To Bowie, AWANA, a second look

Mama and I left church before the preaching was done so we would have time to drive to Bowie and make the evening service at a church there. We left the twenty two little ones in Victoria’s care along with a stand in for the last fifteen or twenty minutes of the morning service in order to leave on time. I am not sure if I will get a lecture over the decision or not – we will see.


We did make it to the church on time and we had a great time at the service. It was given over to the AWANA program for the entire service. Mama and I have not participated in AWANA since leaving Ripley, WVa. It was fun to see the awards ceremony. The group was about thirty kids from Cubbies up through T&T. It is their fourth year.

As one of the youngest got up to recite a Bible verse he adjusted the microphone, took a deep breath and…nothing. The AWANA leader asked if he needed help to which he replied, “I forgot the phone number.” Everyone in the congregation busted up laughing which usually embarrasses a little one to death, but it seemed to delight this little one. He made it through the verse eventually, but it was a great opening.

A short time later they were giving out attendance awards (starting with the very youngest) and since every other award had been some token or badge or other physical item, the children whose names were being called rushed forward to collect their prize. Slightly embarrassed, the leader’s wife, who was in charge of distributing the awards being announced, looked at the little ones and explained that there was no prize, only a pat on the back – which she gave to each child. The disappointment was obvious.

With the next older group, as the attendance was being recognized, one little boy charged forward. The leader’s wife looked a little surprised, somewhat questioning. The little boy quickly explained, “I didn’t get my pat on the back!” The congregation almost lost it again. He got his pat and an additional hug.

A very sweet moment happened a good bit later when some type of outstanding achievement awards were being given out; a gentleman in his sixties – or older – called a little girl up to receive an award. She was kindergarten age. He explained, “You all remember that I couldn’t read too good a couple years ago. This little one and me learned to read together through the AWANA program. I’m sure gonna miss her helping me with words.” You do not get to see many moments like that.

Mama and I went to look at the property last night since we were only a few miles from it. She was not too sure I remembered where it was so for once I got to impress her; that doesn’t happen very often either. As we rounded the corner and the property came into view we were even more thrilled to see it again. The person running cattle on the farm currently had a herd of long horns grazing the meadows. It made it seem more nostalgic that ever.

We came towards a pretty significant storm system as we came east. It had dumped several inches of rain on the area; something we have not seen since we moved to Texas. Water was rushing down the ditches and filling creeks, streams and tanks all over the area. To the north and east of us, tornados were wrecking havoc on the area.

All we could see of the storm was the runoff and the rainbow.

Interviews, Updates

The interviews in Guymon went very well. We interviewed five candidates; two of which showed real promise. The other three were not a good fit although all five were well qualified. It came down to deciding between the two. As it happened they were the first and the last candidates to be interviewed. I made my suggestions which revolved mainly around personality issues rather than skills and allowed my direct report to make the final decision. She will be responsible for the training and integration of the individual we select. We made our final decision around 3:30 pm and I headed home after all questions were settled. I got home about 6:00 pm.


Seth is staying with Grandma and Grandpa for a while. It will not last long – they do not have enough food in the house to meet his needs. He had told Mama that he was going to go back to West Virginia after he gets his next check cashed. That will be on Monday. There is nothing for him there except that less will be asked of him. Many of the people from the church began calling him as soon as we expressed our concern to them. Seth told Mama he did not answer any of the calls but there were seven or eight total.

I am not sure what happens from here, but if we keep praying I know the outcome will glorify the Lord and benefit Seth – so we keep praying. Chase called to tell Mama that Seth showed up for the youth activity at church last night. Chase had mixed emotions about that; skipping church but showing up for the fun activities. I’m not sure how this will play out for Chase, but we will see. That is also a matter of prayer.

Mama has been dealt a difficult hand lately. Seth has been a challenge that I have little opportunity to help with. He seems to react more strongly to anything I say that to anything Mama says. Maggie has been very difficult lately. I suppose every bride goes through the emotional inconsistencies that Maggie is experiencing – having to handle the whole thing long distance and the difficulties of planning a wedding with no firm dates, has worn on her.

From the male perspective I am not concerned about invitations, attendants, rehearsals, receptions and all the rest of the pomp that we call a wedding, but from the perspective of the opposite sex, it seems to be significant. Invitations are bought but not sent. The pastor is tentatively scheduled for the ceremony – time and place yet to be announced. Three churches are tentatively reserved for a tentative time and day. Maggie does not deal with this kind of situation well. It is good practice for the life of a serviceman’s wife.

Mama and I will be leaving Sunday afternoon for Decatur. While there we will visit a church in Bowie Sunday night to begin a search for a church home if the Lord allows us to move. This is one of those times when you have to keep pursuing a plan until God tells you to stop.

We’re listening as we continue forward.

Packing, Seth, Chase, Travel

Mama and I are having trouble finding the time to get our packing done for the trip coming up this weekend. I hope to take off early tomorrow to finalize most of the clothing and necessities, but there still remains packing the car with the items for Maggie as well as those for Cori and the kids. I have been on the road a good bit and will be with a group from the church all day Saturday as we go to Wellington, TX to help a church there.


All of this next weeks is built around the training I have to do in Houston, so I have to prepare for that as well. I have a full day scheduled in Decatur at the office there, visiting with my direct reports and I think Mama has a full agenda for the area as well. So there remains a lot to get done as Mama and the girls watch the three little ones – who also spent the night with us. That has become a routine since neither of the parents can get the boys before we need to leave for church.

Pray for Seth. He is going through a rough spot. He has a kind and good heart, but as much strength as he thinks he has physically, he has little or none spiritually or emotionally. One of the young men he works with – also not a bad person per se – invited him to go to the park with him after work instead of going to church. I am sure Seth had it reasoned out in his mind that it would be okay just this once, but that is not the way it works.

When I scolded him for the decision to skip church, he was not happy. A few minutes later he bolted out the front door and kept walking away as I called after him; if only he would run from the poorer choices with that kind of determination. He is in the right place to grow spiritually, intellectually and emotionally. I pray he does not squander this opportunity. It may be years before there is another.

Chase got the call from Chick-fil-A yesterday. They offered him a job! He does not start until June first, but he got it. He was noticeably excited about it. The very best part is that they are not open on Sunday’s so there is no conflict with church. That is a rare find in this day and age.

My travel recently has been excessive and it will not let up until after our vacation time in June. I have been to Houston twice, Decatur twice, Elk City twice and Guymon twice. I traveled to Midland for training – an overnight trip only. By the end of June we can add to those two trips to Florida and one to Arkansas. I have seen Grandma and Grandpa Kline twice in two months as well as staying with Sarah and Fabian each of those times. God has been good.

The tough part is that when we move to the Decatur office, more travel that ever will be required of me.

Our drill, Chase’s interview, next week

I was on the road yesterday and will be again tomorrow. I drove to Elk City, OK yesterday for a drill in our Emergency Response Procedures. It was quite an experience. We had the city, county and state personnel involved; city police, state police, sheriffs, firefighters, EMS and the local hospital first responders – including a medical helicopter to airlift the injured. The only problem we ran into was the number of amateurs who were listening in on their police scanners trying to scoop the local news.


The county emergency specialist, who was acting liaison in our control center, said the switchboard (911) was having trouble keeping up and every county official was getting multiple tweets. It was a great experience, but it turned into quite an episode. Had it not been for one person in our group who had a direct contact within the local and county new agencies, we could have had a real mess on our hands. As it turned out, everyone involved and those watching from the sidelines thought things went very well.

The Lord told his disciples that there was nothing hidden that would not be revealed. We are definitely in those days. Small town USA has no secrets – only a competition to see who can get the word out first and the worse the news, the better.

Chase’s interview on Monday went well. He will know in a few days if he got the job. I am not sure if he will ever get a job, but I think he could do consulting on how to interview for a job. I think he is in the 10-12 range of interviews he has done. Many turned out well until they looked at his age. I suppose he should have a job before he sets up his Interview Skills website, but not necessarily. How many people do you know that have never done something but will still tell you how to do it properly? Coaching football, refereeing a basketball game, raising children, preaching, the list is endless of persons who have no practical experience yet consider themselves experts in the field.

Tomorrow I will be in Guymon, OK with my direct reports there doing interviews. We have a total of seven candidates. We will interview four tomorrow and go forward from there. We only need one and the situation is not desperate, so there is no urgency except on the part of the contractor that is handling the load in the interim. I enjoy watching people in interviews – on both sides of the table. For the direct reports that I have helped with the interview process, it is difficult to tell who is more nervous, but the experience on the part of my direct reports is invaluable.

Mama and I will be on the road all next week – Decatur, Houston and Milton, FL. (Someone we know lives there.) I probably will not have the chance to write much during that week, but I will try to gather some good material. After all, we will be with my favorite subject matter in the latter part of that week. We will only be in Florida for three days, more or less, and Mama plans on being at the beach part of all three of those days.

She will come back with a sunburn. I will come back with a tan.

Gun Show, the little van, Chase’s interview

Grandpa and I went to the gun show in Amarillo this weekend. I had not expected to make it because I was one of six men who were serving the ladies of the church at a mother-daughter banquet on Saturday afternoon. We were not due to finish up until after 3 p.m. and the gun show was only open until 5 p.m. So I was pleasantly surprised when we got out about 1:45 p.m.


I swung by and got Grandpa and we drove downtown to the Civic Center to find the gun show; it is not very hard to find things in Amarillo so it did not take much looking. It was only five dollars admission as opposed to everything we went to in New Jersey being twenty dollars admission. I thought it was almost as big as other such activities we have been to – except for one in Houston years ago.

With Grandpa’s help I found exactly the shotgun I was looking for so I bought it while he looked around. The man who sold it to me was a soon-to-retire Texas Ranger, who is also an ordained Methodist minister. It took a while to get the paperwork done so we had a pleasant conversation as he worked through the red tape. Meanwhile Grandpa found several other items of interest but we left with only the one purchase. The ranger did spark my interest in a pistol, but Mama’s big purse purchase is next on the agenda.

Grandpa had been looking over the little van because for several days I have been smelling antifreeze every time I drove it. He was worried it may be a serious issue but as it turned out it was a loose drain valve on the radiator he had just installed. Thankfully it was a simple fix. He discovered a small leak in the oil pan that we will fix when we change the oil later this week. That little van has been a good vehicle. I hope we get to keep it running for several more years.

I am afraid the vehicle we get to replace it will have to be equipped with a DVD player or Mama will pull her hair our as she tries to do all of her running around with a car full of little ones – and her car is always full of little ones. Not having that would also be very disappointing to our grandchildren.

Chase goes for his third interview today at Chick-fil-A. We are all very hopeful. It would be an answer to prayer on all out parts and a confirmation from the Lord for Chase’s obedience in trying to keep his Sunday’s free. Mama and I were trying to coach him to be a little to be more expressive toward his interviewer during this interview.

They do not know Chase and the very slight variation in both tone and facial expression between thrilled and bored. The children’s song, “If you’re happy and you know it then your face will surely show it!” is difficult to apply to Chase. I wanted to coach him on diction also but thought I would wear out my welcome quickly there. I had stopped at a Chick-fil-A in Midland, TX on the way home and I had to ask the poor girl at the counter three times to repeat her question to me.

I finally interpreted the question as “What kind of sauce would you like with that?” but it was several syllables shy of that. She did not mind repeating herself several times so I guess she was used to it. I hope some day she sees a common denominator in those exchanges.

So, please pray for Chase. He needs the social interaction. I just hope his accent translates well here.

Lions and Tigers and Bears, My Boss

Mama took the little ones to the zoo here in Amarillo. It s not a large zoo, but it has enough to make it worth the three dollars admission. This was the first time Mama had gone. As they were pulling up to the zoo Victoria pointed out the black bear that could be seen through the fence. Trace immediately complained about his fear of getting eaten by a bear. Who knows where that came from? He was told to “quit being so silly.” Fortunately his siblings are too young to be affected by that fear.


The tigers were especially noticeable. One paced endlessly, the other sat and growled. Both looked irritated by the visitors. As they stood looking, one roared loudly enough to frighten a little girl who screamed and vaulted into her mother’s arms. Trace noticed. They shared the zoo with a large school group for an hour or so, but when that group left they pretty much had the run of the place. So they went back through.

When they came to the tigers again one was lying near the fence so Mama started to call to it. “Here, kitty, kitty.” She made those clicking sounds that we think will call a horse closer to us or instruct it to get moving – which ever is appropriate. She made her kissing sounds – I never could do those without her help. Suddenly the tiger jumped up and charged the fence and let out a roar that I think they heard in Lubbock.

Mama jumped back screaming – I am sure they heard that in Lubbock. Trace ran screaming and Antonio just stared. When it was all over Mama was laughing so hard she needed a bathroom.

To add to the humor, Trace stomped his feet in angry protest for having been so frightened. Victoria missed the entire event as she was taking pictures of some other feature that had caught her eye. She witnessed only the screaming escape; but that and Trace’s mock tantrum at his own fear, were enough to cause her to need the bathroom also.

My boss came into my office and closed the door yesterday afternoon. He told me he would be leaving the company in the middle of June. He was taking a job with a company started by friends of his – former Conoco employees. They had offered him a great job, great pay, relocation to Houston and a sickeningly huge sign on bonus. His boss had stonewalled the move to Decatur, so he found another way out of Borger. Of course I am saddened by the turn of events, but I am happy for him.

I am thrilled that God is still in control. He is independent of mans council. He does not need any man’s permission. Only He can do what I need to have done in my life. I will miss this man being my boss in this job, but I still ultimately serve the same boss in life. There will be others more profoundly affected by this than I am.

Still, it is a disappointing turn of events.

Desolation, Rain, Ticket? Vehicle decisions

If I had ever thought about transferring to Midland, the thought was put to rest for good on Monday afternoon as I drove there for a training class. From Lubbock south to Lamesa the landscape is monotonous, flat and treeless for the most part. From Lamesa to Midland it is difficult to find a redeeming feature. There was an occasional oasis, but most of the landscape was empty.


I looked at farm houses that did not have a blade of grass on the four or five acres where the house and barn stood. It was all sand. It reminded me of driving from Pensacola to Fort Walton Beach without the bay to lend its attractiveness to the view. Sand was blowing across the road, sandy plowed fields expanded as far as the eye could see and in each one the wind had filled the furrows with the blowing sand. Were it not for oil I cannot imagine how anyone who owned the land could make a living off of it.

As I was driving in today I noticed lightening flashing all around me. Now, as I sit in the office, the rain is pelting the windows with amazing force. I am glad I am not out in it. It is one of those driving rains that soak a person regardless of the size of the umbrella used. I am hearing hail hit the glass intermittently. I feel sorry for anyone out in it.

Yesterday, as I left Midland, I made a right turn on red at an intersection where two lanes were right turn only. I made the right turn on red from the left of the two lanes after making a complete stop – like we do in Milton at an intersection there. After I made the turn I got to thinking about it and realized, I do not know if that is legal in Texas. There was a traffic camera set up on that intersection, so I guess I will find out.

I told my boss about it this morning and he shook his head and laughed. He told me he never shared ticket information with anyone unless it was for an accident. He said if I get the ticket, just pay it and move on. The only concern I have after that is the cost.

It turned out that the noise in Victoria’s car was a lower ball joint rubbing on the rim. Replacement cost was almost $500, but the car is well worth the money to keep it going. Mama, Victoria, Grandma and Grandpa are still debating the fate of the Lincoln, so it is sitting quietly in the driveway at Grandpa’s house. I remain both undecided and uncommitted with regard to it. I will let that decision come later. I believe it is one of those decisions that will make itself. If we do get the opportunity to sell Grandpa’s truck, they will need something.

We were looking at a 2002 F-250 on a lot near the house. It was clean for the most part but we were unable to hear it run because of a bad battery. Grandpa, Mama and I were pretty excited about it because of the price. Grandpa went back on Monday and they put him off until Tuesday – they had to buy a new battery for the truck. On Tuesday, Grandpa got to hear it run and was pretty excited until he looked at the odometer 511,000 miles (more or less). Unfortunately it is not something we want to spend $3000 to buy a new engine for; not to mention the drive train and the transfer case.

We’ll pass for now.