Today my father wrote our family's Yearly Reviw. I am posting it below. We believe that it is important to look back on our year and thank God for all His blessings and to learn from the mistakes we have made.
2008 Year in Review
In sitting down to write this year’s review, I took a few moments to look at the 2007 Year in Review. I began last year’s review by sharing that Dobson had been acquired by AT&T. At that time I was not sure how long I’d be employed there. As it turned out, I sought and acquired another position in the Dallas area. I started working at T-Mobile in April. They really worked with me and allowed me to telecommute while I tried to sell our home in Oklahoma. Well, the real estate market wasn’t very good as the house stayed on the market for 60 days with only 3 showings. I’m not convinced we selected the best of realtors. In any case, we wound up removing the home from the market, hoping that T-Mobile would indefinitely allow me to telecommute. After all, I was excelling in the position, and my manager was pleased with my performance. Unfortunately, the decision was not his, and HR eventually mandated that I needed to be in Frisco, Texas full time. You can imagine that that did not sit well with me. I could get from my home in Oklahoma to T-Mobile in Frisco in about 3 1/2 hours. But that was still too far to drive every day. I knew something needed to change. Either I needed to get the family down there with me or I needed to find another job in OK. That was in August. The Lord worked things out so that a company I had contacted earlier in the year, TransCore, called me back for an interview. Though my primary expertise has been in interactive voice response programming since 1994, TransCore hired me as a C# programmer, as that was the language I had been using for Dobson’s IVR for about 2 years. I started with TransCore in September. It was nice that we didn’t have to struggle to sell the house. But this has made for a hectic year of “We’re moving!...No we’re not…Yes we are…Not really.” There were many mixed feelings in the whole process. There were times, and there still are, where we wish we were closer to family in Texas. After all, that was our stated reason for leaving Tennessee in 2005 (I still miss living out there a lot.) Plus there was no way if I had known the future while we were in Tennessee that I would have left there to move to Oklahoma. God is sovereign and not me. So, He used this time to bring us into a very good church. We have established relationships with the others in the body. Another blessing that occurred the month after I started at TransCore is that we had a family visit our church. The man of the household was also a C# programmer looking for a new position. I was able to recommend him for a position at TransCore. He interviewed and was offered the job. He took the position, and moved his family about a mile away from our house. He and I have been carpooling together since October. God is good. He has given me a job in the Oklahoma City area where we didn’t have to sell our house. Plus He has put another believer with me, actually in the cube right next to mine at work. It’s very nice to have good fellowship every day.
In 2007, we lost my grandmother. Well, on September 21 of 2008, her husband, my grandfather, also went home to be with the Lord.
In April I took Brittney and Brianna to the Father Daughter Conference with Vision Forum. In was in Pine Mountain, Georgia. We heard a lot of good messages, saw lots of pretty flowers, and had a great time together. Then in August, I took Michael and Justin to the Father Son Conference. That was located in Winter Park, Colorado. It was likewise filled with good messages, lots of trees, and a great time with my boys.
Probably the highlight of the year remains the Rite of Passage ceremony we held for Michael. I haven’t blogged much about it this year because it remained a surprise for him up until the night we did it. Be sure and read the update under “Rite of Passage” on this blog. I prepared for this since at least 2004. My brother, Jason, seems to think that the planning started much earlier than that. In any case, it was a huge success.
2009 is shaping up to be an interesting year ahead. With a natural eye there is reason for great concern. President Hussein will take his oath of office on January 20. I can’t help but feel that America has elected Osama’s cousin. May God protect us. He has always built His church in times of persecution. It may be just around the corner. Stand strong and quit you like men. God is still on the throne.
