Month: May 2017

I really thought “I can unplug, not think about work, no problem”…uh..problem. Took me a few days to not wake up and feel a like i was not suppose to be getting ready for work. Getting to work with our teams and the positive, forward motion we have experienced these last few weeks with reorganization and focus of serving our clients and each other is exciting. It made me want to do something with the energy that I had focused on work and continue the feeling of “pouring into people”…serving others. Little did I know my youngest sister needed someone, basically to talk to, sit and crochae a few dozen toboggans and share her fears, listen to her open up her heart to in a way she can’t with anyone else, like a sister. We have a few years between us and while my entire family is close, we haven’t talked like that in years.

I need to connect with her more. That was my first thought when I drove away from her house. Then I started praying for her and the Holy Spirit took it from there  “Who else do I need to connect with more”? The next morning I called my brother and we had dinner that evening. He was quiet at first and then asked me what’s up. I explained I was feeling a need to reconnect and not because of a family medical emergency or some other kind of need. He smiled and then we started sharing…laughing and reminding ourselves how to just be present in the moment. As I drove away smiling, I prayed and again felt the question…”who else do you need to connect with”.

I was staying with my parents during this time and that in itself was a blessing. My dad has had alzheimers for several years with slow progression. Here lately it seems he has struggled more. He faces away in conversations or start talking about some unrelated topic, only to return to the previous conversation later in the day. We walked down in the pasture to look at the new calves and talked about how 6 generations of our family had walked the same pasture and fields. It was a good walk and was over way to soon. Darkness kinda let us know we might need to head back. My visit with mom was good too and much needed. As I left there, I prayed and talked to God the rest of the way home. I again heard the question, “who else do you need go connect with”?

I thought the answer was easy, I thought it was God, so I started praying about that and I what I felt was, while more time with God is always needed, it was me. I need to connect with direction and decide where, and how, to balance where I spend my energy, my time – real quality time. My family has grown up and they are starting families of their own. So where do I plug in now? My granny was called home a few months ago and I decided my service project would be to help some of the older ladies at church who had voiced needs of some task they could no longer do. My preacher is working with me and I am very excited about what is to come starting this weekend. I’ve been reading a book by Max Lucado “Out Live Your Life”. .”..you were made to make a difference…” in at chapter 3 – Let God Unshell You”. Funny how God works in our life to bring us to where He is working in our lives. On a side note I am getting to spend some time with this little guy. Lane Isaiah Jones. Yaya time…priceless

Lane Isaiah Jones

Week 1 – Arrival of baby Duke!

Well friends, what a crazy first couple of days I have had! It all started when I got a text from Christina (my wife) during my presentation that Jeff and I were doing during the Shareholders’ meeting that she was being admitted into the hospital and that she would be induced in to labor early the next morning! I must say, it is very hard to describe the flood of emotions that came over me when I realized my son would be born within 24 hours. I couldn’t believe the time had finally come for Christina and I to become parents.

Sure enough, that next day April 26, 2017 at 1:14 pm, Duke Alexander Seale was born weighing in at 7 pounds 6 ounces and stretching to 20 inches long. I know without a shadow of a doubt that there is a God and to anyone who doesn’t think there is a God, they have never experienced having a child! I’ve never felt the presence of God more than I did when I saw Duke born. It was such an overwhelming feeling and it will be a day that I will remember for the rest of my life. All I could think about was how much I love this little dude and how I would do anything to make sure my son had the best life possible. In the back of my mind I felt God say to me, “The love you have for your son is only a fraction of the love I have for you and yout son.” To think we have a Creator that loves us more than we can even think possible is mind-blowing. Needless to say, I am so in love with Duke and I can’t wait to see what the Lord has in store for my family and our son.

Over the next couple of days, we had plenty of visitors and family stop by to see us at the hospital. We are so thankful and blessed to have an incredible support group that loves us and is there for us. Last Friday, we were released from the hospital and reality set in. We no longer could press a button and a nurse come in and let us know what to do with Duke. It is now up to us to figure out how to raise our son! I will say, that our first night at home was pretty rough. Our little bundle of joy cried from 9:30 at night until 5:00 in the morning almost constantly. Welcome to parenting! We have been pretty lucky overall though, because the next couple of nights, we were able to get around 4-6 hours of sleep. He’s doing so good and I’ve loved every minute that I’ve been able to spend with him. What an awesome blessing it is to work for a company that allows me to spend a whole month with my newborn son without having to go to work.

I know this time is going to go by fast but, I want to make sure and slow down and really embrace these next few weeks to soak it all in. For my Sabbatical, I will be focusing on spending time with my family and watching our son grow. I’m pretty sure I won’t be getting the minimum hours of sleep but my service project of caring for my son will be an ongoing service project! I will also be reading, “The Parables of Jesus: A Guide to Understanding and Applying the Stories Jesus Told” by R.T. Kendall. I’m really excited to see what the Lord will show me through this devotional. I will also be reading, “Making Vision Stick” by Andy Stanley.

I am excited to experience my Sabbatical during this incredible life-changing time in my life. I can’t wait to share with you all my experiences with little Duke! Here are some photos for you all to enjoy of him and my family until my next post!

-Drew

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

-Jeremiah 29:11

So…I can officially check off 15+ hours at a Disney theme park in one day off my bucket list. I also want to paint a picture for everybody. From hour 1 to hour 15 Kynlee was fully engaged. There was no “getting tired” and “falling asleep” in the stroller. No, this girl was wired from the word go. Just to make this even more clear, she ran sprints for a solid 45 minutes around hour 14 while we waited for fireworks.

The day started with breakfast at Cinderella’s castle where Kynlee got to meet 4 of her favorite princesses. She was in heaven! After breakfast, the planner in me started mapping out our entire day. Of course, I needed to lay off a bit and try winging it for a while.

We hit up our first FastPass and then the rain hit. Perfect opportunity to try out those ponchos we brought! Kept on moving through the park hitting all the rides that had smaller lines knowing whatever we don’t hit today we can hit on Friday. Finished the night off with one of the best firework shows I’ve ever seen.

Animal Kingdom tomorrow!

Hint #1: Roses are red, violets are blue my key is hidden where it’s dark and gloom

I turned left off of 183 onto CR 192 in Stephens CO. into a community that is but a distant memory. A gravel road lined with trees and a few scattered houses. Cows graze lazily in the pastures. Most days I would fly down the road, but not today. I am taking my time to look at the beauty around me. The scenery reminds me of my childhood. The grass still has some green to it as the summer sun has not yet turned it brown. I am on my way to Harpersville Cemetery. The land for this cemetery was was deeded to Stephens Co. by my great grand father John H. Harper in 1909. My grand parents are buried here as is mothers only sibling, a sister who died some 19 years before I was born. She was just shy of her 22nd birthday. Mother is also buried here. It has been almost 3 years and yet it seems like yesterday that we were watching Criminal Minds or CSI.

I’ve brought my lunch today and I have spread a quilt so that I can have lunch with mother. It is rare that I go anywhere by myself. Usually my sister Kim is with me or both sisters. Today, I am by myself.
My goal this week is to take a picture of each grave marker to be used on a website for this cemetery. With much help from my sisters we will build this site so that those that are researching ancestry have a place to browse. Some of the markers are just moss covered rock placed hastily as no money was available or time afforded for a proper marker. Many of the engravings have vanished with time and the lack of attention by a man shredding with a tractor. Before the land was deeded, people were buried here from wagons coming through in search of a better life.
I was able to get a picture of each marker. I will have to go back with some tools to cut back a tree and briers that have taken over one and to scrape dirt and weeds off of others.  I wonder what dreams some of them had. Many children are buried here. Was it an epidemic that swept through stealing their lives or was a snake bite the underlying cause? I will never know. I just know that they should not be forgotten or misplaced. If you have a good imagination like me then you can sit and listen as the birds sing and imagine those children playing, and the moms and dads going about their daily chores.

I only had a couple of incidents, a spider ran under my hand as I was attempting to brush a way dirt and grass. It’s body was surely as big as my big toe. I absolutely detest spiders. I was only stung by 3 fire ants after I riled up their mound. Did you know sunscreen will kill fire ants? And even though I had been watching very carefully for snakes since rattlers and copperheads tend to frequent the area, I did not notice until I was within 3 feet or less of not one but two snakes. Non poisonous variety, maybe prairie racers or coach whips. I am not sure as I did not ask for their identities. They were a minimum of 5 ft long each and were doing what I can only assume should have been done in the privacy of their home and not in the cemetery in broad day light. They scared the bejeezus right out of me. Luckily I was close to being done. I had spent 4 1/2 hours walking rows taking pictures, writing names, getting sun burned and visiting with mother.

What if I told you a trip to Disney World with a 4 year old could be stress free? Would you believe me? Would you think I’m out of my mind?

Today started at 4am. With our bags packed, our Magic Bands in hand and possibly the most excited 4 year old I’ve ever seen, we were off to the airport.  Before today even came, I had skepticism written all over my face. I mean will Disney really pick up our luggage for us and deliver it to our room? Will these Magic Bands that hold your room key, dinner reservations, FastPasses, park tickets and meal plan actually work? As we boarded the plane I immediately had thoughts running through my head like “What if our luggage didn’t make it? Since Disney was getting our luggage will they even tell us?”

Once we landed, all my fears and worries disappeared. We walked straight off the plane, straight onto Disney’s Magical Express where we were shuttled to our resort. When we got there, it was time to put these Magic Bands to the test. We walked over to the closest restaurant ordered some food and just placed our bands up to a sensor where everything worked perfectly. After eating, I got a text that our room was ready. This was test number two! We walked to our Little Mermaid room and once again the Magic Bands didn’t fail us. Got straight into the room and about an hour later our luggage showed up. Just looked clockwork!

After a short nap (to keep Kynlee happy and of course Sabbatical rules), we attempted to head down to the pool. Unfortunately, God decided we needed some rain so we scratched those plans and decided to head to Disney Springs to shop around before dinner.

Once we got to Disney Springs, we quickly realized that the best purchase we had made on this entire trip was the stroller rental for the week (also delivered to the room). We walked around for a couple hours before heading to dinner where we finished the night having some fantastic Cuban food. Again, only waving those magical bands that has our dining plan on it.

Disney has simplified this experience so much that the only thing you have to worry about is having fun. Tomorrow we adventure off to Magic Kingdom.

As you may have noticed there is nothing on my desk. I have hidden a key somewhere in there office. Let’s see who can find it first!

I began my Sabbatical jumping right in to my service projects. Wednesday I volunteered at On the Way Home Ministries. Kacey was there and she showed me the ropes. I helped restock the shopping area & help reorganize the storage area and got to visit with a few of the people that came in. I’m not sure if I brightened their day by our short visit, but I know they did mine. It was a somewhat slow day so in our down time we also worked on setting up computers for the classes they will be having for continuing education.

I also spent a few hours visiting with my mom while I was in town and feel very blessed to have the extra time in my schedule to do that. As I have read in a few other people’s blog it felt strange not to be going to work & took some significant effort to get my mind off the things I needed to get done at the office. I am about 1/3 of the way through one of my books I chose to read and am getting reinforcement to take time out of our busy life for the simple things. Thanks Kris!

Thursday & Friday I volunteered with Camp Able. On these days I not only helped with their tack room project of tearing down the old building to make room for the new one – but I got a ton of exercise too! (My back showed a little protest on Saturday from hauling the busted up concrete; but all well worth it!) The camp participants were so much fun to be around as their faces lit up just being outside with the horses. The trail rides gave us time to talk & get to know each other as well as giving me a good workout. This place has a wonderful impact on the children and I’m convinced all the horses there love them too; how they interact with each other is great!