I believe I can count today as one of those crazy days you don't want to happen too often in your life. Dallas was hit with incredible thunderstorms, hail, and between 6-12 tornadoes. And when all of this happens in the middle of the day with a full office of people, it makes for quick decisions and executing plans that you have documented (but really never want to execute).
This afternoon, our Business Continuity Manager came to my desk to inform me bad storms were brewing and we needed to meet with the team to determine our course of action. These are the types of meeting where you drop everything and quickly have to make a decision on what is best for the office. As we operate a call center, there were 100's of agents on the phone during that time - and stopping an agent from taking calls can cost money for us and our clients - but keeping our employees safe is also vitally important.
As we the weather forecasts and news reports became more and more clear that we were in the potential path of a tornado, I quickly and calmly walked around the building and asked everyone to move to the interior rooms of the buildings, hallways, and bathrooms. I was impressed on how calm everyone was and how quickly they moved. Within minutes of getting in the room, the tornado sirens started to go off signaling imminent danger. After 10 minutes, reports came back that our area was safe and people returned to work, only to have to repeat the entire exercise 45 minutes later when a second storm cell came through the area.
But as I walked through the building asking people to move to a safe area, I did have several doubters. I had people ask me if "they" really had to obey. I had people challenge me and tell me it wasn't even raining outside so it really couldn't be that bad. I had people who didn't want to leave their office surrounded by windows because they were on a call and it was incovenient. I had people go outside to see for themselves. And I even had a few people get in the car and leave work - and drive right into the storm.
And as I drove back home tonight, all I could think was how this exercise was a reflection of the spiritual world we live in. The signs of the times are all around us, the sirens are going off in every area, sin is rampant and yet, people still choose to not believe. People choose to ignore. People choose to listen to self instead of the authority of God. People choose (and frankly, sometimes, they make stupid choices).
I know I can't cure stupid - and that's not what God calls me to do. He calls me to tell the truth. He tells me to point the way. He tells me to be a light. He tells me to obey. He tells me to tell others. He tells me that even with the sirens going off all around, He has a plan. And I know this, God does call me to choose - I can choose to obey or disobey.
I pray as the sirens of this crazy world are going off around me, I choose to obey.
This afternoon, our Business Continuity Manager came to my desk to inform me bad storms were brewing and we needed to meet with the team to determine our course of action. These are the types of meeting where you drop everything and quickly have to make a decision on what is best for the office. As we operate a call center, there were 100's of agents on the phone during that time - and stopping an agent from taking calls can cost money for us and our clients - but keeping our employees safe is also vitally important.
As we the weather forecasts and news reports became more and more clear that we were in the potential path of a tornado, I quickly and calmly walked around the building and asked everyone to move to the interior rooms of the buildings, hallways, and bathrooms. I was impressed on how calm everyone was and how quickly they moved. Within minutes of getting in the room, the tornado sirens started to go off signaling imminent danger. After 10 minutes, reports came back that our area was safe and people returned to work, only to have to repeat the entire exercise 45 minutes later when a second storm cell came through the area.
But as I walked through the building asking people to move to a safe area, I did have several doubters. I had people ask me if "they" really had to obey. I had people challenge me and tell me it wasn't even raining outside so it really couldn't be that bad. I had people who didn't want to leave their office surrounded by windows because they were on a call and it was incovenient. I had people go outside to see for themselves. And I even had a few people get in the car and leave work - and drive right into the storm.
And as I drove back home tonight, all I could think was how this exercise was a reflection of the spiritual world we live in. The signs of the times are all around us, the sirens are going off in every area, sin is rampant and yet, people still choose to not believe. People choose to ignore. People choose to listen to self instead of the authority of God. People choose (and frankly, sometimes, they make stupid choices).
I know I can't cure stupid - and that's not what God calls me to do. He calls me to tell the truth. He tells me to point the way. He tells me to be a light. He tells me to obey. He tells me to tell others. He tells me that even with the sirens going off all around, He has a plan. And I know this, God does call me to choose - I can choose to obey or disobey.
I pray as the sirens of this crazy world are going off around me, I choose to obey.
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