Alex’s Baptism

Yesterday was an exciting time for us.  Alex was baptized.  While it has been several years since Alex decided to put his life into God’s hands, we waited for him to be baptized when we were with our sending church before so many of our family and friends.  For the week before, Alex kept saying “You’re making too big a deal of this.”  And we kept reminding him that this is a once-in-a-lifetime event.  It was wonderful.  Seriously, I cried.  (I’m going to be a basket case at his wedding).

Afterwards, we had our family and friends over for a celebration lunch (Alex’s favorite – “Root Beer Crockpot” – he has interesting names for things as this is a pork tenderloin cooked slowly in a crockpot with diet pepsi.  We don’t know where the ‘root beer’ came from).  He was also given one of his “rites of passage” as he received a cross necklace.  He’s grown up seeing mine and his grandfather’s.  Maybe now he won’t be so anxious for mine (he knows he gets it when I die – so his impatience to receive it was always a little disconcerting).

We’re extremely happy for Alex as he has just declared to the world that he is a servant of God and that he puts his trust in God.  I know not all that read this will understand our excitement.  If you really want to know, ask me about it.

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A Day (or Two) of Rest

I thought it was yesterday that we arrived in the US but apparently it’s been a few months (like 5 months).  The months leading up to our departure were hectic with packing, preparing our apartment for subletters, trying to get projects done, etc.  Since arriving we’ve been going from place to place meeting with people (there’s a lot of eating involved in that), preparing for talks and conferences, getting back to being active in our sending church – all while maintaining a regular workload of projects happening in Europe and trying to recruit more IT geeks to join us in eDOT.  I blinked and it’s gone.  I also realized that I’m exhausted and had not taken hardly any of my vacation time for the year.

So Krista made arrangements for us to get away for a three-day weekend.  Thanks to some friends who have a cabin in the NC mountains and some grandparents who wanted some good “Alex” time, we were able to spend time cuddled up with our books and did a little hiking while admiring the changing of the leaves.  It was just spectacular to see.  Reminds me of a Ziggy cartoon where he’s watching a sunset and yells, “Go God, go!!”

Rest can make such a difference.  I feel so much better and my mind is in better shape.  Its really amazing what some time just resting can do.  Maybe that’s why God tells us to set aside a day a week for “rest” (some call it Sabbath).  In our hectic pace of life (which I’m sure most of you can understand) we have to intentionally figure out where our day of rest will be (Sundays don’t always work because many times that’s the best day to meet with people or we’re speaking somewhere).  I talked just the other day with a new missionary and I asked her, “When is your day of rest?  If you don’t have one, be intentionally about planning one into your schedule.”  I figure if God, creator of the universe, took a day of rest – then maybe little ole me should do the same.

So, in your pace of life – have you figured out your day of rest?  What does it look like to you?

As I entered jail

I know the title of this post probably had some of you really wondering (especially my parents) however a little bit ago I went to visit a friend who was in jail.  As I entered, this car was in the parking lot (see picture which has a car with “Just Married” across the back).  My first thought was “Wow, that must have been some wedding if they ended up here!!!” and my second thought was “I would love to know the full story behind why this car is here!!”

I love to hear stories.  I think we all love to hear stories.  That’s why TV and movies are so popular.  The winner of a big song contest in Europe (EuroVision) a couple of years ago said that they reason he won was because he told a story.  We all have stories to tell and we all have stories to listen to.  Some stories are simple like those told by a child.  Some stories are complex like those told by a politician.  Some stories are true like those told by Mother Theresa.  Some stories are made-up – again like a politician.  Some are based on truth but parts are embellished to enhance it like the folktales of our ancestors (who really was “Little Red Riding Hood” seriously?)  While others are pieces of fiction but are so lifelike, you wonder if the story really isn’t true.  Sometimes a story is inside another story (kinda like the “dream within another dream” in the movie Inception).

Tell me – what’s your story? (Leave a comment below or email me)  Now, when have you asked somebody else what their story is?

Sidenote:  Ok – a little jail humor:  A young guy gets locked up in prison sentenced for life.  After the lights are turned off, guys in the cell block start yelling out numbers.  “23!!!” and then everyone starts laughing.  “102!!!!” and more laughing.  The next morning, the young guy goes up to one of the old timers and asks, “Why were people shouting numbers and then everyone started laughing?”  The old timer responded, “Well, we’ve been locked up here so long that we found ourselves telling the same jokes over and over again so instead of telling them, we just gave each one a number and now we just yell out the number and we all know the joke.”  So that night as the lights are turned out, the young guy starts hearing the numbers chimed out.  “88!!!” and people respond with a snicker.  “45!!!” and roars of laughter filled the cell block.  Finally, the young fellow decided to blurt out “34!!!” but no one laughed.  The next morning, the newbie asked the old timer, “What is joke ’34′?  Why didn’t anybody laugh?”.  To which the old timer answered, “It wasn’t the joke, its just that some people can tell a joke and others can’t.”

A Gift

How do you view today?  Maybe this video will help gain some perspective.

(Can’t see the video – go here)

Fortune Cookies & Purpose

Ok, sometimes freaky things happen.  Yesterday, Krista and I were having a date lunch at a local Chinese restaurant and were having a wonderful time.  At the end, the usual occurred where the server gave us our check with two fortune cookies.  Krista and I like to have fun with the fortune cookie sayings just because sometimes they seem to be so generic that they could apply to anyone in any situation.  Anyways, mine read “You would do well in the field of computer technology.”  Freaky right?

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it now, I’m living my dream job.  While its not easy and it has parts that I don’t really like at times, it is my dream job to impact people so that they can come to a better understanding of God and Jesus Christ using technology to that end.  This is what I was meant to do.  I can look back to when I first started taking apart telephones as an elementary student trying to figure out how they worked as the beginning for my love of all things technology [Note: Just want to say sorry Mom & Dad & Sis that I couldn't get the phones back to working order after I figured out how they worked] My first computer was a TI-994a that I pulled out of the trash – cleaned it up and redid some of the soldering and presto – it worked!  Now I’m a technology junkie.  I almost drool when I walk through places like Best Buy and the Apple Store.

But my technology is all with a purpose. I took apart the telephones because I wanted to understand how they allowed people to talk with one another.  I scrambled to get a 300 baud modem for my Tandy 1000EX so that I could connect with people on electronic bulletin boards (before the days of the Internet).  I started to learn HTML in 1996 (and started the original version of this website) as I could see how the Internet was already connecting colleges and it was seeping into the business world.  I was amazed with the first VGA monitors that had such vivid colors (previously, I just had “green screens” or 8 color screens) as I knew we were moving more and more into everyday life being intertwined with technology. Today I drool as I watch the competition in the smart-phone arenas – why? because these new technologies allow us to be more and more creative in how we can connect with people.  The connection and collaboration of the Internet is now sitting on people’s hips, pockets and purses.  While I love being geeky and exploring new technologies – it’s always in the forefront of my mine that it’s about connecting with people through these technologies that I’m passionate about.

So what should your fortune cookie say to you?

[side note fun:  A friend of mine said that it's really not that freaky about the fortune cookie - watch this video by clicking here]

The case of the missing toe

A little while after stunning my little toe, I made the comment that my toe still hurt. Alex declared “The case of the missing toe!” I looked down and said, “Nope. My toe is still there.” He replied, “For now.”

I’m not sure I will sleep well tonight for fear of losing my toe.

[PS - It's now black under the toe nail - is that a good sign?]

Scare Tactics in the US

Ok, I’m going to try to keep this short but honestly, I feel like I’ve got to say something.  Since being in the US, I’ve seen a lot of “news” articles and even billboards that seem to have this scare tactic approach about Islam in America (and in other Western nations).  I’m not denying that there’s an increase in the amount of Muslims living in western countries as it’s something we see daily in Europe however I really have to question the whole use of ‘scare’ tactics.  When you use scare tactics, what is the result?  Yes, some people may never look at the reality of what’s going on without these methods (hence the reason the nightly news almost always has a teaser of something like “What have you touched today that will surely kill you?”) however when people come to an understanding of the what is going, what will their response be when you use scare tactics?  Usually something not productive.  It wasn’t so long ago in US history that we heard similar rhetoric about Communists and we even had “witch hunts” for communists within our government.  The response wasn’t an end to the situation but a 40 year “Cold” war.  The reality is that most Western thinkers do not understand how those in the Muslim world think and most in the Muslim world do not understand how Westerners think.  Using scare tactics is not going to help us understand one another but is only going to drive an even larger separation between us.  Since most people that read my blog are Christians, let me say to you — If you seriously want to understand what is going on, talk to and befriend a Muslim.  To help you get some perspective, I recommend going to the website –>  Why Do You Fear Me?

On another note, as a Christian, I believe that if we give into or promote these scare tactics then we are denying that Muslims have the right to see the Gospel lived out which the Bible repeatedly says otherwise.  No one is to be denied this right.  I love the following video and believe this should be our response in light of what is going on these days:

Friends from Lava Lamp Productions on Vimeo.