Think About It --- Reflection and Anticipation

Resources Think About It --- Reflection and Anticipation
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Faith Based Security NetworkFaith Based Security Network

Dec 28, 2024

The Christmas / New Year’s season is my favorite time of year as I’m sure it is for many. For me it’s because of the dual elements of appreciative reflection of the past and positive anticipation of the future.

If we lose either of those elements in our spirit it would signal trouble in our character.

The appreciative reflection is predominantly because it is this season (like Easter) in which we are reminded of the past that matters most. Regardless of what we may or may not have accomplished or encountered in the prior year, we know what is truly important and relevant.

Christ Himself is central to all we are or aspire to be.

While grounded in appreciative reflection of the eternal, I also consider the temporal.

Due to health issues (I had both knees replaced in September), 2024 was a year I fell behind on the farm. There’s now fences to mend, gates to fix, fallen trees to cut up and century old farm buildings that received no maintenance in 2024. The tractor needs a new starter, and the road needs graded.

However, it was the best year ever for the Faith Based Security Network, which has become my life’s mission. August 1^st, 2024 marked the start of our 9^th year of business. Due in part to the lack of physical activity in 2024, I focused more on the ministry. The FBSN experienced a year of fiscal and mission stability that sets us up for a successful future. The best part being how others stepped into action to confirm it’s bigger than, and increasingly independent of, me.

That brings me to the joy of anticipation. Each year of life has been better than the year before. There have been ups & downs, but the general momentum is unmistakably upward and positive.

This coming year should be a great year for the FBSN, with many events being scheduled and new programs being launched. I should get some fences, buildings and equipment repaired too.

I hope you too will see each year even better than the past one.

Think About it,

Your effectiveness as a security operator (or spouse, or parent, or friend) is due to your attitude and demeanor.

As you turn the page from 2024 to 2025, focus more on appreciative reflections of the recent and positive anticipation of the soon. Your job will be easier.

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Think About it -- Remembering Ron Allen

Death never comes at a good time. This last week, FBSN board member Ron Allen (Troy, Michigan) finished his race and went home. Ron was one of the best men I’ve ever known. I was reminded of something Ron wrote to our Board in 2023. It follows, as written by him. GOD'S CALL TO LEADERS. Morning Prayer Notes 8.24.2023. Ron Allen God will never call us to a work that we can fulfill in our own strength. It will always be bigger than we are. That forces us to rely on Him. When God puts people around us to help fulfill the vision that He has given, if we use them, God gets glory. If we don't use them, that means we don't trust God to fulfill His vision. (ownership of the vision then transfers to us and I don’t want to own God vision). Remember, Its God's vision, not ours. He may have given it to us to carry, shepherd and lead, but it's His vision. God will send resources / people to fulfill His vision. If we are uncomfortable using the resources He has sent, (“no, let me do that”) we limit what God can do with His own work. Our job as leaders, as people who are called by God to lead; Pray that God sends laborers and let them labor when they arrive. Love them and lead them in a godly manner. Teach them what God has taught you. Show them the vision so they can run with the portion God has given them. Trust that God will speak to them and give vision for their area of the work. Give them the latitude to hear from God and go with God, (while we are watching to encourage and correct) Discern when the enemy sends wolves to disrupt the work that God has called us to do. Clear out the wolves and get back to doing the work God has called us to do. If the wolves have inflicted wounds, believe God to heal the wounds and move on. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire without the smell of smoke (don’t let wounds linger) Think About it We are called into a work that none of us can complete or even perform well on our own. Ron Allen provided the guide for handling that work.

Lessons From the Farm (No. 1)

Having moved back to farm country (from where I continue to manage the Faith Based Security Network), there is also the reality of needed work to be done on the farm. Fortunately, there is not (yet) any cropland; the daily duties are centered around making sure the small cow herd is healthy and accounted for. It is rare that I can’t think of the applicability of some farm action to the realm of effective security operations. Such was the case this week when a neighbor called to see if I could help him out. Helping is just part of common rural hospitality. It’s called “neighboring.” When someone’s ox is in the ditch, you go help them. He owns no oxen, but he did have a few hundred acres of corn to get harvested in a narrow window of time. He needed to keep 3 semis continuously filled as drivers ran the harvested corn to the granaries. He had a 12-row combine working nonstop cutting the corn. The missing link was a man on a tractor to catch the freshly harvested corn out of the combine into a 750 bushel mobile grain cart, then transport that corn to the waiting semis. The inset picture shows the operation and equipment well. He set aside an hour to have one of his workers train me on the tractor and the mobile grain cart. After that I was all alone in a John Deere 8400, 4-wheel drive row-crop tractor. This wasn’t like driving Dad’s old 2-cylinder John Deeres 50 years ago. This $300,000 monster had a computerized cab more like a cockpit. At 30,000 pounds and 225 horsepower, it was bigger, more powerful and more expensive than any machine I’d ever operated. One hour of training. Think About it The great late Jeff Cooper said, “Owning a handgun doesn't make you armed any more than owning a guitar makes you a musician” (another version quoted him as, “Owning a pistol doesn't make you a pistoleer any more than owning a piano makes you a pianist”). A few hours operating powerful machinery doesn’t make one a farmer either. Is your training commensurate with the tools and the needed actions? How much is a life worth? If you think an hour might be a little light for training on a monster tractor, how much is too light for your tools of protecting life?