Day 7 – Undercover Boss

Have you seen ads for a new show on TV called “Undercover Boss”?  In a reality show format, a boss or CEO of a company suits up in the uniform of his/her employees and works side by side with them.  They won’t know it’s their boss.  I want to see it sometime.  I can imagine a couple of possible outcomes:  one – the employees might get embarrassed or worse, even fired, if the boss sees that they goof around all the time or cheat or some other unethical choices, two – after working in their shoes for a while the boss might gain more compassion, appreciation or respect for them and treat them better afterward, three – boss and employees could have a much better relationship after their worlds intersect more closely for a while and after the boss gains some new perspective.

I saw this bumper sticker once and it made me laugh.  Jesus is coming again someday, true, but He already came and walked with his people, lived side by side, and stood in our shoes.  It’s so hard to comprehend God, who is not limited in any way, who made everything that exists (so He must be bigger than it all), who can be everywhere at once and knows everything, putting skin on and becoming one of us.  It’s almost as if He said, watching people mess up and live broken by sin, “I need to take care of this myself.”  How did He shrink Himself down?  How awkward would that be for Him to be enclosed, to be limited, to be in a body that could be sick or damaged? Continue reading

Another chance

As we sat outside Starbucks on the patio, enjoying the sunshine and cool breeze, we laughed and laughed.  Rather than feeling awkward like I feared it might be, I was actually completely at ease and felt like I did the last time I got to be with these friends.  “How long has it been?” we asked each other.  “16 years?  That doesn’t seem possible!”   We took turns catching each other up, going back to 16 years ago and giving the nutshell version of life for us since then.  So much has happened since we lost touch with each other – much blessing, much hurt and growing.

I actually didn’t think this day would ever happen.  The friends I’m talking about were very close and dear friends to John and I when we were first married.  We shared community and prayer like never before with them and several other couples in our first small group experience.  We spent lots of time together, talking, laughing, walking, praying, sharing.  A few years into this great friendship, John and I moved to Florida to work in a church there.  Coming back to visit one summer was fun, but already felt a little different.  You know how things change in a relationship when you’re not able to spend much time together.  You tell yourself that it will probably never be quite like it was.

God began leading us different ways, as if I saw my special friend and her husband walking farther and farther away from me until I couldn’t see them at all.   Life has a way of becoming so busy that unless we’re really intentional about staying in touch with people, it just doesn’t happen.  We lost touch.  Continue reading