Hit SEND This Instant!

Hit SEND

I love email. You can talk without talk-back. You can bare your soul without exposing your poor interpersonal skills. You can carefully pick and choose your words without fumbling around for the best ones. Email is quick, easy, and all-around painless…

UNTIL.

Until you commit your first major email faux paux. Your first tried and true, you-can-run-but-you-can’t-hide social blunder. Your “I thought I was relatively intelligent, but I can’t even send an email to the right people,” or worse, “I thought I had a life and a future ahead of me, but now I have none” moment.

My first real mess up occurred years ago and involved recapping a rather boring first date. Normally my emails to this dear friend of mine go into great detail, but I was pressed for time that morning and simply said, “It was fine. But no butterflies to speak of. What do you think that means?” In my haste, I hit SEND without verifying who I was sending to, breaking Email Rule #1: Always, always, always check and double-check the “to,” “cc,” and “bcc” addresses before hitting SEND. So, instead of sending it to Friend and Confidant, I somehow sent it to Ryan. Yes, the one and only First Date himself.

Needless to say, I ended things before they could begin. He got married less than a year later.

I’m sure you have had similar such email traumas, ranging from hitting “reply to all” instead of just “reply” (and the inside joke - that only the one person would’ve understood - makes you look like a first-class jerk)… to sending out an update about you and your spouse’s latest efforts to conceive to – not your prayer partners – but all the students in your classroom….

Have you ever been knocked off your high horse and cried, “Me, ME!!” in answer to the question, “Who’s the fool?” Have you ever - willingly or not - lost whatever it is that makes you feel self-sufficient and put together (a.k.a. your pride)? In these moments when you confess that you can truly do nothing by your own strength or intelligence, do realize you’re actually one step closer with God?

“So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and in his good time he will honor you. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about what happens to you.” 1 Peter 5:6-7 (NLT)

“God blesses those who realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is given to them.” Matthew 5:3 (NLT)