Sam Weaver
"Play it again, Sam"....I'm back!
By Sam Weaver
Late in the summer of 1988, just over two weeks before I was to begin my junior year at the University of North Texas (UNT) and a couple of months after completing my stint in the US Army, I got a call from an old friend. I had met him through a mutual friend shortly before I joined the Army, and had lost contact with him since then. He phoned to ask me to help him out of a jam. He was part of a small business that needed some help to fill its first big order.
I explained to my friend that I was scheduled to begin school in about two weeks. "That's okay," he said, "two weeks is all we need right now." It was early August in Texas. I arrived for duty and found myself in a tiny room at the back of a non air-conditioned furniture warehouse. The office desk was a door laid across two stacks of old tires. "This is going to be fun," I thought to myself. Actually, it was much more fun than I ever imagined. I met some really great people and I felt a sense of accomplishment during those two weeks that I had seldom experienced before.
After completing my junior year at UNT, I needed a summer job. I went back to that hot, tiny office to ask for three months of employment. I was re-hired on the spot, almost before I even noticed the real desk.
Within five weeks after I was re-hired in the late spring of 1989, we moved up the road to a large, state-of-the-art, climate-controlled facility. Since then, we have more than tripled the size of that facility. Since then, we have become a (if not, perhaps the) world leader in the production of quality rubber and metal hose assemblies for the petroleum, chemical and cryogenic industries.
Within three months after I was re-hired, I was promoted to an office job — not because I was the most qualified among the employees; I was the only sucker willing to accept it! [I never completed my senior year of college. God had made me a part of something big and uniquely American. My instincts — or was it God's Holy Spirit? — told me so!] At that time, we were so small that my job title was not defined, but my duties included shipping & receiving, inside sales, purchasing and quality control. Today, my official job title is "traffic manager."
As traffic manager, I am responsible for every raw material that comes in — verifying all inbound shipments physically and recording them all electronically. I am also responsible for ensuring that every finished good reaches its ultimate destination exactly as the customer expects it; and for verifying — both physically and electronically — that every component of each finished good is removed from inventory. And this still does not really come close to covering all of my many duties and responsibilities.
Thanks to our hard-working sales crew, a network of representatives (including a very good international rep), a new president, a very dedicated production crew and a shared commitment to excellence and quality among all of them, our company with about forty employees achieved the milestone of more than $1,000,000.00 in sales for the month of October, 2007. Since February of last year (2007), we have broken if not shattered monthly sales records in every month except one.
A growing percentage of our sales is exports. As traffic manager, this keeps me very busy. The amount of paperwork, bureaucratic red-tape and attention-to-detail that is required for every export shipment is mind-boggling. From February to July of 2007, my average workday was about 14 or 15 hours. From August through November, it was about 17 or 18 hours.
I am not complaining and I'm not overworked! If I thought that I were being mistreated or slavishly overworked, then I would quit and either find another job or continue my education and get an advanced degree. After much thought and prayer recently, I strongly believe that I am where God wants me to be at this time in my life. I know that I am where I want to be.
A few of my most faithful readers — some of you who correspond with me via email — know that things were different a few short months ago. I questioned whether my hard work and long hours were keeping me from using the talent and the passion that I have for writing to achieve God's Will for my life. I asked you for your prayers. I thank you all for those prayers! And I thank God for answering them!
Renew America is a powerful and influential website. I know this because I have not submitted a new column in more than a year, yet I still receive responses to columns published on Renew America at the rate of about one every two weeks. [Six months ago, it was much more than that!] Many times, I have considered publishing email exchanges — or excerpts thereof — as new columns. Much, if not even most, of my very little spare time these days is spent corresponding with readers. And there have been quite a few profound exchanges over the years!
December through March is traditionally our company's slow period. Based on two very profound questions asked by two different readers late last year, I had hoped to submit a new column four or five months ago. And I have a great deal that I would like to say about subjects ranging from the current political campaigns to a possible new direction in my search for Truth!
Despite gloom-and-doom economic news in the media, our company hasn't slowed down a bit. December, January and February were all record-shattering months! Had we not slowed down just a tad in the last week of last month, March '08 would have been our second million-dollar month. Still, we destroyed the old record for monthly sales in March.
The growth and success of our company has very little to do with top-down leadership. The key to our success and prosperity is this: a strong sense of rugged individualism, a powerful understanding of personal responsibility and accountability, and an undeniable commitment to quality and excellence shared by virtually every single one of our superb employees. I am absolutely convinced of this! You will not find a better representation of the United States of America no matter how hard you look!
The Purpose of this Message
I am writing this piece to ensure those who care (but have not kept in touch) that I am still alive and kicking. I am part of a small community that has world-wide influence. My duties and responsibilities within that small community leave me with very little "spare" time. I am doing God's work by providing a service to my fellow man. I am a humble witness to God's Truth and Love for my coworkers and associates. And I am using the talent for writing that God has given me to minister to — and to learn from — those who write to me via email as a result of my Internet columns. I am also continuing my quest for Truth because I learn so much from my precious readers — both pro and con.
I am also writing this article to set up my next one. God willing, I will have time in the next month or so to address the excellent and important questions of a young student from China and a minister/politician from the good old USA.
© Sam Weaver
Late in the summer of 1988, just over two weeks before I was to begin my junior year at the University of North Texas (UNT) and a couple of months after completing my stint in the US Army, I got a call from an old friend. I had met him through a mutual friend shortly before I joined the Army, and had lost contact with him since then. He phoned to ask me to help him out of a jam. He was part of a small business that needed some help to fill its first big order.
I explained to my friend that I was scheduled to begin school in about two weeks. "That's okay," he said, "two weeks is all we need right now." It was early August in Texas. I arrived for duty and found myself in a tiny room at the back of a non air-conditioned furniture warehouse. The office desk was a door laid across two stacks of old tires. "This is going to be fun," I thought to myself. Actually, it was much more fun than I ever imagined. I met some really great people and I felt a sense of accomplishment during those two weeks that I had seldom experienced before.
After completing my junior year at UNT, I needed a summer job. I went back to that hot, tiny office to ask for three months of employment. I was re-hired on the spot, almost before I even noticed the real desk.
Within five weeks after I was re-hired in the late spring of 1989, we moved up the road to a large, state-of-the-art, climate-controlled facility. Since then, we have more than tripled the size of that facility. Since then, we have become a (if not, perhaps the) world leader in the production of quality rubber and metal hose assemblies for the petroleum, chemical and cryogenic industries.
Within three months after I was re-hired, I was promoted to an office job — not because I was the most qualified among the employees; I was the only sucker willing to accept it! [I never completed my senior year of college. God had made me a part of something big and uniquely American. My instincts — or was it God's Holy Spirit? — told me so!] At that time, we were so small that my job title was not defined, but my duties included shipping & receiving, inside sales, purchasing and quality control. Today, my official job title is "traffic manager."
As traffic manager, I am responsible for every raw material that comes in — verifying all inbound shipments physically and recording them all electronically. I am also responsible for ensuring that every finished good reaches its ultimate destination exactly as the customer expects it; and for verifying — both physically and electronically — that every component of each finished good is removed from inventory. And this still does not really come close to covering all of my many duties and responsibilities.
Thanks to our hard-working sales crew, a network of representatives (including a very good international rep), a new president, a very dedicated production crew and a shared commitment to excellence and quality among all of them, our company with about forty employees achieved the milestone of more than $1,000,000.00 in sales for the month of October, 2007. Since February of last year (2007), we have broken if not shattered monthly sales records in every month except one.
A growing percentage of our sales is exports. As traffic manager, this keeps me very busy. The amount of paperwork, bureaucratic red-tape and attention-to-detail that is required for every export shipment is mind-boggling. From February to July of 2007, my average workday was about 14 or 15 hours. From August through November, it was about 17 or 18 hours.
I am not complaining and I'm not overworked! If I thought that I were being mistreated or slavishly overworked, then I would quit and either find another job or continue my education and get an advanced degree. After much thought and prayer recently, I strongly believe that I am where God wants me to be at this time in my life. I know that I am where I want to be.
A few of my most faithful readers — some of you who correspond with me via email — know that things were different a few short months ago. I questioned whether my hard work and long hours were keeping me from using the talent and the passion that I have for writing to achieve God's Will for my life. I asked you for your prayers. I thank you all for those prayers! And I thank God for answering them!
Renew America is a powerful and influential website. I know this because I have not submitted a new column in more than a year, yet I still receive responses to columns published on Renew America at the rate of about one every two weeks. [Six months ago, it was much more than that!] Many times, I have considered publishing email exchanges — or excerpts thereof — as new columns. Much, if not even most, of my very little spare time these days is spent corresponding with readers. And there have been quite a few profound exchanges over the years!
December through March is traditionally our company's slow period. Based on two very profound questions asked by two different readers late last year, I had hoped to submit a new column four or five months ago. And I have a great deal that I would like to say about subjects ranging from the current political campaigns to a possible new direction in my search for Truth!
Despite gloom-and-doom economic news in the media, our company hasn't slowed down a bit. December, January and February were all record-shattering months! Had we not slowed down just a tad in the last week of last month, March '08 would have been our second million-dollar month. Still, we destroyed the old record for monthly sales in March.
The growth and success of our company has very little to do with top-down leadership. The key to our success and prosperity is this: a strong sense of rugged individualism, a powerful understanding of personal responsibility and accountability, and an undeniable commitment to quality and excellence shared by virtually every single one of our superb employees. I am absolutely convinced of this! You will not find a better representation of the United States of America no matter how hard you look!
The Purpose of this Message
I am writing this piece to ensure those who care (but have not kept in touch) that I am still alive and kicking. I am part of a small community that has world-wide influence. My duties and responsibilities within that small community leave me with very little "spare" time. I am doing God's work by providing a service to my fellow man. I am a humble witness to God's Truth and Love for my coworkers and associates. And I am using the talent for writing that God has given me to minister to — and to learn from — those who write to me via email as a result of my Internet columns. I am also continuing my quest for Truth because I learn so much from my precious readers — both pro and con.
I am also writing this article to set up my next one. God willing, I will have time in the next month or so to address the excellent and important questions of a young student from China and a minister/politician from the good old USA.
© Sam Weaver
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
