Saturday, February 26, 2011

Do You Ever Have a Bad Day?

Yesterday (Friday) I was excited because the weekend was only a few hours away. I had a sub job for a high school English class. The day started out great, I'd found the right classroom and I had first period off. I sat and watched the podcast from this week and really enjoyed it. Unexpectedly and surprisingly,  the teacher came into the classroom. She was very flustered and upset that she had to have a sub. She asked me if I was an English major, in which I replied no and explained that I taught math. She was outraged that I was subbing for her and made sure to tell me I was incompetent to be here. She ranted for several minutes, told me to not pronounce words if I didn't know them, ordered me around and then left. I was so mad at her but then I realized I needed to show her love.

I thanked her profusely for coming in to give me directions and let her know what to expect. I wished her to feel better and thanked her again, all while still livid that she could say I shouldn't be there.

Talking to students later, I found out that she had great rapport with the students and they said she was really nice. I hadn't seen that part of her. My perspective had changed. It must have just been a bad couple days for her.

How many of us encounter people having a bad day? What about that driver on the freeway who can't seem to drive? How do we react to them? Is it with love or do we show anger, impatience, a short temper right back to them?

"But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness."
Psalm 86:15

If we are to be like God in everything we do, why can't we love on those people who are having a bad day? Even if some may seem like they have a bad day every day.

11 comments:

  1. Agh, I react terribly to stupid drivers on the freeway! Jesus just seems to exit for a second, even though worship music is always on in the car. I'll be singing, "Jesus let me see your eyes, let me feel your embrace, let me feel you all around me. Jesus let me..." Hey, idiot, pick a lane!!
    Oh Jesus, may our heart overflow to our actions. Consume every part of the darkness in me!
    Thanks for sharing the lessons you're learning, it's a blessing!

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  2. I think about this sometimes.

    Somtimes (usually on the freeway) I do something stupid, and I wish that someone would show me grace rather than show me the finger. And I retrace the moment in my mind, and I think, "I don't think I would have shown me grace." Because we forget that everyone out there is part of a story. They had a whole day, a whole life, or sometimes just a minute before the moment we met them that makes them sometimes respond to us in ways that demand grace.

    But we never think about it. In acting, we call it knowing your "moment before."

    Before you walk onstage you always need to know what happened just before the moment you walked on stage. Where did you come from? What were you just thinking about? What's your mood? It brings life to everything that happens onstage because you're able to see it as one continuous thing.

    We forget that everyone has a "moment before."

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  3. Such a great reminder. Such an unselfish way of living.

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  4. Amanda's comment was hilarious...

    I was thinking about tense traffic situations when we were reading Psalms 15 on Saturday. I think that psalm applies in this case, too.

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  5. Thanks for sharing this. I am so quick to shut people off that are short with me instead of opening up to them.

    This is an awesome reminder of how we should all act!

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  6. such an interesting though, lindsey. thank you for sharing it. that really gets me thinking about all the bad day moments i might have with people or see in people. crazy.

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  7. Very convicting. I find myself assuming that if someone is a certain way towards me, they must simply be that type of person all the time. I forget that I act, often, in times that don't really reflect the type of person I really am. We all need grace and need to show more towards people we grow irritable and frustrated with. Thanks for this!

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  8. Wow. Great example Lindsey of living out what Christ asks us to do!

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  9. Wowzers. I cannot believe that is how you reacted. I am very impressed and encouraged that other people like you can offer that moment of grace that we can forget about in our anger. This was a good reminder for me and something to keep in the back of my head when I find myself in situations like this. Thanks!

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