Many years ago I was sitting at my aunt's house for a family gathering. I was talking with my uncle, dad, and anyone else around. As we were talking the conversation turned to driving and things that happened while you were driving. I joked about my great-grandmother and said that to her "Green means go. Red means stop. Yellow means try to beat the red light." We talked about it for a few minutes and my uncle said something that has always stuck with me. It was the first time I ever remembered someone saying to me "He who hesitates is lost."
Now this old adage is believed to be a misquotation of a phrase from the Joseph Addison play Cato from 1712. The idea behind the phrase is that "a person who spends too much time deliberating about what to do loses the chance to act altogether." Even though the idea of the phrase is much older than 300 years, the truth behind the phrase is never-changing. Whether we hesitate to go through a light on yellow, ask someone out on a date, or make a career change, opportunities are gone in the blink of an eye. As the adage would put it, they're lost. Lost to time, circumstances, and the inevitable change of life.
For those who are believers in Christ, they've heard the horror stories of those who hesitated too long in making a decision to follow Christ and now are lost for eternity. It's a horrible and sickening feeling to know that someone we've known, someone we've loved, someone who loved us, hesitated and is now lost. Eternally separated from a loving God and the peace and joy He offers. But before we make ourselves sick over it, we have to remember that the choice was up to them. I'm not saying that to be callous or hard-hearted. It is the reality of the situation. I can no more make a decision for Christ for someone else than they can for me. I'm saddened at the thought of any who choose to reject Christ in this life and will face the torments of hell because of that decision. But again, it is their decision to accept or reject Christ.
Is there possibly anything worse than thinking about those that have rejected Christ and are now lost for eternity? Yes. Yes there is. What is worse is the fact that some of those who are lost for eternity never heard the Gospel message shared by those who had the message. Its like standing on the shore holding a life preserver while watching a person drown right before your eyes. Believers have the hope of life, the one thing that will rescue a person from certain death, and too often we watch the person slip under the water for the final time.
God tells us in His Word "For he says, 'In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.' I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2, NIV). There is no day like today for making a decision to follow Christ. There is no day like today for telling someone about Christ. If we hesitate to share the Gospel people will be lost.
I hope you'll be encouraged by today's post to speak boldly about the truth of the Gospel with those who do not know Christ. If you are reading this today and you don't have a relationship with God through Christ and you want to learn more check out this link or this link and then email me at pastornick@northcatawbabaptist.com. I'll be glad to help you start a relationship with God.
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There is a video that was posted to YouTube of a little girl trying to unbuckle her car seat as her dad films her. When he asks what he can do to help her, she repeatedly tells him "Worry about yourself!" You can watch the video here. The video has been viewed over 8.2 million times since March 2013. The phrase used by this little girl has become something of a mantra or joking catchphrase around our house, and mostly because of my wife. This phrase is the answer to almost any question with the words "why" or "what are you doing" in it. It's all been in good fun. Ironically, this has been one of those ways that my wife has brought her work home with her. Her use of this phrase started when she started telling her co-workers this phrase. Now, the boys and I are constantly being reminded to worry about ourselves. Not to be outdone we repeat the phrase back at her like a bunch of mocking 3 year old kids, myself included!
The phrase this little girl uses is rather sound theology when you think about it. She is basically paraphrasing Jesus when she (or my wife) says "Worry about yourself!" Jesus says in Matthew 7:3-5 (NIV), "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." This is sound theology from the mouth of God when it comes to how we ought to deal with others who are falling into sin and the sin in our own life.
Usually these verses are used by people seeking to avoid being judged by others. If someone's sin is pointed out, then the one pointing it out is called hypocritical and told to "Get the plank out" of their own eye. They're basically told "Worry about yourself!" They are right. We shouldn't judge others for their sins (Matthew 7:2). And yes we're all hypocrites at one time or another, regardless of how much we try not to be. But the fact of the matter is, Jesus doesn't say "Don't try to help your brother or sister who is struggling with sin." What Jesus does say is that we ought to make sure our own house is in order before helping someone else with theirs. It is hypocritical for a person struggling with their own sin to call someone else out on their sin. But it isn't hypocritical or judgmental, for one who has sought forgiveness and is seeking God's help with sin, to seek to help someone struggling with sin. If we had to wait until we were sinless to help struggling believers, then we couldn't do it on this side of eternity. Notice what Jesus said in verse 5 where He says, "first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." We need to first deal with our own sin and then seek to loving rebuke and correct fellow believers who are stuck in sin (James 5:19-20; 1 John 5:16). We don't avoid helping others, we simply make sure we don't have anything holding us back before we try to help them.
My dose of encouragement for you today is this. If you know of someone who is struggling with some sin in their life and you want to help them, follow these steps:
1. First deal with your own sin by repenting and seeking God's forgiveness.
2. Pray for them. Don't jump the gun and think you know what they need.
3. Ask God to use you to minister to the one struggling. Ask for them to see your actions as a help and not a hindrance.
4. Be prepared. They will probably view your help as you being nosy, judgmental, and hypocritical. So be prepared.
5. Don't give up. When a believer is struggling with sin, we need to pray for them and try to help them.
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This past weekend I spent about 8 hours fixing the fence around the perimeter of our farm. I learned some valuable spiritual lessons from my time spent bending, wrapping, and pulling barbed wire. Here are just a few of them.
Don't let your neighbor build your fence.
We had a neighbor do some maintenance to their property and in the process they tore down a large section of our fence. The neighbor never told us about it and our cows got out because of it. These are the same neighbors who, in a different section of the property line, put up a convoluted mess of 10 strands of barbed wire in what seemed to be a basket weaving style. Needless to say, both of these fencing issues came about because our neighbor had been allowed to mess with our fence.
If you want a good spiritual fence to protect you, then you cannot expect anyone else to build it for you. No one else can properly maintain your spiritual fence. Not your parents, your siblings, your children, your spouse, your friends, or your pastor. In the book of Nehemiah we read about the rebuilding of the wall around Jerusalem. Nehemiah had each person build the section of wall that would protect their home and family. Why did he do that? Because if you build your wall (fence) you'll make sure it's done right.
Build your fences strong.
The old farmer's saying is that "Your fences need to be pig-tight, horse-high, and bull-strong." There is definitely some truth in that statement. But after we put some newly weaned calves into a field separate from their mothers, I'd amend that to "Your fences need to be strong enough to keep a calf from it's momma." Two of our calves broke through our divider fence and went back to their mothers. Needless to say the fence should have been tighter, higher, and stronger than I originally built it.
A weak fence is a useless fence. If you don't have a strong spiritual fence then you leave yourself open to all sorts of spiritual issues. Fences are used for two things. To keep things in or to keep things out. If you want to protect yourself spiritually from the attacks of Satan (1 Peter 5:8-9), then you need to do the work to build up a strong spiritual fence. The five spiritual disciplines that will help build a strong spiritual fence include: Prayer, Bible Study, Worship, Fellowship, & Service. As you practice these disciplines your fence will become stronger and stronger.
Talk to the One who knows how to build your fence.
Nearly 20 years ago I started helping my dad farm. In those 20 years he's taught me many valuable lessons about farming. Last week while I was fixing a section of fence, he came to check on me and see what I was doing. Even after all these years, I found myself asking his advice on how to do something. While working on the fence, he kindly advised me to do something differently than the way I was trying to do it. Both times his counsel was spot on.
When it comes to building your spiritual fence, no one knows better what needs to go into building your spiritual fence than God. That even includes you. Most times we think we know exactly what we need to do spiritually, but we are simply fooling ourselves. God knows us more intimately than we even know ourselves (Jeremiah 1:5; Matthew 10:30). That means we should seek His counsel for building our spiritual fence. As we ask Him for guidance, He will tell us how we ought to build our fence. When we start to build our fence our own way, He'll loving guide us to build it a better way. But the key is we have to spend time in prayer seeking His help.
I hope these three simple lessons from hours of fencing will help you develop a strong spiritual fence.
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Excuses. We all make them. Often times they are used to save face with others. Sometimes we use them to "keep from hurting someone's feelings." Most of the time we use excuses as an opportunity to pass the buck and avoid taking the blame for something. There is an interesting quote by Howard Wright about excuses that says, "Excuses are lies wrapped up in reasons." We all know people who give excuses for everything and never take the blame for their shortcomings. The problem with making excuses on a regular basis is that eventually people lose respect and trust in those who constantly make excuses. Our best bet is to own up to our shortcomings, learn from our mistakes, and grow from the experience.
When it comes to our faith, people make plenty of excuses to cover up a multitude of shortcomings. Why don't you pray every day? I don't have enough time. Why don't you read your Bible every day? Its too hard to understand. Why don't you attend worship at church? I'm busy. I'm tired. I'm _______ (fill in the blank with your favorite excuse). Why don't you serve God in the church? I don't have any spiritual gifts or talents. We can make up plenty of excuses. Yes, I used the right term there. We "make up" or "create" excuses for those areas of spiritual disciplines we are supposed to do, but yet fail to do. Here's the point of all of this. Our excuses don't hold water now and they definitely won't hold water when we stand before Almighty God. Hebrews 4:13 (NIV) tells us, "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account." That means that our excuses will be tossed aside when we stand before God and are examined for what we did with what He gave us in this life (2 Corinthians 5:10). That means our time, our resources, our abilities, and everything else God has given to us will be examined to see how we used them. The interesting part is that we won't have anything to stand on if all we have are excuses about being tired, busy, or some other excuse.
Here's my encouragement to you today. Get rid of the excuses when it comes to the things that are keeping you from growing spiritually. Everyone is tired. Everyone is busy. Everyone is ___________(fill in the blank with your favorite excuse). "If it is important to you, you will find a way. If not you'll find an excuse." is a quote I read recently and boy is it true. If growing spiritually is important to you, then you'll find a way to do it. Otherwise you'll find an excuse. The choice is yours.
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I am a purists when it comes to most things in life. If it's not broke don't fix it. Really some things in life should be left alone. I mean there are some things that were great as originals and didn't need to have changes or modifications made to them. But in the sake of the almighty dollar and a need to be relevant, we try to jazz things up and make it better than the original. I could go through a list where they tried to improve on original movies (Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull, Rambo III & IV, possibly Star Wars Episode 7), TV series (every spinoff ever), and even foods (Crystal Pepsi, Diet Dr. Pepper, Cherry Lemon Sundrop) and it didn't work out. One such "improvement" made it's way into my house this weekend. Cooper asked for Maple Bacon Pop-Tarts. Don't ask me why. Out of a willingness to try new things that was instilled in me by my grandmother, I tried a bite of his Pop-Tart. After that bite I remembered why I only eat strawberry Pop-Tarts. Because there is no need to improve on the original.
God's Word should be treated the same way. There is no reason to try and improve on the original Word God gave to us, whether intentionally or unintentionally. One reason we shouldn't is given to us in Revelation 22:18-19 where John warns people not to add to or take away from the revelation he received from Jesus Christ. We should apply that practice to the entire Bible not just the pages of Revelation. But another reason we shouldn't try to improve on the original is because it misleads people. You have probably heard people quote phrases such as, "God won't give you more than you can handle," "Spare the rod, spoil the child," "Money is the root of all evil,""Cleanliness is next to godliness," and "God helps those who help themselves." The problem is people, inside and outside the faith, believe that these types of comments are found in the Bible. Some phrases like that are from Aesop's fables and others are ideas are similar in thought to biblical texts. Although the thought may have some very limited form of biblical support, it still leads people to false beliefs about what the Bible says.
The best way to avoid any mistakes when it comes to people trying to improve upon the original Word of God is to know what it says. Spend time reading God's Word. Take in the deep truths of God's Word. Learn the reality of the stories that God uses to lead us in our life of faith. When you do you'll be able to know when that smiley televangelist isn't teaching the truth to millions or your friend is basing their faith on a lie. In the end your faith will be stronger and you can help strengthen the faith of those around you as well.
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Recently I've been leading our church through a series on the "Names of God" on Sunday evenings. We've looked at names such as Yahweh, Elohim, and Adonai. We've studied what the names mean, who gave God this name, and where the name is used in the Bible for the first time. More importantly we've looked at how these names should impact our worship and faith. One thing that we talked about at length as we started this series is how the name of God is to be hallowed or reverenced, regardless of the character revealing name used. The name of God is to be used in a way that brings glory to God. It's not to be used in a flippant way or with little regard for the way His name is used.
We live in a culture that profanes the reverent. If something is to be revered as holy or sacred then our culture will pervert and profane it in a way that makes light of the sacred. Don't believe me? Look up anything about Jesus on the internet and it doesn't take long for the reverent to be ridiculed. The sacred is not taken seriously. The name of God is no different. You can't watch TV or movies anymore without hearing Christ's name or God's name taken in vain. I recently heard God's name used in vain in a commercial for a TV show on cable. Seriously, I can't make that up. Call it freedom of speech if you will, but no matter the label it is still a profanity of the holy name of God. The most prevalent way we hear people today profaning the sacred is the term "Oh My God" or "OMG" for short. The funny thing is it doesn't matter whether you shorten it or not, you're still taking the Lord's name in vain. Our society has desensitized us about this fact so much that we don't even bat an eye at the phrase anymore. Many Christians use the phrase and don't think twice about it. The sad thing is Satan has used our culture to draw Christians away from God by enticing them to use God's name as an after thought or a phrase of surprise.
We no longer give God's name the respect it deserves. The ancient Jews were so afraid of taking the Lord's name, YHWH or Yahweh, in vain that they gave Him the name Adonai to prevent them from breaking the 3rd commandment (Exodus 20:7). Jesus told us in Matthew 6:9 (NIV), "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name..." There is a reason the Jews went to the lengths they did to revere the name of God. There is a reason Jesus said that God's name is hallowed or holy and should be seen as such. It's because we worship a holy God and His name should be used in a holy way.
Here's my dose of encouragement to you for today. Put the time and effort into striking "Oh My God", "OMG", or any other God-dishonoring phrases from you vocabulary. From someone who cursed regularly during my younger years and then made the conscious decision to change my habit, it can be done. Don't tell me it can't. All it takes is dedication and effort. As you do start to change you'll start to notice when others don't have the same control over their tongue. You can liken it to a former smoker who is repulsed by the smell of cigarette smoke. You'll find when people use those phrases that it draws your ire and you won't want to be around it. In the end you will be bringing glory to God because His name will be hallowed by you rather than profaned with the rest of the world.
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Last week Misty and I had supper with some friends. It was great to catch up with these friends that we don't get to see very often. While catching up we discussed children, work, and church. One of our friends mentioned how one of their children, who is going through a difficult time, mentioned something they had learned in a bible study I taught several years ago. I allowed myself a small moment of pride as I listened to our friend share. I was happy to hear that some of my teaching had taken root and that the Holy Spirit was able to use it to impact the life of this person.
To be completely honest with you, pastors and bible teachers hope you take everything in that they share with you from God's Word. They work hard to prepare, study, organize notes, and then share what they have learned about a topic or biblical text. But in all honesty at times we wonder how much people listen to what is preached or taught. If a bible teacher or preacher spoke for the 2 hours my son accuses me of preaching, then I could understand zoning out from time to time. But no longer than the average bible study or sermon is (most likely 30 minutes), it should be easy to listen and learn.
The real question to ask is not did you sit through a lesson or study without nodding off, but instead are you listening? Listening and hearing are two different things. You can hear someone without truly listening to them. Listening is taking in what is shared and using it in your life. Are you listening to what the preacher or teacher is sharing with you or are you just hearing a lot of noise? If you are listening to your preacher or teacher then you will find an unusual thing happening. If you listen and take in what is shared with you, the Holy Spirit can use it later to guide you and help you in this life. One of the names for the Holy Spirit in the Bible is "Helper." The Helper uses the truths of God's Word, that have been sown in your heart, to guide you and help you in this life. If you are tuning out those who are trying to sow God's truths in your heart then you are limiting what the Helper has to work with in your life.
Here is some encouragement for you today. As you can tell, it is important for you to listen to what your preacher, Sunday School teacher, Small Group Leader, or Bible Study Leader is sharing with you. To give them every opportunity to pour into you as much as they can do the following things:
1. Be There. If you aren't there they can't teach you. Make every effort to be there and quit making excuses for why you can't be there. Everyone is busy. Everyone is tired. Everyone is "whatever." Drop the excuses and be where you need to be.
2. Limit Distractions. Put away the phone, tablet, or anything else that will keep you from paying attention to your teacher. If the people you generally sit around are a distraction (unless they're your kids) find a new place to sit where you don't have the distractions.
3. Help Yourself Learn. Everyone learns differently. Some are auditory learners and others are visual learners. Find the way that best helps you learn and then use it. If taking notes is a way to help it sink in, then take notes on what is being taught.
4. Ask Questions. Granted asking a question in the middle of a sermon is generally frowned upon, but that doesn't mean you can't ask after the service. If you don't ask for clarity or help, then you're making it harder on yourself than it has to be. Ask questions because it can only help you.
I hope today's post will help you get more out of the time you put into hearing God's Word taught to you. If you use the help mentioned above your pastor or bible teacher will probably be less likely to wonder, "Are you listening?"
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Recently we've had to repair some doors in our barn. Anyone who has livestock can tell you how hard animals are on barns. The proverbial "bull in a china shop" comes to mind. Livestock weighing nearly half a ton aren't exactly gentle when it comes to their movements in a barn. We had a door torn off the hinges and had to rehang the door. We had another door that had to be changed to better accommodate our current needs. The only time I had to do this work was on Fridays which are my day off from the church. With my dad at work and the boys in school, I was left to do the work solo. The first door (pictured to the right), wasn't too bad but I could have used some help. I placed some blocks under it drilled new holes for the screws holding the hinges up and we were in business. But another door was a whole other story. I had to work on the supports and do some other work. But while I had the door in position trying to drill new holes for the hinges it slipped off the blocks holding it up. Normally that wouldn't be too bad except the fact that my foot was beneath this 75 pound, solid oak door when it fell. Fortunately it didn't break my foot but it did give me an unexpected break from working. While I was checking out my foot, I couldn't help but say to myself and the cows, "I can't do this alone. I need some help." Contrary to my frustration-filled comments I was able to get the door hung by myself. It didn't go as smoothly or quickly as it could have. It wasn't as fulfilling as working alongside my dad or as joyous as teaching my sons how to do the work but I did accomplish what I set out to do. I did the job but I did it alone.
One thing we need to realize about this life is "You can't do it alone. You need some help." Yes, there are plenty of people who use brute strength and awkwardness to get through life, just like I did hanging that door. It can be done. But like hanging the door alone there is much that you miss out on when you do life solo. To live life without a relationship with God is difficult. To miss the blessings that God gives and see them as coincidence or luck is to miss the heart of the giver of good and perfect gifts (James 1:17). There is no source of strength during times of weakness. There is no one to thank when provision is received. You can't experience a friend that sticks closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24). There is no fulfillment found in doing things with the Father. There is no joy found in the teachings of the Son. Difficult probably doesn't do justice to describing a life lived without God. But the wonderful thing is that life doesn't have to be lived alone. Life can be lived in fellowship and communion with the God of the Universe. He wants to have a vibrant, love relationship with you. How do I know? Because the Bible tells us. The Bible tells us that God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on a cross, so we can have our sins forgiven and receive eternal life. It even tells us that while here on earth, God wants to give us a life like we never imagined. John 10:10 tells us the type of life Jesus came to give us. It says, "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly" (NKJV). But the only way to experience that abundant life is by having a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. When you have that relationship, you'll realize that you can make it through this life because the One you need to help you is right there with you.
If you've never started a relationship with Jesus Christ then I encourage you to do so today. You can find more information about how to start a relationship with God through Christ at www.northcatawbabaptist.com/salvation or by emailing me at pastornick@northcatawbabaptist.com.
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If you were to take a look at the parking lot of our church yesterday you'd have seen a primarily clean and dry area thanks to the generosity of a church member. The parking lot was clean and waiting on cars to park in it. But on the day Christians gather to celebrate the risen Savior, the day Christians gather to worship the God Who has provided them with salvation, the church was empty. If you look at the picture to the right you can't really imagine why the church (the body of believers) hadn't gathered for corporate worship as commanded in the Bible. Yesterday afternoon I played basketball with one of our church members in this nice clean church parking lot. It really felt weird to me as I played basketball and it wasn't because I was playing in shorts and a t-shirt with several inches of snow on the ground (I've done that before). I considered it an almost double-standard for not gathering for worship but gathering to play in the church yard. But there's more to the picture if you look closely at a wider picture of the same parking lot. See the bottom picture is one from just a few feet further away from the parking lot. This shows the real reason we didn't have worship yesterday. It's not because the parking lot or church property wasn't prepared to receive worshipers. We couldn't have worship because of the poor road conditions leading to the church. Even today there are still hazardous conditions on the roads causing workers to be delayed and schools to be cancelled.
We're all tired of hearing about snow and the roads and all that comes along with a huge snow storm like the one we just experienced. But the point of today's post is not about the snow but about the perspective we carry with us of others. Often times we look with a cursory view of someone's situation and make a snap judgment. We all do it. Don't say that you don't. From time to time we all make a quick evaluation of someone. The problem is we are usually taking a view of their situation like the upper picture of our church. We don't have all the information and our judgment of them is exactly that, a judgment. Instead we need to take a wider view of someone's situation before we come to a conclusion on why they are doing what they are doing. Some times people are experiencing the worst days of their life. Others are just having a bad day. Regardless of what is going on in their life we need to be wise like James tells us to be in James 1:19 where he writes, "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry" (NIV). What we really need to do to follow James' counsel is to look closely at the big picture and not make a snap decision based off a narrow view. It will help us not sin and it might even help the other person out on a very bad day.
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For the past few months I've had a personal need that needed to be resolved. At first I wondered how it would be met and set it on the back burner while I tried to figure out how to fulfill my need. As the weeks of wonder rolled into months, I noticed that my wonder was turning into worry. I found myself worrying about how I would figure out how to fix the situation. Finally, after months of worry and useless attempts at self-sufficiency, I finally made a half-hearted, less than earnest attempt at asking God for help. To be honest with you, my prayer was much like a spoiled child who hasn't gotten their way and is forced to apologize or ask nicely for something. Looking back on it, I'm embarrassed at the way I prayed because it was a poor and pathetic attempt at approaching the God of the Universe for help. But in that moment of desired self-sufficiency and downright spiritual immaturity God taught me a valuable lesson.
See, God could have said no to this half-hearted attempt at prayer. Based on my attitude, I didn't deserve His help. He could have let me continue to wallow in my own self-sufficiency and self-pity over my inability to fulfill my need. He could have sat back and waited on a more mature version of myself to reconcile my needs and His ability and desire to provide. But He didn't. Like a good and gracious Father, He looked past my sinfulness, lack of respect, and I-can-do-this-myself attitude and He provided what I needed. Yesterday when He provided for this particular need, I was speechless (ask my wife, it's surprising when it happens because it doesn't happen often). But more importantly I was humbled. I was humbled that God had looked past all my faults and still loved me enough to provide for my needs. In that moment of humility before God I learned a valuable lesson that I seem to need to learn regularly. The lesson He taught me was to not worry. I had worried and fretted over how I would resolve my need. I had tried to figure out how I would fulfill my need. I found myself worrying about how I would fix my situation. All along what I needed to do was humble myself before God and pray, rather than worry. In His moment of provision, He reminded me of my inability to provide for myself and His desire and ability to provide for me. Reflecting on it now I'm still humbled by His act of generosity towards me, regardless of my attitude and pride.
Today if you are worrying over something, then I would encourage you to put down your pride and humble yourself before God. Ask Him for help with whatever situation you are facing and then trust Him for the answer. Don't make it a less than earnest appeal. Instead make it a whole-hearted appeal to Him who is able to supply. In His time, in His will, and in His way He will answer your prayer. It may not be the way you want or expect, but He will answer. So don't worry. Pray.
Many years ago I was sitting at my aunt's house for a family gathering. I was talking with my uncle, dad, and anyone else around. As we were talking the conversation turned to driving and things that happened while you were driving. I joked about my great-grandmother and said that to her "Green means go. Red means stop. Yellow means try to beat the red light." We talked about it for a few minutes and my uncle said something that has always stuck with me. It was the first time I ever remembered someone saying to me "He who hesitates is lost."
