Lost Connection

“Hello? Helllooooo?”  I looked at my phone and realized my cell had dropped my call. How long had I been talking to thin air?  In this day and age of technology you would think dropped calls wouldn’t happen as much, but they do.  And how frustrating is it to be in the middle of an important conversation and lose reception or your connection.  I called, and called, and called again to no avail.  I could not reach my friend.  I continued on throughout my day and was distracted because I really needed to relay the rest of the information.  I mean, after all it was pertinent information that was needed to make a complete assessment of the situation.

                As I sat in my complete frustration the thought crossed my mind, “Is this how God feels when He’s trying to connect with me?”  Sadly, I have been notorious for saying I’m too busy to pray or to read my bible.  I get so consumed by the things going on in my life that I feel like I lose the connection to God.  I take a moment and wonder around aimlessly, and when I finally realize what the problem is, I go in search for the lost connection.  The amazing thing about God is that He is standing right there waiting on me to realize that the connection was lost.

                I was talking to a student a few years back and they told me that they had walked away from God’s way and had finally decided to come back.  The next comment stuck with me. They stated that “ I feel like God is punishing me.”  I was so excited to share an analogy that Pastor Tim Ross had given us months earlier.  I shared “it was explained to me like this:  If you work a job, you are contracted to earn a certain amount at the end of every pay period.  So think of the sin that you commit as a job.  The bible says the wages of sin is death.  Death is not always physical.  So remember it this way:  Any time you sin, your sin will cut you a check that you have to cash.  It does not mean that God is punishing you for what you did, it means that you are getting the return on the sin you committed.” 

                A consequence of walking away from God for any amount of time is that your ability to hear His direction is diminished.  It doesn’t mean that He has walked away from you.  He is usually waiting in the same spot you turned your back waiting on you to realize that the connection has been broken.  Eventually, just as I was with my friend, you will be able to find that connection.  The trick after being reconnected is to maintain that connection.  Be cognizant of the connection and the work needed to maintain it.  In the end it is worth the work you put into maintaining the connection versus cashing unnecessary checks that set you back.  In the end your greatest resource is God and the best thing you can do is stay connected to his voice and plan! 

Death to Creativity

     Christmas has come again and as usual the normal activities have begun.  Shopping, parties, and my personal favorite, the music!  In general I LOVE music of all types, but Christmas allows me to play my favorite song without being mocked!  :) One of my favorite songs in the world is “This Christmas”.  The musical arrangement in concert with the lyrics and the soul behind the lyrics warms my heart.  As I was watching TV today a remake of that song came on.  Now I’m in love with the original recording by Donny Hathaway, but the recording I heard is a recent remake by a younger artist.  The song is still close to the original arrangement. It has held on to the same lyrics, but for some reason I noticed that it feels different.

     I continued to listen to the song, and then it dawned on me.  How many songs and programs have you seen recently that are remakes of music and shows from the 60s, 70s, and 80s?  These songs may change some lyrics and the programs may change the names of the characters, but in the end you feel as if you seen or heard it before.  As I thought about this the question crossed my mind: Have we lost our creativity?  So many in our generation are content with being a second best at what someone else created versus being the best them they can be.  Think about it.  How many people do you know that state they admired Michael Jackson and when you watch them, they are mimicking his every move?  They have a God-given talent, but they chose to imitate someone else.  It really makes you wonder….what happened to our individual creativity?

     I know that things have been done to and said about our current generation and it makes me think, what have those words done to impede our creativity.  My generation was the first to see the diagnosis of ADD and ADHD.  Could it be that these children that are diagnosed as children with an issue just had an abundance of creativity that was not acknowledged and directed?  If this is the case, have these kids taken the disease as a crutch to be lax in what they do and their abilities?  

     I feel that as a community it is our responsibility to reach out to children and help them discover their individual creative potential.  We have to stop creating these cookie cutter children and direct them to use the gifts given to them by God properly. There are enough people trying to be someone else!  I’m dedicated to teaching students to be the best them that God created them to be!  

     To the youth:  You are amazing just the way you are.  No you may not think about things in a way that others do, and who knows, it may be for good reason.  Now, being different is not an excuse to go out and do ignorant things or be disrespectful!  You can be a responsible citizen that is respectful of those around you and still express your creativity!  I challenge you to find healthy ways to do so.  If you have no idea on how to go about it reach out to a respectable, responsible, and supportive adult that can help you talk through your ideas.

     To the adults: These young people are going to be the very people taking care of the world and us soon.  We need to prepare them to cope with life as it comes versus making them dependent on other unhealthy outlets.  Stop complaining about the bad they are doing and encourage them to use their gifts for something more positive.  In the end they still need guidance, just as our predecessors of the 60s, 70s and 80s did.  Those people tried new things that were not common, and many were a huge success.  What child do you work with right now that could possibly be the next innovator of our time?  Let’s revive creativity in the new year and stop being carbon copies of poor imitations or second rate versions of those who dared to be original! 

Divine

~Long live creativity~