When that box above our bed squealed, it could wake the neighborhood. And on this night that was a good thing.

It was three o’clock when it lit up and I sat straight up. I think Lorie did too.

Some nights I could ignore the fire monitor knowing there were other fire fighters on duty to handle routine alarms.

Trying the get back to sleep was anything but routine when that screech pierced the night. Being yanked out of a deep sleep and the adrenaline rush made it difficult.

But the alarm on this night did wake the neighborhood. The dispatcher reported a house fire just a few doors down from us.

My assignment was to search the second floor. The smoke was thick and I was having a difficult time finding my way around.

I got disoriented and could feel another rush of adrenaline. But this time I wasn’t trying to go to sleep I was trying to stay alive.

You lean on your training in times like this.

Thankfully the training was excellent.

After we cleared the building, I had a chance to catch my breath and revisit that search.

And then it hit me – hard.

I had made that search way more difficult that it needed to be.

When we trained, they taped our face masks in the obstacle course to make the task of searching more realistic and challenging.

I wanted to make the task as difficult as possible to push myself. Right motive, terrible idea.

I’m ashamed to admit it, and I don’t think I’ve ever told anyone about this before.

I ended up searching a house that was on fire with my eyes closed and didn’t realize it until afterwards.

By thinking I had a better idea than those who trained me, I almost found out the hard way.

And that could never happen again. And didn’t. I retrained the right way.

But why did I have to make it so difficult?

I guess that’s just human nature. We make the thing harder than it needs to be and then find ourselves too ashamed to admit it.

A small deviation from the tried and true process.

A need to fix what isn’t broken.

We close our eyes to what is making the relationship harder.

We choose the more difficult path to good health.

Running up credit seems fine in practice but then the interest makes things harder.

We know what God’s word says, then do it our way anyway. And then it gets difficult.

Pro. 16:25 sums up my experience with that house fire.

And who hasn’t memorized Isa. 55:6-9? Well, at least v. 8-9.

We just make life more difficult than it needs to be and then find out the hard way. Perhaps it’s time to fall back on your training or retrain the right way.

Sometimes we need an alarm that jars us into action or a friendly reminder from a newsletter like this. Don’t be ashamed to admit that it’s time to do things the right way.

So, here’s my question for you: Where are you making it harder than it needs to be and time to rethink your training? Reply and let me know or jump into the community and share it. I read every response. Check out the book excerpt below and let me know what you think.

PS: I set a goal to double the reach of this ministry. Can you forward this newsletter regularly to a few people you know — in your household, workplace and church — and encourage them to subscribe? Thank you.

Book Project Excerpt:

When I got up off the floor, the puddle of tears and snot in the carpet weren’t my first concern. I checked on my one-year-old daughter asleep on the floor nearby then sank into my couch. Sitting there processing what happened I knew life would never be the same. What was Lorie, my wife, going to think? And how was I going to tell her when she got home?

I made my way down the narrow hall past a little closet and made two phone calls. First, to my brother. It was 1994 and a few years earlier he gave me a beautiful leather-bound Bible that he knew Lorie and I needed more than what little they had to make ends meet.

I wasn’t interested in God at the time and so I put that Bible on the upper shelf in the back of that closet. When I opened the door and reached up it was right in the corner where I placed it: still unopened.

But that was about to change. Bible now in hand, I sat back on that couch, looking at my daughter, having had my first real conversation with God. I just invited Jesus into my life and didn't know what to do next. But I did know it started somewhere in that Bible…

You can read the rest of the excerpt in the community space. Just click on the link below:

🙋🏼‍♀️🙋🏼‍♂️There’s a new space right inside this newsletter where you can share prayer requests, comment on the newsletter, make some new friends and keep up on the latest with the book project. Click on this link, enter the email you already use for this newsletter one time and you’re in.

🛐 How can we pray for you? Please let us know here.

📖 ICYMI. Monday 8pm (eastern) online Bible study & fellowship. Click this Zoom link a little before 8pm on Monday and you’ll be welcomed in!

🤲🏻🤝🏻Jump into our new free community. Share prayer, catch upcoming events, talk about the Newsletter, read excerpts from the Book and let us know your thoughts.

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