ARE YOU KIDDIN’ ME?

10 Comments

“Are you kiddin’ me?” I asked myself the rhetorical question. I knew good and well the answer to the question; it was a resounding “No!” Not a major event, I was more aggravated than anything else. Sometimes being agitated with ourselves is worse than with others.

As I took the Bluetooth out of my ear, before I stashed it and my phone out of the sight of bad folks, I remembered that I’d forgotten my I-Pod… yet again.

I’d been out of town and had tucked my tiny jukebox in my briefcase, but I’d been back in town for almost a week. That was my third trip to the gym musicless.

The crazy part is that it is a big deal for me to have music when I workout – monumental actually. But once I’m done, my priorities fade like a vapor.

I sat in my truck, an older version of my younger self, so much time, so different, so much more wisdom… and yet so much still the same kid, just added pounds and wrinkles.

I flashed back to high school, the first year of it, P.E. class. Showering was mandatory and the P.E. coach stood guard to enforce the rule. At the time, I couldn’t imagine such a horrid job. Over three decades later and the job seems even worse.

Are You Kiddin' Me

image courtesy of Amazon.com

I developed a habit back then when it comes to showering. Not the showering part, the drying off part.

It didn’t take too long for me to forget my towel. I didn’t need one for football practice, they handed them out, but P.E. was a different story.

It was usually when I was getting dressed out for P.E. when I would realize I’d forgotten my towel yet again. It was a massive inconvenience to shower without the advantage of a towel to dry off. I was sure I’d remember the towel that night for the next day… which rarely happened.

Because I forgot my towel so often when I was a kid, I still use my hands like a squeegee on my torso, arms, and legs to wring off the excess water when I shower now. Those years of trying to pull dry clothes over a wet body have stuck with me.

We learn, for the most part, to get around our weaknesses and tendencies. If I don’t want to forget something, I put it in front of door so I’ll trip over it. We create systems to outwit ourselves and to make life easier on us, as well as make us more efficient.

I’ve learned with the aggravating weaknesses we possess, we also have the flip side of that which is our strengths, or the gift’s were given.

We get the occasional setback to remind us where we came from. And with enough time we learn our strengths can become our weaknesses and our weaknesses our strengths.

It could be that when we pose the question, “Are you kiddin’ me?” To ourselves, It’s God reminding us of who we are… and Who He is.