Thinking the Best of Ourselves

Apartment, Work, and Life
So, I won't lie to you, there's a specific shift manager at my job that has been extremely difficult to work with. She has no tact. She does things her way, and it is her way or the highway, even when her way is opposite what the training manuals say. She's rude. Sometimes bitter.
It's been difficult.
Bonnie Ruth works there with me; and we were going to start writing down accounts of every 'incident' because when we report these things to the manager, she doesn't do anything(we've decided its because she's scared of Shift Manager). That way if we called higher ups, we'd have a list. But then I started thinking. If I know Shift Manager thinks she's a christian, but I'm pretty sure she's not, why am I expecting her to interact with others as though she were? Why am I thinking in the terms that she should know and do what is right in the little things?
So I started praying for her(only after I came close to cussing her out last week, lol). Since then, the woman has bought me lunch. LUNCH people! And she hugged me when I came to work yesterday. HUGGED me! This woman is never nice unless she's telling you crap about other people, and I haven't heard a peep. Thankyou, Jesus.
I love prayer. people don't even know how they can't help changing for the better ;-)

Word and Church
Since I last posted, we've had our kick-off service(hurray!), and from what I hear, it went splendidly! I was in Ohio, surprise to Christiann. Coming back the next saturday night to church, there definitely has been alot of new faces, and I love seeing the change in people! Seeing that they feel at home at church. AT HOME! Not at playing church, but at home being the church!
So. Here's the thought for this time...
I've been reading "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan, and it's taking me WAY too long to finish. I've been reading this book since before I left Michigan. Maybe Texas is making me slower. Two quotes from the book:

1)Francis Chan, after recounting the parable of the sower: "Do not assume you are good soil."

2)Chan quoting Tim Kizziar: "Our greatest fear as individuals and as a church should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter."

So after reading Kizziar's quote in the book, I felt pretty smart. I had thought that in different words(so what if his words were better, I totally thought that thought. Dibs!) Now here's the still forming thought.
Within services, I have heard many times the phrase, 'now don't look at your neighbor, look at your own life,' or 'look in yourself, don't be thinking of your friends with this issue,' etc. Guess what? I often still think of my friends.
When scripture tells us not to compare ourselves, guess what I do? I decide I know the falacies and failings of those around me. I know their weakness. They told me that that one time...
That church over there does it this way, not saying we're perfect, but...
Or, often this as well: Why do they(refering to our own church leadership) do it this way? Don't they know that is not how it's supposed to be?

Do we confront issues within our own body? Seldomly.

Why do I so easily assume when reading the parable of the sower that I am the good soil? Have I sat in a church pew so long that I am always the perfect follower in Jesus' stories?
So this is what I'm doing different: I'm deciding I'm probably not the good soil.
But I'm also trying to dig out the rocks in my soil, weed out some thorns, etc.
We all know that they're there in our own lives, often we've even had people confront them. But I know that I often write it off with, "oh, that's just the way I am." sometimes even replacing 'I am' with 'God made me'. Maybe I'm shooting off my mouth here, but I doubt God was a know it all, and I kind of am. lol. Yes. that was me admitting that. I know
When we expect other people to go the extra mile to get to where we are, why aren't we deciding to take the first step, and many more even if that other person never takes a step towards us?
Where in scripture does it say that loving one another would be easy?
Where does it say that it's easy to see what God sees in people? To see their best, and their potential?
For me, It seems to be that the one I do that most with is myself. The other soil.
So, How do you and I become good soil.

And this time. Please answer this question(and ask this question) only of yourself.