Restoring relationships

Last week a friend an I had a disagreement.. one that was pretty much based on what we "thought" some e-mails "sounded" like. You know what I mean.. you send and e-mail and the person on the other end THINKS you mean one thing, but you really meant something else?? Those! And that's what happened, and let me tell you something about me that I work on, that is probably not gonna go away anytime soon, and is pretty much just me.... if I feel pushed, confronted or something like that, my first instinct is to push back. Not something I am proud of, it really is something I work on, but it is what it is. But as the e-mails got to the point where something was said about being and acting Christian, it pretty much stopped me in my tracks and I decided it was enough. So I got on the phone and called.. figured it was better to say exactly what each other meant than to keep going back and forth. I by no means am perfect and I think we all want our opinions and voices heard and honestly, want to be right, but when your Christian life is being called into question by your actions.. well, like I said, I decided it was time to talk. The conversation went well and talking it out made a whole lot more sense than what we started out doing... it ended ok. I think the relationships we build inside the church help set the tone for what we do in the world around us. People see how we interact with each other and as good or bad as that may be, it effects how they view the church and whether or not they want to be a part of it. When people see or hear us disagree, they watch us. I mean really, who wants to be a part of something where there is discord? We are not always going to get along, but as Christians we are commanded to go to each other if we have a problem. After we discuss it, we may still not agree, but because we are God's children and we strive to be like Him, we do what we need to do about it and its done.

When I got home that night, I had this e-mail from the Purpose Driven Life website: http://www.purposedriven.com/article.do?method=articlePage&contentId=201923&trkid=ddnews

And once again, all I could do was smile because I knew God was talking to me yet again. Perfect I am not, opinionated..well, yeah that would be me. But I know God is still working on me, I get confirmation every day and believe me, I listen!

Today I have to have an MRI for some possible surgery soon. I will find out the end of this week for sure. I would appreciate a few prayers cause you know me and surgery : ) I hope you all have a great day and Lord willing, we will talk again soon!