No Phone Zone

We all live in a very busy and very loud electronic world and my life is no exception. The majority of the time I am at my office I’m either on my phone or have my head buried in my computer. I always have a ton of voice mails to listen to, emails to answer, quotes to prepare and reports to write. But I also have a steady stream of employees stopping by to ask questions and seek my help.

So it’s hard to suddenly stop working when somebody walks in. But I realized several years ago that if I don’t stop, focus and listen, I’m not going to be able to truly help anyone. Besides it’s a sign of respect and caring to put down your phone or turn away from the monitor and focus on the living breathing human being in front of you.

Speaking of phones, I checked with Siri and found out that 6.97 billion people currently own an electronic cell phone. How crazy is that! And I am pretty sure that 6.96 billion of them are constantly on their phone all day long. Cell phones are now a major fact of life and they have truly changed the way we live our lives in both good and bad ways. But I am hoping that we don’t forget how to communicate face to face, and how important that personal connection is. If that happens, heaven help us!

Speaking of heaven, maybe we need to look to God for an example. I am pretty sure that every time I speak with Him, He is focused and listening (and not on His new I-Phone 7 that Saint Peter bought Him). I know He listens to the painful plea of the elderly in the rest home, the gruff confessions of the prisoners in the OC Men’s Jail, the young mother with an infant in the ER at Mission Hospital, the alcoholic who steps off the street and into a church for the first time. To all of them…God listens. So maybe heaven is the one…and perhaps only…“No Phone Zone” left.

We shall one day navigate the air as we do the sea, 
rain will be made to pour out on the desert, 

bread shall be made from stones in the street, 
the man of a hundred years shall yet be in his prime, 

and men will take a little instrument from their waistcoat pocket 
and communicate with a friend a hundred miles away, 
without wires, as if face to face.

~ James Gillingham, circa 1901

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Wrinkles

Last week I had the worst day of my life! Okay, maybe it wasn’t the absolute worst day ever, but it did cause me some pain and it forced me to stop and think about where I am in my life.

I stopped to make a sales call on a large contracting firm and see a friend of mine who works there named Benny. When I walked into the main lobby there was no receptionist, so I waited a while and then peaked down the hallway where I saw a young man walking by. I asked him if Benny was available and he said he would get him for me. When Benny came up to the lobby he was laughing and I asked him why. He said, “They told me some ‘Old Guy’ was out front looking for me”. I had to wait for him to stop laughing, which took a while, but finally I shook my head and said, “Wow, I guess I am an ‘Old Guy’ to some people, but I’ve never really thought about myself that way…until now.”

On the way home that night I felt really demoralized. Yes, I know that I’m 60 and I have a few wrinkles, so I definitely qualify as old. But inside my head I still feel like I’m 35. So when I went home that night and looked in the mirror I discovered by golly, that guy was right! I am physically old on the exterior. It was kind of shock but it got me thinking… Can there be anything good about getting older?

- When I was young I was always in hurry and not very patient with people. Now…I’m much more patient and forgiving.

- When I was young I wanted so many material things, cars, boats, houses. Now…I am happy renting a small house and only owning a single Ford truck.

- When I was young I had a temper and would let things get to me. Now…I am much calmer and can usually let things roll right off my back.

- When I was young I wanted to own my own company and be really successful. Now…I own my own company but it’s far more important to help my employees become successful.

- When I was young I was always asking God for His help. Now that I’m older…I am always thanking God for His help.

I am not sure I will ever achieve all the goals I set for myself as a young man. But if one of my main goals was to find happiness, then aging is something I need to be thankful for…because I might have wrinkles on the outside, but a lot of the wrinkles on the inside…have now disappeared!

Father Time

Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been.

~ Mark Twain

A Few Simple Words

Have you ever had a friend suddenly turn their back on you? It can be extremely painful and I know that because it has happened to me several times.

Just last month I had a close friend that I have known for many years write me a really harsh email accusing of something I didn’t do. I immediately tried to contact him to straighten out the situation but he wouldn’t take my call. I still feel really bad and totally confused because I don’t know why he would assume bad things about me without even talking to me, but I guess I just have to get over it and move on. I may never know what happened but I do know a true friend doesn’t do that to someone they care about. I will get over it eventually but I have to say…it sure felt bad.

Then last week a young man who worked for me for several years at my previous company stopped by my office. He was all smiles as he came in the front door and it was so great to see him. We gave each other a hug and a handshake and sat down to talk for a minute. He told me how much he missed working for me and how my faith in him had given him faith in himself. He said working for me felt like being part of a family where everyone truly cares about each other. He also reminded me of the time I visited him at a jobsite and gave him a handwritten note of encouragement. He remembered it really well because he still carries that note with him wherever he goes. When he showed it to me, it surprised me, and I have to say…it sure felt good.

Years ago, when I wrote a simple note of praise to a young man who worked for me, I did so because I felt he deserved it. I didn’t know then that it would make such a powerful impact on him. I also did not know that years later that very same note would come back and make a powerful impact on me as well. In fact, it made me realize that I shouldn’t waste time feeling bad about a friend who bailed out on me because a true friend doesn’t disappear when there’s a problem, they try hard to work things out because that’s what real friends do. Instead I am going to remember to focus my time, energy and words on doing good for others. I’m going to remember that a compliment or a few simple words of praise can have a huge impact when they are offered up with true sincerity.

Friendship isn’t a big thing — it’s a million little things.

~ Anonymous

 

The Sporting Life

Looking back at my life I realize that because I never got to play sports as a kid, I have been trying to make up for it as a grown man! When I was young my Dad was in the Marine Corps and we kept moving all over the county, so it was hard to join a sports team. Then later on in life I got married and was busy raising four kids, so that left me very little recreational time as well. But now, as an “older man” I am having a blast every week. Besides playing baseball with the Halo Baseball Club for the past 12 years, I also work out regularly and have tried my hand at volleyball, tennis, golf and paddle boarding…and I absolutely love every sport I try.

I don’t know what it is that makes sporting events so fun but I am sure I am not alone in my love of sports, both playing and watching them. On Saturday last week I went to see a Pop Warner Football Game that my youngest grandson was playing in. The teams are made up of 5-7 year old boys and I was really impressed with what I saw. They played on a full size High School Field (Tesoro High) with regular football uniforms and pads. They had coaches, referees, statisticians and assistants (Moms) distributing Gatorade on the sidelines just like in real football. Not only that, they had a whole bunch of really cute 6 year old Cheerleaders pumping up the crowd in the bleachers. Quite an awesome site!

I know some people might think it’s crazy to involve kids as young as five in sports, especially football, but the more I think about it the more I see the potential benefits in it. I’ll give you an example. During the game, right after the whistle blew on a pass play, one of the smallest kids on the field walked over to a bigger kid who was still on the ground and kicked him right in the stomach. It was probably retaliation for something I didn’t see earlier, but the referee threw a flag, the team received a penalty and the tiny kid who did the kicking got a stern lecture from the coach about the rules of the game. I’m pretty sure the lecture included the following, “If you want to win the game, you have to play by the rules.”

And isn’t that the way it is in life as well? In life we find ourselves on all kinds of teams; our family team, our team of friends, our office team and maybe even a fun sports team. But no matter what kind of a team it is, we can’t win if we don’t play by the rules…and you’re never too young to learn that lesson!

Colin Hunnel, #75, Tesoro Titans (Age 5)

“And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not

crowned unless he competes according to the rules."

~ 2 Timothy 2:5

A Good Day

When you live at the beach you see a lot of wild and crazy things. We’ve seen dolphins jumping 10’ out of the water, whales spouting and breaching, hundreds of pelicans dive bombing for fish and recently a large shark swimming within 20’ of the shore. But we’ve also seen crazy things wash up onto the beach like baby seals and a glass bottle with a message in it. This week however takes the cake. In the middle of the night a huge 50’ wooden sailing vessel mysteriously crashed onto the beach with no one on board.

Isn’t there an old saying…“The best days of your life are the day you buy your boat and the day you sell your boat.” I guess that’s true because boats can become a maintenance nightmare as they get old, but what about the day your boat becomes shipwrecked on a beach. That can’t be a good day!

When I saw that sailboat, beaten and battered and lying on its side in the sand, it reminded me of the story of the apostle Paul and all the hardships he endured. He was beaten, stoned, jailed multiple times, shipwrecked twice and one time drifted alone in the ocean for several days. I am sure he prayed for help every time and fortunately his prayers were answered. He survived and went on to write a large portion of the New Testament, but what impressed me most about Paul is how he never got upset about his troubles. Even as he was lying on the cold floor of a jail cell, shackled and beaten, he kept praising God. That can’t be a good day, but yet he believed that every day was a good day… and I think it was because he had such a strong, trusting relationship with God.

I admire Paul for his unrelenting faith and would love to be more like him. It’s a great goal, but to be honest, I’m not sure I can do it. I think back to 2003 when my wife was hospitalized with a very serious lung disorder. I remember praying over and over again for her to recover. Fortunately my prayers were answered and I immediately got down on my knees and thanked God profusely. But what if they weren’t? What if God said no? Would I still have been down my knees praising Him? That’s a tough question!

Even now I have friends who are struggling, one with cancer and one with a brain tumor. I find myself praying daily for my friends and I will keep on praying because I know the power of prayer, but more importantly I know the power of God. He gives us His grace and the promise of eternal life and I can’t think of anything better than that. And yet even beyond grace are all the other blessings we have during our short time on this earth. We have eyes to see, ears to hear and a heart to feel. We have the beauty of nature and the love that we share in our relationships, so that’s kind of like grace and goodies! Anyway, I guess from heaven’s perspective grace should be enough and I also guess that the day we go to heaven….well, that is definitely going to be a good day!

Call on God, but sail away from the rocks!

~ Indian Proverb

Getting Your Hands Dirty

Last week was kind of a long, tough week for me. I was super busy at work and had to start early every day, putting in long hours dealing with a lot of large projects, operational issues and employee reviews. By Thursday evening I was beat, so I told my wife I was only going to work a half day on Friday. She said that sounded great and that she would go in to the office with me that day.

When noon rolled around on Friday I was excited. I had it all worked out in my head. We would drive through a fast food place on the way home to save time. Then I would grab some beach towels, situate the umbrella just right, pour myself a cold ice tea and grab the latest edition of Sports Illustrated. It was going to be such a relaxing afternoon…and I was really looking forward to it.

But as soon as we got into the car and I asked her what she wanted for lunch, I knew I was in trouble. She had a slightly different vision, one that included lunch at her favorite little Italian restaurant, then shopping for plants and trees on the way home and me spending the rest of the day reworking our front planter area! In my head I was momentarily bummed but I didn’t want her to know it or feel bad. I had been telling her I would do that gardening work for a while, so I had to keep my word. We had a nice lunch at La Famiglia and then went to Home Depot and loaded up three full carts with plants, trees, flowers and top soil. It was nearly 3:00pm when we got home, but not too late to start digging. Our two front planter areas are fairly small but since I don’t have a wheelbarrow, I had to remove all the old rocks and top soil by hand with a 5-gallon bucket. It must have taken me about 35-40 trips just to clear the area before I could even start digging holes for the new plants. By the time the sun went down, I was so tired and so dirty I looked and felt just like that character Pig Pen in the Charlie Brown cartoons.

But something changed inside me as I did that gardening work. There’s something about working with the earth, digging down into it, giving new life to plants and trees and really getting your hands dirty that feels good. After I took a long hot shower, I went back out to the front of the house and admired the newly planted area. I realized that I felt a whole lot better having completed the gardening work, then I would have had I just been sitting under an umbrella…and it looked awesome! My wife actually is the one that deserves most of the credit though. She picked out the right plants and laid out the perfect design. All I did was put them in the earth. But then again…maybe we make good teammates that way!

And that got me thinking… I wonder if God felt really good when He was getting His hands dirty creating the earth and designing all of nature so perfectly. And…I wonder if God looks at us as His teammates on earth…because if so, we better not be afraid to get our hands dirty right along with Him!

 

I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station,

through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.

~ George Washington Carver

Life's Paragraph

Last week 23 of our family members spent an entire week together vacationing in Tahoe. And when I say together, I mean all of 23 us shared the same house. It was a beautiful four-story home that was secluded in a wooded section above South Lake Tahoe. The home had seven bedrooms and a huge game room with couches for the two teenage boys, so everyone had their own “private space” to get away from the chaos, but yet there really wasn’t a lot of chaos. Even though our group ranged from 2 year olds to 70 year olds we had a blast!  We took turns cooking dinners each night and we went fishing, hiking, golfing, gambling, para-sailing and swimming at the beach at Lake Tahoe.

Obviously I can’t say every moment was pure joy. For example things got pretty competitive at the family poker tournament mid-week, but I can say that taking a family vacation together is a great way to spend time with the people you love and re-ignite the reasons why you love each other. When you have to share a bathroom, wash dishes together, and take turns watching toddlers, you bond in a very special way that you’ll never forget. One of the most memorable moments was when my wife’s parents announced that they had a special gift for every family member. For over a year they had been working on-line with Ancestry.com to put together a family genealogy album that listed family members dating all the way back to the 1600’s. What caught my attention was that there was a brief paragraph, just a few sentences, describing the life of each person. And that got me thinking… What would my “life’s paragraph” say?

As I pondered that question I thought about the fact that each one of us has a unique destiny. Each one of us is given special gifts from God and probably a certain destiny as well, but how many of us have the determination and good sense to use our gifts wisely (hopefully to serve others) and how many of us are truly able to fulfill our unique destiny. I am reminded of the story about the baby eagle who fell out of his nest and ended up being raised by chickens. From the floor of the barnyard he spots an eagle in the clouds and his heart stirs. “I can do that!” he whispers quietly. The other chickens laugh, but he knows better. He knows he was born different… born with a unique destiny.

As I look back on my life I can see that God did give me some special gifts and for that I am very thankful to Him. While I am using those gifts…I can’t say for sure I have fulfilled my destiny yet because I recognize that I still have a lot of learning and growing to do. But I can say that I truly love the journey I am on. Hey, maybe that’s what my “life’s paragraph” will say. He wasn’t the brightest guy on earth…but he was smart enough to appreciate every moment of life’s journey!

Family Vacation Picture - Lake Tahoe 2015

When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have

 a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me."

~Erma Bombeck