missing miscommunication

As I was reading a friend's blog entry today, I thought, "I need to write a reply."  In typing the reply, I could not seem to figure out how to write what I was feeling, nor communicate anything that maybe might be misconstrued.  You could say I was paralyzed by fear of what he, or someone else might think, because I miscommunicated.  I sometimes wonder if I am missing something even when I miscommunicate, by not communicating at all.  Does my silence say something entirely different?  I really do care about a lot of things and other people, so what is causing me this hesitation?  For some reason, I feel safer not communicating at all instead of the risk of communicating something incorrectly, but also losing a chance to really make a real connection with people.  I'm sure I do this with my wife, as there are times when it is so much easier to not go there because she might take it the wrong way.  And it is ten times easier to not take the chance with a friend or acquaintance.  I think there is some good reason that we all can't communicate clearly all the time, but I hate every bit of not being able to. I wonder if I'll even publish this blog entry....

Overflowing water?

During the day at work, I try to drink water. Heard so many stories about folks losing weight, feeling less tired, and all that, so I try hard to drink more water especially at work. The free cans of soda in the fridge are mighty tempting, though. I believe Coca Cola is the sweet nectar of life. Anyway, I use a water bottle most of the time. One of those Nalgene (BPA-free) reusable bottles. So I have to make sure that I clean it out every day. I drop a little dish soap in, add hot water, then close it and shake. Then I rinse out the soapy water with a strong stream of water from the faucet. In the fury of soapy water swirling and splashing in then out of the bottle, I allow it to overflow so that it also runs some soap over the rim of the bottle. A curious thing happens at this point. Although it is flowing water, a fairly heavy substance, out the top of the bottle, meaning the bottle is full, If I pull it away quickly, you’d think the bottle would still be full. I am not spilling any extra out when I pull the bottle out of the faucet stream. What is happening is that there are air bubbles in the bottle actually filling in some of the space. Pushing water out of the top. All this got me thinking if there was some metaphor that God was wanting me to see. After just reading Andrew Peterson’s blog about money and being able to support his family with his music and writing, I realized that there is some air in an overflowing bottle. The picture is that it’s ok to be able to breathe and have some level of comfort if I am to have a life overflowing to others. In order to give away what God is filling me with, He also gives me air in my life, margin, space, life in the bottle. It still allows Him to work, still allows the water to overflow, still gives from what he has given me. So I thank God today for the air to breathe and ask Him for more water to overflow.