Lean in.

It was pretty cool looking on my "on this day" section of Facebook and seeing the first of over 365 blogs posted over the last year.

Apparently last night, one year ago I had a dream about rooms in a house.  We had just moved into a townhouse, but it was unlike other townhomes.  The rooms were attached to our neighbors.  At first look the rooms were empty.  But the closer you got to the room the more you saw.  Furniture, boxes, decorations, trash, pets, and even dirty dishes and clothes all over the floor.  The closer you got the more and more you saw.

It was a pretty awesome dream the more you think about it.  You can learn so much from it.  Especially if you relate that to people.  So many people look all put together, blank slates.  They are whatever we make them out to be.  Many of us form an opinion of people based on so little information they give us.  But the closer we get, and the closer they allow us to get we begin to see the whole person.  Their good qualities, their bad qualities, and even all the dirt in their life.  But because we know the entirety of their self, some of the junk doesn't bother us.

Couple weeks ago I was playing basketball and I had to guard someone bigger than I was.  I immediately felt outmatched.  I felt like the lesser of the basketball players. I go into almost every game like that.  But something clicked, he might be thinking the same thing.  Or maybe not.  But I put myself in his place for a minute.  Maybe he thought I was better.  Perhaps I should prove him right.  So I played like I was better.

Truth is, I play hard.  But I don't often play to win.  I would rather play hard and if winning comes from that, cool.  If not, no big deal.  I know I played hard.

I never played many organized sports growing up.  No one really steered me in that direction.  In fact, I didn't have much guidance at all.  I had to guess a lot.   I'm pretty sure I made some good decisions. But who knows where I'd be in life if I had someone in my corner helping me out.

There is a bible verse that many, almost everyone gets wrong.  

Proverbs 13:24,  Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them.

So many people just assume this is verse in favor of punishment.  But no.  The rod was used as a guiding tool for shepherds.  Think staff.  To keep their flock headed in the right direction.  Discipline comes from the latin word for pupil.  A student.  To teach.  So lets try that verse again.

Whoever doesn't guide their children through life hates them, but the one who loves their children is careful to teach them.

Do you know what careful means?   It means to treat in a greater regard to something normal.  I have to be careful with an open flame.