WHEN I FINALLY "GOT IT"

     I'm sure when many of my Christian friends read the title of this blog, they are going to think I am referring to the day I accepted Jesus into my heart and became Born Again. That was on December 6, 1977 when I was 13 years old. Yes, that was a very important life changing day in my life that I will never forget. I would like us to fast forward about a little over 10 years later in February 1988. That was a time in my life I learned that hard work is needed to make it in life. Let me explain!

     When I was a kid I was a very lazy kid, but not when it came time to play or compete in neighborhood sports. What I really mean is when  it came to doing chores and doing homework, I was the poster child of lazy!!. After I came home from school, you would either see me with a hockey stick, a football, a baseball glove or bat, a tennis racket or a basketball. I loved to play sports. When it came to chores, I was a very lazy kid. I would do everything in my power to complain and I truthfully drove my parents insane. Forget about the fall season! When the leaves fell all over our property, I would always say "Why do we have to rake these leaves? The wind will just blow them away!" I was also the kind of kid that during the summer I would stay up at all crazy hours (usually watching The Honeymooners) and sleep as late as 12 Noon! Yes, I was a very lazy kid and truthfully carried that laziness into my early twenties.

     In 1987, well before I began my Children's Pastor career, I began working a job refinishing hardwood floors. It was a very hard and physical job that I had for 4 1/2 years. I was happy learning a trade and it definitely helped me stay in shape. On each job we were sent out in pairs. One worker would work with an "edger" sanding the edges of a room while the other worker worked the "big machine" sanding the middle of the room. On some jobs, we would have all 6 workers on a job sanding the floors of an entire house. After we sanded the floors we would have to stain and then polyurethane the floors. I tried my best to learn this trade but truthfully my mind was always on what it would be like to be in full time ministry. Little did I know, God was about to teach me an important lesson.

     In February 1988, my month did not start out very well. While trying to "help" on a job, I accidentally put a hole in a wall and on top of that ruined a floor. My boss was understanding and extended grace toward me, although he did let me know I needed to be careful next time. I honesty thought I was going to lose my job. On that same job, we had to refinish a staircase. One of the workers was a former employee who worked for the phone company. His name was Dave (a great name) and was only working with us because the phone company was on strike. While we were all trying to sand the staircase, Dave looked over at me and with a smug look on his face, he said, "You better get your butt in gear or you are going to lose your job, my friend." It was too noisy to respond to him and I was truthfully livid. How dare he say that! Who does he think he is! I went home that night fuming thinking "What would make some guy who doesn't even know me or my work ethic say that to me?" While I tried to go to sleep that night, I suddenly realized God was trying to speak to me. I realized an important lesson. I needed to start working harder. I received a huge "wakeup" call and from that point in my life, I started giving 100% effort with everything I did. I think I shocked a lot of people. The days of being a lazy kid were over!! I finally "Got it!"

     About 9 months after my wake up call, one of the other workers was leaving for another job so I was asked to learn the "big machine." I was happy because now I was trained to work all the machines. I continued to work hard not only at my job but at life. God was teaching me how important it is to have a great work ethic. What I learned from that experience was something I carried with me through my years at Smithtown Gospel Tabernacle to where I work now at Chick Fil-A. When you work hard and give 100% effort, you will without a shadow of  doubt move ahead in life!

UNTIL NEXT TIME!!!