Summer is better when you’re a kid

Sunday sis is moving away to school again. Remember last year in the dorms? This year she’ll be in her own apartment with 5 roommates. I hope it will be great for her. I gave her a long lecture today while driving, about organization and being responsible. She HATES my lectures and you should see the ugly faces she makes when I’m lecturing her. Meanwhile I have clients who pay me just for my lectures. Well, sort of. I’m concerned that a larger and larger percentage of my clients aren’t able to pay me this year as the economy is starting to turn sour. Monday is labor day. Mason and Eggbert are moving back after 2 full years.

Progress

Many of my clients surpass me, building more successful businesses than I’ve ever been able to build. I’m just the lowly consultant helping with business plans and emergency situations and everything in between. Years ago it was simple things, like choosing the right software to manage inventory or helping to find enough used industrial shelving for a new warehouse or reviewing a business plan before it gets submitted to the bank.

Today my clients call me if their children are acting a fool. I go to my clients house, and talk to their teens, to their spoiled young adult kids. Here’s a tip: if you allow your 16 year old to have the entire finished basement to himself, plus every toy any kid can dream of plus money so that he doesn’t have to work, that kid will be spoiled no matter what anyone says to him.

As I begin moving some kids into college this year, it’s surreal. It’s like a dream that I’m just going along with. Just a few years ago this group was just a bunch of punk kids and teens making me angry with everything they do. I’d be screaming at them to smarten up. I screamed at some of them till they cried. I went over to their house and screamed at their crackhead parents.

I even went over to their drug suppliers residences to threaten them. Have you ever threatened a drug dealer twice your size, who has a loaded gun on his coffee table in front of you? I have, more than once.

I’ve also been super nice by buying them stuff and taking them out to eat often. Smoothing things over when they get into big trouble. Seeing this group graduate high school and get into college or university is amazing. As I help them fill out student loan apps and pick useful classes, I wonder what my life would have been like if I had good role models to help me do much better, to reach my full potential. That’s the part I hate the most, everyone around me and especially me, knows that I haven’t reached my potential at all. My teachers in school were right about so much.

I’ve been lecturing everyone about college. Stay away from booze, stay away from drugs, stay away from people who party. Focus on school, get part time work. Some people are so grateful they nod at everything I say and others are noticeably irritated at my nagging.

In 2011 I’ll move another group into college and then that’s it, I’m retired. LOL. Okay maybe not. I’m just getting tired is all.

Jesus Heals

I took a trip to Peterborough Ontario, I haven’t been here since like 1999 or 2000 and the last time I was here, I didn’t get to stop and enjoy as much as I wanted, but this time I did. Now when I got out of the van, of course the button on my jeans flew right off. It got sewn up right there in the parking lot while they were still on me which gave all the onlookers something to talk about before service.

We went to this church that had free delicious orange drink and donuts that you could eat before, during and after service. I have never seen this before in my life and I think it’s just the greatest thing. Also the sermon started with a Jim Carey video clip on a projector screen and I have never seen this kind of technology used in a church before, just old fashioned overhead projectors and not even free water. After there was a question and answer time. This is the most modern church I’ve ever seen.

Any way to my main story. Back in like grade 6 there was a beautiful girl name Maryanne. We called her psycho bitch because she used to beat us up, put caterpillars down our shirt and squish them. Every time we would see her, we would run away because of all her roughhousing. This was crazy because we (the boys) would roughhouse as well. I mean back then we would light things on fire and cause all kinds of mischief, but we couldn’t handle being beaten up by a beautiful girl.

I became a Christian at age 17, and I lost contact with Maryanne a few years prior, although I would hear about her once in a while because she dated some of my close friends.

When I was in college and doing an internship around age 19, I met her again at Tim Hortons. She was a cashier and just had a round of chemotherapy. She had cancer and had lost all her hair from the treatment. She was smiling at me while holding back tears. “I’ll never have children” she said. Without thinking (story of my life) I told her that Jesus would heal her, and tried to tell her as much as I could about my new found faith before I had to go (there were other customers in the line). I gave her my contact information.

I make promises to people all the time. Most of the time I come through, sometimes I don’t. When I tell people about Jesus though, I really boast. I boast big. And I had boasted big about Jesus to Maryanne in front of other people. When I got home I almost started to panic, because I realized I promised this girl that Jesus would come through for her and that one day she would have kids.

Fast forward to right now, several years later. I had just picked up a Medium pizza with Nathan and when we were walking outside of the mall in front of Price Chopper, I hear a scream “asif, asif!”. Maryanne ran up to me and before I had a chance to react, she jumped on me, arms and legs wrapped around me completely. I was surprised my spine didn’t collapse. All the weight lifting has been working out. Her hair is long and beautiful, in fact she’s more beautiful than I remember.

She went on to Nathan about how great of a man I am. (She and Nathan had never met prior). She really went on. And of course I’m not, but God is so great He came through for both me and Maryanne. I wish everyone who was in the Tim Hortons years prior could see. Both of us grew up in tough environments. Both of us came up from the wrong side of the tracks. Both of us have been healed by Jesus.

And yes, she now has a beautiful biological son. I write these journals so that I can one day read them again. But this story doesn’t require a journal entry. I’ll remember it for eternity.