I Can't Get No Satisfaction

No...I'm not going to post anything about the Rolling Stones. In fact, I'm not a fan of the Stones in any form or fashion. The title of this post comes more from a struggle that I'm having to deal with right now. It's easy for me to look at my life and see how much God has blessed me. I have a great family who loves me, friends who love me, a nice house, a nice car, a good job, and many other things. However, there is one area of my life that is not complete. It feels like there is a hole that needs to be filled. And I know I'm not alone. I think everybody has a hole that they wish they could fill. These holes can be in different areas of our lives and come in different sizes. Some holes are much larger than others and it seems like it takes forever to shovel enough dirt in there to top it off where satisfaction is finally reached.

Wouldn't it be great if all of our holes could be filled to the point that we desired nothing else? If we could finally satisfy the last need of our life. Everyone is probably at least a little familiar with the Hierarchy of Needs as presented by Abraham Maslow. The need located at the top of his hierarchy is self-actualization. Satisfying this need means you have reached the point in your life where you are doing what you feel you were created to do. You have satisfied all of the basic needs of life including safety, self esteem, love and affection in your relationships, etc. and now you are where you desire to be. Wouldn't that be great? Please let me know if you have reached this point in your life because I would love to talk to you and find out how you were able to accomplish that formidable task.

In our small group this past Sunday night, a good friend of mine helped me realize that I can reach self-actualization a lot easier and quicker than I thought was possible. We were studying 1 Thessalonians 5 and we read verses 16-18.

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

I have had the question "what is God's will for me?" floating around in my head for a while. My friend made an excellent observation (as she always does) that God's will for us is perfectly stated in those three verses. God's will for me is to always pray and be joyful thanking Him for what He has done for me regardless of what is going on in my life. I have read these verses many, many times before, but that was the first time they actually made sense as far as what I need to do. That is how I can get my satisfaction. That is how my holes can be filled. Sure, things that I don't like or understand are going to happen in my life, but my reaction should be as Paul wrote to the Thessalonian people:

Always be joyful

Pray continually

Thank God in all circumstances

That is God's will for all of us. So, my friends, throw down your shovels and stop breaking your back trying to fill these holes on your own. Thank God for the holes in your life and leave them to Him to be filled. Who knows, an empty hole may be the one thing that all of us need.

Do My Eyes and Ears Deceive Me?!

Ok...I had two separate experiences this past week that will probably affect me the rest of my life. The first one involves something I saw. A group of friends and I went to O'Charley's last Sunday night after Small Group to enjoy a little food and fellowship. The customer service we received there was horrible, but that's another story in itself. As we were waiting to be seated (much too long, I might add), I saw what looked like a nice family of three walking toward us as they were exiting the restaurant. The young child was walking ahead of the parents and the mother was directly behind her. As I looked at the third individual, it seemed he/she looked more like a female than the father. As I quickly began analyzing the situation, I was thinking this could be a family friend or a "significant other". However, as they got closer to us I realized that this truly was the father but there was something different about his appearance. If you are a Seinfeld fan, you may recall Episode 18 of Season 6 ("The Doorman") when Kramer and Frank Costanza design a male bra that would solve the jiggle problem experienced by some males. They argue over whether to name it the Bro or the Manzier. Well, I saw this man wearing a bro/manzier. You may not believe me and I considered the fact that my eyes were deceiving me. However, as he passed, I definitely saw the outlines of a bro/manzier. This was verification that Seinfeld is definitely true to life.

My second experience involved a CD player that was giving me trouble. I took it back to Circuit City and paid them $39 to send it to Atlanta and get an estimate of the cost to repair it. If I accepted the estimate, the $39 would be applied toward that amount. If I declined the estimate, I was basically out $39. I received a call from Circuit City several days later with the estimated cost of repair. Get ready. Have you braced yourself? The amount was $240!! Were my ears deceiving me? I paid Circuit City $39 to tell me that the repair would cost more than 3 times the original purchase price? Then the lady had the nerve to ask me if I wanted to accept the estimated cost and have them repair it. Considering the fact that I could go buy three new CD players and go out to eat on the change I would receive, I graciously told her that she was out of her mind.

Life never ceases to surprise me. Within a couple of days, I saw a man wearing a bro (or manzier) and had someone actually think I would pay $240 to fix a $73 CD player. Now, if a man wearing a manzier (or bro) would have told me that I needed to pay 3 times the orginal purchase price for a repair, that would have been a classic. And I might have even agreed to the repair price because who can turn down a man wearing a bra, uh, I mean bro, um...manzier. You know what I'm talking about.

The Vacation Has Ended

Now that my blogger vacation has ended, I am now ready to jump back on the saddle (whatever that means). My first five posts just really drained me so I felt the need to take a short pause of 9 months. And to be honest with you, there really wasn't a lot that happened during that period of time. Therefore, both of my readers will be happy to know that they have not missed much. However, now I am dedicated to posting at least once a week. In order to maintain that promise, there may be times when I just tell you what I had to eat that day so that there will be something posted. Hopefully, my life is more exciting than that and you will actually enjoy reading my posts. I have even started a list of future topics. I have enough right now to at least carry me through the next month. Some of it will entertain you while some of it may scare you. So stay tuned to find out what really is in the mind of Ryan.