I just got off the phone with my bank. They've told me that they're not going to live up to the agreement and one of their representatives and I had come to. This hurts. I'm not giving up quite yet. We agreed upon what comes to around $230 in credits going back to in to my account. And to think that someone said something just to get me off the phone is quite absurd. Oh well. Either way, as I look at my account balance, what little there is, I began to feel the comfort of the Spirit fill me. I know everything's going to be ok...and I praise God for the chance to rely on Him to pull me through such a hard time. I've been kicked down and all around with this bank crap and I'm sick of it. I'm throwing Bank of America to the curb.
It's really hard to praise God in the middle of the darkest of times. I guess that if life were easy, the journey through it wouldn't be nearly as exciting. I've hit a rough spot, everyone does, but I know God will help me through this...All I have to do is let him. Now there's a difficult one to grasp: Laying down myself enough to admit to needing help. I praise you Father for being so good to me and blessing me in ways that are new with each day.
Monday, August 28, 2006
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Rants on the word of "Hello"
Welp, I come to you on this rainy early morning to say hello. Not much more than that, just a hello. It amazes me how one word can be so hard to say. Hello. Not hard to type...yet most of the time I find myself shying away from saying one 5 letter word. That said, I've never found it hard to meet and/or love people for who they are, but it seems as though lately I just haven't felt up to saying that one word to anyone, really.
hel?lo? [he-loh, huh-, hel-oh] noun, plural -los, verb, -loed, -lo?ing.
Â?interjection
1. (used to express a greeting, answer a telephone, or attract attention.)
2. (an exclamation of surprise, wonder, elation, etc.)
3. (used derisively to question the comprehension, intelligence, or common sense of the person being addressed): You're gonna go out with him? Hello!
There. We've defined the word under debate for the morning. Have you ever pondered a word and the long-term repercussionss of that word? From the definition above, we learn that the word "hello" is used to express a greeting, sound excited, and insult the intelligence of another. I think this covers only half of the word. I petition that, over the course of time, we begin adding in the dictionary what a word does, not just what it means. Confused yet? I think that words not only mean a specific definition or definitions, I believe that words actually do something. Our words not just mean something, but they do something, as well. I think if we look at it this way, it's no wonder why verbal abuse is so damaging and why it takes so long for the pains from verbal attacks to come to the surface. The word "hello", for instance, not only means what it says above, but it also is the first hit at knocking down a wall of insecurity between two people that might not know each other. Without "hello", I would not have met some of the greatest people that are presently in my life. So, I propose we begin to write our vocabulary definitions with a slightly different approach.
Example:
hel?lo? [he-loh, huh-, hel-oh] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation interjection, noun, plural -los, verb, -loed, -lo?ing.
–interjection
1. (used to express a greeting, answer a telephone, or attract attention.)
2. (an exclamation of surprise, wonder, elation, etc.)
3. (used derisively to question the comprehension, intelligence, or common sense of the person being addressed): You're gonna go out with him? Hello!
Subconcious Actions:
1. First of many uncomfortable oral attempts to break through insecurities of trying to get to know someone not yet known.
2. Lets people know that you've cared enough to make public knowledge that they exist.
3. In varying applications, leaves one feeling not worthy enough to let inner thoughts reach the outside world for fear of a great lack in support for said idea or passing thought.
That said, in the grand spectrum of time, I am but a speck on the timeline. I know that God created me for great things, and it's up to me to seek God's direction in what those great things are. They say that actions speak louder than words, but I say that it depends on the context. My actions can be great feats or devastating blows, and so can my words. The difference is my words will sit and fester and continuously run through the head of those that received them, but my actions will heal with a greater efficiency of time. The thing that I ponder now is this: Are my words spoken with a hint of the divine, breaking through insecurities and encouraging forward progress...or are my words a rebel band of ninjas seeking to destroy a path in protection of my own insecurities...
hel?lo? [he-loh, huh-, hel-oh] noun, plural -los, verb, -loed, -lo?ing.
Â?interjection
1. (used to express a greeting, answer a telephone, or attract attention.)
2. (an exclamation of surprise, wonder, elation, etc.)
3. (used derisively to question the comprehension, intelligence, or common sense of the person being addressed): You're gonna go out with him? Hello!
There. We've defined the word under debate for the morning. Have you ever pondered a word and the long-term repercussionss of that word? From the definition above, we learn that the word "hello" is used to express a greeting, sound excited, and insult the intelligence of another. I think this covers only half of the word. I petition that, over the course of time, we begin adding in the dictionary what a word does, not just what it means. Confused yet? I think that words not only mean a specific definition or definitions, I believe that words actually do something. Our words not just mean something, but they do something, as well. I think if we look at it this way, it's no wonder why verbal abuse is so damaging and why it takes so long for the pains from verbal attacks to come to the surface. The word "hello", for instance, not only means what it says above, but it also is the first hit at knocking down a wall of insecurity between two people that might not know each other. Without "hello", I would not have met some of the greatest people that are presently in my life. So, I propose we begin to write our vocabulary definitions with a slightly different approach.
Example:
hel?lo? [he-loh, huh-, hel-oh] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation interjection, noun, plural -los, verb, -loed, -lo?ing.
–interjection
1. (used to express a greeting, answer a telephone, or attract attention.)
2. (an exclamation of surprise, wonder, elation, etc.)
3. (used derisively to question the comprehension, intelligence, or common sense of the person being addressed): You're gonna go out with him? Hello!
Subconcious Actions:
1. First of many uncomfortable oral attempts to break through insecurities of trying to get to know someone not yet known.
2. Lets people know that you've cared enough to make public knowledge that they exist.
3. In varying applications, leaves one feeling not worthy enough to let inner thoughts reach the outside world for fear of a great lack in support for said idea or passing thought.
That said, in the grand spectrum of time, I am but a speck on the timeline. I know that God created me for great things, and it's up to me to seek God's direction in what those great things are. They say that actions speak louder than words, but I say that it depends on the context. My actions can be great feats or devastating blows, and so can my words. The difference is my words will sit and fester and continuously run through the head of those that received them, but my actions will heal with a greater efficiency of time. The thing that I ponder now is this: Are my words spoken with a hint of the divine, breaking through insecurities and encouraging forward progress...or are my words a rebel band of ninjas seeking to destroy a path in protection of my own insecurities...
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Validation
So tonight we had our planning meeting for the up and coming young adult service. As we were talking, Fred said something that really stood out to me. He said that in spending time with someone, we authenticate our relationship with them. He said that his love for steve or I was there regardless and that he knew we could do great things for God, but his love and thoughts of us are authenticated in the time that he spends with us. Now, there's just a few reasons of why hearing this is important. I think the first thing is that you never know how deeply someone cares until the say it. Validation is such a minor thing that can cause such major problems. One of the greatest things my father ever told me was that he loved me, even though I had lost a scholarship to college because of my horrific grades and I did nothing but spend time with a girlfriend that was less than interested in my well being. When he told me that he loved me despite the troubles I had brought upon myself, in a way he was telling me that I can't earn his love, that it'll always be there, whether I want it to or not...which, in and of itself, is a hard concept to grasp on the human level, let alone the divine level. From this unearned love my father also told me that I was a man, and it was this validation that gave me the confidence to overcome many obstacles in my scholastic career and to this point my journey through life.
The second reason that this was huge was it let me know that he valued me as a person. So often I spend my time at church running through tasks that I rarely get to take a breather and just talk much more beyond the "Hi, how are ya?"'s. In a roundabout way, it let me know that he appreciates what I do and the ministries I serve.
Lastly, it never hurts to know that someone loves you.
So through all this I pose this question: Who have you validated today? When was the last time you let someone know how much you love them?
The second reason that this was huge was it let me know that he valued me as a person. So often I spend my time at church running through tasks that I rarely get to take a breather and just talk much more beyond the "Hi, how are ya?"'s. In a roundabout way, it let me know that he appreciates what I do and the ministries I serve.
Lastly, it never hurts to know that someone loves you.
So through all this I pose this question: Who have you validated today? When was the last time you let someone know how much you love them?
Saturday, August 19, 2006
This is one of those weeks where every day seems to bleed in to the next. Not in a way that makes you feel good about it, but in a way that makes you think that you've lived one long, never-ending, bad day. It all started last Thursday. I got to worship practice to find that the sound board we have had everything erased off of it. Lesson hard-learned: back everything up. It's a digital board which for a while made our lives way easier. Now it seems as though the goal of the console is to make life something to not be enjoyed.
On Saturday, I found that my bank account was -$567. Of that amount of money, $208 of it was my spending...the rest was all overdraft fees. I was sick. It was my mistake, I'll admit it. I transferred funds to my savings account before the rent check had cleared. I had figured that my rent check had cleared by the time that I had moved the funds, but obviously I was wrong. So, through calling the bank and explaining the situation, I found that the corporation that currently controls the flow of my finances has absolutely no grace and no mercy, even though in the 13 years that I've had an account in same form or another with their establishment I've always been a good customer and never bounced a check/payment. I called customer service and talked to 3 tiers of associates before I found someone that was willing to help me out, even if it was in the least bit possible. So she told me that she would credit back a minimal amount of funds ,to which I said I guess it's better than nothing, and she told me that no more fees would be assessed. She said that she had taken care of it and I would see all of the information reflected on Tuesday. So what do I find when I check on Thursday night? I find an extra $165 in fees and no credit amounting to $95 (the amount she said that she could credit). So you'll never guess what they told me when I called them about the issue at hand for the second time. "Sorry Mr. Royer, I can't do anything. I understand that if the associate that you talked to said that they would do something for you that it needs to be followed through with, but because it's not the bank's error, there's nothing that I can do." So, let me pose you this question: When did the phrase customer service come to mean doing absolutely nothing?
To top all of this off, we filmed all day Thursday afternoon and evening and when I checked the film on Friday morning, a scene that I thought was filmed had actually not been filmed, so we had to go back Friday morning to re-film the scene and had to wake up at 7:30 am so I could edit before I went to work at Lowes. I also got to wake up at 7:30 am on Saturday morning so I could finish editing before I had to be up at church for sound check. We, fortunately, had more technical problems pretty much all of Saturday night, it felt like I forgot how to play guitar when we stepped on stage to play worship, and due to the technical problems, I had to be at church by 7:00 am this morning to try and work through some of the stuff. I'm tired.
It was mentioned tonight that it seemed like my joy was gone in my work and it made me stop and think. I'm so thankful for my job at the church. I love my work and love the opportunities that I get to use my talents to glorify God. I feel like the main goal of the past two weeks was to push me down and then kick me a couple of times for good measure. But regardless of how much the enemy decides to beat me down...and regardless of what area of my life the enemy decides to pressure, this one thing rings true through my head at this very moment: God's bigger than that. So what if I'm having crippling financial issues, God's bigger than that. So what if I'm tired and just want to sleep and and don't know how much more I can take when I walk through the door at Lowes, God's bigger than that. So what if everything I've worked towards for the past 7 months was for some reason was undone and I'm still feeling the technical ramifications of that, God's bigger than that. Through all the crap that's taken place over the past 2 weeks, I know that God is bigger than all of it and I know that I know that I know that He'll be glorified through this, even if I can't see why or how.
On Saturday, I found that my bank account was -$567. Of that amount of money, $208 of it was my spending...the rest was all overdraft fees. I was sick. It was my mistake, I'll admit it. I transferred funds to my savings account before the rent check had cleared. I had figured that my rent check had cleared by the time that I had moved the funds, but obviously I was wrong. So, through calling the bank and explaining the situation, I found that the corporation that currently controls the flow of my finances has absolutely no grace and no mercy, even though in the 13 years that I've had an account in same form or another with their establishment I've always been a good customer and never bounced a check/payment. I called customer service and talked to 3 tiers of associates before I found someone that was willing to help me out, even if it was in the least bit possible. So she told me that she would credit back a minimal amount of funds ,to which I said I guess it's better than nothing, and she told me that no more fees would be assessed. She said that she had taken care of it and I would see all of the information reflected on Tuesday. So what do I find when I check on Thursday night? I find an extra $165 in fees and no credit amounting to $95 (the amount she said that she could credit). So you'll never guess what they told me when I called them about the issue at hand for the second time. "Sorry Mr. Royer, I can't do anything. I understand that if the associate that you talked to said that they would do something for you that it needs to be followed through with, but because it's not the bank's error, there's nothing that I can do." So, let me pose you this question: When did the phrase customer service come to mean doing absolutely nothing?
To top all of this off, we filmed all day Thursday afternoon and evening and when I checked the film on Friday morning, a scene that I thought was filmed had actually not been filmed, so we had to go back Friday morning to re-film the scene and had to wake up at 7:30 am so I could edit before I went to work at Lowes. I also got to wake up at 7:30 am on Saturday morning so I could finish editing before I had to be up at church for sound check. We, fortunately, had more technical problems pretty much all of Saturday night, it felt like I forgot how to play guitar when we stepped on stage to play worship, and due to the technical problems, I had to be at church by 7:00 am this morning to try and work through some of the stuff. I'm tired.
It was mentioned tonight that it seemed like my joy was gone in my work and it made me stop and think. I'm so thankful for my job at the church. I love my work and love the opportunities that I get to use my talents to glorify God. I feel like the main goal of the past two weeks was to push me down and then kick me a couple of times for good measure. But regardless of how much the enemy decides to beat me down...and regardless of what area of my life the enemy decides to pressure, this one thing rings true through my head at this very moment: God's bigger than that. So what if I'm having crippling financial issues, God's bigger than that. So what if I'm tired and just want to sleep and and don't know how much more I can take when I walk through the door at Lowes, God's bigger than that. So what if everything I've worked towards for the past 7 months was for some reason was undone and I'm still feeling the technical ramifications of that, God's bigger than that. Through all the crap that's taken place over the past 2 weeks, I know that God is bigger than all of it and I know that I know that I know that He'll be glorified through this, even if I can't see why or how.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
