A Granddaughter can change your life…

Reese Carolina has changed our lives for a few reasons…first she is the daughter of my firstborn son.  Shane and his incredible wife Shannon are incredible parents and are raising Reese in an incredible home environment.  Second, well, we love Reese and would do anything for her.  Her smile and personality melts our hearts.  Finally, we know she belongs to Jesus and He will guard, protect, guide and nourish her as she grows.  Having a daughter of my own, I know He is faithful and now He has another opportunity to show off with Reese.  More to come later…

Merry Christmas 2010

Let me begin by saying Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone and I hope that you have the time of your life with your family and friends during this time of celebration.  Take time to read the Christmas story and remind yourself and those around you that Jesus is alive and well and Christmas is ALL about Him.

I can’t believe it has been so long since I have blogged.  Alot has gone on in the Harper household since I last got on and blogged.  September 26, 2010 was my last day at Agilysys and on Monday, September 29th I started work at SYNNEX as the Director of Sales for their AIDC (Data Collection)/POS (Point of Sale)/Physical Security business unit.  Let me just say that I have been blessed.  I loved working at Agilysys and my family there was incredible.  But the past 3 months have been the most enjoyable I think I have ever had in business.  Its all in an attitude!!!

Karen and I are on edge…for good reasons.  We’re awaiting the birth of our first grandchild, a granddaughter.  Reese Carolina Harper is due January 7, 2011 but we are really hoping for a 2010 baby!  Shane and Shannon are doing great – they are ready to go and they are just the most precious expectant parents I’ve ever seen (I know they are ours so of course I think that).  I do believe the Lord has prepared them for this and as they begin their new family, we’re just praying for peace, love and joy for them!  Here’s our incredible daughter-in-love, Shannon with Shane and baby Reese…

Shane, Shannon and baby Reese

 Daniel has finished up his semester at Berklee in Boston and is busy writing music and like all of us, waiting for Reese to arrive.  Kara is busy working at Dolphin Quest and we’ll sure miss her at Christmas.  She will fly to Boston in February though and we can’t wait to see her again.  She’s faithful in calling a couple times a day so that eases the pain of missing her a little bit.

That’s all for now – Karen and I pray that your lives, marriages, relationships and homes will be blessed this holiday season.  Remember, most of the time it begins with you!  SO, tell someone you love them – then SHOW them that love by serving them some how this holiday season!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Garry and Karen

Family Reunions and Church

We had a great time at Karen’s family reunion today.  Karen comes from a beautiful family and well, it was one of the things I loved about her when I met her.  Her mom and dad have both passed and they left a great legacy.  Karen’s 2 brothers are wonderful.  Keith and his family made it but Ken, who has moved to Louisville, KY couldn’t make it.   I’m proud of Karen and her family and am so blessed that they have accepted me into the family.  Here is Karen and some of her cousins…

Aunt Peggy, Cindy, Linda, Leslie, KAREN and Rita

Every time we have these reunions, which are every year, it reminds me of my family and how blessed I am to have a great family as well.  My dad passed away in November of 2002 but my mother is still living (in VA) and she is a precious lady.  My sister lives in VA as well and my brother lives in Jacksonville, FL.  Here are a few takeaways from this years reunion…

FAMILY REUNIONS

1) They can be good (and fun)

2) Seems that children keep being born (there were 13 children there)

3) Love is/was in the air

4) Karen has some incredible aunts, uncles and cousins (and so do I)

5) Families are important to NOT forget about

6) Story telling is a lost art!

Oh yea, we did go to church prior to attending the reunion.  Church attendance is important.  Not for any other reason than the Bible instructs us to NOT neglect the assembling of ourselves together.  Our preacher (Perry Noble, www.newspring.cc) preached on money today.  Money is the #1 thing that keeps us from having a full and vibrant relationship with Jesus.  So, if your money is more important to you than attending church or reading your Bible, you might want to do a heart check.  Love ya, mean it!

Go and CAUSE GOD JOY!

I’m back…let’s talk CHANGE, Football and LEADERSHIP!

CHANGE…

Ok, summer is over and school is back in.  For us, our kids are now all settled, the boys are in Boston and Kara lives in Waikoloa, HI.  Yea, its been major change for us.  But they are doing great and love what they are doing which gives Karen and I great peace!  Karen and I are loving life and taking Shag dance lessons.  We’re excited about our GRANDDAUGHTER coming around January 8, 2011.  This has been probably the most exciting time of our lives as we prepare to be grandparents.   I started a new job 2 weeks ago and am absolutely loving it.   I am now the Director of Sales for the AIDC/POS Group at a company called Synnex in Greenville, S.C.

There is always some fear and trepidation when you start a new job but after the first day, I felt right at home.  I work directly for a Sr VP who I have a lot of respect for and the team working for me is right out of the top drawer.  I work with a guy named Brandon who is my Sales Manager and he has provided me with a lot of confidence, encouragement and support in my first two weeks.  It’s really nice to have guys like him on your team that you can trust and go to battle with and for.  The only problem with Brandon is that he is a Clemson Tiger fan.  Why do I always get stuck having to work with Clemson Tigger (sorry) fans?  Oh well.  Guess it could be worse – HA!  Change is good and it can revitalize you if you let it.  The key is making changes in  your life that you trust are in God’s will and then well, YOU BETTER TRUST HIM!

Football…

The football season has started and so far all is well.  Byrnes High School won tonight 52-6 vs. Forestview out of Gastonia, NC.  They finally hit on all cylinders and the guys built up a lot of confidence.  USC looked great against Southern Miss last Thursday night but tomorrow is a big test for them as they play the University of GA in Columbia.  Karen and I are driving down to the game and hoping to see Marcus Lattimore (Byrnes HS) light up the scoreboard.  He is a special kid with a special talent.

Leadership…

This is something that I have been doing a lot of reading on lately with my job change.  I’ve re-read the Fred Factor and several other great books, but two have stood out more than others.  They are entitled The Servant by James Hunter and Walk the Talk by Eric Harvey and Steve Ventura.  In the latter book, here are some of the key principles on leadership I wanted to share.

1) Words to Live by are Just words unless you actually LIVE by them.

2) You are what you DO.

3) Everything you Do counts.

4) The Golden Rule is still PURE gold.

5) Character is the key!

* Commitment

* Honesty

* Accountability

* Respect

* Attitude

* Courage

* Trust

* Ethics and Integrity

* Responsibility

How are you doing with all these things?  It’s always refreshing to do a little internal investigation and study yourself.  Men, one of the best ways to do this is to have a heart to heart wtih your wife and see what she has to say.   She is the one person that I’m sure is willing to be honest with you.  It’s also good to have a friend that you can trust as well.  But a little advise on this one, make sure its a friend that you know is walking with Jesus in such a way that he has your BEST interest at heart.

Hey – its good to be back and have a great weekend as you…

CAUSE GOD JOY!

Shag Dancing and Baby Harper Shower….

It has been a busy and FUN weekend!   Karen and I went to Charleston for the weekend and on Friday night, we went to JB Pivots where the Charleston Shag Club meets to dance.  We went and for the 1st hour, we (really just me) were intimidated by how well they all danced!  Finally a young couple (they were 76 and 74) came up and introduced themselves and said they could tell we were new to this but if I don’t get the heck (he didn’t say heck) out there, I’ll never get better.  Well for the next 2 hours, Karen and I danced the night away.  We had a blast.

Joe and Shirley - our new Shag Dancing Friends from Charleston!

Another person we met was a guy named Francis Lee.  Francis is 81 years old and he is actually in the Shag Dancing Hall of Fame.  Didn’t even know there was such a thing but it does exist.  He broke his hip last year and was still out there dancing Friday night.  He has a legendary step I guess they call the SLIDE!  It was awesome!

Karen with Francis Lee and his wife.

Needless to say, on Saturday night, we took all of our fellow school board friends to JB Pivots and danced after dinner and we had a blast!

We got home today from Charleston and went straight to our daughter-in-love’s baby shower.  Little Granddaughter Harper is going to be set by the time she arrives January 8, 2011.  We can’t wait!  Here are some pics from the shower!!

Karen and I with our INCREDIBLE Daughter-in-Love, Shannon!

Our Granddaughters new Jumper (with #10 on it)! Ha!

Karen and I walked the Market in Charleston and met these 2 ladies that did embroidery and they made this for us on Friday night and we picked it up on Saturday night.  Kind of neat to know my granddaughter will be wearing my number!  YES!!!

Ok, got some breaking news which I’ll post next week and it has to do with my place of employment.  Love my current job and the people I work with.  I’m so blessed, but…I’ll wait to post later in the week.

Keep CAUSING GOD JOY wherever you are!!