Tag: Europe

Missed Connection

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart- Jeremiah 29:13

Have you ever missed a connection because your flight was delayed? I think this is one of my biggest fears when traveling. You see I am a careful planner. I think and rethink everything. From packing to schedules to airport maps to seats, to connection times.

Recently my husband and I traveled to France and despite all my careful planning- we had flight delays. Thankfully they didn’t make us miss any connecting flights, but it was a bit unnerving when we arrived at our home airport and immediately faced a delay and an oversold flight. So, despite my best efforts in planning the trip and buying the tickets, most of my trip was out of my control. As we waited for the plane to arrive to our gate and the announcements were being made offering up to $900 to voluntarily give up the oversold seats, I wondered what would happen if no one gave up their seat? Who would get bumped? Us? But this was my long awaited trip to Paris! What if I missed my connection to fly to France?

Thankfully someone must have volunteered to leave on a later flight, for after a few hours waiting, we were boarded and spent an amazing time in France. Until it happened again on the return trip. Our flight was delayed by four hours and the communication was a bit delayed so that we received information on the delay after we arrived at the airport and it forced us to spend several hours playing a cat and mouse game looking for the correct gate and time of flight departure. And then we experienced the no announcements of the boarding beginning. I’m not sure if this is typical for European airports, but I have gotten accustomed to the constant announcements in US airports telling everyone of any updates, and most importantly, when boarding has started and which group should line up for boarding. If we hadn’t been paying attention we would have been waiting at the wrong gate and no one announced when the boarding had started. Once again , I wondered if some people would miss their flight and miss their connections.

We had to seek our flight and gate and boarding time our selves, much in the way that individuals seek God. God initiates this pursuit, but never forces the individual to comply. As the verse above written by the Prophet Jeremiah mentions, we are called to seek God with all our heart. God nudges us but we must be the one to ask questions, seeking Him and finding Him when we are diligent. He isn’t hiding, but He wants us to call out to Him.

I thought about this topic this week after overhearing a conversation between two people looking for a church to attend. And I realized it wasn’t that they weren’t finding any churches it was that they weren’t finding a place of connection with God. The churches they had visited seemed to all have a similar problem- they felt out of place with others in church and with the services, music, messages and pastors. They agreed that the churches seemed out of touch with people and remaind very dogmatic and ritualistic. And as I thought about it, I realized what they were seeking was a connection, and as I mentioned with both God and other believers. But, these churches had failed in providing a place for connection.

Much like my over sold and delayed flight as well as my flight with the lack of communication on how to board and what gate, these churches were overselling their product while forgetting to communicate the Gospel. They had the buildings- the plane- the pilot- the pastor- but the plane was outdated, not maintained, and the pilot not skilled and up to date with newer systems. Imagine if you will showing up to a flight only to find an old bi-plane at the gate, instead of a Boeing or Airbus jet.

Also, imagine a ritualistic service that followed procedures, but failed to tell its passengers that they were about to board the plane and take off, leaving many behind at the airport.

So, as it is up to the individual to seek connection with God in a relationship with Him through Jesus, apart from all the external trappings of musical styles, teaching styles, church buildings, my challenge this week is for the churches themselves. Are you providing a space to find God?Are you promoting seeking God with all your heart and are you communicating the Gospel- telling everyone how to be saved and enter a connected relationship with God. Or are you part of the missed connections? -God Bless, Nancy

Shifting Blame

Blame shifting holds us back. We simply cannot move forward while looking backward and assigning blame on another person.

I first learned how to drive a manual transmission while my husband and I were living in Spain. Many of you reading this blog or listening on the podcast, might be unfamiliar with manual transmissions. Here in the United States the stick shift is not that prevalent. but when we lived in Europe in the late 80’s and early 90’s there were very few cars that were automatic. So, it was quite out of necessity that I should learn to drive a ‘stick’. It was much trial, error and practice, but I finally got the hang of when to let out the clutch, move my foot from the brake to the gas pedal and boom! off I go. Timing is everything in shifting between gears. You could not move forward without shifting the gears to the next higher gear. To slow down and eventually come to a complete stop, you must reverse the process to down shift. shifting up to move forward and shifting down to stop.

I recently watched a parody intended to put shame on the Gen Z’s. It was designed to poke fun at their blaming everyone for the problems they are facing- like increased student loan debt, poor wages, a bleak economy and social and environmental injustice that they are left responsible for. It was light- hearted, but close to the truth as well. This is how many Gen Z’s see their world.

The truth is, we all have been guilty of shifting the blame for all of our problems on others. I recently came down with a cold, for which I blamed my husband- he had it first. And I became quite miserable. So, it was all his fault. Or so I concluded. But, honestly, I can never be completely sure. I might have picked it up just about anywhere. But, he was the easiest to blame, because he was the most logical source.

It is so easy to find others to blame, and some of that blame is justified. We are human beings. We are not human doings. and most of the time we really mess things up. Oh, we get it right sometimes, but we also make mistakes. We try to do something we shouldn’t be doing, and we fall short. We try to keep up with others and be like them, instead of being ourselves. Being the people God uniquely created us to be. We make decisions that aren’t the best for us or for others who we are responsible for.

If we look for the mistakes in others we will find them. If we look for the mistakes we ourselves make we will find them- and then point to the other person as the reason why we made the mistake in the first place. We really have a problem with admitting it could be our fault. We also shift the blame to others, because we don’t know how to fix our mistakes, or the mistakes of others. We want to move forward, but we get stuck looking back and placing blame, instead of shifting the focus on the solution to fix the mistake or shortcoming.

We blame others for our financial situation, rather than looking for a solution, by creating our own businesses, going back to school, or reducing our spending. We blame our parents- I did too!- for how we turned out, but do not try to learn who we are and how to grow and change- How to overcome the past- sometimes difficult and painful pasts- by learning from others who have walked a similar path before of restoration, healing and growth.

It is easier to complain and blame than to ask God for wisdom in overcoming the past and how to move forward. Blaming can become comfortable to us. It keeps us from bearing any responsibility. We sometimes like to stay stuck in first gear, than risking letting out the clutch and pressing forward. I am not just speaking to Gen Z, as I am speaking for myself as well. I am a recent college graduate who, like Gen Z is facing mounting student loan payments and many employment application rejections. I, too, see the injustice in the world and want to do something about it, but not sure what to do. It is easy for me to blame the employers who won’t take the time to view my application because I am a woman, or I have been out of the workforce as a Stay at Home Mom, and lack experience. As my youngest says ” You can’t get experience until someone hires you and they won’t hire you without experience.” Yes, it is as much a dilemma for me as for a Gen Z. And that is my point here. We all can blame others- younger people or older people, but the truth is, if we work together, forget about differences in ages, economics, gender, stop labeling and stop blaming- we could do so much more.

Blame shifting is not new. Check out the Book of Genesis and you will find it started very early with the first married couple. And they didn’t have parents to blame. Or co-workers, or even children. They were Gen Alpha. Adam realized the mess he now found himself in- working crazy hours with hard work and thorns and thistles,a messed up, broken relationship with his wife, the realization he did not have clothes and needing to hide so God wouldn’t see him naked, and now he would die, like get old, get wrinkly and die. And he blamed his wife and then God. It was all their fault. Not his. He just stood back and was minding his own business when his wife brought the piece of fruit to him. I mean what is a husband to do? Make his wife mad and not take a bite? Or take a bite and take a chance, ’cause she wasn’t dead yet, right? So, yeah. According to Adam it was God’s and Eve’s fault. God because He gave Eve as his wife and Eve because she picked the fruit, took a bite, and talked him into following suit. But… Adam too was to blame. Where was he when Eve was confronted by the serpent? Did he really have to eat too? I mean God had told him not to eat. So. yeah the first default blame shifting happened right there in the first few pages of the Bible. It is not new. You can find other examples in the Bible, but you can also find a solution. It’s called grace. And that will be on next weeks blog- Stay tuned! God Bless- Nancy