I WOULDN'T DO THAT....

This week I have been trying to work on saying no to some things so I can say yes to others.  I even have a few friends trying to hold me to it.

Sounds simple enough.  But yeah, it's not that simple.

Last night our wash machine broke.  We have 7 people in our home.  A broken wash machine is not good and our family smells bad already- 4 boys smell.  Don't even think of walking into TJ and Tyler's room after they've been in there all night.  But, I digress.

Anyway, today I had to decide if I was going to try and fix it myself or if I was going to hire someone to do it.  I have the tools to take it apart.  The error code and the manual tells me where the basic problem lies.  The question now is not "can I fix it", but "should I try to fix it"?  This question comes up every time our cars break, our house breaks, something in my ministry breaks, etc.   I ask this "can I" and "should I" question almost daily.

 In this case, I weighed the situation, my current work load, and the resources available to my family and decided we'd hire some help.  The result?  I lost $185 and gained a functional wash machine in 2 hours and the ability to come home and go for a 3 mile run instead of fixing a wash machine.  Expensive run or wise move?  Guess that depends on your perspective.

Here's 4 questions worth asking before you go solving that problem...

1. Is this my problem to solve or someone elses?  Am i doing my job or someone elses job? 
2. If it is my problem, is solving this problem worth the exchange?  Like will it cost me in time, resources, and energy and is that collective cost worth it?
3. What is the worst case scenario if I ignore the problem?  Can it wait and if so, for how long?  
4. Is my "attempt to save the day" actually robbing someone else of a chance to learn a valuable lesson via the teacher named "experience".   Sometimes my desire to help actually keeps people from spiritual growth.  Is this one of those times?