I am a man with multiple interests, many of which will find their way into these blogs. Among other things, I am a follower of Jesus, Husband and Father, Elder, Industrial Engineer, Entrepreneur, and South Side Chicagoan.
Follower of Jesus
I believe with all my heart that there is only one God, that Jesus is God come in human form, that he was born of the Virgin Mary, that He lived to show us God, that He died to save us from our sins, that He rose on the third day, that He now intercedes for us with God, and that all who accept Him as Savior are filled with the Holy Spirit. I believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God. I believe that all of scripture teaches us about Jesus, from Genesis 1:1 through Revelation 22:21.
I learned about Jesus from the time I was a baby. Growing up, my parents and grandparents made sure I got to Sunday School and church every week. I went to Vacation Bible School every summer, and church camp (LRCA) twice.
In 1978 I committed to following Jesus and was baptized at First Christian Church of Chicago. While in High School, I was active in everything the church offered for youth. But in college I drifted away for a while until a couple men from church reached out and got me involved again. I’ve had ups and downs since then, but I always keep coming back to Jesus as my Lord and Savior.
Husband and Father
After Jesus, the most important person in my life is Lois. I met her at First Christian Church of Chicago and we were married there in 1987. I was attracted to her beauty, personality, and voice from the first time she came to our church to sing. She is an amazing woman with lot’s of different interests who is very fun to be around.
When we moved back from Georgia in 2000, Lois and I chose a house that would be conducive to having children. We looked into various routes to adoption and decided to become foster parents. Gwen was first placed with us at Thanksgiving in 2005, when she was just nine weeks old. Then her older sister Samilla was placed with us on June 30, 2006. Their younger brother was also with us from birth in 2008 until he moved to another home in February 2012. We adopted Samella and Gwen in 2009.
Elder
After a few years in college, I started to get serious about my faith. I started teaching Sunday School and leading Bible Studies and even wrestled with the idea of going into the professional ministry. I ultimately decided that I was cut out to be an Engineer, not a professional clergy person. But from that time I felt like God was calling me to one day be an Elder in His church.
I’ve been involved in a number of teaching and leadership roles at various churches since then. All of which God has used to help prepare me for what I would do in the future.
After moving back to the Chicago area from Georgia in 2000, I returned to First Christian Church of Chicago, where I am now an Elder. I understand the Biblical teaching on Eldership to be very much what most people think of as a pastor. In fact, the words for Elder and pastor are used interchangeably in the New Testament. I’ll have more to say about that in one of my blogs.
Industrial Engineer
I’ve always been interested in Science and Math as long as I can remember. So naturally I did well in those subjects in school. As a result, people steered me towards Engineering when I was getting ready to go to college. So I applied to and was accepted into the Engineering School at the the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC).
The first two years of Engineering at UIC were core curriculum including science, math, and introductory courses to various engineering disciplines. From the first Industrial Engineering (IE) class that I attended, I knew that was what I was cut out to do. To me, much of IE is just plain common sense. It also incorporates a lot of the probability and statistics that I’ve always enjoyed. Over the course of my career I’ve been able to put into practice every technique and tool I learned in my IE classes at UIC.
Entrepreneur
I have always had an interest in starting my own company. When I see empty storefronts, I always wonder what kind of business might be succesful there. When I have friends that are out of work, I always wonder what business I could start that would leverage their skills.
I received the impetus I needed to actually start my own business in 1995. At the time, I was working for Kellogg Company as a Demand Planner. When they decided to consolidate the statistical modelling aspects of Demand Planning at a support office in India, I decided I was not interested in the new job description for Demand Planners in the United States. So we parted ways.
After leaving Kellogg Company I quickly started Shive Supply Chain Solutions LLC. Since then I have been working to help food and consumer products companies with demand planning, supply planning, and project management. Along the way I’ve been also been able to help a few friends connect with opportunities that were right for them.
I have a few other ideas for businesses that I may even have the opportunity to try someday.
South Side Chicagoan
I have reason to be biased, but I think Chicago is one of the greatest cities in the world. I was born on the southeast side. I lived and worked on the southwest side for the first 31 years of my life. I attended Whitney Young High School when it first opened in 1975 and graduated in 1978. I went on to get a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from UIC. I worked my way through college at Red’s Drive In at 111th and Western in Morgan Park. My first full-time job was at the Nabisco plant at 71st and Kedzie. For the past 20 years I’ve lived in the southwest suburbs, but I visit the southwest side of the city frequently.
I hope you’ll read my blogs to find out more about me