Living in the sandwich can be frustrating. You begin thinking about changes you want to make in your life and start getting excited about them. Then by habit, or necessity I suppose, you begin considering how changing part of the sandwich will affect the rest. If I change the protein, what about the cheese, what about the condiments, what about the tasty outsides that hold it all together? Maybe the changes will be too great and will have too much impact on the other people in my life. What if the whole sandwich falls apart? Maybe I’m stuck with the same old sandwich, the status quo, with waiting for changes to happen around me that free me up to make the changes I want, no, need to make.

When I wrote about planning for the future a few weeks ago I figured I was pretty comfortable with what I should do with my life. It seemed that spending time with my family and being in some kind of ministry to others were two of the most important ways I could make a difference. It seemed like helping people become better than they were was what I could contribute to the business world in some small way. It seemed like recharging by exploring this tremendous country I live in was necessary to strengthening myself for the other things I needed to do. And it seemed like building my faith through worship and study and prayer would firm up the glue that holds me together. Thinking about it, I’m getting comfortable with what I love about my life and what I want out of life.

I guess what I worry about are the specifics. Maybe “what” isn’t the issue, maybe it’s the how, where and when. I believe that God opens doors that He intends us to walk through. There’s a life to be lived out there, and it shouldn’t be by default, it should be intentional.

Then again, living in the sandwich isn’t living by default. In fact, it is living very intentionally. It is sharing plans and ideas, and figuring out how it all works together. All of us in this sandwich want the best for each other, but if we don’t share, we won’t know how to help. Maybe we’re not really on the same bus, but just caravanning on the same road. At any point some of us may choose to take a different route, hopefully with the support and encouragement of the rest.

Hmm, I think the frustration is fading a bit.

Adjusting my thinking, and my attitude…

-Pops