Building Bridges

Yesterday afternoon and this morning were a bit rough, especially yesterday. I had sent More...
TJ an email on Tuesday regarding my Bible study and devotion time and apparently he didn't care too much for it. The Bible passages in the email were 1 Thessalonians 2:3-8 and 1 Peter 5:8-9.
I found out yesterday that Connor and Aunt Alice were fussing over a mess Connor was making and it woke TJ up and he came upstairs and sent Connor downstairs. Well, Connor hit his hipbone on the door knob or frame as his Dad was trying to get him through the door. Well, Connor came around swinging and he ended up on the bed with his Dad holding him down to try to calm him according to TJ. Connor didn't give any great details to the episode. He doesn't like to share anything like that, well, anything personal and that was personal to him. Anyway, the email apparently arrived the same day as that episode. Then either the next day or yesterday, Peggy (TJ's Mom) called TJ aside and asked him if he had considered taking anger management classes. So needless to say he was ticked at the world. He started with me as I was trying to talk to him. I told him I missed him and he said "I know." Later he told me it felt like I was just waiting for him to pop himself on the forehead and say he was wrong what had he been thinking. Well, I do wish that would happen, but I am not necessarily waiting for it to happen. Anyway, my gut reaction was to tell him to take a hike off the nearest cliff and I would leave him alone. Thank God, I didn't. Instead I told him we would talk later. This morning he came in and apologized for taking his frustrations out on me. He said he had read the email a couple of times and got from it that I believed all he needed to do was confess his sins and he would get better and that his Mom felt like all he needed to do was take anger management classes and he would get better. I told him that we all need to confess our sins, that is how we obtain forgiveness for them. I also told him that the main message I intended for him to get was that he is not alone. We all have our struggles and don't have to suffer alone. Anyway, I was still praying and fighting my instinct to just leave him alone. I took the computer away from him and leaned over him and looked him in the eyes and told him I love you. I then kissed him on the forehead and then moved away. After leaving I kept telling myself I am not going to cry, well, I did. Not sobbing, but tears spilling down my cheeks. After getting back to SC, I was telling Sara and Eddie what had happened and Eddie stopped me in the middle to point out that TJ had admitted in a roundabout way that he needed to get better and that is the first step. I hadn't seen it until he said it, but it is true. Thank You, Lord, for Your loving kindness and Your strength and wisdom.

The following comes from The Gift the New Testament for New Believers:
Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the time. Collossians 4:5.

Every time you say hello to the ringing of the telephone, every time you open the door to dinner company, every time you plop your milk and bread up on the checkout conveyor, you get one more chance to have a godly influence on a buddy, a neighbor, a stranger. The way you react in situations like these--be they casual, corporate, or confrontational--can paint ann honest loving eyes on someone's personal picture of the Christ you serve.
It really is an awesome responsibility. If God put us here for any other reason than to love and worship Him, it was to love and honor His children, to be a warm-eyed smile in a sea of grunts and frowns, a two-hour phone call in a world of busy signals, a lunch invitation in the middle of a long, lonely day.
Christian disciples are committed to lifting their fiends a little higher, overlooking the faults of their enemies, and going out of their way to meet a need, to remember a kindness, to speak a word of encouragement. No one is insignificant to God or to the people who love Him.

Collosians 4:5-6 Life puts you in contact with a lot of different people. Some are fun to be around. Some are a challenge. But God has put them all into your life for a reason. Friend or foe, relevant or seemingly irrelevant, every person in your life is a ministry opportunity.

"Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the time. Your speech should always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person." Collosians 4:5-6

Thank You, Lord, for giving me the patience and control not to say hurtful things last night to TJ. I know he is hurting and I know You are working in his life. I pray You will continue to work in his life, bring him to You, O Lord, and use me as one of Your instruments. Amen.