I knew better before I said yes. And yet, there was something inside of me that would not let me say no. It wasn’t very pleasing to simply sit back and see what was happening among the homeowners. An old tape kept running in my mind: “If it is to be, it is up to me”… just ten little words with a powerful message … and the guilt that always came with those old tapes! If I did not like what was going on then I couldn’t leave it up to others to fix. Little did I know what I was getting myself involved in.
Whenever I move into a new community I always ask, “Okay, God, why have you planted me here?” It comes out of my strong theology that God has a purpose in everything that happens in and through our life. Things do not happen just by accident. There is purpose and order in God’s universe, which includes me. Oh, I made the decision to move to Bradenton and also made the decision to purchase this particular home in this particular subdivision … or did I?
If we are God’s servants, seeking to follow Christ as one of his disciples and, even as individuals with free will, can our decisions be made outside of his purpose for his universe and our lives? Boy, have I struggled with that issue most of my adult life. My conclusion has always been, we can never circumvent God’s purpose by our decisions. So here I sat, a homeowner in Garden Lake Estates … so, God, why am I here?
There was one personal promise that was fulfilled … not to jump feet first into a situation or organization. There was a two-year span between the time of moving into the subdivision and allowing my name to be placed on the ballot as a member of the board of directors … old tapes are hard to ignore for very long. So here I sit in the middle of a mess. Not only did I get elected to be a director, but the directors elected me to serve as vice-president – a little more responsibility than I really cared to carry. God, why am I here and why now and why this particular situation?
The problem is a chairperson (or a president in this particular situation) who is a strong willed, opinionated, micro-manager. In fact, she probably was the role model when organizational people wrote the manual for micro-managers. She is a loud and strong-willed. No one, so I am informed, has ever wanted to take her on.
As the president not only does she run the meetings, but offers up opinions on every issue, actively enters into each and every debate, makes her own motions and, when things are not going the way she desires them to go, refers to “the by-laws” as the golden standard as to why something can or cannot be done without referencing chapter-and-verse within the by-laws for support. No one has ever challenged her on this … until now!
Since she was one of the original homeowners no one has ever bothered to question her and her “by-laws” references. That is until now. If you know anything about me you could have guessed that I would not just let this roll off of me. What a mess, but I am in it now and confronting her, as gently as I can, about rulings that she has made, as well as some passing references to the by-laws. I am thankful for another director who has my back.
But, why in heavens name does the Lord have me in this mess? Maybe I needed another lesson in patience. Maybe I needed another lesson in tolerance. Maybe I needed another lesson is humility. Maybe I needed another lesson dealing with difficult people. I’m wondering, searching, praying for an answer.
The story that keeps running through my mind is the one of the little boy who prayed every night for a horse and would run out to the barn every morning before breakfast to see if God had answered his prayer during the night. Finally, one morning in the middle of the barn was a huge pile of manure. The little boy’s eyes got very wide and he jumped right into the middle of the manure and began to dig like crazy. When his father asked what he was doing the little boy exclaimed, “With this much manure there has to be a horse in here somewhere!”
Well, folks, I’m looking for my “horse” … an answer to my prayers as to why God has me where I am. Certainly it isn’t simply to dig in a pile of manure … at least I hope not!
Quote for today: When you're up to your neck in alligators, it's difficult to keep your mind on the fact that your primary objective is to drain the swamp. ~Source Unknown
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