It’s Christmas time. I am traveling for work this week and have come across many people that have wished me a Merry Christmas. Some say it to me first and at other times it is me that first uses the term Merry Christmas.
Christmas means many different things to people. Those differing views fall along a wide spectrum that has two extremes.
As the name implies Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.
Everybody at my house (including me) professes that Jesus is our Lord and Savior.
For many Christmas is a gift giving extravaganza. Commercialism runs high this time of the year. Stores are packed and people are celebrating the Holiday Season by spending like crazy and giving very little regard to the birth of our Savior.
Some people are offended when Christians interject religion into the Holiday Season. Many go to court just to keep others from offending them with their religious greetings and celebrations.
On the other extreme, many Christians are offended by the commercialization of Christmas.
So what is a guy to do? I do both. We give gifts, send out cards with Christian greetings and don't feel the least bit conflicted.
Why? How could I?
To me it is simple. I think Jesus should be celebrated every day. I am one person and don't believe that I should compartmentalize my life. So everything I do should involve my faith. But I also like to give gifts and enjoy time with family, so I also do the commercial parts of Christmas too.
None of it makes me feel like I have sold out my faith because from Dec 26, 2013 until Dec 24, 2014 I will still be celebrating the fact that Jesus came to earth in human form to die on a cross at Easter as payment for my sins only to rise from the dead three days later and after an additional 40 days he ascended back to Heaven.
Hopefully you will be celebrating our Savor with me 365 days of the year.
Merry Christmas and be happy all year long.
Friday, December 20, 2013
Monday, December 16, 2013
Lasting Memory
How long is your memory?
How long of an impression do my actions last for?
Last week I can across three incidents that give us the answer to these questions.
The first incident happened in Fairmont, NE. I was in this small town to watch my son play basketball. He is on the boys JV team and that means from time to time they play at a site away from the regular school. That day’s opponent was Fillmore Central. Their high school is in Geneva, NE but this game was in the neighboring town of Fairmont.
Fairmont used to have a high school of its own. But like many small towns in the Midwest it has been consolidated into a larger district with other small towns. Now it only has a middle school and a rack of pictures of people that went to Fairmont High. (These people all looked silly since the last class was in the early 90s. Lots of big hair and some mullets.)
When the game was over and we waited in the hallway to exit the building I noticed a plaque on the wall and went over to read it. The plaque talked about the 1981 addition and on it was a
list of contractors that did the work. Under electrical contractor was Willmar Electric.
I pointed it out to my wife and she said “aren’t you glad you didn’t make fun of the lighting.”
Other parents asked if I remembered the project. I had to tell them “no, in 1981 I was 12 and I didn’t know which projects Willmar Electric was doing, I was just glad my dad had work!”
The next day I interviewed a guy that wanted to come to work at Willmar Electric. 22 years ago he worked at Quantum Electric. We found 3 of his former co-workers and asked them what they thought of this guy. They all said he was a good worker and that we should interview him. They also relayed an embarrassing story about him from a Christmas Party over 23 years before.
That same afternoon Cory Lownsbury and I went to Kearney, NE to meet with a project owner that wanted to hire us to design and build a project with them. The representative of the owner had worked with us over 16 years ago on a project in Willmar, MN and wanted to work with us again.
They liked our work from 16 years ago, nearly 500 miles away and wanted to work with us.
Seems that what happened 16, 23 and 32 years ago can leave an impact on today.
Seems it is important that we live up to the core value of meeting the customers’ needs and treating others the way they want to be treated if we want to have future success.
How long of an impression do my actions last for?
Last week I can across three incidents that give us the answer to these questions.
The first incident happened in Fairmont, NE. I was in this small town to watch my son play basketball. He is on the boys JV team and that means from time to time they play at a site away from the regular school. That day’s opponent was Fillmore Central. Their high school is in Geneva, NE but this game was in the neighboring town of Fairmont.
Fairmont used to have a high school of its own. But like many small towns in the Midwest it has been consolidated into a larger district with other small towns. Now it only has a middle school and a rack of pictures of people that went to Fairmont High. (These people all looked silly since the last class was in the early 90s. Lots of big hair and some mullets.)
When the game was over and we waited in the hallway to exit the building I noticed a plaque on the wall and went over to read it. The plaque talked about the 1981 addition and on it was a
list of contractors that did the work. Under electrical contractor was Willmar Electric.
I pointed it out to my wife and she said “aren’t you glad you didn’t make fun of the lighting.”
Other parents asked if I remembered the project. I had to tell them “no, in 1981 I was 12 and I didn’t know which projects Willmar Electric was doing, I was just glad my dad had work!”
The next day I interviewed a guy that wanted to come to work at Willmar Electric. 22 years ago he worked at Quantum Electric. We found 3 of his former co-workers and asked them what they thought of this guy. They all said he was a good worker and that we should interview him. They also relayed an embarrassing story about him from a Christmas Party over 23 years before.
That same afternoon Cory Lownsbury and I went to Kearney, NE to meet with a project owner that wanted to hire us to design and build a project with them. The representative of the owner had worked with us over 16 years ago on a project in Willmar, MN and wanted to work with us again.
They liked our work from 16 years ago, nearly 500 miles away and wanted to work with us.
Seems that what happened 16, 23 and 32 years ago can leave an impact on today.
Seems it is important that we live up to the core value of meeting the customers’ needs and treating others the way they want to be treated if we want to have future success.
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Goodbye Metrodome
This past weekend I had the chance to go to a Viking’s game with my father-in-law, my three children and my daughter’s boyfriend. The Vikings are having a lousy season and we live 7 hours away from the stadium but we wanted to go and see one last game inside the Metrodome before it gets torn down. (The Vikings are moving to new domed stadium in 2 years. In order to make room for the new dome the old one needs to torn down and the Vikings will play at the U of Minnesota the next two years.)
We have been season ticket holders for the Vikings for nearly 30 years. During that time we went to countless games and formed many memories. Like most things in life some of the memories are glorious, such as playoff wins and others heartbreaking, such as playoff loses. As we walked into the Dome and sat down I reflected on a lot of those memories. As the game went on I continued to reflect. It seems quite sappy but events from this Sunday’s games continually brought me to past memories.
When the Bears kicker lined up to kick a field goal I thought about Gary Andersen’s big miss against the Falcons. When a Bears defender got called for a horse collar tackle I recalled how on that exact spot Joey Browner broke the leg of a Bronco Running Back with the same type of tackle before horse collar tackles were illegal.
The Metrodome was built in the early 1980’s opening for the Twins in April of 1982. The cost of the project was $55 million. The Viking’s new home is set to cost $975 million (associated infrastructure cost will push the cost over $1 billion). The Metrodome is paid for.
Debt free.
I don’t intend to make this blog a debate on whether or not the Metrodome should be replaced or not. The Metrodome has it flaws and the Vikings think they either need a new home or they need to move to a new city. The votes have been cast and as of today the construction is underway on the new stadium.
The ship has sailed.
But one thing we can say looking back is that the Metrodome, at least by stadium standards, has served us well and has been a bargain. Hopefully in 30 years we can says the same thing about the new stadium.
To be thrifty is to use resources wisely. Looking back I think nearly everybody will agree that the Metrodome is a great example of thriftiness. It was used constantly for thousands of events throughout its history and serve long after it was paid for.
Goodbye Metrodome. Thanks for the memories.
We have been season ticket holders for the Vikings for nearly 30 years. During that time we went to countless games and formed many memories. Like most things in life some of the memories are glorious, such as playoff wins and others heartbreaking, such as playoff loses. As we walked into the Dome and sat down I reflected on a lot of those memories. As the game went on I continued to reflect. It seems quite sappy but events from this Sunday’s games continually brought me to past memories.
When the Bears kicker lined up to kick a field goal I thought about Gary Andersen’s big miss against the Falcons. When a Bears defender got called for a horse collar tackle I recalled how on that exact spot Joey Browner broke the leg of a Bronco Running Back with the same type of tackle before horse collar tackles were illegal.
The Metrodome was built in the early 1980’s opening for the Twins in April of 1982. The cost of the project was $55 million. The Viking’s new home is set to cost $975 million (associated infrastructure cost will push the cost over $1 billion). The Metrodome is paid for.
Debt free.
I don’t intend to make this blog a debate on whether or not the Metrodome should be replaced or not. The Metrodome has it flaws and the Vikings think they either need a new home or they need to move to a new city. The votes have been cast and as of today the construction is underway on the new stadium.
The ship has sailed.
But one thing we can say looking back is that the Metrodome, at least by stadium standards, has served us well and has been a bargain. Hopefully in 30 years we can says the same thing about the new stadium.
To be thrifty is to use resources wisely. Looking back I think nearly everybody will agree that the Metrodome is a great example of thriftiness. It was used constantly for thousands of events throughout its history and serve long after it was paid for.
Goodbye Metrodome. Thanks for the memories.
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