*** This post could end up being quite long, so I just wanted to warn you ahead of time. ***
At a high and very core level, I know that God has blessed me to allow me to be where I am. He gives and he takes away (Job 1:20-22) and he will bless us if we honor him and do what is right in his eyes. Do not get me wrong, we all fall short, but we can repent. God likes it when we say we are sorry and we mean it.
While I could go on at that level, I was thinking more along the lines of "then and now" and for me that is about a 20 year span. For those younger than myself, you may not understand, but read on and see. I have come a long way and many others have as well. Much can change in 20 years.
Then
*****
Living at home with Mom and Dad (lower middle class neighborhood)
Driving a 1978 Pontiac Phoenix
Single
Working at McDonalds at minimum wage (blue collar)
A few close friends
Interests were music, computers, fantasy war gaming, reading
Not a Christian
Now
****
Own our own home (middle class neighborhood)
Driving 1999 Dodge Dakota
Married
Working at $Large IT Company for much more than minimum wage (white collar)
A few close friends, many casual friends
Interests are computers, religions, music, reading
Devout Christian
If you look at the list, there are some differences (owning a home, faith, wages) but some things are similar (driving a 7-8 year old vehicle, few close friends, music and computers). The path to where I am now is a long one. How did I get to where I am today?
If we take the points one by one you can see how I have grown/progressed. My place of residence has been interesting. Unlike many 21 year olds, I was able to get a loan for a small (900 sq ft) fixer-upper and live in it for a couple of years before I moved. I then rented for about 10 years before I bought another home. Then that home was sold and another was purchased in Texas where I am now. While my choice of residences did not improve with each move, their were benefits in almost every relocation.
I currently drive a 7 year old truck (my wife drives a 3 year old minivan) and 20 years ago, I drove an 8 year old ca r. Not much difference in age but a world of difference in condition. My 1978 Pontiac Phoenix had a value of $1600. Today the Dakota has a value of about $4000. My truck is clean, safe, and dependable. I could not say that about the 1978 Pontiac. I have not owned a lot of cars since my first one, but most of them have been less than stellar. After my 1978 Pontiac, I purchased a 1981 Ford Escort and when it died, I bought my fathers 1977 Buick Skylark. When the Buick was beginning to show signs of dying, I then purchased a 1984 Pontiac 6000. That car was mostly driven by my ex-wife. Out of all the "well used" I had, that one was my favorite.
That poor car was driven until it was badly damaged in an accident near Duke University's west campus. It was drivable, but in very poor shape. Shortly after the accident I knew I needed to get something that was reliable. I had no money, but I figured I could wait for a deal on some compact car that was easy on gas. I went to a local Pontiac dealer (seeing a theme yet?) an was going to buy a LeMans (the little import from Korea), but I was talked into a Sunbird (in the long run, this was a blessing). It was about $20 more a month than I could afford (I was only making about $7/hour and had rent to pay...money was tight) but I finally got it. I drove that car for 8 years. I would have driven it longer, but I was rammed 1/4 mile from my house by an A/C repair truck in late 1999. At the time of the accident, it had new tires, a new battery, and used no oil. It had about 150,000 miles on it. It was the most dependable car I had ever seen at that time. I got the 1999 Dakota in November of 1999, used. It had 8000 miles on it and was in fantastic shape. I got a great deal on it as well. The truck cost almost twice what the Sunbird did, but it too has been a very reliable vehicle.
20 years ago I was unmarried, but engaged. I was soon to wed my high school sweetheart and was very happy. I was still very immature and my married life showed that immaturity. Our marriage lasted 5 years, although we were only together about 3.5 years of that time. We separated 3 times before we divorced.
After I divorced, I date rarely. I did not mature much during that time but one relationship stands out as a turning point in my way of thinking. When I was 26, I was introduced to a very pretty 19 year old college student. We hit it off and became very close. She lived about an hour way from where I did and I would only be able to see her 1-2 times a week. I usually drove down on Friday night and had dinner out. I would spend the night on her couch (she shared an apartment with a friend) and drive back the next morning. During the 4 months or so we dated, we never became intimate...a new concept for me. I began to thing that this was a good thing.
We broke off the relationship once her father found out I was divorced (actually, I was separated...I had not seen my ex-wife in over a year. Papers had been filed, but nothing had been finalized). He did not want his little girl being tarnished by a "married" man, so we dropped it. It really was for the best. This was near Christmas about 14 years ago.
Shortly after that, I started community college, wanting to better myself some. I met many interesting people and eventually met my current wife, the love of my life. Before met Mrs. El Gee, I was a bit taken with yet another 19 year old girl. She was funny and smart, but she had a bit of wild side and that scared me. I can remember telling her that I was seeing someone (Mrs El Gee) and her response was, "I did not even know you were available! I could tell you were shy and I was trying to work up the nerve to ask you out, but never did."
Her lose was my gain. I could see that relationship failing a mile away. It would have been purely physical and that would have been a very bad thing. Remember, I was not a Christian yet and even though I had one good relationship, I needed more to help form a positive image of dating.
I met Mrs El Gee while we both were in community college. We dated 9 months before we got engaged and were engaged 9 months before we were married. It has not always been easy, but we both have what we need and what God wanted for each of us. We have been married 12 years.
My employment path has been fairly erratic as well, at least early on. 20 years ago I was working for McDonalds as a Crew Trainer. The pay was lousy and the job was not very rewarding at times, but it paid the bills. I lost that job due to some very poor choices on my part and have learned from those choices. Over next 2-4 years, I had a variety of food service jobs, none paying anything greater than minimum wage. When I moved to North Carolina, things began to look up some. I started working for Circuit City and received regular raises. Along with the OT I worked, I did all right, but far from great. It helped me get the new Sunbird and taught me a lot about the real world outside West Virginia where I was born and spent the first 24 years of my life.
Circuit City also gave me a foot in the door to my next job, GTE Mobilnet. While working customer service at CC, I would routinely speak with he Customer Service people at GTE. I was intrigued and at one point was brave enough to ask if they were hiring. I realize that what I did was a bit unprofessional, but I was running out of time at CC and needed to move on.
I was hired at GTE for $3 more an hour than I was making at CC. While I would have more expenses (I was required to wear a shirt and tie each day) and have to drive further, it seemed like a great opportunity. It turned out to be an excellent opportunity on many fronts. I realized my love of IT while I was there, I learned a lot about telecoms, I got free cellular service as an employee and I was in a Mon-Fri job with normal hours.
While GTE was a great opportunity, it opened doors for other opportunities as well. A former GTE employee who had left for greener pastures gave me a call and asked me for my resume. I had to put one together and I sent it to him and a few weeks later, I was offered a job at $3 more an hour than I was making at GTE. I could not believe it. I was being blessed and I was not even a Christian, though my new wife (Mrs El Gee) was. Things were looking up.
The new job was hard, but it was still Mon-Fri. Not long after I was hired, they "benchmarked" our pay and found that I was being paid too little for the market, so I was given a $2.50/hour raise. I could not believe it. I was 30 years old and was making a little more than $30,000 a year. 10 years before that, I was making $7,000 a year. I was very happy and things would only get better.
I had not been in my new job for much longer than a year before I changed departments and began working on the Help Desk. It was a lateral move, but I could not stand working in the department I was in and saw the future of IT. I knew it would pay off and it has. It has been my career ever since.
I was in the HD job about six months or so when our manager and our team lead took other jobs. That left rather large holes in the organization. I was asked to act as team lead until a more permanent solution could be found. Six months later a manger was hired. He was a former UNC football player and I immediately liked him. He asked me what I saw that needed changing. I told him that either put me back as a HD agent or officially promote me to TL and let me do that job. The choice was his. Two weeks later, he called me into his office and told me I was being promoted. He told me a raise approved and would be retroactive to a certain date. He gave me a piece of paper with my new salary...it was a $10,000 raise. I would be making over 40K a year at age 32...with minimal college. I could not believe it. I called my wife and she was ecstatic. We began immediately looking at houses. It was time to buy a home!
The next 3 years were good years with raises and perks. I was eligible for OT (and on call pay) until we moved to Texas in 1991, so the money was good. I was gaining more and more knowledge and my responsibilities grew. I was able to train and mentor, as well as run my HD the way I wanted. My managers were pleased and the customer's were happy. Then IT started to crumble.
A few months before I was transferred to Texas, we were told of many changes being made to save money. One of them was consolidating IT and basing it our of Texas. My HD staff was given notice and 30 days later, the HD was shut down. I was kept on to finish two projects and was transferred to TX. My relocation was paid 100% by Ericsson. Again, we were blessed.
A couple of years later Ericsson outsourced their IT to $Major IT Service Company, and I was transferred to the new outsourced company. I have been here for about 3 years. The company has treated me well and I again feel blessed. My salary is 9 times what it was 20 years ago. Wow.
I have never had a large bas e of friends. I never felt I could handle it. I have chosen to keep a small circle of close friends most of my life. Some of those whom I call friends I have known for more than 20 years. While we do not speak often, I still consider them friends. I visit them when I can but that is sadly not very often.
Most of my friends are Christians. I have not segregated myself from secular people, but we never seem to click most of the time. There are exceptions to this. Jim, Jeff, and Keith are not Christians but they are good guys nonetheless. I have known them for many many years.
When I was younger, I was very much into music. I was a big fan of heavy metal, especially in the 80's. Today I am still into music, but it does not rule my life. I still listen to hard rock / heavy metal, but now it from Christian bands. I find the messages of secular rock overpowers the music.
I have always been interested in computers, ever since I bought my first one...a Commodore 64. I loved that thing, but had to sell it when times got tough early on. I did not own another computer until after Mrs El Gee and I were married and she graduated college. I think that was back in 1996 when I bought a Pentium 120 for about $3000.00 You can get a lot of machine for that price now.
20 years ago I was a big Dungeons and Dragons fan. I played time I got the chance. Then I got burned out and gave it up. I still have all the old book...I cannot bring myself to part with them, but I have not played in 15 years or so.
I have always been an avid reader since I was 6-7 years old. As a young reader, I was consistently above the reading level for children my age. When I reached high school, I was placed in "Honors" English, which focused entirely on literature. While I have dropped of some lately, I still can tear through a Tom Clancy novel in a week.
I read a lot of sc-fi and fantasy (The Dragonlance series being my favorite) 20 years ago. However over the past couple of years, I have been reading Christian fiction and have really enjoyed it.
20 years ago I couldn't care less about Christianity or any other religion. It made no sense to me and I was not willing to investigate it. Today I find religions fascinating and read about any that cross my path. It pays to know what is going on in the world around you...physically and spiritually.
As you can tell from this rather long entry, I am taking my faith rather seriously. While 20 years ago I did not care about what happened to me when I died, today it comforts me that death in a cold grave is not the end for followers of Christ. It is actually only the beginning of a brand new life.
How did I get here? Sometimes it feels like a switch has been thrown and I became someone else instantaneously. But in reality, it was a slow process. I had to stumble and fall a few times in many areas to see what was waiting for me. I do not believe in luck, so you cannot tell me (and have be believe you) that luck and chance got me here. You cannot tell me that my dedication and hard work paid off (although that contributed to it). The times in my life I was given fantastic opportunities I was BLESSED and I have not forgotten it. God saw fit to bless me so I could be a better provider for my family. He gave me trials to temper me, like a piece of iron in a hot fire. The Christian journey is often like the process to make a sword. The sword is not a sword when it is just a lump of iron/steel. It has to be heated and beaten and thrust back into the fire to harden and temper it. This process of heating, pounding, and folding is repeated over and over until the finished product is ready. God does that sometimes. He will see great potential in someone but that person will not be ready. God makes that person ready with the events in their life.
I started this at 8 AM this morning and have been working on it in between task for 5 hours. I really felt called to write this. I hope the person who needs this find it.
God Bless.
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