been a while

9/15/13 Sunday

            Well it has been over three months since I posted on this blog. A whole lot has happened for sure. I’ve been averaging 60 to 70 hours a week running the Office Furniture company. Doesn’t leave me much time for other stuff and by the time I get home I am pretty worn out and sometimes hurting from moving and putting together furniture. But we are pulling the company out of the hole that the bad guy made though it is still pretty tight. I have been keeping the journal some but much of what is in it is personal stuff that I would not want to post on the blog.

            So let me write a little thumbnail of what has been going on the last few months. Taking of leadership of A-1 Office Furniture has been a challenge. The owners had some bad business habits that needed to be addressed and some people don’t change easy or quickly. Everything was an incredible mess due to two years of neglect. Lots of funds were embezzled and that hidden in poorly kept books. The reputation of the company had been purposely damaged by the bad guy and bookkeeper, who were working together to destroy the company so they could pick up the pieces.

            The employees who we had to help with delivery and general labor came with lots of problems, problems I am familiar with. This has been a reminder for me of where the Lord has brought me from and helps me be grateful for the freedom I now enjoy through Christ.

9/19/13 Thursday

            First day of Kairos at Smith Unit. When we got out around 7:00 and just arrived at the church I got a phone call from Steve Ausmus. First words out of his mouth were “I’m serving you papers. I’m suing the whole bunch of you for Slander”. My first reaction was to laugh. He went on to talk about how some lady had been in the office and that we had slandered him. I laughed more. Steve said I was a poor salesman, bragged he made forty thousand a month doing moves, and said we took 8 hours to put a desk together among other things. Then he went back to threatening me. I told him he would have a hard time making that kind of money in prison and he said he was paying some high priced lawyers and that the charges were already dismissed. I said “No they aren’t” and his response was a smug “are you sure”. When I said I was he replied that they would be and repeated the threat to sue me for slander. “In order to slander you I must lie. All I do is tell others the truth about who you are and what you did” I responded. I told him that he was all talk and until I was served papers I would not believe a word he said because he had already proven himself to be a liar. Then came the expected attack on my faith “Is that how a Christian should act?” I laughed more.

9/24/13 Tuesday

            I am sitting in the Dallas Fort Worth airport this morning. Flew up here to pick up the car that the Charles’ are giving to us. Have a two hour layover for the flight to Longview. God is so good. We were surprised when they said they had prayed and felt God wanted them to give us the car. On the way home from visiting them in Longview a few weeks back, after they said we could have the car, the tire blew on Cherie’s car and tore up the fender and much more. Literally ripped the front quarter panel off the car. We tied and taped it back on to finish the 5 hour drive home. This is so like God, who knows what we need before we need it. I suspect there will be more to it than that. That we will learn of a greater need for the car they are giving us than we know now. It leaves me wondering what God has in mind, what plans He has for us.

   

         Work is still a challenge and always will be. I must fire an employee who can’t seem to overcome his drinking problem. He isn’t trying and doesn’t seem to think he has a problem at all. The issue with him is that he keeps hustling for a few dollars and seemingly does so to get more money to drink and perhaps do drugs with. Part of my job is to protect Harry from those who use his good nature and gullibility to take advantage of him. The employee lied to our bookkeeper two pay days ago to get a check without taxes taken out and then lied again last pay day when I had made it clear he was not to get a check. I did not pick him up for work yesterday and he never called to ask why that day. He called this morning and asked if I was going to pick him up and when I explained why I wasn’t he called Harry and said he quit so demanded his check. Harry called me so I instructed him that the employee was not to get paid till Friday. It is always sad to watch people continue on in lifestyles that destroy, sad to see them refuse to take the path of life.

            It has been so long since I posted on this blog. I keep starting to write a post and always seem to have something come up that prevents me from finishing. Got a phone call yesterday from a reporter with the Midland newspaper. He is writing an article on the homeless in Midland and had learned I once was homeless so asked if I would be willing to talk about that with him. “Sure I would” I responded, saying that I would be glad to share my life if in anyway it helps others. He had lots of good questions and it gave me an opportunity to tell of how God had restored my life, mind, and marriage. He asked if I had much contact with the homeless in Midland so I shared that we had many homeless come through our doors at the furniture store and we are able to help a few. When he asked if there was a common factor I saw in what made people homeless and I said that often it was an addiction to drugs or alcohol that seemed to be prevalent.

            Our dog, Rascal, has terminal cancer with tumors all over his body. It is heartbreaking but we will spoil him rotten for as long as he lives. As I ponder his condition and wonder about it a thought keeps coming to my mind. Rascal’s condition is a good illustration of the condition of the church, especially here in America. There are many cancers in the church. Cancers of greed, apathy, envy, judgment, and compromise. These cancers are growing like the tumors on Rascal’s back and spreading rapidly. In the church there is a complacency that is reinforced by the large numbers of people who are all patting each other on the back saying “You’re doing just fine and look around, everyone else is just like you so we all must be right”. This self-deceit is like a contagious disease and is led by thousands of false prophets, who all preach a message of tolerance and compromise. In doing so these shepherds are leading tens of thousands down a broad and easy path to destruction.

            It is late. I finally arrived back home after picking up the car and checking out what will be offered at an auction in Fort Worth. Spent six hours on the road so I can use some sleep. Will be a busy day tomorrow. Sure wish I could find more time to write.