Whistle while you twerk

Subdue the earth

God has been creatively blessing my experience at work as a civil engineer. Just when I began to doubt this as a career, Father flipped the script on me, and now, I am responsible for almost entire projects (the almost is because I have not yet begun to bill, but soon I will) from inception to finished plan sets.

Please join me in celebrating the glory God receives from giving out of His abundance. He allowed me to pass that pesky FE exam that I took about two months ago. I am now licensed in the State of Illinois as an E.I.T. (Enginerd in Training, it doesn't sound too hot when spelled out, but the acronym has the same number of letters as Phd). In three more years, I can test to become a P.E., or a Professional Engineer, which basically means you can sign plan sets (Read: $$), and you are legally liable for negligent designs (Read: mad responsibility). Thanks for your prayers.

Part of my new leadership role is managing two AutoCAD drafters (CAD=computer aided drafting). One was just hired, and so we are starting from scratch in terms of our work relationship. He is 10 years my senior, so it is a bit strange, but I don't respect people older than me, so I got that going for me. Let's call him Howard.

I have been seeking a way to be a leader as Jesus emulates in the Word. So, when Howard approached me regarding some work I gave him, I tried to reassure him that I am not a cold-hearted, unapproachable prig. He was drafting a grading plan that I designed, and while he was going about his work, he saw a spot elevation that he believed may be misplaced. He brought it to me, mentioning that he saw it and it didn't seem right to him so he wanted to double-check. I took a look, and it turned out he was correct. I changed the marked-up plans, and thanked him for his keen eye. He reiterated that he was busy drafting the plans when he noticed something that he was sure about, so he wanted to check with me. I jumped at this opportunity to try to encourage him, and, praying for the right words, I thanked him and told him that I was glad he wasn't a robot, just automatically entering in whatever I put in front of him. In turn, he offered again for my bemusement his thinking behind coming to speak with me: He saw the spot elevation and didn't think it was right, so he wanted to double-check. As he strode away, I began to wonder if perhaps it was my eagerness to be warm that needed to be checked.

About twenty minutes later, the doubts were dispelled. Howard hurried to me desk unabashedly and plopped my designs on my desk, declaring "These drainage arrows don't make sense". Sssccccrrrrrrrrr (this is the sound of a car screeching to a halt, the car in this case the happy super fun friend team car that Howard and I had been riding for about 20 minutes)

I blinked once to mentally review what Howard just said, then again to narrow my eyes in an annoyed semi-squint. In an instant, I calluously considered emotionally berating him, flaying him with my tongue-turned-cat-o'-nine-tails, but I resisted with what could of only been the Spirit's strength.

Thankfully, all I uttered was, after quickly glancing to determine if what he said had any merit, "No, just draw them like you see 'em, and that should be fine."

"Really? Oh." (pause, each second of silence defining the growing number of miles between us) "Oh, ok, I was just looking at these plans and I just was like, 'Hmm, I don't know about this, so I better double-check...' "

I felt some compassion for Howard, so I briefly explained the design to him, solely to raise him from the jagged valley I'd just thrown him down. But, I was sure to not lift him to the ledge that I residing on. I attempted to restore Howard to an elevation that I surmised was close enough to me to allow him to approach me again, but far enough down for it to be wearisome to climb flippantly.

He left, and I wondered whether I did what was best. I prayed again that God would teach me to lead.