From Corporate Ladder to Minimum Wage

I have recently quit a good job in corporate America to make half the money at McDonalds...yes, at minimum wage...straight to the bottom.

It was an interesting move motivated by God (too long of a story for this blog) that I had to make or I would have been miserable (you'd need to know God the way I do to understand that as well...perhaps I will post on that soon). Here I am in a VERY reputable company working with people that I have grown to deeply respect and I am now willingly thrust into the world of fast food. I've been there now for five months (quit my money job this month) and can honestly say that I love it to pieces! Everyone knows that McDonalds is a worldwide organization...it's due to GOOD BUSINESS! The more I learn about it, the more I respect it. Even from the BOTTOM (and I do mean the bottom)...everything every employee does is so incredibly important! EVERYONE is held accountable...now, that doesn't always happen the right way...we are on planet earth after all...but it's reasonable.

The MOST interesting thing to watch, from my perch at minimum wage, is the manager's view of the employee and vice versa. Having been in management and training for a number of years, it is refreshing to solidify in my mind once again the utmost importance of verbal affirmation of what is observed and also verbal affirmation of respect. To respect someone or to be pleased with a level of performance is one thing...verbalize that respect or observation and you will supercharge everything you need to train staff or to run business more smoothly.

So...really, I haven't left the corporate world...I actually joined a larger one...as this ladder is quite tall, I've taken some time to stretch before climbing...let's see what happens.

When things suck...

Life...not always peaches-n-cream my friend. Sometimes things happen to you that suck; is this wrong? Should things always go in a bump-free, nostalgic way? Would life be better if complications simply went away or were able to be dealt with quickly? Wold I really be a better person in a conflict-free world. (If you're in a conflict right now that sucks the life out of you, you're probrobly saying, "Why, yes. Yes, it would." I feel for you, and I get it.)

Obviously, I'm going to contend those statements above...not to look on the brighter-side, which would be lame, but to look on the benefits. It sucks, believe me, I know, but the benefits rock! Think about a butterfly, if someone lessens the struggle out of the cocoon, it will prob never fly because it never developed the muscles it needs to fly by struggling out of the cocoon. I really think the key is your individual choice in the way you perceive the situation...you get to choose to view the situation as something that is ruining your life or not...you get to choose to make it not feel like crap. End of the story...a conflict-free life would be boring...the end.

Vision of Hope

Being that I just got back from my best friend's wedding, it would seem that the wedding would be the topic of this blog...oddly enough, there's something BIGGER on my mind (more about the wedding later though).

While I was in Indiana, I got to visit the Vision of Hope for the second time in four months. Vision of Hope is a Christ-centered environment offering faith-based residential treatment for girls and women struggling with various issues from self harm to unplanned pregnancies and other abuses.

The thing I love most about Vision of Hope is that the girls there are continually pointed to Christ. Biblical counseling is practiced there and while the girls are not in counseling, they are serving others and eachother. I really have no idea what individual girls were there for-they are not permitted to talk about the issues of sin that brought them there but rather to talk about God...what I did catch is the sparkle in their eyes, the excitement in the things that they learn, and the amazing beauty in each of them. AAAaaahhhh! Every time, I go there, I leave a bit of myself there...

So here it is...please pray with me as I'm praying about giving a year of my life to work there...I'm holding off on sending my application in for another two weeks...I'd love your advice on this...

Dating...ONLINE!

Technology...it wasn't always around but now, some of us can't see life without it. I'm just 28 (I think), but I remember days when you would walk to the nearest house and ask to use the phone...and they would say yes. Now, if someone has a flat tire and a good samaritan tries to help, the person in need usually says, "I called for help already" (aka-get away from me you stranger...I know you plan on killing me). But then when it comes to meeting a special someone...where do you go? How do you meet them? The men who know me don't seem interested...so I guess online is the way to go!

Doesn't this seem strange and wrong?! I won't let someone help me with a flat tire or other various car problems because I'm afraid that they're psycho...but I will cruise online to find "my perfect match". Are we out of our minds!!!???!!! ...well, I guess we are, because I'm online, lol

Tips for you out there...paid sites...hit and miss...people make snap judgements on your profile and/or your picture...when people say they want to make friends first and then see where it goes...they mean that they are new to the site and they mistakenly believe that it works. Secondly, people lie...it's just that simple...go ahead and meet them anyway, but drive yourself and make sure a friend knows where you are. Third, be prepared to meet some real jerks...I shouldn't need to explain, I mean, your meeting a guy (girl, for you male readers) from the internet! Third, there are some REALLY good free sites out there...OK Cupid is one of them. Sites that you pay for are usually more fruitful in metropolitan areas because there are a larger percentage of people on those sites...if you're in a rural area...try something locally targeted. (Or, you know, you could take a stab at getting to know people in the community and let that guy look at your smoking engine) HAHA

So I woke up smiling...

Ever do that? I can't pinpoint the reason...but, I do remember the first words out of my mouth, "God, what do you have planned for me today?" I can guarantee you that I will be keeping an eye out today...are you excited? Cause I am! It's a super peaceful feeling to know the God who knows beginning to end and all the details in between...let me know if this confuses you.

Prayer

To pray or not to pray, that is the question. For whether it is better to plod on ones own or to acknowledge that, apart from God, one can accomplish nothing on his own. Oh, to die, to sleep...to die: yes, to die to one's self is ne'er simple...a life of me, a life of me. To sleep, to sleep away and pretend that all there is in life is me...

But what this, what if one were to realize at each moment's juncture that this life is not for one's self at all, but that ALL in life were for the glory of ONE...for the the glory of one from the beginning of time's ticking clock...ALL THINGS and EVERY MOMENT for that one...all the thousands of years...all the wars...all the lifetimes of each and every person...every instance working together to glorify that ONE! What a life of significance for the glory of the ONLY worthy one...
To pray, to pray; to pray for the understanding of all eyes to be openned to where true worth lies. To pray for my moments that cripple me to glorify that ONE. To pray for times of ease and gain to glorify that ONE. To pray for the honor of hearing the words "Well done, my good and faithful servant"!
_______________________

hehehehe...sorry for going all Shakespear! I couldn't help myself!

Women in Football

The Northern Utah Avalanche-what a find that was!!! All women, helmets, and full pads...I remember the shock I had over the power I felt when I first tried them on; curious about how much pain I would feel when I was hit, I ran into what I thought was a sturdy tower of boxes...and knocked them over...in the store. Better yet was hitting drills at practice (after learning the right and wrong things...remember, most of women starting out need to be coached like a peewee team), running full speed at a bull of a woman twice my size who is also running full speed and stopping her in her tracks-WOOOO! I'll tell ya, I was incredibly nervous when I first walked in to check it out, but now I'm in for the long haul.

One of the hardest things about playing football is trying to help other people see why I love it so much. The GM where I work says to me, "I don't know why you would want to do that to yourself (regarding pain and bruises). I didn't even want to play football as a kid, I only played because my dad made me." How do I answer that? Why do I love it so much? Why will I put in practice every week to play 8 or more games a year? Why am I willing to potentionally get hurt? Recently, I think I've narrowed it down a bit...

1. It's new to me and I love learning new things.
2. It's good exercise and I HATE exercising by myself.
3. It's the one place where I know I've done something right or wrong...building personal responsibility within a team environment. (At work, it's hit or miss on knowing if I've done right or not...with other people in life, if you've screwed up they may never tell you...it's nice to have someone tell you right then when you've done something wrong and even better when you do something right and everyone cheers)
4. I just love it...it's like I was made to play football (ok, not a real reason, but it's true)
5. It's safer then playing soccer (well at least in my experience. I tore my achilles playing indoor soccer while trying to stay in shape for football...this won't be everyone's experience but I love throwing that in as a reason that I play)
6. Growing up, if I hit someone I would get in trouble...now I hit someone and people cheer...it's AWESOME
   

About the background

This is just a bit about me:

Guitars-While I like/love music...I've never really been big on knowing who the artist was, I just liked appreciating what they said or how their music sounded. I've been playing the guitar now since 2002 and my muse has just come...I look forward to sharing some of that with you on this blog.

Football-yes, yes...I play full contact football on a womens arena team. Pads, helmet, the whole bit. I was so scared the first day that I went to check it out, but now I love it!!! Want to know why...stay tuned.

Volleyball-I'm from Hawaii, of course I love volleyball! My coordination didn't really come until college though...then I quit the team so I could study harder...regrets regrets

Shiney gears-Just a symbol of my love for seeing how things work. I would get in trouble as a kid for tearing my toys apart so I could see how it worked on the inside...my intial exposure to a computer board was a disappointment because at that stage I didn't know how to analyze what it did.

A person studying-NERD ALERT...study is one of my favorite things...time in contemplation...learning...challenging myself to consider a bigger picture or a different point of view. I remember showing a college friend my research materials or bibliography page for a 2 page paper that we both did...she shook her head...I had 3 times the resources that she did...and we got the same grade...

Bar stats-More of the analytical...after observing and studying, I find it a personal challenge to share the information I know in a way that others will understand...an interpretation from nerd to normal speech...

An open Bible-This is the most impacting picture representing the most impacting part of my life. I'd like to explain that right now, but it would take WAY too long...more to come

Fractles-This is a symbol of what "Bottom Up" means to me. The little things in life help to form the bigger things in life and sometimes they follow the same structure. There will be MUCH more of this to come, but for the now, here's an example...in a company you have departments, in those departments you have different areas-each area has a leader (be it official or not) and or a communicator as does the department as does the company as a whole...the grossly over simplified point is the purpose of this blog: taking the things that we understand to help us understand the more elusive points of life and seeing how they work on different levels to make the whole thing work [I know I lost you there, but I'm ok with that]

WELCOME TO "From the Bottom Up"

God's Guiding Hand or the adversary's roadblock?

Today, I woke up sick...the kind of sick that has you bored...can't sleep, can't think, can't read, can't move, body aches, sneezing, etc. My honest first purposeful thought was "God, did you make me sick so I could hang out with You?" I did have some time talking with my Creator/Messiah and some time of reflection between groaning in dull pain...it was good, but a question arose that may be more plausible in other adverse situations that cross our paths.

Sicknesses, roadblocks, accidents, and other similar nuisances of varying degrees: events of God's guiding hand or evidence of an adversary throwing roadblocks at you in an attempt to keep you from God's best?

I don't intend to wax eloquent on this issue; I have an opinion, and I would love to hear your opinion first. I'm sure we'll come to the conclusion that there is no clear cut line towards one or the other. Perhaps it's a bit of both, perhaps it's all God's plan even though it's painful, perhaps it's sin...I know I'm playing Devil's Advocate, but I'm sick...I may not have made much sense anyhow...