google it

You can tell a lot about a person by their Google history. I can tell what kind of day Heidi has had by looking at what she recently Googled. Last night, while she was at work, I got the kids in bed, and then sat down at the computer. Looking up at the right hand corner of the screen, in the little Google box, I read "matchbox car in muffler"

Not too matches found for that one. I suspect there may have been one find, reading something like "so you have a toddler!"

M@

ps - Midas doesn't know how to get matchbox cars out of mufflers either! It's just best not to put them there, as tempting as it may seem...

personal update

Not been much for blogging lately. That's because I'm running at a pretty good clip. What's new, right? So here's a little personal update:

- Heidi and I had an amazing time in Vermont a couple weeks ago. We were given a gift certificate that allowed us to spend a few nights at our favorite in - we used to go there often when we lived in New England and New York. It's been over 6 years since we have been there. That gift, coupled with the incredible gift of family and friends staying with the kids, opened the door for us to experience The Vermont Inn once again. To the Eckrote, Cary, Sue, and Gleason families...words fall short of expressing what a gift you gave. Thank you!!

- I've had the opportunity to teach a few times in the past couple months. I enjoy doing it and am continually surprised by how God chooses to use my sometimes feeble attempt at stringing words together.

- Izak won some staples in his head last week. He slipped at school and split his head open on a table. I gat the call from Heidi just before staff meeting - she was already in the city at work and I needed to pick him up from school and take him to the acute care center. I did ok at adreneline management - something I'm not always great at. Taking him to the acute care center, they confirmed that he did need stitches. But instead of stitches, they would use staples. So the doctor pushed the easy buttom and stapled my boy's head! He was brave and strong - I was proud of him. At least I felt proud once the room stopped spinning - daddy got a little "woozy"...Yup...I'm not in the medical field on purpose. Staples come out tomorrow.

- I survived Amanda, my assistant, being gone for 2 weeks. I came "this close" to really goofing things up...but she came back in the nick of time and all is well. Whew!

- I'm meeting with a group of men early on Thursday mornings. What an incredible group! I don't like mornings, but I love meeting with these guys. We started in January and have been working curriculum that I'm pulling together from several places with the intention of us becoming more effective God-led leaders in our own lives, homes, community, and church.

Well...that's the scoop for now.

Peace,

M@

Never say "Never!"

I read this blog by Seth Godin today...
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Never's not such a long time
By Seth Godin

"I'll never buy from you again."
"I'll never vote for that candidate if my candidate loses."
"I'll never invest in that stock."

Never seems like a really long time, doesn't it? Practically forever.

Here's the thing. People who say 'never' actually mean, "until my situation or the story changes materially." Making bad decisions in the now to honor absolute statements in the past isn't particularly sustainable. Consumers, short-sighted as they are sometimes, are able to realize this pretty quickly.

In fact, the only thing shorter than 'never' is 'always.'
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This reminded me of a store in Hamburg, NY. It was a department store that had habitually bad service. Once Christmas season, I could not find a store staff anywhere...seriously...anywhere. I stood in Aisle 8 and yelled, "CUSTOMER SERVICE TO AISLE 8 PLEASE! CUSTOMER SERVICE TO AISLE 8!" A couple people scurried over but still couldn't answer my question about the sale item in the circular.

I walked out of that store and determined that I would never go back again. I didn't. And less than a year later, it closed it's doors. Either I have super powers to determine the economic future of department store chains...or a bunch of people had a similar experience and the nevers added up.

I think about this in the church where I serve. There are going to be people who just don't like the way we do things: the music, the teaching, the [insert person or ministry here]. But we're not immune to a tidal wave of "I'll never..."

There are some things that are a part of who we are that will turn people off...that's just part of reality. But that means it's even more important to make sure we're not losing people on the unimportant stuff. We can choose to be welcoming, warm, fun, helpful...and in so doing, cut off a lot of the "I'll never..." before they even happen.

I'm not sure it's even all that profound...just a good reminder to me today. I don't want people to have to stand in the aisle and yell for help...

M@

testing...

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to teach in the weekend services. I taught the concluding message in the series on generosity - Being Generous With Grace. Giving grace to others...

Saturday night, the message went well...I was pleased.

Then the test...in the middle of the night - about 2:08am - I woke up to the thumping of my neighbor's music. I could not zero in on exactly which neighbor, I just know that for about 2 hours, I was enjoying the base line of some pretty thumpin' music.

I hate being awakened...especially at 2am!!

I so badly wanted to run around the neighborhood, find who it was, and give them a piece of my mind. Yup...a test. To offer grace or to do what comes naturally.

Though I didn't get back to sleep for a couple of hours, I smiled in the morning as I thought about the test...

how have you been tested lately?