So if you’re in my very limited scope of friends & acquaintances on social media, you might have been really confused lately given our very abrupt relocation from one state to the next.  On the one hand, I didn’t really even want to talk about it.  On the other hand, I didn’t really figure that the reasons behind it mattered all that much.  I’m still not really sure what, if anything, needs to be said here, so Ima just let it flow…

On the Christian Calendar, Maundy Thursday is celebrated as the day before Good Friday.  The day Christ got on his knees & washed the feet of his disciples prior to the Last Supper… For me, this year Maundy Thursday became the day that I found out my job (as it existed) was going away… The plant was being closed…

As the acting Plant Manager, that kinda felt like a kick right in the gonads.  Moreover, it really just pissed me off…  I had inherited one helluva mess four years prior… And I had busted my ass to make the whole operation into a consistently strong performer.  We were easily out performing half the plants in our division, BUT…  And its a big BUTT…

sirmixalotilikebigbuttsseattleorchestra

Seriously though…  Our sales were declining & rapidly at that…

Generating sales was not in the scope of my responsibility as a plant manager…  We had a sales organization that was supposed to be doing that… But the sales continued to decline nonetheless… And no matter how efficiently we were able to run the orders, it eventually reached a point where consolidating our business into a larger plant made the most financial sense for the company…  Especially given that several of the larger plants had volume to give…  And so the decision was made…  Just like that…

With all due respect to Janet Jackson…  Control is really nothing more than an illusion.  I mean it feels really good to believe we’re actually in control, but it’s a complete facade…  That’s not to say that you might have some measure of control in some of the small stuff…  What you wear on a given day…  Or what you eat…

But if you think about it, even that isn’t totally in your control.  You can’t for instance have SourSop Ice Cream in November…  Even if you do travel to the same little shop in Nassau that you first tasted it on a previous visit & found it heavenly.  Because that prior visit was in July & Soursop is out of season in November…  I’m not bitter…  Okay, I’m a little bitter, but I’m definitely not in control in that situation…

If I can be completely transparent for a moment, I’ve gotten entirely too used to the feeling that I was in control, especially where my career is concerned.  Like a gambling addict on an extended hot streak, I have found it entirely too easy in my lifetime to believe I’m actually the one pulling all the strings…

I was my high school’s valedictorian… got into my first college of choice with relative ease and graduated with two degrees in Engineering… I had three job offers two months before I actually graduated to choose from… And until now, every career move has been mostly my choice…

But this time, the choice was being forced on me…  Staying put was no longer an option…  I was fortunate enough that my company offered me two alternative options to unemployment… 1) Take another Plant Manager’s position in Indiana or 2) Take a traveling position providing technical support within the division…

Hoosiers

Its not that I don’t like Hoosiers people…  Great movie… Great basketball…  But not a great fit for our fam for a number of reasons…  Likewise, traveling 3-4 nights per week is not something I’m cut out for… Two nights in a hotel & I’m pretty much over it…

Here’s the thing… So if I lost you at some point during this blog, shake it off, grab some coffee, & pay attention…

The number one enemy of growth is becoming too comfortable.  I’ve known that more deeply at different points in my life…  Applied it in certain situations, without really acknowledging that its pretty much a universal truth… And trust me in this… it IS a universal truth…

So in this situation, I could’ve chosen one of two paths…  Rail & pout like a two-year old… Or embrace the change & the ways God blessed us through it all…

With one resume submission, I had another great job come through that was a much better geographic fit for the fam…  The current house sold quickly… The new house we offered on needed a lot of repairs & the sellers agreed to cover ALL OF THEM!…  The fam survived a 6 week stint apart from each other… And the kids already have great friends in the new locale…

Sometimes God interrupts us because we’ve gotten too comfortable…  Sometimes God interrupts us because he has better things in store…  Or sometimes a little of both…  Don’t let your pride get in the way of those blessings…  TRUST THE JOURNEY!!!…

EPILOGUE…

I am aware that the GIF at the top is from Rhythm Nation & not Control… But it was a much cooler GIF…