Vader wants us all dead - Princess Leia

“so he explained it to them: “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” John 10:7, 9-10NLT

I think I have only read this one, a few times in my life. There's a lot here. The line "murder, death, kill" from Demolition man comes to mind along with, "Vader, wants us all dead" from Star wars. Slept better last night, have today off, but Shayne is still coughing and congested, so I'll see if I can get an appt today. Sip some coffee, I read and think. I'm reminded of when I was put in charge of inventory for my dads company back in 1998. I was originally a forklift driver, and part of our responsibility was inventory, so whenever we could get to it, we did. It was a mess, and we all worked hard on it. It began as the guys needed their parts, and needed them now. My sister was purchasing manager and noticed I was paying strong attention to this problem, I was only 21. The biggest problem was organization and control. So I just did what I thought would work and she handed me their project plan. They gave me a year to plow through this (30,000 parts). I locked myself in the chain link fence and things started changing. Parts began disappearing (only kidding). My dad had been told by many on lookers that inventory was a full time job and he began to believe this. I was given standards to follow by the VP and I strictly followed them. The guys hated me, they did not want to change, but I was behind the fence so, even when they wanted to beat the crap out of me for not giving them something they already had, they couldn't. I had no idea what the right way to do this was, I just did what worked for me. I created my own method and insecurely followed it everyday. I kept to the standards given to me, and things started turning around. I read and think. Before I began the cage, I felt very unproductive with my life, like I just wasn't getting anywhere. Especially in High School, like I was wasting time. As I began sorting through parts that I knew nothing about, I all the sudden felt purpose and that I was making a difference. I was having fun. I actually looked forward to going to work everyday. It became my passion, the company ended up sending me to school for more inventory classes, which I did ok in, and learned some stuff. I began implementing these skills I'd developed in my personal life and eventually realized I was trying to gain the same control I had on the inventory, it wasn't a good thing. I really wanted control of life of everything, I was so insecure that if it wasn't my way, you're an idiot. That attitude made walk off the job and eventually quit in anger. God really had a lot of work to do on me and I didn't realize it. It took him those 10 years to show and prove to me that I needed Him. I read and think, how many times do I want a store to open, so I can get what I need an leave? How many times do I want someone to get out of my way in the grocery store? I can only think of Anakin Skywalker and how his mom was killed and the flame within him ignited to seek kill and destroy. It happened to be his own kids that would save him. NOOOOOO! (that's the line lucas inserted when he was throwing the emperor off the railing). Hits me, I'm a hurting guy, I'm insecure, I don't want to mess up, I want to do it the right way the first time. Most of the time, I learn the right way, the hard way. Then next time, I do it right. It's crazy of how those standards I applied to my life both helped me and hurt me. I remember how serious I became in the early 2000's, it took forever (6 years) for me to relax and enjoy life and be responsible at the same time. Hits me again, sure God is going to reveal new things to me on a daily, yearly basis and I'll get tempted to take control and handle them my way instead of let him speak to me about them and through them, and how he can show me how to live a rich and satisfying life. Yet the enemy wants to dress them up real pretty and show me how I can surely be happy being in charge my own way. I only find out when I'm in the dumps that I should have given Him back these skills he revealed to me so I could see His true plan for them the whole way.