This is a Water Cooler Wednesdays post…

One of the biggest things I’ve wanted to do in my life is actually put down roots and live somewhere for more than 2 or 3 years.  For much of my life, it seems I’ve lived a nomadic existence.  Since 1994 when I went off to the University of Oklahoma, I haven’t stayed in the same place for very long.

I want the relationships and familiarity that can only come with living or dwelling somewhere for a long period of time.  We never guessed that place would be Fort Smith, Arkansas, but here we are.  After living here for 10 months in an apartment, the perfect house for us went on the market and we acted quickly. God has been in control of this whole thing and has been very faithful to help us during this process of putting down roots.

The last few weeks have been quite tiring and difficult… juggling job, family and moving.  All the packing, U-Hauling, scraping, painting, ripping up, laying down, measuring, cleaning, fixing, buying, installing and aching has been worth it.  I haven’t been to the gym in 2 weeks and haven’t walked in almost as long, but I’ve been burning calories and pumping the muscles in other ways.  We didn’t expect this to be such an ordeal, but it’s totally worth it to settle into such a great community, church and job.

I really need to take some time to write down my life list.  Up until now, I just sort of have this running list in my head… and there are still lots of things I want to do like skydive, go to Australia, take an African Safari, visit Tokyo, Israel, Ireland and Montana.  I want to do a marathon, write a lot of great songs and have a few more children.  I want God to change me into who He has always wanted me to be.  I still want to get an MBA and a PhD… mainly just for me, but to keep learning.  I don’t ever want to stop learning, growing and experiencing something outside my comfort zone.

I believe setting down roots is going to play a major role in the great things that are yet to come and I can’t wait to see where God takes us as we plant ourselves and serve him with our lives and all He has blessed us with.  Check out the song Roots Before Branches by Nikki and Adam Anders on iTunes.

This is a Watercooler Wednesday post…

We were having dinner tonight to celebrate Mace’s 5th birthday.  My parents had driven an hour to watch the boys’ t-ball game and then we ate at one of our favorite places - Joe’s Pizza & Pasta on Rogers Avenue.  We were having fun, laughing and talking but at some point I became aware of a guy sitting by himself across the room from us.  He was a military man, easily recognizable by his uniform.  He was a married man according to the ring on his finger.  And he seemed quite lonely, judging by his reaction to the other families sitting all around him.  He would smile and nod as he looked from table to table at the moms & dads interacting with their children, sharing their meal together.

I thought about this man and the sacrifice he is making to keep us free and have the ability to sit in a restaurant with our family and enjoy our time together.  He was far away from his wife & children.  I could just tell by the way he looked around the room that he missed them and home.

I often like performing random acts of kindness and saw the opportunity to bless this lonely soldier who missed his kids & wife.  Maybe I felt a little guilty that I was sitting there enjoying my family - all of us together.  I asked our waitress about his bill and she pointed me to his server.  I got his check and paid for it when I paid for ours.  It wasn’t much for us to do, but I know he appreciated it because he found out it was us and walked over to thank us.  As we headed out the door, I thanked him for what he is doing for our country.  Sometimes it’s the little things that add up.  Those unexpected opportunities to bless someone who isn’t expecting it.  I’m glad God is putting this in my heart more and more and can’t wait for the next opportunity to develop.

What’s the coolest, random act of kindness you’ve done lately?  If you haven’t what do you think it could be? Remember the little things are important and can make a huge difference in someone’s life and even make an eternal impact.

Watercooler Wednesdays

I have to admit… it’s already 2:30pm CST on Watercooler Wednesday, May 21st and I hadn’t even read Randy’s post for today yet, but interestingly, we had a conversation about this very thing at lunch!

Besides wine, we also discussed the use of profanity (or what most would consider profanity to be).

I believe my church is against wine.  We have grape juice during communion and no one really talks about drinking (wine or otherwise).  It’s a fairly traditional church, with a bit of charismatic/holiness history.  I personally don’t see anything wrong with wine, but do try to be sensitive to those around me… leadership, those I serve, etc.  It seems to be a good rule of thumb to err on the side of caution. A good friend of mine once said “too much of a good thing is not a good thing”.  I agree with her.

Josh Mayo and I were discussing the emergent church and holiness at lunch. We talked about how the lines are continuing to blur between “the world” and “the church”.  We talked about a well known pastor I saw last night on the web who said what some might consider a cuss word.  He quickly apologized and even mentioned editing it out.  It didn’t offend me, and I laughed to my wife and said “Cool… see, he’s HUMAN.”

Some people would have been deeply offended to have heard that word come from this influential pastor’s mouth.  Others wouldn’t have even noticed he said anything wrong at all.  Many of our differences boil down to preference, beliefs and morals.  Just as racism and fear are learned, we get some of our beliefs about things in incorrect ways and places.  My grandmother never wore pants… never cut her hair… never wore jewelry (unless you call her watch jewelry).  I grew up Pentecostal Holiness and there was so much legalism.  To this day, I point out “holiness” people to Jill.  She laughs at me because she knows there will be some story or anecdote to follow about my life experiences and my take on legalism.

But at lunch, we talked about where holiness is in the emergent church.  Is there a place for it?  Is it something not being considered enough?  What exactly will be our way of letting others know we are Christians?

This is a very interesting topic and much more could be said about wine and so much else regarding what churches believe and why they believe it.  I’ve often heard the reasoning that wine (even during communion) would not be good for, say, those who struggled with alcoholism.  I can see the point.  There are lots of things that are not inherently wrong, but when viewed through so many different lenses of people in church, it gets tricky.

Thank you Randy for such a great topic of discussion.  I think I said a whole lot without saying anything, but I believe this is the kind of discussion we all need to be having with each other… hammering out what we believe and why we believe it.  I love the story about the mom who was baking a ham for Christmas… Her daughter asked, “Mom, why do you cut the end off the ham before you bake it.”  The mom replied, “It’s what your grandmother, my mom, always did.” She then said “let’s call grandma and ask her.”  So they called grandma to ask why she cut the end off the ham and grandma said, “it’s what my mother always did.”  They then called great-grandma to ask her why she always cut the end off of the ham and her answer was funny and enlightening.  She said, “Because my pan was too small and the whole ham wouldn’t fit.”  I think we do a lot of things that have just “always been done that way” without ever questioning or discovering the reasons behind it all.

Happy Watercooler Wednesday everyone!

Keeping with the title and ideas of this blog - Dwell In Possibility - I love finding stories of those who endeavor to do that very thing.

I was encouraged to read today that South African Olympic hopeful Oscar Pistorius will be allowed the opportunity to try and qualify for the Beijing Olympics.  Read that again… he was just fighting for a chance that may not even come to fruition.  He has to qualify and might not make the time necessary.  But he really wanted the opportunity that was, up until today, being denied.  I’m proud of him for going for it and regardless of the outcome, he is pursuing his dream and living squarely in the middle of possible.

How many times do we give up when we’re told “No”, or “It can’t be done”? Maybe too often we look for someone’s permission to take chances or try something daring, when we should just go for it, despite the nay-sayers.

There’s a lot said about those who play the devil’s advocate in the 10 Faces of Innovation by Tom Kelley of IDEO.  And the book describes different personas you can assume to get around the “can’t-be-done” attitudes and move into the “let’s at least try” mindset.

So, what’s keeping you from “dwelling in possibility”? (a poem by Emily Dickenson)

Do you really need permission from anyone but yourself to try?  To fail?  To succeed?

Just a little encouragement from me to you: Try really hard - at all costs even - to live there… in possibility. You have my permission to succeed. (even though you don’t really need it)

That’s all the time it took to make my grandmother feel loved and know she’s on my mind.  I called her Sunday night, Mother’s Day.  I just wanted to say hello, wish her a happy Mother’s Day and see how she was doing.  Grandmother has been quite lonely this past year after losing Grampa just over 12 months ago.

Because she can’t really see, she’s unable to care for herself, and now must live in a nursing home in my tiny hometown of Quinton, Oklahoma.

I wish I could go visit more.  I try to call once a week at least, but I get all tangled up in the day-to-day existence called life.

How do we all stay so busy that we neglect those we love and fail to give just a little time to brightening the day of someone else? There are so many lonely people out there. Sharing in their life and letting them know they matter to you and to God is such a great thing to do.  If you have an extra 12:42 in your day, why not make a phone call or pay a visit to someone who really needs to know they matter? 

I just watched this great video of Daughtry in Uganda.  It was introduced by Brad Pitt on Idol gives back.  We haven’t had much time to watch TV, so I’m sure this is buried deep on our DVR somewhere.  I came across it by accident, but it is a very moving video.

While the bloggers were in Uganda, our family sponsored a little boy named Brighton who lives with his grandmother in Uganda.  We pray for Brighton and send him monthly support.  If you sponsored a child, please remember to pray for him or her.  As time goes by in our busy lives, it’s easy to forget to think about and pray for your child.  Sure, the money helps, but praying for them is even more important.

If you haven’t sponsored a child, please click on the picture in the upper right to head over to Compassion and find a child to support through prayer and finances.

What about now?

I love Water Cooler Wednesdays!  It’s a fun time to participate in Randy Elrod’s carnival and see what’s on everyone’s minds.

If you don’t have an iPhone yet… what’s wrong with you?! Just kidding.  I understand all the reasons you may not have one of the coolest gadgets on the planet yet… you’re stuck in a contract with another carrier… not enough money… I understand.  All I have to say is - Start saving your pocket change because soon you will want an iPhone.

If you already have an iPhone… you’ll want to get the next generation… I promise!

I have 3Good reasons for getting/having an iPhone…

1. The new iPhones are likely to have video capabilities (not just from the camera in the back, but possibly from a camera on the front).  With this you would be able to do video conferencing, record live events as they happen and stream them on the internet.  QIK is already doing this but on a limited scale and only on Nokia phones. This summer’s blockbuster hit The Dark Knight has partnered with Nokia for some of their movie promotions - especially through WhySoSerious.com

2. According to Scott Moritz of Fortune magazine, the new iPhones may be more accessible to the masses with lowered purchase pricing through subsidies from AT&T.  This means that you can pay less for the phone with a 2 year contract.

3. Finally, 3G capabilities will most likely be found in the 2nd generation iPhone. What does that mean for you?  Much faster internet & data access!  Computerworld conducted some tests recently, and despite what that Verizon guy will tell you… their network did not top the list in fastest 3G networks.  Read here to find out who (hint: the same network that the iPhone is currently exclusive to). 

I personally believe the iPhone will bring you much joy! I have never owned a device I have used more than my iPhone.  I shop with it. By taking photos of items I want to buy at a store, then researching the info online, I save a lot of money. I even looked up an item via Google while at the check-out counter and got them to match it which saved me nearly $100.  I’m able to look up addresses and phone numbers with the pseudo gps/google maps feature, I browse the web a lot, get my e-mails, send a steady stream of tweets on twitter and twitpics, keep on schedule with my calendar, listen to music, watch videos + youtube, and of course, make phone calls.  I don’t know what I did B.I. (before iPhone) but it is amazing how productive I am, and how much time & money I actually save because of this handy device.

Like Randy, I do light work and would never be able to do so much and carve out more time for my family without the iPhone.

Now that you have 3Good Reasons, start saving because the new iPhone is only days away!

From the dining room this morning, my wife started screaming YES!!!

I was trying to wake up the boys and ran to see what was going on. She was on the internet checking our bank account. Today we close on our house and she was trying to figure out if we had the money we needed for the cashier’s check. She was smiling ear to ear as she swirled the chrome neck of the old school iMac around to show me the balance in our account. It was $1,800 more than she had expected. Our Federal Government Stimulus Package arrived sometime during the wee hours of the morning. We have two boys and qualified for the $1,800 amount. The timing on this is so incredible! We now have more than enough to close on our house and buy the paint and supplies we were planning on getting. I know some people have been against the stimulus payments, but we’re certainly glad to get this - especially at this time.

We are excited to see what God has in store for us as we continue to put down roots and settle in to the work He has for us here in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

This has already been quite a stimulating morning and it’s only 7 a.m.

I heart creative tools!  The really good tools make my life easier and boost my creativity.  I just signed up for fontstruct which is a new font creator from font shop.  I’m always on the lookout for new typefaces (the term cool designers use instead of fonts).  But, with fontstruct I may actually attempt to create some of my very own.  I’ve always wanted to delve into the world of font-making but have little time.  This new web based font creator might make jumping into font creation a little less painful and time consuming.

If you’ve always wanted to make a font and have never tried, I’d suggest you give fontstruct a try today!