Thinking Out Loud, Volume CCXXIV

"When I grow up, I'm gonna be a heart surgeon." Those words were spoken to me by my four year old grandson, just a few days ago. The typical four year old has probably never even heard of a heart surgeon, but unfortunately, Lake became quite familiar with that term last month when his baby sister had open heart surgery. I must say, though, that I admire his ambition, although I'm aware that by the time he gets old enough to make the ultimate decision as to what his career choices will be, he will likely change his mind at least thirty-nine times. I do not, however, believe that it is too early to begin to guide him and begin preparing him for an illustrious career, whatever it may be.

Both of my parents grew up in an era and area where the average person never even received a high school diploma. The young women would quit school to get married, and the men would have to start working to help support their families while they were still in their early to mid teens. That's just the way it was, and Mom and Dad were no exceptions. Yet I believe that down through history, parents have had the desire for their kids to receive more education, climb higher and achieve more than they did. Education-wise, I had already done that when I graduated high school; and I know they were proud of me when I received my college degree. Now I'm proud of my own kids as I see them progress farther than I did, and hopefully my grandchildren will attain even loftier goals.

But that doesn't happen by accident. Our children must be nurtured, encouraged, guided, and even pushed to reach the levels in their lives that we would like for them to achieve; and that's not an easy task. There's a world out there that is grabbing for them non-stop with drugs, illicit sex, alcohol abuse, and countless other vices that we have to aggressively counter at the same time that we're nurturing them to have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and an undying devotion to their Lord and Savoir. It's a tough job, but it's also very achievable if we never ever let up.

The reason Lake chose the particular career path that he stated to me was because he saw that, due to the work of a heart surgeon, his baby sister, Lennon, was able to come home as a healthy little girl after having to spend the first six weeks of her life in the hospital. Fortunately for him and his sister, they have a set of parents that will do everything within their power to encourage them and keep them on the straight and narrow so that they will be more likely to reach whatever goals they set for their lives. Right now, there's no way to tell which direction either one of them will want to go. Whether it be a professor or a heart surgeon, I'm gonna do my part to help them get there. I hope I can live long enough to see it happen.

Preston

Thinking Out Loud, Volume CCXXIII

Have you ever wished you could get inside the mind of an animal? How do their thought processes work when they have no concept of spoken language? Think about a dog, for instance. One of the things that make a dog "man's best friend" is the fact that they love us unconditionally. My daughter has a miniature Schnauzer named Marlee, and we can go to the mailbox and come right back into the house, and she acts like she is so happy to see us when we come back in. I just think it would be so interesting to be able to see how her mind works when she sees those whom she loves so much.

There's a little dog that lives in the subdivision where my son and daughter-in-law live, and he can often be seen out roaming the neighborhood. They have a privacy fence that completely encloses their back yard, but that little dog knows that he can come to that house and be able to get through the fence into the back yard. Then he can go under the fence in the back and get into the subdivision that backs up theirs. What is it that makes him remember which house has the "gateway" to the next neighborhood, and what is he looking for when he goes back there? Sometimes when I'm driving down the highway, I'll see a dog that is definitely on a mission, and I often wish that I could follow him just to see what that mission is.

One thing that amazes me is watching birds that are on the highway as I approach. They seem to know when it's just the right second to move out of the way just in time. Of course the birds that don't have that ability don't live to be seen too many times, but every time I've hit a bird with my car, it was a bird that was already in flight...not the one that was standing on the road in front of me. Even with the tiny brains that they have, they apparently have a God-given sense of "self preservation" that gives them the ability to know how to estimate the speed of the approaching vehicle and time their moves just right.

How much are animals able to figure out about what is going on? What about the ones who have just arrived at the slaughter house? Are they aware that they're about to meet their demise? I do like to eat meat, but to me, the worst job in the world would be the for the guy at the slaughter house who has to kill the animals...especially if they know what's about to happen to them.

All my life I've been in awe of God's creation...the mountains, rivers, oceans, all the different types of vegetation...but to me the most awesome of all creation are all the different types of life with the ability to think and reason. I wonder if God loves them as much as he loves me. It's something to think about.

Preston

Thinking Out Loud, Volume CCXXII

It's a trick question, so you have to be very careful about how you answer it. It was something that was apparently dreamed up by a "non-believer" in an attempt to trip people up and make them question their own belief system. Here's the question: "If God can do anything, can he make a rock that is so big that even he can't pick it up?" The best answer I've heard to that question came from a lady who said, "Yes, he can....and then he makes himself big enough to pick it up." What if it was asked this way, "If God can do anything, can he forgive someone and then erase what they did from his memory so that even he can't remember it?" Yes, he can...can you? If he decides to forget something, he forgets it. He forgets what he chooses and remembers what he chooses, and he forgets when he forgives. I've thought about that quite a bit. Forgetting a wrong that was done to me is a formidable task, but I'm also here to tell you that it can be done. However, in order to do that, we must be like God and "choose to forget it."

What does it mean to forgive someone? I've heard people say, "Okay I'll forgive him, but I promise you I'll never forget what he did." Or we may hear something like, "I'll forgive him, but I'm never gonna have anything else to do with him." I'm glad God doesn't operate that way. If God was to say that he would forgive me, but at the same time he was severing our relationship because of what I had done, I'd be in a world of hurt right now. Here's the way God operates: If he forgives me, then from that point forward, as far as he is concerned, the wrong I committed never happened. It's like it has been erased from history. Now, if I say I'm a Christian, what am I saying about myself? I'm saying that I'm making an effort to be "Christ-like." That means I have to forgive and then erase that transgression from history.

All of us, throughout our lives, will have numerous occasions where we will have the choice of whether or not we are going to forgive someone for a wrong that they have committed against us. It's not always an easy thing to do, but I have learned from experience that once we truly forgive someone, it's like lifting a heavy load off of our shoulders. Another thing I've learned is that you can actually forget it. I'm not saying that you couldn't pull it back into your memory if you were to choose to do so, but you can get to the point to where you can be around that person and never even think about how they have wronged you in the past...like it never happened. I believe if I make the effort, God will come to my aid and help me to forget. Then, if I've forgiven you, it's never mentioned again. Never. Try that and see how it works. I think you'll be amazed at how quickly it begins to evaporate from your mind. Then you won't have to spend your life burdened by having to dwell on events from the past...especially if they've been "erased from history."

Preston

Thinking Out Loud, Volume CCXXI

Just a few weeks ago after a Sunday morning church service, Angie and I walked out, got in our car and headed home. I glanced down at my cell phone and noticed that I had several missed calls. That concerned me somewhat since my family knows where I am on Sunday mornings, but when I checked to see who had been trying to contact me, I realized that all those calls had come from the same person, and they were business related, from one of my vendors. My first thought was, "This must be something serious." When I listened to my voice mail, I heard, "Preston, please give me a call when you get this message." So I called. "What's going on?" I asked. It amounted to practically nothing...and that made me mad. After all, it's almost noon on a Sunday. Can't I even go to church in peace? I've often heard it said that you shouldn't react to a problem while you're still emotional about it, but you should wait until you have had time to cool down so you can make a calm, rational decision. My immediate thought was to make a little rule that I will not answer any business related calls on a Sunday unless it happens to be during a trade show and I have to be working that day, but after waiting until the next day so I could make a more rational decision, the decision that I made went even farther...I will answer business calls only during what I determine to be reasonable working hours. If I'm having dinner with my family, forget it. Just leave me a message and I'll call you back later.

I had a man tell me one time that if a person wants to make it in the business world, his business will have to be his number one priority, and family time will be one of the sacrifices that he will have to make. I just cannot agree with his line of thought to the extent that he intended. Yes, my job requires travel, and there are several nights of every month that I have to spend away from home; but when I'm home, my family time has to take precedent over everything else once reasonable business hours have passed. Now that we all have cell phones that keep us accessible twenty-four hours a day, we have to set some limits; and that's just what I've done, although I'm a little late. I've never heard of a person who was on his death bed who said, "I wish I would have spent more time at the office." The one person that I love to quote more than anyone else is T.F. Tenney, who said, "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing." When I come to the end of my life, I don't want to look back with regret and realize that I had my priorities all out of whack.

If I were to make a list that prioritizes everyone in my life in order, it's my family and close friends who would be at the top of that list. Making a decent living for my family has to be a major goal in my life...in fact, the Bible has some harsh words for the man who will not provide for his family. All I'm advocating is finding that proper balance between work life and family life. I love my job, and I work hard at it; I just have to be careful not to allow it to dominate my time at the expense of the ones I love most. If that was an easy thing to do, there would be no need for me to be writing about it. So if you want to call me to talk business, please feel free to call me at any time, twenty-four hours a day. All you have to do is leave me a message, and I'll call you back during normal business hours. Or you can send me a business email...I read them during business hours as well.

Preston