As I was channel surfing the other day, I paused for a moment and thought about a man who had fixed a problem for me. His name wasn’t Marcus Lemonis; it was A.P. Lindsey, and he was The Fixer decades before Marcus was born.
When Mr. Lindsey returned to El Dorado, Kansas after his stint in the Navy during WWII, he worked for McClure’s Motor Company. A few years later, he opened his own shop—Lindsey’s Body Shop. A.P. was known as a master craftsman and painter, and the man you wanted to put the pieces of your car back together after a wreck.
When the wing-window on my vehicle broke, I dropped it off at Lindsey’s to get it fixed. When I returned a couple of hours later, he said: “Stan, that part was too expensive so I fixed it by making a part out of some of the scrap metal in the shop.” When I examined Lindsey’s work, it was much better than the original.
People like A.P. are a rare breed today—he wasn’t just a part replacer, he was a fixer.
Fixers are people who don’t fume and fuss over the difficulties they face, they simply begin and then do whatever is necessary to finish. Some people make trouble, others make excuses, but fixers make good—they keep their promises.
Even though Lindsey drew his last breath and went on to his reward on December 3, 2010, I still remember that his quiet enthusiasm was contagious, and how it infected the lives of his family and friends.
May God bless us with more men and women who are determined to be fixers—people who are craftsmen with highly honed skills, and fixers like Lindsey who are the iron that sharpens the character of others (Proverbs 22:17) and who seek out opportunities to help those in need (Galatians 6:10).
It is 4:19, and I’ve finished the first part of my morning routine: I just swallowed the last drop of my first cup of coffee.
A word that elicits a wide range of emotions is NASCAR . Some people shake their head in bewilderment thinking it is a waste of time to watch grown men drive a car in circles. Then, there are those who froth at the mouth when they hear the rumble of a finely tuned engine that propels a driver down the straightaways in excess of 200 MPH.
It will usually happen at least once a year, and if you’re fortunate to have several friends, it most likely will appear in the form of a two-word greeting that you hear several times on a single day: “Happy Birthday!”
When you find yourself a bit frazzled and frayed by the various stressors you encounter each week, where do you go to find solace? Some people find a sanctuary in solitude and silence.
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Tattoos, bumper stickers, and marketing programs are noted for their catchy slogans. Some of these serve as a life motto, and they are original, or they are borrowed from movies, songs, or some other source. Two that come to mind are Born to Be Wild and Born in the USA.
Whenever I read the opening verses of Psalm 92, the number 1,440 flashes through my mind. 1,440 is the number of minutes in a day, and Psalm 92 is a positive motivator on how to manage these precious moments:
Sometimes I’m asked to comment on the ills of society or to meet with an individual who is in need of counseling. The common denominator that frequently links the two is a lack of integrity. Whether it’s a politician, a musician, an actor, or an individual, the lack of integrity can be at the root of their problems.
How long would it take you to make a summary statement of your life? How many words do you think it would take?
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