the BAKERS | www.jimjessbaker.com

I’ve got a question for you, and I want you to answer it if you know.  

“Where does motivation come from?”  

My biggest struggle in life has always been I KNOW what I need to do, I just don’t WANT to do it.  Actually, I’m not even sure if that’s true, because I do WANT to do some of the things I need to do, I just don’t want to enough to push through whatever I’m sensing is hard.  

Things are much easier when you have the momentum of motivation.  It requires real discipline (which isn’t fun, and doesn’t come easy to me) to do the things that you don’t want to do.  

I have seasons of being super motivated, where I’m disciplined, and then I swing the exact opposite extreme.  Where I lack all motivation and therefore lack discipline.  

I realize that self discipline is pushing through and being consistent when there is no motivation.  So how do you achieve that?  

Engage:  What do you value, but struggle to stay consistent and disciplined in?  What are some of your secrets to pushing through? 

Hello everyone.  

I apologize for not keeping up with blogging.  I’ve got lots of things to write about I just haven’t taken the time to do so.  

Sometimes I get really burnt out on social media and need a break.  Last week was rough, I think I was trying to cut out to many things out of my diet in attempt to eat healthy that it really shocked my system and I had a hard time doing much of anything with a good attitude.  

So here’s to hoping that I can get back into a good blogging schedule soon.  I still owe you guys a tour of our new house.  

Thank you to all of you that faithfully read this blog, I appreciate it!  

I’d love to hear from you!!  Feel free to shoot me an e-mail and lets catch up.  jimjessbaker (at) gmail (dot) com 

– Jim Baker

Today is a busy Sunday!   

We picked up a rental car this morning.  Believe it or not I opted for the Prius again.  I like that little car.  It was a bit of an upgrade charge, but its 4 door, and it will be good on gas.  I also opted for the liability insurance.  (I must be an adult now)  My visa card covers the collision.  (We don’t have car insurance right now because we don’t own a car.)  

I updated recently that we were car shopping.  We’ve given up on buying a car.  Nothing reliable is in our price range, so we’re going to save up for another year.  I’ll write a whole other blog post about how to avoid craigslist scams soon.  

Luckily our new home has a lot more privacy than we had last year so my introverted self can get recharged without feeling the need to get away from where we live and work.  I still owe you guys a video tour of the new place!

Anyway… we’re off to grab lunch with Jess’ cousin and husband who is town on vacation.  We’re going to take them to a tiki bar.   

And then later tonite we pick up our friend Maureen.  Maureen has been our ONLY visitor who has come just to see us, and this is her SECOND time 

I’ve got a week left to meet my goal of reading the New Testament in 2 months.  I’m at 2nd Peter.  I think I’m going to make it I’m way behind on blogging about it though.  

Engage:  What are you up to today?  Let us know in the comments.  

Over the weekend I tweeted my 3500th tweet!  

Happy Fathers Day Dad!  Thanks for being a great Dad!  

I think this is my favorite photo of my Dad.  I took it in 2011 at Ledos pizza.  

Whenever a picture is taken of someone he often says “quit with the cheesy smiles” so I asked him what the perfect picture would be.  He said “you need to look pleasant.”  

I asked him to show us a pleasant looking face which is displayed on the left.  Then he burst out laughing and gave us the authentic smile on the right 

Thank you for being the #1 encourager of my dreams!  For all of our walks and hot chocolate dates.  For showing me how to draw a battleship.  For dressing up like a pirate for my 7th birthday party.  For working hard and not letting me know we didn’t have as much money as most everyone else around us growing up.  For giving me the dodge intrepid when I learned to drive and you from then on taking subsequently older and junkier cars.  And your eagerness to  spend quality time with Jess and I.  Love you pops Miss you too.  Happy Fathers Day!  

Engage:  Do you know my dad?  Comment and let us know what attributes of a good Dad you’ve seen in him!  

Hey everyone, sorry about another week with no Bible post.  Are you still reading along with me?  Last week I was super inconsistent with my reading.  This week has been better but not great.  Anyway, in a half hour I’m headed off to go search the sea of used car lots to find the new BAKERmobile.  Please pray that God would lead us to a reliable vehicle.   Love you guys, thanks for reading!  Leave us a comment and say hi 

Oh and if you haven’t seen it yet… go check out our most recent photo session.  Jared and Mahea’s Engagement Photos.  Jared is the one that is actually taking me car shopping in a minute.  

Have a great day!

1. Where is the emergency? (Exact location > General Intersection > Store Name) This is to determine both jurisdiction as well as to know where to find the person. You’d be shocked to hear how many times someone will respond, “The Gas Station”, as if there was only one in the entire city.
2. What is the emergency? Limit this to a few words, “I was shot/stabbed/robbed/assaulted/etc”.
3. When did it happen? (Exact Time Frame) People often respond, “just barely right now”, which is a subjective measurement ranging from one minute ago to fifteen minutes ago. If it just happened I would say, “One minute ago”, so that the operator can move on.
4. Weapons involved?
5. Injuries?
6. Who did it? Name, race, age, height, weight, clothing (from top to bottom, outer layer to inner layers), carrying anything?
7. Where did the suspect go? Nautical directions: North/South/East/West
8. How did they leave? In a car (color/make/model, damage to vehicle  bumper stickers, chrome wheels, tinted windows, sun roof, things that stand out if someone looked at it.), on foot/bike/moped
9. What did he take?
10. Contact information?

When we were on the mainland we celebrated Jess’ birthday with her dad and step mom.  As we were waiting outside of a restaurant for a table to open up we were taking our 365 (the above photo) when suddenly an elderly lady fell down a whole flight of stairs.

I heard a short scream, then commotion, and then saw the lady sliding down the steps backward, and then I heard her head hit the ground.  I was up and out of my seat and went over to the woman, there was already about 3 others surrounding her.  

Immediately I asked, do you want me to call 911?  I think I had to ask twice.  Someone said yes, call 911.  I told them not to move the lady because they were starting to try.  The lady was unconscious.  As I dialed 911 blood began to pour from the back of the womans head.  A man had put his hand under her head and blood began to pour out quite quickly.  I’m not sure why he decided to move the woman’s neck, and why he would do that if he didn’t have gloves on.  Another woman looked at me and pleaded tell them to hurry up.

The 911 operator asked me what city I was in.  I didn’t know, I was travelling, visiting family, we weren’t in the same city that Jess’ dad lives in.  I had to ask someone.  They then transfered my call to another 911 operator.  They asked me what had happened and where I was.  I told him that a woman had fallen down a flight of stairs.  They wanted to know how old she was.  Someone told me in her 70’s.  I don’t remember the exact order of questions they asked, but they also asked me if she was conscious and what the extent of her injuries were.  I told them she was unconscious and that blood was coming out of the back of her head.  I think she came to during the phone conversation.  

Then they wanted the address of the restaurant.  I didn’t know that either, but there was an employee outside now too who had to repeat the address to me a few times.  One of the hostesses upstairs was also on the phone with 911.  I told the operator that, and he just had me keep going, but then he said that the other call was complete and someone was on their way.  The womans husband was crying at this point and someone was trying to comfort him and get him to sit down.

The restaurant was in a strange parking lot, so I ran up to the main road to flag down the ambulance.  I could hear sirens, and then I saw them trying to pull into a wrong parking lot.  I flagged them down and they saw me immediately, then I pointed them in the direction to go.

I walked back and prayed for the woman quietly as the paramedics were doing their thing.  I went and sat back down to wait for our table.  Jess had been redirecting people walking by so that they didn’t walk onto the scene.  Our table got called and we went in and ate our dinner, we were a bit shaken up, and I made sure to use the handrail for the rest of the evening.

I felt that time is of the essence in these types of situations.  I was frustrated that no where did the restaurant have it’s address posted.  What if there wasn’t an employee available to tell me?  I guess it’s important to know your surroundings even if you’re travelling.  I was frustrated that the people moved the womans neck.  I thought if there is a possible spinal injury you were not suppose to move them.

Anyway here’s some things I learned.

1.  Know your surroundings.  Know where you are, what city you’re in and what street you’re on.  When you call 911 from your cell, you might have to be redirected to another operator.

2.  Since time is of the essence, make sure you help the EMS get there, either flag them down yourself or delegate someone to flag them down.  Be safe in this process.

3.  Use a handrail when on the stairs, carry latex gloves.

4.  Keep your phone charged.

Engage:  Have you ever called 911?  Share with us the story in the comments.