I received an email the other day that read like a cold temperature of 25°.  My first inclination was to type a harsh response justifying my situation and explaining why my “opponent” was completely off target. Instead I employed a strategy I’ve used to respond differently, even though it is hard. 

King Solomon wrote, “Fools give full vent to their rage, but the wise bring calm in the end.” (Proverbs, 29:11, NIV)

When drafting a difficult email, particularly when frustrated, I draft my response in a Word file. This keeps me from inadvertently hitting send too early in a way that may embarrass myself or harm my ministry or business situation. I’ve heard of too many circumstances where someone hit the send button inadvertently and gave the sender good reason to regret the move.

I keep backup toner because in my work I often need to print copies. I don’t want to email my file to the UPS store and pay extra money to print a file.  However, on occasion I have run out of toner.

What I did might help you in a pinch. Open your printer and take out your cartridge. While holding the cartridge securely, shake it vigorously up and down and sideways six or eight times. Then, place the cartridge back in your printer and print.

God’s Part and Our Part

A leader embarks on an interesting journey to launch a new venture. It is easy to over plan and make everything depend on our work.  Another response is to look at the situation as one that the Lord empowers to bring victory, regardless of planning and effort on our part. 

King Solomon advised, “The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the LORD.” (Proverbs 21:31, NIV)

I have often enjoyed a wonderful show by the Lipizzan Stallions. They are stallions that were used for military maneuvers. For example, these beautiful horses are trained to leap on command and kick out their front or back legs to strike an enemy. The horses are also trained to jump sideways to avoid an enemy strike. Learning these maneuvers takes years of training. 

A person who had been fired from a position asked a question.  The employer, who let the person go, made a contact for information and guidance. The question for me was, Should I respond?  Here is my counsel:

First, former employers need to be respectful regardless of personal feelings. While they may want to use this as an opportunity to get back at the one who hurt them; the Lord wants us to treat all persons with kindness and respect, regardless of our feelings. However this doesn’t mean we become doormats.

Many of us work independently and require workspace either in an outside, rented facility or at home. “Bill” was operating an expanding property management business out of his house. Clients and vendors occasionally came to his house, but had to work around small children still at home.  Bill’s wife worked part-time, which required that Bill be available to watch the homestead.  While it was very handy at times, working in a home office was becoming increasingly challenging.