What’s in a name? Well, that likely depends on the perception of the reader, as I’m not able to explain it to all. Accordingly, here’s a little background.
In college (as a student), many of my friends called me “Bing” or “Dr. Bingham”. Not sure how the latter got started, but it did. As I was setting up blogger two years ago on a whim with a friend and with Sherry, “Dr. Bing” sounded fun. Now that I’m actually posting, and I think people are actually reading, it’s time for a change. I’m not a Dr: Phd, EDd, JD, MD, DO, OD, or any such accomplishment, nor do I want to pretend to be.
As for “Bing, Jeffrey Bing”, the James Bond reference is obvious. No, I don’t live the life of Bond, nor do I wish to even think about doing so, but the movie franchise is fun. As a product of the mid 80′s, I relate more to the Timothy Dalton Bond, the one who seemed to care about others, cared about one woman, and whose main movie was filmed in Vienna, Austria, a city I have grown to love in recent years.
I am a happily married father of 3. CPA. CFO of my alma mater. I value faith, family, fun, football, and following sports of all types. I probably tend to live vicariously through my kids, as it seems their young lives contain such rich experiences. I try to remember that they are kids, with all of the hurts, struggles, emotions, and confusion that go along with that.
I love to travel, take pictures, and reminisce. Blogging seems to be just a natural extension of that, and if I’m able to process life’s tougher times and bless some others in the process, then it’s worthwhile.
Here is some personal background. I am the son of two wonderful, happily married people who have celebrated 50+ great years together. I am the middle child, with two sisters, born and raised in Texas, with a short stint in Louisiana. Dad was an educator, spending 20+ years in education, 7 or 8 of them in helping run Christian Schools. Little surprise that I would be drawn to a career in Christian Education, even though I am not “an educator”, but an accountant. As a good friend stated recently, in this business, we are all Christian Educators: the accountants, the security team, the custodians, the maintenance staff, everyone.
I spent 8 very formative pre teen years living at a Christian run children’s home where my dad worked as a school administrator. The environment provided lessons in sacrifice, sharing, the impact of bad decisions, and the finality of death; all making big impressions on me. I came to know Jesus while living at that place, and while I accepted Him there as a savior, my ultimate redemption and salvation through baptism came while in high school, when I believed and understood more about how I am a fallible human, the meaning of sin, and my true need for a Savior.
I met my dear wife Sherry at the church where my parents grew up in Fort Worth. We’ve been together for over 20 wonderful years. We actually met at the preacher’s house at an after church party: the house my aunt grew up in for years and years while her dad was the preacher for that church. One of my parent’s best friends from high school and college preached there, and he performed our wedding in the small town in the Texas panhandle that Sherry called home for 20 years. Even though I’ve lived many places, Fort Worth will likely always bear the “home place” tag for me, though OKC is pushing hard for those bragging rights.
I worked for a decade in public accounting and corporate financial management. Many of the issues we worked with in those days were highlighted in the financial market meltdown/”Great Recession” from a few years ago. Needless to say, I’m glad a quick trip to OC one weekend in 97 resulted in a job offer. God moves in a mysterious way, at least from our perspective.
Autoimmune disease seems to have a genetic hold on our family, with traits coming from both sides. Sherry was diagnosed several years ago with a fairly significant case of Rheumatoid Arthritis. Our kids have recently been determined to have varying levels of intolerance to gluten (the protein present in wheat) and have to eat very altered diets from what is the norm or the fast and easy way in middle America. The struggle and lessons from this are an almost daily experience. We hope to be learning from it in such a way as to bless and encourage others who are in similar or even more severe circumstances and need hope.
I have a great family, and a blessed life. I often let life’s stress lead me to forget that.
Maintaining this blog, this “digital journal” of sorts, has been an unexpected blessing for me these past few years. I don’t believe many of my kids read it much or at all, at least not at this moment in life. Perhaps one day when I’m gone from this earthly realm, this journal will remain as a blessing for my children, their children, and even generations that follow beyond.
If you are wondering, the header picture for the blog is a mountain stream that runs up around 13,000 feet near the town of Silverton, Colorado. I took this picture while on a jeep tour with the family in July of 2010. The view of the spring water cascading over many different types of rocks was a perfect image for me to depict my life reflections of this space: water running downhill, bouncing here, bouncing there, and carving out spaces and moving rocks as it flows on, drawn perpetually forward by the ultimate force in it’s existence.
Very nice pops. Love you!