by Kathy Brasby | Jun 15, 2022 | Humor, Leadership
When it comes to fishing, I don’t.
But when the kids had an invitation to a party at a local fishing pond, I saw an opportunity. I loaded my newest book in with the fishing gear.
Being a responsible mom and all, I would, of course, check on the kids frequently. Occasionally. If they screamed like a pig waiting for a second breakfast.
You’d think I’d find a book that didn’t captivate me so I could monitor the kids.
Well, I didn’t.
I found an outstanding book and a comfortable chair.
Once we got to the little pond, my kids ran to the gaggle of other kids where a brave father was digging worms out of a cardboard box and weaving the bait onto each hook. How the kids didn’t all sink hooks in their bodies while not really waiting their turn is beyond me.
Maybe they did. I had a book to read.
This book grabbed my attention from page 1. It had wit, quirky characters, and page-turning mystery. I leaped into the story.
So much so that my daughter had to call my name twice before the word weaved its way through the story and into my brain. I actually heard the book’s hero call “Mom” the first time, which was so confusing that I heard “Mom” the second time.
Kind of like when you’re dreaming and somebody is shaking your shoulder. It can take a bit to pierce the fog.
“What?” I answered before I even located her along the pond’s edge.
She held her pole high in the air with a fish as long as my hand squirming on the hook.
Great. She’d caught a fish.
“Wow, way to go.” I had already dropped my eyes back to my hero, who was racing through an alley looking for a place to hide from the bad guys.
“Bring me a tackle box.” Reality can be so tame at times.
I jammed the bookmark in place and marched through the thick grass along the mossy green water’s edge. Our tackle box was blue and dented and I wasn’t sure what all the kids might have packed in there besides bobbers and weights. I hoped no soft bananas or squashed sandwiches.
My daughter danced from foot to foot, her ponytail bouncing like fifth graders set loose for the summer. “Look at my fish! We gotta get the hook out before it gets hurt.”
True. I didn’t want an injured fish. I wanted to rejoin my hero.
How does one get a hook out of a fish? This was fresh territory for me.
I set the tackle box on the rough wood of the dock and gazed into the tangle of hooks, bobbers, weights. No banana or sandwich. The kids had some focus.
“Grab those pliers, Mom.”
OK, I knew pliers. I lifted the metal tool and held it out to her.
“I can’t do that,” she said with a voice that sounded like the whine of a jet engine starting up.
Like I could? “I don’t fish.” Clearly, a boundary was in order here.
“I’ll hold the fish, and you get the hook out.” She gripped the squirmy fish in her nine-year-old hands.
Um, I don’t get hooks out. I stared at the fish, which stared back with empty black eyes. This was no time for a “who blinks first” contest. Do fish even blink?
I drew a deep breath. Parenting involves more courage than you’d think. Extricating a hook from a fish’s mouth ranks pretty high on my “don’t want to do this” list. I took a deep breath, wishing an excuse would pop into my mind.
My daughter squeezed the fish’s mouth open, and I raised the pliers. Changed grip. Moved my thumb down the knurled metal. Shifted the handle into my palm. Stalling.
And then, while the pliers circus continued, a blast of green pond water hit me in the face. A cold, slimy, gritty tidal wave.
I raised my eyes from the squirming fish.
My five-year-old son stood a few feet away from me, gripping a stained, slightly concave paper cup two steps from dissolving into soggy mush.
He gazed at the fish while I glared at him.
Then he saw me staring, and he shifted his weight. “I grabbed the cup from the edge of the pond.” He held out the forlorn cup minutes from its ultimate resting place in the trash can.
“And I scooped up some water.” He dropped the cup down and scooped some air to show me how he’d gathered his treasure.
“Why?” I could feel the pond water still dripping from my chin. I still held the pliers, so I wiped my face with my off hand.
“I didn’t want the fish to die before you got the hook out.” His eyes were soft with concern for the squirming fish. Then he grinned just a little. “And I thought it might take a while.”
“So, you scooped up the water and threw it in my face?”
“I was throwing the water on the fish.” He shrugged and crushed the cup. “I missed.”
When it comes to fishing, I still don’t.
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by Kathy Brasby | Mar 17, 2022 | Leadership
I just made progress on Cutting Through Despair: Dare to Hope! So far I’m 96% complete on the Writing phase. 12 Days remain until the deadline.
Cutting Through Despair: Dare to Hope
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by Kathy Brasby | Nov 21, 2020 | Family, Humor, Leadership, Stories
I didn’t really bungle this mission, although the word “oops” came up more than once.
A woman at our church had asked me to provide a meal for a family having medical and job issues. There are four adults and four kids in the family, so I knew I needed to cook up a lot of food. I made up a big pot of chili, a pan of cornbread, some home-baked cookies, and some carrot sticks. Lots of them.
I went to deliver the meal in the evening. The family lives on Elm Street, which could use some kind of city initiative to buy street lights because a camping tent at midnight had as much light. I pulled up in front of a house, saw a dimly-lit 205 by the door, and hauled my box of food to the front door.
An elderly woman answered. When I told her who I was, and what I had for her, she said, “How did you know?” I carried in the box of food and we unloaded it on her table. Her husband was watching TV and I didn’t see the other six people. Something started to wiggle in my brain at that point but I pressed on.
“We just got back from the doctor and I didn’t know what to do about supper,” she told me. “Thank you so much.”
So I must be in right place after all and the rest of the family was in the basement or looking at stars in the backyard.
Instead, I glanced at the husband, who had an oxygen tube threading across the floor to his nose and was just getting home from the doctor’s office. He must be the one having medical issues. Could I pray for him? Oh, yes. He rose, both of them took my hands, and I prayed for his health.
Then I walked out of the house and looked again at the number. 207. Oops! I had just delivered a meal for eight people to the wrong house. This couple was set for meals for a while.
I did a bit of prowling on the street and located 205 at the corner house. In the dark. I was lucky I didn’t trip on the black curb but that would have been just another oops in the evening.
So I had delivered a home-cooked meal for eight to a family of two and now I had nothing for the family in need. I ran to a grocery store a few blocks away. Although their deli section was pretty picked over, I spotted eight pieces of fried chicken that still looked plump.
Instead of chili, I delivered deli fried chicken, a canister of grocery-store potato salad, a bag of salad, and some cupcakes. I apologized when I delivered the meal and thought about inviting them to join their neighbors.
The family was gracious and appreciative of having any meal.
I’m still not sure how I goofed on the house numbers but God took my “oops” and turned it into meals for two different families. That works for me.
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by Kathy Brasby | Sep 3, 2020 | Leadership
N.T. Wright says Christians are in exile, in a place we currently find uncomfortable, confusing, and sometimes oppressive.
Frank Viola says we’re in transition. I’ve followed Frank off and on since he was deep in the organic church movement. He’s written some books that rocked my boat, including Pagan Christianity, Reimagining Church, and Insurgence.
Frank speaks to those Christians who suspect “there’s got to be more than this.”
I think it’s very important to read widely and think deeply. We might (huh, we will) find ourselves challenged when we do that but, if we only stay in our small bubble of thinking, we miss much. Read much and be discerning.
But I digress. I wanted to introduce you to Frank’s blog and especially his post on transitions. He has practical advice for Jesus followers.
I hope you’ll take a look. Here’s his blog post: 5 Things To Do When in Transition
And here’s a list of his books: Books by Frank Viola
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by Kathy Brasby | Mar 5, 2019 | Leadership, Paul
Leaders make decisions that are for the good of their tribe, based on clear goals. But what if those decisions land the leaders in trouble?
We’ve been following the story of Paul and Silas as they were visiting the ancient Greek city of Philippi.* Paul’s goal was to explain the story of Jesus to the people he met. His first encounter was at a prayer meeting. That went well.
Paul later met a servant girl who could tell the future. She was shouting words that were misleading people from what Paul was trying to teach, and so he commanded the spirit to leave her. That didn’t go as well.
The demon came out of the girl, but the servant girl’s masters lost their source of wealth. They were charging people for her fortunes.
Paul and Silas ended up in jail. They were severely beaten, and their feet clamped in stocks. Prisons in those days were miserable places, cold and damp.
Wouldn’t it be easy for Paul to re-examine his decision? The prayer group experience soared. Why had he tampered with the servant girl?
Locked away in a dark prison, Paul felt the bruises and the dried blood from his beating. Was that servant girl really worth this kind of torture?
Clarity of the goal always helps a leader and Paul didn’t forget why he had come to Philippi. It wasn’t for a cushy place to stay and a small group who hung on his every word. It was also for a poor servant girl who spoke words she didn’t understand. Paul had come to be sure people heard clearly the story of Jesus. This servant girl deserved to hear – not to distract others from the truth.
So Paul and Silas remained devoted to that goal. They were in prison, but that didn’t change their aim. Their audience now was other prisoners, and so they prayed and sang hymns to God – in part so the other prisoners would hear more about the nature of God.
God did amazing work that night. A massive earthquake shook the prison, and the doors flew open. Chains fell off. The jailer awoke to a shattered prison and assumed he had lost all the prisoners. That was the death penalty in the Roman empire, but Paul intervened.
“We’re all here!” he told the jailer. That’s impressive leadership in itself: the prisoners had not scooted away like cockroaches when the lights come on. They stayed with Paul.
Once again, Paul stayed focused on his goal. He wanted to tell people the story of Jesus. He wanted to explain the fantastic work of God. He was able to do that with the prayer group. And now he was able to tell a jailer about Jesus.
Talk about a transformation! The jailer listened and believed. He told his household. He cared for the prisoners and washed their wounds. He took them to his own house and gave them a meal.
Had Paul lost focus on his goal, he wouldn’t have taken the risk to free the servant girl. Had he forgotten why he came to Philippi, he could have escaped with the earthquake hit. In both cases, he took a risk.
But when the morning came, people had been changed. They found new life in Jesus.
Whether the immediate results are painful or joyful, leaders make decisions based on their goals. Even if it means time in a cold and painful dungeon.
*Acts 16
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by Kathy Brasby | Feb 19, 2019 | Leadership, Paul
How do you feel about offending someone? There are trolls in our society who revel in pushing other’s buttons, hoping to offend so they can enjoy the ensuing storm. But most of us avoid hurting others.
But is it ever necessary for a leader to offend?
Let’s take a look at Paul and Silas. As they traveled through cities in ancient Greece, they came to Philippi where they met a girl who had some sort of prophetic spirit.
The Ancient Greeks
The ancient Greeks regularly sought out priests for advice. Whether it involved a business decision, a marriage, or even a battle, they wanted to hear from the gods. So this girl would have found many willing to pay to hear about the future.
She began following Paul and his companions, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, and they have come to tell you how to be saved.”
Most who heard that daily prophecy would assume that Paul was following Zeus or some great god. They would not have thought that Paul served God. And her words about being saved were not the Christian idea of salvation. Those hearing the girl would have assumed she was talking about rescue from a disaster or perhaps given good health or prosperity.
In other words, her daily prophecy sounds true to a Christian’s ear, but it would have misled the Greeks around her. They would have expected Paul to serve as the mediator for a great god, bringing them prosperity or other benefits.
Not Paul’s Idea
This was not what Paul was preaching, and he finally had enough. In the name of Jesus, he commanded the spirit to leave her. And it did.
Paul offended her masters. They had hopes of wealth through her prophecies – and people’s eagerness to pay for what they thought was divine guidance.
What happened next might have given Paul pause. The masters grabbed him and his friends and dragged them to the authorities in the marketplace. A riot ensued.
False charges were leveled. Emotions were whipped into a hot mess. Angry officials had Paul and Silas severely beaten and then thrown into prison.
First century jails were cold, damp, uncomfortable. Paul and Silas were taken to the inner dungeon, and their feet clamped in stocks.
So, was it worth it for Paul to offend these men?
Paul’s concerns were:
- A servant girl under the control of a spirit.
- Masters were oppressing the girl, using her oppression for their own financial gain.
- Her message caused people to misinterpret Paul’s message.
Those are good concerns. Would he have proceeded if he’d known the consequences? Of course, if you know the end of the story, God would do more in Philippi.
But for now, let’s stay with questions: is it OK for leaders to offend? Do the goals make the possible repercussions worthwhile?
These are questions leaders have to consider before diving in. What are your thoughts?
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