Cold Water Challenge

You know, it has been a very interesting few weeks around the upstate with a lot of successes, large operations, and a lot of heart ache.  As we celebrated the memories of so many fallen heroes this weekend, I watched a simple game take off with my brothers and sisters around the fire service.  I watched many of you raise money for your respective charities while having fun doing so.  But for many of us, this was not our first cold water challenge.  We participate in a cold water challenge multiple times every winter at structure fires.  We participate in a cold water challenge on every river rescue.  We participate in the cold water challenge every time we conduct an extrication in the rain.  And for those of us who were around to actually ride tailboard or open jump seat, you, like me, can remember hosing down our frozen gear inside the station to get it to thaw out after returning from a structure fire in below freezing temperatures.  I’m sure all of you could tell story after story, but the point I want to make here is that each of us made a conscious decision to serve others.  This weekend was no different at all as each of you took the challenge to yet again, serve others.

Many of us have come up around the Chief Brunacini’s and the Billy G’s (you should know who Billy G is) and have bathed in the leadership examples set by men like them.   But what examples are we setting for those that follow us?  Are we teaching the value of brotherhood to the young men who are following in our footsteps?  Are we teaching them to recognize how important relationships are and the feeling you get when you hear a friend’s voice on the radio and you know that friend is coming.  He is coming not because somebody dropped a set of tones; he’s coming because it is you and likewise, we go because it is our friend. 

Finally, are we telling stories?  When I was 20 years old as a rookie firefighter, my Captain had been with the department for 30 years.  Gerald “Fudd” Nicholson was one of the best, if not the best Captain I ever had the opportunity to serve under.  I enjoyed hearing him tell stories of, “The Old Timers” and the fires they had fought along with some of his famous sayings (that I’ll refrain from posting here).  He had been there, done that, and had the experience to prove it.  Every fire we fought, he was right there with me proving to me that everything was O.K.  and investing in me.  Fudd had a very positive influence on me and impacted the way I supervise 20 years later.  The question now should be asked, “What am I doing to impact leaders 20 years from now?”  What are you doing to impact leaders 20 years from now?  If you are reading this on Facebook, take a minute to look up the “Bring Back Brotherhood”  page and look at the post from May 14, 2014.  They provide us with a great example of brotherhood with great instructions to follow.  Make a difference!

Special Purpose

President Theodore Roosevelt once said, "The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it."  As a supervisor, this is one of the hardest, if not the hardest thing in my professional career to do.  It is not because of my distrust in the people who work for me, rather it is my built-in nature to be in control.  Truth be known, I have the most wonderful people in the world to work with and am fortunate to supervise some of the smartest and most capable people in the world.  But my thoughts here are not for the working world, although they can apply to the work world.  Rather, I am thinking more about our lives as Christians.

Have you ever thought about why God chose you?  Why did he create you and what did he create you for?  If God designed us, created us for a purpose, and chose us for a purpose, he must believe we are, "the good men to do what he wants done...".  The question is, "Are we?"  Genesis 1:27 reads, "So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them."  From the very beginning, we know that God created us all and more importantly, he created us in the "his own image".  I think many times, we feel as though we are are of no value to anybody in the world and we may feel worthless.  I remember remodeling our master bedroom bathroom several years ago, and let me tell you, it took me FOREVER!  I had to gut the entire floor and one wall because of a water leak.  To this day, I walk into that bathroom and smile because I know how much work went into the finished product.  So if I took so much pride in creating a bathroom, how then must the Lord feel about us, his creation?  The book of Jeremiah tells us a little about how God feels about us in Chapter 1 verse 5 which reads, "
⁴ The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

⁵ “Before I formed you in the womb I knew^[a] you,
    before you were born I set you apart;
    I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

⁶ “Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.”

⁷ But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. ⁸ Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord."

So from what God spoke to Jeremiah, we now know that not only did God create us for a purpose, he knew us when he formed us in the womb.  In verse 8, God gives us some real encouragement when he says, "Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you."  He created us, called us to do something special, and reminds us that no matter what, he, "will rescue you"! 

My point here is that we are all created for a purpose by a God that loves you very much.  My challenge to each of you is that you will live out your lives to serve him and that others will see God through you and when in doubt, just do the right thing.  I want to leave you with a link to a YouTube video that demonstrates the power of sharing the love of Christ.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-2dKOfbC9c

*BREAKING NEWS*

It has been a long time since I have written a blog, in spite of the many requests from those of you that actually read my blog.  I think between school, work, life, and more, I have failed to take time to prayerfully consider a blog.  However, recent events have motivated me to spend some time reflecting on the week’s events.

Do you remember that kid in school that everybody picked on and made fun of and who really didn’t have any friends?  You know, the kid that never got invited to parties, never had a girlfriend, and sat by themselves or with the same one or two people at lunch?  Well, that kid was me.  Junior High and Senior High School was particularly tough for me as I was the kid that didn’t have many friends and often was the victim of what we now call bullying.  I can count on one hand, the number of people that were genuinely kind to me.  Not knowing any better, I just assumed it was part of life and made the best that I could of it.  I do not mind sharing with you that I have struggled with those  scars most of my life including my refusal to attend either of my class reunions.   However, this blog is not about me; it’s about somebody else.

Undoubtedly, many of you have read, watched, or heard about the recent passing of Laurie Lomax Patton.  In reading many of the posts on Facebook, it is obvious that she impacted so many lives in so many positive ways, including mine.  In High School, Laurie was a popular girl who hung around the other popular kids, but that is where the similarities of the popular kids stopped.  Laurie was genuinely kind to everybody no matter their social status, style, age, friends, or anything else.  As an adult, I did not have a lot of contact with Laurie directly, but because of her being, “kin folk”, my  Mom kept up with her.  It came as no surprise to hear that she had not changed a bit from her co-workers and students alike during her funeral today.  In fact, it is safe to say that Laurie was an inspiration to all she came in contact with, young and old.  With the loss of such a wonderful person, one might ask, “Why would God take such a wonderful person?”  This is not the first time I have faced this question as I had the same question when my good friend Ike Brissey passed away unexpectedly.  So, I thought I would share with you my thoughts on the matter.

The bible is very clear that all of us will die; sooner or later, we will die (Hebrews 9:27).  Good, bad, or indifferent, we will die.  Then why is it that we are so adversely impacted when somebody like Laurie unexpectedly passes?  I think we can compare it to news stories.  If you watch the news, the leading stories are almost always something extraordinary, or, “Breaking News”.  Think about it!  When was the last time a break-in at a home was the leading story on any news outlet or for that matter, any part of the news at all?  Unfortunately, these crimes do not make headline news because it has become the norm.  Likewise, when an average person passes, it impacts  the immediate family, but fails to make breaking news.  Laurie, like my good friend Ike, were the images of Matthew Chapter 5 in every aspect of their life.  They were extraordinary and their passing was like the breaking news stories on the evening news simply because they were extraordinary.  They put others above themselves and strived to make a difference in every person they came in contact with.  You see, they exemplified a life of Christ.  As a result, their loss is extremely difficult to deal with and understand.

So this should be our lesson.  If one person can have the impact that Laurie and Ike had, what kind of impact would 10 of us have?  What about 20, 50, 100, or better yet, all of us?  My challenge to each of you that have read to this point is to live a life worthy of such an epitaph (the stuff they write on your tombstone).  Live the life that encourages everybody you come in contact with and makes them want to be like you, or more importantly, like Christ.  In other words, would your death be, “Breaking News”?