a  hold of ,and said  that  all  the  world  would  be blessed  through  them.  There is  no denying  this country’s  Christian roots or heritage,  but just  like  Israel,  we have  lost our way  and made it about  everything and  anything  except  the main thing, and that is about  knowing God and having a  relationship with  Him. It’s like  history just  keeps repeating itself., and we aren’t  paying  attention.  The religious pharisees, were the original  ” Holy Rollers ” back in the day, but they are far from  gone. There  is still  very  much so a segment of the church  population that  believes that certain things  are edged  in stone. I’m not talking  about  fundamental  truths about  Christ which  are  non-negotiables,  but about  how and when and what ways people  connect with  God.  I  believe  that  God meets us where we  are.  He never,  not once  required you to  have a  PHD, or for that matter  of  fact, not even a GED.  That’s the beauty of  the  cross , the ground  is  level  there. We are all on a journey,  and I  guess  the biggest  difference is  whether  God is a part of your story  or not, because  He wants  to be, but can not and will  not force His way  some place  that  He is not welcomed. The people  that  I  admire , connect with,  and subscribe to  are the  one’s  who are genuine and  are transparent . Regardless  of  their  lot in life or their  position,  they  are  not  afraid  to  admit  that  they  have  struggles and short comings.  These are the people  who  want  you to know  that  regardless  as to how much  you  think  that  they  have it together,  that they  actually  don’t.  See there is both  truth  and  beauty there. There is connect ability there  when  you  realize  that  You  don’t  have  to  be perfect,  because  none of us are. None of us  should  be  looking around and playing  the comparison game,  because  we all  have  junk or stuff  and often  both☺️☺️. There is a  reason  why the son of God was born  in  an animal  shelter  rather  than a  palace,  and it goes to  the connect  ability  factor,  He didn’t  come to be out  of  reach.  He came so that  you don’t  have  to  be crippled  by  your  past.  So when  everyone else and everything  else  is working  against  you,  He says come as you are and He says yes. Yes to loving  you, yes to accepting you ,  and yes to wanting you,  even  when  you  think of yourself  as leavable , as In its always  an  option  if they  want to  be with  you or not. He says I will  never  leave or forsake  you.  One of  the  things  that  always  gets us into  trouble  is impostors . People  who  claim  to  know  God or speak  for Him, when  they  don’t  know Him and have  never  met His acquaintance.  We look at the impostors and  never  consider  if their  talk matches their walk. Your walk with  God  should  permeate every aspect of  your  life,  just  like  a good marinate ends up in every  bite of a steak. There are no bites that You  don’t  taste the marinade.  Ok, a bit long, but no surprise  there, but before  I  go. God’s  kids are  supposed to  be  different  from the  rest of the world,  we often  are not, but we are forgiven  because  of  our relationship  with  Christ, if it is genuine.  One more, can  you imagine  God on ” Undercover  Boss”, boy would  I be ever getting  fired over and over again,  if not for His grace☺️☺️.      
•    Till Next Time ✌️Peace!    
•      Sandy The  Southerner

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