Well, per my previous post I’ve been working on giving a rip about problems that are technically not mine. Here’s a list of experiences as of late.
- ROADSIDE BREAKDOWN: I saw a couple who were broken down on the side of the road. I saw them on our way home from Palm Springs. I was in the fast lane as I past them up. By the time I got all the way over to help, they were so far back that I’d have to get off the freeway, turn around to go back, get back on the freeway, and comeback and help. My wife said “I didn’t have to save the world.” We kept driving. I hope they’re not still there. Evidently it was not my problem.
- HOMELESS GUY: last Friday I was driving back to church with a truck load of stuff and there was a homeless guy with a sign that said he was hungry. There was an In-N-Out burger joint on the corner 500 yards from where he was. I thought about stopping and buying him lunch and bringing it back to him. But, the dude looked pretty well fed, so I kept going. Not my problem either. I suck.
- OUT OF GAS: Yesterday, I was meeting with Kyle, a former student of mine who just graduated from Azusa and is headed into full time youth ministry. I haven’t seen him in over a year, so it was good to get caught up at Starbucks. As our conversation was ending, there was a college age young man who walked up and asked us for money cuz his car ran out of gas and he said his “card didn’t work” and the gas station wanted to charge him to borrow/buy a can to fill it up. I said that we’d help him push his car. So, we pushed his SUV out of the parking lot he had rolled into on funes and then 2 blocks to the nearest gas station. Then I bought him $10 worth of gas. Maybe I got taken. Maybe I was living like Jesus. Either way, his problem became our problem.
- LOST DOG: This morning, I came home from dropping my kids off at school to find a lost dog on my front yard. A big ol german shepherd with a collar and no tags. I let him in my backyard and babydog sat him. I called and then waited until the animal shelter came to get him. I couldn’t keep 2 dogs (ours and the new homeless one). So, I’m hoping that his owners call the shelter and reclaim him. If not, they said he’d be fine cuz he’ll go to the “abandoned german shepherd lover” people. I decided this was my problem.
- SICK TEACHER: Today Shannon went to volunteer at school in our kids classroom and got pulled out of class to be a sub for the day due to teacher who had become sick. This was her chance to say, “not my problem”. But in order for her to help, I had to pick up some minor Dad duties. So it became “our problem”. Becky then agreed to watch Jake so I could go to work the last hour before Shannon got out of school with our boys. Wow- it takes 3 adults to relieve one sick teacher. Amazing. It was our problem today.
- OFFICE FREEZER: not sure why, but when I get coffee in our office, sometimes I open the freezer next to it. I never actually have anything in the freezer. I never even take anything out of the freezer. Someone has had a half gallon of ice cream in there for months that I think I should steal. But it’s still there. Today, I got my java and opened the freezer by habit and inside there was a diet pepsi someone had placed in there. It had EXPLODED all over the freezer like a diet pepsi bomb. It is now solidly frozen all over the place and the freezer will have to be unplugged, thawed, and then cleaned to solve the problem. I quietly close the freezer and walked away as if it was NOT my problem. I’ll probably be struck by lightening soon.
Guess I have a ways to go. 3 out of 6. 50%. Bummer. I really do have a problem.
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