Good morning Peeps!
I thought I would write today some free flowing thoughts that have been browsing through my mind. First of all I am glad it is warmer and the summer months are upon us because that means I can work summer hours at work. It runs from the first week of June through the last week in August. You can opt to work four days a week instead of five or choice to take a half day one day through the week. You still get in your forty hours a week but you get extra time off too by working the extra hours on the days you are here. I have opted to take a lot of Fridays off this summer followed up by the Monday of the next week which will give me a lot of 4 day weekends this summer. This Friday I am taking a half day which means I will get off at 11:00 am which isn't a bad deal at all! It is a great benefit to us and we get to enjoy a little bit more of the summer this way. It's another reason to be grateful for the company I work for.
Each morning when I come in to work, I get a message in my email which is an inspirational way to start my morning. There is a rather large group of people who are on a part of a prayer list & devotional email that anyone can sign up to be a part of. One of my co-workers, Alicia, is the creator of it and she does a great job every single day trying to uplift the spirits of our coworkers. The really cool thing about it is there is support for this by the top CEO's in our company. Once a month they allow us to dedicate a conference room to a prayer meditation room for anyone who wants to go in and say a prayer or have a moment of silence. If you have a prayer request, there is a box you can drop off a prayer request in and be assured that you will have a group of people praying for your request. Pretty cool huh?
Last Friday morning the scripture for the day was "We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.----Ephesians 2:10" There was a devotions reading with it and a word or two of encouragement to go along with it to lift up your day. Sometimes people respond to it and everyone is copied to what is being said. One of our top CEO's who is the head of tour company wrote a response.
He said... "Alicia, this is one of the four verses I pray each morning from a post it note on my computer as I start the work day - along with Romans 12:1, Colossians 3/23 and 1 Chronicles 28:10. I offer myself as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to the Lord, to do his work - that he planned in advance - with all my heart, as working for the Lord not for men, and pledging to God to give whatever strength I have to "be strong and do the work" (as David charged Solomon to do). I place (name of our company) at the altar of God every morning, for Him to do with as he pleases, knowing -as David did - that "the battle is the Lord's." He will lift us up - individually and collectively as (name of our company) - if we are humble and faithful and dependent upon him AND we contribute what brains and energy we have to offer. I appreciate all here who join in these prayers, calling on the God of the universe to intervene supernaturally in each of us and all of us. He will do it! --KMB"
The main reason I wanted to write about this is because I think it is virtually unheard of for a company that is as large as we are to take a part of something like this in today's corporate world. To have the support and one of our main CEO's who run this great company we work for share with us his own faith and prayers and the commitment to making this a part of our work environment. How many companies have you heard of that would devote a conference room to a prayer room in today's society? Our company is not affiliated with any type of organized religion or faith based products. I just think that is amazing and it just confirms for me how much I am blessed to be working for this company. I've made a career here over the last 18 years and although at times it has been a bit rocky and we tread into unknown territory of uncertainty with the recent layoffs, it is still an amazing company that I am proud to work for.
That being said, I wanted to talk about something else that caught my eye on TV over the past few weeks that was a bit disheartening to me. Has anyone seen the recent promotional ads on TV for a new show called Swingtown? I've been seeing them push this new show pretty hard in recent weeks and once I found out what the premise of the show was, I have to say it disappointed me that the networks are viewing this as having any entertainment value to it. I am thinking Why on God's Green Earth would they want to promote a show like this!?! It is one of those things that has me shaking my head. The premise of the show is it is set in the 70's and a newly married couple moves into a new neighborhood only to find out all the couples in their new community are swingers. I was like WHAT?? They are actually promoting the swinger lifestyle of adulterous sex and open marriages on TV and they think this counts as a good show that people are going to want to watch? And the entertainment value of this would be WHAT?!
I find this a bit repulsive as our children of the world already have enough sexual innuendo thrown at them from every angle and venue in the form of music, videos, games, tv, clothing ads, and advertisements as well as peer pressure. Has the world gone absolutely bonkers or have we just hopped aboard the fast forward track of going to Hell in a handbasket? How can anyone think this is quality TV when all it does is promote cheating, infidelity and sexual addiction and calls it entertainment? I fail to see the point of even producing a show like this. Has the world really come to this? What the heck happened to shows like Gunsmoke, Dr Quinn Medicine Woman or The Cosby Show?
I suppose another question that kind of gets under my skin a bit is where are all the organized family values action groups in this case? They can go all out of their way condemning very loudly I might add, the outrage and disgust for two people who love each other and want to make a life together who just happen to be the same sex, yet why don't I hear that same level of outcry and condemnation for things like this in this world that go on that they should be directing their attention to for the sanctity of morales and values in this world not just for children but for everyone!
I realize this world is full of drugs and sex and violence and most times we can't do anything about it. It is everywhere, tv, movies, video games, etc... but to me Swingtown crosses the boundaries of anything resembling good taste and it throws all moral values right down the tube. Needless to say I won't be tuning in and this is one show I sincerely hope tanks.
Okay.... enough said.
Have a good week people.
Bear Hugs!
PolarB :)
