Hitting Your Head On the Cross

This past Sunday our church service had ended and I was on the platform shutting down some of the electronics.  I bent down to work on something and when I stood up I smashed my head on something.  You know that moment when you suddenly realize you hit something and it is really going to hurt? My head started bleeding a bit and I was really getting aggravated.

My first thought was who hung something in a place like this.  They certainly weren’t thinking very clearly. My goodness…what poor planning.  Then I turned and looked and realized I had hit my head on a large wooden cross that was suspended above the platform.

All of a sudden it really did hit me.  Perhaps I spend too much time thinking about what fits me…what is convenient for me. Maybe I need to think more about what Christ has done for me.  Here I am complaining about hitting my head on a cross when Christ gave his very life on the cross for me.  I had a headache but Christ had a crown of thorns pressed into His head.  As my hand reached up to rub my sore head I remembered that Christ had nails pounded through His hands. As I was complaining about a bump on the head, Christ endured beatings, crucifixion, and death…and He did it for me.

I am thankful for the bump on the head to remind me what Christ did for me and how much He really loves me.  In the darkness of the church sanctuary, with nobody around, I had a chance to worship God and remember His sacrifice for me.

To the person who hung that cross in the church sanctuary…thank you.  To my Lord and Savior…I can never thank you enough.

A Leap Year to Remember

Pastor Greg McNall, and my son, Josh, looking at damage

On February 28^th my family and I arrived in Branson, Missouri.  I was scheduled to speak to the Wesleyan pastors and spouses at the Tri-State District Retreat.

That night we went to dinner, looked at all the theaters, restaurants, and amusement activities that are up and down Highway 76, the main road through Branson.  As we headed to dinner, we talked about some of the interesting places we needed to visit the next day.

That evening my family headed to the pool.  We played Marco Polo, shark and minnows and all those games kids love to play.  It was an ordinary night.

About 1:00 AM on February 29^th, our day was about to become extraordinary.  I awoke to the sound of hail. My son woke up also and said he heard tornado sirens.  In just a few minutes the hotel went black, and we heard an unbelievably loud sound…the sound of fierce winds.  Suddenly things were being blown past the outside of our room. We could hear the banging of things being bounced off the walls.  People in the hotel were moving to the stairwells for cover.  We stayed in our room but all of us were ready to move in an instant.  The terrible wind lasted about five minutes and then changed to rain. The storm was extremely powerful but it was quick.

In the morning we could finally see the results of an F2 tornado.  The courtyard of our hotel was wrapped in building insulation and pieces of drywall…not from our hotel but from other buildings.

Across the street one hotel had few, if any, windows remaining.  They had all been blown out by the storm and much of the roof was peeled back.  Another hotel lost most of one wall.  The plumbing was exposed and visible from the street.  Much of their roof was gone.  Huge buildings had broken windows and missing roofs.  There were piles of rubble from the buildings…bricks, pieces of roofing, wood.  Live power lines were on the ground or caught in the rubble.  The town had no power.

The police department immediately had blocked off entrances to the town.  Nobody could get into town and the police were closely watching those leaving town and trying to keep folks off the streets.  I had a chance to talk with two of the Branson officers.  They were wonderful men who were trying to keep everyone safe and protect the vulnerable, damaged buildings.

Branson tornado damage

So what’s the lesson in this?  All around us was devastation but our hotel didn’t appear to have any damage…a hotel that housed pastors and their wives who were praying through the storm.  The one oasis in a sea of damage.  Coincidence?  Maybe.  God’s protection?  That has my vote.

A Dose of Reality

This week I had the chance to spend some time in a cancer treatment center.  I got a dose of reality.

Before you start worrying, I am fine.  I was an outsider today…accompanying someone else for this visit.

As I pulled into the parking lot I quickly observed people being helped out of cars and trucks…both old and new.  Some folks were well dressed.  Others looked like they hadn’t seen new clothes in a long time.  Cancer didn’t care about their socio-economic status.

As I entered the building I saw a wall of wigs on those white Styrofoam head pieces.  Four rows of wigs… all colors and styles.  I quickly remembered the reason for the wigs as I looked around the waiting room.  Many of the folks seated in the waiting room were wearing wigs.  Chemotherapy takes a toll on the body.

The waiting room was crowded.  As I looked for a place to sit, a man and his wife, both in their 80’s, slid over so I could sit next to them.  He looked at me and smiled.  I wondered about his life story and what he was facing.  As I watched him, I noticed he was wearing shoes with Velcro closures.  I looked at my shoes and remembered how careful I had been to pick out just the right ones.  As you battle cancer, fashion takes a back seat to survival.

Name after name was called to follow the nurses to the treatment area.  Some patients walked on their own, others needed help.  Nobody complained, the nurses knew patients by their first name, life kept moving forward even though we all knew some folks in the room didn’t have much time left on this earth.

I was reminded what the bible says about life.  In James 4:14 we are told, “Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.”

Knowing how quickly our lives will pass, I found myself thinking about my days on earth. Am I preoccupied with my job, gaining social status, increasing my portfolio, busy with things of little consequence?

Maybe I should be spending more time with my family…who are also like vapors.  They will be gone before I know it.  Maybe I should be better focused on spiritual issues and spending more time on things with an eternal significance. Maybe I should spend less time worrying about what others think of me and just think about and care for others.

Maybe we all should.

Five Ways to Assure You Won’t Get That Job You Want

Part of my job is hiring people.  Over the past two decades I have sat on more interview committees than I care to count.  I have also had the opportunity to watch a lot of folks respond to interview questions.  I could tell some stories if I had time, but to keep things brief, here are five ways to assure you won’t get that job you really want.

1.  Don’t do any research about the company: With today’s technology there is no excuse for anyone to go into an interview without all sorts of information about the company.  You should know their mission statement, size, organizational chart, competitors, job description, and anything else that would help you in the interview.  Not only is this information important for the interview but you may find after conducting this research that this company isn’t for you. Do your homework.

2.  Don’t proofread your resume: This is a sure signal that your work quality should be questioned.  Job applications and resumes should be the best work that you can produce.  If you don’t care enough about submitting quality documents to get the job, you probably won’t do quality work after you get the job. Many interview committees throw away application materials with typos.  You’ll never even get an interview with substandard application documents.

3.  Ask about salary and vacation time during your first interview: This is always a good indication that you really aren’t motivated by the job but are simply looking for money and time off. The interview committee will even suspect that you will jump to a higher paying job at the first opportunity.

4.  Tell the committee terrible things about your current employer: All interview committees know that if you say negative things about your current employer it’s only a matter of time until you say negative things about them.

5.  Ramble on aimlessly when asked a question: When someone from the committee asks you a question, make eye contact with everyone on the committee and directly answer the question.  Don’t go off on tangents. You should know some of the basic questions most committees will ask. Prepare for them and have polished responses.

This list could go on but I’ll stop here.  Fixing just these five things will improve your chances of getting a job anywhere.  Happy hunting!

Thanksgiving 2010

It seems everyone writes about things to be thankful for this time of year.  Yet, it seems we do need to stop and count the many wonderful things in our lives and this is a great time of year to do it.  I have really tried this year to daily count the many remarkable things God has brought into my life.  I won’t comment much on these but here are a few things that have made this a wonderful year for me.

1.  A great church: Sooner Park Wesleyan church under the leadership of Pastor Greg McNall has enriched my family tremendously.  Have you ever found that church where you feel like you’re just in the right spot?  Well…this is the place.

2.  Friends: I actually get to work everyday with my friends doing meaningful work I love.  Who could ask for more.

3.  A wonderful community: I can’t think of a place where I could enjoy life more than Bartlesville, Oklahoma.  It’s just good for your health.

4.  Good health: I thank God each day I run that I have the strength to do it.  As simple as that sounds, I know there are many who would give anything just to be able to go for a run.

5.  A wonderful family: Tonight I watched my kids eat popcorn at the movies and just have a great time.  It won’t be long before they will be off to college and this chapter of my life will end.  I’m thankful for these moments.

6.  A wife who really loves me: I was thinking tonight about Cheri who has stood with me for 23 years.  I have watched her teach our children, cook more meals than I could count, herd horses, cows, goats, and chickens in freezing temps and sweltering heat, kill snakes and scorpions, and just laugh and enjoy life more than anyone I know.  I couldn’t ask for more.

So you see, I’m blessed.  This is a wonderful Thanksgiving.  How does that old hymn of the church go…”count your blessing name them one by one”. Are you counting?

Happy Thanksgiving.

Gatlinburg, TN

We had a great visit to the Smokey Mountains recently.  Here are some pictures from the trip.

Cades Cove

Dollywood

Wonderworks

Home School Recital

Last week Oklahoma Wesleyan University hosted a recital for 20 of our Bartlesville home school students.  The students did a wonderful job! I posted a few pictures below.

Josh on stage

Josh with her piano teacher

Joy at the piano

Fall is Coming

Before things start getting cold, everyone decided on a quick afternoon picnic to wear out some energy.  Here are some shots from Johnstone Park…

Josh doing some trick riding

Joy on the swing

Josh enjoying the day

Oklahoma Wesleyan University Start of Fall Semester

Here are some pictures of our students in our first chapel.  The pictures were taken from the stage and show all three sections of the chapel seating.

Left Section

Center Section

Right Section

Our Latest Foster Puppies…Jacks and Mikey.

Here are our latest foster pups….

Jacks

Cheri with Jacks and Mikey

Mikey

Joy with Jacks and Mikey