Exalt ones self

Proverbs 25:6-7

“Do not put yourself forward in the king's presence or stand in the place of the great, for it is better to be told, “Come up here,” than to be put lower in the presence of a noble.”

Jan and I did not attend any high school reunions until my 25^th, and it was a shock, people change, some had changed wives, others had changed husbands, and others did not have hair, and some of those cute little girls were not so little, and many of the guys had gained a few pounds.  Now if I had looked in the mirror, I might have seen a few changes in myself, and for one of the first times in my life, I was thankful for the picture buttons from High School they had given each person as we came through the door.

We looked for the few faces we might know, and I recall seeing Jerry Wheatley who was best man in our wedding.  Then I begin to see people who looked like they had not changed any, like Butch, Billy, Gail, James Roy, and Nancy. 

I will always recall sitting at one of the back tables and as others began to sit Jerry came back to our table and said, you and Jan are at the wrong table, but because there were no name tags on the table I wondered what he was talking about?  He said you are supposed to be sitting up front with the group you ran around with in school. 

 I was a little embarrassed, but pride soon replaced that and I was once more back with the in-group of my high school days.  But as I reflect on that, I did feel honored, but I also have realized how many beautiful people I missed seeing by wanting to be with the kids who were popular.   I was more of a groupie, far from being popular and was included because people like Jerry and James Roy liked to do some of the same things as I.

Years later I was also asked to give a talk at a national sales conference for my division, the person introducing me was one of my bosses and Kim knew that many in middle management did not want me to speak.  So Kim who is a great guy and I can say for sure the best person I worked for, and I worked for some very good ones that gave a defense of my career then introduced me.  It was very uncomfortable to follow that so-called introduction, but I was not nervous.

I had asked the Lord to speak through me, and He did, it was a compelling talk, and I used it to encourage a room full of young men and women and shared the many pitfalls of my own making and talked about how excellent Company 3M is to work for. 

In that, I was the last speaker of the night, the ones who came with an opinion of ill will went to the bar with the same attitude, but a few of those who were open to listening came and shared how needed that talk was and how much they would miss me.  I went back to the 3M Center ten years later, and only a hand full of people who knew me were there, and most did not know who I was and could care less.  That was very humbling, and guess what, they are doing great without me!

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice