Sure, we can swim in that!

Last week I wrote a post about our pool and how hard it was to believe that we would be able to swim in the disgusting water.  Well, today, my children jumped in!  It’s amazing that in less than a week’s time, we went from utterly repulsive to crystal clear, thanks to the good people at the local pool center. 

On the flip side of that post, I talked about how our spiritual lives mirrors my pool.  Last night, I was reflecting on how much spiritual growth I have seen in my life in the last few months.  Now, please, I am not bragging on myself.  On the contrary, this is growth that should have come much earlier and easier than it has, but I am a stuborn man.  God has put me in a position where my faith has been able to grow immensly.  Just like the chemicals, the purification of my life has been a bit harsh.  It has not been the most fun trip, much like cleaning that nasty water, but the reward has been even greater than what my kids felt as they jumped in with both feet this afternoon. 

Next time you see a pool, clean or dirty, think about your spiritual life.  How clean is your water?  And what will it take to make it pure?

at&t back in service!

I just received a call on my at&t wireless phone! I understand that they suffered two cuts in major fiber optic lines. I still think they need to hire an over ocd person to be in charge of their backup planning. Its important to have a backup for the backup that fails when the first backup fails.

AT&T down, work goes smoother

We use AT&T (formally Cingular) wireless phones where I work.  Usually, Mondays are pretty hectic.  Today has been a great day!  the cell phone will not work and we cannot stay in the office because the air conditioner quit working.  I think I have accomplished more today than since we were issued cell phones. 

In all seriousness, I have not had time to research what is wrong at AT&T, but it has caused several problems that I am aware of.  In contacting AT&T this morning, we learned that all of Delaware, part of Pennsylvania, and southern New Jersey was down.  I cannot imagine being a contractor or road salesperson and not being able to be in contact with the office or customers.  I know that they tell you that your cellular service is not guarranteed to always work, but in today’s society, we have become dependent upon the use of wireless phones.  My wife will be on the road tonight.  I am glad that she is on Verizon.  I want to know if she breaks down or has a flat tire or just had a bad evening. 

AT&T, it has been nice to have a day off from the phone but let’s get it together.  This isn’t 1996.  Cell phones are not a novelty.  They are a neccesity.  If you want to be a industry leader, then go join the Boy Scouts and be prepared! 

We’re going to swim in that?

I have mentioned before that I can turn anything into a life lesson and here I go again…

I pulled to cover off of the pool last night.  Honestly, I have seen stagnate ponds that looked cleaner (Sorry, no pictures, I don’t want to gross you out).  The water is black and murky at best and even smells like a stagnate pond.  As I started to vacuum the bottom of the dismal abyss, I thought to myself “We going to swim in that?” 

After an hour of vacuuming, there was a slight change.  You could at least see a light surface emerging at the bottom.  After a massive amount of chemicals and a massive amount of filtering, I know that the water will be crystal clear and irresistible. 

It makes me think about our own lives.  It does not matter how dark or murky we are on the inside, God can pour spiritual chlorine through us and filter out all the impurities.  Just like a pool, it usually doesn’t happen overnight, despite my children’s desires.  It takes time and a balance of the right things to make yourself pure.  I could run my filter 24/7 but without chlorine, my water would still be green.  I could pour $500 worth of chemicals into my water but without stirring them up and running the filter, they would settle to the bottom, useless.  Given the opportunity, God will clean and filter your life until you begin to shine. 

Another interesting analogy is that a pool takes constant maintenance.  I do not like to swim in mostly clean water.  I want it fully clean.   I may have to adjust the pH here and the alkaline there throughout the summer and I always check the chlorine and run the filter.  I pull out the vacuum a few times per week to get the junk that starts to accumulate in the deep end because I want the water clean.  Our lives are just like that.  If we do not constantly maintain our spiritual person, we can become dark and murky and need major shock to get us clean again.  In September, my water was sparkling.  In June, it is repulsive.  With a little work, a lot of chemicals, it will be sparkling again very soon.  This weekend, I will be checking the levels of the pool chemicals.  I think I better take a reading on my spirit while I’m at it.

The Edge Of The Storm

On Saturday night, we were on our way to Laurel, DE from Delmar to attend a birthday get together for a good friend.  As the picture shows, we passed through the edge of a terrible storm.  Like so many other ordinary things in life, it made me think.  All we were doing was driving to a birthday party and I’m thinking about the meaning of life. 

We were driving into the storm.  2 things should be noted here.  1, it was a very good friend and 2.  I’ve never been too bright.  Now, back to the meaning of life…  Behind us and to our right, we could actually see the edge of the storm.  If we remained focused on the storm, all we would have seen were dark terrible skies.  But as we looked around, we could see sunny skies and almost hear the singing birds.  Where we were was not what you would call a good place, complete with lightning crashing all around, howling winds, and blackened skies.  The storm was moving fast and we could literally see the end of the storm, but we had to look to find it.  If we had focused totally on the storm, we would have never seen that we were right on the edge.  We would not have spotted the sunlight shining. 

Obviously, not all storms are fast moving and most of the time, the change from storm to sunshine is more gradual.  But isn’t that just like life?  Some storms come quickly and pass just as quickly, leaving destruction in its path.  Other storms come in slowly and seem to stay over us forever.  One thing remains the same, no matter what kind of storm.  The sun always shines again.  Sometimes, it feels like 40 days of rain and other times, you wish that it was only 40 days. However, the sun always shines. 

As for our storm on Saturday, the storm passed through very quickly and we were grilling hot dogs and hamburgers within an hour of the great darkness. 

The picture is certainly not amazing photography.  I took it with a cell phone while we were traveling down the road at 50mph (and before you get concerned, my wife was driving), but I will keep a copy of it on my computer for quite a while to remind me that all storms pass. 

As I face the storms of life, both great and small, I know that they will pass.  I will try to take the time to look around to see if the sunshine is already in view and now I have a picture to remind me. 

It’s A Two Man Race…

Obama has clinched the Democratic nomination.  Now it is official, McCain vs. Obama.  Elder Statesman vs. Political Phenom.  Personally, I think McCain will win in November because he has a few hundred more elections under his belt.  What I really think is that the most important leader in the world will be decided on sound bites and nonsense.  Sometimes, listening to the “analysis” on some of the news networks sounds more like Entertainment Tonight.  Who had the better speech, who looks more presidential.  Are we picking a prom queen or a president? 

Here’s what I want to know:
Are you going to defend me and my freedom at any cost?
How will you honor the Constitution and what does that mean to you?
Where do you stand on the key issues?
Can I trust you with my country?

I don’t care about what you look like, sound like, or whether you always say the right things in your speeches.  I know there is a science to this stuff, but I wonder if given the opportunity, would we have the wisdom to elect George Washington,  John Adams or Thomas Jefferson today?  Would we have the courage to elect Abraham Lincoln and stand behind him when the right thing proved so costly in today’s political atmosphere? 

Gymnastics and Geekiness

I have hit the pinnacle of my geekdom! I am sitting in a coffee shop downloading something on my girls’ gymnastics coach’s computer and posting on my blog from my blackberry. I have to admit. I love being a geek. My wife even got into the act by homeschooling our son during breaks in the meet
Enough about me, my girls had a meet today in Millersville, MD. It was a smaller meet and the girls compete at next year’s level. Mine are staying level 4. Although the scores were not as high as states, they both collected more hardware than in any other meet this season! I think the judges kept the scores lower to allow the girls room for improvement. I could be totally wrong as it is nearly impossible for me to tell the difference between good and great in this sport. Bad is detectable in any sport.
Back to my girls, My youngest daughter scored a first, third, fourth, and third all around. My oldest scored a second, third, fourth and third all around. The big victory is that my oldest made the podium more today than any other meet, possibly more than she did all season. she couldn’t stop smiling! There are so many things I love about this sport but one of the biggest is that everyone gets their playing time. No matter if your are pulling 9.9s or 5.0s, you get the same amount of time. Don’t get me wrong, you have to have skills to even make it to the team, but once you’re there, you don’t have to ride the bench. All season, my girls have been in the middle or back of the pack and have progressed nicely as the year moved along. This have them a taste of what they might experience next year. They are building crazy strength, strong charictar, and good work habits. It’s nice to collect some hardware every once in a while, too.

Healthcare Revolution

Back in 1773, the citizens of Boston threw their tea into the harbor to protest the ridiculous taxes on it.  After watching my father suffer from severe head pain that has reduced a full time pastor with something important every single day to not trusting himself behind the wheel of a vehicle, I believe we need a healthcare provider party.  I’ve got a few things I’d like to throw into a harbor right now. 

Now, to be fair, my father’s medical file rivals by War and Peace in length and drama.  There are certain precautions that must be taken.  However, he has been in constant pain for over two weeks and a couple doctors think they know what is going on, but they do not have the correct speciality to make the pain go away.  In order to get to that specialist, he needs to back to his general physician for another trip so he can get the proper referral.  He’s been there so many times in the last two weeks, he is leading in the polls for May employee of the month. 

I can get a pizza delivered to my house at 11pm.  I can buy a lawnmower at 3 in the morning.  I can get breakfast 24/7.  But to get to the right doctor that can read an MRI, it takes 20 phone calls, two other doctors’ permission, a recommendation letter from my local congressman, and a friend on the inside to work the system. 

I think the blame lies at the hands of the insurance companies.  I could be wrong.  No insurance system is perfect, but at least my car insurance company has to cater to me and not somebody over in the HR department.  Just a thought, but what if we quit tying health insurance to our employers, give us the twelve thousand dollars a year that they spend on my insurance and let me go shopping for my own.  Maybe then, the insurance company can actually let the doctors treat me instead of making them jump through all those hoops. 

Sorry for the rant, just keeping it real…

Being a Computer Geek Is Like Being A Doctor

Before you think that I am getting too self important, hear me out. 

I have never saved a person’s life.  I have not prolonged a life.  I have never helped someone get over a major illness.  I do not drive a Mercedes-Benz and I do not belong to a single country club.  I am, however, treated the same way as a doctor at social events. 

I am not complaining or griping or wishing it all away.  It is part of being a computer geek.  Just like being asked about a scratchy throat is part of being a doctor.  I don’t talk about what I do for money too much in social circles very much.  For one thing, I don’t like self important people so I try to not be one myself.  I am sure I fall short on many occasions.  Another reason is that what I do is not who I am.  Yes, I know that I am a geek and that is part of who I am, but I am more than my job.  If I left my job today, the sun would still shine on my employer.  They might not know how to reboot the sun when it crashes, but eventually, they would figure it out.  My life does not completely revolve around all things computer.  I realize that to hard cores, this puts my geekiness in question, but so be it.  I have a wonderful wife and three great kids.  I enjoy music and watching football and Lord of The Rings, my precious. 

It’s not that I don’t want to answer your questions.  I know why your computer keeps crashing.  It is either Microsoft’s operationg system, the spyware that you have never cleaned up, or the patches that you never installed.  More than likely, it is the last two and not the first one.  I know why you’re computer is so slow.  It is probably one of the answers above or maybe you bought the black friday special at your favorite box store and it doesn’t have enough memory and you’ve installed every desktop pretty picture changer and inspirational screen saver you could find. 

I am used to it.  Go ahead and ask me if you got a good deal on your digital camera.  If you don’t, it will cause you heartburn and you will be looking for your doctor friend.  Just remember to ask about my family first, it cuts down on the sarcastic response that you will get. 

Crazy Week!

I apologize for not posting very regularly this week.  My plate has been full.  It has been great, but busy.  Our church worship team had the honor of providing worship music for the Laurel High School’s Baccalaureate service.  Things went very well.  It was a bit unnerving as I actually work for the school district.  Most employees know nothing of my guitar hero alter ego.  They simply know the mild mannered computer geek.  Well, maybe it would be more accurate to say that they did not know that their cranky computer geek plays guitar.  Anyway, I cannot shake the computer geek persona, even while wielding a Gibson axe.  Oh well, I was only asked two computer questions that night…

Wednesday night, our church’s drama team, Illuminate,  performed in Westover, MD.  I was asked to play two songs for the event and participate in a drama, which involved me playing the part of the Devil and getting beat up by a teenager.  My two daughters participate in the drama team.  They performed excellent!  Would you expect a different review from a proud dad? 

One of the dangers of having great talent in your church is that you start to get used to it.  We see dramas by Illuminate on an almost weekly basis.  I have watched them grow from a handful of people with an idea to a full team of adults, teens, complete with an entourage of around thirty people.  I have seen them move from trying really hard and doing good to working really hard and invoking real emotion and deep thought by those watching.  I have started to get used to it and even expect it.  The church in Westover was not used to it.  They were moved to shouts, praises, laughter, and even a few tears.  Our drama leaders should be extremely proud.  The team performed the best they ever have.  When you come to expect excellence, it is good to be reminded that it stands out.