I wanted to let everyone know that I am starting a new blog that will coordinated with a Sunday meeting. www.whatdidjesusdo-don.blogspot.com
It is my hope to drive us all back into the scriptures and looking at the life and times of Jesus without the artificial structuring of a modern book or a motive to achieve.
Take a look if you like. If you are in the south Dallas area on Sunday mornings around 9:30AM, come by the Duncanville Church of Christ and find your way to room 218. I would love to visit with you in person.
Welcome to the journey.
Godspeed.
Don
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Finishing Up
Wow, what a year this has been. It seems we have had some really good events in our lives and we have had some struggles. It has occurred to me that the greatest frustration in our society has to be when the revenue is not there. There are simply too many things that can't be done, help provided, or dreams embraced without the money to make ends meet. We certainly survived that part of it in better shape than I expected. Now with regular income it is much easier to plan and dream and help those who are still stuck in the mire of unemployment.
Christmas this year was at our house, with our six kids and their four kids. There was a moment before the wrapping began flying that I was able to spend a moment and reflect about how blessed I am. I watched as my grown kids dealt with set-backs and fears. My only granddaughter had heart surgery, my youngest grandson has food allergies that make it a little tricky to cook for him. My second grandson continues to struggle with inner-ear stuff and stresses his parents about his hearing and his development. My oldest grandson struggles mightily with reading and had to make a trip to Dallas to be tested. Job insecurities with both son and son-in-laws. This is simply the stuff of life that everyone struggles with, but it my little troupe and consequently my personal prayer battles and kingdom.
Yet, I couldn't help but feel proud of the people they have become. They are mature and honest, helpful and compassionate, they will stand in the way of injustice and speak their minds. There is not a coward or a slouch in the bunch. And the greatest gift of all is the struggle for lap time with Nena or Grandaddy. There is a picture somewhere in all this furor of me holding my two youngest grandsons. I remarked that it felt like I was holding 100 lbs of grandkids, which brought a swift response from my daughter and d-i-l that it couldn't be more than 60 lbs. Jeez, moms have no sense of humor. It was with regret that my shoulders and back told me it was time to set them down. Of course the expanding wriggle-fest was making it a little hard to hold them anyway.
This is Christmas in the truest sense. Seeing your life's work finish well. Seeing the impact of our love and our commitment fulfilled in the lives of our troupe. Christ was born to redeem man, and his greatest redemptive test is within the boundaries of our families.
Godspeed, I pray your year finished well. Mine sure did.
Don
Christmas this year was at our house, with our six kids and their four kids. There was a moment before the wrapping began flying that I was able to spend a moment and reflect about how blessed I am. I watched as my grown kids dealt with set-backs and fears. My only granddaughter had heart surgery, my youngest grandson has food allergies that make it a little tricky to cook for him. My second grandson continues to struggle with inner-ear stuff and stresses his parents about his hearing and his development. My oldest grandson struggles mightily with reading and had to make a trip to Dallas to be tested. Job insecurities with both son and son-in-laws. This is simply the stuff of life that everyone struggles with, but it my little troupe and consequently my personal prayer battles and kingdom.
Yet, I couldn't help but feel proud of the people they have become. They are mature and honest, helpful and compassionate, they will stand in the way of injustice and speak their minds. There is not a coward or a slouch in the bunch. And the greatest gift of all is the struggle for lap time with Nena or Grandaddy. There is a picture somewhere in all this furor of me holding my two youngest grandsons. I remarked that it felt like I was holding 100 lbs of grandkids, which brought a swift response from my daughter and d-i-l that it couldn't be more than 60 lbs. Jeez, moms have no sense of humor. It was with regret that my shoulders and back told me it was time to set them down. Of course the expanding wriggle-fest was making it a little hard to hold them anyway.
This is Christmas in the truest sense. Seeing your life's work finish well. Seeing the impact of our love and our commitment fulfilled in the lives of our troupe. Christ was born to redeem man, and his greatest redemptive test is within the boundaries of our families.
Godspeed, I pray your year finished well. Mine sure did.
Don
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Underground
Let's get the news out of the way first. I am gainfully employed by the largest manufacturer in the medical uniform industry. It is not a clear distinction to be a sales manager because everyone you meet in this company is a vice president of some sort. The compensation is an adjustment from before, but that is a common impact of this new world we find ourselves in. Not complaining because it is 1000% better than where I have been for the past 20 months. So, in the words of the old spiritual..we have overcome.
My first day was Monday and it involved getting on a crowded airplane and flying to Vegas for a national sales meeting. Instead of filling out forms, and being pointed to the restroom and the free coffee, I spent 3 hours on a plane, then stepped into a meeting where at least half of these guys would be my responsibility.
It was fascinating to see the reaction to my introduction. Some were wary, some were indifferent, some were gracious, all were curious. The introduction was made in the midst of sea-change for the entire company. I was merely a small functional part of that sea change. For the next two days I was bombarded with information and questions about the restructuring. Fortunately I was able to play my clueless card and avoid most of the questions.
So for the next two days I sat through meetings about product and marketing and IT and territory and sales management. Dinner followed the meetings and then late to bed. It was Wednesday morning when we checked out and stood in the cold, misty morning in front of the hotel that I realized that I had not been out of the hotel since Monday at noon. For the past 2 days I had been underground.
It is disorienting to spend that much time, fully active, not sick, and indoors the entire stay. Hotels with casinos probably are designed that way. They want you to lose track of time and day. If they can bombard you with sound and ply you with food and drink, then they have you slightly imbalanced and unable to make lucid decisions. When I think back on the people I noticed at the slots or at the blackjack tables, or roulette tables, none of them looked happy. There was a range of body languages, but I wondered if the ones that looked the most dispirited were the longest tenured guests.
I'm sure that I looked like a bear coming out of hibernation that first exposure to outside air. I stood there transfixed and breathing deeply the refreshing outside desert air of the Vegas morning, glad to be shed of the clanging noise of the slots and the infiltration of the indoor cigarette smoke. The ride to the airport took far too long, and the flight couldn't depart soon enough.
I was glad to be back above ground and headed home.
Godspeed to the new travelers in the coming year, it will be a good one.
Don
My first day was Monday and it involved getting on a crowded airplane and flying to Vegas for a national sales meeting. Instead of filling out forms, and being pointed to the restroom and the free coffee, I spent 3 hours on a plane, then stepped into a meeting where at least half of these guys would be my responsibility.
It was fascinating to see the reaction to my introduction. Some were wary, some were indifferent, some were gracious, all were curious. The introduction was made in the midst of sea-change for the entire company. I was merely a small functional part of that sea change. For the next two days I was bombarded with information and questions about the restructuring. Fortunately I was able to play my clueless card and avoid most of the questions.
So for the next two days I sat through meetings about product and marketing and IT and territory and sales management. Dinner followed the meetings and then late to bed. It was Wednesday morning when we checked out and stood in the cold, misty morning in front of the hotel that I realized that I had not been out of the hotel since Monday at noon. For the past 2 days I had been underground.
It is disorienting to spend that much time, fully active, not sick, and indoors the entire stay. Hotels with casinos probably are designed that way. They want you to lose track of time and day. If they can bombard you with sound and ply you with food and drink, then they have you slightly imbalanced and unable to make lucid decisions. When I think back on the people I noticed at the slots or at the blackjack tables, or roulette tables, none of them looked happy. There was a range of body languages, but I wondered if the ones that looked the most dispirited were the longest tenured guests.
I'm sure that I looked like a bear coming out of hibernation that first exposure to outside air. I stood there transfixed and breathing deeply the refreshing outside desert air of the Vegas morning, glad to be shed of the clanging noise of the slots and the infiltration of the indoor cigarette smoke. The ride to the airport took far too long, and the flight couldn't depart soon enough.
I was glad to be back above ground and headed home.
Godspeed to the new travelers in the coming year, it will be a good one.
Don
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