The Inevitable

Just a little short of 24 hours ago, news broke that NBA legend Kobe Bryant had been killed in a helicopter crash in California.  As tragic as that news was for many to hear, it became even worse when it was revealed that not only had Kobe died, but also losing their lives in the crash were his 13-year old daughter Gianna and 7 other people including 2 more children.  They were on their way to an AAU basketball game or camp (I have seen conflicting stories on which) where Kobe was supposed to coach and Gianna and the other girls were going to be playing.  Tragic.  Just absolutely tragic.

I didn't know anyone on that helicopter but my heart aches for their families.  I have experienced loss recently and while it wasn't a sudden or surprising loss, it was a loss nonetheless that leaves a huge void in my life.  I can't imagine what the surviving parents, spouses, children, and other family of these individuals are feeling this morning.  There is a hole that will never be filled until they draw their last breath on this Earth.  There isn't much more that I can do for those families other than pray that God will comfort them at this time.

Immediately following the news, Twitter came alive with messages of condolences to the victims families and reminders of how precious that this life that we are given is.  Rightfully so, I may add.  We were challenged to let go of petty differences and and hug our loved ones tighter and to reach out to those we haven't talked to in a while or may even have been avoiding.  Again, great things to do.

But anytime there is a tragedy like this my question quickly becomes this:  Why does it take a tragedy such as this for us to decide that we should be decent human beings?  Why should Kobe Bryant's death, as tragic and sudden as it was, be what spurs us to reach out, be nice, give hugs, etc?  

Understandably, part of the response is due to the fact that tragedies like this are a reminder that life is already short and our time here is limited.  It is a reminder that none of us are promised tomorrow.  That reminder hits even harder when children are the ones that perish because we think of all the potential that they had in front of them.  Pat McAfee said it best on his podcast this morning when he said, "Let's make our todays better than our yesterdays because we truly have no idea if tomorrow will come."  That's some great advice!  We shouldn't wait until an unimaginable tragedy occurs to live each day like it may be our last.  Some day, we will all wake up on our "last day".  None of us know when that day is coming.  Some people are experiencing that day right now and don't even know it.  Regardless of what age we are right now, none of us are promised tomorrow.  That's a harsh reality of living in a fallen world. Each and every one of us are on borrowed time and some of us were able to take out bigger loans from the Life Bank and Trust Company.

So I guess the purpose of all this rambling is to say this:  When asked what was the greatest commandment, Christ told us to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind.  After that, to love your neighbor as yourself.  Every day, we have opportunities to impact others.  Good or bad.  It is my hope that every day, you and me will just be examples of what Christ has already called us to be.  That it won't take the death of a celebrity for us to be encouraged or reminded that we should love others, even when we don't agree with them.  That we should cherish our family because at any moment, one of them could be gone.  That even when things aren't going our way that we can still have a positive impact on someone.  That rather than focus on all the negative that this world throws at us, that we will chose to see the best in people.  That we will help those who need help and comfort those who need comforting.  Every day.  Not just on the days following a tragedy.

Every. Single. Day.

Just imagine what our lives would be like for however long we have left if we all make the decision to live like Christ has called us to live.  To love Him and love our neighbor like we love ourself.  If we live this way, when tragedies do come, we won't be left with regrets of things we should have done or words we should have said to the person before they left us.  We'll have already said and done everything that needs to be said and done because that's just how we live our lives.

It's Not Old...Just Older

I guess since its been something like 7 years since I wrote anything on here, the best place to start new would be an update for anyone who reads this thing. Perhaps I am the only one who does but if so, oh well.   We all need a reminder every now and then of where we have been to greater appreciate where we are at the current moment.

--2019 started out like pretty much every other year.  I was working as a District Director for the TN Department of Corrections and responsible for the oversight of the sex offender caseloads for all of west Tennessee. I had been doing that since since 2016 (I think, maybe 2017) but regardless, after too many late nights, too many nights away from home, and too many times being told how to do my job better by people who have never done my job, I decided it was time for a change.  I guess it would be better put that God decided it was time for a change.  One late night in February, one of our offender's cut off his GPS unit in Memphis.  Whenever that happened, officers had to respond immediately and warrants were issued for the arrest of that offender.  Long story short, our officers had been repeatedly told by Memphis police to not call them to come look for offenders because they didn't have time to stop what they were doing and look for a guy with a misdemeanor warrant that was on probation.  Makes sense considering at one point I remember being told that there is a call for a shooting approximately ever 12 minutes in the city of Memphis. Needless to say, they have their own problems to worry about,.  Anyway, one of my superiors didn't like the idea that I didn't try to call the chief of police for Memphis to get him involved in having officers assist us so I was told in a text thread that I need to stop making excuses and other nuggets of information. It was bad enough that the next morning (a Saturday) my direct supervisor, who is one of the best people I have ever worked for and love to this day, called me to check on me and to see if I had quit.  I hadn't but only because I didn't have anything else to do.    Then God stepped in.  On Monday morning, I awoke to a text message from Becky Alexander with a simple question:  "Are you ready to come to work in the Grove?"  Becky works in Cottage Grove for a company and she had been trying to convince them for a year that the company needed to hire an attorney full-time.  They finally agreed and that Wednesday I met with her and the owners for my interview.  I called my supervisor on the way home and gave her my 2-week notice.  So I am now in-house counsel for a little company in Cottage Grove and couldn't be happier.  Hopefully they feel the same way about me.  Sometimes I wonder.

--Mom died on June 7, 2019.  It has been the hardest thing I have ever gone through personally.  I still think about her every day.  Cancer took so much from her, but it couldn't take her spirit or her love for her family.  More on this later.  Maybe.

--The kids are doing fine.  Cade is less than 4 months away from graduation which is mind blowing to me.  He is planning on attending Ole Miss and major in business and Public Policy.  After that, law school.  I've tried to convince him otherwise but so far, he has been pretty adamant. Whatever he decides, we are extremely proud of him and know that whatever he decides to do in life that he will do great. Kenna is 14 now. Talk about a curveball for a guy who grew up with brothers.  I've never had a teenage girl in my house and she definitely has taught me new lessons in life that I had never had to contemplate before.  She is a daddy's girl though and has a heart of gold.  So we must have done something right.  Case is 11 and has already decided he wants to attend the University of Tennessee because of their Aeronautics Engineering program.  At 11, I didn't know how to say Aeronautics Engineering.

--We bought a new house in 2018.  We had been renting forever and decided that we were tired of renting but that the house we were currently in wasn't conducive to our life when we got older.  Specifically, there wasn't a bedroom on the first floor.  So Whitney found us a house on Dunlap that she fell in love with and in October of 2018, we once again became home owners.  It's a fixer-upper for sure but we like it.  She loves those old historic home and this house was built by W.G. Rhea and was his home when he was alive.  That means nothing to people who aren't familiar with Henry County and W.G. Rhea, but it is neat and is a great conversation piece about the house. It took his ghost some time to get used to us being here but now he is and all is great.

--That's about it for now.

Back in Black

Goodness.  I didn't know these things were still around.  Thanks to Alien Soil for reminding me about these.

More to come.  Later.  Maybe.