Take Two

This video was made on Christmas last year. It is our tradition to read the Christmas story prior to opening presents in an effort to keep some perspective. I am clearly running behind as Christmas was four months ago.

Side note- Michael is home schooled through the Ohio Virtual Academy. I think Charity has done an awesome job with him.

I’ve mentioned before that one of the favorite parts of my job is that I (usually) get to have breakfast with my son every morning.  Today was no exception.  He made mini pancakes (in the microwave not the griddle).  He then proceeded to cover them with a brown liquid from the refrigerator that alleged to be syrup.

My father-in-law is from New Hampshire and he was just there a couple of weeks ago.  When he returned, he brought me a little brown jug of real maple syrup.  This is what I put on my pancakes.  Clearly, there was no comparison.  The magic of chemistry was no match for the authentic taste of real, New England maple syrup.

One of the things I strive for in my life is to be real.  Establish genuine relationship, treat people the same regardless of who I am hanging out with and remember that I am the same flawed human that I was before titles got put after my name.  I love being around genuine folks.  Conversely, there are few things that gall me more than artificial people.  I know folks who live to be connected to other people.  They value relationships based on what it can do for them and where it can get them.  Gag!  Be real and people will be attracted to you.

Because of my position with the UPCI, I get to interact with a number of cool folks.  One of them happens to pastor here.  He is the most genuine real human being I have ever met.  Although he is one of the most sought out speakers in our fellowship, there is something real about him that is devoid of posturing and pretense.  Before I got to know him, I was a fan.  Now that he is my friend and I have seen him "out of the pulpit", I admire him even more.

Moral of the story- be real, be genuine.  Establish relationships based on what you can give not on what you can get.  The contrived is a poor substitute.