In the last several days I have had some major interruptions to my schedule. And they’re the best things that could’ve happened all week! Which is so awesome to be able to say considering not long ago I wrote a post called “Fighting The Need For Habit” that discussed becoming flexible toward such interruptions to routines. Boo-yah for personal application of things I’ve actually said!
So let me tell ya what these interruptions were. And let me tell ya what was going through my mind initially. Perhaps you’ll be able to relate in some ways.
The first interruption requires a little background before I get to the story. A few years ago a family moved in next door. A rather large family at that. And an absolutely wonderful family! Their name is the Burdines and they have six kids running around. Three of them are adopted, but are family just the same! I know there will be more posts about the kids in the future, so stay tuned.
Two of the girls, 8 year old Merriam and 7 year old Shariah, quickly developed a fascination and even fondness for me. Whenever I go outside to enjoy the nice weather I can expect these two to soon discover my presence and immediately begin chatting my ear off! I don’t mind it one bit because I seriously love kids! And these kids clearly love me because I’ve been told that they’ve occasionally asked their mom if she thinks I’m outside after they’ve only just woken up. They genuinely look forward to seeing me! I think that’s pretty cool and am not ashamed to call these kiddos friends! (Mostly ‘cause they’re hilarious!)
In fact, their anticipation to hang out with me is so intense that the girls, namely Shariah, have been known to hold me hostage. Figuratively, of course, because I definitely choose whether to stay or go. But it plays out like this: Shariah will start heading inside to do something real quick and she’ll turn around pointing at me saying, in her most determined voice, “Logan don’t leave! Please don’t leave. Promise me!” Yes, it’s as cute as it sounds. Sometimes she even tells her sister to make sure I don’t leave, to which Merriam just giggles and rolls her eyes. I typically stay as long as I’m able cause, ya know, why not?
They get to have fun, I get to invest in lives, everybody wins! But, as with anything else, it can get to be a bit much. In this case that takes a lot because I do enjoy entertaining them. I mean, they’re entertaining me too! It makes my day as much as it makes theirs! The thing is, I have stuff to do though. And as kids, well, they don’t. I’m not sure they see the distinction. I guess I’m a little too intriguing for them to think I do boring adult stuff!
On this occasion Shariah really wanted to milk out as much Logan time as she could. There were multiple moments where I started to head on inside and each time was met with her begging me to stay out a bit longer. I thought to myself, “I really need to get cracking on my agenda for the day, but hanging with me does mean a lot to them. It won’t be much longer, so why disappoint her?”
This cycle happened about four times, amounting to maybe two hours of keeping them entertained. A couple minutes after the fourth time, I intended to finally make my escape. But they had been waiting for their new playset to get there all morning and the man delivering and installing it began pulling into their driveway (which is where I had ended up) before I could. At this point I’d already spent a couple hours with them and I wasn’t about to make the guy pull back out, so I was like, “Whatever, I guess I’m staying here until he’s done, it shouldn’t take long.” That meant another 45 minutes of chilling with the Burdine children.
I guess that looks like a pretty big waste of an afternoon, but I really don’t see it that way. Yeah I didn’t finish everything that I was “supposed to” that day, but I still did something that was important! I made those kids feel loved and showed them that they mattered just by being there. That’s nothing noteworthy, but I have no idea just how much the time I spend with them will impact their lives. I didn’t set aside time for them in my agenda, yet, as the Holy Spirit led, I made time for them. And all of it was rewarding! That interruption resulted in a great day of relationship building!
The other interruptions are a bit simpler. In another instance I was getting a lot of social media feedback for recent interviews. I’ve made it my prerogative to personally respond to everyone that reaches out. Building relationships, no matter how insignificant they seem, is very important to me because that’s what everything I do is all about. I thoroughly enjoy being able to reach back out! But when the volume of such notifications and contacts begins sucking up a large amount of your time that was meant for other things, it becomes a little overwhelming and even aggravating.
So basically, it felt like there were so many people to respond to that there was no way I had enough time to accomplish my tasks for the day. But once again, investing in these lives was far more important than anything else I could be doing!
The last interruption involves an acquaintance that I am now very grateful to have. This gentleman reached out to me via Facebook and requested that we swap phone numbers, which we did. This man has cerebral palsy and works in media. He simply wanted to offer some encouragement and help me in any way he could. I so appreciated this, and freely responded to him!
At the time I was also working on developing notes for future content. I really had no problem stopping to message him back, but he was soon texting me more than I expected. I liked the enthusiasm, but wasn’t in the mind frame of having an actual conversation. (As I look back at the messages now it really wasn’t a long conversation at all; it just felt like it since I was in the middle of something.) I figured it wouldn’t go on that long with it being our first interaction. He immediately had a real eagerness to be a friend and invest in my life though. He’s never even met me, so that’s pretty amazing!
Thank you Kurt Arnold for being such a great guy! Kurt and I have since talked on the phone and plan on building up a relationship where we offer each other’s encouragement and help. That’s what it’s all about! In this case he was more concerned about that than I was. It was an awesome and humbling reminder of what I already intend to do! Sometimes we need an example from another in order to see just how significant our good intentions are in action. Kurt showed a willingness to go an extra mile for me in doing so.
That idea of going an extra mile actually comes from scripture. The passage it comes from speaks of giving more to someone when they’ve already taken something from you. That can include our time. So in order for us to go the extra mile when someone encroaches on our time, it would mean willingly giving up even more of that time for them. Not only that, but also putting real, enthusiastic, compassionate effort into investing in their lives.
It’s easy to fake compassion for people when we only do what the situation requires, but going above and beyond proves true compassion. Anyone can be courteous when another inconveniences them, but the selfless can transcend courtesy on the way to love. This is something people of the Jesus Kingdom are to be gladly known for! When we are quick to pardon interruptions, it will open us up and give us the freedom to purposely go that extra mile for others.
“If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.” – Matthew 5:40-42
