Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Unique Mormonness
One of the unique things about being a member of the LDS faith, is that we do not have a paid clergy/ministry. Meaning, when we pay tithing or give offerings to the church, the sitting Bishop does not get a dime of that money. This tends to be revolutionary thinking for people outside of our faith. Very much so, our faith is not a dormant one. We are required, as members of the church, to step up, to serve proactively, to take care of each other and to love every minute of it. It helps that we believe that we are 'called' and 'set apart' to our various duties in the church by inspiration of leadership. For example, when someone is 'called' to be a leader of the youth (Young Men or Young Women program), the bishop has prayed and pondered and received inspiration to select the right person for that specific calling or duty. That person is then interviewed and asked if they'd like to accept this calling. Anyone can reject or accept, however, most members of the church accept their calling to a specific duty gladly. The Mormon culture is unique in this way. The members grow individually in faith as they are asked to serve in their various callings. Service includes teaching lessons, having meetings, planning/creating/scheduling/executing activities, working with others, inspiring, learning and overall, becoming a leader through experience and prayerful preparation with the Lord. It's an amazingly unique experience to serve in callings and to enjoy the blessings that come only through serving your fellow beings. It's just another way the LDS faith is unique and different.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Bob West
As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we adhere to a general 3-fold mission of the Church: 1. Perfect the Saints 2. Proclaim the Gospel 3. Redeem the Dead I had the opportunity to serve a full-time mission in Haiti for 2 years teaching the restored gospel of the church. So, I have a great love for the 'Proclaim the Gospel' portion of our church's mission.
Although I didn't intend for this post to be religious in nature today, I wanted to make a couple observations about a man who has been 'investigating' our church for the past 8-9 months. Bob West is a chain smoker. He grew up in and around Romulus, Michigan before the airport came. His parents and grandparents owned land that his grandfather farmed for his whole life. Bob started working very early in his life, around 6 years old. He was always a skinny man, but had remarkable strength for someone his size and stature. From the time he was about 10 years old, he'd work down at the local mill doing grunt work and getting gullible passersby to bet on whether he could haul a load that a man typically 2x's his size couldn't do. The thing is, Bob won every gullible bet- he was that strong.
Bob enlisted into the Navy and found himself working on ships out at sea. He was a natural fit as a shipman sometimes staying up for more than 40 hours on a shift. He loves his country and had many amazing experiences as a shipman. This is the kind of patriot Bob is.
Bob has always been a giver. Friends, throughout his life, have always called on Bob when in trouble and Bob ALWAYS answered the call. Sometimes even at his own personal peril. On one occassion, Bob's friend's family were stranded more than 2 hours away on a highway with car troubles. Bob had received the call and left to help his friend immediately, although only having had an hour of sleep the prior night before. After hours of towing and helping his friend safe back to his home, Bob was called into work and straightway went back to his duties without complaint. This is the kind of friend Bob is.
Bob told me of a time when he rescued a group of Catholic Nun's from a burning car after he witnessed an accident. This is the kind of patron Bob is.
Bob was interested in learning more about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ early last year and so the missionaries from our church were sent over to teach him. I made Bob's acquaintence about 6 months ago, as I like to go out on 'splits' with the missionaries. One of the tennets of our 'health code' as members of the church is that we don't chew or smoke tobacco. It is a requirement of baptism to be living the 'Word of Wisdom' and in his case, to refrain from smoking. Bob has been a smoker since he was 10 years old and this has been a daunting task for him.
Bob has sinced cut down his smoking from 2 packs a day, to about 10 cigarettes a day. His health has been steadily getting worse over the past 6 months including a couple of 'falls' where he blacked out. I think Bob feels like his time is running out. He loves the Lord and has lived a life serving others. When we leave his home after sharing a message about Christ, we ask him to pray. He always prays for the 'little hungry children' in the world. I almost tear up everytime he does. He doesn't have any immediate family left alive in this world and I can tell he receives our visits with anticipation.
I guess the reason why I wanted to share my thoughts about Bob West, in retrospect, is to just vocalize a little something about a humble man who has gone about his life quietly serving our country, his friends and his neighbors. He may never be able to 'become LDS' through baptism (the church is a stickler about God's laws); however, it's these amazing men that make up the quiet history of this fallen world and I'm grateful for his contribution thus far.
Although I didn't intend for this post to be religious in nature today, I wanted to make a couple observations about a man who has been 'investigating' our church for the past 8-9 months. Bob West is a chain smoker. He grew up in and around Romulus, Michigan before the airport came. His parents and grandparents owned land that his grandfather farmed for his whole life. Bob started working very early in his life, around 6 years old. He was always a skinny man, but had remarkable strength for someone his size and stature. From the time he was about 10 years old, he'd work down at the local mill doing grunt work and getting gullible passersby to bet on whether he could haul a load that a man typically 2x's his size couldn't do. The thing is, Bob won every gullible bet- he was that strong.
Bob enlisted into the Navy and found himself working on ships out at sea. He was a natural fit as a shipman sometimes staying up for more than 40 hours on a shift. He loves his country and had many amazing experiences as a shipman. This is the kind of patriot Bob is.
Bob has always been a giver. Friends, throughout his life, have always called on Bob when in trouble and Bob ALWAYS answered the call. Sometimes even at his own personal peril. On one occassion, Bob's friend's family were stranded more than 2 hours away on a highway with car troubles. Bob had received the call and left to help his friend immediately, although only having had an hour of sleep the prior night before. After hours of towing and helping his friend safe back to his home, Bob was called into work and straightway went back to his duties without complaint. This is the kind of friend Bob is.
Bob told me of a time when he rescued a group of Catholic Nun's from a burning car after he witnessed an accident. This is the kind of patron Bob is.
Bob was interested in learning more about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ early last year and so the missionaries from our church were sent over to teach him. I made Bob's acquaintence about 6 months ago, as I like to go out on 'splits' with the missionaries. One of the tennets of our 'health code' as members of the church is that we don't chew or smoke tobacco. It is a requirement of baptism to be living the 'Word of Wisdom' and in his case, to refrain from smoking. Bob has been a smoker since he was 10 years old and this has been a daunting task for him.
Bob has sinced cut down his smoking from 2 packs a day, to about 10 cigarettes a day. His health has been steadily getting worse over the past 6 months including a couple of 'falls' where he blacked out. I think Bob feels like his time is running out. He loves the Lord and has lived a life serving others. When we leave his home after sharing a message about Christ, we ask him to pray. He always prays for the 'little hungry children' in the world. I almost tear up everytime he does. He doesn't have any immediate family left alive in this world and I can tell he receives our visits with anticipation.
I guess the reason why I wanted to share my thoughts about Bob West, in retrospect, is to just vocalize a little something about a humble man who has gone about his life quietly serving our country, his friends and his neighbors. He may never be able to 'become LDS' through baptism (the church is a stickler about God's laws); however, it's these amazing men that make up the quiet history of this fallen world and I'm grateful for his contribution thus far.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
What would you be willing to do for a $500k/year job?
I'm not planning on blogging about every lunch meeting that I have with clients, but a conversation that I had with a prospective client the other day proved too good to pass up.
I sat down with my client around noonish on Wednesday excited about partnering his organization with our services. We spoke a bit about the Christmas season, the hustle and bustle of not having enough time and what our respective families were planning on doing over the next week.
After asking a series of pointed questions about his business operations over our delicious lunch, my client opened up further about the sectors and clients that they serve, their internal operations and their sales staff. As a smaller subsidiary organization, their sales staff was small, but tenured. He described his top sales guy as thus: This man lived and breathed his job. He worked long hours, saw his family very little, yet made a healthy living. I asked, prying a little, what kind of 'healthy living' did he make. He said with a straight face: "upwards of $500,000 per year." "Really," I said and instantly the cogs in my head started to churn...even hum a little. "Yeah...He's been with the company for over 30 years and is looking to retire soon." My face may have gotten a little red, white or green (who can tell, it's Christmas!) For some reason, the movie Tommy Boy started playing in my head. I started thinking further about what a move like that would entail, what sacrifice it may demand, what benefits, long-term and short-term, a move like that would make in my life.
That got me to thinking today. What would you be willing to do if someone offered you a job that paid upwards of $500,000/year?
I sat down with my client around noonish on Wednesday excited about partnering his organization with our services. We spoke a bit about the Christmas season, the hustle and bustle of not having enough time and what our respective families were planning on doing over the next week.
After asking a series of pointed questions about his business operations over our delicious lunch, my client opened up further about the sectors and clients that they serve, their internal operations and their sales staff. As a smaller subsidiary organization, their sales staff was small, but tenured. He described his top sales guy as thus: This man lived and breathed his job. He worked long hours, saw his family very little, yet made a healthy living. I asked, prying a little, what kind of 'healthy living' did he make. He said with a straight face: "upwards of $500,000 per year." "Really," I said and instantly the cogs in my head started to churn...even hum a little. "Yeah...He's been with the company for over 30 years and is looking to retire soon." My face may have gotten a little red, white or green (who can tell, it's Christmas!) For some reason, the movie Tommy Boy started playing in my head. I started thinking further about what a move like that would entail, what sacrifice it may demand, what benefits, long-term and short-term, a move like that would make in my life.
That got me to thinking today. What would you be willing to do if someone offered you a job that paid upwards of $500,000/year?
Friday, December 16, 2011
Pixie Pop Appreciation
Wednesday night, my wife expressed some exasperation about Thursday. "I've got Gabe and Rowan's Christmas parties at school; I've got 300 cake pops to make; I've got a ton of running around to do; Martha Stewart and I are brainstorming to solve the problems of the world's homemakers @ 4pm, ect, " she said.
"Well, I guess I could call off work...Would that help?" That simple question would prove a daysaver for my lovely bride and a whole new perspective for me.
Rarely do I get the opportunity to spend time alone with my youngest daughter Rowan. Between the demands of the older kids, Rowan somehow gets less 'daddy time.' Mainly, in part, because she's just the littlest voice out of the 4 kids. I recognize this and am trying to work on spending more time with my little Tweety Bird; so, taking the day off and having the opportunity to go to her preschool's Christmas party was a treat for both of us!
I sometimes forget how cute 4 year olds are. When I arrived at the school, the kids were sitting on the 'listening rug' 'listening' to a story from Mrs. Putnam. I snuck in and Rowan didn't see me; she was in the front row looking up bright-eyed at the story book. I picked a mini-seat at one of the round tables where there lay a litany of goodies waiting to be devoured. When Rowan turned around after the story and saw me there, her little heart sprang with joy--and so did mine :) We spent the next 45 minute eating our reindeer sandwiches, cookies and Christmas chocolates together. She's cuter than I can describe.
Flash forward a couple hours later. My wife and her business partner were in our kitchen preparing their Pixie Pop( https://www.facebook.com/#!/pixiepopshop ) orders for their customers for the week. After being an observer for a while, I asked invitingly,"Is there anything I can do to help?" Boy, was I in for a 'treat.' After a long washing of hands, I was subsequently instructed over the course of the next couple hours (8 to be exact) to roll balls, help decorate snowmen, reindeer, santa clauses and to add meticulous details to what seemed to be limitless Pixie Pops. By 11pm (when we finished), I was exhausted and wondering how my wife does this day in and day out.
Okay, I've figured it out: my wife is an amazing woman. If you ever get to know her, she's better than what you expect. She always surprises me about how good she is. She's sweet and kind-hearted. She's thoughtful. She cares about people, especially her kids. She endlessly gives of her time freely to better others. She serves without regard for recognition. She's fun to be around and has a warm, approachable personality. Needless to say, after 8 hours of Pixie Pops, I was Pixie pooped; but I certainly learned, even if it was in microcosm, how much my wife does on a daily basis and how much I appreciate her unrelenting goodness.
"Well, I guess I could call off work...Would that help?" That simple question would prove a daysaver for my lovely bride and a whole new perspective for me.
Rarely do I get the opportunity to spend time alone with my youngest daughter Rowan. Between the demands of the older kids, Rowan somehow gets less 'daddy time.' Mainly, in part, because she's just the littlest voice out of the 4 kids. I recognize this and am trying to work on spending more time with my little Tweety Bird; so, taking the day off and having the opportunity to go to her preschool's Christmas party was a treat for both of us!
I sometimes forget how cute 4 year olds are. When I arrived at the school, the kids were sitting on the 'listening rug' 'listening' to a story from Mrs. Putnam. I snuck in and Rowan didn't see me; she was in the front row looking up bright-eyed at the story book. I picked a mini-seat at one of the round tables where there lay a litany of goodies waiting to be devoured. When Rowan turned around after the story and saw me there, her little heart sprang with joy--and so did mine :) We spent the next 45 minute eating our reindeer sandwiches, cookies and Christmas chocolates together. She's cuter than I can describe.
Flash forward a couple hours later. My wife and her business partner were in our kitchen preparing their Pixie Pop( https://www.facebook.com/#!/pixiepopshop ) orders for their customers for the week. After being an observer for a while, I asked invitingly,"Is there anything I can do to help?" Boy, was I in for a 'treat.' After a long washing of hands, I was subsequently instructed over the course of the next couple hours (8 to be exact) to roll balls, help decorate snowmen, reindeer, santa clauses and to add meticulous details to what seemed to be limitless Pixie Pops. By 11pm (when we finished), I was exhausted and wondering how my wife does this day in and day out.
Okay, I've figured it out: my wife is an amazing woman. If you ever get to know her, she's better than what you expect. She always surprises me about how good she is. She's sweet and kind-hearted. She's thoughtful. She cares about people, especially her kids. She endlessly gives of her time freely to better others. She serves without regard for recognition. She's fun to be around and has a warm, approachable personality. Needless to say, after 8 hours of Pixie Pops, I was Pixie pooped; but I certainly learned, even if it was in microcosm, how much my wife does on a daily basis and how much I appreciate her unrelenting goodness.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Eat yourself into friendship...
Today, I had lunch with a client (name withheld) to talk about how partnering with my organization would not only help solve a ton of their company's current issues, but would provide an incredible value proposition to the development of their staff. The man I had lunch with was the consomate professional; intelligent, business savvy, incredibly knowlegable across competencies and very social.
He walked into the restaurant just as I was about to be seated. From the moment we sat down, we talked...and talked and talked. After our appetizer of black bean soup (with cilantro & a dollup of sour cream), we talked more. Somewhere in between the Cobb salad bleu cheese crumbles and his glass of Coca-Cola, we solidified a partnership...I wager a friendship. We spoke further about our families, his company's infrastructure, my son's disabilities, his company's new EDS system implementation, his plans for Christmas, our potential solutions to some of their issues. You see the pattern.
But something odd occurred as he ate his key lime pie and sipped his coffee. For a brief moment, I saw into the complex life of this dad of 3/Corporate Director of LD/husband/on-the-side marriage prep counselor. In the complex waves of life, there are those moments that seem to explain something that you can't put into words. I know it sounds weird, but I felt like after a nice 90 minute lunch that I had known this man for my whole life.
We shook hands a couple times before we both went to our respective cars and left to go back to our respective places of work. The lunch meeting that we had was a success. I was able to reestablish and solidify a relationship with a company that we'll be partnering with for the next year on multiple projects. But more importantly, I feel wiser having met another really good human being trying to do what's right in his 'world.' The world may be falling apart around us, but wow, there still are really great people trying to hold this place together.
He walked into the restaurant just as I was about to be seated. From the moment we sat down, we talked...and talked and talked. After our appetizer of black bean soup (with cilantro & a dollup of sour cream), we talked more. Somewhere in between the Cobb salad bleu cheese crumbles and his glass of Coca-Cola, we solidified a partnership...I wager a friendship. We spoke further about our families, his company's infrastructure, my son's disabilities, his company's new EDS system implementation, his plans for Christmas, our potential solutions to some of their issues. You see the pattern.
But something odd occurred as he ate his key lime pie and sipped his coffee. For a brief moment, I saw into the complex life of this dad of 3/Corporate Director of LD/husband/on-the-side marriage prep counselor. In the complex waves of life, there are those moments that seem to explain something that you can't put into words. I know it sounds weird, but I felt like after a nice 90 minute lunch that I had known this man for my whole life.
We shook hands a couple times before we both went to our respective cars and left to go back to our respective places of work. The lunch meeting that we had was a success. I was able to reestablish and solidify a relationship with a company that we'll be partnering with for the next year on multiple projects. But more importantly, I feel wiser having met another really good human being trying to do what's right in his 'world.' The world may be falling apart around us, but wow, there still are really great people trying to hold this place together.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
What does a Catholic Christmas Program and Michael Jackson have in common?
I'm not Catholic. My grandparents on my mother's side, my in-laws and my sister-in-law are. I've been exposed to Catholicism most of my life, mainly from working in a festival booth during my summers from when I was 10 years old till about my 16th year of existence. I used to work for a man named Walter Griggs who always had a hint of b.o. and typically had flem crusted on the corners of his mouth. My mother and I would work his 'Dog Race' on the weekends and I'd make about $200 for 3 days of work. Not bad for a 12 year old needing cash. I digress. Most of my experience with Catholicism was influenced by all the church festivals that I'd work at. The pungent smell of that dog race and spilt beer comes to mind immediately.
This week, my sister-in-law invited us to go to St. Mary's Church Christmas Program. I thought, well, I've been to a lot of church festivals... So, today we went. I loved it! The church was gorgeous, the people were well dressed and the music was beautiful. They broke up the program with scripture reads and musical interludes and solos. It was really festive and I think we've found a new tradition.
Yeah, I'm not Catholic and I never will be (I'm a Mormon for crying out loud), but I really enjoyed the Christmas spirit that I felt tonight in that beautiful church. It was a lot better than one of those polka/beer tent/bingo night extravaganzas of past adolescent memory. So, thank you sister-in-law for inviting us! It was very special.
**Side note** When we arrived, they handed out candles for the first part of the program to which they were lit and we sat there by candlelight for the first 20 minutes of the program. During that time, my son Jude was holding the candle (stellar parenting skills on my part, I know). He managed, during the 5 minutes that he was holding the candle, to cinge the front part of his bangs, not a little. Afterward, his siblings, once they found out about his Michael Jackson incident, started singing made-up songs about this hair being cinged on the way home. Funny memory for sure.
This week, my sister-in-law invited us to go to St. Mary's Church Christmas Program. I thought, well, I've been to a lot of church festivals... So, today we went. I loved it! The church was gorgeous, the people were well dressed and the music was beautiful. They broke up the program with scripture reads and musical interludes and solos. It was really festive and I think we've found a new tradition.
Yeah, I'm not Catholic and I never will be (I'm a Mormon for crying out loud), but I really enjoyed the Christmas spirit that I felt tonight in that beautiful church. It was a lot better than one of those polka/beer tent/bingo night extravaganzas of past adolescent memory. So, thank you sister-in-law for inviting us! It was very special.
**Side note** When we arrived, they handed out candles for the first part of the program to which they were lit and we sat there by candlelight for the first 20 minutes of the program. During that time, my son Jude was holding the candle (stellar parenting skills on my part, I know). He managed, during the 5 minutes that he was holding the candle, to cinge the front part of his bangs, not a little. Afterward, his siblings, once they found out about his Michael Jackson incident, started singing made-up songs about this hair being cinged on the way home. Funny memory for sure.
 |
| From this angle you notice 2 things: First you notice that Jude's mouth is missing another tooth. Second, you can see his cinged hairs in plain view. |
Thursday, December 1, 2011
My new found justification for blogging...
After a ton of flip flopping, I've decided that I need to start blogging. My reasons are simple:
- I'm jealous of my friends that have started blogging with success--true story
- I come across fun, crazy, inspired and unbelievable pieces of information all the time that I want to share in one place, not Facebook
- I want to start a small cult following
- I need a way to document & communicate who I am at this stage in life to my kids, like a makeshift journal
- I need a place to put all my random thoughts & feelings before the scrutiny of others-- I'm a glutton for punishment
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