Category: Personal

Idea for saving money

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Earlier this year I went through Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University. He outlines his plan for setting up a budget, eliminating debt, building an emergency savings fund, saving for the future, and much more. Ever since then I’ve been paying a lot closer attention to how I spend money and looking for ways to cut spending.

One idea that I had today came as I was writing some checks to pay bills. This is not a normal routine for me, because I typically pay my bills with online bill paying through my bank. The checks that my wife and I use have pictures of our dogs on them, and since we don’t write many checks any more they are a few years old and thus the picture is old. This gave me the thought that I ought to order new checks with pictures of our baby on them.

But this set me back. I realized that the reason I wanted a new picture on the checks was because of the warm feelings that come whenever I look at a picture of Emory. But I’m talking about spending money and paying bills, and I should feel good about that? I don’t think so! I want to save my money and use it the things I want to, not the things I have to.

I also thought about one the very first credit cards I got when I was in college. I applied for a card at a baseball game and got one with the Texas Rangers logo on it. Being the sports fan that I am I felt good about supporting my team and had a little bit of pride every time I whipped it out to swipe a purchse. This was not a good idea. I soon was spending too much money, but even worse I was having these good feelings every time I was doing it!

My idea is simply this. Instead of getting a fancy, personalized credit card or checkbook that reflects your personality, get the ugliest card and checks that you can find. If you’re embarassed to show people them you’ll probably spend less money. This is similar to Dave Ramsey’s idea of paying cash. It hurts emotionally more to give people cold, hard cash because of how tangible of an amount it is.

If you have any ideas like this please share them in the comments.

Feeling like a dad

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One of the things that I thought would change once I became a dad was that I would feel different. I always assumed that since my world was about to get turned upsidedown that life would feel different at a very fundament level, that I wouldn’t ever feel like the person I was before Emory was born. Over two months into this new phase of my life I realize now that it’s not true. I’m still who I am and feel, for the most part, like the same person.

That’s not to say that my life is not different, but I guess I’ve always thought that fatherhood would touch the core of my emotions in a way that I would be reshaped into a new and different person. The feeling that I have about being a dad I can best describe as feeling right. I do, however, still feel like I am the same person.

I guess that what being a parent is starting to do, though, is to reveal more fully who I really am. I know that my weak areas (selfishness, laziness, etc.) are more obvious to me now. I also think that my strong areas rise more to the surface, too.

Maybe the reason for this “true self” that I feel like I’m becoming has to do with the fact that I’m more fully living out God’s command on my life. God told the original inhabitants of the earth, Adam and Eve, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28). I’m starting to “fill the earth” with my offspring.

Maybe this, also, was partly was Jesus was alluding to when he said “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). It shouldn’t be a suprise at all that when I live out and obey God’s commands my life will be more rewarding.

Stuff I like: Jott.com

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One of the most important things to do when you’re trying to be productive is to have an effective and efficient system in place to capture all the ideas you have and actions you need accomplish. David Allen talks about this in his book Getting Things Done, which I’m in the early chapters of reading. For a long time I used my Palm device to do this, but it was limited. If I was driving it was difficult and unsafe to use it and I’ve never been a fan of the note-taking capabilities of the Palm OS or its task management.

In the past year I’ve started using Jott.com. It’s a service that allows you to call their number and it will record what you say, transcribe it for you, and then post it in one of a number of different places. For me, this has been an incredible help. I use it multiple times per week to add things to my task list, capture ideas that come to me, or to set a reminder about something that I need to do later.

The reminders are one of the best features of the service. You call in, say “reminder” and it asks when you want the reminder and a note to attach to it. When that time comes around the service will send you a text message with the brief note.

I’ve found the service to be fairly accurate at transcribing what I say, but not 100%. It doesn’t really bother me that it’s not perfect mainly because it’s a FREE SERVICE!!! You definitely get more than you pay for with Jott. I’d suggest trying it out and if you have any thoughts about it let me know in the comments.

See also: How to Get Things Done with Jott.

Tweet, Tweet: Why I use twitter

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Twitter has gained popularity over the past few years, but still many people have never heard of it. I got into to twitter about a year ago almost by accident. I had heard of it, but really didn’t seem interested at all. That is until I realized that I could add tasks to the new online task management service that I had just started using (more on that in another post).

The basic idea behind twitter is that you simply answer the question, “What are you doing?” It’s very similar to facebook’s status updates. In fact you can have twitter automatically update your status on facebook, too. You can share your thoughts, what you had for lunch, or just random nothingness throughout the day.

When I really started being a frequent user of twitter, many of my facebook friends were wondering why I was updating my status so often. I told that I was using twitter and they basically gave me blank stares. The event that really changed my use of twitter the most was when Emory was born. I decided that I would keep people updated by sending frequent updates via twitter. I figured that would be the easiest and best way to keep everyone informed without having to make a bunch of callas or texts. It turned out to be a really cool experience both for me and for the dozens of people that told me they were following along with my updates.

To get started with twitter just go to the site, sign up, and link your account to your phone (that way you can send updates with text messages). Then find some people to follow. Here’s a few to get you started: me, my older brother, Terry Storch from lifechurch.tv, ESPN, and Mark Lee from Third Day. I also recommend using an application like Twhirl. It’s a much better experience than going to the main website. Also, check out this newbie’s guide to twitter.

I can’t fully nail down why I’m hooked to twitter now, but after using it this long I know I’m hooked. It’s fun and it’s also an outlet for me to post my thoughts that aren’t really long enough for a blog post.

Running my first half-marathon

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About a month ago, a friend of mine casually asked me if I wanted to run a half-marathon in December. My initial reaction was “no thanks,” but I didn’t rule it out completely. That question hung around in my head for the next day, so I decided to get up off the couch the next night and go running, just to see what kind of shape I was in. That first night was tough. I was huffing and puffing about two minutes into the run and when I got home I was drenched in sweat.

Fast forward a month later. Now I can very easily run one mile and a decent pace. In fact, that distance seems very short to me today. My average run is currently over two miles long. I’ve also ran a five, four, and multiple three mile runs, too. It’s really pretty neat to see so much progess in such a little time.

Because of this progress I went ahead and registered for the White Rock Half Marathon here in Dallas on December 14, which gives me plenty of time to train and get in good enough shape that I can aim for a good time. I also have a hole lot more energy in general and I’m sleeping better at night, too. It’s been a great month.

If you’re thinking about getting back into running and are like I was (not in good shape), I’ve learned a few lessons that you might find helpful.

1. Run slower than you think you should.
That first night that I went out to run the biggest mistake I made was running WAY TOO FAST. I’ve been used to playing sports where running fast in short bursts is the norm. But distance running is different, especially when you’re a novice like me. If you run too fast, too early you’ll wear yourself out to the point that you won’t be able to run fast, if at all, at the end of your run. For me I had to be satisfied with not having good times in running, since I was not in great shape. The faster times will come later, but when you’re getting started you just need to work your heart and lungs out and later you’ll be able to pick up the pace.

2. Get a good pair of running shoes.
One of the things that has kept me running this go around has been the fact that I actually bought a decent pair of shoes that are specifically running shoes. In the other times that I’ve ran I’ve just slapped on my everyday cross-trainers, but my feet and shins would always be so sore after a run or two that I would quit. I’ve been able to keep at it with my feet and legs feeling great afterward primarily because of the shoes that I wear.

3. Stretch before and after your runs.
Even though my shoes have helped with my legs feeling good after my runs, the day after the run for the first few times I went my calves and hamstrings would be sore. I didn’t figure it out at first, but then I realized that I was stiffening up after the run. Once I started stretching when I got home this went away. Don’t skip this part or you’ll regret it the next day.

4. Register for a race at a distance that seems VERY LONG.
While I have a lot of confidence in my ability to run distances now, there were plenty of times in the first two weeks that I did not feel like I could make it very far. The only thing that really kept me going was knowing the 13.1 miles is a lot farther than what I was running that day. I knew that the more I ran early on the better I would be when race day rolls around. Having the race looming over my head has also given me enough motivation to go out and run on the days that I really don’t feel like running. Whatever distance seems long, whether it’s a 5-K, 10-K, half marathon, or longer, sign up for a long run and you’ll find the motivation to get out there and train.

So there you have it. Those are the things I’ve learned so far. I’ll update my progress as it gets closer to race day.

Hardest part of being a new dad

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To follow up on yesterday’s post about the best thing(s) about being a dad I thought I’d share what I think is the absolutely hardest part about being a father. You may have heard that the sleepless nights, dirty diapers, and the baby crying is the hardest part, but that not it from my perspective. Those parts are not very fun sometimes, but they are easy compared to the real thing that is the hardest.

What really is the hardest part of being a dad is what I call the “cloud of responsibility.” Picture the Peanuts comic strip where the storm cloud follows Charlie Brown around. That’s kind of what the cloud does. It’s there no matter where I am or what I’m doing. Now that Emory is here, I know for certain that I am responsibile for the well-being of another person. That’s pressure.

And when I say responsible I mean EVERY LAST ASPECT OF HER LIFE will be a direct reflection, for the most part, on how well I do as a father. I’ve read plenty of studies that show that if the dad is a positive influence on his child’s life she will be happier, healither, and have a better confidence in herself than if he’s absent. But on the flipside if a dad is not a positive influence her life will pretty much be a wreck. (I’m exaggerating, obviously).

Having this said, I don’t mind the cloud being there. It makes me sharper. It inspires me to work harder. I know that, with God’s help, I will be up to the challenge.

30 Days of Blogging

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If you’ve stopped by my blog lately you’ve probably noticed that I haven’t written anything for a long time. There have been two primary reasons for this: 1) Brea and I had our first baby (Emory), so I’ve been pretty busy keeping up with her; and 2) One of the primary topics I write about (the Dallas Mavericks) have put me into a sort of post-playoff bust funk.

To get back in the game I’ve decided to lay down a challenge for myself. What I’m going to do for the next thirty days is write at least one blog post. This will get me back into the habit and force me to think creatively about what I want to write about. I’ve already got a list of over thirty ideas, so I’m expecting this to come fairly easily.

Feel free to make fun of me if I miss a day. That will keep me on my toes, too.

Faith & Fatherhood

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Proverbs 22:6
Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.

Ephesians 6:4
Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

These two verses are ones that most any Christian parent is no doubt familiar with. In fact, most every parent is at least familiar with the principle that it is a parent’s job to raise their child right so that they can be a mature, responsible adult. As Christians, our job is to raise our kids up to be people of faith. I think most of us are hoping to not mess our kids up to the point that they abandon their faith or become a mass-murderer. That’d be a good start.

I’ve been thinking about this quite a bit since we found out Brea’s pregnant. There are plenty of examples of kids raised by full-time ministers who hate going to church, don’t believe anything in the Bible, and in many ways turn out to be exactly the opposite of what their parents were hoping they would be. This type of thing somewhat terrifies me.

This leads me to the news story from last week that really got my thinking about this topic. Last Thursday on Oprah’s show they had a “transgender pregnant man” from Oregon on. “He” describes “himself” as “transgender, legally male, and legally married to Nancy.” In other words he is really a she who had a gender-altering surgery, but kept the internal female reproductive organs.

“He” also said “Wanting to have a biological child is neither a male nor female desire, but a human desire.” I agree about the wanting to “have” part of that statement, but not if “have” means giving birth. I don’t know any guy who has ever said they wanted to give birth to a child. In fact, most women I know who are or have been pregnant don’t really look forward to the giving birth portion of the whole ordeal.

I didn’t watch the program, but thinking about the situation made me fairly angry. It’s an obvious attempt to make people more sympathetic toward transgender and homosexual couples. Oprah tries to come across in her show as a spiritually enlightened person, but in reality she is a pluralistic, polytheistic, new age apologist. She thinks that everyone should have the same beliefs that she does.

But the show also troubled me for another reason. I know that my main task in becoming a father for our soon to be born daughter is to guide her into being a woman of faith. I don’t know the person’s story on why she decided she was really a he, but I know there was a father involved in the process at least at some point. What if that dad was a good Christian person? Where did he go wrong?

I really don’t worry too much about our daughter one day doing anything as radical as this person did. But I do wonder how I will respond when she first messes up in a big way. I hope that I will be able to have the grace to forgive her as the father of the prodigal son did (Luke 15:11-31).

Baby Update: We’re starting to see her kicks

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It’s starting to become very real that Brea and I will be having our baby soon. It’s closing in on less than three months until she’s due, so the day will be here before we know it.

Last night was really cool. Brea had mentioned that she saw when the baby was moving earlier in the day and late last night I saw it too. She was going nuts for about ten minutes. It was the first time I had seen anything, but I had felt her kick quite a few times before.

In other news, we’re starting to strongly consider naming her Emory. The basic meaning of the name is “strength,” which would be one characteristic we’d like her to have. We’d also like her to be balanced with a more feminine middle name, but no real good leads on that.