Guest Blog: When all else fails, read the directions

It's not just for men.

Last week I rented a Red Box DVD for the first time ever.  Hilary went online and found a Red Box location nearby, and reserved the movie for us.  So after dinner we took our homemade ice cream cake to the family room and watched "Tangled" as a family for her birthday. 

My job the next morning was to return the DVD to the Red Box.  I'm the right person for this job because I am the one who would have the biggest problem paying an extra dollar for an additional day's rental.  Since the Red  Box was only about a block out of my way, I just left a couple of minutes early for work, intending to drop it off and be on my way.

I had gone with Hilary to pick up the DVD; I watched her retrieve it and noticed it should be returned to the same slot.  So when I got to the Red Box that morning, I tried to insert the DVD into the slot.  But it wouldn't be inserted.  I checked the DVD case to make sure I had oriented it correctly (which I had).  I tried to change the angle I used to insert the DVD (which I couldn't).  I tried again to insert the DVD into the slot, only this time I pushed a little harder (it still wouldn't go in).  I tried to insert that DVD into that slot a couple more times; the physical equivalent of repeating my guesses for charades a little louder, and then a little louder than that, because I must be right after all, and my teammate must not have heard me! 

By this time I'm feeling pretty silly, wondering if people driving by in their cars are chuckling a little at the clueless woman trying to return her DVD.  Just then, the light bulb over my head must have illuminated, for the thought came to me that perhaps I had to DO something on the screen before the slot would accept my offering.  Sure enough, one little tap in the proper place on the screen, and--voila!  The Red Box ate that little DVD just like an obedient toddler gulping down his strained peas.

Too bad it's not only at the Red Box that we figuratively beat our heads against the wall, sure that if we just try that one more time, we'll finally meet with success.  This despite ample evidence of failure through multiple previous attempts.  Albert Einstein once defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome.  By that definition, we've all suffered from insanity at one time or another.

So if you're in the insanity loop, try reading the directions.  Talk to someone you respect who's experienced what you're going through.  Talk to God.  Listen to what He tells you through His servants, old and new.  And then test their counsel by putting it into practice.

Another thing that's not just for men. 
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