I have this friend, Matt Williams, who is a wonderfully talented musician. Several years ago, he wrote a song entitled "Like Discovering the Ocean". He recorded it with his band, Blueground Undergrass, and on a solo album. There is also an epically ponytailed version on YouTube that I will link here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ib6VoBpPiJE&feature=related
It is a beautiful tune and I had not heard it quite some time, but I was driving around in the jeep last Saturday with my iPod on shuffle when it came on and I was just blown away by the words in the chorus:
"It's about like discovering the ocean, to find out that you're still in me".
Man, I was moved by those words and it just resonated with me because of all of the changes that have been going on in my life the past few months. So much so, that I pulled over on the side of I-20 and texted Matt to thank him for penning that tune. I'm sure he thought it odd that I would just text him out of the blue about a song he wrote along time ago, but I can't help it when I get a little goofy or a little emotional of late insomuch as all this new found love and joy in my heart is too powerful to keep bottled up. Those words just summarized a whole lot of what I have been feeling.
Everyone remembers the first time they experienced the ocean. The size of it was hard to comprehend. It appeared to have no end. It stretched as far as I could see and it was hard to tell where the earth stopped and the sky began. I remember that it just roared with the sounds of the waves crashing into the shore and it's power was undeniable. But even though it was awe-inspiring and intimidating, there was just something about it that compelled you to want to run right into it with reckless abandon; to just sprint right into those crashing waves with your arms wide open as if to embrace it.
"It's about like discovering the ocean; to find out that you're still in me". Awesome. I don't want to guess what Matt meant with those words, but to me it's the perfect description for how I have re-discovered my faith in God. I was lost for a long long time, but when I turned to find Him, He was there, in me. He never left me when I tried to do things my way without Him in my life. And it is awe-inspiring and powerful and I'm just compelled to jump in and surround myself with His grace with my arms wide open.
Thanks Matt.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Sunday, August 28, 2011
A Guy and a Dumpster
I was on the jobsite today making sure that we finished this building on time for a Monday morning turnover to the Owner. I walked out back to make a phone call, when I noticed a late model minivan pull up to our construction dumpster (one of those large 30yd containers). A guy in his early 20's jumps out of the minivan and walks over to the dumpster and hops on it to peer over the side. The next thing I know, he jumps right in the dumpster and starts throwing stuff out onto the pavement. Metal. Metal conduits, wires, ceiling grid, and anything else made of metal that can be scrapped for cash.
I deal with this all the time and I handle it one way; I kick them out of my dumpster, threaten to call the police, and run them off the jobsite. It requires no thought and like Pavlov's dog, it's a conditioned response. You see, I had already determined that those people were bums and had no business rummaging through my dumpster. It disgusted me that people would pick through garbage to find scrap metal instead of getting a real job. I work hard; routinely working 12-15 hour days 5 and 6 days a week and I frown upon those who don't match my effort. That's just honestly how I felt.
So, I watch this guy for a minute or two as he throws more and more scrap metal out of the dumpster and I start to walk over there to get rid of him and I just stopped dead in my tracks. Something just made me stop. Then instead of feeling disgust or anger, I felt empathy. Then I noticed a little blonde head bobbing out of the passenger side window, then another, and yet another. There are three little boys all under the age of 5 in this worn out minivan, in the 100 degree heat with all the windows rolled down as I sure the air conditioning quit a long time ago. My heart kinda sank a little bit more. I was still frozen there, unable to step forward, unable to step back, just watching all of this.
One of my guys must have walked up and seen me taking all of this in and he starts telling me that the young man is deaf. His wife had run off and left him with those 3 little boys and he's been coming by the job for the last month digging scrap metal out of the dumpster. One of my guys had given the three little boys a can of soda on one of their trips to the dumpster and now they ask him for one every time they come by; said Daddy didn't have anything for them to drink. Wow.
The guy finished his scavenging and filled the back of the van with his spoils and he and his boys headed off to another dumpster on another jobsite somewhere. I was stilled kind of frozen in place, I hadn't moved from the spot where I was stopped cold. I finally got it together and walked back in the building, gathered my guys together and told that I wanted all the guys working on cleaning and finishing up the job to sort all of the metal out of their trash and stockpile it in the stockroom. My superintendent smiled and said "Boy, you must really hate people diving in your dumpster". I said, "Yes, I do. I want you guys to collect and set it out for him so he doesn't have to get into the dumpster." I saw three mouths fall open in a combination of disbelief and disgust. I continued, "I don't want that man to have to climb into a dumpster in front of his kids. We can take an extra minute and separate out the metal and leave it so he just picks it up." The mouths closed except to say "yessir".
A couple weeks ago, I commented on a friends post about crossing paths with some drunkards and her disgust in their life choices. I got all "holier than thou" with her and commented about how God sends certain people across our paths sometimes as an opportunity to show others a better way to live one's life. Maybe, just maybe, God also sends people across our paths to teach us things about ourselves; lessons we might not otherwise see.
I deal with this all the time and I handle it one way; I kick them out of my dumpster, threaten to call the police, and run them off the jobsite. It requires no thought and like Pavlov's dog, it's a conditioned response. You see, I had already determined that those people were bums and had no business rummaging through my dumpster. It disgusted me that people would pick through garbage to find scrap metal instead of getting a real job. I work hard; routinely working 12-15 hour days 5 and 6 days a week and I frown upon those who don't match my effort. That's just honestly how I felt.
So, I watch this guy for a minute or two as he throws more and more scrap metal out of the dumpster and I start to walk over there to get rid of him and I just stopped dead in my tracks. Something just made me stop. Then instead of feeling disgust or anger, I felt empathy. Then I noticed a little blonde head bobbing out of the passenger side window, then another, and yet another. There are three little boys all under the age of 5 in this worn out minivan, in the 100 degree heat with all the windows rolled down as I sure the air conditioning quit a long time ago. My heart kinda sank a little bit more. I was still frozen there, unable to step forward, unable to step back, just watching all of this.
One of my guys must have walked up and seen me taking all of this in and he starts telling me that the young man is deaf. His wife had run off and left him with those 3 little boys and he's been coming by the job for the last month digging scrap metal out of the dumpster. One of my guys had given the three little boys a can of soda on one of their trips to the dumpster and now they ask him for one every time they come by; said Daddy didn't have anything for them to drink. Wow.
The guy finished his scavenging and filled the back of the van with his spoils and he and his boys headed off to another dumpster on another jobsite somewhere. I was stilled kind of frozen in place, I hadn't moved from the spot where I was stopped cold. I finally got it together and walked back in the building, gathered my guys together and told that I wanted all the guys working on cleaning and finishing up the job to sort all of the metal out of their trash and stockpile it in the stockroom. My superintendent smiled and said "Boy, you must really hate people diving in your dumpster". I said, "Yes, I do. I want you guys to collect and set it out for him so he doesn't have to get into the dumpster." I saw three mouths fall open in a combination of disbelief and disgust. I continued, "I don't want that man to have to climb into a dumpster in front of his kids. We can take an extra minute and separate out the metal and leave it so he just picks it up." The mouths closed except to say "yessir".
A couple weeks ago, I commented on a friends post about crossing paths with some drunkards and her disgust in their life choices. I got all "holier than thou" with her and commented about how God sends certain people across our paths sometimes as an opportunity to show others a better way to live one's life. Maybe, just maybe, God also sends people across our paths to teach us things about ourselves; lessons we might not otherwise see.
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