Ramblings from the road...

Tomorrow, I go back to work after three weeks of vacation, and when I go back to work I won't be driving my car. Yes, that's right. Last week I picked up a bike that will be comfortable to ride to work and back. It's a great old man bike, and should be a comfortable ride for my 12 mile round trip tour to work. My goal is to ride my bike as many times as I drive my car. I'm hoping that Tuesdays and Thursdays will be my bike days! So, if you see me on the bike path, with a cool red bike and red helmet -- make sure you give me a wave.

So, for the next few months, I will be on my bike, and have a lot of time to think and listen to messages -- all while I'm on my bike. So, look for some great thoughts in this fun little feature I'm calling, "ramblings from the road."

Last day...

of vacation -- which means it's time to get back to work and back to blogging. My vacation has been great. I've relaxed a ton, and now I feel totally refreshed. I'm looking forward to getting back at it. I'm preaching this week, which I'm excited about. There are a lot of decisions that need to be made at church, which will be challenging, but also exciting. Overall, a lot will be happening at church in the near future, and I'm excited.

Vacation

I'm on vacation. I'll post something next week.

By the way, I'm still at 183. It's hard to lose weight while on vacation, but I am reading the book Ultra Marathon Man, so I'm getting inspired to run long distances! Perhaps a 50 mile run is in my future. That will help me lose the weight that I want to. Hey Swier - you in for a 50 miler? This time, not on your bike!

One last thing - there have been quite a few people who have given me a hard time for going on vacation. I won't repeat what some people have said, but I will say this -- we were not created to work like dogs. God rested on the 7th day, why do we think we can work non stop? I think we have some backwards thinking in this country that glorifies the work-a-holic! People think it's honorable to say, "I've been working so hard. I've been so busy." I think it's dumb. That's right dumb.

This year, I've been dumb. I've worked myself like a dog and it's not been healthy. That is one thing vacation has taught me -- relax and enjoy life - especially the people God has put into my life. Don't worry, I'm not going to become lazy and sit on the couch all day. But one thing I will do when I come back from vacation is say no a little more. I don't want to get back in the same rut that I was in before I went on vacation.

So, this post was a little longer that I initially thought, but oh well. One more week of vacation. One more week of relaxation. One more week filled with hanging out with my kids, staying up late, sleeping in, going to the Buick Open, sitting outside in the sun, etc. I love vacation.

And to you people who have given me a hard time for being on vacation -- get off my back. I didn't give you a hard time for going to Florida for Spring Break!

Challenge Update...

Update on my challenge that I started last week! Watch and enjoy.

Love the phone...

I love my new phone, and I haven't even completely figured it out yet. Here's what I love and some of the things I've done with it.

• The keyboard is easy to use. I'm amazed that the phone can figure out what word I'm typing before I type the whole word. Crazy.
• I love getting my e-mail to my phone. This will allow me to go through my e-mail while I'm waiting for a meeting, so I won't have to waste time checking my e-mail when I'm back at my computer.
  
• I'm using google calendar as my calendar now -- and so far google calendar has been amazing. It is easy to use and I can access my calendar on any computer.
• Plus - google sync is great! It sync's my google calendar with the calendar on my phone. I love it.
  
• I did mess up while trying to sync my old calendar with my new phone. Somehow I got everyone's appointments all the way back to 2001 on my phone. I had to spend an hour deleting everyone's appointments from my phone -- that was a pain.
• One more thing - I can update this blog from my phone, which is fun.
  

All in all, I'm loving the new phone. Now I need to stop using it so much so I can enjoy my vacation!

Class of 2008 Video

I think this video will work. Grab some popcorn and enjoy!

post from phone

This is my first post from my phone. Fun.

Newer Phone

My attempt to go with the cheap phone lasted all of one day. No lie. I realized that going with the cheap phone was wrong when I started to input all of my contact information. I had over 200 phone numbers, addresses, other contact info, and I realized my little flip phone wasn't going to work. So, I went back to alltel and caved -- I got this little crackberry, I mean blackberry. I feel a lot better now that I have a calendar and all my contacts on my phone.

Josh, you were right. Go with your gut, and that is what I did when I bought the blackberry. Also, Ceci read me like a book too... She knew, from the moment I got the little phone, that I wouldn't be happy. Oh the drama...

New Phone...

Well, in the end, the cheap phone won out. It was going to cost me $50 more a month for the blackberry. I think it would be nice to have the blackberry but not for $50 more a month. So, I'm going to see how this new phone works for me. If it doesn't work I can always upgrade to a new pda phone.

Also, another factor in my decision was I don't need another device for checking my e-mail and getting on the internet. I do that enough. Having a simple phone will allow me to be more focused... I think. We'll see how this thing works.

Now, the busy task of transferring all those numbers. They couldn't transfer my numbers in the store because I'm going from a pda phone to a regular phone.

I appreciate all the advice I received for my decision. Now, I will be carrying around a phone and a moleskine journal to keep my life organized. And I think I'm going to start using google calendars to organize my life -- that way I can access my calendar from any computer, not just my laptop!

Rain, rain, go away...

Looks like I will have to paddle my little car to church tomorrow. I can't believe all the rain we are getting. There is a HUGE puddle in my driveway. I'm calling it Little Lake Michigan.

Random Ramblings...

A few thoughts that are going through my head right now...

• It's finally hot outside, and I love it. I could have every day be like today.
• I finally got my junky car club bumper sticker in the mail today. I was excited to see it come. I felt like a little kid waiting for his secret club card. I was so excited I already put in on my car.
  
• I finished the senior video that I'll be showing in church tomorrow. A couple of nights staying up to 3:00am,, but it's done. It's pretty touching. 15 seniors = 19 minutes of video. I couldn't get it any shorter than that. A lot of great stuff is on the cutting room floor, but I think that is pretty common for most videos.
• Elliana had her dance recital this afternoon. She tried as a dancer, but I don't think dancing is her thing. She more concerned about being first to do the dance move than she is about grace and elegance. Oh well, she tried. Next year it's gymnastics. She doesn't want to do dance anymore, and since we are only doing one thing at a time, she has decided to pick gymnastics.
• Some of you might be wondering what I got the seniors for a graduation gift. I got them this, and a copy of the movie I will show tomorrow. I put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into that video, so I hope they like it.
  
• I think a video is good when it makes people both laugh and cry. I hope the video does both of those things tomorrow!
  

Decision...

I'm getting a new cell phone on Monday, and I don't know which one to get. Here are my two choices.

Regular cell phone. If I go this option, I save on my monthly plan and I will get this phone. Good phone, nothing special, no calendar, contact list, etc. This will be a big change from the phone I currently have.
Or I will go with this option, which has a calendar, contact list, e-mail, text messaging, etc. More money every month, but then I will have my calendar with me at all time. I have a pretty busy calendar, and if I don't have it written down then I forget it. This phone would make sure I'm where I need to be at the right time. But is it worth a little more money every month?

Anybody want to share some wisdom with me? Which cell phone should I get?

Entering the Challenge

Tonight, I decided to change things up and do a little talky blog. The purpose of the talky blog -- to make public a new goal I have. What is the goal - watch the blog and find out. I got the idea from another blog I read - Ragamuffin Soul. Look for weekly updates documenting how I'm doing towards meeting this goal.

I need a new wallet...

My wallet has seen better days. It's old and ripped, and I need a new one. Today, I was reading Ben Arment's blog and I saw the wallet that I want. It's this one over at db clay. I wonder if there is any way I could it for Father's Day. Just an idea to throw out to anyone who might be reading my blog.

Late...

I feel like I'm always late or in a hurry. Rushing from one thing to another. I hate that about myself, and it's one thing that I desperately want to change. So, the other day I was reading one of the many blogs I read, and I came across this article by Dumb Little Man entitled "8 ideas to Break Your Hurry-Habit While Preserving your Sanity". It got my attention right away and I really appreciated what the author had to say. Here are his 8 ideas...

1. Analyze your current use of time.
2. Cut back on time wasters.
3. Accept the fact that you don't have time for everything.
4. Perfectionism.
5. Delegate tasks.
6. Set time limits.
7. Have a place for your things.
8. Schedule fun time.

Now if I could only find time to put these ideas into practice! To read the whole article click here.

Age old question...

How could two people, who come from the same parents, be so completely different? I will never understand how you could get two so completely different personalities from the same parents. But when I look at my two daughters I'm amazed at how different they are!

Graduation gifts...

I always struggle getting gifts for the graduating seniors who have been active in the teen ministry at church. In the past, I've given Hope College CD's (some people listened to them), Bibles (but most of them have them already!), books (but the chance of them reading the book was always slim), and gas cards (this was the most practical thing I've given them).

This year, I am again struggling with what to give the graduating seniors. I think I will give them a gas card, but I also want to give them something meaningful and something that will help them grow spiritually. But, I don't know what that one gift is yet. Anyone have any ideas. (I think Matt S and Jason Kehrer could help me out here. Matt Yount could help me out if he was still in youth ministry.)

I believe in myself...

The other day I went for a run with my daughter, Elliana. I was running and she was riding her bike. This was the first time she rode her bike while I ran. Usually, she rides her bike and we go on a family walk, but this time I wanted to run, which meant she had to keep up.

She started off slow, and I kept pushing her (not physically) to go faster. She would speed up, but then she would get a little scared and slow down. I would push her to go faster, she would, but then she would slow down. This pattern went on for a while, but eventually she got the hang of it. For the rest of the run she kept up.

About halfway through the run, I heard something from Elliana that surprised me though. She was saying a phrase over and over again quietly. I listened closely and I heard her repeating over and over, "I believe in myself. I believe in myself." I asked her why she was repeating this over and over and then I was shocked when she said, "you say this all the time to me, and now I need to repeat it so I really know I can do this." So, for the rest of the run she kept repeating "I believe in myself" over and over and the end result was she did great on her bike. In fact, towards the end of the run I had a hard time keeping up with her.

Personally, I believe people are more capable than what they give themselves credit for. I knew Elliana could ride her bike faster. I know she can ride her bike without training wheels too. (But that is for another day.) There are people that I know who can do a lot more than what they are doing know, they just need to believe in themselves. They need to know they can do it, and they have to take a step out and try. One of the things I love to do is push people to try new things, and step outside of their comfort zone. And I love to see people's reaction when they realize they can do more than they ever thought.

I also try to live this way. Growing up I hated speaking in front of people. In fact, in 6th grade I almost fainted when I had to give an oral book report. I hated leading my 4-h meetings because that meant I had to speak in front of people. But now, speaking in front of people doesn't freak me out as much any more. I still get nervous (and I hope I always get nervous), even if I have to speak in front of 20 people. But bottom line, I learned that I can do more than I thought I ever could.

So, where do you need to step out and try something new?