The last time I talked to you guys, I told you that I had to confront a man based off of Matthew 18:15. I will break down the conversation, but I will not reveal his name. Instead I will use a fake one to protect his identity. :)
Mr. Turner had called me early in the morning, informing me of a heavy schedule he had before him for the rest of the week. He said that he would rather talk on the phone about this. Even though I don't like the idea, I accepted simply because he was generous enough to speak with me. The reason I don't like using phones for things like this is because both people cannot tell how one is reacting to each others' statements. But if a phone was the best I was given, then I would gladly take it.
I was afraid, and still upset. Later that afternoon when I got the chance, I began telling Mr. Turner that I was glad that he was willing to listen to me. I started by letting him know that when I say these things, that I am probably at fault in one way or another. I thought it was wise to let him know that I was being vulnerable to him. The last thing you want to do is give the other person the impression that you want to verbally attack or hurt them. That's very dangerous because it only makes the situation worse.
He seemed understanding and we talked for the next twenty minutes about ourselves and our points of views. It was actually quite enlightening because I learned something about myself that I didn't know.
I can be too sensitive to certain things. I was surprised at this. It's not usual when a man you barely know tells you this. But I had to agree with him.
I started to realize that normally, when guys my age "attack", I don't let it bother me. But for some strange reason, which was beyond me, Mr. Turners comments had hurt me. Was it because those were comments coming from an older person that gave the comments a funny tone, or was it something else? Maybe since he was an older man, I expected better from him. But either way, he was right about me being a tad bit too sensitive on these offenses.
The nice thing was that he acknowledged some of his faults as well. He is aware that sometimes he can really say some things that might come off the wrong way. I'll just have to let things roll off my back when I talk with him. I won't consider it his fault. :)
I've begun to learn that Mr. Turner is one very interesting man. His ways are slightly different than the average person. His ways of handling things and some of his philosophies are (according to others), a little strange. But I find it intriguing in an interesting way. As far as I know, I don't plan on becoming close friends with him, but I won't stop talking to him every now and then either... He seems like a pretty sincere man and he's a valuable source of information when it comes to the Bible.
Now I want to make one thing clear to you guys. Going to someone based off of Matthew 18:15 doesn't mean, "Geez, I want to be best buds with this person." The actual point of this passage is to have reconciliation between you and the offender. If you two become best buds afterwords, then fine, let it happen. But as long as there is reconciliation between you and that person, then things are good.
Please note, Mr. Turner never apologized for some of the assumptions he made against me, and he made me feel like a wimp (Just a little bit hahaha), but quarreling over stupid little things like that isn't going to help the situation. So what if the offender forgot to apologize something? To me, he made his intentions clear enough for me to realize that he harbored no resentment toward me, and that's all that mattered. My intentions were not to argue and persuade him why I think he needs to "change". I'm not going to argue over the way he handles his family or anything like that. It would be pointless because I can't change his mind. That's ultimately something that the Lord will take care of. I don't need to worry about that. For all I know, he probably handles his family just fine. That is a matter that is simply non of my business.
In the end, I hold nothing against him. He seems very sincere and he's just looking out for his family. We both apologized for our actions and we both forgave each other. Now I don't fear seeing him and I wont think, "Oh Gosh, what's he gonna do this time?" between me and him, everything seems pretty good. :)
I don't care about the nit-picky little things. In fact, I'm convinced Satan will constantly bug me over these trivial issues. But I'll just remind myself that it's not that big of a deal. The last thing I need is for Satan to just confuse me over a small matter. There's no need to make a mountain out of a mole hill. :)
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