Journal 25 July 2009

SHANK July 24, 2009

25 July 2009

Breakfast: oatmeal/strawberry drizzle/strawberry yogurt, grapefruit juice x 2, coffee

Rich Gonzalez asked why I ate tutti-fruitti breakfast all the time. Told him it kept me regular. When you get to be my age, the next BM is something to look forward to. Offered him some counseling on how to handle seniors and juniors: told him that relationship building was one of the most important things anyone could do for any career advancement.

SSgt Kim Zelton was voted the “hottest chick on the FOB” by 3/10 staff - she was embarrassed.

Wrote friends at CSDS-12.

Saw Saturday morning Czech formation on way to/from shower.

Requested information from CEXC Paladin re: UBE/HME proliferation in Spartan AOR.

1030 Bible Reading: Exodus 8-13. Why were Pharoah’s enchanters able to do the rods-to-serpents, blood and frog things, but not the lice? Why did God require “cutting” of the foreskin to separate his people from others?

Lunch: Grilled turkey, steamed broccoli, black-eyed peas, fruit salad, V-8 x 2, water Gonzalez’ twins and Dave the TERP supervisor. Rich asked me if I knew any good Navy jokes. I said, “Yeah – a lot. There’s a lot of Navy jokes walking around.” I just happened to have my hat with the back folded into the front and sitting on top of my head such that the bill was point straight up, like a tiara. When he and Hiram (MSgt Gonzalez) looked up from eating at my answer about Navy jokes and saw me with hat up – they both busted guts. The best jokes are well-delivered in verse and in time.

Fur coats for $100-$400 (without negotiating): fox, wolf, chinchilla, mink, sheep, goat. Bought a $15 lamp, plug adaptor and bulb for my desk at work. Though it worked at the Afghani bazaar, when I plugged it at my desk, it did not. I took it back and traded it for the jewelry set I wanted for Lora.

1430 The Purpose Driven Life Reading: Chapter 3: What on Earth Am I Here For? “Knowing your purpose focuses your life. It concentrates your efforts and energy on what’s important. You become effective by being selective.

It’s human nature to get distracted by minor issues. We play Trivial Pursuit with our lives. Henry David Thoreau observed that people live lives of “quiet desperation” but today a better description is aimless distraction. Many people are like gyroscopes, spinning around at a frantic pace but never going anywhere.

Without a clear purpose, you will keep changing directions, jobs, relationships, churches, or other externals – hoping each change will settle the confusion or fill the emptiness in your heart. You think, Maybe this time it will be different, but it doesn’t solve your real problem – a lack of focus and purpose.

The Bible says, “Don’t live carelessly, unthinkingly,. Make sure you understand what the Master wants.”

The power of focusing can be seen in light. Diffused light has little power or impact, but you can concentrate its energy by focusing it. With a magnifying glass, the rays of the sun can be focused to set grass or paper on fire. When light is focused evern more as a laser beam, it can cut through steel.

There is nothing quite a potent as a focused life, one lived on purpose. The men and women who have made the greatest difference in history were the most focused. For instance, the apostle Paul almost single-handedly spread Christianity throughout the Roman Empire. His secret was a focused life. He said, “I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.”

If you want your life to have impact, focus it! Stop dabbling. Stop trying to do it all. Do less. Prune away even good activities and do only that which matter most. Never confuse activity with productivity. You can be busy without a purpose, but what’s the point? Paul said, “Let’s keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us.”

Earlier today, I wrote in a note to some friends at DEVRON-12 that it’s refreshing to work with young, professional soldiers who have the privilege of focus to overcome the insurgency. I wonder, though, if the focus is sharp enough? I wonder if my focus is sharp enough? How can I refine my own life focus to be sure I am accomplishing everything God wants me to accomplish?

Dinner: Sausage and Chicken Jambalaya, corn, cauliflower, grapes, V-8, diet Coke.

Lora says Gertie did not win anything, today. There were 4 champions. Not sure how much longer Lora will keep this up with her. It’s almost like a gambling addiction. You keep playing, hoping to win, but knowing it’s really a crapshoot based on the judge and the field and the judge’s relationship with the field and how the judge is feeling that day, blah, blah, blah. I don't think Lora is addicted like this - she's learning and having fun, but I have seen others who probably are...