Batteries Not Included

Acts 6:2b -- "It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables."

image: habitat.org

The sun beat down on our shoulders as we worked the old rusty shovel into the slurry of wet stone, sand, and concrete. To ensure the mixture was done well we folded the stuff together several times before slopping it into the make-shift molds tightly bound together with rope. Once the molds had baked through in the tropical sun, they would be split open and the newly formed brick would be set aside to cure further in the heat.

My roommate, Laura Sutton, and I soon had a well choreographed dance that kept to a steady rhythm of mix, pour, re-set. Mix, pour, re-set. Before we knew it, the sun was high overhead and our fellow dormies started to leave the  Habitat For Humanity, Philippines construction area one by one - in order to meet up at the center of the little Cambodian refugee camp sight. So deeply entranced by our function at our assigned work station were we - that we hadn't heard the call for lunch and the devotional/bible reading that would follow. In fact, we didn't stop until someone tapped us on the shoulder to let us know it was time to take a break.

Lunch, a spirited mini-sermon, and a wonderful time of singing songs under the shade of a large corrugated tin roof provided an almost magical re-charge of our batteries - a burst of renewed energy that would allow us strength for the rest of our time at the camp. AND - it reminded us of the real reason we were there. Manual labor was only the tip of the iceberg. We were really there to share Jesus.

Laura and I spent the rest of the afternoon teaching young Cambodian children how to sing Jesus Loves Me in sign language. I'll never forget those bright eyes and glowing smiles and the joyful looks on ten and some-odd kid's faces as they signed I love you to Laura and I when our dormitory bus pulled away from the camp sight. It took no small amount of effort for me to keep the tears from freely pouring down my cheeks as I watched those sweet little faces from the bus window. I'm not sure I'd ever witnessed such raw hope and innocent gratitude in all of my young adult life.

image: habitat.org

In Acts chapter six we witness a great ministry set up by the disciples of Jesus. Not only were the original twelve hard at work in the community, but they had enlisted several more people to the cause of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. So deep into the ministry were they, however - that some involved began to grumble a little bit because the widows in their own communities were being overlooked when it came time to distribute their daily bread. It soon became clear that the disciples had spread themselves a little bit too thin. They WERE accomplishing great things - but a few people in deep need began to slip through the cracks of too much work assumed by too few people. It was here that the disciples learned to delegate. Their first priority was to the sewing of the gospel on fertile ground - it didn't make sense for them stop the momentum they'd built up to hand out food. So - in the handful of verses that followed - food distribution was delegated and the wrinkles were quickly ironed out. Teams were set up to accomplish every task and meet every community need.

Had this delegation NOT occurred - the disciples would've burned out and not been able to accomplish anything. Needs would have gone unmet and perhaps tiny weeds of bitterness would begin to pop up in the field of great work sewn by the dedicated group of men and women. The disciples needed to come up with a way to remain effective for Jesus while also being able to spiritually and physically recharge their own batteries. The ONLY way to do that efficiently - was to delegate and set priorities.

I will never forget the smoothness of the operation at Habitat For Humanity, Philippines. Some of us built bricks while others set up wood frames. Some of us were assigned to painting walls and running electrical wire while some of us were charged with handing out refreshments and making sure we all stayed well hydrated. And then again - some of us played with the children of the families working on their own homes in order to keep them from under foot.

But most importantly - we were ALL there to share Jesus Christ. It would not have been right for us to neglect the sharing of the gospel to make bricks and set up tin roofs.

I love that God has given EACH of us a particular place in the body of Jesus Christ. We are each blessed with certain gifts and certain passions. Fitting well into the cogs of the Spirit Machine [as I like to call it] keeps us all from spreading our selves too thin [after all, batteries are often not included] - AND it ensures that we don't overlook the needs of those around us.

Some Assembly Required

Exodus 18:17-18 -- "Moses' father-in-law replied, 'What you are doing is not good. You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone.' "

image: Ford's Assembly Line/bullfax.com

In a large warehouse dimly lit with high windows, a few sturdy men in dirty coveralls set up automobile parts in lines across the floor. Each man lined up - one next to the other - and would then complete one of several steps that totaled the assembly of a single motor car. These men were charged with building Ford's  famous Model N - a daunting task that took more than twelve hours. To make things run smoothly, the men discovered that setting up each part in order and then working the assembly of the automobile in a line,  they created a rhythm that cut manufacturing time. Shorter time spent in the factory, meant that each car could be sold for less to the consumer. Ford's ultimate dream, was - after-all, to provide autos to the masses at affordable prices.

Ford was inspired by the cooperation he witnessed and in 1913 the first official assembly line began rolling Model T's out the door at record breaking speeds. Instead of taking up to twelve hours for each car to complete the assembly process, it now took less than three. Genius!

We can credit Ford and his line of men for the birth of the modern day assembly line. It's interesting to sit and ponder what today's economy would be like if that magic moment hadn't occurred. There would probably be fewer cars on the road, sure - but there would also be considerably fewer jobs.

Delegation was key to Ford's success. And as Moses learned in Exodus, it was the key to leading God's chosen people out of Egypt.

EVERY SINGLE THING that the mass of people trekking across the desert encountered was set before Moses to approve, over-see, mediate, or otherwise handle. Food shortage? Moses dealt with it. Family dispute? Moses dealt with it. Feeling lost? Yup, Moses dealt with that, too. It was just too much! After Jethro witnessed a frazzled Moses dealing with yet another problem brought to him by the people, Jethro [his father-in-law] took him aside and basically told him to chill-ax. Jethro saw that Moses was going stress himself to death if he didn't find a better way to manage the mass exodus. So - he told Moses to delegate. A very wise man, that Jethro!

image: about.com

Think about it - when you or I have too much to do - we get tired. When we're tired, we tend to make mistakes. Whether it be a slip up on the job or a poor personal decision, we don't function at our best when we are spread too thin. And IF we somehow manage to keep things together on the surface, the ones we love - who are closest to us - begin to suffer and loose out on our undivided attention. OR - we end up getting sick and our immune response becomes weak.

The whole of the matter is - we are not meant to do everything all the time all alone. Ford didn't provide every single family with a car and he didn't make cars all by himself. He had a whole team and an assembly line. Not only did his delegation increase the bottom line for his company, but it also provided for others.

When we spiritually delegate, not only we do have more time to do our jobs well, but we also allow others the opportunity to grow in Christ.

Isn't THAT what we are really all about?

Blue, The Little Pink Liar

Psalm 107:1-3,7 -- "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say this - those he redeemed from the land of the foe, those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south. He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle."

image: Alcon Blue butterfly/newscientist.com

In the vastness of our blue planet there are some wonderful little surprises wrapped up in tiny little packages. In a green field on the other side of a busy highway with bustling motorists fighting through rush-hour traffic, a dainty little blue beauty lays her eggs on a tall flower stalk. The Alcon Blue butterfly has picked this spot specifically for its proximity to the ant colony she knows to reside deep in the dirt below. When she lifts off again, she'll not stick around to raise her young as they break their way through their egg casings. Instead, she'll leave that to the ants.

Perfectly timed, the caterpillars drop from the flowers stems to the ground where they begin to hum and release a special scent - or hydrocarbon. The scouter ants that are busy rushing around in search of food come upon these squirming little pink things. It sounds like ant larvae, it smells like ant larvae, it looks a little bit like ant larvae - it MUST be from the colony nest. The confused ant is completely fooled into thinking that one of their own pupae has somehow managed to magically leave the nest and is now stranded helplessly on the surface.

So, off they go - gently dragging the caterpillar down into the burrow where it will then be fed, groomed, and protected - just as if it were an ant.

image: natgeocreative.com

The Alcon Blue will live out the remainder of its "childhood" in the burrow as one of the ant family. It is perfectly adopted - having been collected from beyond the colony borders and brought to a safe place where it could settle and grow.

Pretty cool huh? The adopted ant family member is completely accepted. Safe within the ant commune, it's been rescued from the elements, from predation, and from starvation.

In the book of Psalms we are reminded that those of us who have been redeemed by the Lord should be thankful. We should celebrate that we were collected from far beyond the boundaries of  the Holy Land and God's chosen people - and have been deeply integrated into God's family - where we will be forever loved, forever forgiven, and forever fully accepted as children of God.

image: commons.wikimedia.org

You and I have been granted a forever home - a place within which we can settle and grow for the Lord.

It matters not that we are all from different corners of the globe with different nationalities and cultural heritage. In the family of God we are all the same.

THAT really is something to celebrate!!

Mind Sharpener

Luke 21:34 -- "Be on your guard, so that your minds are not dulled."

When sitting down to sketch, I pull out my old pencil box with my assorted charcoals, gummy erasers, H and B leads, and make sure every point is sharp and ready.  I don't like to interrupt an inspired work to frequent the pencil sharpener so I have more than one of each lead type ready.  The detail just doesn't pop without the proper tools...and the tools have to be maintained.

We are a lot like those leads in my pencil box.

In a little apartment complex just across the Ohio River in Indiana, my sister and I played with a few friends we'd made during a furlough from the mission field.  I was in the third grade, my sister was in the second. This was our first furlough, so, we hadn't really been in a public school system before.  It was kind of a rough year for both of us....but we DID manage to rack up some pretty good memories with a few buddies that we're likely never to forget.

image: Kelly Babb Dalton/sketch by Kelly Babb Dalton

It had been raining for most of the day, so we jumped at the chance to be outside, looking for crawdads in the creek behind our apartment, riding bikes up and down the sidewalk, or even better.....we stomped down a great deal of cattail reeds to make a "fort" nestled in the thick greenery.  It was cool.  If you didn't know where to look, you wouldn't have found the thing hidden so well in the middle of all those tall stems with the fuzzy looking hot dog things on top.

A favorite was to take the wonderful little piece of modern technology called "a battery operated tape recorder" [the thing was larger than our Webster Dictionary] and trudge into the fort to "make movies". We would set the recorder down in the soft, damp reeds and each come up with lines from a cartoon superhero.  Yeah, I know...Stan Lee and Steven Spielberg look out, right?  It was fun, even if it didn't make any sense.

The best part, was playing it back once we got home.  Karla and I were tickled pink and excited to show Mom and Dad our handiwork.  One look at my Dad's face, however, told me that not only were we not winning any "film" awards at Cannes, but that something didn't set well with our father.

image: Kelly Babb Dalton/sketch by Kelly Babb Dalton

Dad took a moment once the recorder was turned off and then said, "I don't want you girls to hang out at the fort anymore.  The language and tone of your friends are not appropriate."  Dad took the tape out of the recorder and wouldn't let us have it back.  I was kind of dumbfounded.  I didn't know what he was talking about.  I had listened to the playback several times before we shared it, I hadn't heard anything in it that I thought sounded inappropriate.

But it WAS there. At the ripe ole' age of twelve or so, and back in the US for less than a year, I had already heard enough foul language that I wasn't able to pick it out of a conversation on that tape.  My mind had become dull to the sensitivity of hearing those harsh words.

I'll never forget that day.  At the time, I didn't really understand the importance of what had happened, but later I could look back at the moment and realize that it can be such a simple thing to slide into a spiritual frame of mind where we tend to overlook too many things.  Too many harsh words, too many ads on television that show too much skin, too many jokes we hear that don't have a very nice punch line...just TOO MUCH! I WANT it to bother me that sometimes Tyler's friends use fowl language.  I WANT to feel uncomfortable when an underwear commercial comes on when I'm watching TV with the boys.  It SHOULD!  I belong to Christ. 

So I added this verse to my prayer box.  I strive to bind it to my heart. I need that little sharpener for my mind.

Iconic Strength

Luke 6:47-48 -- "I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built."

image: "Space Needle At Night" by Yatharth

It is true that when most people hear the word earthquake they think of California and the San Andreas fault. But a distant neighbor to the north, the earthquake prone state of Washington, feels a number of earth mumblers as well. It's true. Seattle, Washington has seen its fair share of earth shakers - but in 2001 it was hit by a rumble that measured 6.8 on Richter scale. That's pretty huge!

And that beautiful icon - The Space Needle - standing tall with its blinking light high up  into the clouds withstood the quake with nary a scratch.

The reason it survived? Back in 1962 when it was erected for the World's Fair, the architects doubled the standard building codes when it came to the specs for the Seattle icon. In fact, the foundation for the Space Needle is 30 feet deep and weighs - get this - 5,850 tons! In its concrete rock-solid foundation is an additional 250 tons of reinforced steel re-bar. So the foundation weighs as much as the building itself.

And while it's feet are firmly planted, it can bend in the wind like a pro. It's so strong that its said to have withstood winds that howl at 200 miles per hour!

So, as it juts up and pokes its head through the clouds that often cover the Emerald City - it can look down on shorter, newer buildings that didn't fair nearly as well when the earthquake hit in 2001.

Now that, ladies and gentlemen - is strength. Like a rock!

Listening to the radio the other day in the car with my husband I learned that The United States now ranks among the worlds LEAST Christian nations. Can you believe that?! It broke my heart to hear those words! What has happened to us? Where is our rock-solid foundation?

Gentleness and kindness of spirit do NOT mean backing down when it comes to our morals and spiritual back-bone! In fact, through out the entire book of Luke we see that while Jesus is telling us to love one another and forgive as He forgave - he ALSO expressed some righteous anger when turning tables over at the temple. On that score He did not back down from what was right!

And neither should we!

When the political flood waters rise - or more accurately, CONTINUE to rise - we are NOT prepared to withstand the deluge! Our foundation, our nation - is no longer UNDER GOD! In fact, there are several people out there that would like to remove that phrase entirely from our money and our pledge of allegiance!

Why?! I don't understand that!

The truth of the matter is that our nation was planted with God-fearing seeds - by people who came here to worship God in their own way - without mandates from the church or meaningless government demanded ritual. NOT to get AWAY from God or the worship of Him! They came over in a time when a lot of the churches were corrupted by money grabbers and politicians more interested in reputation and the bottom line than in serving Jesus. THAT is what lies in our nation's foundation! The desire and the passion to personally wield the Word of God and learn, worship, and love our Creator and Savior on a deeply personal level.  The separation of church and state was instigated to protect the church and the people in it! Not the other way around - not to protect the state!

How is it we have so distorted the truth? Are we so afraid to stand UNDER GOD? And if so - WHY?!

We will not benefit from continuing down this horrible path! Jesus said in the book of Luke that He will show us what he is like - he who comes to Him and not only hears His words - but puts them into practice.

What are we putting into practice as a country? I don't think it's the Word of God, that's for sure.

So how do we implement change? Well, it starts in your own home. With your own family - in your own church, on your own street corner. Pray fervently. Strengthen your own foundation and then do whatever it is you/I can to help others cling to THE ROCK as well.

Come On, Give It Up

Micah 7:19 -- "You will again have compassion on us; You will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea."

Looking over the black, slightly padded surface of the fold-out card table sitting in my kitchen, I sighed. It was dotted with little bits of fuzz popping up from the vinyl veneer - like bean sprouts sticking up from the soil in a garden.

image: pamperedpuppy.com/auntieemsguide.wordpress.com

Adding to her collection of claw picks, Djibouti, our cat, kept scratching and picking at the table top in an effort to "cover up" her kill from would-be predators. I looked down at the empty plate where barely a crumb of her cat foot was left and said to her "hey, I think you got it. It's buried and gone."

She ignored me and kept picking at the vinyl. A true exercise in futility. Not only could she NOT cover up her "kill" because there was nothing with which she COULD cover it - but the plate was empty. There was nothing TO cover. I turned back to KP duty but couldn't help the smile that spread across my lips. I liken our little beauty queen Miss Priss of a kitty to a dog with a worn out bone. The juice and all that doggie good stuff may be long gone - but the dog keeps worrying at the bone - in spite of having already completed the job of picking it clean.

I do that. Not so much with a bone in my mouth or an empty plate of cat food - but more with the debilitating guilt that shadows me after I've done something to disappoint my Savior. Like Peter Pan's shadow, that horrible knot in the pit of stomach will taunt me, trick me, and drive me to the end of my wits.

I'm glad that God will ALWAYS tread my iniquities underfoot. I have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ - if God can hurl all of my sins into the depths of the sea - why is it so very difficult for me to do the same?

There is a good chance that I will not be able to answer that question in this life-time. The one thing I CAN say for certain - is that God forgives me. Once I ask Him to forgive me for the things I've done wrong - He remembers them no more.

I am so very grateful for that!

So, come on - give it up. The thing - whatever it might be in your life or mine - is gone and buried deep. It's over. Don't put yourself through an exercise in futility. If your working yourself to death over a bone that's already well taken care of - your not being fruitful for Christ.

Training Wheels

Matthew 11:29 -- "Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble at heart, and you will find rest for your souls."

   

image: performancebike.com

Standing beside both of my sons at a checkout lane in the grocery store it was hard for me to imagine that they were not always taller than I am. And yet, it feels like just a short time ago that I was teaching them to ride a bike. I remember when the training wheels came off and they were both so very proud to pump the petals all on their own. 

Of course, that was a long time ago. They don't need me to hold the bike up for them anymore. And like that wobbly moment of declared independence all those years ago - they are at a point in time when some of life's training wheels are coming off. AND -  just like when they were little, there may be some bumps and scrapes acquired as they take the training wheels of childhood off and grow into their roles as men of God. 

The temptation for me is that I still want to reach out and grab the bike for support. But if I never let go, they'll never realize that they CAN actually petal on their own. They can't become the men God wants of them if I'm holding on to the back of the bike seat. There is a point in a parent's life when it's no longer support, but instead, holding on to them holds them back.

Recently my oldest found himself in a situation that cost him dearly. He made a poor decision and is painfully reaping the seeds that he sewed in haste and in the impatience often associated with youth. As a parent, I am heart-broken by his reckless decision. But - I also ache with him and long for healing and mercy on his behalf. 

When Jesus came upon the vender tables outside the temple before passover he must have been heart-broken. [John 2:13-17] There, in the place of worship was a market place set up for the sole purpose of making money. He was angry, and understandably so. But if we really look at these verses we see that yes - Jesus WAS actually gentle. I mean, think about it - He really could have brought the whole place down and turned it to rubble. 

Through out his entire ministry we see that when Jesus corrected  his disciples or those he taught along the way, he was firm but also strong. Gentle can be very strong when it needs to be. The thing is - it DOESN'T have to be mean.

image: pixshark.com

Think about it - when our child stumbles off the bike during those first few moments without the training wheels does it help he/she grow if we yell and call them names?

In the aftermath of his hasty and poor decision, a fellow parent was none to kind toward my oldest son. It made me sad on so many levels. And as I watched the tears fall down the side of my son's cheeks, I reached out to him in strong gentleness. Yes, he made a mistake. Unfortunately, there are consequences. But I also know that every single parent out there has made mistakes. No parent on this earth is perfect. I know I'm certainly not. AND, as I'm sure my parents can tell you, there were many growing up pains in my young adult life that also inflicted some pretty sharp pains on my Mom and Dad. They were never mean to me. And I am so very, very thankful for their gentleness.

Sunday is Mother's Day. I am so very grateful to my Mom for her gentle guidance - even when I caused her pain. I am thankful that I had a wonderful example to lean on when it came to dealing with my son's recent trip-up on his rocky and root-laden path to maturity.

I am so very, very thankful for the precious gentle mercy, forgiveness, and grace offered to us by Jesus Christ. It is the very least I can do to offer others the same.

Plight Of The Zombies

Epehesians 4:31 -- "Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice."

image: David P Hughes, livescience.com

Right away it's obvious that something is very, very wrong. The Carpenter Ant starts twitching a little - acting as if it has an itch it can't quite reach - and then wonders far outside its normal foraging territory. All food found along the path is ignored as it climbs to the highest point on a new sapling jutting out from the jungle floor. It then bites down hard and clamps itself onto the protruding branches and becomes very still.

The Ant's brain has been hijacked. It is no longer in control of anything.

Ophiocordyceps - a.k.a: the Zombie Fungus - has infected the ant's central nervous system and has  produced chemicals that take it over completely. The Ant is now programmed to climb to the highest point that overlooks an ant colony so that the fungus in its brain can reproduce. Once the fungus has sprouted, a strange and alien-like growth protrudes from the ant's head. The bulb on the end of the growth will erupt in a microscopic explosion of spores that will float down to the ant colony below and hijack more ants. The unsuspecting and thriving ant colony doesn't stand a chance.

The Zombie Fungus is a true parasite. It cannot reproduce without the use of ants.

Something to think about - Satan can't "reproduce" without the use of humans. Not at all. Every single thing Satan has ever accomplished came from "hijacking" something God created. Satan corrupted the angels that fell from Heaven with him and he twisted the truth when he enticed Eve to take a bite of the forbidden fruit. He's a lot like the Zombie Fungus. There is no success for Satan without us.

Which is why in Ephesians, we are told to LET IT GO.

Way easier said than done, at times. But the truth is - if we let anger, slander, malice, etc. take up root inside us - it will fester until it's able to explode in a puff of spores that can grow into more of the same. ...which is why it is so very important for us to hand these things over to God and let Him take care of them. The last thing in the world we need to do it let these things hijack us. We can't produce good clean fruit for God if we are producing ugly things that stand against Him.

Unlike the poor Carpenter Ants of the world, there are things we can do to ward of Zombie/Satanic spores. If we daily put on our full armor - we can ward off the things that want to hijack our emotions and our spiritual output.

So let it go. Let it all go. Take a stand against Zombie Parasites and protect the very precious brains and hearts that God created within us.

Don't Feed The...

James 4:7 -- "Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you."

image. gettyimages.com

Light bounced of the boat wake that came rushing toward the dock in Grandma Saunders' back yard and the warm sunshine hit the top of my head with a great intensity. My cousin [I'm not going to tell you which one] was standing at the end of the dock dropping bits of bacon into the water. We used to use Grandma's old bacon to catch blue crabs. It worked like a charm! Stepping onto the sun-bleached planks, however, I noticed my cousin didn't have a line out into the water. Nor did he have the pole net to scoop in his catch. It suddenly became quite obvious to me that he wasn't catching crabs.

He was feeding something.

Something big.

"Cousin! You are NOT doing what I think you're doing!" I all but shouted at him as I stepped up next to him and peered down at the seven foot alligator with his eyes and snout peering up out of the tannin rich Saint Johns River.

"Yeah, he's hungry." My cousin said as he threw another piece of bacon into the water.

"You cannot keep doing this." I scolded. "First of all, it IS actually against the law and second - he'll associate you and this dock with food. He will always come here looking for food - even if we are in the water at the time!"

My cousin just looked up and me and blinked. I KNOW he'd already been told exactly what I was telling him, but I also truly believe he thought the animal would starve if he didn't get a few scraps of bacon.

Sure enough, as the next few hot Florida days went by - our Gator friend showed up at the dock - peering up through the ripples in the water while he waited for his bacon. Not too long afterward a neighbor called in to Florida Fish and Wildlife and some nice guys came out and relocated the big fella to a safer, non bacon area.

I often wonder what happened to that Gator. I CAN tell you I never witnessed my cousin feeding one at the end of Grandma's dock after that. Perhaps watching the animal hog-tied and thrown into the back of a pick-up with electrical tape tightly wound around his pearly chompers cured my cousin of his passion for feeding the large animals.

Ya know - the thing is - we all feed our personal gators from time to time. Our gators - all of them - have the same name; temptation. And just like the alligators in the Saint Johns River, if we feed them - they will always come back for more. It's far better to leave them alone and let them starve.

image: nbcnew.com

Thankfully, God gives us everything we need to ensure our personal gators don't become habituated like the one at the end of Grandma's dock. Think about this; when Jesus was repeatedly tempted in the desert, Satan eventually learned that he wasn't going to win and gave up. [Luke 4:1-13] In other words - Satan fled.

Obviously there are going to be times after we've conquered a temptation gator when it will try it's luck again and peer up at the end of our spiritual dock, hoping for success. But making a habit of saying no and clinging to God's promises WILL always ensure victory. We must NOT grant the thing bits of bacon. Even teeny-tiny bits of giving in to it cause big, big problems.

The nice thing? We CAN, just like Grandma's neighbor, call in back-up. All we have to do is hand it over to God and let Him handle it. We don't have to go it alone. We can cling to THE PROFESSIONAL.