The Power Of The Little Thing

I returned early this morning for a trip to California which went well.

Yesterday, Yvonne, the wife of one of them men who was in meetings with me was at a coffee shop. She had ordered something to eat and was leaving the counter when a small portion of her food dropped on the floor. Rather than leave it there, she came back to pick it up.

A Spanish speaking woman asked her why she did that. Yvonne, who happens to speak fluent Spanish, responded that she didn't want anyone to slip on it. This led to further conversation which then led to a discussion about faith.

It turns out this woman had just lost her mother 11 days ago and was looking for answers. Yvonne ended up praying with this woman and she prayed to receive Christ! How cool is that?!

Yesterday evening I got on the airplane and was seated in a middle seat in the exit row. I had two men on either side of me. Neither seemed like the talkative type--in fact they both seemed rather unfriendly. Not a word was spoken for the first four fours of the four hour 20 minute flight. This was fine with me because I had work that I could do and some things to read.

As we were making the approach to the airport, I reached in my briefcase and got a piece of gum. I offered a piece to both of my non-communicative seat mates. They both accepted and were extremely grateful. It was as if they were saying, "Why did you offer me something when I haven't given you the time of day?" They truly seemed shocked. We actually talked a little bit for the remainder of the flight.

I would love to tell you that I prayed with both of them as Yvonne did, but that did not happen. However, I hope and pray that a seed was planted with them. Next time, I will try to do something nice for someone earlier in the flight.

On my drive home, I was struck by the power of a simple gesture and how someone's life literally can be changed forever by that.

Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.

1 Peter 3:15b

Compassion

I have a soft spot in my heart for people who work for bad bosses. I had a boss several years ago who was a real tyrant. That experience led me to write the book Bleedership, Biblical First-Aid for Leaders in which I contrast my boss' leadership style with the great leaders of the Bible.

I recently read about a contest in which people were given awards for having the worst bosses. Here is one of the entries:

I had to call an ambulance to take my wife to the hospital one morning. I was due in for work that afternoon. So, as soon as I arrived at the ER and my wife was with the doctor, I called my boss and told him I was at the ER with my wife and she was with the doctor. I told him I would not be in that afternoon. He asked my why I could not come in, to which I replied "Did you not hear what I just told you!" and he then said "You said she was with the doctor." So, I told him again that I would not be in and I hung the phone up.

Then, 6 months later my Grandfather was diagnosed with terminal cancer and was given less than two months to live. When I was explaining the situation to him, he said (I WILL NEVER FORGET THESE WORDS) "I don't know why you are worried about him, he is JUST your Grandfather and he is going to die anyway." I lost my temper and we argued. I later found out from my co-workers that he was mad about me being gone for the funeral. Needless to say, I found a new place to work, and I hope and pray no one ever has to work for someone like him.

This boss obviously had the spiritual gift of mercy...NOT. Compassion was not his strong suit.

I have found that when you treat people as people and not just cogs in the giant wheel, they will work much harder and be more loyal. They will actually care. And who knows, by treating others this way, you might just open a door for them to ask you why you are so different and you will have an open opportunity to talk with them about your faith.

To read more bad boss stories go here.

Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.
1 Peter 3:15b

Compassion

As you know, I coach my son's 5th and 6th graded basketball team through our local YMCA. This is a travel league, where we play games at other Y's throughout our area. We are not very good and we get beat more than a drum.

Saturday was our last regular season game as our tournament begins tomorrow night. Once again, we were shellacked by a score that was something like 46-5. It seems that in every game we are totally out-classed when it comes to basketball ability and talent (and coaching skills too!). This can be somewhat demoralizing when it continually happens.

At the end of our game, a cool thing happened. The opposing coach came up to me and said, "You tell your team to keep their head up. Tell them we have played together as a team for two years and we are currently playing in three leagues. Tell them they are going to be fine."

A very classy and compassionate thing for him to say.

I passed this on to our team and I think it helped. I know I was encouraged.

He didn't need to say what he said. But he chose to be bigger than his ego. He chose to use the opportunity to build others up by showing compassion and understanding. A terrific example!

Love

I had something really cool happen to me earlier this week. Many will think the phone call I received isn't that big of a deal but it really made an impact on me.

One of my next door neighbors called and said, "Jim, this is Nancy. Are you OK?"

I told her I was fine and I inquired why she was asking.

She said, "Well Mike was mentioning just the other day that he hadn't seen you outside for a while and he said he was concerned. And the more I thought about it I got concerned too."

I told her I was fine and that I truly appreciated their concern for me.

After we hung up, I sat there and I really felt cared for and loved. I have some awesome neighbors but I don't know any of them really well. Yet, this couple thought enough of me to call me to make sure everything was OK. That is love. I didn't feel I deserved it, but I sure appreciated it!

And that is something each of us can do regularly. We don't have to know others well. Yet we can show them love by simply showing them we care about them.

I have heard it said that the Bible can be summarized in four words: Love God, love people. On this Valentines day, let's remember that!

Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and ith all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" Matthew 22:37-39