THE JOY OF DISCOVERY

   
     Last Wednesday I worked a full day at Chick Fil-A. With this crazy pandemic going on, our restaurant only offers drive thru and mobile order options only. Of course, we are all wearing masks and gloves. Our dining room has been closed for well over a month. We are now using it to store all our sauces, cups and supplies. For most of that day, my job was to prepare mobile order drinks. During my shift, I went to get a box of sauces and as I went to reach for my box cutter which is attached to my Chick Fil-A key chain, I discovered my keys were not on me. I searched the pockets of both of my jackets at least three times. No keys! During my break I looked in my car. No keys again. Then I thought "Hey wait! I must have left my keys home." Why was this important to me? They were not my car or house keys. These were the keys to open our Chick Fil-A restaurant. I have had them since the fall of 2018 when they asked me to be a Shift Leader. I asked a few people if they saw my keys and everyone of course they all said no. I finished my shift at 8:00 p.m. and then headed home.
     I quickly ran up my stairs and looked on the little table that's in my hallway, the place I always leave my keys and....NO KEYS! I could feel the panic set in and decided to continue my search. I searched my room, the bathroom and the kitchen. No keys! I remembered I brought in a garbage can before I left for work so I grabbed a flashlight to look outside. No keys! I then looked in my car, under my car, between the seats...no keys. I was really beginning to panic more. How will I ever tell my boss I lost a set of his store keys? He trusted me with them! Sure, other leaders had a set but I had to find those lousy keys. I then thought "Maybe I dropped them in the parking lot" so I drove all the way back to Commack...no keys anywhere. On my way home I prayed a simple prayer. "God, you know where these keys are so please show me where they are." I tried to retrace my steps in the restaurant then it hit me! I opened a box of tea bags before I brewed our sweet tea and then realized I USED MY BOX CUTTER THEN! The next morning I went into work and asked a few managers if they found my keys. Both said no. I knew my keys were somewhere in that building so I went back to where I opened that box of tea bags. There they were! Hanging on a hook where our kitchen staff hangs spoons, whisks and knives. The Joy of Discovery. All I can say is that I let out a sigh of relief!

     Have you ever been in the same position? This makes me think about what we are all going through. We are all trying to discover why this is happening. We try to search for answers and we look and have our opinions of what will happen to us and why this is happening to us. We will one day have that "joy of discovery" moment I promise you that. Did you ever believe in the past that one day churches would be closed and liquor stores would be open? Did you ever think that many would lose their jobs and go on unemployment? As we search and look, the day will come very soon when we experience that Joy of Discovery! In the meantime, all we can do is trust God and put Him first in our lives!

MUSIC IS A GREAT PART OF OUR LIVES!!

     

     Ever since I was born, music has always been a big part of my life. Both my parents were big fans of music, especially my Dad. My Dad was the proud owner of many record albums, tapes and CD's. He loved every style of music with the exception of rap, heavy metal, hard rock and opera. He loved many Big Bands as well as Show tunes, Bluegrass, 1950's doo wop and I'm sure I'm missing many others. He also owned a lot of those old 78 records (remember those) and spent a lot of time listening to music. Music was always played in our home and in our cars. As kids, we listened to AM radio stations such as 770 WABC and 660 WNBC. When we first moved to New York in 1973, my brother and sister and I liked going to the mall at a store named Sam Goody and buying 45's of our favorite 1970's songs we heard on the radio. We collected a ton of them and recently we tried to remember all the records we collected. Working at Home Depot, I have heard many of these songs playing over and over in the store loudspeakers. I never owned this record, but the song "Do the Hustle" was playing in my head all day long just yesterday! I couldn't get it out of my head!   

     One fond memory I have listening to music as a kid is something I will never forget. Our family spent a lot of time at the beach, a place called Long Beach (No, not California) and I will never forget listening to a song called "Rock the Boat" by the Hughes Corporation and bouncing around in the back seat of my Mom's Volkswagen Beetle in 1974 going down River Road in Smithtown singing that crazy song. I also remember in 1976 a song came out called "Afternoon delight" by the Starlight Vocal Band. I was in sixth grade and remember that song when I was playing little league baseball. Being very young, I thought the song was about a group of people just having a good time with each other just hanging out. I discovered years later that "fun" was a different type of "pleasure". Enough said!  Another music memory I have is with my grandparents who lived in Ringwood, New Jersey in a place my family refers to as "The Lake." My grandfather also loved his music. He was the kind of guy who would see a commercial on TV for a record album and he would buy that album. I remember him buying off a TV ad a Mitch Miller record. More than that, I remember my brother and I spending a week there with our grandparents and my grandfather always played 50's music. Even to this very day, whenever I hear 1950's music, I think about them.

     Growing up into my teen years, my music style changed. I really enjoyed rock music and loved many albums by groups such as Kiss, Paul McCartney and Wings, The Beatles, Peter Frampton, Billy Joel, Chicago and the Beach Boys. When I accepted Jesus into my heart, my music started changing big time. I realized at a young age that I shouldn't fill my mind with the garbage lyrics I was listening to. After all, how could I glorify God by listening to Kiss? Their music is downright evil! I was so happy to learn that their was Christian Music out there that had a beat yet glorified God. My first introduction to it was when my sister Paula came home from college after her first year and told me about an artist by the name of Randy Stonehill. One of his first albums was called "Welcome to Paradise" and I was sure to buy a copy of that record when she returned to school. To this day I still love that album. Over the years I collected many Christian artist records, tape and CD's including Daniel Amos, Larry Norman, Fireworks, Undercover, the 77's, Petra, Jerusalem, The Alarm, Edin Adahl, Mad at the World, Mark Heard...I can go on an on. To this day I still listen to classic Christian Rock on my IPod as well as amazing worship songs and Jazz. I will never ever listen to opera...just like Dad. 

SEE YOU ALL NEXT WEEK! BE SAFE EVERYONE!!  

WE COULD USE A GOOD LAUGH

          

     With everything going on in our world, we all could use a good laugh. The bible even tells us in Proverbs 17:22 that laughter is good medicine. But with this crazy situation, not many people want to laugh or feel like laughing. I know I mentioned it in last week's blog how people have such fearful looks in their eyes. We ALL want everything to be back to normal. My feeling is that while we are going through all this...let's learn to laugh.

     When I went through tough times, I had a very hard time laughing. My focus was not on any type of enjoyment, my focus was on my hardship. I realized one thing. I could not control or change the hardship on my own. The only thing I could control was myself. When I look at this whole coronavirus pandemic, it is also something I cannot change. I know that this situation will not be around in a few months. Life will get back to normal! In the meantime, this is going to allow me to get closer to my Lord! And...I can laugh and enjoy life. When I am working at Chick Fil-A and I'm working behind a register, I must confess I love to joke around with people. When a guest orders a drink and I begin filling the cup with ice, many times they might say "Oh, I wanted no ice!" Wise guy Dave will always tell them "Oh, I'm sorry it's too late. The cup is already full!" My other favorite is when they want Chick Fil-A sauce, they sometimes will say by mistake "Oh, could I have Chipotle sauce?" I will always respond,"Sure, you can grab it next door at the Chipotle restaurant." I wish I had a video of the facial expressions I get!
   
     In my honest opinion, I believe the comedy that is on network television is garbage. I love the classic comedies from the 1950's through the 1990's. Of course my all time favorite is "The Honeymooners" I also love Abbott & Costello. During this pandemic, we all need to laugh. I have watched classic shows like "All in the family" "Three's Company" and "King of Queens" Here is my weekly encouragement: LEARN TO LAUGH! It's amazing medicine! This blog this week is short but basically to the point. Find laughter either with your family, friends or by popping in a DVD of good clean comedy.

HAVE A GREAT WEEK EVERYONE!!          

WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED THIS PAST MONTH?

     So how is your quarantine going? Did you ever think you would ever hear that or would ever be asked that question? Our world has been turned upside down but it has not been all gloom and doom. It's not the end, folks. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. Unfortunately we don't have a date or a timeline. We do know that very soon things will be back to normal. So, what have we learned during the month of March and eight days into April? I have listed 6 things. I'm sure I could write more but I wanted to list my top 6. Like you all, I have had a lot of time to think. I have been busy working at Home Depot but even there it has not been crazy busy. So, without further adieu as they say, let me list for you the top 6 things I have learned during this crazy pandemic.

1. JESUS IS ALL WE NEED

     I heard a preacher say one time "You don't know Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you've got!" Many of us have been stripped of things we love. Some of us lost jobs. There is no entertainment whatsoever live. I've been watching old baseball and football games and truthfully I'm getting bored with TV. We can't travel out of state and we can't go to church. So many things have been taken away from us because of this Coronavirus. One thing has not been taken away from us and that is our relationship with Jesus Christ. I am not one of those people who believe God is punishing our world with this virus. I don't feel that way. I do believe one thing and that is God is trying to get our attention. It's as if we are at a place where since we are alone, we have plenty of time to spend in prayer and reading God's Word! Jesus is truly all we need. When we follow Him, we know He will protect us as well as give us direction in our lives. 

2. FAMILY IS IMPORTANT

       Before this pandemic, I will confess that in my busyness I have not reached out to my Pennsylvania family as much as I would have liked. I only get to see my two younger kids twice a week and have not seen them since March 19th. We agreed to stay apart until this is over. Being divorced and not being able to see them has been difficult. I have discovered that family IS important. Even sending a quick text and receiving one is special. We need to tell our families over and over that we love them!

3. WE NEED EACH OTHER

     Not only is family important but so are our friends, coworkers, fellow church members and neighbors. We truly need each other and we need to obey our state leaders when they say "STAY HOME." We are all in this together. We are all on the same team. This is not Mets vs. Yankees, Giants vs. Jets, Rangers vs. Islanders or U.S.A vs. U.S.S.R....we are ALL on the same team which means we need to pull together. It's just like Field Day in Elementary school when we do the old Tug of War. Each side pulls together until you pull the opposite side to your side.  One team is crowned the winner because they pull the rope together. We need each other, friends!

4. THERE IS BEAUTY ALL AROUND US

     When I leave for work at 5:30 a.m. and it's pitch black outside, I am only thinking about one thing. Getting to work on time. I always pray that there is no traffic on the good ole Long Island Distressway and I usually listen to Sports Radio 101.9 WFAN to hear if my teams won or lost or listen to a caller propose a ridiculous trade (The Mets Pete Alonso to the Washington Nationals for a 40 year old pitcher). I have never taken the time to see the beauty of Long Island. Trust me. I really don't like living here for one reason, It's very expensive. But when I have taken walks due to boredom as well as walks at Sunken Meadow State Park, I can't help but appreciate the beauty of God's creation. The trees are beginning to bloom. Flowers are beginning to pop up out of the ground. This morning I saw a deer on the boardwalk at Sunken Meadow! We need to appreciate God's creation around us!

5. GOD IS BIGGER THAN COVID-19

     No matter what comes against us whether its a pandemic, a war, unemployment or a family struggle...GOD IS ALWAYS BIGGER. This pandemic is all new to us. We have never faced this kind of worldwide challenge. As Christians, we need to remember that in spite of it all, God is bigger! He will take care of us.

6. PEOPLE ARE FEARFUL

     Working at Home Depot as well as when I go for walks, I can see in many peoples eyes the fear they have over this virus. You can see it in their eyes big time. You can feel it in the air. The one thing I have done to combat my fears is memorize a bible verse in 2 Timothy 1:7 - "God has not given me the spirit of fear, but of power, love and of a sound mind." We have no reason to be in fear. God will always take care of us! Yes, we are human and we all have had fears in our lives. But this scripture verse tells us a very simple thing. We have no reason to fear, because God's plan for us is for us to have power, love and especially a sound mind! Plus, I know God has his hand over my life and I also remember the scripture verse in Hebrews 13:5 which says "He will never leave us nor forsake us." We need to pray for those who live in fear that God will comfort them and show himself to them.

BE SAFE EVERYONE AND CONTINUE TO TRUST IN GOD!!