2nd Quarter Brain Dump...

Since I only blog every 4 months, I thought I better make this a good one. Hundreds...no thousands of readers want to know!

What's going on with Mel Barnett!?!?!

Well...I've been at work. I'm always at work. And I really love my job. So it's not a bad thing. Check out Anode. It's a cool place and I work with wicked cool and insanely talented people there.

I'm still living at home in Smyrna. It's not what I would prefer, but it makes sense for now. My brother just bought a house, so I'll probably be helping him out in the next couple of weeks to get things ready for him to move it. I'm pretty happy for Chris.

Today as I was leaving work I was walking down 2nd Ave with my friend Isaac.(sidenote: Isaac and I have been friends since 4th grade...and he is who recommended me for the job at Anode.) As we were walking to our parking lot, a van started honking their horn at us. This happens often, because it's Nashville and people are crazy and they honk their horn just to annoy me. But this time, I heard the horn and then someone yelled my name. I looked over and see two familiar faces. Aaron and Jamie were on their way to a Compassion dinner for GMA week. They pulled over to the side of the road and we were able to chat for a minute. The 2 minutes I spent with them completely turned my day around. Let me explain the significance of this little encounter today with the Iveys.

I have to start with yesterday. Sunday was an emotional, all around crappy day for me. Without going into the dumpy details, I'll just say...I think way too much about things and about life. And therefore, I spin myself into a funk. The funk ran through the afternoon and then followed me to sleep last night bringing out a few tears along the way. I woke up this morning to my alarm and I realized that my Sunday funk was now a Monday morning headache. So instead of choosing to start fresh...I decide to drag my bad attitude with me to work.

I spent the first couple of hours trying to gear up for the week. Of course I was slightly rude to those around me and I completely ignored someone who has become an incredible friend. So about 11:30, I realized that I was being a complete jerk and I tried to salvage what I could. Apparently, it's too late and I've forced us into "let's be weird" world. Which then just frustrated me more because it's totally my fault. So the rest of the day, I'm trying to do my job and the whole time my mind is thinking, "Why am I so unstable? What can I do to fix this? Why is it that I think I have control of my live? Why do I alienate those around me?" Blah blah blah, you know the feeling.

So...it was a bad day. And as I was leaving work, honestly the only thought on my mind was...Thank God this day is over. And then we saw the Iveys. The 2 minute conversation wasn't anything life changing. It was no more than "hey what are you doing here" and "have a great night." Of course Haiti was mentioned and we talked about their kids. My friend Brandon walked up just in time to meet them as well. And then Isaac, Brandon and I continued walking down the street to our cars.

The coolest thing happened though. After I walked away from Jamie and Aaron, my attitude had changed. In fact, my whole demeanor had changed. Isaac said it was amazing how different those 2 minutes made. He and Brandon both commented on how they must be some really good friends and how it was pretty obvious that they loved Jesus. I agreed with them. Yes...my attitude had changed and yes...they are pretty great friends.

And tonight, as I think about this little encounter...I'm just incredibly thankful for the wonderful people I have in my life. I've been blessed to have an extended family of people who make others feel alive just by being around. And it's not because of who they are or what they do; it's because they follow Jesus and love Him and love the things He loves. That's a pretty cool way to influence people if you ask me. And I can only hope to be more like them and more like Him.