Sunday, July 1, 2007

Finally, Heather's other half posts on the blog!!!

(A note from Heather's husband ... Sean)


Those of you who know me know that living in Dallas/Fort Worth area was a really rough time for me.

Career wise, I went from a place where I was revered to a place where people really didn’t care about my skill set. They didn’t care how talented I was. I either didn’t fit in the Good Ole’ Boy system or some people really didn’t care about quality and just wanted the cheapest entertainment that they could get. The market there hard been ravished by low quality entertainment that though because they could make a balloon dog, they were professional entertainers

Church wise, I went from someone who was respected and even a deacon in my church to someone who people didn’t look at because my job wasn’t as important as theirs. It was a real shock to me to live in a culture where people thought that your job and what you had mattered more than your character. To have this type of attitude in the church was particularly deplorable.

Most of all, I was away from the people that I loved. I was away from the people who really cared about me in that true agape sense.

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Do you remember the show, “Everybody Loves Raymond”? I remember the one show when Raymond’s brother, Robert, got married. There were some things that went terribly wrong at the wedding. At the reception, there was an air of discomfort because of what had gone wrong. And Raymond has to give a toast with this whole family circus going on.

When Raymond starts to tell Robert of how he’ll one day think of his wedding day, Raymond looks over at the video camera and is inspired. Raymond talks of how life is like video camera editing. We don’t always remember the bad things that happen. As we move farther away from the time that we experienced, our brain has a wonderful ability to weed out the bad things and hold on to the positive memories. (Like editing a video)

That’s what I’m starting to do with my time in Texas. My wife hasn’t gotten there yet. She still has many bitter feelings over our time in Texas. I can’t blame her. We lost two babies there. We were mistreated by people. And we both definitely had our share of “raw deals”. But even as I was driving from DFW to Nashville in a moving truck, my mind starting going over the things that I would actually miss about living in the DFW area.

Yes, I still have painful memories of living in the DFW area. Sometimes, I feel like twitching like a Vietnam vet when I think about horrible circumstances there (YOU DON’T KNOW! YOU WEREN’T THERE!). In dealing with those memories, and concentrating on the positive things, I’ve developed this list.

So now, for your reading pleasure, I give to you the TOP TEN THINGS I ACTUALLY MISS ABOUT LIVING IN THE DALLAS/FORT WORTH AREA

(In no particular order)

1) Four Day Weekend

If you live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, you HAVE to go see these guys. This is an extremely funny improvisational comedy group. If you’ve ever seen a show like “Whose Line is it anyway”, it’s like that, but live. If you’re looking for a great night of entertainment and you’re in Fort Worth; don’t walk, run to the theatre. They sell out almost every single show. Get your tickets early.

2) Taquitos

To many Texans, this will sound stupid. For those of us who don’t live in Texas, it’s not.

In the DFW area, there are a lot of gas stations called QT. If you go into one of these establishments, you’ll see two sets of hot dog rollers. One will have normal hot dogs. The other one will have Taquitos. This is one of those delicacies of Texas that I’ve grown to love (along with spicy food and jalapeƱos). You just can’t buy these at the grocery store and get the same quality that you find at a QT.

3) Texas Rangers Baseball

I’m not necessarily a Texas Rangers Baseball fan. However, I love to go watch professional baseball. There’s nothing like it. To me, it’s one of the finest things God created about summer. Even if you don’t like the Rangers, you can see a myriad of other professional baseball teams play. When everything else was going wrong, I could always go watch a game and just forget about it all.

4) The Gaylord Texan

This place and its staff will ALWAYS hold a special place in my heart. Let me paint a picture for you.

It was near the end of the year in 2004. I had moved to Texas that previous July. Every attempt to try to get in with other businesses doing entertainment work had failed. I was close to the end of my rope. I couldn’t even get a normal job. I applied at a Best Buy and was turned down (I had enough retail, management, and electronics experience to be a manger there).

Just when everything was at it’s darkest, a light shown through. All of my attempts to get into the Gaylord Texan had paid off, and I got a meeting with the Entertainment Management.

The meeting lasted no longer then fifteen minutes. The Gaylord Texan was looking for entertainment for their “Lone Star Christmas”. Since I had tried to contact them on numerous occasions, they decided to give me a chance and call me into a meeting. After the meeting, they decided to give me a shot, but just for their Christmas holiday season.

During their holiday season, the comments about me started to flood into guest services. Visitors absolutely loved me. And Gaylord decided to give me a contract for 2005.

One of the comments that the former director of Food and Beverage gave to me was that I was the lowest paid entertainer, but I got more positive comments than any other entertainer that they ever had. I continued to work for them until I left in 2006. I still have a great relationship with the management. They’ve gone to bat for me several times; trying to get me into the Gaylord Opryland. They’ve even told me that if I ever move back to Texas, I have a standing job offer with them.

Keep in mind, for most balloon artists; I had one of the top jobs in the area. It was also a dream job in that the Gaylord gave me the freedom to do whatever I though was appropriate, knowing that my number one concern was making people happy. I really miss the Gaylord Texan and everyone I worked with there A LOT.

5) G.O.T. Balloons

This was the group of balloon twisters in the DFW area that met once a month. I loved hanging out with these people. I loved them for their creativity, their wacky characters, and the fact that they were people who understand what it meant to look at a balloon and see a world of possibilities. I miss you guys (Especially Stretch and his family)

6) Balloon Wholesalers

Like I said before, I now live in Nashville. If I want balloons, the closest supplier is a two day ship from me. In DFW, I had two to three choices of where to buy balloons. Some places knew me by name. One, I actually started to work for. You get really spoiled when you live in place where picking up balloons is as easy as going to your local grocer.

7) FBCD video crew & Children’s ministry

At one point, I volunteered once a week, until it got to the point where I had to go out and get a real job to support my wife’s education. I worked with this video crew at First Baptist Church Dallas (FBCD) until the summer before we moved back to Nashville. It was actually one of the few things I liked about FBCD. Unlike most people at First Dallas, they didn’t care that I didn’t have a prestigious job or owned fancy things. They liked me for me and my love for video and technology. I loved working with the guys there, and I became good friends with the video director, Dan Beckwith.

I also have to say that I also loved working with Jane Mason and the First Dallas Children’s ministry. I have to say, that God worked his hand of providence when I ended up working with them.

Before I worked with the Children’s ministry, I had a really poor experience with the Singles Ministry at First Dallas (Heather and I were engaged, but not married). I was treated so poorly, I was ready to quit going to First Dallas, despite the fact that Heather was an intern there and had to go to church.

It just so happens that just as I was getting ready to leave, I met Mark & Karen Korenek at a restaurant I was doing balloons in. In our conversation, we discovered that we both went to First Dallas. They asked me if I had ever considered working in the children’s ministry. I told them no, and they said I should really consider it.

I then called Jane Mason to see if they needed any volunteers. She put me in the same class with Mark & Karen. Once Jane saw the talent that I had, she immediately integrated some of my talent into the AWANA program. It was truly a blessing to use my talents for the glory of God

Now that I’m back in Nashville, I somewhat work with the video ministry at Two Rivers Baptist church. I don’t work with the children’s ministry at Two Rivers, as God hasn’t called me to use my gifts there in that way. However, I truly have a special place in my heart for both ministries at First Dallas. For a long while, those were the only things keeping me at that church.

8) Garden Ridge

I know that this will make me a wimp to some guys. What can I say? The creative decorator in me loves Garden Ridge. And the next time I drive to DFW, I’m picking up one of those Chiminea I’ve always wanted.

9) Panda Express

This is my favorite restaurant in the DFW area. If you live in an area where these restaurants are everywhere, consider yourself blessed. My wife and I love Chinese food. We love Panda Express even more.

10) Friends

Despite the fact that it was hard to make relationships in this area, I did manage to make a few close friends that I still contact from time to time. I would list them all, but then I’d forget someone and make them mad. Just know that these friends were an oasis in a place that was otherwise a desert.