The Time Before the Time Before Now

On June 21, the senior environmental engineer of the MLC* quit.  Unexpectedly.  I walked in to work on that Friday, my then manager caught me before I had a chance to start my day, and told me the news.  He also gave me a promotion, a new job title (staff environmental engineer), and a pay raise.  I was moving from the environmental field that I loved and had training in--water & waste--into a field that I had little relevant training and little love for--air. 

Air pollution is a beast.  The rules and regulations are overly complex.  The redundancy is ridiculous.  I had no desire to enter air, but then I was there.  Now, almost 5 months later, the senior position still has not been filled and the projects keep stacking up.  I'm surprised to find that I actually enjoy some of the air side of things, though water is still my desired field.

Additionally, launching Encounter Community Church back in August has equally added to my day-to-day.  It's something I'm passionate about--making disciples who make disciples--enough so that I'm staking my claim on the words of the One who established The Church.  Disciple making was Jesus' primary objective on earth.  It was important to Him, obviously, or He wouldn't have brought it up in His last statements before He went back to Heaven.  ECC is going strong and God is blessing us and I'm thankful to be a part of it.

But what sucks is the timedrain that's been applied.  My hour commute added with my long work days added with ECC work leaves me drained.  Me being drained unfortunately results in my family being neglected.  I treasure the time I get to spend with Keisha and Avonlea and Callum.  I love my family so much and I miss them when I'm not home.  I need to be a better husband, a better father.  I need to efficiently spend my time with them when I'm home.  I'm aware of the issue and I sincerely believe that it's a temporary thing, but I also realize that I have to stay on top of it or else I'll become yet another zombie enslaved to the consumer, self-serving culture.  Godspeed to me, I say.

That's where I'm at.  That's where I've been.  That's why my blog is sidelined, cause at the end of the day this thing is just an electronic archive of my life, a digital record for the future me to look back upon and read.  Just like taking a picture or recording a video is great and all, but if taking a picture comes at the expense of actually missing the event, then what's the point?  A picture is a memory.  A picture for a picture's sake is not a memory at all.  There is the functional purpose of book reviews here on Rememorandom, but that's a mere corollary to the intent. 

And I'm all about living intentionally, living honestly, openly, sincerely, unashamed and unafraid.  I hope you are, too.