This past week, I've been trying to get new speakers installed in my wife's car. 1 bought her some thinking they were going to be the same size as the ones in my car, but when we got them home we discovered hers were supposed to be stock sized (51/4") not the larger ones someone hacked my car up to fit. When I finally did get the right size speakers, the speaker cover is round. As far as I can tell, ALL speaker covers these days are round, even the ones I found on the internet. Except, of course, the ones that go in her car (which are square.) Round speaker covers don't cover a square hole. These speakers were getting to be quite a pain. Finally, I hashed together new speakers and reused as best I could the old speaker covers. It's not bad, but not quite right either. I had to router out the center of the covers, and when I was almost done it slipped and took a big bite out of it, and even if I hadn't slipped I was engineering a solution that I really should not have had to, if I could have found the right covers in the first place. In the end, they sound great but they don't look so hot.

For those of you who were not aware of it, last week Mr. Mo lost his voice. Oh, it was there in his throat but it just wouldn't come out other than soft, 13-year-old sounding squeaks and crackles. I admit it was hard to keep myself from a chuckle at his expense (so I didn't!), because as he himself will tell you talking is something that he does a lot of, like breathing. His speaking just wasn't quite right, and while the message was good the voice was a little distracting!

Not speaking well is the story of my life, either I am talking too fast or too loud or mumbling. I have a funny vocabulary (I throw things across the room) and occasionally refer to things none of you seem to have ever heard of (Pecos Bill, etc). But it's the story of your lives, too - yes admit it! Caws and Hahbahs, which sound normal to you tie my Midwestern ears in knots. Just imagine if a true Texan (not a confused half-breed like Kieran) ever moved to these heah pahts. You might need me to translate between the two of you!

When Jessica was here over break, she told me that when she spoke up down there in Florida some of the people would ask her to repeat herself. Not because they didn't understand, but they thought her accent was so bizarre. Likely after a while it might seem like a speech impediment!

So what does all this have to do with anything? There are probably lots of lessons you could make out of this, but here is where I was going. The message might be perfect, but the presentation has a LOT to do when determining if folks are going to listen or not. If I went on a job interview I would dress up. Now, even if I was dressed like a bum I would be flat-out honest either way, but there's more to communication than just the words themselves. While I might have a hard time overcoming my accent of upbringing, I can do something about my attitude. Talk about the bible with someone in an uncaring or indifferent way and you are sending a clear message about what it means to you that's louder than any words you may choose, even if you speak perfectly! It reminds me of a short preacher story I've "heard" in many forms that "speaks" volumes.

Randy

A member of the church, who previously had been attending services regularly, stopped going. After a few weeks, a member decided to visit him. It was a chilly day. That evening, the friend found the man at home all alone sitting by a blazing fire.

Guessing the reason for his friend's visit, the man welcomed him, and led him to a comfortable chair near the fireplace and waited. The friend made himself at home but said nothing. In the grave silence, he contemplated the dance of the flames around the burning logs. After some minutes, he took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it to one side of the hearth all alone. Then he sat back in his chair, still silent.

The host watched all this in quiet contemplation. As the one lone ember's flame flickered and diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more. Soon it was cold and dead. Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting. The friend glanced at his watch and chose this time to leave. He stood up, picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it in the middle of the fire. Immediately it began to glow once more, with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it.

As his friend reached the door to leave, his host said, with a tear running down his cheek, "Thank you so much for your fiery lesson. I'll be back in church next Sunday"