Winds of Change

Well, my days at BOPP are winding down.  On June 1, I officially become an Associate Attorney at the Law Office of Shon D. Johnson.  I'm ready to get started, but at the same time scared to death.  I have always had a job where I was guaranteed a salary and could budget based on what I was guaranteed to be paid.  It won't be like this from now on.  I am getting a small salary and then a percentage of the work I do for the firm, but it's not the same.  I can only trust that this is what I'm supposed to be doing and that it will all work out and we'll be fine.

Whitney dislocated her knee this past weekend while we were in Louisville.  She simply took a step and her knee popped out of it's socket.  You could see the pain and torment on her face and I felt completely helpless sitting there with her.  All I could tell her was that it was going to be okay once we got her to the hospital, but I know that was no comfort at all.  She saw the doctor on Tuesday about it and he told her that she basically has a genetic deformity that makes it easy for this to happen to her again.  They put a brace on it but she is terrified that it is going to happen again. 

Summer break has started here.  The kids are enjoying it I guess.  We went swimming today for about an hour and a half at Uncle James' house.  It's nice to have relatives that will let you use their stuff whenever you want; especially when that stuff is a swimming pool.  The Veazey's have one too so we'll be making numerous trips to both this summer. 

I guess that's all for now.  Later.

Every Day I'm Shufflin'...

So once again I am stealing an idea from my good friend Daniel Ross and am putting my iPhone on shuffle to see what comes up.  Then, I'll share with you.  Here we go.

1.  "I Need Thee" by Alabama.  One of my favorite hymns of all time.  It's simple, yet powerful and honest.

2.  "Faithfully" by Journey.  Really, who doesn't love this??

3.  "If You're Gonna Play in Texas.." by Alabama.  Our second Alabama song in 3 selections.  My parents probably hate any Alabama song that is on the Roll On tape because me and my brother would literally let them listen to nothing else when we went anywhere.  Ask my mom about the trip to Texas one summer.

4.  "I'm Free From the Chain Gang" by Johnny Cash.  He is music.  Plain and simple.  Done in his later years when his death was imminent, this song is heartfelt.

5.  "Prodigal Son's Prayer" by Dierks Bentley.  Sorry there is no good video for this one, but I love this song.  If you have never heard it, check it out.

Frustration

When my wife called me on April 13, overjoyed and in tears, I thought that things were finally going to be different.  No more late nights for her.  No more having to watch the bank account to make sure we didn't overdraft.  Nice vacations.  We could buy or even better, build, our own house.

That was a month ago.  So far, nothing has changed.  Well, that's not true.  I have now spent even more hundreds of dollars getting licensed and joining various organizations that are essential for young lawyers to join.  So I am worse off now than I was a month ago. 

I have talked to 6 or 7 different people about jobs but so far nothing has panned out.  Whit and I were watching the news the other night and they were talking about how all of these School of Pharmacy graduates were not able to find work.  I can understand their frustration.  I would have never thought that after 4 years of law school and passing the bar the first time out that a month later I'd still be "unemployed" as a lawyer. 

I don't know if this is God's way of teaching me patience or what, but I hope soon He decides to teach me a lesson in starting a new job. 

Making Memories

As I said in an earlier post, I had a good lunch yesterday with some old friends.  One of them stated that he had started a journal for his children and was trying to decide when the appropriate time to give it to them would be.  He had decided that when they have children of their own is best.  That way they will appreciate the journal even more.  Hopefully, it will help them understand what was going on "behind the scenes" at the time and what was going through mom and dad's minds when they made some decisions or something happened.

I liked the idea so much that I went to Walmart tonight and bought 3 journals for my kids.  I'm not going to write in them every day, but hopefully will put something in them every month or so and anytime there is a significant event in their life.  Why not do it online?  I think it would have more meaning when they get older if they can read it in my handwriting.  It would be as if I was right there with them telling them the story instead of them reading it.  It will be interesting to see how many of them I fill up for each child.  But I look forward to writing in them and then going back myself to look and see what was going on at that point in their lives. 

I hope they will appreciate it some day.

Why Do You Keep Doing That?

I had the great privilege today of eating lunch with a couple of old friends.  We talked about everything from work to faith to movies.  One of the most interesting conversations we had was about our children.

As parents, we have all been there.  Our children keep doing the same things that get them in trouble.  Each of mine have their own quirks.  With Cade, we have to tell him about 10 times to do something.  Kenna throws temper tantrums and Case has complete meltdowns when it's time to turn off the Wii or PS3.  Chad was telling us that his son, age 5, continues to do the same things to get in trouble.  When Chad ask him why he continues to do that, his answer is straight forward and brutally honest:  Because I wanted to.  We have the same conversations with our kids.  "Why do you continue to do the same things time and time again knowing that there will be negative consequences for your actions?"  We want to sometimes just take them by the shoulders and shake them to get them to understand that we are tired of always getting on to them for the same things.

In the midst of that conversation at lunch today, Chad brought up a point that has stuck with me all day:  Surely God feels the same towards us.  There are times that He must want to grab me by the shoulders and shake me while asking, "Why do you keep doing that?"  And the answer is as simple as a child's.  Because I want to.  I put earthly things above heavenly things.  I keep making the same mistakes over and over and over.  I don't seek Him like I ought to.  I continue to do things my way and those ways are the wrong ways.

I love my children and I only want what's best for them.  That's why it is frustrating when I try to guide their path, but they continue to do things their way.  Their way of doing things often isn't the way I envisioned them doing it.  They don't follow the instructions that I've given them.  Sometimes they do and everything goes great. But sometimes they don't and there are consequences.

Sounds familiar, huh?