My Unconquerable Soul

God is Great

Growing up I would always say the following prayer before each meal:

God is great, God is good

Let us thank Him before our food.

- Amen

I had a lot of highs and lows this year. I met some challenges that I thought I'd never face and I also experienced some of the best times in my life. Through the ups and downs, God has been consistent.  He's been there for me each step of the way. I truly experienced how great God is this year.

My Wife is my Rock

I'm the man of the house. I bring home the bacon and I open the stuck jars. I'm so happy to have a wife who is also my friend. When I'm felling weak, she is strong. When I'm down, she picks me up. I've needed someone in my life that I can be totally transparent with. I don't have to have it all together with her and I can totally be myself.  She's such an important part of my life.

Being a Dad is the Ultimate Reward

Seeing my kids grow each day has been extremely satisfying. I love that I've been able to see them learn and grow into the people they are meant to be.  I get to encourage their talents and help them explore what they care about and enjoy.

It's OK to Ask

I've grown up thinking, if you want something done right you have to do it yourself.  I also believed that asking for help was a sign of weakness. I figured I'm supposed to do whatever needed to be done on my own.

The problem is I can't do everything on my own. Some things should be delegated. I have a ton of people around me that love me and want to support me. I love and enjoy giving to others and people like to do the same for me. Receiving is a gift to the giver.

Being Present

I was very guilty of impatiently waiting for the weekend. In the meantime, I was missing everything that was taking place in the present. There is nothing more important than what is happening right now, this minute and this second. I'm exactly where I need to be. I'm doing exactly what I need to do. 

2012

I'm excited to start off the new year. I've grown so much in 2011. 2012 promises to be bigger and better. 

Happy New Year!

 

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I had a recent conversation with someone about getting ready for Christmas and I was asked if we had our tree up. I replied that we generally don't do the tree and decorations. She asks, "Wow, are you a Scrooge?" No, I'm not a Scrooge. I just don't think the tree has anything to so with Christmas and distracts from it.

The woman I was speaking to visibly started getting excited. If she had on sleeves I think she would have rolled them up. She's says, "OK, I've got to hear this. What is Christmas about?"

As a Christian, I believe in Jesus Christ. He is God's begotten son born from a virgin. He walked this earth and was crucified for our sins. Christmas is the celebration of the birth and life of Jesus Christ. It's important that the focus of Christmas is Christ and not a tree or getting presents.

After saying all this the woman says, "Wow, that's not what I expected. People generally say it's just about spending time with family and that's it. It's never anything thought out like that." She looked a little disappointed because she didn't have a rebuttal.

Unfortunatley we get too caught up with the consumerism of this holiday. We start with "Black Friday" where people get trampled while trying to buy some hot new toy for their kid. For many, Christmas is another opportunity to add to our debt. We don't need to show our love for one another by buying expensive gifts. Where's the compassion for our brothers and sisters? I'm guitly of this myself. Each day, I have remind myself that there are so many people who aren't as furtunate. I've been blessed so that I can be a blessing to others.

Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, "I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way." - Matthew 15:32

For me and my family Christ is the reason for Christmas and the two cannot be separated.

Merry Christmas!

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For some reason I really hate talking on the phone. My preferred communication is email, text, social media and etc. I've mentioned before that this caused my parents to change their cell plan and add text messaging because I'm so bad at answering/returning calls.

I guess I'm selfish. I find phone calls to be so obtrusive. Whether I'm busy or just laying around relaxing, I cringe when the phone rings. This has nothing to do with the person that's calling. I don't know what the deal is. Even when I'm away on business trips, calling home isn't a high priority. I always miss my family but the phone calls don't help.

I feel that the majority of communication can be taken care of via email, text or social media. This is especially true in work environments. I learned some time ago about CYA (Cover Your Ass). The best way to do this is to make sure that you have a paper trail. When people are agreeing to do something, get that commitment in email outlined with dates and times. When it doesn't get done, bring out the email. Another reason is that sometimes I forget details and use email to refresh my memory. With electronic communication, I appreciate that I can respond when I have the opportunity (or not at all). When someone calls, I feel like I have to drop everything and give them my undivided attention.

I work with a guy that wants to call me for every single thought he has. "Vaughn, have you talked to John? No? Ok, call me if you hear from John." Now, I've totally lost my train of thought to answer a call that is clearly not important nor time sensitive. He also calls to say he's going to send me an email and tells me what will be in the email. Dude, just send the email.

I think there are certain situations where a phone call is appropriate. Of course phone calls are necessity for emergencies. I wouldn't want to find out that someone was in an accident via text message. If I think there will be more than a few response to an email or text, it's probably better to call in order to ensure everyone can ask all the questions they need and get clarity in a shorter amount of time. (In business situations, I will follow up with an email outlining the call. See CYA above.)

I'm not necessarily proud of this. I know that some of my loved ones feel slighted because I don't call them as much as I think about them. I really do what to stay in touch and talk to them but I just wish it could be in person instead of over the phone. I'm definitely trying to do better to let them know that they are important to me.

So, how weird is my aversion to talking on the phone?

 

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