I'm not sure if you'd heard or not, but our country is in the midst of an economic recession. I don't pretend to understand it, but I've read enough about it to have formed my own opinion about it. It seems that most of it started with the real estate bubble which burst, resulting in incredible rates of foreclosure, which then resulted in the failure of several major banks, and was compounded by $5/gallon gasoline for a time. The end result of all this is that people are scared to spend their money on major purchases. Unfortunately, when we don't spend money on cars or on house, the people who assemble our cars and their components, and the people who build and/or sell and/or finance our houses find themselves out of work and as a nation we see our unemployment rate start to rise. It's a vicious cycle that just feeds on itself.
Right now things at my plant are slow. We had only a few lines running last week due to customer orders being down...which is caused by dealers having 6 months worth on cars on the lots right now. We hear rumors of our sister plants taking pay cuts...taking cuts in hours worked...taking extreme measures to cut costs in order to make it through this tough time as healthy as possible. My company is proud to "never had a layoff" and I don't think we'll see one now. But either way, lean times have fallen on my employer and I think less opulent times are ahead for it's employees...including me.
Fortunately, I don't have to worry too much about this. Of course, I do worry more than I should....but I don't have to. My hope is not in an industry...it's not in a company...and thankfully it's not in myself. I am very thankful to be able to go into work today and every day that they let me from this point on, but, of men, I am most miserable if my hope lies in this world only.
Take a moment to read Psalm 42 today. It's only 11 verses, but we see a man who is in prison or some other lonely place...being kept company only by those who mock him. But in the end, his own soul cries out to him...calling him back from his own wilderness...to remember his hope lies in his God.
May my hope be only in Christ and the glory of the cross.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Monday, January 5, 2009
2009...Ready or not
I "celebrated" my 40th birthday a couple of weeks ago and it went by without really accomplishing any of those things I said I'd like to do before I turned 40. My dream...or rather my delusion...of running a marathon before I was 40 is now gone with the wind. And it was gone almost as fast as my determination to accomplish this lofty "goal".
I also didn't jump from an airplane before I turned 40 as I wanted to. With this one it wasn't a lack of drive...nor a result of fear or cold feet. I realized one day that for me to risk life and limb...actually it's really life in this case...the limbs would be obliterated at the same instant that your life left you if you hit the terra firma @ 120mph...anyway...for me to risk my life in order to try to hang onto some of my youth, or manhood, or whatever it is that made me want to do this would be utterly selfish while there were still still two young men in my house who needed my presence, my protection, and my guidance....not to mention my paycheck.
Anyway, as I approached 2009, I found myself looking toward new goals. New things to accomplish over the next year. (Pretty original idea, huh? Don't you wish you'd thought of it?) I think I'm going to call them New Year's Revolutions...it sounds like resolutions (get it?) and you always hear some "cute" story from parents who thought it was adorable that their little kid couldn't say "resolutions". (Just try to look amused when you do hear it.) But for me to do these things, there will have to be a personal revolution.
I will have to turn away....rebel...revolt against the very fiber of my being. These fibers are stubborn and set in their ways. I have been able to move them and mold them for a time in the past, but they, like elastic, always plop right back into their comfortable, even natural, state. But, like elastic, we may be comfortable and even natural, but unless we are being stretched, we are not fulfilling our potential...or even our purpose.
As I contemplate this revolution I see that, like all revolutions, it will be subject to inertia. The revolution takes a lot of force and energy to get started. And it can keep rolling for a time as long as there is no real friction. Unfortunately, my nature...and by nature I mean my bent for apathy, laziness and the like...provides more than enough friction to slam me to a stop.
Anyway, there are some things that I've decided that I want to do over the next year. None are especially spiritual really, but I think that's OK.
1. Take 5 good hikes in the Smokies with my family. (Charlie's Bunion, Spence Field, Abrams Falls (from Abrams Creek campground), Gregory's Bald, and I'll figure out the other one later.
2. Get back down to 215 lbs. I'm quite a distance now.
3. Run a 5K road race with Chuck Kern. (Maybe Chuck will leave me alone (haha) and I'll also make some progress on #2. )
4. Teach my boys one thing each month that they didn't know before.
5. This ones a secret. No one can or will know until there is significant progress being made.
6. Write in here at least once a week.
7. Love my wife better this year than ever.
Thanks for reading. I'll let you know how they come along.
I also didn't jump from an airplane before I turned 40 as I wanted to. With this one it wasn't a lack of drive...nor a result of fear or cold feet. I realized one day that for me to risk life and limb...actually it's really life in this case...the limbs would be obliterated at the same instant that your life left you if you hit the terra firma @ 120mph...anyway...for me to risk my life in order to try to hang onto some of my youth, or manhood, or whatever it is that made me want to do this would be utterly selfish while there were still still two young men in my house who needed my presence, my protection, and my guidance....not to mention my paycheck.
Anyway, as I approached 2009, I found myself looking toward new goals. New things to accomplish over the next year. (Pretty original idea, huh? Don't you wish you'd thought of it?) I think I'm going to call them New Year's Revolutions...it sounds like resolutions (get it?) and you always hear some "cute" story from parents who thought it was adorable that their little kid couldn't say "resolutions". (Just try to look amused when you do hear it.) But for me to do these things, there will have to be a personal revolution.
I will have to turn away....rebel...revolt against the very fiber of my being. These fibers are stubborn and set in their ways. I have been able to move them and mold them for a time in the past, but they, like elastic, always plop right back into their comfortable, even natural, state. But, like elastic, we may be comfortable and even natural, but unless we are being stretched, we are not fulfilling our potential...or even our purpose.
As I contemplate this revolution I see that, like all revolutions, it will be subject to inertia. The revolution takes a lot of force and energy to get started. And it can keep rolling for a time as long as there is no real friction. Unfortunately, my nature...and by nature I mean my bent for apathy, laziness and the like...provides more than enough friction to slam me to a stop.
Anyway, there are some things that I've decided that I want to do over the next year. None are especially spiritual really, but I think that's OK.
1. Take 5 good hikes in the Smokies with my family. (Charlie's Bunion, Spence Field, Abrams Falls (from Abrams Creek campground), Gregory's Bald, and I'll figure out the other one later.
2. Get back down to 215 lbs. I'm quite a distance now.
3. Run a 5K road race with Chuck Kern. (Maybe Chuck will leave me alone (haha) and I'll also make some progress on #2. )
4. Teach my boys one thing each month that they didn't know before.
5. This ones a secret. No one can or will know until there is significant progress being made.
6. Write in here at least once a week.
7. Love my wife better this year than ever.
Thanks for reading. I'll let you know how they come along.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Standing in the Map
One of the greatest ideas the "Friends" people ever came up with was to send the cast to "London, baby". This was probably the greatest sitcom vacation since the Bradys went to Hawaii. If you remember, the pagan idol found at a construction site by that nosy little Bobby ended up causing Peter to nearly get bitten by a tarantula and led to Greg going "Yard Sale" on some embarrassingly small surf that was obviously not shot on the famous "North Shore".
Anyway, while the Friends are in London, Monica and Chandler get together, Ross says "Rachel" instead of "Emily" and all the while poor Phoebe is stuck at home pregnant with her brother's children. (She was a surrogate for him and his wife for those of you who "don't watch TV". Whatever.) There are also the great scenes of Joey and Chandler as they try to find their way around London, baby. Chandler, who is a little too cool for himself at this time, but soon to find his character totally neutered by his on-screen romance, and is put off by Joey's unbridled enthusiasm for this new town.
He is also embarrassed by Joey's inability to simply look at a map to get his bearings and decide where to go. To overcome his deficiencies, Joey has devised a method by which he lays the map on the ground in the proper orientation to his surroundings. He then will "get in the map" by literally getting in the map...standing smack-dab on his location at the time. By getting in the map, Joey steps himself into what he knows to be true and right and then determines his direction from there.
In my life now, there are a few things about which I don't know which way to go. Fortunately, I have a map. A map with His word...with His direction.
Now I just have to remember to "get in the map"...and stay there.
Anyway, while the Friends are in London, Monica and Chandler get together, Ross says "Rachel" instead of "Emily" and all the while poor Phoebe is stuck at home pregnant with her brother's children. (She was a surrogate for him and his wife for those of you who "don't watch TV". Whatever.) There are also the great scenes of Joey and Chandler as they try to find their way around London, baby. Chandler, who is a little too cool for himself at this time, but soon to find his character totally neutered by his on-screen romance, and is put off by Joey's unbridled enthusiasm for this new town.
He is also embarrassed by Joey's inability to simply look at a map to get his bearings and decide where to go. To overcome his deficiencies, Joey has devised a method by which he lays the map on the ground in the proper orientation to his surroundings. He then will "get in the map" by literally getting in the map...standing smack-dab on his location at the time. By getting in the map, Joey steps himself into what he knows to be true and right and then determines his direction from there.
In my life now, there are a few things about which I don't know which way to go. Fortunately, I have a map. A map with His word...with His direction.
Now I just have to remember to "get in the map"...and stay there.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Turncoat
Last night I was banished to the bonus room (Why do we call it a bonus room? We knew it was there when we bought the house. It's not like we didn't know it was there and we found it later. It's also not like they said "Hey...you buy the house, we'll throw in the room over the garage for free! But, I digress.) to watch the Eagles v. Cowboys game. The TV upstairs only goes up to channel 47 so neither Project Runway, nor John and Kate +8 could we enjoyed in all the 25" glory of the 1989 model Sanyo...so off I went upstairs.
As is typical of me, I was in and out of the ball game all night. Spike was showing the Best of UFC 2007 so it was back and forth. Even though I knew the result of nearly every fight on Spike, I still kept going back to watch. Still, though, my emotional investment was in the football game. I am a huge Cowboys fan and have been for at least 30 years. This is where things get weird for me.
Clark, my youngest son, has been a huge Eagles fan for about the last 7 years. He may or may not watch them play when they are on, but he does love them. He lives and dies with every win and loss....talking of school of the wins and dreading the next school day when they lose because of the eventual torture of having his friends revel in their defeat.
Because of this, for the first time I can ever remember, as the Eagles got the ball twice down by four in the 4th quarter, I found myself rooting for a comeback touchdown. What was I thinking, I thought. (Now that's a circular statement.) Immediately, it came to me. "You are his father. His wishes and desires and enjoyment are more important to you than that blue star. "
The One who gave me this thought also showed me immediately the scripture that shows how much greater a Father He is than me....
Matthew 7:9-11
"Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone ? Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!"
I said that every post might not go here...but then again...they might. I hear Him telling me, this is who you are.
As is typical of me, I was in and out of the ball game all night. Spike was showing the Best of UFC 2007 so it was back and forth. Even though I knew the result of nearly every fight on Spike, I still kept going back to watch. Still, though, my emotional investment was in the football game. I am a huge Cowboys fan and have been for at least 30 years. This is where things get weird for me.
Clark, my youngest son, has been a huge Eagles fan for about the last 7 years. He may or may not watch them play when they are on, but he does love them. He lives and dies with every win and loss....talking of school of the wins and dreading the next school day when they lose because of the eventual torture of having his friends revel in their defeat.
Because of this, for the first time I can ever remember, as the Eagles got the ball twice down by four in the 4th quarter, I found myself rooting for a comeback touchdown. What was I thinking, I thought. (Now that's a circular statement.) Immediately, it came to me. "You are his father. His wishes and desires and enjoyment are more important to you than that blue star. "
The One who gave me this thought also showed me immediately the scripture that shows how much greater a Father He is than me....
Matthew 7:9-11
"Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone ? Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!"
I said that every post might not go here...but then again...they might. I hear Him telling me, this is who you are.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Check One Off
It's not often as a parent or a husband that the average guy gets to make the dreams of his family come true. This weekend my family was blessed enough to go to New York to see the Yankees play with a stop @ Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia to catch an Eagles preseason game. If you know my family well...or maybe not so well...you know that we love the Yankees and that somehow Clark has been in love with the Eagles since he was in elementary school.
The trip was the best and worst of many things. It seemed we spent an eternity in the car, but my guys sat and talked like they never do at home. Our teams were at their home fields...hallowed ground to us all especially w/ Yankee Stadium soon to be no more...but they both lost their games. The hotel was comfortable and provided a nice getaway...but still wasn't home. The subway was the only way the only sensible way to get around, but the last subway car we rode was the only place with "sheep girl" AND the crazy guy randomly warning of the "slavery of 'his people' by BET", bragging about his infinite "energy" that's been building since he "created the world with a word", and threatening to stab with a lavendar mechanical pencil whoever it was that told him to shut up.
The trip was the best and worst of many things. It seemed we spent an eternity in the car, but my guys sat and talked like they never do at home. Our teams were at their home fields...hallowed ground to us all especially w/ Yankee Stadium soon to be no more...but they both lost their games. The hotel was comfortable and provided a nice getaway...but still wasn't home. The subway was the only way the only sensible way to get around, but the last subway car we rode was the only place with "sheep girl" AND the crazy guy randomly warning of the "slavery of 'his people' by BET", bragging about his infinite "energy" that's been building since he "created the world with a word", and threatening to stab with a lavendar mechanical pencil whoever it was that told him to shut up.
Anyway, we were very happy to get to do what we did this weekend. To my sensible side, it seemed like much too far to go and far too much to spend. But sometimes you have to turn a deaf ear to your sensible side. Your sensible side will sometimes leave you with regrets...maybe a few extra dollars they can bury with you...maybe a few less miles on your car...but sometimes with regrets.
I hope coming out of this my boys will always remember this weekend. I hope that Clark will always remember getting to Lincoln Financial Field even if McNabb, Westbrook, Dawkins, or Favre (w/ the Jets) didn't even break a sweat. I hope Mason will tell James III (my grandson someday...there's no rule that the Sr., Jr, and III have to be in consecutive generations) that he got to see Yankee Stadium.
More than that, I hope they see that sometimes you just do things...not because it makes sense....not because it it's convenient....sometimes you do things it's the only chance you have.
This is true, I think, for everything in our lives. It doesn't make sense to stop and help someone sometimes...but that is the only chance you get. It may not be convenient to put your life on hold for someone for a few hours, but it may be the only chance you get to be there for them.
It doesn't have to make sense to be the right thing to do.
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p.s. Don't think that every post will end like this and have some spiritual meaning. I didn't intend for this one to get here...it just did. And that's OK with me.
The First Post
As you can see...this is the first post on my new blog. I am not sure what this is going to be about. Some of it will about my experiences in this thing called life. Some of it will be the strange thoughts that go through my head. For example...why do people..especially at church like to refer to things as "this ______ called _____". I've heard "this GAME called SOFTBALL", "this PLACE called EARTH"...I just said "this THING called LIFE". It's always confused me that people do that...and now here I am doing it.
Anyway, I don't think I have that much to say. At the same time, I feel compelled to say it.
Hope you enjoy.
Anyway, I don't think I have that much to say. At the same time, I feel compelled to say it.
Hope you enjoy.
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