2007 Overview

Today is the last day of 2007.

For me, this is an exciting day because tomorrow I will no longer be a rookie Real Estate guy anymore! It's hard to believe, but this time last year I had just taken and passed the Real Estate exam on the first try. And I was ready to head off into a new career, not having any idea if I would make it or not or what might lay ahead.

January through February was spent recovering from an ice storm (remember that one???) and taking my post license classes. I also spent time in the office getting to know the other agents, sitting at my desk waiting on the phone to ring (which didn't happen very often at first!), doing floor time (which means being on duty in case a customer comes in), holding open houses in the icy cold winter months for other agents and getting my first listing, which happened to be a trailor at Grand Lake.

As Spring came on, so did changes. I got other listings, sold my first house in Broken Arrow and got real busy, real fast. One thing you sacrifice in the world of Real Estate is time. If you aren't willing to drop everything to go show a house or meet a client, don't go into this business. It can be very demanding.

Now, at the end of the year I can look back and be pretty satisfied with 2007. I had set a goal of selling $1 million this year, which is pretty aggressive for a new agent. I ended up selling $3 million, which, in my opinion, is attributable only to God's hand of blessing in my life. Along the way, I began working part time with a little church in Collinsville. This is a wonderful group of people who love us and support us. Our goal there is to help them to grow to the point where they can hire a full-time guy. As God blesses and gives wisdom there, I know the growth will come (the church already has begun to stabilize and grow!).

Some things that I have learned and/or changes that have happened in my life and family this year include:

>Diane and I pray together each morning prior to leaving to face the day. I'm sorry to say it took me so long to grow to where I could do this with her, but when you have to rely on God because you no longer receive a paycheck every week, you maybe get more willing to knock on heaven's door. At least that is what happened for me. This one thing has drawn us closer together.

>I have struggled with staying in God's Word as much as I used to. No one to blame here other than myself. Either I choose to open the Bible and read something or I don't. However, I think I understand and relate to real people in the real world much better because of this struggle. When I was full time in ministry I had the luxury of sitting in my office day after day and studying the Bible in depth. In the real world pressures, ringing phones, needy clients and other interruptions crowd in.

>I have seen our kids grow and develop throughout this year. Heather is dating a young man who is getting ready to head off to basic training in the Marines. He's a great guy. I like him. She is still working and getting ready to start classes at TCC in January. Chris is a Senior this year and is excited to be wrapping up high school. He's considering going to college once he graduates. Sheldon is a Junior and is still dating Eva. He works at McDonalds and is a student manager now. Each of them have followed us to the little church in Collinsville even though we told them they could attend wherever they wished. It's fun to get to see them involved there.

>Diane is still at the bank. She's just been promoted and will be working at the main branch. She's excited about the opportunity to advance. She continues to blow me away with how she crack the outer hard shell of people. She'll introduce me to people at Wal-Mart who are her clients and I will think to myself, "Wow, I don't think that person and I would ever talk if it was just us in the store." But with her, they are just kind and humble and gentle. This is a real gift that she has. I have to work on that one more.

For us there will be no resolutions for 2008. As I shared with the folks in Collinsville yesterday, resolutions are something that go in one year and out the next. They don't work. So for us we will just continue to trust that God will take care of us and bless us and lead us through another year.

See you around town.

And remember, when you're ready to buy or sell your next house, call the best. Call Bob!

Tulsa Ice Storm December 07

You may have heard about the winter storm encompassing the plains right now. In the last 48 hours, we've had a lot of ice, most of which tends to cling and accumulate on trees. If you'll look closely at the pic on the left, you'll notice that the pine needles are buried deeply within the ice coating. The ice is at least 1/4 inch thick around the needles. This branch fell from my once beautiful pine trees in the front yard.

The picture on the right is a broader shot of the pine trees. After I took this picture the branches up high fell off of the tree. Man, you should hear what that sounds like!

This is what ice can do to an oak tree.

Watch out baby Jesus! The sky is falling!

Wow

I saw this pic on a Google news story about obesity. Is the guy big or is the girl little? I'll let you decide.

The Well

I heard this saying at Diane's Christmas party this weekend.

"Those who drink the water should remember those who dug the well."

I like that...sort of. Let me explain.

I think it is correct in its pure meaning. If we benefit from the work of those in the past, then we should remember those people who went ahead of us. That's good.

On the other hand, the statement has the potential for causing deep ruts.

Having been in church work for many years, I have seen too many congregations get stuck in ruts due to being hung up on tradition and the past. Is there anything wrong with tradition? No. Is there anything wrong with remembering the past? No. But we must be very careful to correctly remember those who dug the wells in our lives in such a way so as not to be kept from moving forward.

I'm not saying we should walk away from those who dug the wells. And I'm not saying we should walk away from what they stood for either. Not at all. What we should do though is to be propelled forwards to build on what they did in ways that are relevant but always based on the same values, morals and principles. Why? Because truth never changes. If you are a spiritual person, you will understand what I am talking about here.

I'm going to use this little saying and these rambling thoughts in a series I'll be presenting at our church in January. Here is the logo for the series.

Application: Are you digging wells that someone else will enjoy someday?

Bob

What I'm Thankful For

It's Thanksgiving season which means it is time to be thankful.

Here are some of the things I am thankful for in no particular order

My salvation
My family
My dogs Teddy and Carmel
My jeep
A great house I live in
Money in the bank (that's always nice!)
Health in our family (for the most part)
Great parents
My sister
Good friends
Two guys named Larry and Earl
The internet (makes my job rock!)
The wonderful people who bought/sold houses with me so far this year (it's been a good year!)
Unconditional love
C.S. Lewis
Rich Mullins
That I was born when I was and not in the current generation (bet my parents said that too!)
My neighbor (who went into a sales job at the same time I did and understands)
That heaven is real, God is good and His love endures forever

Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving

Bob

Summer 07

Someone mentioned to me the other day that it had been a long time since I had blogged.

They were right.

This summer has been a time in my life unlike any other. I have been so busy with Real Estate and the new church that there have been days when it literally has felt like I was riding a super fast spinning merry go round.

I haven't ever had to live life at such a hectic pace before. Church work tends to keep you busy, but not THAT busy!

A couple of observations about the world of Real Estate (from a relatively new agent).

1)You meet lots of really nice people in this business. And you meet lots of very interesting people in this business. The funniest people are the ones who come to open houses and they don't want to talk to you or to let you know their "inner" secrets about their real motivations. You learn to read people like this. And what is so funny is that they're really only hurting themselves. In being all secretative around me (the Real Estate Agent) they're shutting out good converstation, a potential friendship and relationship and my ability to help them accomplish their goals. Lest you think this is a commercial, it isn't. I'm a person first and a Real Estate Agent by job choice. At the end of the day doing business is, of course, the end goal. But getting to know people - even if I can't ultimately help them is the best part of the job. People who hide motives close out that part of being a human being.

2)In this business you also meet some of the goofiest people on the planet. Some of them are buyers and sellers and some of them are other agents. Suffice it to say that the world is just full of...interesting people. I include myself in that!

3)I think the state of our economy has hit everyone. Interestingly enough, what it has done is to cause lots of people to look for easy to cut corners. Folks might be getting rid of their SUV's, but not everyone is. You still see people out eating all the time too. In the world of Real Estate people have decided (at least a lot of people) that they can sell their house themselves and save the real estate commission. In a free market economy I'm okay with that. In fact, I've done it myself (before going into the business). The part that gets to you as an agent is the attitude that goes along with it. People tend to think that we agents are money grubbing, wealthy snobs. Maybe that is an image we have presented. I don't know. What I do know is that I work hard to make a living for my family. I pull a lot of hours and bend over backwards to serve my clients. When I get paid, I believe I have earned my income.

4)My real estate company is a great place to work. I love their vision, leadership and support.

5)Being self employed (outside of the higher taxes you pay) rocks! I love not having to be at an office, under a boss at a certain time every day.

6)Selling houses is fun because you get to see the inside of so many homes. We are such a creative society that you never know what kind of decor you're going to walk into. And then, once my buyer has moved in and made the house their home, it is really fun to see the changes.

So that's my observations from the world of Real Estate so far. It's an interesting career. Not one for everybody, but so far it's good for me!

Bob

Catching Up

Blogging is one of those things for me that comes in waves.

Sometimes it's like I'm driven and I blog and blog and blog. At other times, it is more like I have to drag myself to say something...sometimes to say anything.

There have been many changes in my life over this year. Through this process I have experienced many emotional swings. I knew God was in these changes, but it has been a pretty wild ride. Of course, with God it usually is...at least when it comes to faith and trusting Him.

Let me summarize the year for you.

Moved out of a large church ministry in November 06 somewhat surprisedly. I know now (as I really new then) that it was God but it was still a big change and not one that I had planned in advance necessarily. Details aren't important here as much as is the fact that God had a plan.

Decided to go into Real Estate to make a living so the kids could finish high school in Owasso. Got my license in 3 weeks and began January 2nd. Remember what happened right after that? Major ice storm! God was good though. He brought me business right off the bat and now I've had 8 closings. Pretty good for a first year agent!

Diane and I agreed that, along with Real Estate, I'd help small churches by filling in for them at times. So we went off and began visiting some significant sized churches in and around Tulsa. That was fun. Seeing believers of different faiths worship the same God was really cool. Then about six weeks ago a small church in Collinsville called me up and asked me to fill in for them. I knew at the time (or should I say "sensed") that God was probably going to plop us down with this congregation. And He did.

Now I'm the preacher there. It's a part time gig, but it's been fun to be the guy who sets the vision and leads the service, etc. I meet with the elders (of which I am one - that's a weird change!) each Monday for lunch at the church. We are discussing the vision for the church and are already making plans for how the church is going to grow. I've not always been in a situation where I had an opinion that mattered and now I am. It's nice.

I firmly believe God has a plan for this little church to reach people with His love. And for some reason or other He must think I'm the guy (at least for now) to lead them towards fulfilling His plan. The more I think about that the more I realize the seriousness and gravity of it. It makes me tremble. It also makes me stand back in amazement. God would actually use a common guy to help fulfill His purpose here on the earth? Wow. How cool is that?

So my life right now varies between thinking about selling houses and working with customers and what I'm going to preach on Sunday. Finding illustrations for what I'm speaking about - well that's the easy part!

So watch for a little church in Collinsville to be making some big waves pretty soon.

Bob