WHO DO YOU REPRESENT?

     Who do you represent? Great question, right? I know that when I wear my orange apron at Home Depot I represent that company. When I wear my red polo shirt at Chick Fil-A I represent that company. When I worked other jobs in the past I represented them. My green State Parks polo that was very hot to wear when I worked at Sunken Meadow State park, or my either maroon or blue t-shirt I wore when I refinished floors for a floor sanding company I worked for, G.H. Fardig & Son. When I did that job my shirts were always covered with polyurethane! Let's take a look at who we represent at work and in our lives!

     In many of the jobs I have had many of them required a uniform. The purpose of the uniform was to let people know that if they needed help, I was hired to help them to the best of my ability. If I was ever in a Home Depot or Chick Fil-A in regular street clothes, I was just a customer or guest. No one would ever ask me where something was or would complain there were pickles on their sandwich. Of course there are those days when you forget and you wear a green polo shirt at Dollar Tree or a red polo shirt at Target and someone walks up to you with an attitude wondering why there is no toilet paper! I also learned my lesson once being in Kohl's as I was wearing a shirt and tie looking to buy clothes. Someone asked me if I was a manager. Maybe I should have said yes! Kohl's could have paid me! There are also those funny moments like last Monday while I was working at Home Depot wearing my orange apron when a gentleman asked me if I worked there. Maybe he was trying to tell me something or maybe his glasses needed to be cleaned? "No sir, I am wearing this apron to get ready for Halloween four months early!"

     As I have worked these various jobs wearing various uniforms or t-shirts, I represent those various companies. I have to be professional, try to help people and sometimes listen to their complaints. 75% of the complaints I hear are either bogus or lies. But, being that these various companies pay me, I have to abide by their rules and be professional. Of course, I can't yell or scream, I can't accuse a customer of lying to me and I can't cause a scene. The result of that would be my immediate termination. When I wear my orange apron, I represent The Home Depot. When I wear my red polo shirt with gray slacks and black no slip shoes, I represent Chick Fil-A! 

     So who do you represent in life? Your family? Your city? For me it's what dwells deep down in my heart. Yes, of course I want to be a great representative of my family. My family is amazing! I want every fiber of my being to represent the Lord Jesus Christ. Sure, I could wear Christian T-shirts, I could put one of those metal Christian fish symbols on my car. I remember back in the 1970's many Christians would put an "I Found it" bumper sticker on their cars. I could walk around wearing my Christianity and on my outside appearance you would believe I was a true Christian man. I can say without a shadow of a doubt that I want to represent the Lord Jesus Christ every single day. I want it to scream out not only with my outward appearance, but in my words and actions. Many of my co-workers at Home Depot know it takes a lot for me to get angry. They watch me when I deal with customers who are challenging. They tell me all the time I am a nice guy who never loses his cool. In everything I do, I want to represent Jesus Christ and my prayer is always that people will see Jesus in me! So, one last question. Who do you represent?

HAVE A BLESSED WEEKEND  

   

   

  

 

   

THE PRODIGAL SON & FATHER'S DAY

     

     Father's Day will be here this Sunday. It has always been a bittersweet holiday for me since 1995. My Father went to be with the Lord Father's Day 1995. I know he is no longer suffering physically and I'm sure he's having a blast in heaven. I do miss him a lot!! Lately I have been thinking about a story in the Bible that is in Luke 15:11 - 32. The Prodigal Son. I wanted to break this parable down into 2 parts. The first part is the Father's point of view and how my Dad would have handled the situation. The second part is all about the Prodigal Son in parable story and how he finally came to his senses and what he learned from all this!

     We all know this story and have read it, seen it on video or maybe we have lived it? A man has 2 sons. The younger son approaches his Dad and asks for his share of the estate. He gathers his belongings and heads for a distant land where he squanders his estate with foolish living. After he spends his money a severe famine struck the country so he is forced to get a job. His job is feeding pigs! He had no money and is very hungry. After feeding the pigs he longs for the pig food. He comes to his senses and realizes his own Father's hired hands have plenty to eat. He decides to return home to his father telling him that he is not worthy to be called his son. He gets up and returns to his father. While he is a long way off, his father sees him and has compassion for him. He runs up to him, throws his arms around him and kisses him. The son tells him "I am not worthy to be called your son" but the father tells his slaves to bring his son the best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then bring the fattened calf and lets have a celebration.  The story continues about the older brother but I won't get into that now.

     I often wonder what was going through the mind of the father in this story. The Bible never really mentions what he went through while hos son left the family to supposedly "live his dream." I could only imagine he was probably laying awake at night or maybe pacing around his farm hoping that his son would return. I'm sure he was worried sick! We have all gone through "Prodigal Son moments" in our lives. For me it was a season in my life while I was a Bible College student. Yes! I did say Bible College student. I will always be grateful to my Dad for one thing (besides many other things), he taught me the value of hard work and money. He never spoiled me. When I wanted my first car, he didn't hand me a check and say "Okay, go and pick what you want. He told me "If you want a car, get a job, save your money and buy one. My dream car, a Firebird what out of the question. Instead, I settled for a 1972 Pontiac Ventura! When that car broke down 2 years later, my Dad lent me money with the understanding that I needed to pay him back which I did. 2 years after that I did save money and bought my dream car. No, not a Firebird but a truck! A 1988 Mazda Pick up truck. I loved that truck and hated to sell it but I had to when baby #1 was born. My Dad never handed my my estate just like the Prodigal Son's father. He did give me a life lesson on what it means to work real hard to get not only what you want but what you need.

     The second part of this parable I wanted to focus on is smack dab in the middle of the parable. As the Prodigal Son gets a job feeding pigs, he is extremely hungry and the Bible says he longs for the pig food to eat it. The next phrase in that parable is a phrase I hope to one day preach on. It says "when he came to his senses." How many times in life have we been in situations we are in when we really don't need to be in them. Through human mistakes we find ourselves in a struggle. The Prodigal Son came to his senses when he realized he didn't need to be working in a job feeding pigs. He could go home to his father and be well taken care of. How many times have we been in the same predicament! We can always return to our Heavenly Father who never leaves us and never forgets us when we are in a struggle. I'm sure you have been in a situation where you did "come to your senses." I pray that you will always stay close to your Heavenly Father every single day!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY EVERYONE!!    

      

   

  

SILENCE IS GOLDEN! DUCT TAPE IS SILVER!

     "Silence is golden! Duct tape is silver." I first saw this phrase in an airport somewhere in the midwest. It was on a button on the back of some young kids backpack. I started using that phrase a lot with my kids as well as my church kids. They would get annoyed with me whenever I said it. It does sound funny when you think of it. I have to make a confession to you all. I really had no idea what I was going to blog about this week for a simple reason. In watching the news, I am almost afraid to "Tell it like it is" the title of my blog. Let me explain!

     Our world was turned upside down this past March. I'm sure none of us ever thought that we would be wearing masks, we would not be allowed to attend church and the only stores that are open are Home Depot, Walgreen's, liquor stores, fast food drive thru's and supermarkets just to name a few. Just when we thought it was bad, a horrible incident occurred in Minnesota regarding a police officer with an aa African American gentleman. What ensued has been protesting. Some peaceful and some not very peaceful. You can't even watch the news or even watch ESPN without commentary on what is going on in America and our world. For me, I am almost afraid to share how I feel on any topic. I do want to say that I do have respect for people of every color, nationality, religion and creed. Many are my best friends. I work with many and support them 100%. Black Lives Matter! Asian Lives Matter! All lives Matter according to God! I hope and pray one day we will all learn to love one another and that racism will no longer exist. I will always be careful what I blog and hope I never offend anyone. When I see the hatred in this world, it breaks my heart. Even more so, it breaks God's heart. 1 John 4:7,8 tells us to "Love one another." I hope we can all learn this!  Silence is golden but we do need to be careful what we do and don't share. I love you all!

     

MY CALLING

     

     I know it's not a New Flash to say that our world is increasingly insane and out of control. I am not planning on blogging about the Coronavirus or about what took place in Minnesota. I don't want to comment about the rioting or anything else that is going on in our world. I have realized one thing these past 3 months....I see what my calling is!

       When Frank Sinatra sang the song "New York" he wasn't kidding when he said "if you can make it there you can make it anywhere." When you mix a pandemic and quarantine with the "New York Attitude" trust me, you get a huge mess. I can say it only because I have lived here on Long Island 47 years of my 56 year life! I am very grateful for my two jobs at Home Depot and Chick Fil-A. However, last weekend I realize one thing. The people I work with need Jesus in their life.

     While taking a break at Home Depot in the Break Room, I have no choice but to listen in on the conversations. People are scared! People are not certain about the future. People have opinions and....people curse a lot! Something I am not used to! Working at a church for 22 years, you definitely don't hear a lot of "4 letter words!" I took this job at Home Depot as a part time job. Yet lately, it had switched to my full time job. They have offered me more hours than Chick Fil-A. When I look at the people I work with as well as the customers I serve, I realize that I have a newfound mission field. It is to be a light in the darkness. When I look in the eyes of fellow associates as well as customers, I see a lot of uncertainty. I know for a fact that God did not call me to go the Bible College to work 2 secular jobs. My original calling was to be a Missionary. Truthfully, if you told me 10 years ago that I would be working at Home Depot and Chick Fil-A, I would have told you no way Jose! However, I can see now that God needs people in places like these two companies to be a shining light in a dark world. Who else will ever tell them that God loves them? In all honesty, I don't get a whole lot of chances to share with  any people. I am always so busy stocking shelves at Home Depot or working one of the "stations" at Chick Fil-A. I do know that my very life can be a godly example to people. I don't curse, lose my temper or "fly off the handle" when things go wrong. I am constantly praying for those around me. In fact, there is one lady who works in the paint department who recently had a meltdown over the whole coronavirus scare. Whenever I see her, I say a prayer for her. 

     We all need to understand what our calling is and do our best to shine our light brightly for Jesus. I am not the least bit thrilled that I live on Long Island and one reason I am still here is because of my kids. I am still hoping for that Beach Ministry in Hawaii with the Don Ho Fan Club! However, I need to be a godly example to all I am in contact with and yes...wearing my mask!!  

                                                            SEE YOU NEXT TIME!