Influences-Work

So as probably alot of you know, I (somewhat) recently started a new position with the company I work for, Genesis Fiber Optics.

It has been a ride to say the least, but I LOVE it nonetheless!

To backtrack a little, for the past oh....6 years or so I have been one of the guys in the field. (doing things like fiber repairs, inside splicing/installs/troubleshooting and so on)

Right around mid-way through my DC experience I started to hate it....like, really hate it. I didn't look forward to work, tried to come in as late as possible and leave as early as possible. I hated the company we worked for, the 24/7 on-call schedule,...pretty much everything about it. BUT, the job provided such an amazing life outside of work I told myself "it's ok if I don't LOVE my job...
I can tolerate it for what it provides."....ugh, what a mistake.

The problem with that viewpoint (as I see it now) is that eventually, doing a job you hate (no matter what it provides) kills you as a person. I've seen some scary examples of what a person can turn into after years and years of a passionless profession.

Work is one of the more influential of all my influence topics I will write about. It's what you do with most of your day, and will ultimately play one of the biggest roles of who you are as a person.

One of the things I did (and would highly advise against doing) is lie to myself about my honest views of what I did were, mixed with the false belief that I could do nothing else. I think another popular lie is to do what you hate for your family/kids/spouse Etc. I mean, not say there are crappy temporary jobs out there (there definitely are) but to realize they most certainly are temporary. (While also rejoicing that you have that temporary job.)

To work and provide for your family is not only what we are called to do as men, (if you happen to be of the gender) but also honoring to God. However, I don't believe it's in His plan to have us do this with no passion for our profession because ultimately, it leads to no passion for anything else in our lives....(I mean, it makes sense right? It's what your doing for most of your day)

God doesn't want us to be miserable
Deuteronomy 15:10
Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.

What made me come to this realization of what I did and didn't love, came about by me doing something I actually enjoyed (as of now, Admin and AP/AR) and compared it to how I felt doing something I did not....Unfortunately I am rather hard-headed and if God didn't allow that opportunity for me, I would have likely kept right on going till who knows what happened....

My brother Paul (actually I am sure this is a fairly popular quote) loves to say that "if you do what you love, you never work a day in your life." Seeing people do what God has designed them for, I believe it. I know for sure God has gifted each one of us uniquely to play the part of furthering his kingdom....and doing so, brings the kind of joy every single one of us was designed to desire, not the happiness the world says you need.


1 Corinthians 12:12-13
The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

Affianced/Betrothed/Husband-to-be, And Other Such Fun Synonyms

SO.....Last Friday (the 15th) I asked this amazing woman Jen Catalfamo to marry me on the beach of Virginia.....And she said yes!

1-What?? Nice!
2-I am one lucky man.
3-Welp, looks like I'll be getting THAT resized.

Up to this point, as I witnessed close friends getting engaged, planning a wedding....I always wondered what thats like. Whats it like to go to marriage counseling? To make a guest list? Have a registry, start a knot page? (link to come soon!) and MANY other things involved in this amazing event. I have heard things like "This is the most stressful thing anyone will ever endure." To "It's an amazing blessing for 2 people to go through." and just about everything in between.

I feel we as people tend to over-hype many things in our life which ultimately leads to disappointment....and while I tried not to do that before our engagement, I can say for me personally, this has lived up to every ounce of anticipation I tried not to muster up :)

I LOVE planning this with my future wife (and yes, I understand some things are just not fun to do...) I love that we both want to honor God in as many ways as possible in our wedding, and show others exactly what were about as a couple.

I love that we're both about a short engagement...:)

While I'll try and not make this blog about the things I love, I will make a point that God has clearly....CLEARLY blessed me with what I do not deserve (in many areas of life) and one of my goals in life is to honor him through marriage and a family...(eventually!)

Through this process, whatever it may look like for us, I'm pretty much one excited man who has much to learn in the marriage department....:)