Issues

Had a really great weekend... Friday night was Mavuno’s first ever Date Night, a fun event designed to bring the spark back to our marriages. And how much fun that was! I won’t quickly forget the near riot when we turned off the music at 11.30pm so people could go home, and people began chanting ‘haki yetu’ (we want our rights!) so that the DJ had to play a few more songs! With marriages under so much pressure today, I’m very excited about this new ministry and look forward to seeing intimate and purposeful marriages in this generation.

Also this Sunday, Carol & I began our new series ‘The Dark Side of Greatness’. It was the first time we were preaching together (although we’ve team taught many times at marriage and family seminars and retreats). Very grateful for the enthusiastic response by people and humbled to see how many resonated with the first message; either cholerics like me or survivors of cholerics like Carol! Several people told me afterwards that they are going to bring their entire office staff to listen to the series (or at least their boss J). It’s been great to read the continuing conversation on the Mavuno blog (mavuno.wordpress.com). I look forward in the weeks to come to exploring together what the bible has to say about the other temperaments.

None of us is perfect, nor should we ever pretend to be. We all have ‘issues’, and as we deal with them, we position ourselves to be the people God created us to be. In acknowledging our weaknesses, we actually become stronger (2Corinthians11:10)! Understanding our temperament as well as how to overcome our dark side can help us become better leaders, employees, friends, spouses and parents. And hopefully, people around us will begin to agree with us when we say, ‘I’m not yet what I’d like to be, but I’m sure not what I used to be!’

Lastly, I like this poem that I found in my file of quotations (author unknown)…

If a child lives with criticism,
He learns to condemn.
If a child lives with hostility,
He learns to fight.
If a child lives with ridicule,
He learns to be shy.
If a child lives with shame,
He learns to hide.
If a child lives with tolerance,
He learns to be gracious.
If a child lives with encouragement,
He learns to be confident.
If a child lives with praise,
He learns to appreciate others.
If a child lives with fairness,
He learns to be just.
If a child lives with security,
He learns to trust.
If a child lives with healthy discipline,

He learns to have healthy boundaries.
If a child lives with approval,
He learns to love himself and others.

With God’s help, let’s sort out our ‘issues’ so that we don’t pass them on to the next generation!