It is my understanding that there is nothing against the law about this agreement.  If an employee doesn’t willingly agree to this…they may not be hired; or if they’ve already been hired and refuse to sign this agreement, they can be fired or scheduled for work so little, that an employee is compelled to start looking for a new job.

I don’t know about you, but this doesn’t sit right with me.  I understand that many businesses are now 24 hours a day, seven days a week in their operations.  However, what is wrong with hiring & regularly scheduling a staff to work those separate shifts?  If someone is willing to be a floater, meaning working any shift as needed, then I see nothing wrong with that.  On the other hand, forcing employees to be available at any time, or basically being on call, to come into work, just doesn’t seem fair nor does it seem like a good way to keep up company morale.

I mean think about it, people have lives outside of their work environment.  Those employees often have other responsibilities outside of their jobs; such as those towards a spouse, a parent or maybe even to children.  I am thinking off of the top of my head here; but, how many child care places are going to be as flexible as an employee needs if they are obligated to work at all hours of the day or night?

Many baby boomers are what they call the sandwich generation meaning they are taking care of their parents while they are at the same time working and raising their own children.  Schedules have to be somewhat co-ordinated with a spouse or significant other to meet all of those requirements.  I wonder too about people who have more than one job.  Many people can’t earn enough money to support themselves & their families one the income from a job, especially if it is part time.  How could they agree to come in at any time if they are holding a second job…having a concrete schedule is the only way to balance two jobs.  Also what about college students who are trying to get an education as well as work to pay for that education; how are they to be expected to come into work at any given moment when they must be in class on a set schedule?  These issues impact a lot of people.  It is important to the quality of life that people need to enjoy life.

I read about one employee who was asked to sign one of these agreements.   She had a personal conflict regarding her religious beliefs.  The young woman expressed concerns about possibly being forced to work on a Sunday; when she felt very strongly that Sunday was supposed to be a day of rest according to scripture in the Bible.  Once the media became aware of this woman’s conflict about signing the agreement… she was allegedly told by her employer that she would not be required to sign it.  She was worried that if she signed it she would find herself in the position of having to choose between her job and her faith or possibly loose her job altogether if she refused to sign it.  I wonder how that particular company will enforce this worker agreement with other employees if they allow some to sign it and others to refuse?  It gets complicated in my opinion.

What are your thoughts on this subject?  Is this an abuse of power?   Should employers get dibs on an employees time twenty four hours a day, seven days a week?  Who should have priority over decision making regarding the employees time…an employer, family members or the employee themselves?

For the town in Michigan known as Belding, saving time is critical for their self image.  You see, Belding, Michigan got its very name by honoring the Belding family; they built a business with their silk mills and thereby, provided a way of life for those who chose to live along the banks of the river.  These days, there is not much use for the structures except for its very image; which many use in their letterheads or in their desire for buying or selling collectibles.  This historic structure needs some upkeep done soon to preserve not only it’s history; but, to carry it into the next generation.

Many people are unaware that Electrolux recently repurchased the existing buildings with the intention of tearing down the remaining silk mill buildings, as well as the clock tower.  This is heartbreaking for those past and present residents of Belding.  Removing the buildings would not only change the face of the small town; but, it would create a hole in the patchwork of historical buildings of the area and diminish the importance of the contribution that the Belding brothers brought to the area.  The brothers created a rich legacy through their silk mill operation and through their contributions to the town known as Belding today.

How does one go about determining the value of preserving history and its impact on the future?  I mean, think about it…everyone values these things differently.  However, when there is a rising up of a collective outcry from not only residents of the community but those in surrounding areas; one would think that some kind of effort could be made by a corporation as large and industrious as Electrolux.  They are a corporation that prides itself on sustainability.

My online dictionary says this about sustainability:

             If you are blessed…give thanks to God above…and do what he calls us to do; Deuteronomy 15 vs 11 says “There will always be poor people in the land.  Therefore, I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor & needy in your land”.    People who struggle financially do so for a variety of reasons…many of them are not at fault for their situation.  Don’t judge.  If you are blessed and have enough, or more than enough….you must respond to your hearts prompting.  Give…give generously and without strings.  Do it with sensitivity and in such a way as to honor their dignity.  It is hard to accept help from others.

          You can give money, you can give time, you can give produce…you can give your skills, knowledge or talent to improve the situation of others.  Did you know that many children are getting fed at school because they have so little at home?  They are on food programs at school…but what about weekends?  There is no school on weekends…are those children getting enough to eat during that time?  Many are not.  Feeding America, formerly known as Second Harvest, has a program that provides backpacks of food for children on weekends.  For every $1 donated…it provides $14 worth of food.  http://bit.ly/2YzhwU

            The children aren’t the only ones going without the basic healthy items they need to eat a well balanced diet.  Families are spread all over the country.  Many don’t live near their elderly parents and therefore, they don’t know their true financial situations.   Pride keeps many elderly people from sharing their difficulties.  They would rather go without than share with others the fact that they do not have enough to eat.  This is unacceptable in America where we have the means to feed our children, our poor and our elderly members of society; if we all do our part to fill the gap.

            Talk to your local food bank or Commision on Aging about helping out the elderly in your community.  If you have enough to eat, why shouldn’t they?  There is always a need.   You can help fill it…making a positive impact on those around you.  What does your heart tell you to do?  Please support and donate to these organization to uplift people.  You just never know how this will impact their lives or your own! Thanks! 

       Recent weeks have seen green beans, green peppers, tomatoes, parsley, zucchini, peaches, blueberries, blackberries, pears, currants, raspberries, squash, and a slew of other items, come to maturity.   Tomorrow we will be picking apples to be turned into a variety of treats such as apple pies, and applesauce.   Yesterday, we picked 70 lbs of purple grapes.  I have washed, crushed, strained and canned grape juice and even canned some of the grapes into jelly.  The smell as the grapes heat throughly and are processed is amazing.  So much work though ….it is a bit frustrating to think about how fast this will disappear.  On the other hand, it is joyful to teach my children and watch them learn to appreciate all that goes into capturing the produce and knowing that it is something that they can do in the future for their families.

        I have to admit, it is both amusing and annoying to hear them react to the natural trespassers on the produce.  They didn’t like the bugs on the plants or hidden in the baskets of the items as they came into the house to get cleaned before being used.  I was reminded how spoiled American children are when it comes to understanding how food is planted, harvested and preserved for families across the nation.  Are all children this naive about how food ends up on their table?

       My son is probably the most involved in the process here at home.  He helped me plant the seeds, he has helped weed, fertilize, and rototill the garden and helped to harvest it as well as preserve it.  Out of all of my children…he will have the best practical knowledge of the gift of growing your own food and putting it on the table.  It is not only useful information…it may be a necessity someday!  I am thankful that I grew up in a home where we knew how to grow what we needed as a family and more importantly knew what to do with it when it was in season and ready to be preserved.  Do you freeze, can or dry any food items for your family?  When did you learn how it was done…who taught you?

I think when people are being honest with themselves…through word, thought or action…they know when they are operating with integrity, either in their personal or business relationships.  There is no regret, no shame or guilt, no need to stretch the truth or exaggerate a situation, no need for lies…no need to over-hype how something is presented when someone is operating with a responsible personal integrity.    People who choose to operate without integrity know it in their hearts.  They don’t feel good about their thoughts, their words, or their actions when they make choices that violate their own standards of integrity.  It may manifest itself in feelings of shame or regret, or with a general sense of feeling unworthy of accolades/rewards or, even financial success; it is possible that they will have unexplained health problems.

Inner conflict happens when we are at odds with our understanding of what is right and what is wrong.  Most of us have a keen sense of what is right and what is wrong in how others treat us, correct?  I know I do.  Even young children have a strong sense of justice/injustice; they are quick to point out when something is not fair or right.

So, my question is…do we present integrity in our relationships in the same way that we expect others to show us integrity of high value?

I have been reading a book discussing people and their internal conflict about what they should do with their time on earth; as far as, a job or a purpose in life.  One particular story troubled me.  It was about a man who lived in a financially depressed area of the world.  He had difficulty finding and maintaining a job.  He took a job with a casino.  At first, he was just a little uncomfortable with the idea of it…gambling.  As he worked and collected his pay check…he became desensitized to the environment that encouraged people to bet/gamble money that they didn’t really have to waste.  He comforted himself with the idea that there were no other jobs where he lived so he continued working there.

As time went on, he faced his inner conflict about the integrity of working for a place that disregarded the fact that gambling went against what he believed to be ok; until he heard his co-workers making fun of an elderly man who was weeping at one of the gaming tables, having lost thousands of dollars that he did not have to lose.  He was disqusted with them and told them to stop making fun of this man and his tears of desperation.  They then chose to make fun of him.  Rather than stand up for what he believed, he ran away…doing nothing, changing nothing.  He went to a spiritual counselor, (a poor one in my opinion), who told him not to make any rash decisons, basically, to just hang in there until something different came along.  Now this man was telling his spiritual advisor that he didn’t feel like he deserved God’s love or anyone else’s love either; he was wounding himself by not acting on his personal sense of integrity.  Was the spiritual advisor acting with personal/spiritual integrity?  I don’t think so personally.

Some time passed and the man became ill and went to his doctor…the doctor correctly told him he was depressed and prescribed a pill.  Instead of sending the man to a counselor/therapist…he gave him a pill.  Was the doctor acting with integrity…maybe/maybe not.  Maybe we don’t have all of the facts here…maybe he prescribed him the pill and requested he seek counseling; I dont know.  If not…should he have done so to fulfill his personal/professional integrity?  In my opinion, yes, he should have sought the source of the man’s depression…not just treat the symptoms with a pill.

What would options look like, to someone in this working man’s position?  Stay in the job and hate what you do…and possibly yourself, for what you are doing to earn a living when it goes against your personal beliefs?  Quit the job and hope another one comes along?  Stay in the job; but, actively look for new employment?  Leave the area and find a job in another environment that is more in line with his sense of personal integrity; one that honors what he believes to be true and right? Commute back and forth for an hour or more a day to an area where jobs were more plentiful? Maybe work online to provide financial income for himself?  What would be the choice that would fulfill his need for income as well as allow him to honor his beliefs about what is right and wrong?

It could very well be the choice that causes him to sacrifice his personal comfort zone…leading him to leave his home area and move to an area where his choices for jobs were not limited to something that violated his sense of  right and wrong.  Or, put extra burdeon on his time by requiring him to commute, back and forth, each day to get employment that he could live happily with.   He could have chosen to work at home on the computer…or gone to school to increase his ability to get hired by learning new skills.  Only this man knows what would have worked best for him and his physical and spiritual well-being.

What did this man do?  He stayed working where he felt it was wrong to work and took his pill to make it acceptable to himself.  Was that employing the best level of integrity that he possessed?  Or did it just allow him to numb himself to the inner voice that was encouraging him to make changes that would allow him to take pride in what he did for a living?

There is nothing sadder than a person who knows to do right and chooses to do wrong because you know that it is not only harming himself/herself; but, possibly others as well.  Every choice we make or avoid affects other people.  Scripture gives us all kinds of instruction on this area of life.  Isaiah 1:17 says, Stop doing wrong, learn to do right, seek justice, encourage the oppressed, defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.   Exodus 23: 2 says, Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong.  When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd.  Making decisions in our lives is important because those decisions affect how we see ourselves and our place in the world; if we want to live with peace in our hearts and minds we must make those decisions that uphold who we are based on our own personal integrity; no matter how difficult those decisions may seem at the time.

         What don’t YOU know, that you can learn to use to make an impact to change a situation that needs changed, at this moment in time?   Let’s both get busy learning so that we can use what we learn to positively change a situation that needs changing today!  It is a great big world out there…someone has a situation that needs changing and you could help by being the catalyst that makes it happen.  Volunteer, take a class, write about what you learn, educate someone,  open your eyes, hear and listen to what is going on around you…choose to take action in a positive way to make a difference today.   Come back and tell me all about it!

On a personal level…we all have such moments such as the death of a loved one, a divorce, an experience of violence, maybe a long anticipated birth, a reunion of relationship thought forever lost to us, an accident, a buried memory that has suddenly come to the surface; these all can be classified in our minds as, a before and after moment.  It is a moment when time is frozen and we acknowledge that our lives will never be the same; for better or worse.

As a society, when something like the space shuttle Challenger explodes, or a President (John F. Kennedy) is assignated, an icon dies in a shocking way, war breaks out, a huge natural or man made disaster happens to a community, or terrorism like 911 comes knocking down the door of the innocent with brutal strength and power; it devastates not only the morale of an individual; it attacks the personal concept of safety and innocence of not only a nation; but, it has the ability to impact the world.  We once again have a moment in time that is frozen into a before and an after 911.  We are never the same in the after moments, as we were in the before.

We observe it,  acknowledge it, we grieve it, we resent it, we write about it, and we cope with it.  The experience is never to be forgotten and nor are those who have been intimately affected by the loss of life, of the loss of a future with those that they love…nor the impact of losing those innocent people who just happened to be in the very center of a destructive decision, made by those who have been indoctrinated by hate and a desire to control the fate of others.  We must learn from these moments…we must somehow bridge the gap of hatred so that every person’s humaness can be seen, appreciated, respected and valued, as we value our own.   These frozen moments in time must not freeze our hearts and minds…or the enemy wins!

       I love Twitter because it is immediate.  It is the thought process and relationship equivillant of instant gratification.  That is pretty addictive for most people.  On the other hand, blogging is the process by which a thought, a statement or an idea is presented in a deep and meaningful way.   It is the vehicle through which a post can be fleshed out.

         I like to think of it this way, Twitter is verbal shorthand.  It is clear, concise, direct and immediate.  Who doesn’t love that when time is short and people want to connect to others and not feel isolated in the midst of their day.  Blogging is more like a novel or  a streaming consciousness.  It is a full on conversational connection; if comments are encouraged, embraced and followed up on.

Or for those of you who are more visual; think on this:

        Twitter is like fast food and blogging is more like an all you can eat buffet.  Both are tasty, both meet the need and both have their fans.  But, when you combine them…you get a fullness of good food, tastiness, and service.  Both have their place and serve their purpose. 

         Twitter doesn’t have to replace blogging just because time is short and people have limited attention spans.  After all, there will be down time eventually for longer reads if they are temporarily short on time.  Blogging (or reading blogs) isn’t always possible because of demands on a person’s time.  However, Twitter can be a blogger’s best friend by simply being an immediate word of mouth referral (or an advertising)…an introduction of sorts.  It is like being invited to a party where you know no-one.  Then, the host of the party (Twitter) introduces you to people who share the same interests as you, have connections that will bless you; and maybe, just maybe, you will discover that your blog and some of Twitter’s referrals have mutual friends that you both know and love.  That also works in reverse…your Twitter stream can be enriched by the readers of your blog.  Don’t you just love it???

         Have you ever read a book that was boring, or seemed to have no direction or purpose?  Some people live their life that way.  Often, people will reach a point in their life when what they value most is threatened or is lost to them.  It is only then that they understand why they value what they do…and what they were supposed to do with the gifts that they were blessed with.  For others, it is the trying times in their life that seems to highlight some sort of  life lessons that they were meant to teach, inspire or encourage others with. 

          My pastor says that there is a difference between purpose and assignments.  He says that we are trusted with many assignments; and, that they are in alignment with our pupose in life but, that we only have one true purpose.  What do you think your life story is?  What are you supposed to accomplish?  Do you think it would benefit anyone to read your life story if you were to write it?  What would it say…what would you wish to communicate to others if you had the opportunity?

          Some people get overbooked because they are so willing to work and offer their time, simply because that is who they are.  However, because not everyone is built the same way…there is always need…much of it is legitimate and can improve the lives of others.  However, remember some people will take advantage of your generous nature if you don’t respect yourself and set clear boundaries.  

           If you often find yourself as the go to person, when it is costing you high stress or anxiety because you must shuffle your own load to meet other people’s expectations then you must examine whether you have set clear and appropriate boundaries in your life with others, that allows you to be the most productive, the most effective person that you can be in accomplishing your own purpose each and every day.   On this blog, I did a post yesterday on setting boundaries…you may want to check it out if this is an area of difficulty for you.  If you compromise yourself too much it will cause you harm.

         Life isn’t like a cell phone plan…you can’t run out and buy more minutes when you have over-extended your time limits.  It is helpful to remember…that time is limited.  None of us are promised a set amount of time.  You must put your time and energy where it can do the most good; and, give it willingly in areas that are the most important to you. 

        Finding joy and satisfaction in helping others is great; as long as it doesn’t start to take you away from your own purpose in life…we all have things that we are supposed to accomplish while we are here.  It would become easy to get bogged down in other people expectations and demands  and discover later that you are filled with bitterness, anger, frustration, guilt or anxiety because you just can’t do and be all for everyone all of the time.  Do a self-evaluation each and every day to discover what is of the highest priority and do those things; if there is enough time to do “extra” things than fit them in accordingly…or scatter them throughout the week or month.  You can then feel excitement and joy at achieving your goals AND helping others by volunteering and being a blessing in the lives of others…because it won’t feel like you are guilted into it or backed into a corner.   With this mindset, you are giving and volunteering because you want to…that, is giving from the right place in your heart and mind.

       You only have one life…how are you spending your time?