Another year older, but wiser? hmmm…

So, another birthday has come and gone. I like many other people at such times, reflect on my life and I suppose I would like to think I have grown in wisdom over the years and I suppose I have indeed learned a few things in the various careers I have held and encountered many different technical challenges which contributed to my education in each occupation. I have learned how to do things around the house and I still enjoy learning more things about the camera and capturing good images. Of course over that time I continued my love of the piano as well as beginning to learn of the guitar. As Paul said in the Bible (slightly out of context here) “I count myself not to have apprehended….” but I press on seeking growth in my life.

However, a couple of things I think I have definitely learned along the way have significantly contributed to a positive reflection upon my life. First, I have learned with each passing year, just how much God through Christ loves me. I have observed in many ways how He expresses that love to me and I am deeply grateful. I have also learned that the love of a good Christian woman in your life is one of the greatest gifts in this life that God could ever bestow upon a man. I have also learned that the blessings of children are many and they are a treasure for life or as long as God grants you time together. I have also learned that past work experiences are to be appreciated at the time for meaningful work and perhaps if fortunate enough to do so, improvements to the lives of mankind but the real treasures of those moments are the friends we make along the way.

So, those are the real lessons of a life lived to my current age. There are many other things that were enjoyed surely but those are the blessings of my life and I am grateful to God for all these things. He has blessed me in so many ways.

Thus I would say that if with the advancement of age an ever increasing appreciation of what God has done for us is indeed a sign of wisdom, then I have gained greatly in wisdom and that’s a very good thing. I still have far to go but I know that He will be with me along the way.

If you wished me a happy birthday, I thank you and please know, your wish for me was granted.

Love to all,

Jerry

Reflecting about work

I have always tried to work hard for my employers. I’ve covered a lot of ground over the years; everything from industrial process control for chemical plants to test cell automation and diesel engine testing and control to telecommunications backhauling cell phone traffic back to the central office and now automation of row crop planters. So, I’ve seen a lot of diversity in engineering and am SO very grateful to God both for the skills He has given me to take on these various assignments and the opportunities He has afforded to me to have meaningful and interesting work. It’s always been about learning, growing in knowledge and ability and doing the best work for which I am capable.  I am of course grateful to my parents too for helping me to afford an education in engineering.

Still, in looking back over these many years and thinking about the work I’ve carried out, while it was satisfying and beneficial to the company at the time, I suspect little of it remains. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not one of these “living legacy” types who feels like he has to leave some kind of “monument” just to symbolize that he lived. I follow the word of God in understanding that all this stuff will one day disappear when God and Christ decide it is time to do so. Thus I’m not bemoaning my lack of immortality in this life.  Ha ha

So I doubt the persistence of anything I did in the past just simply because of the many years that have passed and most of the work I did aside from my current position (for which I know my efforts are being used in the fields of America) I suspect is no longer of value or still in use. Maybe I’m wrong, but it wouldn’t surprise me to find out most of it is no longer in use.

So that might sound kind of depressing in viewing one’s life work in such a manner but actually I have one other memory of my former labors that sustains my happy memories of it all; the work friends I have made along the way! That’s right, when I sit back and think about my past employments, the most pleasing thing that comes to mind apart from being happy with the work at the time is the memory of SO many good friends I made while working with them to accomplish some amazing things.

You see I value my past jobs in terms of my co-workers and I rarely worked anywhere that I did not consider my co-workers my good friends and made it my personal goal to make them so even as I first met them. I have enjoyed a wide variety of friendships with people from nearly every walk of life. Some of them worked for me, some I worked for myself, and many worked beside me. We shared our work lives of course but we shared so much more. I learned about what was important to my friends, what was going on in their lives; the heartaches and the moments of joy and I tried to be a good friend in return. Really that’s the most l think you can ask from your past work; to have made good friends along the way and to have shared good times with them. Many of those friends I am still close to today. We forged close relationships that have lasted long after those previous employments together. Some I have lost to death and some to the passage of time and geographical distance but I still have so many positive and happy memories of our times together.

I’ve not been a doctor nor a fireman so I can’t measure my work and life in terms of lives I’ve saved but I do measure my life in terms of close relationships I’ve made along the way. I know some people feel like work is just work and you don’t create close relationships with co-workers; but they would be so very wrong. It’s what you make of it.

So yes, when I look back on my years of work, I suppose not much remains of the efforts I expended for those companies but the friendships I made along the way; that is a great source of happiness and satisfaction. God blessed me with a lot of people who made my work life enjoyable and I am grateful to Him for that. I have many fond memories of our times together. I hope you find joy in your work as well. Be kind to your co-workers, help them to accomplish things, work beside them and give them your best efforts, your strong support and your unending friendship and you will look back favorably on your career some day.

So many thanks to:

Union Carbide: Tom, George, Lisa, Anita, Don Sr, Bill, Mary Lou, Charlie

Cummins Engine Co: Phil, Len, Rick, Bruce, Dick, Bill, Marlene

Tellabs: Don Jr, Peter, Bill, Tom, John, Phil, David, Greg, Caleb, Farzin, Scott, Al, Greg, Horace, Mark, Pat, Ragu, Gu

CNH: Wan, Bob, Kevin, Prashant, Phil, Larry, Jeff and Brendan.

Thank you for being my friends! You are the people who have made my work life so very much a happy memory.