I hope & trust this post finds you all having a great day on this beautiful, absolutely glorious Sunday morning.
I realize I am writing this Happy Friday on a Sunday morning and it has been two weeks since my last post. It has been an exceedingly busy last couple of weeks. Two weeks ago I worked until Thursday (4/23) at Noon and then I came home to begin the journey with my amazing family to New Mexico to celebrate my precious Mom's life. Last Friday was filled with getting Mom's affairs in order & spending time with family & friends. Saturday we celebrated Mom's life with a beautiful service, a cookout and wiffle ball games...Mom spent hours sitting on her porch watching us play wiffle ball. Sunday I drove Mom's car back from New Mexico to Texas while Kath & the boys flew home...nice little 12 hour drive. I was in the office Monday and Tuesday until Noon and then flew to Denver for work on Tuesday afternoon. Had 2 great days of work in Denver on Wednesday & Thursday and then flew home Thursday night...my flight landed at 11:30 p.m. and I got home around 12:45 a.m. I visited for a while with my Beautiful Bride - her love & sacrifice for me never ceases to amaze, finally went to bed around 2:00 a.m. and then got up at 6:45 a.m. to spend time with my two littlest Tender Warriors and then took them to school. After dropping them off at school I ran home, mowed the lawn - it had been 2 weeks! Yikes! - and then Payton and I got ready to spend a day together. We checked Gehrig out of school early, ran to get lunch for all of us plus Landry and then ran to have lunch with Landry at his school. It was then off to La Porte, TX and Sylvan Beach where the 3 of us fed fish in the Gulf for the next 4 hours...can't call it fishing as we didn't catch anything but successfully fed a whole bunch of fish off our hooks! They were biting for sure, and the lady no more than 15 yards away from us who reeled in Flounder & Trout, was very kind & gracious not to laugh at us. We ran home, grilled some kabobs - no fish for this family! - and then ran to Landry's baseball game. Yesterday was filled with playing football with Payton, a killer 2+ hour nap (guess I was a little tired!), trimming all the bushes in the yard, family pictures (Kath will tell you she waited 19 years for this moment...we were very patient, for the most part!) and then off on a date with my Beautiful Bride. And now, after church, here I am. :)
This is a very special Happy Friday for two reasons:
1. The love, support, encouragement, etc. shown for me by my Beautiful Bride is truly amazing. This is the first Happy Friday I am typing from the desk she set up for me while I was in Denver. It is perfectly positioned between two windows so I can look out into our beautiful yard when in thought, searching for the right words. I don't know why it was so important to Kath for this to be done for me however it was. Her selfless service inspires me.
2. This is the first Happy Friday I am typing on my Mom's computer. My sweet sister wanted me to have it. Kath determined it would be my computer and that it would be used for Happy Friday's, writing books...anything done to encourage, empower & equip others. Pretty appropriate in that my Mom was my encourager, empowerer, equipper and she taught me to love, value & appreciation everyone and to always do anything I can to help anyone I can any time I can. Yes Friends, I am feeling abundantly blessed this morning.
This morning I want to share several different things with you. I trust that some part of all of this will speak to you.
1. The Thursday night my family & I got to New Mexico we, along with my sister & brother-in-law, were looking through some of Mom's stuff. My Mom cherished her Mothers Bible. Written in the front was the following - I am sorry, we don't know who wrote it though it was written in beautiful cursive. I thought you might all enjoy it:
The Bible contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners and the happiness of believers. Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable.
Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe and practice it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you.
It is the travelers map, the pilgrims staff, the pilot's compass, the soldiers sword, and the Christian's charter.
Here Paradise is restored, Heaven is opened, and the gates of hell disclosed...
2. Talk about touching a boys heart; amongst the things we found at Mom's house was a 3 ring binder. On the cover is 3 cut out pictures; one of me, Payton & Gehrig; one of Mom & my 3 Tender Warriors; and one of Mom & my Beautiful Bride. Inside, carefully hole punched and place in order are Happy Friday's with the first one being placed in the binder on August 12, 2011 and the last one being placed in the binder on July 4, 2014...about the time Mom started not feeling well. Something I will cherish for the rest of my life.
3. As I sit here, at the top right corner of the desk Kath set up for me, there is a big frame with a document inside titled "Haslam Family Values & Beliefs." This document is critically important to Kath & I. I developed this document, inspired by the Holy Spirit and in consultation with my Beautiful Bride, in 2011. We really searched our hearts for what we truly value & believe, what we wanted to share with our boys...to provide us all with a compass. I am going to share with you what we have written. I would like to encourage you to do the same thing - determine your family values & beliefs - and place them somewhere where you & your family will see them continually. Please feel free to use ours to help get you started however the most important part of the whole process is to determine what you and your family really value & believe. The way we did ours is to make the statement, provide a definition and then a scripture. Here are the Haslam Family Values & Beliefs:
Purpose
We believe that every person has a God-ordained purpose for their life. We further believe that it is each person's responsibility to seek God's counsel in determining that purpose and to pursue it with everything that is within them.
the reason for which something exists or is done, made, used, etc.
"I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out - plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for." - Jeremiah 29:11
Honesty
We believe that honesty, complete truth without deception, is the foundation of every relationship and therefore is never to be compromised.
a: fairness and straightforwardness of conduct. b: adherence to the facts.
"God can't stomach liars; He loves the company of those who keep their word." - Proverbs 12:22
Integrity
We will always do what we say we will do - no matter the personal cost.
firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values: an unimpaired condition: the quality or state of being complete or undivided
"Honesty lives confident and carefree, but shifty is sure to be exposed." - Proverbs 10: 9
Pure-Hearted
We will always listen to our hearts and never violate our own Spirits.
(of a person) without malice, treachery, or evil intent: honest: sincere: guileless
"Keep vigilant watch over your heart, that's where life starts. Don't talk out of both sides of your mouth; avoid careless banter, white lies, and gossip. Keep your eyes straight ahead; ignore all sideshow distractions. Watch your step, and the road will stretch out smooth before you. Look neither right or left; leave evil in the dust." Proverbs 4: 23 - 27
Genuinely Care About Others
We will always genuinely care about others, search for the greatness in them and do everything possible to help them become the best they are capable of becoming.
a cause or object of worry, anxiety, concern, etc.: serious attention: solicitude: heed: caution: protection: charge
"Dear friends, do you think you'll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, "Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!" and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup - where does that get you? Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?" - James 2: 14 - 17
Excellence
We will always do the very best we can.
the fact or state of excelling; superiority; eminence; an excellent quality or feature
"So eat your meals heartily, not worrying about what others say about you - you're eating to God's glory, after all, not to please them. As a matter of fact, do everything that way, heartily and freely to God's glory." - 1 Corinthians 10: 31
Family Declaration
As for me and my family, we'll worship God. - Joshua 24: 15
Family Motto
Do your best, be your own person and bless a life today.
Family Quote
"Nothing is easier than saying words; nothing is harder then living them day after day. What you decide today and commit to today, you must re-decide and recommit to tomorrow and each day that stretches out before you." - Arthur Gordon
4. I read this today and thought it was really profound...had to share with ya'll. This is taken from The Exceptional Leader: A Parable of Leadership Development by Stan Toler:
Leaders understand that their primary enemy is disunity, not differences. Effective leaders neither welcome nor run from conflict, but they respond to it appropriately as the need arises. Conflict is a celebration of the human spirit - the diversity of perceptions, experiences, gifts, and free will. So long as conflict can add to better understanding, heightened commitment, greater communication, thus problem solving, it should be embraced. Avoiding conflict in order to muffle any communication that isn't in complete agreement with you and ostracizing messengers bearing bad news are signs of unhealthy leadership. To enjoy conflict is neurotic. To hate it to the point of avoiding it at all costs is pathological in the other direction. Good leaders know the balance.
5. Finally, I want to share something with you that is very special to me. When Mom's husband Dennis passed away in January I was blessed to spend a week with my Mom. We talked about many, many things that week. At one point I shared with her that it had been on my heart to be ordained as a minister. We talked a lot about it and Mom encouraged me to get this done. I told her I would do it. Well, I hadn't gotten it done. The week after Mom passed away it was really on my heart again. I did a lot of research and found a group through whom I could get ordained, there are accountability measures in place (this is something that is important to me), etc. I completed all the forms and waited to hear an answer. I checked our email regularly, hoping that I would receive a response prior to speaking at Mom's service...nothing came. The Saturday night after Mom's service I was exhausted, ready to fall asleep, speaking with my Beautiful Bride about all that had happened that day. Suddenly I remembered my ordination and asked her about any emails. Her eyes got really big and she exclaimed, "It came!" She said she had received an email about an hour earlier. I scrambled out of bed and she got me the email. It is a long email however I want to share this part with you for it touched my heart deeply:
By the love of our Father, the blood of our Brother Jesus, and the unity set in our hearts by His Holy Spirit; we declare the mark of Christian ministry upon Kevin Robert Haslam, as a testimony before the hosts of Heaven, and everything underneath. On this Saturday, April 25, in the year of our Lord 2015 - AMEN.
With this, I received ordination as a minister on the day we celebrated the life of my first minister, my mentor, my teacher, my Mom. Everything in God's perfect timing Friends.
Please don't hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you or your family. I will always be willing to help you any way I can.
Have a great day, enjoy the rest of your weekend and please cherish your precious families.
Kev
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