It finally happened! At 3:23am on Friday Feb. 17th my son, Tyler Clay arrived! I will have to say the miracle of childbirth never ceases to amaze me! I have seen it happen two times before this so you would think I would be an old pro … that is still not the case! I was very anxious and nervous for my wife! Cooper came fast so I was a little concerned with the speed at which Tyler would come. My biggest deal was to make sure that Tracy got her epidural this time! Her last experience with the whole natural childbirth thing wasn’t too good… so I knew that if she made it to the epidural we would be set. We made it in time for the epidural and things went smooth from there! She done a great job and within a couple hours we were blessed with our third boy!
It all worked out in God’s time! Tracy had been worried about making it to the hospital on time and me missing everything because I have been in Texas for three weeks. You are probably wondering what I was doing gone so close to her due date or maybe you are wondering why I wasn’t at the NTRL finals. So I guess I have some explaining to do!
Well, here it goes! For a while now I have been praying for several different things, one was to have some security for my family, the other is to improve and grow this magazine into what I know it can be. I felt I was being called to move to Georgia to do all these things but I didn’t know why. I try to listen to the man above, it isn’t always easy and I fail miserable at it sometimes but when I do things seem to fall into place!
A few months ago a friend of mine, Joey King who works for Priefert, told me they were splitting territories and Priefert was looking to hire someone for Georgia, South Carolina and Florida. As soon as he told me I thought that would be a good job! The more I thought about it the more I wondered if it would be possible for me to do the job. I prayed about it and talked to my wife to see how comfortable she would be handling more of the magazine. She said she thought she could do it as long as I would still be able to contribute to the magazine! So I called Eric Dunn and asked him a little about the job and he didn’t see that they would conflict! After praying about it, I sent in my resume and was called in for an interview. Long story short, I got the job!
I have been in Texas training for three weeks and I can’t begin to tell you how impressed I am. I have known Nate Priefert, Joey King and Eric Dunn for a while so I had a good idea about what the company was about but I was blown away. Priefert is a family owned business that has grown by leaps and bounds and the basis for it all is summed up into one word INTEGRITY! They believe in making a quality product and standing behind it! They have very dynamic and experienced leadership in this company and I am very blessed to be a part of Priefert. I’m sure I don’t have to tell any of you about Priefert because their name is synonymous with the sport of Rodeo and Team Roping!
Now I’m sure some of you are wondering how I will be able to do both! It will be tough for a while but I’m fortunate enough to have a very supportive family that is willing to help. My mother in law will be helping my wife with the billing and subscriptions, which will free up Tracy for other responsibilities. As for me, hopefully now you will be seeing more of me! These jobs go hand in hand. It’s Funny how God answers prayers… if we are willing to look for his answers!
God Bless,
JD Malone