We recently committed “cell phone provider adultery” by leaving Verizon Wireless, whom we have been with almost a decade, and going with their bitter rival, AT&T. The first few months have been an adjustment – new phones, new customer service, and a whole new process to learn. One of the things we did not anticipate in our initial switch was that most of our family still has Verizon as their service provider, so we went over our minutes in our first month because we lost our free mobile to mobile minutes. On the last day of our billing cycle I checked our minute usage and we were already 50 minutes over, which would have incurred more than $20 in overage charges. Maybe that is not a problem for you, but I HATE paying overage charges for anything! On a whim, I contacted AT&T customer service and explained my dilemma and the gentleman was very kind in listening to my predicament. As I was talking, I was thinking, “This guy probably thinks I’m an idiot! There’s no way he is going to respond to my request.” To my surprise, the AT&T customer service representative understood and told me that he would add 200 minutes to my account and that if I didn’t use those extra minutes this month, they would roll over to next month.

I learned something through that process – asking must precede receiving. Without asking, you’ll never receive. Maybe the reason you have not yet received something is because you’ve never asked. “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8).

Here in Ohio we have trash stalkers, at least that is what I call them. Trash stalkers are people who spend their evenings/nights stealthily cruising through neighborhoods on the eve of trash day in hopes of finding treasure in someone else’s curbside junk. On more than one occasion, I have personally spoken to one of these stalkers because there must be an unwritten rule that if they get caught digging through your trash, they must ask for permission to assume ownership of it. They typically say something like, “Is it okay with you if I take this?” Since I have an insatiable desire for sarcasm, I am tempted to respond by saying, “No you can’t. That tricycle with only one wheel is going to be used for a lawn ornament.” In reality though, I usually panic when they stop at my house thinking that I possibly chucked something of unrecognizable value or maybe the mirror I am tossing out contains an original copy of the Declaration of Independence behind the glass. I really do not want to end up in national headlines as the idiot who threw away thousands of dollars in his trash because he was blind to an item’s true value.

After spending more than a decade investing in the lives of others, I’m convinced that many people are guilty of throwing away things which they no longer view as valuable, even though it still holds great value; although, I do realize that some repair may be needed to restore full value to certain things. Most of the time, something which was once valuable only became trash because of improper care.

Yesterday I took my two kids on a bike ride because, well, it is our new favorite thing to do and I believe they enjoying spending some time with me as much as I enjoy spending time with them. Now every day when I get home from work, both my son and daughter beg me to take another bike ride. So yesterday, instead of traveling the normal route around our neighborhood, I decided to take them on a new, exciting adventure in order to explore the unknown – the woods. Hoping there would be a decent bicycle path amongst the tall trees near our house, all three of us set out on an adventure; however, my children had no idea what I had planned. As we approached the deep, dark forest my seven and nine year old became a little concerned about entering a place where they had never been; in fact, they objected and made statements like, “I don’t want to go in there.” I assured them that there had been no recent snake attacks in our area, so we finally proceeded into the canopy of trees. After only traveling a short distance, the trail ended so we backtracked and took a side trail I had spotted several yards back, which ended up leading to another dead end. Determined to find a clear path, I led us along the edge of the trees until we had descended down a hill where we were met with yet another dead end. By this time, my kids were clearly frustrated with me and at one point, my daughter (who is always brutally honest) put her bike down on the ground and said, “I’m tired and I want to go home NOW!” I knew it was time to abandon my plan for discovery and exploration. Dejected and a little frustrated that my plan for exploring new paths had failed, we all pedaled home. Based on yesterday’s failure, I was certain that they would not want to embark on another bicycle journey; however, when I arrived home this evening, they asked if we were going on a bike ride.

Has the person who is your leader (a boss, teacher, parent, or pastor) led your business, classmates, family, or church to several dead ends? If so, maybe he or she needs you to ask to go on another bike ride.

One day Jesus encounters a man who works for the IRS and asks him to change occupations. Instead of cheating people out of their hard earned money by collecting a little extra for himself, Jesus asks this man named Levi (Matthew) to work for Him. Without hesitation Levi closes his office, abandons everything he owns, and follows Jesus (Luke 5:27-28). This is a dramatic life change. After his early retirement from tax collecting, Levi holds a party in his home in honor of Jesus (his new boss) where the who’s who of losers and local outcasts attend alongside Jesus’ disciples (Luke 5:29). The people answering the door at Levi’s house obviously didn’t get the memo about sticking to the guest list because somehow the stuck-up religious people crashed the party accusing Jesus and His disciples of eating and drinking with losers (Luke 5:30). The so-called religious leaders thought that if Jesus and His followers were representing God, they should be a tad more discreet about the company they kept; after all, the scribes (interpreters of the Old Testament law) and Pharisees (group of people consumed with external rules) would never be caught dead befriending such outcasts.

When Jesus got word that the partypoopers had busted up the celebration, He immediately defended Himself and His disciples’ associations saying, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor – sick people do. I have come not to call those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent” (Luke 5:31 NLT). Jesus’ defense here is simple. Rather than waste His time catering to people who thought they had God all figured out, He would instead spend His days offering hope and life to those who needed it most.

A lot of religious people are more concerned about who they can stay away from rather than being concerned about who needs Jesus.

Some of you may remember a blog entry I posted a little over a month ago called, No Hamster Dance for Us , where I briefly chronicled my reasoning for not purchasing a hamster as a second pet for our family. Most of my decision making was based on input from former hamster owners who, almost unanimously, discouraged me from taking the plunge. Comments such as “they stink” was enough to deter me from driving to the nearest pet store and making my selection from the plethora of smelly hamsters. We already have a smelly dog at home so why would we need to add another competing entity? Needless to say, my wife was not happy with those who negatively affected my determination (she is harmless), but I thought we had mutually agreed to disagree…until the kids called me a couple days later while I was at work to inform me that they had just bought a hamster. So much for the “wives submit to your own husbands” principle!

The first few days, I really didn’t like the thing…sorry, I guess “the thing” has a name, which is Rhino. You may recognize our plagiarized name from another famous hamster featured in the recent animated movie Bolt. But people were right – the hamster sometimes stink (like all of us at one time or another) and he (or she…I’m not sure how to tell) is pretty loud at night; however, after dark he (or she) turns into a one-man (or woman) show. Seriously, this rodent has some major energy to release after the sun goes down and although I hate to say it, I have actually enjoyed watching him (or her) zoom around in the ball, furiously run on the wheel, and crawl through the tunnels in the cage. It’s like having Animal Planet in your home without the price of cable!

Even though I’m still not keen on everything about the hamster, I’ve learned to overlook the negative aspects in order to concentrate on the things I enjoy. Three people in my home really love the hamster (the verdict is still out on what the dog thinks) and I don’t want to be the one who spoils it for everyone else. There are some people who thrive on being the spoilers or partypoopers, as I like to call them, and they’re not happy until everyone else is not.

I hope you are not that person.

I’ve been married for a little more than twelve years and I have become totally comfortable with what I call “feminine errands.” Every married man and puppy-whipped boyfriend/fiance is familiar with this procedure and it goes something like this: 1) Woman wants something. 2) Woman tells man to go get it at an “off limit store for men” such as Bed, Bath, & Beyond or any establishment which ends with the words “Crafty Cathy.” 3) Man would never be caught dead in this store browsing on his own, but does does not have the courage to tell the woman “no!” 4) Man disguises himself by wearing his hat pulled way down and a shirt which says something about fishing or hunting. 5) Man reluctantly goes to store to interact with many other men who are also on “feminine errands.” 6) Woman gets what she wants. 7) Man walks away more in touch with his feminine side.

This past weekend I had desperately sought an item at many other stores without any luck, so my wife “suggested” I go to Bed, Bath, & Beyond (Best Buy really needs to open up a “Men Shopping for Women” area). If I had to go, I was taking one of my kids down with me. Unfortunately, my son could not be coaxed into spending some time with his daddy at BB&B, so my daughter went with me. She enjoys smelling the candles and laying on the beds…just adds to the pain!

It’s amazing how an attainable task can be complicated by an unwilling attitude.