Sanity check?
I told my mother the story about the baby sock on Saturday. As I was talking to her on the telephone, I realized something. I sounded like a lunatic. I know that. All day, I've been waiting for the guys with the white coats and jumbo sized butterfly net to show up and ask me to come along quietly.
The thing is though, this really happened. Just like all of the other random stuff that happens I've written about. It doesn't make any sense to me either. I suppose it depends on what your outlook on life is. I think believers in Christ have an easier time accepting the stories I've shared. My friends who aren't quite where I am with their faith are a bit more skeptical. Sometimes, I'm a little concerned I'm not coming across as "all there" as well.
In fact, I wrote a blog about asking myself if I'm nuts (November 16) and I find the answer today is the same as it was on that day. No, no, I'm not.
I just sound crazy. Here's the thing... if I didn't talk about these things, you, my friends and readers of the blog wouldn't notice them or the impact they have on my life these days. I don't have to share them with you and in fact, I wasn't going to because, quite honestly, they were getting to be a bit much for even me to believe and then the message was... Witness, again something I wrote a blog about. I share these little stories with you because they're the subtle, little things in my life that kind of point me on the path I'm supposed to be on. They happen. I can't change the fact they happen. If you didn't know about them and I told you I was trying to work things out with Wendi, most of you would think I'm using very poor judgment in the matter.
From a secular point of view it may look that way. Looking at the stories I tell you from that vantage point it would appear that I'm, to quote the popular saying, "A few fries short of a Happy Meal". However, from the viewpoint of someone who believes that with God, all things are possible, a different opinion can be formed, which is that God is at work in my life.
So, back to the story of the baby sock. We were cleaning up after the church Christmas dinner this afternoon and the pastor's wife asked me how things were going. I told her I had a really unusual story to tell but I didn't want to because telling it would make me sound like a lunatic. One of the other ladies told me that I had her attention and I HAD to tell them what it was. A few of the folks at church know Wendi and I are separated so I told the ladies in the kitchen the story of the baby sock. They have a different take on my story. They didn't think I was a lunatic.
I talked to Wendi today. I told her if she found a baby sock in a place she couldn't explain to let me know and tell me what it looks like. I don't know if she will, but with the way things are going in my life, it wouldn't surprise me if the other one shows up there. I can't say the baby sock is a sign from God. I didn't ask God for a sign. There's nothing in scripture to validate what a baby sock on the closet floor of my home would mean. I'm just saying it's there. There's no reason for it to be there and I don't know where it came from. I'm not trying to read anything into it. It's there for a reason, I'm sure because I can't explain it. I picked it up, touched it, looked at it. It's real. It's pinned on a bulletin board in my bedroom. If it's from God, the reason it's there will be revealed when the time is right. If it's not, then it's just something that happened in life that I can't explain.
That's my sanity check. When I believe it's God talking to me, I check the message against scripture. I shared this with all y'all a little while back. I'm not ready for the rubber room... not yet. I'm sane enough to know I sound crazy but I don't mean to. It takes faith that God can make these little things happen to believe they do.
I want to share this final thought with the skeptical readers. I learned it in my English class and I think it'll help make my point. When you read something, read it twice. Read from the perspective of agreement with the author, then re-read from the perspective of arguing with the author. Then ask yourself this little question: Is Coop a nut if these things REALLY happen to him?
I promise you, I haven't lost my mind and I have my therapist's business card with me in case I feel like I am losing touch with reality.
God bless all of you and thanks, as always for reading my blog. Tomorrow's topic is asking God for what you need in your life. I want to talk about this because I told this to a friend last night and today I heard someone at church tell it to a friend of his.
Coop
The thing is though, this really happened. Just like all of the other random stuff that happens I've written about. It doesn't make any sense to me either. I suppose it depends on what your outlook on life is. I think believers in Christ have an easier time accepting the stories I've shared. My friends who aren't quite where I am with their faith are a bit more skeptical. Sometimes, I'm a little concerned I'm not coming across as "all there" as well.
In fact, I wrote a blog about asking myself if I'm nuts (November 16) and I find the answer today is the same as it was on that day. No, no, I'm not.
I just sound crazy. Here's the thing... if I didn't talk about these things, you, my friends and readers of the blog wouldn't notice them or the impact they have on my life these days. I don't have to share them with you and in fact, I wasn't going to because, quite honestly, they were getting to be a bit much for even me to believe and then the message was... Witness, again something I wrote a blog about. I share these little stories with you because they're the subtle, little things in my life that kind of point me on the path I'm supposed to be on. They happen. I can't change the fact they happen. If you didn't know about them and I told you I was trying to work things out with Wendi, most of you would think I'm using very poor judgment in the matter.
From a secular point of view it may look that way. Looking at the stories I tell you from that vantage point it would appear that I'm, to quote the popular saying, "A few fries short of a Happy Meal". However, from the viewpoint of someone who believes that with God, all things are possible, a different opinion can be formed, which is that God is at work in my life.
So, back to the story of the baby sock. We were cleaning up after the church Christmas dinner this afternoon and the pastor's wife asked me how things were going. I told her I had a really unusual story to tell but I didn't want to because telling it would make me sound like a lunatic. One of the other ladies told me that I had her attention and I HAD to tell them what it was. A few of the folks at church know Wendi and I are separated so I told the ladies in the kitchen the story of the baby sock. They have a different take on my story. They didn't think I was a lunatic.
I talked to Wendi today. I told her if she found a baby sock in a place she couldn't explain to let me know and tell me what it looks like. I don't know if she will, but with the way things are going in my life, it wouldn't surprise me if the other one shows up there. I can't say the baby sock is a sign from God. I didn't ask God for a sign. There's nothing in scripture to validate what a baby sock on the closet floor of my home would mean. I'm just saying it's there. There's no reason for it to be there and I don't know where it came from. I'm not trying to read anything into it. It's there for a reason, I'm sure because I can't explain it. I picked it up, touched it, looked at it. It's real. It's pinned on a bulletin board in my bedroom. If it's from God, the reason it's there will be revealed when the time is right. If it's not, then it's just something that happened in life that I can't explain.
That's my sanity check. When I believe it's God talking to me, I check the message against scripture. I shared this with all y'all a little while back. I'm not ready for the rubber room... not yet. I'm sane enough to know I sound crazy but I don't mean to. It takes faith that God can make these little things happen to believe they do.
I want to share this final thought with the skeptical readers. I learned it in my English class and I think it'll help make my point. When you read something, read it twice. Read from the perspective of agreement with the author, then re-read from the perspective of arguing with the author. Then ask yourself this little question: Is Coop a nut if these things REALLY happen to him?
I promise you, I haven't lost my mind and I have my therapist's business card with me in case I feel like I am losing touch with reality.
God bless all of you and thanks, as always for reading my blog. Tomorrow's topic is asking God for what you need in your life. I want to talk about this because I told this to a friend last night and today I heard someone at church tell it to a friend of his.
Coop
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