Random Thoughts, Random Babies

I have been super busy this week at work so I have not had many chances to post any new blogs. I'm actually writing this one on a lunch break so don't expect anything profound to come from this; mostly just wasting your time. Today has been really slow at work but the only people here is one other guy and myself so we are running around a lot.


This weekend the streak continues with a Lubbock trip. My roommate (Dave) has a little brother (Wally) who is getting married. I was cordially invited so once 4:00 hits, I am Lubbock bound!


Friday Fotos:


Here are some randoms from the weekend Dave, Jess, and I went to Arkansas and met up with Jess's best friend from high school and her husband (Jess is the girl who lives in Hawaii that we went to see)

This is the whole gang (Camera timer = successful)

We thought it would be cool to take a picture with this sign (Jacob, who at this point had known me for all of an hour, pointed at me like I was a dog. Funny man)

This picture always makes me laugh (it looks like I'm trying to take a quick picture with a wild, angry animal)

Bet you were wondering why I was talking about babies in the title, eh? This is Sarah and Jacob's son, Gibson (Notice the Burt's Bees in is hand; I got him started early)

A Legacy Remembered

This is going to be a difficult blog to write because I wish I knew more about the subject. I want to say something about my father in honor of Father's Day, but unfortunately, I know more of the legacy rather than the man. I think that in many ways knowing a legacy instead of the actual person is a good thing, but in my father's case, the man far surpassed his legacy. The problem with a person's legacy is that those who didn't know the person can't truly appreciate how the legacy was formed. I might be a little partial, but my father's legacy is nothing compared to actually knowing the person.

Today, when people talk about Joseph Carl Davis, the phrase "good man" is rarely left out of the description. This is an understatement; my father was a great man. Even calling Carl Davis a great man is leaving out the fact that he was a great husband, a great father, and a great servant of Christ. I can try to explain all of this to you, but you are not going to understand unless you had actually met my father so I will attempt to give you a glimpse of his legacy.

My father's upbringing is not the reason that people speak so highly of him. If anything, his upbringing could have been an excuse for him to have been a complete failure. He came from a broken family, and his parents probably didn't give him the same morals, discipline, or attention that you or I had growing up. Not having a perfect upbringing left him to pick up a few vices here and there. The best thing that happened to my father during his youth was his decision to move to Texas to live and work for his uncle.

My mother would soon be his inspiration to drop any vices still lingering when they met. When given the ultimatum, he chose wisely. This first act of chivalry would be one of my father's first steps in becoming a great husband. During the 11 years that I had the honor of knowing my dad, I never witnessed any sign of disrespect, argument, or quarrel between my father and mother. This is not an exaggeration either; the myth that every relationship has its ups and downs was shattered by the interactions of my parents.

I previously stated in a post about my mother that she never missed anything I was involved in; likewise, my father was always sitting right beside her. He made sure that his work day would end in time for him to be at whatever event my brother or I was involved; even if that meant leaving at dark and working until dark the next day. One of my father's favorite things to do was watch a movie at night with our family. Depending on the time of year, he would always make a bowl of ice-cream or popcorn and fall asleep during the movie (I, unfortunately, inherited his ability to miss the ending of movies started past 8:00 pm).

My father was also a great Christian. One of my favorite memories is when he took me one Sunday afternoon to meet with the pastor and sit by me as I accepted Christ into my life. He was in church every time the doors were open, and he was a fantastic spiritual leader for our family. If there is ever a reason for you or anyone else to think that you can make things right with God later in life, let my father's story be a testimony of why you shouldn't delay. Nothing on this earth is a guarantee, especially tomorrow.

I recently had a conversation with a girl who also lost her father early in life, and we both agreed that we enjoy talking about them with others. It's a way that lets us remember them. I love to tell people about his amazing legacy, and I am proud to be an offspring of that legacy. I always say that if I manage to be 10% of the man my father was, I will be considered a good man.

Epilogues Nonsense and Photos

So apparently I didn't close out the story too well last time because I have had a few requests to tell more. As suspenseful as I may have left it, there really isn't much more...

Monday morning, I tell everyone what happened and they all laughed at me for the irony and my ignorance. One of the salesmen even call the office and act like he's Ragon wanting to talk to me. About 5 minutes after he calls, the real Ragon calls; one of the other salesmen had emailed Ragon telling him that I had met his daughter. Ragon was really nice about the whole thing and impressed at how I handled the situation. I still don't know if he has talked to her about the whole situation, but I know that it was told all around his office. The president of the company (Kirk Shelton) was in town this week for a golf tournament. When he met me, he was quick to catch on who I was because Ragon had told him about the story. Hey, at least the president knows who I am!

This weekend the streak continues with me going to Lake Weatherford to hang out with my brother and a lot of our college friends. Going to be a large time.

Friday Fotos:
These are 2 pictures of the sunset on my way to Austin last weekend. These pictures don't do it a bit of justice, but it was so amazing that I pulled over to get a better look.

This is on the side of the sky where the sun was actually coming through the clouds

This is what the opposite side of the sky looked like. Weird eh? I thought it looked like a little sunset of its own.

The Complexness Of Simplicity

This weekend, I was having a conversation with a friend about one of my many flaws, and she said something that caused me to stop and think. She said that even though I have these struggles, she knows that I'm still a good person. My problem with this statement is that she called me a good person. What makes someone a good person? What scale are we being measured on to see who is good or not? Don't get me wrong, I want to be a good person, and I don't think there is anything wrong with what she said. It just made me think of what constitutes someone as being a good person and what makes someone else not as good of a person. What do we have to do, or what point do we reach when someone doesn't consider us a good person anymore? Did I ever do something to be considered a good person or is it because I haven't done something that makes me a good person?

If she is talking about whether God would consider me a good person or not, I'm scared of what He would respond. I would, regretfully, have to admit that I am guilty of disappointing God more than pleasing him, but God doesn't hold grudges like we do. I do feel like God judges more on the heart than He does on the actions. This being the case, no one can really reassure us of whether God thinks we are good people because He is the only one who knows the nature of our heart.

I know you're thinking, "Calm down. You're reading entirely too much into this." and I know this, but I'm doing it on purpose just to provoke some thought into this statement. We call someone a good person because of what we personally think of them. The only true things my friend knows about me is what I have told her or what she has seen through my actions. If this reasoning holds constant for everyone in our lives, I'm sure there are a lot of people that might think the opposite of my friend (just ask any of my ex girlfriends).

Anyways, this was probably a complete waste of your time, but it has been on my mind. I'm not fishing for anyone to tell me what they think of me, but how about I turn it on you like this: if being labeled "a good person" is what everyone else personally thinks of you, what have you done for those around you lately? If you had to drop your reputation today, and start all over tomorrow like everyone that you come in contact with is a stranger, would they call you a good person? How about this, should we worry about if others consider us good or should we be more worried about if God is going to say, "Well done good and faithful..." and if that's right, which one do we concentrate on more: pleasing God or pleasing others? If we did just worry about pleasing God, wouldn't everything else just fall in line as well?

Oh so much to think about...

Foto Friday

I always blog at work and the only pictures I have on this computer are current. I will try better in the coming weeks to get some older pictures for Foto Friday but here are some random pictures of various groups of friends that you might not have ever seen....

Me, Phil and some of our OKC friends (Jeff and Sam) at the Deuce

Me and some Gunter friends (Dusty, Hunter, Chad)

Dave's Band (From left to right): Sam (Bass) Me (Manager) Dave (Worthless Musician) Nathan (Keyboard) James (#1 Fan)

My Name's Chad Davis, And I Have An Addiction

I have a problem that I want to get off my chest. I made a brief comment about this in a previous post, and I feel that it needs to be addressed a little further. I have an addiction. I have missed 2 work outs this week because I have been so enthralled by this new obsession. I have heard that the first step is admitting that you have a problem so hear goes:

I'm addicted to Harry Potter books.

A children's book. Kids stories, written for little kids. I'm 23 years old, and all I can do is think of when I'm going to be able to find time to continue the story. When did I become a nerd? I make fun of people like this. Next thing you know, I'm going to be 50 pounds over weight and playing World of Warcraft. The kicker; I can't even look sophisticated reading these stories because I don't read them; I listen to them on CD. So you can only imagine what my roommate thinks when he comes home and finds me in my bed, wide awake, listening to a grown man with a British accent talking like teenage girls and trolls. Embarrassing, humiliating; I've lost all dignity. Why couldn't I have a real addiction like drugs or alcohol? You know, the respectable ones.


Anyways, I think my streak is coming to an end. With it already being Thursday and no offers on the table yet, it seems I have exhausted all of my resources for weekend travels (for the time being). This will be the first weekend I've been home since about mid April. You have to admit, I gave it a good run. I'm still not counting myself out for going somewhere, but I have already started taking steps in the opposite direction. I think after work Friday, Phil and I are going to have a BBQ at the house. This pleases me because it has been a very long time since Phil and I have gotten to hang out, even though he lives right down the hall from me. Saturday, I think I'm going to go find a pool to do a little rest and relaxation. I haven't been to a pool since the heat wave finally came in. I might even get to swing a golf club this weekend, but I don't want to make any promises.

Wake Up

This morning, I am reminded of how bittersweet life can be sometimes. I have been regularly following along a blog about a family who has endured a great tragedy, and at the same time, one of life's most beautiful blessings. The blog today has compelled me to encourage others to follow along. It kills me to place myself in this families situation and to imagine what kinds of emotions the wife must be going through. Everyday, I am eager to see if there is a change in the status of their situation. I am a little hesitant to share the blog with you because of how addicting it can be to look forward for the next post. I have never met this family and probably never will, nor would have I ever known about them if it were not for their great tragedy.

One of my fraternity brothers, Adam Snell, is about to get married. His soon to be brother in-law, Keith Beasley, and a few of his friends traveled to Austin for a bachelor party. To make a detailed story vague, Keith ended up falling a few stories off the side of a parking garage and landing on a small patch of grass at the bottom; a fall that should have killed him. This incident occurred April 10. Keith has been through many medical treatments and surgeries since the accident. Keith has finally progressed to the point to where he has steady vitals and opens his eyes to look at things; yet he shows very little responses.

Keith's wife, Judy, has been by his bedside every step of the way. However, for a short while, she was forced to leave his side because on May 25, Keith's wife delivered their first baby. The bible makes it very clear that one of God's greatest blessings to any husband and wife is children. She has since gone back to his side with their baby boy.

Keith's wife started the blog 2 days after the accident to update family and friends of Keith's status and to encourage prayer. From the sounds of her blog, it is very clear that she loves the Lord with all of her heart and has placed the entire situation in God's hands. Her faith is such an amazing testimony, and it encourages many to share their own stories on her guest book, and to tell her of the amazing impact her faith is having on their lives.

I want to encourage you to visit her blog and read Keith's story and to browse around the website. I encourage you to place yourself in her situation and realize how small our worries and problems are compared to how bad they could be. I encourage you to join the prayers of thousands to get Keith to wake up and respond.

Please visit http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/keithbeasley Please Pray.

Harry Potter Secretly Rocks My Face Off

Once again, I am struggling to stay awake at my computer due to the remnants of an amazing weekend. I left work Friday at 5:00 and arrived in San Antonio at 12:30, to which I was received by many familiar faces. We hung out all night talking about old times and catching up on what everyone was doing these days. We were met by an early morning on Saturday and lots of rushing around due to the fact that we were running late at getting to our pre-wedding errands. This was my first Catholic wedding to attend, but to my understanding, it was not as traditional as most Catholic weddings; though, there was still a lot of standing and sitting.

Doug and Jennifer (the groom and bride) did not leave for their honeymoon until later the following day so they decided to come out with us after the reception and play on the River Walk. Everyone in the wedding party stayed at Hotel Valencia downtown which allowed all of us to hang out until the wee hours of the morning once again. I don't know why we even got hotel rooms because there was little to no sleeping Saturday night. Jennifer's Made of Honor, who lives in California, road to the wedding from College Station with her mother, and she would have been forced to leave after the reception if she did not find a ride back to College Station on Sunday. Since she was an old college friend of mine, I did not mind volunteering to make the 3 1/2 hour, slightly wrong direction detour for her on Sunday morning.

From College Station, I traveled due north and took another hour long detour from my normal route to see some more family and friends in Gunter at a cookout. I only stayed at the cookout for a short time because I was running on fumes from the weekend and resemble something similar to a zombie. Overall, the trip took me 7 hours to get down there, and it took me 13 hours to get home. However, due to my long travels, I finished my book on CD, Harry Potter and the Dark Prince, and I'm now, embarrassingly, hooked on the Harry Potter books (they're just so stinking good).

Now, to answer any suspicions of comments from my previous blog: no, I did not meet anyone at the wedding that lives in San Antonio that I want to go back and visit, and shame on you for wishing such terrible things. All in all, good weekend, good friends, good family, good times.