What happened to customer service?

Did I miss something? Don't money I spend in a store go towards paying the salaries of the people working there? Lately I have noticed people who appently hate their jobs and feel the need to take out their frustration on people like me, and make me feel like dirt for spending money in their store. I understand work sucks; that's why we call it work, but without customers there wouldn't work. No work, no money, no things money buys.

Where did this attitude develop that customers are the enemy? Call me old fashion, but I believe people are hired in retail to provide a service, make a sale, and let the customer feel it was worth spending their money there and worth coming again to do so.

I understand that customers suck! As much as I dislike bad customer service, I dislike it when customers are absolute demanding jerks! And I suppose that's why people give bad customer service. If you are one of those dink customers: smarten up! Sadly, in restaraunts its often the Christians that have a bad rep for being demanding, rude, and poor tippers. (Both Rachelle and I know this first hand)

As a Christian I have always believed that the best way we can be witnesses in our workplace is by working hard, without complaining, and a cheerful heart. Think about those 3 qualities. If you worked with someone like that, wouldn't it be more enjoyable? Wouldn't you want to work with them? Wouldn't you feel like stepping your own game up to work as hard? Wouldn't non-believers be drawn to whatever made you different?

Due to the lack of work ethic, there is great opportunity to let our lights shine in the workplace. Whether you are a worker or a customer "let your light shine, so they may see your good deeds and praise your father in heaven."

Lost in time which is dragging slow

If you were to see me in the street and ask me what's the date, what the day of the week is, or what time it is chances are I would not know and would have to think about it. For those of you who don't know I am currently unemployed and living on EI (pogey, newfie pay etc). To many men EI is somewhat of a dream; I mean who wouldn't want to get a paycheck and not go to work and at first I was one of those who thought it would be cool. But now I am starting to go crazy! Days just blend into the other, and they just drag on. I have become the happy home-maker. I am gaining weight and becoming a slob. And I am bored!
I'm sure most of you are like, "Well get a job then!" Not that easy. My EI is slightly more than a full-time minimum-wage, so just getting any job doesn't make any sense; I have bills to pay, specifically student loan payments. I can't even work a little bit because it may jeopardize my EI claim. I need to find a job that would pay just as much or more to quit the EI, and it either seems that they are in Alberta or I am not qualified. It will be interesting to see how it turns out in the spring. I actually looking forward to having a lot of time to help with Basketball; hopefully I won't go crazy before season begins.

New York State of Mind

For the ninth year in a row the New York Yankees have won their divisional title. People are constantly knocking the Yankees to my face saying they "suck" and to me it don't make sense. Everyone also says that they buy their success, but that's crap too. Yes, they have they highest payroll, but there are lots of teams that spend lots of money without the same sucess.(Red Sox, Blue Jays, Astros, Cubs) This year alot of their high-priced talent were hurt, but through an excellent farm system they came through again. At one time the Yankees looked like they weren't going to make the playoffs, now it looks like they will posibly be in the World Series again.

The other cool thing is that a two nights ago, the Mets clinched their first division title in 15 years, and they are the favorite to make the World Series from the National League. That would mean another Subway Series!! Back in 2000, the one and only Subway series went to a much better Yankees team; their 4th straight. It didn't matter who won; it was awesome watching both teams advance through the playoffs. I was at Briercrest and took a lot of flack from Yankee haters. I also had to go out of my way to catch the games on TV; even going to Regina. This year I am looking forward to catching all the games, as I don't have to work in the evenings and I have a satelite dish ready to catch all action. (yes, I warned Rachelle, and she knows how important it is to me) And I look forward to all the people that rip on my teams having to zip their lips for another year as the greatest sports town triumphs again.

MadgeLake Refresh: Consumed

This past weekend I was at Madge Lake Bible Camp, and for those of you who read this blog regular you might remember how impressed I was last time I was there.(see August archives) I was there to speak again, this time for their fall youth retreat called "Refreshed" The theme was "Consumed" focusing on Galatians 2:20 - "I no longer live, but Christ lives in me." God was awesome this weekend for many reasons:
1) I got to share the Word with youth - I won't lie it has been hard not being able to live my passion for youth and watch them from afar in BH. Sharing God's Word is not only good for those you share with, but for me it keeps me alert in my faith and deep in God's Word. God was doing great things in the hearts of the youth there. Our Sunday morning service was almost 3 hours long, and no one thought it seemed longer than usual. Praise God for allowing me to be part of something cool like that.

2) Like coming home - Even though I have only been to Madge just over a week total it feels very familiar and welcoming when I am there and the main reason is the people. Ryan and his staff have received from day one and treated me like I was one of their own. Ryan himself is my brother in Christ and shares alot of the same ideas and passions as I do; he's been super encouraging as he has endured some of the same struggles when he was a youth pastor. A lot of the people there are from Roblyn, Manitoba. If Rachelle had to up and leave BH all of a sudden I think we would move to Roblyn just because of the warmth and connection we felt from the people there.

3) I still have use - Even though people tell me over and over, "You're not done."; it's hard to believe it sometimes. But I was reminded this weekend of the promises God made to me when he called me into ministry and I am still gifted to serve His purpose. It's amazing how God can take mere words of paper and give them life in the hearts of people.

It was awesome and I look forward to the next event God has in store.

ps. If someone reads this could they humor me with a comment, no-one has commented on my blog for ever and I'm starting to wonder if anyone reads it.

Has it been 5 years?

It's unbelievable to think that 5 years ago was one of the most surreal, and unbelievable events of our generation; the 9-11 attacks in the U.S. All of us remember that day, yet in its distance from today it almost seems like something fictious that didn't really happen. I remember waking up at my friends house in Caronport; they had gone to work and school. By fluke I turned to CNN to check sports scores only to see moments later a live picture of the second plane crashing. Today there are still many questions that linger about that day and the aftermath. What for the betterment has happened? Wars continue to rage, greed fuels it; men have still not been brought to justice, while others have been injustly treated; the fear of terrorism has been replaced by the imperialistic march of the American military machine, Canada's sons and daughters have been dragged into this.
The only thing I conclude 5 years later is this: I long for the peaceful reign of Christ who truly delivers justice and yet is the vessel of grace to an imperfect world. It is the hope of all Christians.

Cool!.....Wish I thought of that

You got to see this video: This dude took a picture of himself everyday... for six years. He took all the pictures and made a movie of it. Quite fascinating! I wish I could have thought of it first. Click the title above to go there.

Goodbye 27, a roller coaster age

Yesterday was my birthday (doh! to all of you who forgot) Since I was 24 I have felt that birthdays are hype and over-dramatic days that we celebrate surviving mortality. The natural thing to do is to recall the past year and look ahead. Looking back I don't know what to think of the age of 27. On the upside: I got engaged and married to the love of my life, I've made some new friends, I had some awesome experiences of God working through ministry, I drive an Acura, I lost 30 pounds this last winter, Was part of a basketball team that made it to Hoopla. These are some of the highlights. On the other hand: My health put me in a condition of someone much older, my dream job was ripped out of my hands and most people have the impression that I chose to leave, I am jobless, I have been isolated from the youth I care about, people around the community act like I have a disease when I am around.
It has really been a roller coaster this year. Despite all that has happened, good and bad, my God still rules all and holds all things in His hand, and all I can do is trust in Him for the future.

A Legend Dies

I found out like many today that Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter, died. Turns out he finally got too close to one of those creatures and nature prevailed. Many of us loved to imitate Steve Irwin when in front of a movie camera. My particular favorite would always start, "Right, look at the size of this fella!" (with the Aussie accent) Even though his movie sucked, he made us all want to go to the "land down under" and chase after crocs. I'm sure he will be dearly missed by his family, staff, his animals, and his great nation of Australia. The rest of us will enjoy his work on Animal planet and Discovery channel.

Scary side of being Married

Last night I found one of the scary sides of being married when I had to take my lovely wife to the hospital. Rachelle is an asthmatic. This week with harvest going on around the province as well as animals an other allergey triggers her asthma has been bad. Yesterday we were in Leask visiting her relatives and she had an attack. The problem: her inhaler was at home. So we left and her breathing got worst, her chest ached as it struggled to get air, and her body got incredibly sore. We stopped at the Shellbrooke hospital where a very attentive staff put her on two air masks and a bunch of medicine to loosen her esophagus and lungs. I won't lie there was a minute on the way to Shellbrooke I got scarred of losing her and felt helpless. Recently I remember someone commenting how they hated the risk in relationships; how you can set yourself up for heartache or hurt. The risk is part of the reward. This situation has reminded me how precious my wonderful wife is and how lucky I am to have her. By the way, Rachelle is just fine. The doctor told her what I've been telling her: she needs a better, stronger inhaler; especially during summer.

Batoche

When we went home from the lake on Thursday, I told Rachelle I wanted to go out and do something rather than sit at home, because I would be doing a lot of that once she started school and coaching volleyball. So, we invited brother Keegan and went to Batoche. You know Batoche, the place you go on field trips from school, Northwest Rebellion, and Louis Riel. We went there. It was cool to go as an objective adult. We did a lot of walking cover most of the 2-3 mile radius of the park and saw all the sights. The highlight was actually the scenic path along the river. I was especially glad that they updated the theatre presentation with video, although they still had the same bad synthesizer music. It was interesting in the presentation they mentioned a big reason behind the rebellion was they didn't trust Ottawa and they were struggling to maintain their way of life on the praries. Remarkable how 100 years later things haven't changed much! As residents from Saskatchewan we still don't trust Ottawa has our best interests in mind, and we still struggle to live and work on the praries and not get swallowed up by Alberta or BC.

Beautiful Sask

Last week I went with my wife on vacation. 3 days and nights at Emma Lake. We were very blessed to be allowed to use a friend's cabin, which was private lakefront property. Everynight we got to sit by the beach and look at the still lake and the painted sky. You know people may diss Saskatchewan for various reasons, but I still dispute it is one of the most beautiful places in Canada. Living in BH means we are barely 1 hour away from beautiful lakeland where as a believer in God I can appreciate His workmanship even more. In the picture I am looking to the side because it looks cool and I'm hiding the otherside of my face which was swollen from my rotten tooth.