on communication.

Over the past few months I have really been learning a lot about communication.

One day it’s making sure I talk with my boss so we’re on a same page.  I learned this the hard way- getting a call saying “you still on for tomorrow?”, when I wasn’t ever confirmed for that date of work.

Other times it’s been between Abby and I- we are a ridiculous couple.  God has made us, man and woman so differently, and yet so often we think that we’ll perceive things the same.  Once in awhile, we get tension between each other because we just don’t talk it out, assuming the other knows what we’re non-verbally communicating- we’re working on that one!

It seems like often it’s so hard to initiate communication, like my greatest insecurities come out when I just think about communicating.

An Alternative to Wandering…

So picture this- Abby and I- a young couple working together at a college radio station, organizing CD’s.  As the day went by, so did many conversations, about music, life, the internet and oh yeah, our relationship.  Me being myself, I decided to be transparent and let her know that I was evaluating other women as they crossed my path, and that she was better(for me) than anyone else I’d seen.

She didn’t take that so well.

Why?  I thought….we’re just dating, I’m allowed to look, right?

Well, actually nope.

The idea being, that if we’re getting ready for marriage, we need to be intentional about practicing for marriage- that means I must be focused on her and no other women.

At first, I thought this was ridiculous, but then I actually put it into practice.  Our relationship got richer.  When I actually focused on her, I actually focused on her, and it made our relationship more intentional.

But it still left a hole in my heart.

my heart’s on fire!

I was poking around on my church’s website yesterday, and I came across an awesome analogy on purity. It’s been rocking my world:

“The idea of caution tape, a weak little piece of plastic just seems lame right? Go to a rock concert, it keeps mobs in certain areas. Go to a crime scene, the public dare not cross it. Go to a construction site, grown men know better than to pass under or through that tape! We must begin to mark off boundaries in our lives, so to effectively keep us away from the enemies slick schemes. Once they are in place, we must not cross them!”

This ultimately drives home the point that I love to make. When we keep ourselves so far removed from sexual temptation, we aren’t even tempted to be tempted.

What I’ve Been Learning About Leadership Lately

What I’ve Been Learning About Leadership Lately:

About 8 months ago, I was given a book by John Maxwell called Leadership 101.

Finally, after my 2nd time through it, I actually understand it.  Or, at least I think I do.

All summer and fall, I had been a manager of crews many times.  I thought I was a leader.  I wasn’t.  Or at least, not a very good one.

I had only scratched the surface, but I figured I was at the top of the food chain.  But then this girl came along.  And she set me straight.  She’s awesome.

Now I’m re-examining my leadership skills.  I’m reading over my John Maxwell book notes.  I’m getting as ready as possible to apply them every day.  So that this next year, I can have boatloads of leadership successes, and not just failures.

More later.

Barlow Girls (and boys)

“We met these sisters
Barlow’s their last name
Ordinary girls
they don’t live in the fast lane
They don’t rate with the guys that score
Cause they don’t flaunt what the boys want more
They don’t date
they won’t date
They wanna see how they’re gonna grow up
Who they’re gonna be”

When I started high school, I didn’t really know what the next four years were gonna look like.  During those 4 years of torture…err…schooling, I never dated anybody.  The reasons why aren’t near as cool as the Superchick lyrics above, but I’m still glad for it.  The reason I didn’t date in high school is that I spent too much time being depressed to care about the people around me at all.  Looking back over the past month, I’m really glad that I waited, even if it wasn’t on purpose.  Here’s a couple quick reasons why:

• We’ve already figured out where we fit in this world(or at least, a good bit of it).  It’s really helpful to know who I am, so that I’m never trying to push an unreal me, and she’s never trying to push an unreal her.
• We’ve learned a few things since high school, and so we try our hardest to actually tell each other things that we expect each other to be thinking about or know.  Crazy, right?

So yeah, in other words, I’m really happy that I’ve waited.  Life’s so much easier when you inject a teeny bit of maturity.  The point of this post is- if you’re in high school, maybe you should think twice about whether or not you should be dating, and if it’s really constructive for the rest of your life.

So yeah…

So yeah…

I had written a brief anthology of the human race- (or really, God’s faithfulness) for this post, but I scrapped it.  So for those who aren’t me, here’s what’s been going on in my life for about 6 months:

• I was praying for someone to go visit churches with me.
• I couldn’t keep her name out of my head…
• so, finally, I emailed her, even though I didn’t want to,
• trying to make my intentions clear while being nice - I didn’t want her to be the one I visit churches with
• but then she said she’d love to
• darn!
• I couldn’t find anybody else
• shoot!
• poop!
• darn!
• Matt said:
• “Maybe your gf will be somebody who’s been in your life for a long time”
• I ignore what Jesus is trying to tell me
• I became happy with singleness
• no really- actually comfortable with it
• ……read that again- it’s pretty crazy
• When I get comfortable, Jesus is ready to rock my world
• she drops a subtle hint(“Do you think our relationship is ever gonna go any further?”)
• Jesus rocks my world some more.
• then some more
• then more
• then I ask her
• she says yes
• but let’s wait a month until after finals
• okey-dokey
• Jesus rocks more
• and more
• and more
• we go on a date
• PARTY!(or DISCO!)

so yeah…the other version was 4 times longer….  Jesus is faithful…and I’m just hanging on for the ride….meanwhile- I started doing gigs for a new production company near by 2 weeks ago, and I’ve already gotten a 2nd gig there with more sure to come!