When Amateurs Are In Charge

Now that I am older (not really old mind you, just older), I find myself a little less tolerant of "amateurs."

But, before you jump all over me for being too harsh in my assessment of "amateurs," let me tell you that I completely understand that I was once an "amateur" myself. The really dumb things I did at a much earlier age (all the while thinking I was so doggone smart!) are totally embarrassing to me now. Wow. Why didn't someone tell me that I was such a rank "amateur" in so many areas? And I was. Believe me! Ugh.

Fortunately, I had several people who gave me multiple chances at strategic places in my life. They gave me chances to try and fail. They gave me chances to learn and grow. They even gave me chances to make dumb mistakes. They also gave me chances to learn valuable lessons from the dumb mistakes I made. Hallelujah for that!

The measurable consequences of my plentiful "amateur" mistakes were pretty small. I hope and pray that very few people were severely impacted by my true "amateur" status earlier in life.

Fast forward to today. Sure seems like there are a lot of "amateurs" out there, doesn't it? Sure seems like there are a lot of well-meaning people in several places trying and failing at their jobs, doesn't it? Sure seems to be a lot of people in need of a lot of learning and growing before they'll really be able to be good at what they do, doesn't it? From my perspective, there seems to be a lot of people making some really dumb mistakes affecting untold numbers of people. I believe that there is a plethora (I love that word - a la El Guappo from The Three Amigos!) of folks out there who really need some wisdom and a crash course on life (including lessons learned from same) before they'll ever be very good at their jobs/stations in life. Unfortunately, the mistakes being made today seem to be accelerating daily, compounding some daunting negative impacts on a lot of people, too. Am I the only one who thinks this way?

Concerning all of this, a thought has been rattling around in my head for several weeks. It goes like this: This is what happens when amateurs are in charge.

Whatever happened to valuing age and life experience, trusting the collective wisdom of the people who traveled this life before us? Why are we all so quick to throw out time-tested, tried and true principles/life lessons these days, falling head over heals instead for whatever is new, popular, politically correct or simply marketed well? Isn't there something to be learned from those who have gone before us? Something?

Now that I am older, I am valuing the input and recommendations of those who have gone before me a lot more than I ever have before. Also, as much as I like giving people multiple chances and helping them to learn in this life, I am beginning to think we can't afford to do that much more when there are so many grossly negative consequences for doing this when amateurs are in charge.

My advice to you (even though you aren't necessarily asking me for it!) is to look around and find someone close to you who has traveled this life well and learned a lot from it. Hang around that person. Learn all you can from them. Ask questions of them. Take notes. Be willing to accept the fact that you more than likely don't know it all (I know that that revelation will be a shock to some of you!). Recognize that there is always something to be learned from someone else. Maybe even someone as old as me?

Who knows? Maybe you'll actually discover something really valuable from the experience and be able to take that something to an even higher level as you live your life? Who knows?

In conclusion, I just want to leave you with this final thought: really unfortunate things happen when amateurs are in charge.

Crapemyrtles

What's your view of life these days? Is it "everything's on the up and up," or are you a little bit more pessimistic than that?

I would have to say that there are a lot of things to be discouraged about right now - here in the United States as well as around the world. I won't begin to spell out for you all the stuff that has me personally concerned, but my list seems to get longer and longer every day. And then it either shrinks or grows depending on my attitude and/or how I choose to view life at that moment in time.

But, when I really think about it, I have to ask: "When hasn't there been a lot to be discouraged about in this world?" Hasn't there always been troubles/difficulties of some sort or another?

Why is it that we are sometimes prone to focus on just the troubles and difficulties in this life? Why is it that we sometimes only see the bad in life and completely miss the good?

That is why I am so glad that God made crapemyrtles.

If you live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, I hope you've noticed how absolutely beautiful the crapemyrtles are this year! I guess the combination of lots and lots of spring rains followed by very hot temperatures is just what the crapemyrtles needed to show off their absolutely gorgeous colors. Wow! Some of the ones in this area are incredibly beautiful!

After noticing crapemyrtles a lot the past few days, I decided it was time to take a photo of one particularly brilliant one on my way home from church today (see photo at the beginning of this blog). I am amazed at how vibrant the color is and how bountiful the blossoms on this one tree! Amazing!

While observing the beauty of the crapemyrtles, I couldn't help but think of the lyrics to a song. It is these words that frequently run through my head whenever I experience something so beautiful in God's creation. The lyrics I am referring to are taken from a song entitled "That's the Love of God," written by Phill McHugh and Greg Nelson back in 1989. It was Sandi Patti who made this song and its words famous/popular several years ago. The lyrics go like this:

What made God take so much care

To make creation glow

He could have made it black and white

And we'd have never known.

So, going forward I am going to try to remember that even when it seems like there is a lot to be discouraged about in our world, I need to stop and check my attitude.

Am I dwelling too much on the bad, not allowing myself to consider something good - like the magnificent beauty of crapemyrtles?

Am I thinking enough about how good God is towards me - about how His creation provides incredible beauty and bounty if we will only stop and take notice?

Have I thanked God today for making living plants like crapemyrtles to explode with color - even though He could've made them black and white and we'd have never known?

In spite of all the stuff that could bring us down and get us really discouraged in this life, let's remember that God gave us crapemyrtles.

Don't just focus on the bad in the world. Allow yourself to focus on the good, too.

What's your view of life today?

Who Moved the Furniture?

My wife and I recently "rearranged" the living room in our house (even if ever so slightly) in anticipation of having some out-of-town guests/family come for a short visit this coming week. We wanted to make our living room a little bit easier for entertaining both in-town and out-of-town guests/family. We also wanted to make the room better for television/movie watching when there are only three of us here doing that.

Anyway, for several days after we did the rearranging, each time I passed through the living room, I thought to myself, "Who moved the furniture?"

Isn't it funny how accustomed and comfortable we can get to things being a certain way in life (even down to the arrangement of furniture in rooms in our houses)? And then, someone or something changes (even if only in a small or insignificant way) and we exclaim to ourselves, "Who moved the furniture?"

The older I get, the more I seem to notice changes, even small ones.

I have found that there is comfort in things being and/or staying somewhat predictable in life. There is comfort in not having to re-think everything each and every day we live. As a matter of fact, it can be downright uncomfortable when you have to adapt to change after change after change after change. Why don't we just leave things the way they are? Why do we have to continually change things?

Well, I've also come to realize that change is just a part of life. Get over it!

As much as I'd like to lock down on somethings and declare them to be totally unchangeable from this point forward, I need to be careful. An attitude like that only leads to unhealthy rigidity, potential alienation of people in my life and maybe even a bad case of ugly legalism. Taken to an even greater extreme, an unwillingness to accept and respond to change leads to a lot of other not so great attributes, too.

On the other hand, there are some things that are worth locking down on and declaring to be totally unchangeable. And that's really O.K., too. Living your life in constant state of change (oftentimes just for the sake of resisting permanence and/or stability) is no more virtuous than living your life unwilling to change. As with a lot of other things in life, the trick is trying to find a healthy balance between constant change and an unwillingness to change at all.

Recently, I traveled to the place where I grew up in Iowa. We visited several family members there. In a lot of ways it seemed to me that not a lot had changed since I was living there 40-50 years ago. I didn't know how I felt about that. Why hadn't this place and the people changed more? What was wrong with them? And then I said to myself that the fact that not a lot had changed was also very good. There were (and are) a lot of things in Iowa that shouldn't change. I realized that even though I had changed a lot from where I was 40-50 years ago, a lot of things also had not changed and that was equally good.

Balancing change, adapting to changes without compromising, and sorting out what really matters in life is key when it comes to change. Wish I had the fine art of it mastered, but I don't. I probably still resist change in a lot of areas, and then am way too prone to change when change is not necessary at all.

So, here's my challenge to all of you reading this. The next time you notice a change, and either remark to yourself, "Who moved the furniture?" and resist it with all your mind, soul and strength or accept the change way too quickly without fully evaluating all the ramifications, I would encourage you to ask yourself the following questions, long before passing final judgment on the change:

- Am I reacting poorly to this change because I am hopelessly stuck and unwilling to adapt to something new and different?

- Am I becoming too rigid and "out-of-touch" with the world I am living in because I resist changes like this so vehemently?

- What did I abandon and/or give-up by accepting this change? In the grand scheme of things, was that abandonment and/or compromised principle worth giving up?

- Is the change I am now facing a change just for change sake? Am I way too prone to make the change just because it is a "popular" thing to do?

- Is the change I am accepting causing me to forget where I've come from and all that was invested in me in the past?

Who moved the furniture?