Being from the North, do I need to wear my bike helmet while hiding in the bathroom???

mitchellscott: Uh, what??

about 5 days ago

Wed Feb 11 03:56:52 +0000 2009

markbenno: It depends. If your bathroom is an outhouse, I highly recommend it!

about 5 days ago

Wed Feb 11 03:58:44 +0000 2009

pauldwatson: – Only if it&#39s that football helmet they gave you when you road the short bus to school! LOL!

about 5 days ago

Wed Feb 11 04:01:36 +0000 2009

heididarling: you should always wear your bike helmet, just in case! Take a picture I don&#39t want to miss that! 🙂

about 5 days ago

Wed Feb 11 05:41:29 +0000 2009

The Truth

This video was used Sunday in our church.  Katie and thought it was very cool.  What do you think?

Me Being Me

I am learning so much these days.  I have always looked up to others in my life.  Not a bad thing.  However, when I go as far as to be that person….that might be bad.  When I was a kid, I wanted so bad to be like Mike!  I had Michael Jordan posters, cards, shoes, Wheaties boxes, etc…  I was able to make my fade-away look like his, but that is as far as it went.  There was no way I was going to play and be just like Michael Jordan.

Later in life I have tried to be like many authors, salesmen, business men.  Try to do the same things regarding scheduling my time, sales techniques, etc…  I have learned, that I will never be those guys. 

The Lord has made me to be me, and I think that is a great thing.  I am not perfect, but I am also learning that one else if perfect.  Whoa!  

“no worries, be responsible”

Am I Free to Change?

Am I free to change the college football team I pull for?  Just this year!  Tell me, is that something I was supposed to do a the beginning of the season?  

Michigan is BAD!  I am not enjoying this season of college football.  I am wondering if, just for this season, can I pull for another school?  What do you think?

2.5 days in Los Angeles

I met so many incredible people last week in Los Angeles. I am thankful for the opportunity the Internet gives us to express ourselves, and now it just enhances the face to face.

Tony working a dozen different apps for LifeShare!

  It was fun being able to see Tony Steward working the production board for the last LifeShare event.

 

I had the chance to participate in #churchtechcamp on Friday at Fuller Seminary. There were about 25 in the room and another 15-25 online. It was really exciting to see everyone really wrestling with the issue of Technology and the roll it plays within the church. I could add allot here, but I you need to just check out the conversation that took place over at the #churchtechcamp live feed. The unconference also made it up on the twitter blog…..so cool!

I will say, it is really important that no mater the tools, we need to take a hard look at our heart and make sure we are being real with ourselves and God first. We can have all the cool, slick tools, but what good are they if our motives are all out of whack!

With all of that taking place, the highlight of the trip was being able to drop in on a customer.  I will post more about that visit at a later time.

Crazy, Exciting Times!

I am so thankful for the job that I have and the position that the Lord has lead me to. In the last four months, I have met some amazing individuals who have an extreme passion to see people reached for Christ. I am leaving in the morning for Los Angeles where I will have several meetings over the course of the next 2.5 days.

The Lord is doing some exciting things and I feel as if there is a group of individuals that are being brought together for a larger purpose in mind. It will be interesting to see how things go over the next couple days and months. I am not posting a bunch of details right now, but please be in prayer for me/us that we keep the Lord first in all things.

Sam McGuffie!

Michigan is pretty bad this year!  I will be amazed if they win 8 games!  However, they have a phenomenal freshman running back.  Here is a video from HS!

I am a People Pleaser

I have always known that I am a people pleaser.  I have said it for a long time!  Tonight I watched a service online at LifeChurch.tv.  Good Stuff.  They are on week two of a series titled “You Don’t Have What IT Takes.” This series coincides with the book Craig Groeschel wrote, called It.  Tonight’s sermon was about people pleasers.  

I resonated with much of what was said.  Here are a few of the key parts Craig talked about.

People Pleasers can be defined as people who 1)take most criticism personally, 2)feel an extraordinary fear of rejection, 3)find it hard to express their true feelings, and 4)have a hard time saying, “no.”  This is me!  I have learned to do better in these areas but continually struggle with them, especially saying “no.”

He went on to call this the “Disease to Please.”  Pleasing people is a form of idolatry!  Say What???  But that is so true.  If I am trying to please all these people in my life, then I am not pleasing God!  Wow!  That notion really got me thinking.  Here I have been doing all these extra things that are not bad, but, have been doing them for the right reason?… 

Craig mentions that the fear of God is the best antidote for the fear of people.  If people are too big in my life, then God is too small.  I thought that was an interesting way to look at it.  We always say, who comes first, but……really, who comes first???  Aren’t we serving God by serving people?  Not quite!  If people are ruling me, then God is too small in my life.  When God becomes bigger in my life, then the opinions of people becomes smaller.  When you know who God is…the people who controlled you loosen their grip on you.  That is kind of deep.  But I liked hearing it that way.  It was easy, for some reason, to wrap my mind around.

My God is so big that I will not compromise His standards for what everyone else thinks!

…We are not trying to please men but God, who test our hearts….We were not looking for praise from men, not from you or anyone else.  1 Thess 2:4, 6

Day of Dark

My good friend was in town last week with his wife and daughter.  We really enjoyed spending the week with them.  One of the items we discussed was the lack of intentional family time in our lives.  So we decided that we would commit ourselves to one day of dark each week.  We choose Sunday!  Both families would stay off the computer, TV, and cell phones for the entire day.  With the NFL season about to start, I do not know what I was thinking when committing to this day of dark.

Well, yesterday was our first day of dark and I must say I enjoyed it so much!  After church, we ate lunch as a family and then went to the pool for a couple of hours.  We had a nice dinner and played a great game of chutes and ladders.  After the girls went to bed, Katie and I had a great conversation and then the day was over.  Very relaxing and enjoyable.  I am realizing that it is important to be intentional in our actions and not continue to just pass time.

I found I was more focused with my computer time on Saturday night because I knew I would not be online on Sunday at all.  I did not realize that would happen, but I was pleasantly surprised with my finding.  I think too often I can waste time online, because there is no reason to move on to something else. 

Dark Day Highlights

• I did not miss the football as bad as I thought I would
• Lindsay learned to swim under water more than 15 feet
• Leslie learned how to spin the spinner in chutes and ladders
• Lindsay asked to play a family game every night
• Katie is excited about making family memories

And who cares who played and won ten years from now!

Time To Do This Thing!!!

We have kept a family blog for the last three years.  It has been a great way to keep the family around the country updated on our activities.  Now that I am working in the Web 2.0 world and I am doing more reading of my own, I felt it was time to start my own blog.  This will be a spot where I will mix business with personal and I will fill you in on what is in my head!  🙂