Florida boy

This is Josh just before he left for Orlando this past Friday. He called in the early evening to tell us that he was still in Ohio. Apparently it took him longer to get out of town than his original plan of before noon.

Later Friday night, I think around 9:30 he phoned again and said they were just entering West Virginia. I didn't speak to him this time but from what I could gather from his conversation with Lori that things were going well on the road trip.

I think the phone rang again around 12:30 am and it was Josh again. He was at a friends in North Carolina. We were relieved that he'd decided that his plan was to spend the night there at his friend Tim's and then finish his trip on Saturday. It was a little easier to sleep knowing he'd made it to his day 1 destination.

Saturday morning Lori and I were doing our usual Panera thing with our most excellent friend Dixie. We had arrived at Panera around 9 am. I can't remember what time Josh called but it was fairly early (Josh time). He said that he and John (the friend that was making the trip down with him to give him company) were just getting into Jacksonville. I said ''Jacksonville, what time did you get up and get started?" He said that the sleeping accomodations at Tim's house in North Carolina didn't work out so he and John, after resting for a while, decided to keep going. He said he was really tired. I guess I was glad I didn't know that then night before as I probably wouldn't have slept well at all.

Around or near noon my cell rang again and it was Josh again. He didn't even say hello. He just blurted out in a very excited but tired voice...."I'm standing in my new living room!" I thanked God over and over that they had arrived safe. I chatted with him for a few minutes as he described his empty apartment with great enthusiasm. He was so excited! I passed the phone to Lori so she could share in his joy. When she got off the phone Lori said that Josh and John were heading to the pool at the apartment complex to crash in the sun.

Later Saturday night we'd gone to Saugatuk with our friends Richard and Reta for dinner. We were on our way home around 9pm when my cell rang again. It was Josh again. He said hi and then asked what kind of laundry soap we used at home. I said "what?" And he repeated himself. I asked where he was and he was at Wal Mart grocery shopping. Who'd a thought that Josh would have cared what kind of laundry soap we used at home. What a funny boy! Of course the "mom" in Lori kicked in when she heard he was doing something with laundry and she started relaying helpful hints for me to tell him about how to do his wash. Such a mom she is!

It's Sunday evening now and we haven't heard from him all day today. Earlier this morning we were both upstairs and the house creaked as houses do. Lori said for a moment she thought it was just Josh coming in the front door. Yep, it's gonna take some getting used to. Seems like as parents you kind of look forward to those "empty nester" days....but when then finally arrive its not always as easy as you thought.

Packin' his trunk

Josh is packin' his trunk and getting ready to make his move to Florida. It's countdown week with only 4 days to go. He has wanted to attend school at Full Sail since his senior year in high school (which was only year ago) and its finally come to fruition.

This month has been insane trying to get all of the details of this transition completed. From filling out student loan forms to finding adequate housing, we've been on the phone or on the computer non stop.

Lori and I were fortunate enough to be able to meet some of his advisers and see the college when we were on vacation two weeks ago. We were also able to take some pictures of the potential apartment complexes he would have to choose from for 'sight unseen' housing.

I'm so excited for this adventure for him. But intermingled in the excitement is worry and sadness. Worry because he's going to have to jump in head first into life and all that it deals you and sometimes what you're dealt isn't all that great. Sad because, even though we don't always see eye to eye on most things, it will be very strange not seeing him around the house, just coming and going.

Josh has wanted this to happen so much for such a long time and I pray that he will have unbelievable success in his classes and all that a career in SHOW PRODUCTION will bring.

Good Days Bad Days

We have a monthly meeting at work and often our supervisor will challenge us with a question or two to help us grow in our walk in life and work. This week we were asked to give an example of a good day and a bad day at work.

I pondered this good day / bad day and I wasn’t sure if it meant the whole day had to be a good day or a bad day and after contemplating it for awhile I’m not sure that I could pinpoint an entire day that was totally good or totally bad. I know how ill-equipped I am at making the best of a day and nearly every morning in my quiet/journaling time I ask God to equip and empower me to do what is set before me that day in ways that will please him and allow me to accomplish what has been set before me. This has been especially true since I’ve started my new job as what I’m doing is so different from what I’ve been doing (from a career standpoint) for the past several years. I know that if I try to take the reigns by myself that inevitable disaster probably lies around the corner and so I look to God for guidance.

Good as that may sound I do have issues. Imagine that! Perfectionism and the need to please and or be accepted often gets in the way. These get particularly ugly when I find my (selfish – self) trying to perfect or do well the things that God has not so necessarily gifted me in doing. If I were to track it, I would probably find that some of my time is spent on trying to do well things that I don’t necessarily like nor do well because I don’t want to disappoint or let anyone down.

Fixing things is not my forte. Just ask my wife. I didn't even own a hammer until about 9 years ago. I dance around having to fix anything be it at work or at home. But because I don’t want to disappoint, I often will find myself, there’s no better way to say this but backing down, and trying to do whatever it is that needs to be done. I am however working on this downfall and trying to find more proactive ways in which to address it.

All this being said, I do have good days at work. When I can help someone accomplish a task they’re trying to complete, or make someone’s day easier by a service I’ve provided them, or I’ve “conquered” a major project, it’s a good day. However weaved within those good days can be bad days, especially when I’ve tried to take control over what God has planned for me or if I’m forcing myself like a square peg into a round hole to do something that I’m not especially good at doing. Ironically, just this morning I happened to look at the new watch I just bought while I was on vacation last week. I'm always on the look out for unique watches. This particular watch is a black square with a slightly offset round face. It occurred to me that, hmmm, a daily reminder right on my wrist, that I need to focus on fitting into the places where God has created me to excel and not be consumed by the things that someone else may be better suited to do. Not that those situations don’t provide for a great learning experience, but they can also lead to bad spots in a good day.

Bad spots in a good day also are elevated, like cream to the top, when I perceive that I’ve let someone down because of a situation that could have been handled better. There are times when things are out of my realm of knowledge that may cause the outcome be less than desired. Ignorance is no excuse, but I have to learn to make those growing experiences instead of failures. I think someone said if you don’t fail you can’t learn.

Good days and bad days at work are inevitable. What I choose to do with them can make all the difference.