Caught in the Whirlwind

My how time flies. Not just because I'm having so much fun, but merely because life is thrown at us so fast. I can't believe that August is almost through and fall is just around the corner. (Not that we really have a fall in Texas, but I have fond memories of a real Autumn in the midwest) If not for some strong tendons and intestinal fortitude I don't know if I would could have kept my head on straight over the last two weeks.

Caleb is starting kindergarten on Monday, but we haven't been so sure for the last two weeks. He caught silent pneumonia two weeks ago and as of Monday of this week he was nearly hospitalized because the initial treatment was not working. We have not been out of the house with him other than some very short errands for two weeks. During that time he was to celebrate his 6th birthday, have his birthday parties, and just enjoy the end of the summer. Instead he has slept a lot and eaten very little. He's currently at the doctor for a follow up visit, so hopefully he's kicked this thing and we'll have our little boy back.

Sam' has gone stir crazy in the house looking after Caleb during the days (and me during the nights). She was able to get out with each of the girls this week for a Mommy/Daughter date night. Keaton and mommy shopped and did the girly things. Bailey and mommy trained for the decathlon and did the Bailey things. It's great to see just how different their little personalities are. Last night Sam' did a Mommy's night out with some friends and had a great time.

I'm glad she's getting out this week because next week it's all her and the kids. I leave to fly out to Anaheim, CA on Sunday morning for a OSHA conference (yippeee...uhh no). On Wednesday I "get to" make the flight from LA to New York. Something about five and a half hours in the stowage sections doesn't make me giddy. The consolation here is that I may get to see the statue of liberty for the first time...we'll see. The last leg of the trip is back into Houston around 6pm on Friday night for the Labor Day weekend.

There is soo much on my plate right now, I'm starting to get dizzy, but this too shall pass. I'm really looking forward to the Olympics being over with as well so I don't feel compelled to stay up until 11:30p each night watching the live action. Fortunately I was able to take a vacation day today to spend with my family....I guess it's kind of the calm in the eye of the storm. I've just gotta brace myself again for the rest of the whirlwind.

Please step Away from the Powerpoint!!

OK, so I've had this pet peeve about PowerPoint for some time now. Everybody thinks that just because they have it and can use it that they should. I would love for congress to pass a law stating that if you don't know the basics of presenting with PowerPoint that the people who you are abusing with it can assault you and beat you over they head with your laptop. I've sat through my share of terrible Powerpoint presentations everywhere it can be used (Church, Work, School...).

You might be thinking, now that's a dumb thing to call a pet peeve, but how much of your life have you wasted due to bad powerpoint? Someone may have a great message, but it is lost in the improper use of Powerpoint behind them. Top executives at our company would rather see powerpoint slides that a project proposal written up like it should be. You can't cover all of the details of a $5M project in 30 slides...it's just not possible.

So why is it so bad? Ignorance I guess. I guess some people think that cutting and pasting text from a paragraph onto the screen then adding a piece of Microsoft standard clip art is adequate. Not only that, then they will proceed to read to you what is on the slide. This may actually be not so bad because they are usually the only one close enough to read the infinitely small print anyway.

So, what is the right way? It's basic. Contrasting colors, smart graphics, and large fonts with only the main topics or subtopics. As a presenter, you should know what's on your Powerpoint so well that you don't have to look at it. It is an aid, not an outline!! Maybe some time I'll actually have enough time to teach on this, but until then....watch for flying laptops!!!

Negatives go up, positives go all around

With a new session of Financial Peace University (starts Auguest 17 at 4pm on Sundays for 15 weeks at Calvary Baptist Church) about ready to start, I'm now on a email list for FPU facilitators. Today I got the first newsletter via email and it had a great little article on gossip and it's affect on the work place. In general it said that gossip is defined in business as any negative comments, whether true or not, that is shared with someone who does not have the ability to change things. Sounds like a good definition to me. The quote that I pulled from it that will go up in my office is "negatives go up, positives go all around." Not only will it go up on the wall, but I'm going to have to practice it myself. It is a tough task when you are as cynical as I am. I'll have to rely on God's strength.

Greek Mythology, Spirit Man, and "Christians"

Yesterday's Bible Study lesson was from Acts 17 where we find Paul in Athens discussing Jesus with basically everyone from the Jews, to the customers in the market, to the Epicureans and Stoics. It is a pretty interesting passage because it reminded me of people today. Paul was in Athens because he was chased out the Thessalonica and Berea by the Thessalonian mob. When he arrived in Athens he was pretty disturbed by what he saw. People everywhere were worshiping idols in temples dedicated to gods of every shape, size, and importance. What amazes me is that the Athenians actually believed in these gods. If you've studied any Greek mythology you know the soap opera-esk quality of the gods. Zeus kills Cronus and frees his siblings from his belly. Zeus marries his sister Hera and has many kids while cheating on Hera with mortal women. Athena jumps out of Zeus' head, Aphrodite marries Hephestus, but has an affair with Ares and on and on. It reminds me of your typical SE Texas white trash family. Where to people come up with this stuff. No wonder Paul was disturbed. Serving one true God who came to Earth to redeem mankind and who wants a personal relationship with you and wants you to stay away from graven images of Him, but rather worship him in Spirit and in truth seems almost boring compared to the tales of the Gods. That's just it though...if God was unholy and acted just like us, why would he be worth worshiping? Even more disturbing was what I saw still happening today on the National Geographic channel. In the far east a man the call the "Spirit Man" is cast into a crowd of men that has gathered to touch him to cast their bad luck on him for the year. Did I mention that the crowd was like 500 men and ALL of them want to touch this one guy. After two hours of crushing pressure the poor guy was unconscious and had to be pulled in a tug of war through a shrine window to safety. After 8 hours he has to participate in another ritual to cast off the bad luck for the whole village. The poor guy couldn't even walk so they dragged him around for the ritual while he hung limp in their arms. Again - I just don't get it. Where does this come from and why do people still believe this?
Then again, we see people everyday who call themselves Christians and we even acknowledge them as such. People who go to church regularly, maybe even Sunday School. We assume because they can answer the softball size questions that we throw out that they truly have a saving belief and relationship with Jesus Christ. Deep in their heart, they despise what Christianity is all about. The lust for things of the flesh with pornography, they lie and steal at work, they mentally or physically abuse their wife or their children, they cheat God out of his money and all while telling others that they love Jesus.
Which is more scary? Those who are cold and don't know a lick about Jesus? At least they can plead ignorance (not that it's going to help). Or those who are lukewarm pretenders who acknowledge Christ with their lips but deny Him with their life? Revelation 3:16 makes it clear what Jesus thinks when he says, "So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth."
Lord, Help me see the idols, speak the truth to those who are without it, and stoke the fire to keep me from cooling to lukewarm. Amen.

Win Some, Lose Some

Well, we finally won our first softball game. It was pretty impressive even if it was against the worst team in the league. It was an epic battle of the bottom of our league. We have a lot of potential on our team, just not a lot of practice. As with the first week, fly balls were an issue. Several balls actually hit our fielder's gloved, but didn't stay there for very long (or at all). After winning the first game, we ran into a team that has been playing together for years. We actually didn't get a person past first base in the three innings we played. They on the other hand hit the ball all over the place. I noticed as well that they had some pretty fancy bats (in the $150-250 range). Don't get me wrong, the bat doesn't swing itself, but you don't see Tiger Woods playing golf with an old Dunlap steel driver either. End of the story is that we got skunked by over 20 runs in the third inning and our list of casualties is starting to grow. Braun pulled a quad, Sammy did something to his knee, Jon got hit in the knee, and my knee feels just a bit tweeked. Next week, I manage the team and we're going to switch things up a bit to give some people an opportunity to play different positions. Should be interesting.

By the way, the Cubs just finished a four game sweep of the Brewers on Thursday. Go Cubs Go!!!