Translations:
English: No
Spanish: No
Italian: No
French: Non
German: Nein
Portuguese: Nao

So similar in so many different languages, the word "No," would be understood in its English form pretty much anywhere in the world. Add in a horizontal shaking of the head that is slow enough to exclude Tourettes, and most of the six billion people on the globe will understand you are not signaling your agreement. But let me ask something. If this word is so simple to spell (even for a former football player), and it's just as easy to translate, why is it so difficult to put the word into practice when it comes to every day life?

Now, some of you may not get this note. Some of you are still either in High School or College and use the word, "No," quite regularly, for instance:

When your parents ask you if you've seen the morning hours in the past month...

When your professor asks you if you can name more than two individuals running for president in 2008...

or...

When your work group pleads with you to miss one episode of "Man vs Wild" in order to get your project done...(Here's to you, Jeff Deselm)

But there are those out there that I pray can relate. There are people out there who find as much trouble in saying the word, "No," as we would in breaking the law or putting a CD with the song, "Take this Job and Shove It," into our bosses desktop CD player. Though we were taught at such a young age such slogans as, "No means No," and "Just Say No," we cannot muster up the courage nor the guts to say it in our everyday lives.

If you can't tell, I'm speaking from experience. I work and live a life of youth ministry, and though I'm paid as a "half-time" employee, I find myself burning rubber past the 40-hour mark in several consecutive weeks. My time is not simply consumed by what I get paid for, however. I find my time in ministry going towards more than just youth group activities. Just this summer, I have found myself committing my entire schedule to other events.

I have kissed every day of my week goodbye to events that fall outside of my job description and, while people around here love how helpful I've become, the people who do fall under my realm of responsibility are really wishing I wasn't so bloody tired, so we could go to Putt-Putt more often (and so I can school them in a bootleg version of Dance, Dance Revolution). These kids aren't the only people wanting more of me, for God is asking the same thing. Many days have passed with me looking for time to spend with God, only to get to the day's end and have nothing on my mind but sleep, and this is something that will not do.

Truth is, there's nothing that I'm doing with my time that could be called, "bad." Everything I'm giving time to falls into the ministry realm and would be considered by all to be a "good" thing to do. However, distinguishing between good and bad is far too easy and far too broad. It's distinguishing between good, better, and best, that's the hardest thing that's in our lives to do, and exactly what we need to be doing. So where do we...or rather...where do I start?

I start by figuring out how to say "No" in as many ways and in as many languages as possible. When asked to commit to something new and exciting, "No" is all I'm going to respond with, at first, no matter how "good" it may be. It is time I consulted the one who's laid out the path before me, before I venture out on my own. This way, I'm not leaving anyone wanting more of me that should've been accounted for.

Later on,

Bob