March 2, 2009
North Carolina. Not Right. I am so through with winter.
North Carolina
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I’ve Changed
You have to understand.
It’s been coming for a long time.
I just didn’t know that someone could change so completely their attitude and mindset.
I am an Apple junkie.
There I said it. And I won’t apologize.
You see, if you know anything about me, I grew up in corporate America. I bought my first PC in 1982 and it looked exactly like this:
I learned how to program on this dual drive baby and I loved it. It helped pay the bills during my 22 year career. I was always the one people called when things didn’t go as expected.
But something happened along the way. I left Big Blue and came on staff at the coolest church in the world. Then I met this guy. He came on staff and brought his hippie Mac with him. I tolerated it. But we were still a PC church. He was on his own.
Because of my upbringing against all things Apple, I even went as far as buying anything but Apple. My first and second mp3 player was Creative Labs, even though the first iPods were out there. There was just something about being anti-Mac that I enjoyed.
It took until 2006 for me to purchase my first Apple product – an iPod for my son for Christmas. I was amazed at a couple of things right from the start. The packaging and the end-user experience. OK, maybe Apple products are not just for hippies anymore.
In late 2007, I purchased my first Apple product for myself. I was taking a trip to Kenya and I had outgrown my mp3 player and I could even get one that played videos.
Again, a great buying and end user experience. And I got to watch all seasons of The Office in a chair in the sky. Nice.
My son Stephen was next. He does a lot of audio/video stuff for the youth at our church. He asked for a Macbook as an early graduation present.
November 2008 was probably the tipping point. Our cell phone plan was up and we started looking around at new plans and phones. It didn’t help that 5 of my co-workers had iPhones and AT&T. Call it peer pressure if you want but after 3 months, I don’t know how I actually functioned PiP (pre-iPhone). My wife calls it iCrack but the time savings I have realized by using it is tremendous. And don’t get me started on the applications that are available for it – ok some of them are stupid.
December 2008 rolls around and it’s time for a new work computer. I had been using my personal Dell ever since I came on staff at Crosspointe and there was a window of opportunity to get a new notebook. PC or Mac? There are only 2 applications I use which are PC only and have no Mac counterpart but thanks to a piece of software, I am now residing in both worlds.
This past weekend, my frustration with my wireless router reached an all-time high and I vowed to fix it once and for all. Given my recent purchase history and the success I have had with Apple products, I purchased an Airport Extreme. Five minutes after I unpacked it, wireless internet was surrounding my house in areas my previous routers couldn’t get to. And with a simple plug-in of my USB drive, wireless backups are happening anytime I am on my network.
Simple customer experience. Apple gets it.
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Good. Yep. Nowhere. No one. Nothing.
Thanks to my friend Steve, who will be living this dream in a few short years. Enjoy.
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It’s Been Such A Long Time
The theme song from one of my favorite bands of all time should be playing as you are reading this post.
It has been such a long time. No excuses other than life. And Facebook.
Lots to catch up on so here goes…
Believe it or not I am still debriefing my trip to Kenya in October and there are still things going on over there which bring me back everyday. I love that country and people and it grieves my soul that there are things still going on at the Cheppema Hope Center that is not allowing us to bring some heaven to the kids over there. Please continue to join me in praying for the situation over there and a God-sized resolution to the living situation for the orphans.
On a lighter note, we spent Thanksgiving with Lisa’s parents and sister’s family in Waxhaw and they came up here for Christmas. As always good time with little drama (kind of hard to escape drama with 12 people under 1 roof) but we did fine.
Lisa and I finally took the 20th anniversary trip by taking a cruise to the Bahamas in January. It was wonderful to steal a week with my bride and just be “us”. Originally this trip was supposed to happen during our 20th in May but life got in the way and I had to plan and surprise her at Christmas. So we sort of had 2 anniversaries for our 20th.
Lots of things happening this year that are quickly approaching… Lisa and Stephen are raising money to go to Haiti over spring break, Sammi is going to raise money to go to NYC this summer and while I don’t have anything planned yet, I will never say no to God.
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A Good Reminder
1 Timothy 2:1-3
I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior,
Michael Hyatt, the president and CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, may have said it best as he summed up his feelings on this year’s election. I pledge along with him the following.
- I will pray for Barack Obama and our country.
- I will assume his motives are good, giving him the benefit of the doubt.
- I will not speak ill of him, even if I don’t always agree with him.
- I will cast off the spirit of cynacism and be a positive force for good.
Barack Obama won convincingly last night but we all know that we, as followers of Jesus, don’t put our faith in man or a politician. On that I think we can all agree.
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I Did It!
I went to our polling place this morning about 8 and got right in and was done in 10 minutes.
Before I went I prayed again. I don’t think that I have prayed more or researched more before voting in any other election. You see, neither of the major party candidates stand on platforms that I am in complete agreement with.
What it all came down to for me is 4 simple things. Which of the candidates displayed virtues that I want to see leading this country? My short list of virtues? Honor, morals, integrity and ethics. When you get past the rhetoric and the promises, the choice was an easy one.
Whether you agree with me or not, there are no excuses not to go out and exercise your freedom to choose our next leader.
We will all wake up tomorrow with the future course of this country set for the next 4 years. And hopefully all the signs will come down.
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Yard Work and Signs
I spent most of the morning pruning and cutting the front yard as it has pretty much run wild for the past 2 years or so. So far it has taken 2 trips to the compost pile today and is starting to look more like a front yard than an overgrown jungle.
While I was outside, I noticed some additions to yard signs in the neighborhood.
This picture is my neighbor right next door:
This picture is from my neighbor 2 houses away:
So I have one neighbor supporting McCain and one supporting Obama. Obviously I have more neighbors with more signs of support that I didn’t take pictures of.
Finally, here are my yard signs:
I guess what we are saying is that we are supporting the Autumn season and the Carolina Hurricanes.
I will NEVER put up a political sign in my yard. And it’s not because I don’t have an opinion. It’s because the sign is a potential wall or barrier between myself and my neighbors. I don’t want to put up anything that could cause a relational rift to occur. There is nothing as polarizing as politics (especially this presidential election) and my political views really don’t matter in my relationships with my neighbors.
If someone were to ask me who I was supporting, the only advice that I can give to anyone asking my opinion is pray then vote.
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My New Favorite Show
There are a few things on television that I rarely miss and if we do have other plans, the DVR is set to record. This past weekend a show on the Discovery Network made the very short list of DVR(able) shows.
Time Warp is one of the newest shows on Discovery and has really caught my attention.
It is hosted by MIT scientist Jeff Lieberman, Time Warp uses the latest in high-speed photography to show us things that have never been seen before. Ever want to know what really happens when a water balloon hits a face? Or a cat licking its paw? Or a dog drinking from a water bowl? Sounds strange but you’ve got to check this out.
The series just started on October 15th so there is plenty of time to catch up. The usual broadcast is Wednesday’s at 8:00pm but they are showing repeats all throughout the week. Here is the schedule of upcoming shows.
The technology used on the show got me to think that it would be cool, as humans, if we could see the things the same way as the camera sees them. Might just change our view of the world and how we see and process things.
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Stephen’s Mission Trip To Kenya
I had the awesome opportunity to take my son Stephen with me to Kenya on our most recent trip. I started going to Kenya when he was just 5 years old and he has always told me that he was going to go with me someday. This year turned the dream into a reality for both of us.
I had always told Stephen that I wouldn’t take him with me until he was 16 years old so it was a long wait for him. The reason for the wait was one of maturity. I had seen him in action this past summer on a youth mission trip to Washington DC and I knew that he was mature enough spiritually to handle a trip such as this.
I new from my previous trips to Kenya that Stephen would fit right in with the kids in Cheppema and I wouldn’t have to worry about him engaging the kids and fitting right in. His skill set fit right in with the team and what we wanted to do while we were on the ground. He displayed a gentleness and compassion with all of his new friends and I couldn’t have been prouder of him as a dad. It didn’t hurt to hear from many people that week how much they appreciated having Stephen on the trip and how much he contributed to our efforts.
Stephen lent his musical ability by leading worship time with the kids with his guitar and always seemed to draw a crowd wherever he went. He completely immersed himself in all the team’s activities during the week including putting up a roof on a duplex to playing soccer to dressing up like a sheep during one of the vacation bible school activities. Never once did he question or complain about anything and I don’t think I could have hand picked anyone to do what Stephen did.
In our discussions since we have returned, Kenya deeply affected Stephen and he will forever be changed by the time he spent there. It wouldn’t shock me if he came to Lisa and I and said that he wanted to be a full-time missionary as an adult. It also opened his eyes to things that he may never see as a citizen of the United States. Despair. Injustice. Corruption. Loneliness. Hunger. I believe that he now looks at all of these issues differently as he considers himself a citizen of the world.
He’s already talking about and saving for 2 trips coming up in 2009. Haiti and New York City. I don’t know if he will actually go on both but knowing Stephen and his heart, he will find a way.
My advice to parents is to take an opportunity to go on a short-term trip with your kids. You’ll know when they are emotionally and spiritually ready but be prepared to see both of your lives changed. Even after 8 trips to Kenya, I got to see things differently through the eyes of my son. As a dad and his son, we will forever be changed.
Filed under: church, family, kenya, missions | 3 Comments
Kenya – My Time There
Many people have asked me since we returned from Kenya a very simple “So, how was it?”
Simple question. Unfortunately I can never come up with a simple answer.
It was awesome and horrible all at the same time. Our team saw hope and despair within a few hours. The team was encouraged by a lot of what was seen and, at the same time were wrecked with the enormity of poverty. How does one answer a question like that?
First of all, for anyone going on a short-term mission trip, prepare to be an emotional wreck when you return home. Be prepared to answer the “so, how was it” question with “do you want the short answer or the long answer”. There will be well meaning people who don’t want to or can’t hear the long answer. There is nothing you can do to prepare them for the real answer. Living in the US doesn’t give them a proper perspective on what you experienced. If you do find someone who is truly interested in hearing EVERYTHING, prepare to have your heart broken all over again as you share your story. By the way, while the other people are well meaning, those who truly want to know are your true supporters.
On September 26th, 17 people left the friendly confines and surroundings of Cary, North Carolina for a 12 day trip to East Africa. By the time they returned on October 8th, they were changed forever. They left their hearts in a small community that doesn’t show up on any map. They loved and were loved by some kids unconditionally.
So if you ask someone who has taken a short-term trip to bring some light in a very dark area, know that you are opening up a conversation that you may not be prepared to hear. I love that each of the team were willing to step outside of themselves and their safe cocoon to open themselves up to others hurts, grief’s and trials. I know that they have been changed forever by this trip.
Just be prepared to hear the real story if you ask the question.
Filed under: church, kenya, missions | 1 Comment
