patience...

so there is this guy that is a customer of mine that really, really has issues. any time a problem comes up with his system, he sends scathing, mean, arrogant emails. if you happen to work in the IT field, you know his type --- bossy, rude, pompous, know-it-all network administrator that has no regard for anyone else's feelings.

this week was no exception to his normal game plan. things did not go well with his support ticket and he sent an email just ripping everyone involved apart. in response to this, an email was sent to him asking to do his part in resolving the ticket since he wasn't so responsive to the requests of the help desk......boy, this went over well (can you feel the sarcasm?) he responded with yet another well crafted two page email that wasn't so nice. he even copied everyone you could imagine on the email all the way up to the chairman of the board....sheesh.

so my gut reaction is to kick him to the curb. i mean, come 'on, what am i doing even giving him a moment of my time? then i hear the little voice in my head....maybe you have heard it before, maybe not. but i think we have a responsibility to do something about this little voice in our head....it was telling me to be a light to this guy in a really dark world. i'm not sure how this is gonna happen....on my own power, i think that i cannot do it, but it seems like i should.

so my question is....how do i do this? what does it really look like to respond different than everyone else would respond? i pray for patience.

work hard

today is one of those days that i stare out the window and have a hard time being motivated to do anything. do you ever have those days? it is cold outside, it is warm inside and it is the last day of the work week.... as soon as i start feeling this way, i am usually reminded of a writing in the Bible that says "whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.."

i need this reminder.....often. if i don't have it, i easily get distracted and move to doing things that aren't fruitful. i have placed the above picture as a reminder. i love the way that big ben is working with all of his might to stuff shaq. this is how i need to attack my daily work.

back at it!!

expectations....

We all have them in one way or another. I expect my children to obey me when I ask them to do something. I expect to get a paycheck from the company that I work for. I expect that people will generally treat me the way that I treat them. Now, you are probably thinking --- “Jason, not everyone will treat you the way that you treat them.” And to that I say --- I agree.

Not all expectations will be met. Quite often, my kids don’t obey me like I expect. I have been fortunate enough to get a paycheck from my company, but that may not happen someday. There are times that people do not treat me the way that I would expect to be treated either. When these expectations are not met --- especially with people that are close to us, sometimes it hurts.

I was told once by someone that I respect that you should “have very low expectations of people, and if they do perform, then you are surprised”. I was also told by someone else that I respect that you should “have very high expectations of people and they will come through for you”. I am trying to figure out the balance between having high expectations of others and potentially getting hurt vs. “expecting the worst and being happy if something else happens.”

Poor communication of expectations can lead to problems. If a mismatch in expectations occurs, often, someone gets disappointed. Let me give you an example: I have been in a sales call that the customer had the expectation that they would get a large upgrade to new product for FREE. When I went into the meeting, I was expecting that if we show them the great features that they are getting to meet their needs, 10-15 thousand bucks was very reasonable to pay --- especially since it was way below what anyone else would pay. They had their expectations based on their current reality that budget is tight as well as something that another sales guy told them. If they had communicated their expectation was “free” it would have saved time and effort. In this case, neither party is really a “winner” because expectations were not met on either end. My whole point here is that communication of expectations ---- high or low is extremely important.

why the front porch....

many of my days consist of sitting at my desk at home. this allows me the opportunity to look outside and gaze across my front porch. it's amazing how your mind can stray when you stare out the window. i often find myself thinking about things going on in my family --- immediate and extended; raising my kids, things going on at work, church, home group, finances, current book, etc, etc.

my office is the place that i "own". this is my domain. others are welcome to come in, but when i want to read, think, work, pray, this is the place that i go. do you have a place like that? i love the fact that i can look out the window and stare at the nature that our creative God designed.

in all of this straying of the mind, i've been doing a fair amount of thinking about what the person of Jesus is really like....what he did, said, thought -- who he hung with, ministered to, etc. but, that's the subject of another blog.....