What I learned from Job ~

As I get older the book of Job comes to me more and more to me. It's not a fun thing to read. It's actually scary as the father of four children to read that, especially since I've had a vasectomy. So it would be a real miracle to need to produce more children!

But as I get older I think about Job being dedicated to God. Job was a member of God's kingdom living in a fallen world, living in another kingdom. So Satan had to ask permission to do anything to Job. Even though Job lived in the fallen world that God had created but a world that had turned away from God, Job was still a member of God's kingdom.

When I listen to it and I read it I see that God is proud of his people that live in this other kingdom. He takes pride in us and our dedication to him. He brags about us!

God also gives permission for things to happen to us. That's not the same as us being tempted or damaged by God, it's God saying I will allow others to do something to one of mine. Kind of scary to think about because we don't think that that should never happen but it does.

I see sadness and anger in Job. He worked hard and was dedicated to what he did and it hurt to have his family killed and his property destroyed. But he did not sin. He put on sackcloth, sat in ashes, and questioned why things were happening.

I see those questions. Why, God? It's okay to ask those questions.

I learned that even your wife will question your dedication to certain things. Job's wife told him to curse God and die. But Job did not do that.

I see Job's friends come and sit with him. Commiserate with him. Question his dedication to such a losing proposition. And Job hung on and stuck with his dedication to God. With questions, but stuck with it.

I see God answering questions. So often we don't think God ever answers us but he does. Not always in the way that we want, not always with the answer that we want to hear. If I'm asking why did my children die and his answer to me is who are you to question me the creator of the universe? I'm gonna be shocked and speechless.

I also see Job make it through all of that and coming out on the other side better. Not the same, but better. Still dedicated to God.

It almost would make a great sitcom but it would be sad and scary.

That's what I've learned from Job. I think I'll listen to it again and see what else I can get.

Aspiring to be disabled ~

Is there any other country on the face of the earth other than the United States of America where people aspire to be considered disabled?

I ask because I have run into people that try really hard to be considered disabled. They claim medical issues when they don't really have issues. They apply for handicapped stickers for their vehicles when they just barely meet the need and can motivate and move around without any problem at all but because they qualify for it they want the "better" parking spaces.

I've even known veterans who apply for disability payments from the government because they don't want to have to work to earn their money. They just want to scrimp by and that's it. They usually take work on boats and get paid in cash so that they can keep their income from being "disabled".

I even have friends who look forward to getting their Social Security payments because that's going to be their retirement. Personally I plan to work hard to reach a point where I don't even care if I ever get Social Security.

But I just think an illness has infected so many people that are part of the greatest country on the planet. The United States of America is so great that even the people that hate it stay and even the people that stream in illegally to siphon off money to send back to their families or countries they came from.

The other thing that scares me is how some people want to be considered a "victim" so that they can get the benefits of being victimized. But that's a different subject.

I hope I never aspire to be disabled.

Discount shopping ~

I always think it's funny when I see a business advertise heavily that they giving military and senior discounts on their services.

I guess that means that they just gouge everybody else?

I also get frustrated when I go in the stores and they all have tags with prices on all of their products but nothing costs with the tags say. Everything is discounted at different percentages depending on what or where it is in the store.

So shopping ends up being a math problem or a situation where you're walking around deciding well I know that this costs this much but I'll get this much off and get this much off at the end and I have a coupon and all that. I much prefer just to pick what I want and then go and pay the price and be done. I don't want to have to do a lot of math to figure out what it costs, I just want to be in the ballpark and know that I'm not going to be embarrassed at the register when I go "how much?"

It's in psychology thing. We are wired and have been trained to look for a bargain and think they we're getting away with something for less money than somebody else paid. So we rush to those places, go out of our way to go to those places, and then walk away thinking that we really took them for a ride when actually they're pocketing all of our money and laughing all the way to the bank.

What a game!

God as a social media user ~

In our quest to be more like God and develop our relationship with God here's something to think about:

God is the ultimate social media user. Present and omniscient in everything throughout time everywhere throughout creation of time. It's almost like he can see all of our lives and see where we've been and where we're going right now all of the same time.

And not get overwhelmed. One of the biggest differences between us and God is that we see just this small glimpse into somebody from afar and seeing all the things going wrong around us and we get overwhelmed and filled with anxiety. We feel this urgent need to check it before we miss something. Then we spend our lives either chasing it or avoiding it once we know that it's there.

God is not overwhelmed! God created all of this and he loves us and called his creation perfect before it was corrupted by Satan.

So when you feel overwhelmed from your scrolling or checking on things you’re concerned about via social media just understand that God is checking on you a lot better than Santa Claus!

Spill-proof cup ~

Where I work we have a spill-proof cup policy. Basically because of the electronics and the equipment and everything running through the raised floor underneath where we work we really don't need people spilling stuff. Spills lead to damaged equipment, roaches and mice and mold, and just general shabbiness because nobody actually cleans it up very well.

A lot of people ignore the spill-proof cup policy and bring in their Styrofoam cups or their fast food drink cups with straws and plastic lids on them.

I have a Contigo spill-proof cup. I got it at Walmart. I have done everything I can think of to try to spill something out of it and it has never spilled. It's got a little button to allow the liquid to flow out through the lid. The lid screws on very well and is sealed very well. It even has a lock on the button that opens the valve to allow liquid to flow out as you pour to prevent you from pressing that button accidentally.

So at our early and our afternoon briefings I made public service announcements recently by holding up my spill proof cup and then turning it over and shaking it upside down and reminding people that we still have a spilll-proof cup policy in this building.

At first there were a lot of frowny faces. By the end of the week it started changing and people were starting to address it and supervisors were laughing when I did my public service announcement.

Hopefully I made enough of a point to most of our people that they will start addressing the situation properly.

But I tell the story because this is the way I like to get things across to people. If I address things directly I tend to be interpreted as being angry. I have learned to address things with a little bit of humor and some apology and a plea for help.

But I still address them! And even though I'm not a good example in other areas I'm a really good example in this.

You can find my spill proof cup at
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Contigo-West-Loop-Stainless-Steel-Travel-Mug-with-AUTOSEAL-Lid-Passion-Fruit-16-fl-oz/114050074
or https://www.amazon.com/Contigo-Autoseal-Stainless-Leakproof-Easy-Clean/dp/B07TN8SXSP/ref=sr_1_10?crid=2JONFR7NESCWD&keywords=contigo%2Bspill%2Bproof%2Bcup&qid=1675039300&sprefix=contigo%2Bspill%2Bproof%2Bcup%2Caps%2C227&sr=8-10&th=1

Describing my job ~

In the jobs that I have had it's often been hard to explain what I do or what's done around me.

Even at work I have had positions where people would come and complain to me and my people about things that others were doing and that we had no control over.

Over the years I've developed some word pictures to help people understand. One of them goes like this:

Imagine three cars rolling down the highway at high speed. It's a 2-lane highway. and the cars are all in line in the right lane. 123.

The cars come to a traffic light that's red. So they all stop, all in a line. 123.

I'm in the third car at the back of the line. But I have a button in my car that sometimes controls when the light turns green. So I'm pressing my button repeatedly trying to get the light to turn green so we can all go.

The light finally turns green. But the guy in the first car doesn't move. Just sits there. Can't tell what he's doing or why he's not going but he just sits there.

The guy in the second car starts yelling and gesticulating wildly. He leans out his window and flips the guy in the first car off. Honks his horn over and over.

Nothing changes.

Finally the guy in the second car jumps out of his car, comes running back to me in the third car, and starts yelling at me about the guy in the first car not going and what am I gonna do about making that guy go.

I'm in the third car. I'm in the back of the line! I can't do anything about what the guy in the first car is doing. All I can do is set the stage and get the pieces in place. But it's up to that guy to go and get out of the way so we can get rolling.

That's my job at work.

Cryptic enough?

The funniest thing is whenever I share this at work people shake their head and say, "You know, you're right."

What a fun job!

Eggs for breakfast ~

I like to eat eggs for breakfast. I've fallen into a routine of having them almost every morning. It's good comfort food, it's protein with spinach and cheese in there, and it's pretty good if I do say so myself.

One of our neighbors' teenage sons started keeping chickens in their backyard. And somehow my wife got into buying eggs from him. We've been doing that for several months and it's nice to have fresh eggs right from somebody else's backyard!

The fresh eggs do taste better.They have a more flavorful aspect. I guess it's because they're not in the processing plant and going through all those quality checks that our food system has in place.

Recently I was cracking the eggs getting everything ready to throw it into the bowl. I had the oil heating up in the pan. One of the eggs that I cracked and allowed to drop into my bowl had a really thick part that wouldn't mix.

As I mashed and stirred trying to blend everything together in the yellow mold just wouldn't break. I tried and tried but be it was very slippery and hard to pin down with my fork. But I kept trying and it never would completely blend. So I scooped up that part and threw it in with the egg shells.

As things were cooking I thought about that you'll and how it had come from one of the eggs from the backyard. Then I realized what had probably happened.

After the omelette was done I cleaned things up. As I threw away the egg shells and other debris from my efforts everything drained off and my suspicions were confirmed.

For some reason my mind lingered on that for a couple of hours that morning.