Something Smells Fishy...

There are days that, in all honesty, life just sucks! We think it...we mean it...we might as well say it...sometimes, life sucks. I know that's harsh...I should probably say 'stinks' instead, but I have a problem of 'saying what I think'...so, here it is. There are just simply days that life is not worth getting out of bed for! PLEASE, tell me I'm not alone! I am extremely thankful, however, those days are 'few and far between'. So 'few and far between' that it's easy to forget that while we are living in our crystal palaces, many of us...including our friends and family...are living their lives, trapped if you will, surrounded by proverbial heaps of dead fish. And life to those, stink! Ever been there?

In 1989, I was just completing 10 years of a successful management career in the retail industry. An opening came about in a field that I had longed for, for many years. I opted out of my management career and so began my trek up the corporate ladder. I was in secular heaven...or so I thought. I joined the nation's largest music company...CD's, Cassettes, DVD's, VHS, and for those who remember, 45s and LPs...you get the picture! My journey up that ladder was extremely quick...record setting quick. What started out as a basic salesman position rapidly turned into a corporate executive's dream job. There I was, still relatively new in the industry...winning one corporate award after another...receiving industry accolades that were seemingly deemed untouchable...living my dream. My salary was mind-boggling...and the perks that went with the job, you wouldn't believe me if I actually told you. Life, was great...

In 1993 however, my dream position began to paint a very troubling picture. By this time, my company had required me to live in the Little Rock metropolitan area, to be close to my office. That forced us to have to sell our home in North Arkansas. This was the beginning of the downward spiral. The only housing that we could find was in a two bedroom apartment, that in all honesty, I wouldn't recommend to anyone. These living conditions were a far cry from the three-story house in the up-scale neighborhood that we had just moved from. My sales territory covered nine states and the topic of traveling was no longer an option. My job required me to be away from home for days...and on a few occasions, weeks...at a time. You can imagine my fear as I left my wife, with a toddler, in a drug-infested sea, without a life-preserver in sight. Dead fish were all around. Our peace came on the weekends when I was home, as we traveled back to North Arkansas to go to our church. Yep...you read that correct...go to our church. Three and a half hours drive...in one direction. And it was worth every minute! Our church family, was just that...our family...our life-line. Outside of work, our world revolved around our church. There was something there that we just couldn't pull ourselves away from...and I needed that solitude now, more than ever. I was seriously sinking...

A ray of hope shined down on us one spring afternoon when I was offered a new position that would be the actual spring-board to the ultimate title...THE Prize...Branch Manager...full control of the largest branch in the entertainment's known world. All the muck and mess that we had suffered through was now going to pay off...we thought. We knew that another relocation was involved...just outside metro Dallas...and I thought I couldn't wait to get there. But after much prayer, we turned down the promotion. Call it instinct...gut feeling...whatever...maybe it was because I couldn't find a decent coffee house anywhere, I don't know, but...something wasn't right.

At this point, I was massively confused. The promotion of a lifetime, I just turned down to stay in a place that had become a miserably oppressed nightmare? What was I thinking? Had I actually lost my mind? Oh, and then came the dagger...when I informed my bosses of my decision, they informed me of theirs...I had just been fired! WOW! Where did that come from?! I never saw it coming! The stench of dead fish was everywhere...I had just been swallowed whole...

I've often wondered if the great fish that swallowed me was the same one that gulped down Jonah... Let's face it...at one point, Jonah's life sucked! Can you imagine what it was like for Jonah as he spent three days and nights inside the belly of this fish? Whether it was a whale or a whale shark, this creature was enormous! And inside, was Jonah...floundering around inside what must have felt like a dark (actually black) slimy cavern filled with remnants of the past few day's meals! YUCK! He was literally neck-deep in dead fish parts! Ever wondered what he thought when he just tried to sit down...and everywhere he tried to hold on to for balance, what was he touching...what did it feel like? What was going through his mind...I think I know...do you?

It was a bright, sunny Wednesday afternoon, the day I was terminated. We only knew one thing to do...load the car and head to church...three and a half hours up the road mind you, but we had to do it, we had to go...that was the only place on our minds.

I reflect back often to that day...a day that changed my life forever. It was the day I learned to listen TO God, not just hear His voice...

"Father...it's been a long time since that day, and in hind sight I can see a glimpse of the master plan that You have for me. Thank You for big fish...and how You use them to get our attention. In the darkest of days, Your voice is the clearest...help me to always be listening...amen."

The one thing that I learned through it all...if you're going to spend time in murky waters, have a great cup of coffee, and a big hook...make sure you catch & clean the problems before they swallow you whole...