Thursday, May 24, 2012    

Not The Target Market

Wednesday, July 29th, 2009

I got an email yesterday that is either funny or not funny at all…I am pretty sure that I am not the intended target market for this product.

Here’s the subject line of the email: “You may qualify for an electric wheelchair at little or no cost.”

Here’s the body of the email:

orbit

There are two things wrong with this ad:

  1. I am not the right target market (at least I hope I’m not…maybe they know something I don’t know?). I have no idea how they got my email address…first time something like this has come to my inbox.
  2. Ed McMahon passed away over a month ago (June 23rd to be exact). Is he really the spokesperson you want for the actual intended target market? you’d think you wouldn’t want that kind of reminder going out in your marketing campaign. I’m just sayin’.

This did serve as a reminder for me that we need to ensure that our message is reaching the intended market in a way that they will understand and relate to. Otherwise we simply miss the mark and go unheard..right into the recycle bin like this email is headed towards.

29.07.2009 Humor, Misc Ramblings, Soap Box 5 Comments

Community Reminder

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009

I got a good reminder this morning about living in community. It isn’t a new earth-shattering, light-bulb moment…just a good reminder that we need community. We need other people. And none of us is perfect. Here’s how McManus put it (better than I can)…

“Love always grows, not just deeper, but wider. Love always loves people more and always loves more people. Love calls us to community; love calls us to humanity; love calls us to each other.

A healthy community is not a place of perfect people. That place does not exist. We are all flawed. If there is a perfect community, it would be ruined the moment I joined it…strangely enough, the best opportunity for building meaningful relationships is admitting up front that you’re not perfect and that you’ve got issues. Honesty is the only context in which intimacy can develop.” (Soul Cravings, Erwin McManus, Entry 16).

So here goes…

I’m not perfect.

I’ve got issues.

There…I said it…I admit it.

I need other people in m life pushing me to grow closer to Christ. I need to be pushing others too. Thankfully, I am part of a community that does just that. They love me anyway. I love them anyway. It works.

22.07.2009 Church, Life Group, Spiritual Development, Spiritual Musings No Comments

The Right Focus

Monday, July 20th, 2009

Most, if not all, of us struggle with living a right (righteous) life. I know I do. I feel Paul’s pain in Romans when he talks about doing the things he doesn’t want to do and not being able to do things he wants to do (Romans 7:15-21). I want to do right and live right, but too often I fail miserably. I feel weak. I feel like a mess.

God has been slowing shifting my focus over the past few weeks. Away from actions and rules. Toward love and grace.

It’s a hard lesson to learn because I have years of “bad thinking” built up. I’m used to thinking about trying to follow all the rules instead of following Him. Years of guilt instead of grace. It’s not the best way to live…and it’s not God’s way.

I got yet another reminder of that this morning in my devotional book…

“Trying to be holy always results in failure after failure. Falling in love with a righteous God results in progress. Failures still happen, but there’s a noticeably different approach to them. Instead of obsessing about shortcomings, we begin to obsess about God’s goodness…Law no longer consumes us; grace does.” (Walk With God, p. 201)

I wish this lesson came more naturally…but for me it’s hard work. I have to work to focus my attention on my relationship with God instead of trying to be good. But it’s getting easier…more natural. I am learning to accept God’s love and walk in His presence every day. I have much to learn, but I have a patient Father who wants me to learn this lesson and live in His grace. What a relief!

20.07.2009 Devotional, God's Love, Spiritual Development, Spiritual Musings No Comments

So Far, So Good

Sunday, July 19th, 2009

Anita has now officially been gone for three days. I think most betting people had the over/under for me taking care of the kids without losing my mind at about 3 days…so the rest of this week will really tell tale, but so far we’ve managed just fine.

The house is in working order…even managed to vacuum, mop, and do some dishes. The kids haven’ been bored yet, but that’s because I’ve kept them so busy they haven’t had time to think much: The pool, movies (thank Beth!), a car race, fixing my brakes, and hanging out together. Again, next week will be the real test since I will be working from home and not able to do all the “fun stuff”.

They also haven’t missed Anita too badly yet. Skype has helped that a lot…and staying busy. This is one I know will change. The longer  she’s gone the worse it will get. The more bored they get. The more “mean” I get (a.k.a.: The less new I am). I miss her already and wonder how she does this “job” so well. It’s a lot of work…God Bless all those single mom’s out there. They are a miracle!

So…next week here we come…more to report as the week goes on. Pray for me…pray for Anita…but mostly pray for my kids. ;-)

19.07.2009 Family, Misc Ramblings No Comments

In a Little Row Boat to…

Thursday, July 16th, 2009

beijingIf you are truly a child of the 80′s then you will be able to finish the song lyric (hint: “China”). This morning at 5:30 am Anita was picked up by our friends and her travel companions for an 11 day trip to China! Quite an adventure for a woman who has only been outside of the country once (and it hardly counted…Vancouver).

She and five other members of our church Praise Team are heading to China to lead worship for two Sundays at the Beijing International Christian Fellowship, an ex-patriot church of about 6,000 people that is allowed to worship on Chinese soil. They will also be doing some sight-seeing (i.e.: Great Wall and Forbidden City) and visiting a couple of orphanages. It’s a great opportunity for Anita and she is following God’s leading…and what a big step it is! They have an 18 hour flight before hitting the ground running on Saturday and Sunday.

I’m way excited for her. Now…11 days playing “Mr. Mom”? Doesn’t sound too bad…should be a lot of fun…but a lot of people think I’m crazy!  We’re going to have a lot of fun together, but we will all miss mom a lot. Kyle is already saying he misses her…I’ll just have to keep them so busy they don’t have time to think about it.

Anita will have all kinds of pictures and stories when she gets back…so stay tuned…

16.07.2009 Family, Ministry, Outreach No Comments

Logan’s Broken Arm

Sunday, July 12th, 2009

Two days ago Logan came home with two decent sized scrapes after falling on his bike…one on his right arm and one on his right leg. We bandaged him up and not another complaint. Yesterday he was a normal 9 year old boy…playing, riding his bike, working on and then riding his go-kart, swimming, etc. Not a single complaint.

Until 2:00 this morning. He woke up complaining that his arm hurt. Two Advil later…no affect. So this morning I took him to the ER and sure enough…a small fracture on his right elbow. He couldn’t have been more excited! He got a temporary cast and his first “war wound” (he’ll figure out just how much “fun” it ends up being). He gets the permanent cast later this week (and I get to deal with the effects while mom is in China for 11 days).

Here’s the pic…

Logan's Temp Cast

12.07.2009 Family 1 Comment

Como 2009

Thursday, July 9th, 2009

Our annual trek to Como, CO was a huge success this year (as usual). However, when we started out I wasn’t so sure that was going to be the case. At the end of fall last year it was obvious our pop-up trailer needed new tires. So we got new tires from Wal-Mart (a move that will prove to be our ruin) and figured we were all set. We headed out with three other couples bright and early on Friday morning.

We didn’t make it to Santa Fe and C-470 before one of the new tires on the trailer blew. I’ll save you all the nitty-gritty details, but turns out that Wal-Mart had given us the wrong weigh-class tire so we spent 4 hours driving around and waiting for Discount to set us up. We finally made it to camp 4 hours later than we had hoped )thanks in part to some traffic issues on 285)…but we did make it…and we had a blast!

Five families…10 adults…14 kids. Camping in God’s country and having a blast. No big fights (adults or kids) and the weather couldn’t have been any better. This is truly one of the greatest places on earth to spend a weekend with family and friends. Here are some pics to prove it…

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Roasting S’mores the First Night

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You have to play poker…right? (And yes, Anita won)

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The kids wanted in on the action too

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The crew fixing one of the Beaver dams on the property

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Logan “chillaxing” in the shade

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Lindsay eating a little snack of Antelope and Potatoes

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I think Kyle needs a shorter BB Gun?

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The ATV was a highlight for the kids (no, he didn’t drive it)

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Warming up in the morning

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Corrina and Raquel

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Greg, Paul, and Trent

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Shawn (aka “The Great Fisherman)…yes, there are fish in that pond (that’s the pind we fixed last year!)

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The moon was incredibly bright all weekend

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Showing off the camera skills…oh yeah!

09.07.2009 Family, Recreation, Vacation No Comments

Sharing a Funny Website

Tuesday, July 7th, 2009

Someone sent me a link to a funny website a few weeks ago and I need to share. I actually visit this site first thing in the morning to get my day started at work on the right foot. The site is called:

Awkward Family Photos

People post family photos and candids and share awkward family stories. The photos are sometimes scary and often hilarious. We can all relate. We’ve all taken photos we wish had never been taken. We all have people in our families that look and act like these people. This is simply a reminder that we are part of one big happy family. We’re all a little weird. We’re all a little awkward. Welcome to the human race. Enjoy the website…

07.07.2009 Humor, Misc Ramblings No Comments

Listen and Wait

Monday, July 6th, 2009

This past weekend was our annual trek to Como, CO for three days of camping with family and friends in one of the most beautiful places on earth (more details and photos to come in another post). One of the reasons I love it there is the beauty of beauty of God’s creation. I somehow feel closer to God…or am at least more easily reminded of His glory and power.

One morning as I sat in a chair overlooking a serene pond, blue skies, and majestic mountains; God gave me this passage to meditate on:

Let all that I am wait quietly before God.
Psalm 62:5a, NLT

It’s a great message, but made more so by the passage He gave just before we left:

Listen in silence before me…
Isaiah 41:1a, NLT

I am pretty dense, but even I can’t miss the message here: Listen and Wait. But it’s more than just that…I am to be listening and waiting before God. I am still processing and praying about what this specifically means for my own spiritual walk with Him. I do recognize and admit that there is a lot of “noise” in  my life and spirit right now. It’s hard to hear His voice with so much clutter in my spirit.

So I am asking Him to help me listen…and wait (I am still not sure what for…but that will become clear during the waiting) before Him. I need to slow down. I need to center my thoughts and action and life around Him.

I am listening. I am waiting. Before Him.

06.07.2009 Devotional, Spiritual Musings 1 Comment

Upgrade Pain

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

I upgraded my blog to the latest and greatest version of WordPress today (version 2.8 for those of you keeping track), and it has been nothing short of a royal pain in the back side. I somehow even managed to create some massive error condition that prevented the site from loading at all. I couldn’t even get into the admin page to fix anything…ended up reverting back to an older version and re-installing once again.

As a result, my sidebar isn’t fully up-to-date yet, but it’s in progress. This is the first time I’ve had these types of issues attempting an upgrade and I am reasonably sure that all of the customizations I’ve done played a key role in the issues I had today…but I can’t help the tinkering. And I do like this new version. The readers may not see much difference, but I can see a difference on my side of the website.

Heading off to campi this weekend so there should be plenty of pictures when we get back. Five families. 10 adults. 14 kids. We’ll see how many kids make it home! ;-)

01.07.2009 Blogging, Misc Ramblings 2 Comments