Musings at Altitude

Revival and Rest

Genesis 2:2-3

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.  And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

I too am going to rest today, not because of the work of creation that I’ve done this past week (although there was some of that), but because I need to be spiritually uplifted through worship with others.  I also need to be revived and recharged for this coming week.  And I need to focus today not on what I’m doing but why I’m doing things and who I’m doing things with.

God gave us the master plan – work hard for 6 days and then rest on the 7th.  He also made that 7th day holy and thus gave us a specific day that should be set aside for holy use.  In obedience and observance of that day, our spiritual reservoirs can be filled and revival can be found.

So today is a day of revival and rest.  I wish each of you the same!

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I had 6 goals for the day, all things that I’ve put off for days, weeks, or even months, and all in desperate need of some attention.  I’m proud to report that I took care of 4 out of 6 today and have very good excuses for the other 2. 

Unfortunately, the one thing I want to do the most had to be put on hold again.  When I wrote the blog this morning, the temperature was 45 degrees and I had every reason to believe that since it was 8:00 in the morning that I’d have great weather to install the address marker.  By 11:00 in the morning, the temperature had dropped to 32 degrees and an ominous wave of clouds was floating over the house.  By 4:00 this afternoon, the snow showers had started and installation of the address marker (requires significant digging and some concrete being poured) was once again a procrastinators dream. 

The second thing that was left undone was the pigeon repellant.  We had every reason to believe that Home Depot carried some form of pigeon repellant.  At least that’s what the web said (my sister-in-law said so anyway).  But when we got to Home Depot and talked with the incredibly smart dudes on the floor, we were told nothing more than the age old trick that probably countless others have tried without much success – put an owl on the roof.  So for now, the pigeons are safe.  And with the weather now getting cold again, it’s probably a very good thing for the pigeons.

I can however claim success on the other 4.  I cleaned out the garage (one side anyway).  I collected all the tumbleweeds and got rid of them.  I went through all the old mail in my office and trashed 98% of it.  And my wife and I took my 207,000 mile car to Jiffy Lube and got that much needed oil change (and got a lot of admirers to comment on how good the car looks with all those miles as well). 

In addition, we went to Best Buy and got a cover for her iPod, went to the AT&T store and got the roller ball fixed on my Blackberry (I was having a major crisis with the roller ball not working), went to King Soopers and got the fixin’s needed for the dinner of choice that my son chose, and passed up Starbucks thus saving $10 and about 1,000 calories.

Now we’re sitting fat, dumb and happy watching the football wild card games.

A very successful day indeed!

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Get It Done – Anti-Procrastination

I have so many things that I’ve been putting off these past few months:

(1) Install the address marker (it was a Mother’s Day gift to my wife!)

(2) Put the pigeon repellant on the roof (amazing how annoying those pigeons can be)

(3) Get an oil change (I have 207,000 miles on the car and I’m 1,000 miles overdue – it’s not good to run long between changes)

(4) Clean out the front of the garage (I’d show you a picture, but I’m too embarassed)

(5) Remove the tumbleweeds from around the house (amazing what 60 hour winds can throw into your yard)

(6) Go through the stacked up mail that’s “my stuff” (it’s at least one full paper grocery bag full – 4 months worth – certainly hope there weren’t any tax audit notices in the pile – “past due” taxes were in the pile one year)

My son is fond of saying “procrastination is my friend”.  He even waited till the very last minute in the middle of the night before a paper was due to write that paper on procrastination.  I think he got an “A” on the paper in that particular college English course.  I chastise him for his procrastination and yet I’m leading him down the path of procrastination by example.  Maybe I can change that!

January 2nd – Assessment

I put in the middle of my desk a piece of paper with the following words in big letters on it – “STOP – THINK” and “SPEAK SLOWLY”.  I heard the STOP-THINK idea at church one Sunday, and I got the SPEAK SLOWLY comment from several people who said I need to breathe when I’m aggressively responding to anyone.  As I participated in the numerous calls I had yesterday, my eyes kept going back to that piece of paper and those words, and I must admit, I paused before responding and then at least a couple times, the issue was resolved without me jumping in at all.

I still have a lot to learn to eradicate my “foot in mouth” disease.  It may not be possible to completely erase it from my life.  As Eric said in his comment on that last posting, it’s not just verbal communications that can get us in trouble, but email now as well.  Or Facebook, or any other means of interaction. 

My Mom reminded me yesterday of how frustrated I would get with my Dad because he would always think before answering…sometimes for hours…always an annoyingly long time.  He optimized the STOP-THINK strategy, and even today, he is incredibly thoughtful before responding to just about anything.  I need to learn from him in order to improve in my own life.  I just may not go to the extremes he goes in waiting to respond!

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Think Before Speaking

I have a big problem with quickly popping off when I hear something and not thinking through the consequences of my thoughtless response.  Many times, my emotional rush to respond has led to things being said that I’ve greatly regretted later or things being conveyed that actually made no sense when revisited.

So today I’m going to focus on thinking before speaking, and in that pause for thought, I want to see how differently things are perceived by those that I’m talking with.

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As I now say goodbye to 2008, I’m making my focus of 2009 on “magic”.  In my professional and personal lives, I want to not only experience magic in some way every single day, but I want to provide magic to others in every single interaction. 

For me personally, I can find magic every morning when I look at the purple mountain’s majesty and in awe of our Creator, thank Him for that magical moment and that awe inspiring experience.  And I can also find magic every evening when I look at the outline of the mountains against the setting sun and realize that God has given me a good night smile through the outline in His creation. 

I sense magic every day when I get a picture of my granddaughter, and I experience magic every time I get to hold her close as she sleeps.  I feel magic every time my bride of 26 years holds my hand, and I experience magic every time she reminds me of something that happened between us in the 32 years we’ve been dating.

I give magic when I deliver an unexpected gift to an unexpected receiver, and I receive magic when the smiles of excitement erupt in a contagious manner that affects all those around that receiver.  I release magic when I provide a path to someone who didn’t see a path, and I launch magic when I enable a dream to be pursued when previously it had only been a dream.

With all the woes and the hysteria surrounding 2009, I prefer to believe that this is going to be a magical year, and I’m committing myself to both experiencing and delivering magic.

For all of you who have shared 2008 with me and given me magical moments throughout, I thank you for being so important to the smiles I receive every single day.  And as we go into 2009 together, I wish you a Happy New Year and your own very magical moments as well!

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In my personal life, I’ve had magical moments as well.  I remember clearly that night in April of 1977 when I was shaking nervously before finally asking that beautiful 14 year old girl if she wanted to go out with me.  I was 16, and I actually didn’t ask her if she wanted to go out with me, but instead, I asked her if she wanted to go out with her sister and her boyfriend (now her husband).  And oh by the way, I’d come along too!  We ended up seeing the movie “Silver Streak” and as folks so often say, the rest is history.  That first date was magical, and we’ve been dating ever since!

Speaking of history, shortly after I overcame my fears and asked her out, I started the process of applying for the Air Force Academy.  Things were going perfectly until I got that dreaded letter in the mail, “we regret to inform you…”  I wouldn’t wish that on anyone, especially a 17 year old boy whose dream since 12 was to go to the Air Force Academy.  As fate would have it, my dentist was actually on the Naval Academy medical evaluation board and he read the reject letter and wrote a rebuttal to the Air Force Academy stating that my overbite (can you believe I was rejected for an overbite?) wasn’t bad at all and he had me on special exercises to mitigate the problem.  Lo and behold, a few months later I received that very special call from then Representative Trent Lott that I had indeed been accepted for admission to the Academy.  That was a very magical moment!

Harry Chapin has a song called “Taxi”, and one specific part of the song says this:

You see, she was gonna be an actress,

And I was gonna learn to fly.

She took off to find the footlights,

And I took off to find the sky.

Harry Chapin is one of the notable non-graduates of the Air Force Academy, and the words in his song are autobiographical of sorts.  Like Harry, I too went off to the Academy (not to fly though – bad eyes) and the separation was painful on that beautiful young lady and me.  We split up 4 different times between that first date and our marriage almost 6 years later, 2 of those times while I was at the Academy and the last time during my senior year.  As I entered the final semester, I received my first choice in career fields and ended up going right back to my home town for technical school upon graduation.  When I got home, I asked that very same girl if she could help me retrieve my shipment of personal property from the movers, and she willingly agreed.  While we were driving to the movers, Chicago’s “Hard to Say I’m Sorry” came on the radio, and she cried and I smiled because I knew in that magical moment, all was forgiven and forgotten on both sides and 6 short months later we were married.

More magic occurred less than 3 years later when our daughter arrived and then again less than 3 years after that when our son arrived.  With “one of each” and a “4-pack” as a family, we decided we wanted a full house instead of two pair in the home and we focused once again on family expansion.  But this time the magic turned to heartache as our daughter died in the womb and we flooded Southern California with our tears.  And though the tears were still fresh, the magic returned with the birth of our now 14 year old a couple years later.

In between each of these events, we had magical events in our lives – an unexpected job opportunity with an unexpected move; new acquaintances that have become life long friends; change of duty assignments that took us back to the church that we loved; vacations to memorable places with magical moments; and the birthdays, graduations, marriages, and now grandchildren.

As I look back on my personal life today, I smile in thinking about those magical moments that were filled with blessings beyond belief.  Certainly, we’ve had our share of pain and tragedy, but the tears were soon replaced with smiles and the smiles were the result of so many magical moments in our lives.

I’m on a new quest for more of that magic today.  And I’m also now on a quest to create magic in others’ lives as well.

More to follow.

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I’ve been thinking back over my business life and thinking about those magical moments that happen when all things seem to go right – that perfect program that comes in ahead of schedule and under budget; that perfectly timed contract that leads to the investment round being signed or leads to that advance check that allows you to meet payroll; that perfect hire that plugs in the missing piece of the puzzle and makes the team now that “A” team that clients want or that a major program requires; that perfect deployment where the product or application works exactly as needed and the customer is ecstatic beyond belief.  I remember every single one of these magical moments, and in some ways, I live my business life excitedly moving from one of these magical business moments to another – or at least that’s what I want.

But the older and more experienced I get, the more I now desire to create magical moments rather than unexpectedly fall into them or desperately seek them out.  In my early business years, the magical moments tended to come from the assignment I was given or the impossible task that was assigned to me.  I remember that General that asked, “how many Lieutenants do I have working for me?”  I remember that Colonel that said, “you’re representing us in NATO – get packed and get ready.”  And I remember that other General that told my Colonel to sit outside because he wanted to talk with me and not hear it from the Colonel.  All of these preceded or followed very magical moments.

In my later business years, the magical moments came from a particular path that I chose or from a specific company or project that I started.  I remember negotiating with my client and getting that first $2M check.  I remember the decision to start my own company and then within weeks having that first marquee client that ended up providing us with millions of dollars in business.  I remember being part of oh so many briefings to venture capitalists trying to raise money after 9/11 and then getting that call from the company’s founder saying we finally (after 7 months) got a term sheet and expected the long delayed and much needed funding.

In each of these cases, I was blessed to be part of something magical.  In each of these cases, others created magic for me.  Now it’s time for me to create magic for others.

More to follow.

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Yesterday was focused on family – two sessions of opening presents, one with my wife’s Dad and her family and one with my Mom and Dad – special breakfast in the morning (a specialty of my wife’s childhood days) – special buffet dinner – then cards, chats, and good byes.

After three straight days of buffets (that’s the ritual now – I’m thankful it wasn’t two in one day this year), I swore I wouldn’t eat again till Tuesday, and yet I’m typing this while waiting on my ham and cheese omelet at yet another buffet!  So, I’ll make that commitment again later today and swear I won’t eat till Wednesday this time!

But this is what Christmas is all about – family, food, giving (and some getting), and the prayers and praise that go with remembering why this is a holiday to begin with – the birth of Christ some 2,000 years ago and the great example of love that He gave us all.

One of my favorite songs starts with “when the music fades, all is stripped away, and I simply come”.  The song continues on to the chorus till, “I’m coming back to the heart of worship.” 

That’s Christmas too – when the gift giving fades, when the buffets stop, when the family celebrations end, then all is stripped away, and I simply come.  At Christmas, we can continue on with this same thought to that very same chorus, “I’m coming back to the heart of worship”, and what Christmas is all about, the celebration of the birth of Christ which in itself is worship.

With the day of Christmas now behind me (is it really ever over though?), I’ll start focusing forward now to remembering 2008 and dreaming of 2009.  I spend lots of time remembering the blessings and thanking God for the wonderful things that have happened.  Even in the not so good things, blessings occur, and in those blessings, praise is given.  I also spend time reaching back and seeking and seeing the answers to prayers – something I think we all should do.  And when I look forward, I dream of the blessings to come, and I hope that every single interaction that occurs will be something meaningful to me and to those I interact with.

With two days of driving ahead as I return to Colorado, I’ll have lots of time to think forward and lots of time to remember too.  Believe it or not, I cherish that time in the car, and I’ll trust my two traveling companions to give me lots of distractions in route as well!

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We’ve been visiting our home in Mississippi the last two days, and I can say unequivocally that I’ve found peace.  Here’s some proof:

Any yet more proof:

At this time of such great concern and anxiety over just about everything – the economy, our jobs, the war, our savings – for these few days when I spend time with my family and snuggle close to those who mean so much to me, I too find peace.

As we close in on Christmas, we cherish this special time when we celebrate the birth of a baby that changed this world through His perfect example of love and forgiveness.  In Him, we find peace.  In Him, we find love.  In Him, we snuggle with those we love and sing, “peace on Earth, good will to men”.

And on Earth, peace…

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Day 2 was about 3 hours shorter than day 1, but the banter was no less spirited and the insanity no less unbearable!  My 2 ladies drove me nuts most of the day, but as you can see from the picture below, they seemed to enjoy the abuse they were so easily dishing out in complete collusion with each other:

After our ritualistic stop at Starbucks to kick off the Day 2 journey, my 14 year old started the day of fun out with, “let’s see who can last the longest before having to pee!”  Since I have the bladder of an elephant, that wasn’t even a competition, and within 2 hours, we were stopping again as the elder of the two had to make the first pit stop.

After a couple more hours, my wife wanted to take a nap while I drove, and while I was keeping the car steady at 75 miles per hour, they, in one of those moves that only two petite women can do, switched their positions from front to back in the blink of an eye.  In a matter of just a few seconds, I looked over and in the passenger seat, my wife of 26 years had turned into my 14 year old daughter.  The 14 year old’s job was to keep me awake during this important part of the journey while my wife took that nap.

As we kept on rolling down the road, my daughter kept me mentally occupied by asking such mentally stimulating questions like, “Why is it called the Mississippi River if it runs through Baton Rouge, Louisiana?”  I must admit, I am completely dumbfounded and baffled by that question.  So I gave the answer than any good father gives, “just because.”

Shortly thereafter, my wife woke up from her nap and I quickly veered off into a gas station to fill up and also switch drivers.  Now, it was her turn up front with the 14 year old and it was my time to focus on anything else but them in the back seat of the van.  I chose to do something that I’ve sworn for years I’d never do – I decided to watch “Sleepless in Seattle” and find out what all the fuss was about regarding that movie.  For the next couple of hours, I’m not ashamed to admit that I thoroughly enjoyed the movie.  I’m not sure if the enjoyment was from being able to isolate myself from my two traveling companions or from truly enjoying the movie – but probably more the latter than the former – and I’ll admit that even if it means I found amusement in a chick flick!

We’re now comfortably situated in a hotel in Gulfport, MS, and my two days of trauma have been replaced with an evening of relaxation.  Although I make fun of the travels I share with the women in my life, I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.  There’s nothing like being confined together in a very small space for two straight days and trying to annoy the heck out of each other!  And just for the record, the 14 year old won!

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