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Two new features on my blog

February 25, 2009 in Personal, Tech with 0 Comments

Quick update. I’ve turned on two new features on my blog. First, I’ve added a WordPress plugin called Lifestream, which basically creates an activity log of stuff that I’m doing online. If you’re familiar with FriendFeed it’s basically the same thing, except that it’s self-hosted. There are two places it shows up. One is on my sidebar (the right side of my page) and the other is on a dedicated page. Right now the page lists my most recent actions, but I’m planning on trying to figure out how to have archives going back further than that (just in case I need to dig up something older). I disabled this feature. You can follow me on Twitter if you’d like to know what’s going on in my life.

The other thing I added was a contact page, which is a basic “fill this form out and I will be emailed” type thing. It’s another WordPress plugin. I used to have my email address listed on my blog, but I was getting way too much spam, so I took it off. This page should be a better solution for me. You can still comment on my posts, but some people might want to ask a question without it appearing on the web. That makes sense to me.

Take a look at both of them and let me know what you think.

Two things Twitter needs to do ASAP

January 19, 2009 in Personal, Tech with 2 Comments

I’ve had two thoughts about Twitter that I need to get out there.

twitter_logo_sFirst, Twitter needs to make money. They can’t continue on venture capital for much longer. People will only throw money at a business opportunity that doesn’t make any money for as long as they can see potential. At some point unfulfilled potential becomes  no potential. If Twitter can’t monetize their service soon they’ll dissolve away into only our memories as many websites have done before.

Second, Twitter needs to overhaul their ridiculous “replies” system. It’s not really a reply at all. Basically, you’re just tweeting something to or about another person that may or may not have anything to do with what that person just tweeted. It doesn’t really allow a person to “reply” to what somebody has said. But the current system does have value and shouldn’t be eliminated. I like the functionality it provides, but it’s not a true reply. What they need to do is create a reply/comment tree setup that both friendfeed and facebook have figured out how to do. This would allow people to actually have more real conversations instead of just the name-dropping or shout outs that happen now. This would make the service much more useful.

Ok, that’s enough ranting for tonight.

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Little Changes Can Make a BIG Difference

January 15, 2009 in Personal, Religion with 3 Comments

walksidewalk

The New Year is off and running. If you’re like a lot of people you had new habits and resolutions that you were wanting to do this year that may or may not be going so well. The good news I have for you is that it’s never too late to get started in making changes in your life and those changes don’t have to be life-altering to make a difference.

Let me give you a personal example.

Last year I decided I needed to lose weight and get in shape. I also thought that the best way for me to stay motivated to do that was to run a half-marathon. When I made this decision I was doing nothing athletic. The closest thing to a sport that I was doing was playing men’s slow-pitch softball, which is about as athletic as walking from the couch to the refridgerator to get piece of cake. Going from running 0 miles to 13.1 miles didn’t happen overnight. In fact, it took me five months of training to get there.

Not everyone will be able to run 13.1 miles, but you don’t have to do somthing that big to make a big differnce in your life. Another personal example is where I’ve chosen to park my Jeep when I get to the office. I decided last year that I should always park a little bit further from the entrance so that I walk just a little bit further every day. It’s not that much further, just 90 feet from where I would normally park. That doesn’t seem like a big deal, but let’s add it up.

90 feet extra walked
x2 round-trip (180 feet total)
x3 leaving and coming back each day (540 feet)
x5 days a week (2700 feet OR half-mile)

Basically, I’m making myself walk an extra half mile every week simply by parking just a little bit further away from the entrance every day.

From a spiritual sense you can do the same thing. If you’ve wanted to read the Bible more, but you’re not reading it at all right now, don’t fool yourself by thinking you’ll read the Bible for an hour every day. Start with just 3 minutes. Then make it 5. Then before you know it you’ll be reading 15-20 minutes a day.

Make a change today, however small it might seem, and you’ll be amazed at how far you’ve gone when you look back later this year.

2008 Year in Review

December 31, 2008 in Personal with 2 Comments

2008 was an historic year in my life.

When I look back at this year later on in my life, I imagine that I’ll see this year as a major turning point. I’ve had big years before (marriage, ministry change, college), but no year compares in my mind to this year. Not only was it historic, it was a great year.

The first big thing that happened in my life was that I completed my Masters degree. It took me just under two years of focused, self-disciplined dedication and I did it while working full-time, but in May I graduated from Liberty Theological Seminary with a Master of Arts in Religion, Church Ministries concentration. I had a personal goal at one point of having a Masters by the time I was 30, and I accomplished that goal at the age of 29 (no need to point it out, I know I procrastinate).

The second big thing that happened this year was I became a dad. Emory Nicole Rossen came into my life on May 27 (just a few weeks after I finished my Masters) and my life will never be the same. Seven months into this adventure I have to say that it’s an amazing experience. I love being a dad. I love watching Brea be a mom for Emory. I love the joy that I feel when Emory smiles at me. I love the fact that I understand God’s love for me more now than I did 8 months ago. There’s so much more that I love about being a dad, but I’ll save that for another time.

The third big thing that happened this year was I ran the White Rock Half Marathon. I recently blogged about this, so I won’t elaborate a whole lot, but this was a big deal for me. I had become very sedentary, partly due to my graduate studies, and I really needed something big to motivate me, but not so big that I got too discouraged in the process. 13.1 miles turned out to be the perfect distance for me to race. It was achievable, but it was also a stretch for me. I lost over 15 pounds along the way and I feel so much better physically now than I did before I stepped out the door to run one July day.

Here are more highlights from this year, in no particular order:

  • Vacation to Chicago in October
  • Watching Emory try to tear open presents on her first Christmas
  • Emory falling asleep during fireworks on July 4th
  • Flying to Houston to buy the Sonata
  • Getting hooked on Twitter
  • Getting hooked on Facebook
  • Transitioning to a one-salary household
  • Seeing Foo Fighters in concert for the first, and hopefully not the last, time
  • Starting Financial Peace University and Men’s Fraternity at church
  • Teaching Greek at church
  • Preaching on Father’s Day and my 30th birthday

Of course, not everything that happened this year was positive. The biggest shadow over the year was the death of my last living biological grandparent. I hadn’t really been close to him since I was a kid, but I still loved him and have very fond memories going back to the days we’d spend at their house in Illinois. It was also a neat thing to spend time with him and my Aunt/Uncle’s family over Thanksgiving. Probably the most sobering thing to think about is that I’m no longer a 3rd generation family member. I’m now part of the 2nd generation of my direct family on both sides. It’s a sobering reminder of the fragility of life.

The other biggest low was the personal struggles of one of my siblings. I won’t elaborate here, though.

So what about you? What happened in 2008 that you’ll remember? Maybe it wasn’t such a great year for you, but it’s good to talk about those things too. I’d love to read your story!

The Race of Life: Biblical lessons I learned from running the White Rock Half Marathon

December 17, 2008 in Personal, Religion with 2 Comments

I taught this lesson to our Senior adults ministry today. Ten life lessons.

  1. Run with a purpose
    • 1 Cor 9:24, 26
  2. Running has distractions
    • Gal 5:7, Heb 12:1-2
  3. Running takes discipline & perseverance
    • 1 Cor 9:26-27
  4. Running a race requires hydration & food intake
    • John 4:13-15
  5. Running has rewards
    • 1 Cor 9:25, 2 Tim 4:6-8
  6. Running is not fun at times
    • 2 Cor 11:25-29
  7. Running with a friend is easier than running alone
    • Ecc 4:9-10
  8. Runners come in all shapes and sizes
    • 1 Cor 12:12-20
  9. Running a race starts with just a few short, slow steps
    • Matt 14:28-29
  10. Running a race is really just putting one foot in front of the other
    • Philippians 3:12-16
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