Hey, everyone!
What an AWESOME day in East Tennessee!
What an awesome time of the year!
It’s almost time for March Madness!
We Vols may be a historic one seed
Baseball’s getting ready to start!
We’re getting a new stadium for the Smokies to play!
Sports-wise, in my opinion, it just seems like the best time of year in some ways!
Not that I need to be sharing my opinion everywhere.
But you know what?! Now that I’m retired, maybe I should just get a little more free to share that opinion of mine and tell y’all what I think!
And usually…
when it comes to my opinions…
I think I’m right about ‘em!
Normally on these Friday Triple C emails I try to avoid sharing my personal views about things…
But somehow…and maybe it’s the gorgeous day itself…
I just feel...
opinionated!
So here go some things I’ve been wanting to say for quite some time...
In my opinion, I believe that college basketball refs may get more grief from opposing coaches than in any other sport! They’re just closer and more “yell-at-able” than other umps and refs! Bless their hearts! They take it so well!
And I think I’m right about that!
Here’s another opinion I have...
Baseball coaches (called “managers”) wear the uniform of their players during the game for some reason. But if basketball coaches did it, it would look dumb!
And I think I’m right about that!
And in my opinion, when you give a cashier your money and you hold out your hand for the change…
when they put the receipt first, than the bills, then the change on top of that…
and you’re standing there with a receipt with money piled on it…
I think they’ve created a problem for you unnecessarily.
I mean, before you can put your money away, you have to figure out how to get the receipt out from under the pile!
I don’t know what I would do, but I’d figure out a better way to give you your money back.
And I think I’m right about this!
In my opinion, when you go through the self-check line, if you silence the automated voice that says, “Welcome, valued customer!”…
(P.s…you can!)…
I think you’ll have a calmer, more satisfying shopping experience.
Some of the things she tells you to do, are either obvious…
(“Scan the item and put it in the bag”...Hello! Where else would you put it!?)
or unnecessary…
(You don’t have to “insert coins first, then bills”. It’ll work both ways)
And I think I’m right about this!
Here’s another opinion...
Lent begins this Wednesday and I’ve never really had much genuine space in my heart for Lent.
But I’m changing the way I think about that.
I don’t think there is value in giving up stuff you enjoy to somehow earn mercy that is already ours...or to try to pay for failures and faults that are already forgiven.
But I no longer believe most people really think of it like that.
Lent is...
for most who live it seriously...
a time to be more still...
more quiet...
more...reflective.
A reflection is literally when you see yourself.
It isn’t always easy to do.
But if I want to get where I’m going...
to one day be like Jesus...
Self-reflection is an important stop on the road there.
Sometimes I’ve wondered if our beautiful faith in Jesus…
saving us amazingly by grace…
has led some to believe it’s somehow wrong to look within and ask if there might not be things that aren’t really good inside me.
Things like…
attitudes that need to change…
hurtful thoughts I cherish…
“any grievous way in me” (Psalm 139.24)
In Alcoholics Anonymous, Steps 4 and 5 say that members should “take a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves...”
and...
“Admit to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs...”
What would happen if we all regularly did this?!
Paul said Jesus “died and rose again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living...” (Romans 14:9)
I believe it’s good and healthy for me to have the Lenten season…
(along with others times in the year)…
to wonder...
“Does He have all of the rights and rule over me that He died and rose to win?”
“Are there places in my heart I refuse to let Him conquer?”
I think it’s good to ask...
even with the help of trusted friends...
in the safety of the unending love of Jesus for me...
and in the real hope of Him changing me...
“Is there anything in me that needs fixed?…
is there anything about me that needs adjusted?…
is there anything behind me or within me that needs confessed?…
In my opinion , that’s one of the helpful things this Lenten season is for.
To have the time and quiet space to ask if there is anything in my heart…
in my walk with Him or others…
or even in my opinions…
that is one thing that might just be not quite right…
about me?
This is just my opinion…
But I think I’m right about that.