• Simple Pleasures

    SAN DIEGO, CA – A 36 year old man was seen in front of his Rolando neighborhood home this morning playing in the sprinklers. Wearing only his pajamas and an ear-to-ear grin the man could be heard giggling for blocks. Neighbors reported that the man is also seen regularly walking with his dog, baby, and a woman they perceive to be his wife in the evenings. The status of the man’s mental health is unknown. 

    Busted. Guilty as charged. I confess. That’s me!

    There are some things in life that I label as simple pleasures. And playing in the sprinklers (er, I mean “adjusting them“) is one of them. As our little garden has expanded so has the need to water things. Almost 4 years ago I installed a simple drip watering system for a small patch of our garden in the backyard. As our garden has expanded so has the drip system. It now covers most of the backyard, delivering prescribed amounts of water to various plants all over. And this spring we decided to try to keep our grass a more socially acceptable yellow/green combo instead of the yellow/gray color we’ve accomplished in previous dry summers. And to make gardening just a little more manageable we installed fancy timers for both the front and back yard which deliver exactly 5 minutes of water to all plants simultaneously every 12 hours.

    So, when the battery on the timer needed to be changed this morning and one of my spray patterns in the front was a little off… it became an opportunity to play.

    Simple pleasures

    • Coffee in the morning, tea in the evening
    • Playing in the sprinklers
    • Walking the dog
    • Holding hands
    • Going to see a movie
    • Wandering through a bookstore
    • That first breath of salty air when you park by the ocean or the deep pine smell of camping in the woods
    • Custom styling the CSS and functionality of a WordPress plugin

    These are some of my simple pleasures. Things that make my soul giggle. Things that, if I stop doing long enough to start being, make life a little more enjoyable.

    What are your simple pleasures? (Um, keep it PG!)

    Photo credit: Summertime in Pig Town by Liz Kasameyer via Flickr (Creative Commons)

  • Going 3 million miles

    Irvin Gordon's 1966 Volvo“I have a feeling I’ll be dead long before the car.” ~ Irvin Gordon

    Mr. Gordon has put almost 3 million miles on his 1966 Volvo. The average person drives a car 15,000 miles per year around where they live.  At that rate Gordon has driven his car 200 years. According to my calculator Mr. Gordon has driven his car, on average, 65,000 miles per year.

    Most people put about 100,000 miles on a car before they get a new one. And if you’re in youth ministry you generally get a car with about 100,000 miles on it and drive it to about 220,000 miles when it implodes into a cloud of rust, dust, and repair bills.

    The story of Gordon’s isn’t just that his car has lasted a long time. It’s that he’s created a way to use his car in such a way that endures, seemingly, forever.

    Create Something Enduring

    As I think about Gordon’s 1966 Volvo I can’t help but think about the things that I care about in my life. I certainly hope my relationships and the stuff I’m doing can last 46 years… and hopefully long after I die. But this story causes me to ask some important questions about getting there.

    • How can I maintain relationships in a way that will endure 65,000 miles of usage in a year?
    • Can I create systems for my life that are seemingly infinitely maintainable?
    • Am I even aware of the engine that makes everything work, or do I just go along until something doesn’t sound right?
    • Is my pace sustainable for the long haul?
    • Are the things I’m creating going to outlast me?

    ht to Detroit Free Press

  • Social Media is Linked to Depression

    Researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology have linked depressive symptoms in college students to their internet usage. It’s a small study, only 216 participants over 1 month, but the correlation quantifies what other researches have hypothesized. This is the first of its kind that overlaid subjects actual internet usage and diagnostic testing. Participants were college students on a closed network. So once they agreed to participate the researchers gained access to their real time usage via the schools network.

    In short, the more time subjects spent checking social media sites like Facebook, chatting online, and shopping– especially late at night, the more depressive symptoms were measured.

    In this paper, we report our findings on a month long experiment conducted at Missouri University of Science and Technology on associating depressive symptoms among college students with their Internet usage using real Internet data collected in an unobtrusive and privacy preserving manner over the campus network. In our study, 216 undergraduates were surveyed for depressive symptoms using the CES-D scale. We then collected their on-campus Internet usage characterized via Cisco NetFlow data. Subsequent analysis revealed that several Internet usage features like average packets per flow, peer-to-peer (octets, packets and duration), chat octets, mail (packets and duration), ftp duration, and remote file octets exhibit a statistically significant correlation with depressive symptoms. Additionally, Mann-Whitney U-tests revealed that average packets per flow, remote file octets, chat (octets, packets and duration) and flow duration entropy have a statistically significant difference in the mean values across groups with and without depressive symptoms. 

    Source

    This fits into the advice I share in my seminar, (and forthcoming book co-authored with Marko) A Parent’s Guide to Understanding Social Media, that parents need to focus less on WHAT their kids are looking at and more on WHERE and WHEN they are using the internet.

    ht to Mashable and Huffington Post UK

    Photo credit: Ars Electronica via Flickr (Creative Commons)

  • Right person, wrong program

    I had coffee with a ministry friend yesterday. His church plant is about 5 years old so they aren’t completely tiny but they aren’t so big that they’ve become a thing.

    He said something pretty radical. Allow me to paraphrase.

    “About a year ago my youth ministry guy started a youth group. I think he thought it was the right thing to do. But it was really unnatural for us as a church, cost him a lot of energy, and took him away from being on campus– the thing thing he’s best at and gives him the most life. So we just agreed to kill youth group so he can go back to what he was made for.” 

    Sssssccccreeeee-aaaacccchhhhh!

    Say what? You mean the church launched something. Then they realized it wasn’t going to work so decided to kill a program instead of fire an employee? Yup, that’s what they did. They didn’t double-down on youth group. They folded and placed a new bet on a different form of youth ministry.

    Bend your mind around that for a second. 

    Building a ministry around the gifts, dreams, and strengths of a minister instead of asking them to conform to a culturally created expectation for what a youth worker does– imagine the possibilities. I’m not trying to sound sarcastic but you have to know that this is a radical concept!

    All-too-often I meet youth workers who feel the program they run, mid-week youth group / small groups and a Sunday morning thing, drains the life out of them. Meetings and planning suck joy from their soul.

    And what they really live for that brings them life? The thing that keeps them in it? It’s something they do on the side. They coach their kids soccer team. They go to conferences to see friends. They volunteer at the high school.

    It makes me wonder if we’re all doing it backwards?

    What if churches hired the right people and asked them to build a ministry around what brought them joy? What if they built their ministry around what they are good at, what they are passionate about, what their spiritual gifts lead them to, and chasing the unique dreams God has called them to.

    Is that even possible? 

  • To be like Joseph

    Mr. Insignificant

    You don’t get much more insignificant in a family of 12 than being number 11. As the 11th born you aren’t the baby of the family. And in this case you aren’t even the last baby boy. You are just number 11 with an abundant allotment of big brothers.

    Joseph was an insignificant son with significant dreams. One night Joseph had a dream that one day he’d rule over his brothers. This was a seemingly impossible dream. And, sophomorically, he told his big brothers about his dream which lead to them hating him.

    All throughout Joseph’s life he lived in the reality that he was chasing his dreams but his anti-dream was also chasing him. Over and over again we see Joseph’s life take wicked turns. His brothers staged his death while selling him into slavery. His slave owners trade him like a camel and he ends up in Potifer’s house. There he becomes the object of a cougar’s affection causing him to flee naked from the house before being caught, accused of adultery, and thrown in prison. On and on this calamity continues– his whole life!

    Life didn’t just deal Joseph lemons. Life dealt him poison.  Joseph was a man with big, significant dreams but a murderous monkey on his back.

    But that never stopped Joseph’s dream. He worked towards that dream, not knowing if it’d ever come true. Until one day it did!

    We are all Joseph

    Most of us are insignificant. By birth, by education, by performance, and by recognition… we are not born rulers or leaders of tribes.

    But we all have dreams. Some are aspirational and within reach. And some are so big that our dreams make the 6 year old who lives inside of us blush to mention them in public.

    We are all driven by dreams while gravitational held back by circumstance.

    Joseph’s Posture

    With all the crap that hit the fan in Joseph’s life no one would have blamed him if he’d defined himself by the poop splattered on the wall of his life. Everywhere he turned there were people sinning against him, seeking to destroy both him and his dreams.

    Instead, Joseph makes a radical choice. He refused to allow the sins of others to define his life and ruin his dreams. No one could have forced him to do that. It came from within. It was a daily posture he took as he continually kept his eye on his dreams. He worked hard, he overcame, and eventually– his dreams came true.

    The Cycle Ends with Me

    When I think about my own life and my own dreams it is easy for me to think of all the obstacles. I can point to specific instances where my dreams were thwarted because someone sinned against me. (In some cases, maliciously intending to harm me.)

    But the choice is mine. I can define my life by taking a victims posture or Joseph’s posture. I could be destroyed, defined, and devastated by the sins against me OR— supernaturally and by God’s grace– I can decide that the cycle of retribution, revenge, anger, malice, and sin ends with me.

    I can’t control my circumstance but I can control my response to my circumstances.

    You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

    Genesis 50:20

  • Desert Photos and Videos

     

  • You know you’re onto something when…

    • the powers that be (doing nothing for years) are nervous about you.
    • people from the church start leaving tracts and books on your desk anonymously.
    • an old lady cusses at you and about you.
    • country club members decide to worship elsewhere.
    • tattoos and pick-up trucks outnumber lattes and minivans in the parking lot.
    • you get sued.
    • your building gets tagged.
    • you get a “performance improvement plan” and are assigned to take the Strength Finders test.
    • a week later the Senior Pastor confesses that he’s jealous of your ministry.
    • the janitor starts covering for you.
    • a ministry magazine and an investigative reporter want an interview on the same day.
    • you schedule volunteer meetings and everyone shows up.
    • your budget gets slashed.
    • you can’t remember whose graduation party or wedding reception you’re at anymore.
    • the fellowship hall you booked for a fundraiser is suddenly being used for a knitting conference.
    • you get called a heretic.
    • you can’t sleep at night.
    • the discouragement is unbearable.
    • the walls of the church seem paper thin.
    • you are exhausted, weary, blurry eyed, but can’t imagine yourself doing anything else.

    Remember: Discouragement does not come from the Lord. When you’re onto something our enemy attacks. The closer you get, the more you can expect to be attacked.

  • Yosemite in HD

    This video has me all pumped to head up to Yosemite. The countdown is on! 2 weeks.

  • Adding shade in the garden

    The front door of our house faces east towards the Pacific Ocean. (A mere 10 miles west!) Our backyard garden sit on the top of an exposed his with full eastern sun.

    For three seasons that really isn’t a big deal. In fact, because we can get full sun for about 75% of the garden it means that the other three seasons are great. But right now, in the height of summer sun, with June Gloom giving way to coastal San Diego’s July Fry, our plants are suffering.

    In both our tomato patch and where we currently have our melons, the plants obvious grow towards the north fence and away from the full glare of all day sun. Leaves on our cucumbers always look wilted. Once something gets established and can effectively shade itself we are totally fine. But often small plants never thrive.

    Today we made a small investment in a fix by adding some shade for the melon patch & the tomatoes.

    Here’s my supply list: (All from Home Depot)

    • Tan sun screen (6’x20′ = $31)
    • Garden stakes (9 x 4 feet each = $8.97)
    • Grommets ($7.96)
    • Zip ties (laying around the garage)
    • 2 hooks (also in the garage)

    The melon patch is 7 feet wide. I measured 24 inches from the fence and drove the 3 stakes down so 36 inches was out of the soil. I cut the sun shade to length and put 4 grommets across the top, 2 in the middle and 2 on the bottom. Next, I used a level to attach the 4 grommets to the fence securely. I draped the shade from the fence and over the stakes, making a little tent over the top.

    It’s a very simple design aimed at just keeping the sun off of them in the heat of the day. While I could stake down the bottom I don’t have it staked right now so I can easily flip the ends up and weed underneath.

    For the tomato patch I made it even simpler. I attached it to the fence on the north end draped it over the various bamboo stakes and then attached it to the fence on the other side.

    Zip ties were my friend. They made the whole process simple and entirely portable.

    The hope is that this solution helps lessen the direct sunlight and helps both the melons and tomatoes beat the heat to a better yield.

    We should know in a couple weeks.

  • FREE PALMER!

    No seriously. Gang, I need your help. My buddy Dave Palmer is in various levels of hell. First, he’s driving all of his families belongings and towing the family car from San Diego to Nashville in the middle of a heat wave. Second, the Uhaul truck he has rented can only be described in words I can’t publish. Third, Uhaul has left him stranded in the desert, his dad passed out from heat exhaustion, and he’s now stuck in the middle of Texas less than halfway to Nashville.

    Here’s his post. Please get involved.

    I need your help. You know how there are times that you can’t seem to get help from a company you’re working with, and you don’t know what else to do but write and post? Well, it’s that time for me. You see, in the past 52-ish hours, my U-Haul rental truck has had 4 mechanical issues needing to be addressed, including one that necessitated me calling 911 to get medical help for my dad, who passed out from heat exhaustion as a result of the truck overheating and not allowing the AC to work.

    In that time I’ve spent 4 hours on the phone with U-Haul representatives and their affiliate companies trying to get help, find solutions, and arguing to ensure that I could safely get my dad to the nearest airport (170 miles away) in a vehicle with air conditioning so that we would not be in a situation to need emergency medical assistance again. As of this writing, I am sitting in a hotel in Pecos, TX, awaiting word about what sort of help U-Haul can give me. This is where I need your help to apply pressure to U-Haul. I’ve tried to be as gracious as possible on the phone, and I believe that the recordings that U-Haul does will bear that out. Nonetheless, it’s time for U-Haul to stop finding the lowest-common denominator solutions and to do the right thing and take care of the situation for real.

    If you would, please:

    1) Post to Facebook: @uhaul: do the right thing. help dave palmer, Ref # 47123. #freepalmer http://bit.ly/N0j8ny

    2) Tweet: @uhaul: do the right thing. help dave palmer, Ref # 47123. #freepalmer http://bit.ly/N0j8ny

    3) Email publicrelations@uhaul.com and ask them to pay attention to this case. Please include the link to this post and the above reference number:  Ref # 47123 http://bit.ly/N0j8ny

    –> Read the rest for a full write-up of the story <–

    UPDATE: After about 400 tweets, thousands of retweets, many emails to various sources, Dave is back on the road with a new truck and a new plan. He’ll update himself later but I just wanted to pass along a word of thanks to all who helped. Thanks to U-Haul, who needed a million voices to listen but finally did. I hope they’ve learned their lesson and begin updating their fleet ASAP.

    photo credit: Ian Westcott via Flickr (Creative Commons)