A Note from the President

I am blessed to be married to my wife, who grew up on Amelia Island, Florida. We take several trips there each year and we spend time walking on the beach during our stay. One thing I enjoy during our walks is looking for sharks' teeth. On one recent visit, I contemplated how searching for sharks' teeth related to work and life. 

On this particular day,  my family was walking on the beach with our dog. I was throwing our dog's favorite ball while searching intermittently for sharks' teeth.  As you can surmise, I was not having much success in finding the sharks' teeth. I was thinking, "I'm walking too fast . . . I'm just skimming the surface . . . too many distractions to be able to find any."

Searching for sharks' teeth reminds me of pursuing any worthwhile endeavor such as faith, marriage, relationships, profession, or hobbies. You must slow down and focus on the task at hand and delve into it deeply.  It's easy to lose focus because of the surrounding distractions that get in the way of your objective. It takes discipline to concentrate on certain characteristics of the teeth and to not be distracted by shells, birds, and waves that cover the beach.  The teeth are small and black and are imitated by many pieces of small broken shells. It takes time and many walks to distinguish between the true teeth and the counterfeit pieces of shell  that are picked up, only to be discarded upon closer inspection.

The same is true with pursuing any worthwhile goal in life. For instance, faith takes discipline in spending time praying and studying the Word of God to discern God's will for your life. Likewise, it takes time to develop marriage and relationships deeply. When we are too busy and just skimming the surface, we will not find and cherish the jewels that are around us every day. 

Discerning the needs of a project for a client requires the ability to sift through the information and winnow down to the key factors that shape a project and make it unique. Knowledge and wisdom are gained through years of experience. Our goal at A&O is to build wisdom through each project so that excellence is achieved through the work that we do.

Are we recognizing and avoiding the distractions in life that do not build up but may actually tear down? Our life is full of choices. The challenge is choosing to focus on endeavors that lead to eternal worth and value.

 My number one responsibility is to help our employees, clients, and vendors have a relationship with God and spend eternity with Him. Is there anything of greater importance in this world? Designing the world's largest bridge would be an amazing achievement, but it pales in comparison to spending eternity in heaven. I need to seek God's will and vision for Alpha & Omega Group. If we focus on what God wants for our clients, employees, and community, we will achieve what has real and lasting value with an eternal impact through the work that we do.