Tim's Blog

Tribute to Jon Pugh and Snow Storms

First of all, Jon Pugh is an amazing cornet play. I was honored to have the chance to play some jazz with him this week. But tonight what left me thinking how great he is, is his personality. He is truly interested in people. He doesn't talk about himself, though he has some incredible stories. He asks great questions. And he thanks you for sharing your life with him. He has charisma. After talking with him you feel like you have been affirmed. You leave feeling better about yourself. He doesn't get you to like him by telling all the cool things that he's done, or dropping names, or hyping things up. But because he asked about my life, I like him even more. But I have to admit that I failed that conversation. After he asked about my life, I didn't ask him more about his.

I'm reading a book called "a.k.a. The Lost" by Jim Henderson. It's about small talk, ordinary things, and small steps to normalizing evangelism. I've been thinking a lot more about the power of conversation. Last week in our big snow storm I was at work. People were coming in to our church's builing to use the bathroom or phone or something after being in their cars for hours and barely moving. I got to meet some people and sat around and talked for a couple hours. A couple people had been to our church's service before, but didn't feel at home. Last weekend I saw them again and got to say hi. They told me how much they loved it. I think it was the power of conversation and just being there for them when they needed.

So, I'm being much more intentional about doing the little things that matter. You never know what God is going to use to show himself to someone, and it might just be me. Or you. It was hard for me to sit around and talk to people when I was really behind on work, but it may have been the most important thing I did all week.

posted by Tim Oas @ 10:54 PM