Appreciated Gift

I am about to receive the gift of appreciation from God.

By that I mean I am going to appreciate where God has me and the blessings I have by looking through a lens only gained through divinely appointed experiences.

I am excited about it and I am so glad He is giving it to me.

What does the gift of appreciation look like? Let me a’splain.

The Context
Since 2007, I have been struggling financially. Not to the point of being homelss, naked or starving, but still struggling. I have been jobless in that time, I have overdrawn my account on multiple occations, been late on student loans not due to slothfulness, but to finances, and I still owe back taxes from 2007.

This is by no means a story of woe, and I am not exalting my situation of financial deprivation. I am simply setting context for a lesson learned…

Fast forward to the present time, the LORD has blessed me with an amazing job doing what I love with a great friend, and I am getting paid very well (agian, not a boast, but context). This job has the power to quickly pull me out of the strangling clutches of debt and plant me on the solid ground of financial stability with room to bless others. Granted, I have to do my part to steward my finances well, but the potential I rest in now will be maximized through this gift of appreciation.

On the flip side, I only get paid once per month and will not receive my first check for a while, so I am still living thin to say the least.

Ok, Context Laid
I was in a conversation with friend and coworker Sarah when she invited me for some hang out time with many of our friends. I politely declined because I didn’t have enough money for gas to last me until my paycheck.

Sarah: I am sorry, yo.
Jesse: I’m glad I have no money.
Sarah: You are?
Jesse: It’s going to make me appreciate it more when I finally do have money. I see it as a gift from God…

It was in that moment I welled up with love for my God because I have been financially miserable for the past year. I began to thank Him for not giving me money, for every bounced check, for every meal I had to skip, for every night like this where I literally could not afford to hang out with friends.

My past was shaped to help me appreciate my present and to dedicate my future to God. This is the gift called appreciation. It is not a gift easily received by any means, but it is the best way to wrap it.

Past depravity positively enhances your appreciation for your current abundant reality.

If I grew up blind, being depraved the sense of sight, then my new reality of being able to see will be enhanced by my past depravity. Likewise, my current reality of financial stability is infinitely enhanced by my past financial deprivation.

So look at any of your less than enjoyable situations through the eyes of heaven. For my situation, it has enabled me to consider my difficult circumstances pure joy. I have come to enjoy rather than endure. I have more love for God rather than more questions. God is good.

Production Tier / Milking Men

I teach two different classes, or rather, manage a design studio for two different groups of people. Beginner and intermediate.

This intermediate (production) is so different from beginner (immersion) tier.

For one, everyone speaks English, and everyone has the full use of all 5 senses.

I feel like the immersion tier will be my “Leadership Challenge” days, and the production tier will just be me being who I am.
I have high hopes for this class. Some of their designs are legit already. It is going to be fun to take them from joining a program to knowing how to successfully run a marketing and design firm.

During a discussion I wanted to say “milk the system” or “stick it to the man”, but “lets milk the man” came out. So now we have an inside joke at my expense (this is where the unique title came from).

Today’s Learned Lesson

One thing I am learning is the fine art of vision casting and the value of buy-in. Today was primarily casting vision and partnering with thier ability and who they are. I believe because we are thier biggest fans, they are going to be the biggest advocates of the cause.

Hasta later…

“Vision without action is daydreaming, but action without vision is a nightmare.”

-Japanese Proverb

New adventures/I am John Rambo

Yesterday was the big day. The first day. I started a new job/career/stwping stone into my destiny. I am working with troubled youth teaching them graphic design in Denver. I am working with a good friend. I am commuting everyday. I am both completely qualified and in WAY over my head.

The beginner class is like a missions trip. 11 students – one is deaf, five are refugees from Burma (four of which speak no English). So I am working with two interpreters.

While giving the refugees and interpreter a ride home in my tiny sportscar that seats one including the driver, the interpreter said she was amazed at how much electricity America had. Sarah Addy (driver) asked if they missed Burma. They said no because in the jungle there is no electricity and if they left the camps the police would kill them. I don’t blame them for not missing home that much.

I believe this will be a landmark of acceptance in all of their lives.
There is much more to say, but I am blogging on my phone. I am getting carpal tunnel in my thumbs now.

Hasta tomorrow…