It's a small world, after all.

As a paid minister, I think I developed a skewed view of the world. This was affirmed about a year ago when I realized that my biggest dream for my music was for it to be recognized in the church. Why didn't I hope that my music might reach beyond that realm? I guess my world was too small, and it has taken this downward path to enlarge it. When my wife and I were raising our children as infants, it didn't take long to realize that their world was very small. It encompassed three things: 1. A full tummy. 2. A dry diaper. 3. Sleep. If any one of those things were out of whack, the kid would fuss and wail. So anytime one of them would be cranky, we would check those three aspects of his or her world. Most times attention given to one or all of those components brought success. The advantage of a small world like this is that it made problem solving fairly easy. The downside meant that our kids would get easily upset if their world was not in order. The size of our world is directly correspondent to how well we respond to adversity. We just paid our mechanic over $1000 for maintenance on our van. Routine, basic stuff like tires, brakes and 02 sensors add up quickly. I am so tempted to get upset by this expense as it comes at a tight financial season for us. But what pulls me out of it is to acknowledge the bigger world we live in. Bills to be paid are nothing compared to broader concerns of loving others well and pursuing peacefulness and beauty. Bills still have to be taken care of, but they don't need to be the center of my world. Neither does my place in the church have to be my central focus, because what happens when I can't find a place in it, or at least in the church as we know it?