Sold to the man with the.....

......cash in his pocket! I don't know about you but I just hate putting things up for sale and waiting for them to get sold. Patience is not one of my virtues.

We recently found a used car for my oldest son to purchase. Prior to buying it we took it to a mechanic whom we trusted to check it out for any unseen problems. After all, the car was 11 years old and it has 120k on it. Although the car did need some substantial repairs our mechanic assured us that it would be a worth-while car if we had them made. The body had no rust and the overall look of the car was pretty good. And it was a convertible. We talked it over with our son and decided to make the purchase and he would follow through and get the repairs made.

Well, as it turns out, our son didn't really want the used car and opted for other transportation that he financed himself. After finding out that he didnt trade the car in we offered to buy it from him and get it repaired ourselves. Our youngest son was without a car and we thought for sure that he'd want to buy it once it was fixed up. Well...that didn't turn out to be true either. I'm not sure how at 18 you can be so picky about what you drive but I guess you can.

Lori and I floundered for a week on whether we wanted to sink the repair money into the convertible and just have it as a weekend car. We do a lot of running on the weekends and thought it would save miles on our vehicles. But the more I pondered and prayed about it I just wasn't feeling comfortable that this was the right thing to do. I felt kind of greedy.

I asked our youngest son one more time if he was at all interested in this car and his reply was still "no." I talked it over with Lori and decided that we should put it in the paper for sale, hoping to get at least what we paid for it originally. The thing that I was concerned about is that I knew what was wrong with it and I wondered if we'd get anyone to even be interested once I told them. But I wasn't about to "Gild the Lily," for those of you Brady Bunch fans, just to get rid of it.

All this time the car has been sitting at the mechanics garage while we were vasilating on what to do with it. The ad went in the paper Thursday and Saturday morning I got a call from a prospective buyer. Unfortunately the car was not still at that mechanics garage. I made arrangements for the caller to see the car Monday night. So Monday morning, I got Josh, our youngest up early to go with me to pick up the car so that it would be home that evening for the first, and what I hoped would be, the last showing.

Josh drove the car home. Once in the house he started asking questions about it and wanted to know again how much the repairs were going to be and what we would sell it to him for. I could see the wheels turning in his head. I just had this feeling that once he drove it he was going to start to wonder whether he should buy it or not.

Monday evening came and the prospective buyer didnt show. We sat around and sat around and finally (remember I said I have no patience) I scrolled through my cell phone trying to figure out which number it was that called Saturday morning so I could call him back and find out the story. I finally found the number and reached the person who called. He said he got off late from work and wanted to come the next night. I said ok. Well, he called the next night and said that he wasnt coming at all. Arrrrgggghhhhhh!

Thursday I get a call from another prospective buyer. I lay it on the line with this guy as I had with the previous prospect about what I knew to be wrong with the car but he said he was still interested. He had had a convertible like this once before and really liked it and wanted another. We agreed that he would come to see it Friday night and see it he did.

Friday evening when I got home from work Josh was sitting at the kitchen table and asked again for the breakdown of what he had to pay for the car. He said if the airconditioning could be fixed or recharged, whatever it needed, he would now be interested. I said that I wished I had know that before I agreed to show it that night. Josh said that it really was no big deal and if this person wanted to buy it to let them have it. Yes, I was confused!

Leonard and his wife arrived around 7:30 to see the car and looked at it for almost 2 hours. I could tell Leonard wanted to make an offer but the Mrs. wasn't so convinced. At 9:30 and 9000 mosquito bites later they decided they wanted to sleep on it and would call back on Saturday. I advised them that we would be gone for a while on Saturday morning but to call my cell phone as I would have it with me.

As Lori and I drove to Wal-Mart for groceries Saturday morning we discussed the events surrounding the car. We thought Josh would want it for sure when we started this process and had given him many opportunities to have it. But we couldn't look a gift horse in the mouth either if someone wanted to buy it. We came to the conclusion that if Leornard and his wife made an offer then the car was not meant for Josh.

Leonard called my phone around 10 am. and wanted to know when we would be home. I said we'd be there by noon and to feel free to stop by. It was incredibly hot Saturday morning, we're talkin' just stand still and sweat like a pig. I've never understood that saying because from what I understand pigs dont sweat...but anyway. Leonard started combing the car over again. Although I really wanted to sell the car, my own selfishness was causing me to have thought along these lines ....it so incredbily HOT out here, I certainly hope he doesn't look at this car for another 2 hours in this heat! After about 15 minutes Leonard made an offer. I counterd and he counterd back. I said I think its ok but let me go talk to my wife about it. Of course she was good with it so it was "Sold to the man with the cash!"

Wind in the Willow (pt2)

You know how Fridays are at work, especially towards the end of the day. The veracity at which people attack their work diminishes quite quickly. Conversations turn to non-work related things as the clock ticks off the last moments of the work day.

In the remaining 30 minutes of the work day last Friday, two of my co-workers got into this serious conversation over a friends loss of a child. As a result, their conversation evolved into a discussion as to whether God really exists.

I was pretty sure that one of these two people believed in God and convinced that the other didn't. The more I listened to what was being said the more I wanted to join their conversation. I interjected a couple of things over the wall of my cube, but remained silent for the most part. It weighed heavily on me throughout the next few days that I didn't step up and take a position in that conversation. I guess I was suffering from one of those "I'm not equipped" moments and didn't rely upon God to supply the necessary words.

In the context of his message at Willow Wednesday night, Mark referred to James 1:14-16 which says

"Don't let anyone under pressure to give in to evil say, "God is trying to trip me up." God is impervious to evil, and puts evil in no one's way. The temptation to give in to evil comes from us and only us. We have no one to blame but the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust. Lust gets pregnant, and has a baby: sin! Sin grows up to adulthood, and becomes a real killer."

I believe that God has given us free will to choose, which includes the choice between right and wrong. I believe that the choices we make impact those who surround us in both positve and negative ways. God is for us, not against us. He doesn't cause us to chose evil. It comes from our own selfish nature. This was summed up very well in the verses from James. It was exactly what I should have interjected in that conversation last Friday. Equipped and empowered now, I had to follow through this time.

I wasn't sure that going back to the office on Thursday morning and quoting scripture alone, especially to someone whom I wasn't even certain believed in God, was going to be the most effective way to communicate what was conveyed in these verses from James. But I knew these verses had to be communicated.

In an email, I followed the verses from James with this.......

I believe that the choices we make, and the sin we often find ourselves often consumed by, seriously affects the lives of those who surround us. If God didnt come as Jesus to the earth and give His life for the redemption of sin then I guess there are a lot of people who are being fooled. I personally don't believe that is the case, but all of us will find out in the end.

and concluded my email by quoting this profound statement that Mark made at Willow Wednesday night.....

"If following Jesus, being a Christian, ever became illegal, would there be enough evidence against you to be convicted?"

The reply I received was this....

Well the pastor said (much better) what i was trying to say to Jimmy and my friend in Chicago who lost his son in an accident...namely God doesnt cause evil to people..that the evil is there and it isn't Gods doing at all..

My intentions for going to Willow was to support Mark. Hearing Mark speak not only enriches my life but also provides fuel that draws me closer to God. However, I believe that God had more in store for me on Wednesday night. I found it in James. From these verses I learned how God wanted me to respond to the conversation I heard that previous Friday.

I had a choice whehter to go to Willow or not. I had roadblocks that got in my way that could have easily discouraged or even prevented me from going to Chicago. I chose to perservere and pay it foward.

Wind in the Willows (pt1)

This past Wednesday our Senior Pastor, Mark had the opportunity to speak at Willow Creek Church in Chicago, well actually, Barrington, Illinois at their mid-week service. Lori and I decided that we'd make the trek over to Willow after work on Wednesday to support Mark and hear his message.

Lori and I decided to car pool to work Wednesday so she wouldn't have to drive home after we returned from Willow. It meant of course, that we couldn't have lunch together and if you read my previous "Addiction" blog you know that was going to be an issue for me, but I would just have to live without a fix.

I rec'd an email from Lori in the afternoon that one of the vocalists from our church, Kathy, wanted to ride to Willow with us and that Kathy was going to get in touch with me for the details of when we were leaving. Kathy called me shortly thereafter and advised that she was going to park under one of the lights in the parking lot at GCC (our church). Unfortunately I didnt pay close attention to all of what she said and you'll see why it was unfortunate.

I still had some manuals and things at my office at the hospital and I wanted to get them boxed up so that the hospital courier could deliver them to my new office at corporate. Around 3 o'clock I decided to venture over to the hospital, box up my stuff and then drive to GCC by 4 pm to pick up Lori and Kathy. I was certain that I had left some boxes in my hospital office from my previous office moves there but when I got there I only had one. I went rumaging around and found a couple other boxes, packed stuff up and was ready to leave. I couldn't find my car keys anywhere. I looked on the floor, on the desk, in the desk. Nothing. I rushed back down to where I had found some boxes on the 3rd floor thinking maybe I had dropped them, but again nothing. I went back up to the 4th floor and started searching the office again. I opened all the filing cabinet drawers, all the desk drawers, I got on my hands and knees and searched the floor. Still nothing. By now its 3:55 and I'm suppose to be at GCC by 4 pm. I'm starting to get a little frantic because I have no idea where the keys could have gone. Then it hits me. Could I have dropped them in one of the boxed I packed. I picked up the first box and started hurling stuff out of it, nothing. The second box, I'm digging and I hear the sound of keys. Yes! However now I've made a shambles of all that I so neatly packed. And its now 4:05. I start shoving stuff back in boxes, grab my keys and I'm out the door.

I get to GCC around 4:30 and I go to Lori's desk and shes not there. Now GCC is a pretty big place and she could be anywhere. My first thought is to start searching but I thought that could take forever. "Light bulb moment!" I decide to have her paged at the front desk. Someone called back from the page and said that Lori left with Kathy. I kid you not, my first thought was they got tired of waiting for me and left without me. I came back to my senses and just wondered where they could have gone. Not long after, Lori came in through the doors. She said she'd tried to call my cell but I didn't answer. Just my luck my cell had gone dead. Lori said that she and Kathy were waiting in Kathys car in the newest parking lot on the northside of GCC. Remember above when I said I didnt hear all of what Kathy said about meeting us a GCC. It was the north parking lot part I missed. She and Lori had been sitting out there waiting for me for 30 plus minutes I would guess.

Despite all of my set backs, some self induced and some not, we got a little later start than I'd liked but we still made it Willow in plenty of time and it was an incredible service.

Invest and Invite

Today my office lunched with a former co-worker and great friend. Mandy was hired as a contract programmer in our office just before I was hired 15 years ago. She was a part of our staff until 7 years ago when she married and moved to Seattle. Mandy became a good friend to both me and my wife. We'd often go to dinner with her on the weekend. She'd have us over and we'd return the invitation. She was from South Africa. Her English accent captivated us. She became part of our lives. Though she lives clear across the country we manage to keep in contact.

Last weekend Lori and were on our usual Saturday morning grocery shopping venture. We turned the corner to start down another aisle and to my surprise, there in the mail aisle was a friend from high school that I hadnt seen since we'd graduated. I called out...Holly? She stopped, turned around and looked at me and said "oh my gosh!" Holly and I grew up on the same neighborhood on the same block from kindergarten to our senior year. I bet we stood there in Wal-Mart and caught up for 30 minutes while her mother and my wife patiently stood by. We exchanged our email addresses and promised that we'd make an effort to keep in touch.

Some of you know how dedicated I am to my time at Panera Bread every morning and reading my Bible, a book and journaling. When you frequent a place so often you become like a fixture. Faces become familiar and 'good mornings' have the potential to develop into great conversations and friendships. When Greg first started coming into Panera he sat at a square table and read what ever book it was that he was reading. Sally always came in and sat on one of the cushy leather sofas and read her morning South Bend Trib. I, of course was at the round table by the window between the two. "Its going to be a great day" or "isn't it really cold today" soon was added to the good morning greetings we gave each other. Before you knew it, Greg had moved to one of the cushy leather chairs and the three of us were solving the worlds problems. Sally loved music and the arts and I'd often bring in one of GCC post cards and talk about the things that would be happening in the upcoming weeks. Then GCC started posting some of the song specials on the website so I'd bring my laptop in so I could share them. Funny thing is we never ran into each other anywhere but Panera. We didnt always have deep conversations, some days we hardly spoke at all but I believe friendships formed.

Last weekend was our first weekend in a series called "Click" at GCC. The message topic was invest and invite. Mark spoke about how we need to invest in people and get to know them where they're at in life. The service included an awesome drama of four people who where at different places in their lives and how their friends invested in them where the were at in life and eventually invited them to GCC. All noted how accepted and cared for they felt when they finally decided to come. We exemplify Christ when we demonstrate genuine concern for the people we're in contact with on a daily basis.

I have some truely awesome friends. Some know Christ and some, well know who He is. But I do know that I want my 'peeps' to know they matter and I want to be intentional in causing them to see that.

My addiction

Thought I'd give this blogging thing another chance. Not exactly sure what happened with my last blog. One day I could post and the next I couldn't....blogger said my password wasn't recognized. I followed all of their instructions to reset my password but none of them worked. I emailed support and followed their instructions (which were the same as what I found in the online help) but to no avail. I gave up. But the urge to blog lived on within me and surfaced again this past weekend so, VIOLA! My new blog, the Blog of Bob.

Prior to my unplanned job change in February, my wonderful wife, Lori, and I had lunch every day together. In February I was relocated to the west side of town for half the week. Because of that, the decision was pretty much made for us that, lunch together was going to be restricted to just a couple of days a week instead of every day. It seemed strange at first and I didn't much like it, but eventually adjusted. At the start of my company's fiscal year, the powers that be decided that I'd be at the corporate office 5 days a week instead of 2.5. This meant that lunch with Lori was probably going to change from just the couple of days a week to not at all.

That soon proved to be untrue. At first, after the change to 5 days a week on the west side, Lori and I began to meet a couple of days a week despite the distance. Lunch was rushed but it was so worth the time I got to spend with her.

I had some errands to run before work today so I was going to be getting to work later than usual. While I was out and about I made a stop at Starbucks for some coffee. Not like I hadn't had 4 cups at home already, but I do love my coffee. Lori asked that I drop her an email when I arrived at work. I emailed her shortly after I arrived and without even thinking added "do you wanna meet for lunch?" She said lunch would be lovely. I took a big drink of the carmel macchiatio that I bought at Starbucks earlier while on my errands and anticipated the afternoon coffee fix I would get on my way back from lunch. I do love my coffee.

Before I knew it, it was time for lunch. I passed the Meijer gas station and saw that gas had jumped to $3.09. I had just filled up Friday and was already almost to 1/2 tank already. It was a good 20 minute trip to meet Lori and I really had no idea how many miles it was one way. Gas prices at $3.09, twenty minutes to get where I'm going, and no idea how many miles it is one way...yet here I am driving from near the airport to Grape road nearly everyday....what is up with that!

Then it hit me I have an addiction......and its my WIFE! Every moment with her means so much. The scent of her perfume lingers in my mind all afternoon. I am so lucky to be so blessed. It's only a few weeks into the new fiscal year and I think we met for lunch every day last week and don't think I'll even consider the BettyFord Clinic! This is one addiction that I'm gonna feed.

.......and you thought I was going to say coffee!