Scripture: Acts 9:26-30
When Saul had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples; and they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him, brought him to the apostles, and described for them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus. So he went in and out among them in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. He spoke and argued with the Hellenists; but they were attempting to kill him. When the believers learned of it, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.
Thought for the Day: Earlier this week, I made a Bruce Blunder that nearly cost the church some money. I had a letter that needed postage, and so my plan was to use the church’s postage machine…something I haven’t done very often. As I walked past Karen’s desk, I clarified the four-digit code to turn on the postage machine, a four-digit number that begins with a 6. She confirmed that I had the correct number, so I went in, typed in the code, and ran my envelope through the machine. As I started to walk away, I glanced at the top righthand corner of the envelope and was confused to see numbers that shouldn’t have been there. Yes-as you may have guessed, the machine was already on and I had just typed in a four digit number starting with a six that was now the new postage amount. The envelope I held in my hand, with a single piece of paper enclosed, had postage in excess of $65. Let’s just say that I gave the rest of the staff the best laugh they have had in a long time, though that didn’t make me feel any better. Thank goodness Jan and Karen were able to bring their laughter under control and research possibilities of solving the problem. Come to find out, this is not unusual. In fact, there’s an official US Postal form for that. And better yet, Jan pointed out that the form’s line in which you write the amount of the mistake has eight boxes – that is, you could make a $999,999.99 mistake. The $65+ mistake I made looked rather small in comparison. In the end, I learned a couple of important lessons. First, it is wonderful to have a staff who are able to fix my blunders. And second, it is equally wonderful to have people who put my mistakes in perspective. Saul, who found himself in a couple of rough places, often found some amazing people who came alongside him.
By the way, we already received our check to reimburse us for my mistake. I feel much better!
Prayer: God, thank you for those gracious people who not only make us feel better when we do something incredibly stupid, but even help us solve the problems brought on by our mistake. Amen.
