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Let Us Love…Really

May 19, 2011 in God, Love with 0 Comments

I desire a fundamental and wholesale change in approach to how we care for the needy. When we ask the question, “How are you caring for the needy?”, it is being interpreted by most people to be, “Give me your list of activities so I can determine whether or not you measure up.” It’s a loaded question because of how the church reacts when people don’t have an answer. So, I will make sure I can rattle off 3-5 ways that I’m caring for others just so I won’t be judged by the people I want to impress. Do you see the dysfunction in all of that?

That’s not love and that’s not what Scripture teaches us that Christ wants from us. Instead, let’s start digging into and teaching people about how to love God, which begins with a deep understanding of how God loves us and goes all the way back to Genesis 1 and the chasm that Jesus bridged to bring us back into a right relationship with our Heavenly Father.

It’s harder and takes much longer, but the sustainability for real-world impact is far greater than maintaining a list of activities that can be recited at the drop of a hat.

Hear me on this – I absolutely believe that caring for our neighbor is the best and most effective form of expressing the love of Christ, but if we do it in order to check a box on some list rather than out of love, we have become noisy gongs and our efforts honor nobody. If we are going to hold people accountable to something, let it be love.

Computer Buying Guide Part I

February 11, 2011 in Business, Technology with 1 Comment

“What kind of computer should I get?” I get this question all the time and always answer the same way: “Well….what will you be doing with it?” Followed up quickly with, “What’s your budget?” Armed with those two pieces of information, I can typically find the right machine.

There’s just one problem: Not one person has been able to answer those two questions with enough clarity for me to make a recommendation. It usually takes a much longer process. So, I thought I’d pull back the curtains a bit and get you a little further down the road once the decision for a new machine has been made. The amount of information has forced me to split this article up into multiple parts. This is part one and covers why to buy a new machine and whether to focus on a desktop or laptop.

Let me also say one thing here. This article is focused on helping to make the very best purchase based on need. If you don’t much care or are made of money, just go get something that fancies you. If you’re on a budget and dropping $1,500 – $2,00 on a computer is a big deal, then the work described in these articles should prove valuable.

NOTE: If you see a term here that you don’t understand or just want to brush up for the SAT, visit the Computer Glossary I put together that defines the basic computer components. I included a handy UPGRADE SCORE for each component that is used in designing your next computer.

The Great Turkey Hunt

November 29, 2010 in Fun, Life with 2 Comments

I LOVE puzzles and this year, I decided to spice up the Thanksgiving holiday by creating a modern-day treasure hunt. Everyone was coming to our house and it was all coming together quite nicely.

It all started with a delivery by my neighbor that had a box with a letter and a bag of items inside. He relayed a story of how he came into possession of the box (great job BTW) that was very Indiana Jones/Men in Black-ish. The kids were in awe and as soon as the door was closed, they were in the box.

The letter outlined the game and had one hint on it that led to a map where 12 plastic bottles were hidden. On the back, it had what looked like notes from someone who had been tracking the treasure for some time (ala Myst). Included were GPS coordinates to the bottles and the plan was to walk the neighborhood and find these bottles, but the weather had a different idea as it rained the entire day. So, we loaded up the van and a follow car and headed out.

It was quite a sight to see – me and three little boys running around in the rain looking for little plastic bottles with only the GPS unit guiding the way. After crossing back and forth over the one square mile that made up the playing field, we finally had all 12 bottles in hand. Now it was back home to find out what they contained.

Inside each bottle was a multiple-choice Thanksgiving trivia question and each was marked with a roman numeral from 1 to 12.

I had the best time designing the game and the treasure was worth the effort and we now have a memory that will last a lifetime, which is the point of holidays I have to say. Good luck and post a comment on how you did.

Explain That

November 3, 2010 in Politics with 0 Comments

Q: What is your interpretation of the results from yesterday’s mid-term elections?

The Vote 2010

November 2, 2010 in Politics with 0 Comments

I had a great experience this year voting. Mainly because I didn’t have to wait AT ALL and I felt prepared. There was one thing that made me pause though and those were the amendments to the State Constitution.

Issue 1 would provide that Arkansas citizens “have a right to hunt, fish, trap and harvest wildlife subject to regulations that promote wildlife conservation and management.”

Issue 2 would effect interest limits and issuance of government bonds for energy-efficiency projects.

Issue 3 would lower the threshold for issuing state bonds to attract major industries.

I voted against all three.

Issue 1 formalized a right to harvest wildlife in accordance with government regulations and when you give the power to someone to grant a right formally, you conversely give them the power to take it away. Additionally, this gave oversight into how that right could be exercised.

Issue 2 &3 had language in them that seemed give greater amount of control to the government to spend more taxpayer money to advance certain agendas that I simply don’t believe are worthy investments. Again, giving more control to the government is dangerous when you can clearly see it is intended to advance agendas.

I also gave pause when voting for Governor. I’m a Conservative and typically vote Republican, but I’ve liked the level-headed approach Beebe has taken to his role as our state’s leader; however, in the end, he is still a Democrat and with that come some fundamental differences in philosophical approach. I voted for Keet, but don’t expect him to win because of Beebe’s popularity.

One document that really helped me was the Arkansas voter guide put out by Family Council (http://www.arkansasvotersguide.com/). I had a copy ahead of time, but there was a copy at my polling place that I used to look up candidates in some of the minor races that didn’t indicate a party.

Whatever your affiliation, it is important that you exercise your civic duty to vote. As of the writing of this, there are still 4 hours left until the polls close. Remember, if you don’t vote, you forfeit your right to complain about the outcome. It is literally the only option you have to making sure your voice is heard.

Hay Maze: Evolution

November 1, 2010 in Fun with 1 Comment

I’ve always wanted to design and build a hay maze. It goes back to my fascination with puzzles and secret passages. So, when I got the chance to design and build one for our company’s Halloween carnival, I was giddy to say the least, but how to start. After a few minutes, the idea came to me to use Lego blocks to build it. So I raided my son’s collection for all of the 1×2 blocks I could find and set to work. Below is the evolution of that process.

Of course I had to do a 3D model.

Here’s the finished maze.

And the kids loved it.

The maze consisted of 100 bales of straw hay that was loaned to us by the Schaeffer’s from the Mayflower Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch fame. If you ever make it out there, make sure to find Ms. Schaeffer and hug her neck…just because she’s good folk.

The carnival was a great success and the hay maze was a first, but certainly won’t be the last. Bigger and better next year! :)

Thanks to my teammates in the Training and Development area – everyone worked hard and is still recovering from hauling hay all over the place.

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