I read a Forbes article last week on how to be the one that gets the promotion. While it wasn’t rocket science, I could see how some people might find this as good advice. More interesting to me was the timing. You see, I’ve been praying for opportunities on the job and when the title and link appeared on my homepage I knew it couldn’t be coincidence.
First a little background on my profession. For the past 10 years I’ve worked as a professional fundraiser. To be successful in this business is to be respected, to be honest, and to be trusted. We are driven by a code of ethics and a commitment to both our cause and those that support our cause. To misrepresent the need, to lie to a donor, or to simply not follow a donor’s wishes is unacceptable practice. Particularly in my area of expertise, corporate and foundation relations, unethical behavior is a guaranteed practice that will kill a career.
So then, I approached the Forbes article expecting profound advice on how to be dependable and trustworthy while all the time getting noticed by the boss. Instead I read a series of brief paragraphs on how to thrust yourself into the limelight, to get the attention of the powers that be and, how to manipulate and influence the decisions they make. Suggestions of how to focus attention on your performance versus that of colleagues greatly outnumbered any suggestion to “do the right thing.” It was difficult to visualize any practical application on the job – my job.
Another interesting thing happened last week. I attended the funeral of a very dear brother in Christ. While I don’t recall the specific scripture read, I remember it was from the Thessalonian letter. That evening when I sat down to read, I turned to I Thessalonians and began. In the NIV, chapter 4 begins with the heading, “Living to Please God.” Verses 11 & 12 read, “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody. “
I know the secret to getting ahead in this life! I know that finding the Forbes article was coincidence. I know that God’s response to that article was not.
Bubba
Why Bubba?
Webster defines Bubba as a stereotypical nickname of Southern white males. I believe that stereotypes are in the eye of the beholder. What you think it means is really up to you. For me, there is nothing stereotypical about the name.
For those that don’t know the details, there are six children in the lineup of my family and I am number three. I have two older sisters and was followed by two more girls and one baby brother. I don’t think it was until I had a younger sister that I was called anything but Kerry Wayne. However, the earliest memory I have of someone calling me Bubba was by my sister just older than I, Sherry Lynn.
I had to be four or five years old and it was in the late spring in our hometown of Waurika. Daddy was tilling his garden plot and, I was walking behind him barefooted in the cool Oklahoma dirt trying to step only in the tracks he left with his boots. I don’t remember what she wanted or why she called my name, but I remember she called out Bubba and, I remember she was talking to me.
Some 43 plus years later, she still calls me Bubba. The nieces and nephews call me Bubba or Uncle Bubba. When talking to the children about me, Momma and Daddy even call me Bubba. So you see, Bubba to me is a term of endearment that means big brother, uncle, son – FAMILY. Only one person outside of my immediate family uses this name on a regular basis. I am, however, proud to call her family and it thrills me more than they will ever imagine knowing that their precious little one also knows me as “Uncle Bubba.”
You can call me Bubba if you like. But I can tell in your voice if you are comfortable saying it, and I can tell if it comes from the heart.
Bubba
For those that don’t know the details, there are six children in the lineup of my family and I am number three. I have two older sisters and was followed by two more girls and one baby brother. I don’t think it was until I had a younger sister that I was called anything but Kerry Wayne. However, the earliest memory I have of someone calling me Bubba was by my sister just older than I, Sherry Lynn.
I had to be four or five years old and it was in the late spring in our hometown of Waurika. Daddy was tilling his garden plot and, I was walking behind him barefooted in the cool Oklahoma dirt trying to step only in the tracks he left with his boots. I don’t remember what she wanted or why she called my name, but I remember she called out Bubba and, I remember she was talking to me.
Some 43 plus years later, she still calls me Bubba. The nieces and nephews call me Bubba or Uncle Bubba. When talking to the children about me, Momma and Daddy even call me Bubba. So you see, Bubba to me is a term of endearment that means big brother, uncle, son – FAMILY. Only one person outside of my immediate family uses this name on a regular basis. I am, however, proud to call her family and it thrills me more than they will ever imagine knowing that their precious little one also knows me as “Uncle Bubba.”
You can call me Bubba if you like. But I can tell in your voice if you are comfortable saying it, and I can tell if it comes from the heart.
Bubba
Welcome to my blog!
With friends and colleagues blogging, I suppose it was only a matter of time before curiosity would get the best of me and I would become a blogger, too. Like many of you, I suspect I will find this as a way of communicating with people I don’t get to see on a regular basis. Perhaps it will be an opportunity share ideas and happenings. But be forewarned, I do like to write and I do have an opinion. It’s bound to come out sooner or later. With that being said, welcome to my blog.
