Sunday, January 12, 2014

Just Me.

Sunday morning.
Time to put on your best clothes.
Style your hair.  Get all made up.
Let's go to church and get real with God.

Rewind 10 hours.  After a productive Saturday at home, I found myself in track pants and a hoodie.  Hair in a pony tail and {gasp} no makeup on.  We needed a few things from Wegmans, so I headed out.  You know what happened next...I saw everyone I know.

"Boy are they all gonna be surprised when they see me at church tomorrow," I thought.

Sometimes I approach my radio show like a Sunday morning.  I prep my content, I plan my breaks.  And everything is just perfect.  Other days, I can't pull it together and out comes the real me, pony tail and all.  When I get emails or calls from listeners, though, it's always the "track pants and hoodie" shows they comment on.

In those moments of being real, we connect one human soul to another.  We let a struggling mom know she doesn't have to have it all together.  We give a fallen saint encouragement to crawl to the cross...again.  And we say to every listener "I'm here, with you.  Just you.  Just me."

Wonder how many heads would turn if I wore my hoodie to church today.
Terese Main is a morning co-host at Family Life, a network of nearly 70 Christian radio stations across New York and Pennsylvania (www.fln.org).  She also provides imaging voicework for stations in Florida, California, Minnesota, Virginia and Wisconsin (www.themainvoice.com). 

Saturday, January 11, 2014

In The Middle of the Floor.  

My dog, Lovie likes to be near me.  She's on the floor beneath my feet right now.  This morning I was doing some cooking in the kitchen, turned from the sink to go to the fridge and nearly tripped over her.  She was laying right in the middle of the kitchen floor.


"That's one way to get noticed," I thought.

How many times have you wanted to lay on the kitchen floor.  There have been times when I have felt practically invisible in life.  When I've wondered if anyone sees me or even knows I exist.  In reality, I've wanted to be heard or have my thoughts validated.  But the idea of having someone trip over me and then say "Oh, you see me now?" is tempting!

Who do you see laying on the floor?

People aren't like dogs.  They won't plop down next to you and sprawl out and they (likely) won't put their head on your lap, looking for attention.  They will do things like post cryptic facebook messages, or get unusually quiet in the middle of a meeting.

In those moments, seize the opportunity.

Be the person who reaches out.  Send a message that says "I'm thinking about you," or ask "Is everything ok?"  Any dog lover would stop, stoop down and scratch the dog behind the ears.  Let's make sure we're loving people just as much.

Terese Main is a morning co-host at Family Life, a network of nearly 70 Christian radio stations across New York and Pennsylvania (www.fln.org).  She also provides imaging voicework for stations in Florida, California, Minnesota, Virginia and Wisconsin (www.themainvoice.com).