Becoming Legendary Don't drown in the Quo

Day 86 – Saturday countdown

My short term furnished housing space was about to lose another resident if something wasn’t done today – Melissa’s contract was officially over as of Monday and if she didn’t choose to renew her contract she would be gone from my vicinity. I didn’t want to press her or seem too eager just in case she wanted to do the long-distance thing, but I wanted to hear her decision pretty soon so I could prepare my heart for it. (I’m a lady child, I know.) I think she could tell that I chomping at the bit to know so she left me a voicemail (I was in a business meeting) that said she had called the Lubbock hospital she was working for and that she had asked for a six-month extension. When I heard the voicemail I let out a small yelp. I wasn’t going to have to separate from my fiancée and this was ideal for me. Our closeness would grow closer or we would tire of one another and blow off the wedding for as they say, “Distance only makes the heart grow fonder.” I don’t want distance to make my heart grow fonder. I want my heart to grow fonder with her nearby – intimacy is built on an everyday push and pull and that’s the sort of relationship I wanted to build. It would be more fun but it would also be more difficult. I don’t want either one of us to fool ourselves into believing that we fit perfectly if we don’t see each other every day. I think you get my drift…

I spoke with my church architects again today and it seems that this call is going to be a daily occurrence. I don’t mind because they are such cool guys over there. They were just calling to see if they understood the latest analytics and they wanted to do some day to day analytics so that they could see if their actions created definitive spikes in viewership for their website. I don’t usually offer such services but for these guys I decided to. God might not show favoritism but I do. I also met with my Lubbock catering team and we made some strong decisions for their future growth. Other clients got some of my attention – my private Christian school is making the best moves for now and they were happy to hear it. It seems that my “top college in Texas” is stagnating some – I need to do some checks on that site because it has fallen below my standards.

My meditation today was based on how God can do exceedingly do more than I can ask or imagine. I know that is what it says and I know that nothing is impossible for God. But, I don’t even know what I would ask and I don’t do much imagining. This made me wonder why I don’t let me imagination run wild so that God can show Himself in ways that are incredible. Maybe the reason we don’t see God do the really cool stuff in this culture is because we imagine far below what God can do. We imagine what Apple might do next and we are amazed at it. We dream of what man can create for us – not what God can do for us. Am I reading this right? What do you think about God doing exceedingly more than you can imagine? I’d love to hear your thoughts and feelings on this…

Day 83 – Wednesday Wearables

I woke up really late this morning – My doctor told me to take two Claritin and I didn’t mean to but I sacked it for sixteen hours. These brain changers gave me some really strange dreams about hanging out with hippies who wouldn’t let me take a shower and get ready on my own. Plus their kid had this weird fascination with Woody Guthrie. To top it all off, I thought I was awake when I was with them – so it was sleep inside of sleep. This experiment to crush my histamine might have helped me more on a weekend when I don’t have appointments to make. It’s a good thing that I went to bed at a reasonable hour. No pool time but I made my first meeting with sweat on my forehead – more Lubbock homes for sale – more Lubbock Pre-K – more Lubbock catering. All good meetings but I had to push back a meeting with the new restaurant that just hired me. They were not too worried about it since I was able to email them a baseline report about their initial analytics. And I have to tell you that the baseline reports are such a key to this business. Without them, you don’t have anything to show any positive movement for the clients. They love to see the starting line and I love to watch that starting line disappear behind us in a positive direction.

My lunchtime meditation was appropriately “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” As I jammed a Subway sandwich down my gullet, I considered what it means to taste God – not that He has a flavor and not that He can bitten off and chewed. But, God can be tested out to see if He is who He claims to be. I once told two atheists something based on this verse. I told them to just give God a shot to show up in their lives. I told them that if they would just ask God to show Himself to them by asking for that very thing on a nightly basis before they went to bed, God would do just that. And you know what? Both atheists converted to Christianity because you can taste and see if God is good. He’s never sour and He’s always worth the risk. In the past, I used to argue with atheists and agnostics trying to prove God’s existence to them using philosophy, quantum mechanics and other apologetics. It never worked. So I decided to simply put it all on God. After all, God wants everyone to come to salvation a lot more than I care and He has all the resources to make Himself clear to specific individuals that I gave Him all the pressure. Testimonies are fine and dandy, but I’ll turn it over to God every time if I can. Do you believe in God? If not, I would ask that you give God a six-month trial – see if He shows up in some tangible way that makes you taste and see that He is good.

Melissa is good – She is expected to get out of the hospital in the next few days just doing her physical therapy on an outpatient basis. She is a tough one. I’d be using this whole deal to mourn my condition to all who would listen. I would insist on staying in the hospital at least until I met my insurance’s out of pocket maximum. Then I could get everything I needed from that moment on for free. Imagine health care being free. Thanks Obamacare – I’m kidding on that one. I’m not a fan of this system – not one bit. Anyway, that was my Wednesday – one of rush but one of depth. I’ll see you Thursday.

Day 82 – Tuesday closes in

I made a decision today – a rather big decision for me. I’ve noticed that I’ve been drinking more alcohol. I’m not getting drunk but I am getting buzzed and enjoying it a lot. I have even started drinking alone at my short term furnished housing, which I hear is a danger sign. I keep justifying it as my vice that isn’t going to hurt anything but my liver. But I really felt convicted about it last night. So this morning I decided to just quit drinking altogether. I know it’s not a sin to drink but I don’t want to push it. I’m not moderating as well as I had been. So, I stopped. I wonder how this decision will impact my days and nights. Will I feel more bored? Will I miss the buzzy happiness? Will I be able to stick to my guns about quitting? Will this decision open me more up to the Holy Spirit’s movement? Lots of questions on my mind – but I am going to be firm on this one. Why not see what happens? When I told Melissa she was a bit surprised – she knows I like to drink my share of the world’s liquor. She asked me if I thought she should quit too. I told her that this was my decision and I didn’t want her to stop just because I have. She nodded and said, “I’ll let that be your decision and if I ever get there, I’ll join you. But for now, I am going to keep it up.” Just proof that good couples can live different lives and still get along fine. I told her that I hope we can let each other live without trying to control one another. I have heard that control happens a lot in marriages and I don’t want any part of it.

Anyway – to work…

My Texas colleges accounts went ahead and renewed for a year – This surprised me because they still had four months left on the current contract. But once again I got blessed in my work. God covers me all over the place. I also got some props from my Lubbock corporate housing account. They called me in to their offices and said they were very pleased with my work – As a result they also extended their contract with my company. To make everything even better I picked up a franchised restaurant that wanted to see if they could rank number one for the phrase “Lubbock catering.” I told them I would do all I could to get them moving.

Meditation verse today was right on line with my big decision not to drink. It is found in Ephesians and it basically says don’t get drunk with wine but be filled with the Holy Spirit. What stuck out to me was how alcohol might push the Holy Spirit out of one’s life – or at least limit Him doing all He wants to do. Knowing what I know about the Holy Spirit and how He moves so powerfully to do amazing works through people makes me want to get filled up with Him. What difference will it make in me? What cool things will He do through me just by simply letting go of alcohol? I’m interested to find out…

A good rant –

I was recently sent on a business venture to attract new clients to the optimization processes that my company provides.  This was a new sort of trip because it was not for a week or two – it was for six months.  My company debated whether to send me to live in an apartment because of the lengthy stay, but after a lot of back and forth they decided that putting me into a 6 month lease in an apartment that would also require a full set of furniture and U-verse cable would be too expensive.  So they told me to research what short-term furnished apartments (corporate housing) would require.  After a cursory search, I easily found the best place to be my short term home for the next half year.  I’m not trying to advertise for this corporate housing space, but I am going to say what was true about it when I got there and unpacked my bags in my new home.

As a salesman for a top end inbound content and digital strategy firm, I really wanted to be comfortable in my new digs and that is exactly what I found in a place called Home Style Suites (www.hssuites.com). When I got to the reception and lodging desk I was welcomed by some very friendly people who were happy to accompany me on my entrance to what turned out to be a gorgeous furnished apartment. On a first look, I was so pleasantly surprised to see that this place I would be staying in actually looked just like it did in the professional photos pasted onto their website (this is rare, by the way).  The apartment was spacious and well decorated and the cable (with Netflix streaming) was already ready for me.  They ran me through the different amenities that this corporate housing space had and they told me about the pool, which was great for me since I am an avid swimmer.  I walked through the apartment and checked out the beds, toilet, shower, etc. and was just amazed at how nice and new everything looked.  I told the employees how nice it was to be in such a great place.  I asked them if the walls were thin and they assured me that I would be happy – the walls were plenty thick enough to hold in me and my neighbors loud sounds.  After I finished giving this place a once over, I thanked the employees who had showed me around and I started to unpack thinking to myself that this trip away was going to be a good one, because I had a home away from home to always come back from.  And if you have ever been on the road for an extended period of time, you know that having a nice and large suite to come back to after a hard day of sales is a must.

So, that’s my first report from this new town and I’ll try to give more updates about my work as time goes one.  For now, God bless and keep your head up!