mosses monday XLVII (continued from XLIV)...

he was back nearly to his same old self
but with a new sense of purpose...

which God had bestowed upon him.
~@~
mosses never spoke again about his experience with God, but the effect of their encounter was very apparent.   at the age of 90, he put two, new projects into motion. he decided to gift (respectively) both his and mrs. moss' childhood, country churches with endowments for growth.
it was quite apparent mosses wasn't ready to go and that God had answered my prayer
God, if he is ready to go, take him... but if he is not ready to go, please, leave him, and leave him whole!
by granting him a stay, which gave him the opportunity to dig up his proverbial buried talents  and use them.
~@~
i don't know that mosses ever saw the fruits of his gift to his, church home. however, the gift he gave to  mrs. moss' church was put to immediate use. 
niagara united methodist church invested mr. moss' endowment in adding a gathering area to their small church. further, they allowed mosses to play a part in all aspects of its erection. ~@~
i hadn't seen him that alive since before mrs. moss  had been diagnosed with alzheimer's.
he was back, and  he was whole!
love and God's blessings, dani xxx
ps. you will find earlier entries in ascending order  on my side bar entitled, "our love story":)

from fem to forkin'...

for the past week

i've been editing and narrating

a forklift training powerpoint

for a local aluminum smelter,

the very same factory i personally

received forklift equipment training

 from 25 years ago...

~@~

in the early spring 

of my freshman year at murray state,

my mom informed me i would be working

as a summer student, laborer at alcan aluminum.

alcan was a local aluminum smelter 

where she, my step-dad, 3 uncles, and

numerous cousins worked.

although she and my step-dad

worked in accounting,

you can believe me

when i say i was well-versed

in the woes of working in the factory.

i think she thought working 8-16 hours a day

in the 100+ degree heat

would teach me a valuable lesson...

that i needed to stay in school and get my degree!

the thing is,

i went from this:

to this:

like a fish takes to water...

i.loved.it!

~

ironically, terry givens (tl),

whom i now work for,

trained me on the forklift.

tl had worked for alcan

prior to starting the givens group

(then known as "the tool shed").

alcan had brought him on as a contractor

to train new-hires

and shoot and produce safety training videos.

#thingscomefullcircle

i ran stackers,

i banded metal,

i charged the furnaces,

and

i fork-trucked billet, slab, and t-bar.

and, you know what?

i was good at it!

when i went back to school in the fall,

i declared my major,

occupational safety and health engineering.

i knew i wanted to work

in a factory setting.

there was nothing like it.

the people were real,

the work was hard yet rewarding,

and

perhaps, i could be 

one of the ones to keep

the employees safe!

it was the following fall,

after finishing 

my safety engineering internship,

that i started working for tl.

we put together videos,

painted signs and banners,

and

i drew and labelled alcan's

emergency plan maps

for each department.

~@~

my job assignment

this week

has been a very nostalgic one.

there are so many more regulations now

than there were back in the day.

in 1988,

there were no seat-belts,

our trucks were propane,

i don't recall having

to perform a pre-use inspection

on any of the heavy equipment

i operated,

and...

there may or may not have been 

horse-play on the midnight shifts.

(and, btw...

i may or may not 

have won a forklift race

or three;)

love and God's blessings,

danixxx

charity...

several weeks ago my boss,

tl givens,

said to me:

"now, dani, if there's a good

charity that you know of or hear about,

let me know.

i like supporting good causes."

me:

"really?"

tl:

"yeah, really."

me:

"well, there is a golf outing coming up...

it's for childhood cancer awareness.

did you know september is 

childhood cancer awareness month?"

tl:

"well, no..."

me:

"yeah, it is, 
and that's what the scramble is for.

do you remember lane goodwin,

the young, local boy who died of cancer 

last fall?"

tl:

"yeah, i remember."

me:

"well, his story was and is

very near and dear to my heart.

would you want to get

a foursome together 

and go play golf on friday?"

i looked up from what i was doing

to find tl already googling

lane goodwin.

tl:

"well, i see links for his story...

a prayer facebook page

and a twitter page;

but, i don't see anything

about a scramble."

i told him where to find

the list of lane goodwin events.

tl:

"oh, here it is."

~@~

within just a few minutes,

he put together our team and

printed out our tickets.

me:

now all we need are matching shirts?

(i grinned. #gohardorgohome)

tl:

well, yeah!

i'll call and see if i can get

them by friday.

and this, 
friends,
is the kind of boss for whom we all
should work! 

love and God's blessings, dani xxx

my team...

(scott, dani, and tl)

a couple of months ago,

i received a text from my 

long-time-buddy,

terry givens "tl".

"hey, do you know anyone

fresh out of college that would be

interested in selling contract work?"

i thought for a moment...

then responded,

"let me think about it."

~@~

i couldn't think of anyone right away

because the kids i know

are katherine's age

(with only 2 years of college under their belts).

~@~

a couple of weeks later

john and i were at tl's for a cookout.

tl's younger son, scott,
who now runs much of the business,

came over and knelt in front of me.

"dani, will you go out and sell for us?"

he asked.

"me?"

i was taken completely by surprise!

"yes, you!  i want you to sell our services."

he responded.

"oh, scott, i don't know.

i've never worked in sales before...

what exactly are you selling?"

i was backpedaling.

i'd never even sold candy bars in school,

popcorn in baseball...

cookies in girl scouts.

"i'll be right back," he said.

he went to his truck and returned

with a piece of paper.

on it were two lists of 

facility management/staffing services,

"on demand and scheduled".

i looked at it and back at scott.

scott...

i had watched scott grow up!

"let me take it home and look at it,

and i'll let you know.  ok?"

"ok," he said.

~@~

i had to at least think about it.

you see i had worked 

for the givens consulting group, inc.

since 1988.

in 1988 tl taught me to drive a fork-lift,

to letter and paint banners,

and

to draw and label emergency maps.

it was the work i did for him

that put me on the 

occupational safety and health road,

which culminated in my osh degree.

over the years i had done quite a bit

contract safety work for tl

but no sales...

~@~

i thought about it over the weekend,

and on monday morning i called tl.

"ok, i'll tell you what i'll be willing to do, t-lee,"

i continued.

"i will get you up and running...

learn everything i need to know to sell.

i will go out and sell.

if it looks like it's not working for either of us,

i will help you hire another sales person

and educate them on the business."

"well, alright then!" tl responded.

~@~

upon beginning to learn the new part of the business,

the part i was going to be selling,

i started getting really excited

and more and more confident.

i remember the moment it clicked with me,

"i believe in this and in the team

with which i'll be working...

i can do this!"

~@~

after that epiphany,

i never looked back...

i knew i had to bring our group

in to the 21st century:

setting up a website:

http://www.givensgrouponecalloncall.com/

a facebook account:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Givens-Consulting-Group-Inc/200121526823125

a twitter account:

https://twitter.com/GivensGroup

and, yes, a blog:

http://givensgroupinc.blogspot.com/

~@~

selling our team has been

so effortless.

for, we provide services businesses need.

how could a business not want

a group to come in with:

a team who can smoothly transition!

a team with a flawless production

and safety record!

a team that the givens build up!

and...

a team that takes pride in doing 

the best job they can do!

~@~

working with this group has always

been a blessing
and
it continues to be...

i.am.blessed!

love and God's blessings,

dani xxx