the new job

I have been at my new (second) part-time job for just over a month now. I figured its time to blog about it. It didn't take long at all for me to feel like I fit in here. People here are friendly, easy-going, and they like to have a good time.

Don't get me wrong, we all get our work done, but the philosophy here is that we should have as much fun as possible while doing it. Throughout the day you can hear joking and laughter, and only occasionally do you hear anything “grumpy.”

Like all work places, the grumpiness comes when things go wrong, or when things are just a bit too busy. But that doesn't happen here too often (so far). Its not always easy to gage when things will get busy, because its a customer-driven environment. There are times of the day when the store-front has lots of customers and the phones are ringing off the hook. There are also times when its so quiet, no activity at all.

I like it here. The job itself is super easy. Some days I am actually downright bored, though I do my best to find things to do. But its not the work itself that I like most about being here. Its the people and the environment that has been created. Its far from a stuffy office, that's for sure. I am also sure that some people might get a bit offended in this environment because people here aren't always so politically correct, aren't always worried about hurting someone's feelings. This is not a bad thing. The people here are REAL, and HONEST. They act like they ARE - and they are good people.

I have worked in other places where the people always walked on eggshells because of the constant fear of being offensive, or the constant wondering how someone will “take” what they have said or done. It creates an uncomfortable, and at times, a hostile environment when people can't be real.

I like it here because these people remind me that we are all human, and it is okay to be human. We work together the best we can to get stuff done, to help each other, and quite frankly – to care. I have these experiences with my (first) part-time job in the greenhouses, and now I have it here. Its nice that I can fill 6 work days a week, and 1 day of rest, with honest natural behavior, and (as surprised as some people might be) – people like me!

I have said before, and this job only confirms it, that the issues that I had at my previous place of employment were not all about me. I am beginning to think more and more that they were much less about me than they were about others. This job is affirmation that I just didn't belong there, and I am glad that it didn't work out, and that I didn't try to “stick it out” because the hostility and bitterness I felt everyday as a result of how I was treated (perceived or real) is just not something I enjoy dealing with in my life.

lights... but no camera, no cells, no action

A long time ago I blogged people's useage (or lack there of) of their lights while driving. I am surprised at how few people realize that not only at dusk, but also during drizzly/foggy/rainy days, that full lights are just a good idea.
Running lights are effective really only when they are your headlights (not dots like my car) and only effective for oncoming traffic. But tail lights should be essential. Say I am driving the speed limit, or just over. You are not. Maybe you are scared because of the weather, maybe you are just preoccupied with something else (talking on your cell maybe). So I come around a corner, and there you are, a slow poke, and I have to hit my breaks harder than I'd like. One might blame me, maybe I'm going too fast. Whatever. All I am saying is that if your tail lights were on, I would have noticed sooner that you were there.
I tend to think things like that are common courtesy. I also tend to think that we as a society have less and less of it as time goes on. Just like we have less and less common sense; less and less morals; less and less love. If we cared a little more about other people, then it would be easier for us to realize how selfish and unobservant we can really be.
Talking on cell phones/texting, even taking pictures on your camera phone while driving tells me that you don't fully *care* about everyone around you. Putting on makeup, or reading something (other than a map, and I still think you should pull over to do that) tells me that you don't fully *care* about everyone around you. Not using headlights and tail lights when the weather or light conditions require it tells me that you don't fully *care* about everyone around you.
Its not just you on the road, we are all on the roads. Your actions could result in serious accidents or worse. Your divided attention behind the wheel could propel your little rocket into someone else's car, whcih cause cascading crashes from there. You could seriously destroy property or other vehicles. You could hurt people and yourself. You could kill people.
Maybe I am being a bit over board on this, but I just want people to get it. When you are driving, you MUST be fully aware of everything going on around you. Even if travelling at slower speeds, but especially at high speeds, the risk is just too great for you to be so in your own little world, so much that you don't seem to have any regard for other people's safety.
I just want people to get it - perhaps reading this list from CAA will help.

some things are good, other(s) not so much

Lately I have been working really hard at finding the blessings in things, working to be content in all situations. Its easy when things go well, not so easy when things fail.

Like my again broken washer... Same problem as last time, the motor has fried. It makes me wonder if there is a different issue that caused the motor to fry, and I wonder if the service guy last time should have been more thorough. But its all too late, as the warranty on the parts was only for 90 days. How do I find the blessing in that? Okay, on one hand, I don't have to do laundry, because I can't. That frees up time to do other things, like write this blog entry... However, its only a matter of time before I will need to do laundry... I guess a trip to the neighbor's will be in order until we find the means to repair or replace the machine.

But other things are going good. Hubby and I are getting along very well. We have both re-focused our attention on each other, and do much better at treating each other with respect and honor. That is a wonderful blessing.

We had 3 house showings last week, that is cool. One person in particular has shown a lot of interest, and perhaps an offer is coming, now *that* would be a HUGE blessing!

I start a new part-time job this week, that pays more than either of our current jobs. In fact, in order to maximize our time and what we get paid, hubby will also work his current job only part-time. The two of us will then share my current job... Seems strange on the surface, but the benefits outweigh any confusion and annoyance. First, we don't have to put the other car back on the road, as the days I need the car, hubby works next door, and vice-versa. Second, because we will be working a total of 11 days out of the week (combined) and my additional wages, we should be able to take home almost $200 more per week! Another blessing.

Our relationship with our neighbors is very strong, such they aren't just neighbors, or a boss, they are friends. This has proven to be beneficial for both families, as we are able to share, and help each other out when in need. Blessing.

Due to necessity our spending and consumption of resources has diminished. This could be seen as a bad thing, little money... However, I think that once we are in a better financial position it won't make any difference to our consumption, as we both recognize that we were somewhat wasteful in the past. Saving money, saving resources and consuming less is only a win-win for us and the environment. Yep, you guessed it, Blessing!

Okay, keeping tabs? That's 5 things I can easily find the blessings in, and 1, well not so much... I'd have to say that 5 out of 6 is good. Better than good. I'll take it.

"un"wisdom for the ignorant

I have thought about this post all day, but I am still not sure I will be able to keep my thoughts as coherant as I would like. Bear with me...

The idea started a few weeks ago when I became a more "regular" attendee of LifeChurch.tv. There was this 4-part series called True[ish]. You can watch them via their archives! The pastor was talking about things in this world, in this day and age, that we (even us Christians) hold as true, but in fact they aren't really true at all. Over the few weeks I began to reflect on things that I held as virtues, and I began comparing them to who Jesus was and what He held as virtues. I would like to be able to report that I am "right on track" but I am a sinful human, and I am not anywhere near close to Jesus in those regards. (Nor is anyone else I suspect. And no, that is not a judgement, just a fair comparison of where we ALL stand next to Jesus' examples. Unfortunately we all come up short.)

This pastor of LifeChurch.tv is not what I would refer to as a typical pastor, at least not typical for the denomination I grew up in. Honestly, I don't really think his preaching style would be overly appreciated by most. However, I appreciate how he was able to highlight the absolute truths found in the Bible. He pointed out his own, and all of our flaws, and while doing so, he never once made me feel berated. He did however, remind me how much we fail on a day-to-day basis to act as Jesus' example showed us. How much we fail at "doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly with our Lord." Micah 6:8.

I don't really want to get into too much detail on the specifics of his sermons, I really encourage you to watch for youself. What I wanted to focus on is the outstanding question I have, the same question I almost always have when I leave church.

How?

We hear sermons that reflect on Bible passages. We hear what the scriptures mean in layman's terms. We hear how we don't measure up. But to me something is still missing. How do we do it? Where is our tangible check list of things to do or try, our guideline?

Yes, we have the Bible itself, however, it doesn't have these nifty little lists. If you start a new job, or go to learn a new subject in school, you have a trainer/instructor. Then you run through examples to explain the theory. The next step is running through some of those examples on your own, to see how you do, and where you need to make adjustments. One would never try to solve the square root of a number without knowing (or at least have written down) the quadratic equation.

Where is our equation, our list, our instruction manual on the HOW? I get the why. I understand the theory. How do you put it in practice?

has anything changed... for the better?

Recently I watched this video on YouTube. It is a speech by Severn Suzuki at the 1992 UN Earth Summit. I would highly recommend taking 6 and a half minutes from your busy schedule to listen to this (at that time) young girl, barely a teenager, who says things we should all be saying.

It amazes me that this speech is from 1992. The issues she talks about are still very much present today. I asked in the title of this post - has anything changed? Not for the better if you ask me. Things have really only gotten worse. All of the issue she talks about still exist today, and there are even more issues on top of that!

She is a well-spoken, bold young lady. The things she says really made me pause and think of what I can do about things, now. I do some things already to help the environment. I recycle, big time. I conserve, big time. I re-use things. And with all of that, I try to educate people. However, it is never going to be enough, even if every household in the world conserved as much as possible, there are still all those industrial factories consuming more than I ever thought possible.

I have shared before the website called StoryOfStuff. There is another great video there too, but you will need to set aside about 20 minutes. Educating ourselves and each other is one way that we can hopefully stand united against the governments and businesses of this world that are consuming at such an alarming rate, its scary!

I think that especially as a North American society, we need to stop consumerism. We need to stop planned and perceived obsolescence. What we need to do is go back to perhaps the days of our grandparents, when throwing out a used milk bag was unheard of, because didn't you know that you can wash it and then use it for a storage bag?

I will stop now, before I aimlessly go on and on. Preserving and repairing our Earth is something that we must all do together. But ultimately its a personal choice. Only you can decide if you will think twice about tossing something that really can be re-used. Only you can decide to go green.

we've been that time for awhile now

I have been reflecting on this passage from the Holy Bible. Its from Timothy, the author of many of the instructions to the "church."

"For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear." 2 Timothy 4:3 (New International Version)

As this blog entry title may indicate, I feel that we (all humans) have been in this time already, and probably have since Timothy first wrote this. Maybe even before he wrote it! I think its human nature to surround ourselves with those who are like us, but more than that, I think that people generally like hearing what they *want* to hear.

I heard someone in a church leadership position use this quote: "if you aren't getting the answers you seek, you are either asking the wrong questions or asking the wrong people." It never occurred to this person that maybe they were seeking the wrong answers in the first place! It never dawned on them that the answers they got were in fact 'sound doctrine.'

The "church" has changed its beliefs many, many times since Timothy wrote this. The "church" has altered its rules in order to adapt to the changes in the world. As more and more things become acceptable in society, they become acceptable in the church. Fundamentally this is wrong. We are to be in the world but not OF the world. Meaning, we are to live here, but not to become what is considered worldly as opposed to what is Biblical. We are NOT to change our beliefs every time society changes it's.

Where would we draw the line? We already allow women in office (as deacons, elders and even pastors). We already allow gays and lesbians in office. We already run our churches like businesses as opposed to the 'movement' it is supposed to be. The church is a communion of saints, not a building full of expenses to be managed like widgets on an inventory line. But society accepts women being equal to men, the entire women's liberation movement achieved that for us (didn't do ME any favors!). Society says that its okay, so now the church does too. I ask, if society ever ends up saying that if someone murders your child you will have the right to shoot them, will the church then think that murder is acceptable? Right now that seems ludicrous, but as recent as 10 years ago the church felt that women in office was ludicrous.

If you ask me, its only a matter of time before the church becomes the world. We are called by God to be disciples. We are called by God to teach His word, and to instruct in the ways of God. We are NOT called by God to set aside our fundamental beliefs simply because it might be deemed offensive to society as a whole. If you read the gospels on how Jesus himself behaved as a child and an adult you will find that He was not afraid or intimidated by the world. Jesus broke all kinds of worldly rules and even some church rules - all in the name of what is Biblically appropriate. He showed us HOW to live, and how to be a Christian. He lead by example, so why aren't we following that example?

I have been accused of hating the church. Well, hate is a very strong word. Even the Bible has something to say about HATE. "He who hates his brother is a murderer and no murderer has eternal life." (1 John 3:15). No, I don't hate the church. I do, however, have some issues with the "church" - which is likely apparent to anyone reading this blog entry, or other blog entries I have written. No, I don't hate the church, but I don't like what organized religion has done to the "church." I am a Christian. I believe in God, His Son, and the Holy Spirit. Its organized religion that I have a problem with, and how man (humans) have taken what God has commanded and made it something other than what God had intended it to be.

I am in no way trying to imply that I am perfect, far from it. I am a sinner just like all the other billions of people in this world. I am not even trying to imply that I feel I am better than anyone else. I just feel that the "church" has steered off course somewhere along the way. I could go into all kinds of examples, but this blog entry is long enough already. Bottom line, I feel that everything we need to know is in the Bible, and I feel its pretty explicit. Sure, we are all different and therefore there is a lot of interpretation, however, when some things are written very clearly, I just have a lot of trouble when human beings spin it to be what they want it to be at the time they want it to be that. I have heard the same person use the same passage to either support or negate the exact same cause, the only difference was how that person *felt* at the time. That kinda summarizes my entire point - we read the Bible and take from it, the only thing that changed was us, not the Bible.

In summary, Timothy was very enlightened (of course he would be, seeing as the entire Bible was written with the inspiration and guidance of God through the Holy Spirit). And who would know better what God intended for the world than God himself??? I think we should stop playing God, and stop pretending that we know better than He. To me, that is the greatest sin of all, changing His Word, because His Word is our cornerstone, our instruction manual, our guide of right vs wrong. The more we change it, the scarier this world becomes. Inevitably we will change His Word so much that it will be our words, then we are truly of the world. That's a problem.

hiding... no, just re-prioritizing

So I haven't been on assbook, sorry facebook, so much lately, and hardly ever on MSN... Someone suggested to me that maybe I am hiding...
No, not hiding. I made a conscious decision to re-prioritize who and what gets my attention. This is the age of information overload. In fact, the average 16 year old makes more decisions in ONE DAY then say my grandfather did in an ENTIRE YEAR. There are so many things that can distract me from what is most important in life.
So, what are my priorities?

1. God - He has commanded us to obey, and that is what I am trying to do. Ironic though that in order to obey Him, I need His help to do it! And I ask for that, all the time.
2. Husband - Ultimately he is the one I will (and WANT) to spend the rest of my life with, but if I don't put my focus on him, I am sending the message that he is not important to me. Nothing could be further from the truth.
3. The rest of our family - Bottom line, family is meant to be there for each other. We might not always get along, but its important to keep those connections. No one said you have to be "best friends" with all your family, but if you can't count on them, who can you count on?
4. Friends - Hopefully none of our friends take offense that they are not #1 in my life, but keep in mind that #4 is only a close #4, and often some friends end up being closer than some family. Such is life. I am grateful for the friends (and family) that I can always count on.
5. Play - This would include watching TV or movies. And cause I am such a dork, computer geek stuff, and shoveling the driveway! (I like being outside, and the exercise is great).
6. Work - Even though for many it consumes more than 1/3 of the day, work is NOT the end all and be all of life. Work can be fun, work can be horrible, but providing for the necessities of life is well, necessary. (I am grateful that I LOVE MY JOB!)
7. Everything else - pretty much self-explanatory.

So far I think I am off to a good start for 2009. Each day presents something new, but with this attitude, I know I can get through anything. Besides, I never walk this world alone, as Jesus lives in my heart, and the Spirit is always here to guide me. I give praise to God for what I have. Sometimes its a struggle ... but God gives us what we need, not always what we want.