Before I get started, I want to say that I don't set out to just write about work every week. I've been doing it a lot lately, but things are happening that I need to talk about, and this blog exists for me to express myself. Part of that means talking about what's been going on in my life, and recently, that has tended to revolve around work.
All that to say, yes, I'm writing about work again this week.
...
On Monday afternoon, I received my annual performance review at work. I've never had one before, at either of the other two places I've worked. One place was small and too informal, and the other, I worked there for only about three months.
Overall, my manager, Mike, is very happy with my work and how things are being done. He asked me if I had reconsidered my plans to eventually move on from the company. While I have become generally more patient about wanting to leave, I did have to tell Mike that I hadn't changed changed my mind. For me, working at the printing company is a job, but not what I want to make my career.
Mike asked what I truly wanted to do. I said that I wanted to do something, whatever that might be, where people could bring me a problem and that I would try to find a solution. As my friend Aaron said, I have what can be called "the gift of mercy"; if I see a need, I have to meet that need. I first realized that I really enjoyed doing this when I helped my friends Samantha and Joshua raise money for their short-term missions trip to South Africa (wow, that's going to be three years ago, this summer. Where does the time go?).
I talked with my sister Laura about it a few days later. Laura remarked that what I wanted to do was like The Godfather, wherein people would bring their problems to me and I would give them a solution. Any criminal inferences notwithstanding, it summed up what I wanted to do, in a weird way. She said I needed to figure out how to make that happen. So, I asking for prayer regarding wisdom about how to go about finding how to do what I want to do. Dad said if I was unhappy with where I was working, I needed to find another job or create it. Pray that God would grant me wisdom about how to do this.
Also, pray that I would seek to glorify God in this, and not myself. I'm already seeing that it would be way too easy to get caught up in how it would make me feel good, or how it could make me look like a good guy, when I should be seeking to glorify Him. I would love to find someone with whom I could share this goal, who would love to be able to do something like this.
And while I'm putting in the order, can she be single and godly?
Sunday, April 26, 2015
Sunday, April 19, 2015
A lot of things on my mind this week
It's been a busy week.
At work, we've been seeing a lot of new faces. Most of the new people have been coming from a temp agency. In terms of quality of their work, they've varied from excellent to poor. For those of us who've worked in the digital department, it's seemed like the poorer ones end up there.
Lately, we've had one guy that, for lack of a better term, we had to babysit. If we didn't watch him, he would tend to disappear, or he would busy himself with just about anything but the work we put in of front of him. Even then, he didn't work very quickly, and didn't seem motivated to work any faster. Also, he had a tendency to ask frequently, "Is it break time yet?"
Anyway, I was telling these problems to the shipping department manager, who told me that I needed to bring these problems to the attention of the digital manager. That was on Tuesday of last week, and meanwhile, our wayward temp failed to show up on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. When I finally got the chance to talk to our manager on Wednesday, I told him things were not working out with our temp and that we didn't need a guy we had to watch like a hawk. He agreed, but it turned out our problem had solved itself: our temp failed to show up and not call in for the third straight day. For that alone, the manager told us we were not having our temp, even if he wanted to come back.
We have since replaced him with a new guy, someone who was directly hired by the company. The new hire seems far more motivated to work hard, to learn how everything works, and to generally do a good job. I'm grateful for this. Even as I wrote that last sentence, I had to stop and give thanks to God for providing in those times of provision. To be perfectly honest, I'm far more motivated to teach them what they need to learn when they're driven and willing not just to learn, but to be taught.
...
On Thursday afternoon, I received a message out of the blue from a guy at church who's getting ready to graduate from seminary very shortly. He was wondering if I would be interested in a potential church planting opportunity some time in the future.
It took some time for me to recall, but I remembered that we had once discussed the idea of church planting and whether I was interested in such a thing. At the time, I wasn't happy with where I was in my walk with the Lord. I had largely withdrawn from fellowship, my attendance at church had become spotty, and I lacked the opportunity to be an active part of a weekly Bible study.
I think, at the time, I thought I needed a change, something that would get me back involved as an active member of the church. In the moment, I think trying a different church had appeal. I wasn't sure if I should stay at the church I attend, because I felt so alienated from it and its' goings-on. Looking back, I had fallen into the same old sinful habit of withdrawing from others, when I should've been giving myself to others. As Proverbs 18:1 says, "Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgement".
When I got the message on Thursday, I responded, saying that we should discuss it further, and that I wanted to think and pray about it. Having done so, I realize that I don't really want to leave for another church, but at the same time, I'd like to be able to help support a new church that's dedicated to faithfully proclaiming the Gospel. Pray that God would grant me wisdom in what I should do, what I should say, and that I would be able to provide support however I can do so. May God's will be done in all this.
At work, we've been seeing a lot of new faces. Most of the new people have been coming from a temp agency. In terms of quality of their work, they've varied from excellent to poor. For those of us who've worked in the digital department, it's seemed like the poorer ones end up there.
Lately, we've had one guy that, for lack of a better term, we had to babysit. If we didn't watch him, he would tend to disappear, or he would busy himself with just about anything but the work we put in of front of him. Even then, he didn't work very quickly, and didn't seem motivated to work any faster. Also, he had a tendency to ask frequently, "Is it break time yet?"
Anyway, I was telling these problems to the shipping department manager, who told me that I needed to bring these problems to the attention of the digital manager. That was on Tuesday of last week, and meanwhile, our wayward temp failed to show up on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. When I finally got the chance to talk to our manager on Wednesday, I told him things were not working out with our temp and that we didn't need a guy we had to watch like a hawk. He agreed, but it turned out our problem had solved itself: our temp failed to show up and not call in for the third straight day. For that alone, the manager told us we were not having our temp, even if he wanted to come back.
We have since replaced him with a new guy, someone who was directly hired by the company. The new hire seems far more motivated to work hard, to learn how everything works, and to generally do a good job. I'm grateful for this. Even as I wrote that last sentence, I had to stop and give thanks to God for providing in those times of provision. To be perfectly honest, I'm far more motivated to teach them what they need to learn when they're driven and willing not just to learn, but to be taught.
...
On Thursday afternoon, I received a message out of the blue from a guy at church who's getting ready to graduate from seminary very shortly. He was wondering if I would be interested in a potential church planting opportunity some time in the future.
It took some time for me to recall, but I remembered that we had once discussed the idea of church planting and whether I was interested in such a thing. At the time, I wasn't happy with where I was in my walk with the Lord. I had largely withdrawn from fellowship, my attendance at church had become spotty, and I lacked the opportunity to be an active part of a weekly Bible study.
I think, at the time, I thought I needed a change, something that would get me back involved as an active member of the church. In the moment, I think trying a different church had appeal. I wasn't sure if I should stay at the church I attend, because I felt so alienated from it and its' goings-on. Looking back, I had fallen into the same old sinful habit of withdrawing from others, when I should've been giving myself to others. As Proverbs 18:1 says, "Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgement".
When I got the message on Thursday, I responded, saying that we should discuss it further, and that I wanted to think and pray about it. Having done so, I realize that I don't really want to leave for another church, but at the same time, I'd like to be able to help support a new church that's dedicated to faithfully proclaiming the Gospel. Pray that God would grant me wisdom in what I should do, what I should say, and that I would be able to provide support however I can do so. May God's will be done in all this.
Sunday, April 12, 2015
A healthy change
Dad had a health scare this past week; he developed an irregular heartbeat and it drastically lowered his blood pressure. When the doctors tried to medically regulate Dad's heart rate, his blood pressure then elevated. Friends of mine were keeping Dad in their prayers, for which I'm grateful. He only had to stay in the hospital overnight, but he's been off the whole week to take it easy. At the same time, he's been battling a chest cold.
It's been a motivation for the family as a whole to start eating better than we have been. For one thing, we're trying to eat together as a family more often. This isn't easy to do, as we all keep different hours. Dad and Joe are early risers, whereas I tend to keep late hours due to work, which means I'm not home at dinnertime five nights a week. It was decided that we would all take turns doing the cooking for dinner, so tonight, I'll be grilling corn and chicken, using a dry rub recipe I found online.
I'm still eating the kale salads for breakfast. However, I've now begun incorporating romaine lettuce into my salads, and I'm also using croutons. I know that doesn't seem like much, but it's important for me to be able to stay with this new diet, and I want it to be as palatable as possible, within reason. Whatever the case, it still beats eating oatmeal.
...
Out cousins have come over for the day. Things will be active but quiet today. It's just nice not to have to be anywhere today.
It's been a motivation for the family as a whole to start eating better than we have been. For one thing, we're trying to eat together as a family more often. This isn't easy to do, as we all keep different hours. Dad and Joe are early risers, whereas I tend to keep late hours due to work, which means I'm not home at dinnertime five nights a week. It was decided that we would all take turns doing the cooking for dinner, so tonight, I'll be grilling corn and chicken, using a dry rub recipe I found online.
I'm still eating the kale salads for breakfast. However, I've now begun incorporating romaine lettuce into my salads, and I'm also using croutons. I know that doesn't seem like much, but it's important for me to be able to stay with this new diet, and I want it to be as palatable as possible, within reason. Whatever the case, it still beats eating oatmeal.
...
Out cousins have come over for the day. Things will be active but quiet today. It's just nice not to have to be anywhere today.
Monday, April 6, 2015
Diet
As I write this, it is after midnight on the Monday morning after Easter. For whatever reason, I couldn't bring myself to sit down and write. I didn't know what to say. I still don't know what to say, as I've just had to pray, "Lord, give me the words to write."
I've been going through a physical trial this week. Recently, I've begun to suffer digestive problems that have forced a change of diet for me. When I went to the doctor, he told me that I needed to start eating more fiber, especially in the form of oatmeal.
For three straight mornings, I ate a bowl of oatmeal with flaxseeds. I cannot eat oatmeal without legitimately having to suppress the urge to vomit. I realized that I could not keep up eating a more healthy breakfast if it made me feel so nasty to eat. So starting Saturday morning, kale salads for breakfast. Tomorrow, I'm going to start adding canned chicken; I need more protein.
I did have too much carne asada today, especially as I've eaten very little red meat lately. I've already had to give up both sausage and pretzels, neither of which sit well with me, figuratively speaking. For a few days, I was heavily craving chicken. Most of the time, I was starving as I wasn't eating much; it was all I could do to figure out what I could eat.
There are some things that for the time being, I don't really want to eat anymore. For one thing, I don't want to eat French fries. At the moment, eating a lot of cooked potato seems really unpleasant. Also, I cannot bring myself to eat white rice. For one thing, I don't need to be eating so much starch. Secondly, it just reminds me of eating oatmeal.
I've wondered if there's something God is trying to teach me something. I know I've needed to make some changes to my diet, and I've also prayed that God would teach me self-control. I guess this whole thing has shown me that there are a number of areas where I need to cultivate self-control.
I've been going through a physical trial this week. Recently, I've begun to suffer digestive problems that have forced a change of diet for me. When I went to the doctor, he told me that I needed to start eating more fiber, especially in the form of oatmeal.
For three straight mornings, I ate a bowl of oatmeal with flaxseeds. I cannot eat oatmeal without legitimately having to suppress the urge to vomit. I realized that I could not keep up eating a more healthy breakfast if it made me feel so nasty to eat. So starting Saturday morning, kale salads for breakfast. Tomorrow, I'm going to start adding canned chicken; I need more protein.
I did have too much carne asada today, especially as I've eaten very little red meat lately. I've already had to give up both sausage and pretzels, neither of which sit well with me, figuratively speaking. For a few days, I was heavily craving chicken. Most of the time, I was starving as I wasn't eating much; it was all I could do to figure out what I could eat.
There are some things that for the time being, I don't really want to eat anymore. For one thing, I don't want to eat French fries. At the moment, eating a lot of cooked potato seems really unpleasant. Also, I cannot bring myself to eat white rice. For one thing, I don't need to be eating so much starch. Secondly, it just reminds me of eating oatmeal.
I've wondered if there's something God is trying to teach me something. I know I've needed to make some changes to my diet, and I've also prayed that God would teach me self-control. I guess this whole thing has shown me that there are a number of areas where I need to cultivate self-control.
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