I can’t make anyone do anything. I gave that up long ago. I allow others to choose. I decide how I will react should they decide differently from what I expect or need.

Whatever made me think that I could control another person’s actions? To think that, must be close to the height of arrogance.

I remember as a child making the decision to prove to my mother she could not force me do anything. Of course I got punished for it. But, I got to decide. She let me choose the reward of obedience or the consequence of disobedience.

It is the same with God. He invites. He implores. He calls. He forces no one. He decides the consequences but he allows all to choose.

So must I.

It happened during a visit to Brno, Czech Republic. I scheduled meetings with several Christian pen pals. They came by my hotel for short visits during my two week stay. I hired a local translator to help with culture, customs, and language. He was very good.

One particular evening we dined with a sweet pen pal whom I had been writing for about a year. During the dinner conversation she casually mentioned celebrating a recent birthday. I stayed on topic and continued the conversation without responding to her birthday statement.

After she departed, the translator expressed his embarrassment. He said it was common courtesy in his country to respond when someone mentioned recently celebrating an important event like a birthday. Next time, he suggested, I should ask when the event took place and offer a birthday wish.

I explained that it was no different in our culture and that I had simply forgotten my manners and apologized for my rudeness.

Regardless of language or culture, common courtesies are always in vogue. They take little extra effort. We should go the distance and honor our relationships by extending to everyone even the smallest of courtesies. This would make for a better world and significantly improve our relationships.

I was eight years old. It was a beautiful South Texas evening. We were visiting my Dad’s uncle. All the cousins were playing outside. It was "hide and seek". I ran and hid in the back of my uncle’s truck.

Lying on my back there in the night, I looked up at the vast universe. Suddenly, I felt so homesick. I missed heaven. I missed the Father. I began begging the Father to take me home right then. Just like Enoch, I wanted him to take me. I wanted to start rising out of the back of that blue Ford truck and never be found.

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I'm kind of homesick for a country
to which I've never been before
no sad goodbyes will there be spoken
and time won't matter anymore

I'm looking now across that river,
to where my faith will end in sight
There’s just a few more days of labor,
then I will take my heavenly flight

Beulah Land, I'm longing for you,
and someday on thee I'll stand
There my home shall be eternal.
In Beulah Land, Sweet Beulah land
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I don't know about that one line of the song: “to which I’ve never been before.” I feel I've been there. How can I miss a place I’ve never been?

I miss home. But not like I did the night I tried to hide from the whole world.

I care about things that I defend. I defend what matters most. I pick my battles. I emphasize what is important. I do not defend all things equally for all things are not of equal importance.

I do not punish my child for spilling milk like I do for running into the street. Spilled milk is easily cleaned up. Running into the street gets one killed! Both are not of equal importance and should not be given equal value.

I only get upset over things that matter. I do not frustrate my loved ones. I do not want them to think I am fanatic and impossible to please.

So, I choose how I react. I measure each word. I emphasize most what matters utmost. I send clear signals as to what should be valued. I leave no doubt as to what should be defended. I communicate true feelings and true attitudes so others can know truth.

In so doing, this affirms to myself and to others who I truly am. And, this confirms what should be most valued and always protected.

I care about things. I care about things that matter. I define myself by defending these things I care about. Mostly, I must defend what matters in me: my borders, my boundaries, and my limitations. They define the good person that I truly am. They define my morals and ethics. They define me.

Were I to compromise these, I would cease to be to the degree that I compromise myself. I would cease to be what God intended me to be. I would become dishonest about who I truly am.

The person I truly am is not necessarily the person others need me to be. In fact, this may be the very reason others refuse to have a relationship with me. I must not change to suit their purposes or needs. I must remain the person I truly am.

If I compromise myself to keep a relationship, then I doom that relationship for I cannot long sustain the pretense. I will eventually be found out when I tire of the pretense and let the mask fall. Then, we will have to deal once more with the reality of who I truly am. I find it much better to be honest with others at the start.

I don’t make a good somebody else. I only make a good me. I am happiest being me. I am happiest being the person God made me to be. I am happiest even if all others reject me for who I truly am.

I pledge myself to be no one other than the person I truly am. I pledge to surround myself with others who will love, encourage, and appreciate the person God made me to be. For this is the person I truly am.