Excuse Me!
Have you had those moments when you run into someone out of nowhere, and you know them but have forgotten their name? It has happened to all of us at one time or another. Pastor Alan is brilliant at remembering people's names, that is a gift I do not have. Years ago, my son was about 6 or 7 and I was in line at K-mart when a female schoolmate of mine came up and said, “Mike, it is so good to see you.” I could not remember her name to save my soul. As hard as I was trying to remember I couldn’t, and my son was grabbing my belt and saying way too loudly “Who is this?” There just comes a point in time you must come clean and tell the person, “I am sorry, but I have forgotten your name."
We will not always be at our best and the times we are not, we need to make sure we are handling ourselves appropriately.
Years ago, I witnessed a gentleman at the counter in the airport getting loud with a lady from the airline. His flight was canceled, and you would have sworn he knew this lady had canceled the flight just to spite him. Of course, she had no control and was just the messenger.
In contrast, one time in Memphis we were running late to a connecting flight back to Orlando and as we got there, they were just shutting the door. I asked the lady if we could please get on our flight. At first, she said, "No,” but then she said, "Just a second." I did not realize the plane had just pulled away from the terminal and it had come back to pick us up. I can tell you all eyes were on us when we boarded. It was uncomfortable, but she did something very nice for us!
In this pandemic world, we are living in now, it is certainly different than two years ago. We need to be more patient than ever. I have seen businesses trying to find employees who want to work. Often, those who show up to work are doing the work of two or three people and they are tired. Businesses are shorthanded.
We used to go to Joe Patty's seafood in Pensacola and if there were thirty people in front of us it would take about ten minutes... now because of the shortage of workers, it is more like forty-five minutes.
I read my devotional this week and it says, “Trust me enough to face problems as they come, rather than trying to anticipate them."
We all know the negative Nelly’s out there. Regardless of what kind of good news you have, there is always something devastating to bring it down. I can tell you there is nothing that will pull the rug out from under your good mood than a negative Nelly! In my life, I have tried to stay away from them. In my eyes, my glass is always half full.
Regardless of the negativity, we should face each day and its set of issues with faith. Faith that Jesus is your constant companion. Scripture says, “Fix your eyes on me.”
Be nice to people! I will close with this. There was a lady with two kids who were screaming and crying in the checkout line at Publix. The lady behind me looked at the screaming kids and said, “Can’t you control your children?” The mom with the kids looked at her and said, “I am doing the best I can with the hand I have been dealt today.” This was the best response I have ever heard.
We are all trying to do our best and should give grace to those who have not been dealt their best hand!
God Bless,
Mike