Accentuating the Positive

 Happy Saturday morning!

Hope everyone is having a great, maybe a little laid back, start to the day. What a week! (Do I say that every week?) This week, we moved one of our ERBA outreach offices. I had the IT stuff all coordinated with the new building's CIO and we thought we had it all worked out----until we didn't. By the end of day one, we had plans B,C,D and E in our head but no proof that any of them would work, or more importantly, work quickly. Plan B was the second most viable and I was told on Day 2 that it would take 2-10 days to put in place. 3 hours later, after much prayer, and honestly praying someone else hadn't done their job completely, we were up and running! Pretty close to a miracle. So, Day 1's disaster turned into Day 2's big win. 

Our whole week has been a series of ups and downs, and maybe most weeks are like that but this week it felt very pronounced.  We had been praying hard for a couple of things and one of them, we were told no and the other, we were told wait. Those aren't fun.

Something else that happened though is I am working on a training for staff that may have turned into a training for some outside our own agency as well. The official topic? "Utilizing a Strength-Based Approach to Implement ROMA Throughout the CAA" for those of you not in the Community Action World.--ROMA= Results Oriented Management and Accountability. A very fancy acronym for "make sure what you are doing actually works". But the bottom line of this training is how to better look for the strengths in people instead of weaknesses. Which of course, got me thinking.

The name of my blog is louder than the voices because I always hear the voices in my head that says I am not good enough, not smart enough, not pretty enough, you know the ones. Most of you probably hear them too. And I wonder what that really does to our ability to see the best in others when we struggle so badly to just see the best in ourselves.

I'm not talking about being proud, or arrogant but I am talking self worth, and the belief that God doesn't make junk. EVER. Twofold there, That means both you and the person you meet. And I will admit, after talking about bullies last week, it is hard to  face that God made those behaving badly as well. He created all of us as beautiful souls, we don't always chose to let Him shine through us though.

Years and years ago, as I was starting on my social services journey, my first credential was Family and Community Development Specialist. During my classes, I was to pick one of our customers and do case management on them. 

The customer I picked was a husband and wife with two small children. She worked at a local store and he had held several jobs but was working for a local farm chemical plant. In my head, I had already set out what perfect would be for them.  Both of them having stable work, a better place to live, and being stable enough to not need our services. At the same time, Andrew and I were still renting as well, and even though we had a nice place, it wasn't our own.

One of the questions that we were to ask was called the "miracle question". If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and a miracle had happened and everything n your life had changed, what would be different". My OWN immediate response was, we would own our own house and it would be paid off, we would have plenty of money to do the things we need and the things we want and our whole family would be healthy and happy.

I had already imposed my miracle on my customer and I pondered all of this a lot when I asked the mom this question. Her answer was immediately, "my bathroom wouldn't leak". I was humbled and confused. Were they so far down that they couldn't think of dreaming any bigger? Were they really that content with their lives and happy? And, who was I to decide their future? Yes, I am in the business of helping people get out of poverty, and the miracle I had for them never happened the way I thought it would,  but let me tell you what did happen. This couple have stayed together for close to 30 years now, their children are all 3 (they had one more after they were my case study) college graduates and have good careers, one has a very exciting career and I love watching her life unfold. His parents passed away and left their house to this couple and they are on solid ground. I am also sure their bathroom no longer leaks. 

The Bible tells us many times to count our blessings. 

Just a couple of quick Psalms

103:2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.

and

116:12 What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits to me?

So, I am going to turn this a bit. The next time you see someone and think, "What is wrong with you?" (and just for the record, the true thought should really be, "What happened to you?" as life makes us all different) maybe look for the good, "What is right with you?" Just a thought and one that might just lead to a little better world. Don't impose your dreams on others, Don't make their choices based on what you would do. I am not talking about your kids, or those close to you who seek your advice and opinions.  I am talking the people you meet in the grocery store, that mom whose kids are throwing a fit and we are all quick to judge might just need a quick, "you are doing okay", I have encountered that situation before, and of course, was in that situation before. When a mom of a strong willed child looks at me apologetically in a store, as her child is throwing a fit for something and the mom is having to say no, I remind her, they will be 30 before you know it, and that strong will can turn into a leader because they aren't afraid to speak their mind.  Lol, my mom always told me never come home from school and tell her somebody talked me into doing something, she would always know better. Needless to say, me having to deal with Robert's fits were payback for my own, lol.

Running out of time this morning so not leaving you a song today, I may add one later, I may not.

Have a great week!