{"id":1376,"date":"2013-01-29T06:17:41","date_gmt":"2013-01-29T11:17:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=1376"},"modified":"2013-01-29T06:25:20","modified_gmt":"2013-01-29T11:25:20","slug":"whoa-whoa-whoa-feelings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=1376","title":{"rendered":"whoa whoa whoa feelings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sunday morning the pastor took a quick poll in morning worship:\u00a0 \u201cHow many of you had a leisurely, relaxing morning, and everything went smoothly on the way here?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That was quickly followed by:\u00a0 \u201cHow many of you have had a stressful morn so far?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I swiftly raised my hand to the second of those 2 Q\u2019s (… love the freedom and grace to be authentic on Sunday mornings…).\u00a0<\/em> My morning stunk.\u00a0 My youngest son had a major meltdown.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When I refer to a major meltdown, I mean major.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 It was ugly and loud and nothing I\u2019d want noticed when focused too much on Impression Management 101.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t make either my son nor me look good.\u00a0 He was a mess.\u00a0 So was I.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Not only was Josh a mess, but he was disobedient and disrespectful.\u00a0 He was tired and cranky and such evolved into obstinacy and arrogance.\u00a0 Like I said, it was ugly.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Every now and then, I find one of those rare moments of parenting when everything within me seems to converge, and I humbly realize this is a huge teaching moment.\u00a0 My sense is that such probably occurs a whole lot more often than I realize; but far too frequently I am too impatient, too busy, or too self-focused to recognize the meaning of the moment.\u00a0 I am too distracted by daily life to teach the lessons that will serve my kids for all their life.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Not last Sunday morning.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As my son\u2019s temper turned to tears and his disrespect morphed not-so-calmly into regret, I simply sat beside him \u2014 silently but not ostensibly nor overtly compassionate.\u00a0 Truth be told, my heart welled will enormous compassion \u2014 recognizing the potential teaching of the time.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Josh\u2019s body, which previously shook in accordance with all tears, was calm now.\u00a0 The tears, though, continued to quietly, abundantly flow.\u00a0 After a few more pregnant pauses, Josh drudgingly but deliberately raised his eyes to meet mine.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 The sincere admission prompted even more tears, but now he was listening.\u00a0 Now he could hear me.\u00a0 Now was the time my words were most important, carrying the most significant of weight.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cJosh, you have to choose to be obedient no matter how you feel.\u00a0 You still have to choose what\u2019s right.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Therein lay my \u2018a-ha\u2019 for the week; my words to this precious, teachable young man were words so much of the rest of the world has so obviously, so quickly, and so seemingly, callously discounted.\u00a0 We aren\u2019t even always so young.\u00a0 And certainly, we are not always nor even consistently teachable.\u00a0 Of course, the Intramuralist often wonders as to why.\u00a0 I suppose we\u2019re too often too impatient, busy, or self-focused; we\u2019re distracted by daily life.\u00a0 Arguably instead, we are distracted by emotion.\u00a0 Our emotion tends to trump what is right.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Instead of choosing what\u2019s right no matter how we feel, my strong sense is that the rest of the watching world is more likely to actually change what they previously perceived as right.\u00a0 Instead of consistently doing the right thing, we allow our emotions to justify what we once knew to be wrong; we allow our emotions to actually change what the right thing is…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cBecause I feel this way, it <\/em>must<\/em><\/strong> be right…\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Perhaps we\u2019re too emboldened by our self-serving practice of Impression Management; perhaps we are so emboldened that we don\u2019t actually articulate the practice aloud, although the bottom line point remains the same…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We aren\u2019t always as teachable as my precious, young Joshua.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

True, Josh has much to learn.\u00a0 So do we.\u00a0 Hopefully, none of us will continue to be so distracted.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Respectfully,<\/p>\n

AR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sunday morning the pastor took a quick poll in morning worship:\u00a0 \u201cHow many of you had a leisurely, relaxing morning, and everything went smoothly on the way here?\u201d   That was quickly followed by:\u00a0 \u201cHow many of you have had a stressful morn so far?\u201d   I swiftly raised my hand to the second of … <\/p>\n

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