Corona

No, not the beer.  The virus.

I decided to write about this in the event that one of these days I look back at this blog to see what was going on in my life.

Right now, not much is going on in life except surviving.  What started out sounding like a movie script or the beginning of The Walking Dead is our every day lives for the foreseeable future.  Coronavirus, or COVID-19, has brought to world to a standstill.  The disease is spread through contact and being in close proximity to others, so we are all practicing social distancing.  Families are quarantined inside their homes for hours on end, only going out to purchase essential items.  Six feet is the distance that you should stay away from someone else who isn't in your immediate household.  Even Walmart has changed how they operate.  People are let in one at at time to ensure that the store isn't overcrowded to the point that the 6 foot barrier is broken.

The disease is an upper respiratory infection. Symptoms include fever, dry cough, body aches, and very closely mimics flu symptoms. Some folks have the disease and show no symptoms at all.  Some folks are dying.

Every day life has been turned upside down. The kids have been out of school since March 16 and will likely not go back this semester.  Cade's high school graduation is in question. Kenna will likely register for high school online.  Church is even online for the time being. The worship team goes in on Wednesday nights and records the music for Sunday.  Corey preaches to the 3 or 4 of us that stay.  The video is uploaded on Sunday mornings. That is the new norm for now.

I hate this. While no-one I "know" has it, Adam Killion is currently in the hospital on a ventilator because of it.  Joe Diffie (John Deere Green, Ships That Don't Come In) has recently died because of it. I am lucky enough to still be working but many are not.  Many are saying that hopefully by May things can return to normal.  I sure hope so.

The Accompanist

It has always been one of my greatest joys to accompany my kids when they are in the singing mood. I hope someday when I am long gone they find these videos and remember these days.

"The Climb" performed by Miley Cyrus.
"More Hearts Than Mine" performed by Ingrid Andress

Extinguishing Fires

At some point in their athletic careers, this has happened to both of my kids.  More so with Cade in football but Kenna used to absolutely love basketball. It breaks my heart really.  They both loved the games they played so much.  Both had a fire and passion about playing.  Then one day, the person who was supposed to be stoking that flame was the very person who extinguished it.

Screen Veils

I was originally going to title this post "The Death of Human Decency" but thought that might be a bit harsh.  But to some degree, I think it is appropriate.  So what do I attribute such a title?  Simple.  Social media.

I remember when Myspace came out. The coolest thing was trying to figure out what song would play on your profile.  It was an important decision.  I always tried to have something that would take people back to a time that hopefully was good to them.  For the longest time, my song of choice was "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" by Gary Portnoy.  You know, the Cheers theme song.  Good times.

Then along came Facebook and the biggest worry was whether or not the badges we displayed on our pages were funny or cool enough.  Soon though, everyone started joining and Facebook stopped being "cool".  Now it's full of political arguments and all kinds of other garbage. I'm legitimately concerned about my eternal soul because I am yet to type "Amen" to a post or "Like and Share" that I believe in Jesus.  Apparently that is the ticket to Heaven these days.  (Not really, but you get the idea I hope.).

While these programs were once used to connect to people we haven't seen in a while or keep track of family across the US or world in some instances, for the most part there platforms are now used to hide behind and bully others.  There are so many social media options that kids are using these days to do nothing but tear other kids down.  Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram, VSCO, and others that I don't know about (Full disclosure:  With the exception of VSCO, I have accounts on all of the mentioned apps) have become a way to talk about people and tear others down.  It's sad really.  My 2 oldest have experienced this and, again in full disclosure, have probably participated in the shenanigans to some degree.

It's as if people have lost the ability to be decent to one another because now, thanks to a smartphone or a computer screen, people can say whatever they want and "hide" their stories so that only certain people see them.  The problem is that they make some snarky jab at someone and a screenshot gets back to the intended target.  Were we better off when to talk about someone, you had to at least say it out loud to someone and hope that they weren't two-faced enough to go tell the person you were talking about (or maybe you hoped they would)?  I don't know but it sure seems that way.

As a parent, I've tried to teach my kids to be good and look for the good in others.  I've tried to teach them to model their life after Christ and to build people up rather than tearing them down.  Again, I hope that they live each day like this but I'm sure there have been times when they have been the opposite.  But the veil that can be used to hide behind with social media has made this tasks harder I think. And not everyone has been taught this lesson.  It's sad really.  The problem is as more apps are developed, the more prevalent the name calling and bullying will become.

Teach your kids to be decent humans; not only when they are standing in front of someone but also when they are typing on a screen, captioning a photo, or making a 60 second video.

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.