Preparing For 40 Days

I spoke Wednesday evening at Crossroads.  This was supposed to be the kick-off message for the 40-Day campaign, which begins next weekend.  I based my talk on 1 Peter 1:13.  It has 3 simple points: 1) Prepare my mind; 2) Discipline myself; 3) Receive Hope. 

If you'd like to see the video of this talk, click on the link below.  It should be up on the Crossroads Wired site for about a week.

Click here to watch the video.

Click here to listen to an audio file.

Wisdom From Job

This morning I read the following from Job 9 in The Message:

The question is, 'How can mere mortals get right with God?

If we wanted to bring our case before him, what chance would we have?  Not one in a thousand!

God's wisdom is so deep, God's power so immense, who could take him on and come out in one piece?

He moves mountains before they know what's happened, flips them on their heads on a whim.

He gives the earth a good shaking up, rocks it down to its very foundations.

He tells the sun, 'Don't shine,' and it doesn't; he pulls the blinds on the stars.

All by himself he stretches out the heavens and strides on the waves of the sea.

He designed the Big Dipper and Orion, the Pleiades and Alpha Centauri.

We'll never comprehend all the great things he does; his miracle-surprises can't be counted.

Somehow, thought he moves right in front of me, I don't see him; quietly but surely he's active, and I miss it.

My prayer follows:

Oh my God, how great You are - I can't begin to comprehend You or contain You.

Like Job wrote thousands of years before, You are all around me; You're everywhere I look.

Yet I can live my life out and never see You.  You're right in front of me and I miss You.

Help me Father to see You in everything this day.  Open my eyes so that I can't miss You.

Help me to see how puny I am before You and how grand You are compared to me.

Let me not be concerned about my puny agenda, but help me to pour myself into Your grand agenda.

Thank You for a good mind; thank You for a desire for You, for Lord I want to know You.

Enlarge my thinking beyond my boundaries; engage my thoughts and passions for all of You!

I love You Lord God.  Thank You for loving me.

Motorola H500 Bluetooth Headset

Today I received my Motorola H500 Bluetooth headset.  As you can see from the photo on the right (taken with my Motorola E815 camera) the headset is very small.  My hair almost covers the the whole thing.  The headset weighs less than an ounce (0.7 ounces to be exact) and is only 2.3 inches long.

Also included with the headset is a charger, a very brief instruction manual, a long warranty book written in 3 languages, and lots of plastic that gets thrown away.  It took two hours to charge the battery and about five minutes to get the headset hooked up with my cell phone. 

There's nothing complicated about the headset itself.  The unit comes with a hook that goes over the ear (can be set up for either side but comes ready to go for the right ear).  There are three buttons built into the headset - a volume up on the top, a volume down on the bottom, and a "do everything else" button on the outside of the unit.  This "do everything" button turns the headset on and off if you hold it for a few seconds or places a call and ends a call if you just touch it quickly.  The setup was easy and the headset is comfortable.

The headset is supposed to have 8 hours of talk time and up to 150 hours of standby time.  That's more than I'll likely ever need.  Mary Kay will tell you that I don't usually talk half that much in a single day - on the phone and off combined!  Also the headset is supposed to be able to work up to 30 feet away from the phone.  But since I wear my phone on my belt, it'll rarely be more than 3 feet away from the phone.

The only downside is that people tell me they hear an echo of themselves when I use the headset.  After experimentation I have learned that this result is directly connected to the volume control.  If I have the volume set to the highest level then the echo effect is most pronounced.  On the other hand, if I set the volume control down to the lowest level there is no echo at all.  In a quiet office environment the lowest volume setting is sufficient.  But in a noisy car - the most likely place where I'll use the headset - I'll need to turn the volume up to be able to hear.

My cost for the unit was $69 from Cellularking.com and was shipped for free.  However, I see that now they have raised their price to $77.30 - no doubt to cover shipping.  Guess I got a good deal.

Two Year Anniversary

It just doesn't seem possible that I haven't posted since March.  But I look at my website and I see old articles and... could it possibly be?... a link to Christmas pictures of 2003?  Argghhh!!!  This site is starting to smell of decay.  I'd better do something in a hurry.

I received notification from GoDaddy.com that my two years registration for the EarthlyPassions.com name is up in September.  Do I want to renew?  I thought long and hard about it.  Clearly one of my "earthly passions" is no longer keeping up with this weblog.  But I just couldn't pull the trigger to kill it.  I remember only too well all the hard work that went into getting it started. 

And even if this small piece of cyberspace is no more than a reference point for my grandkids someday after I'm gone, it's worth keeping.  Plus I really do like writing... even if few people but me ever read it.  So... I'm going to get back to EarthlyPassions.  Maybe not six articles a day like at first, but at least one article every six days shouldn't be all that hard!

Can Blockbuster Get Worse?

Earlier this week I wrote a comparison of my experiences with Netflix and Blockbuster Online.  Those who read all the way through the article know that I have been leaning towards continuing my account with Netflix and canceling Blockbuster.  Netflix just seemed like the better service.

Today's experience confirms it.  On Monday I returned 3 Netflix DVDs and 2 Blockbuster DVDs.  Today, Thursday - three days later, I received 3 new Netflix DVDs and 1 - count them - 1 MAILING LABEL from Blockbuster.  Apparently my mailing label separated from the DVD.  Immediately I went to my computer to report this issue and would you like to know Blockbuster's automatic response?

"It hasn't yet been three days since we mailed the DVD.  Please wait until three days to report this problem."

No kidding!  Instead of responding quickly, apologizing for the mailing problem, and rushing out another video, they don't even allow me to report the problem to them until the third day!  What... do they think that my DVD floating around USPS without any mailing label on it will magically appear on my doorstep tomorrow?

I guess this pretty much decides it for me.  Goodbye Blockbuster.  Hello Netflix!

Spitzer Discovers New Planets

According to National Geographic News, the Spitzer Space telescope has spied out two alien planets:

"NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has captured the light from two distant planets. The scientific first opens a new era in which scientists can directly observe the extrasolar worlds that orbit distant stars."

According to the article, we've been able to determine the existence of 130 planets indirectly over the past ten years.  But this is the first time we've actually been able to "see" planets for ourselves, or put into NASA speak:

"Now, for the first time, we can isolate the light from the planet itself—that's a precious piece of information."

With the new movie on the horizon, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy coming to theatres on April 29th, I couldn't help but wonder how we have managed thus far to miss the alien life forms who must be so abundant in our universe.  The only possible explanation?  They must make sure they always "stand behind the camera".  (Feel free to click the above image for a larger view.)

Netflix or Blockbuster: Which is Best?

Among the world’s great debates, the question of choosing an online movie service will never rank among the top ten.  Questions of war and peace, religion, philosophy, and whether or not Jennifer Aniston is really back together with Brad Pitt will always take precedence over the mundane choice of where one rents movies.  (Though tell that to the folks over at Hacking Netflix, who daily argue about which service is the best.  Their research into the most meticulous aspects of Netflix and Blockbuster make me wonder whether they even realize that Jennifer Aniston might or might not have gotten back together with Brad Pitt!)

Even though the choice of Netflix or Blockbuster is not in the top ten of all time debates, I have been researching this question of the best online movie rental plans the past several weeks.  And while my research is not complete – I still have another week remaining on my free trial period – I have decided which service I am going to choose.  But before I tell you my conclusion, let me share my journey with you.

For two years now, my brother Todd has been singing the praises of Netflix.  He seems to always have movies and knows more about movies than I have cared to know.  At times I’ve sensed an almost cultish devotion on his part.  Mentioning the rental of a movie from a video store like Blockbuster is sort of like mentioning the name of Bill Gates to an Apple Macintosh lover.  (You’re still using Windows?  The Macintosh is so much more intuitive!)  When the weekend would come around – I might or might not choose to rent a movie from my local Blockbuster store.  (You’re still going to Blockbuster?  You’d so love Netflix better! - according to my brother.)

And I probably would have given Netflix a try a long time ago if it weren’t for one small, personal detail.  My oldest daughter works for Blockbuster.  She’s a store manager.  And she is just as devoted to Blockbuster as my brother is to Netflix.  “Hey dad, my store has a 100% mystery shopper satisfaction rating.”  “Hey dad, don’t try Netflix.  I can get you anything you want.”  “Hey dad, Blockbuster is going to do the Netflix thing so well that you’d never want to do Netflix – wait for Blockbuster.”

What’s a dad to do?  You’ve heard that blood runs thicker than water, but I’m related to both!  Which runs thicker… brother blood or daughter blood?

Continue reading "Netflix or Blockbuster: Which is Best?"

Grandpa Twice Over

I have to write quickly. I don't know when Grayden will wake up, so I only have a few minutes.   I'm a grandfather twice over.  To the far left is my second grandchild, Sicily Grace.  She is two days old today.  And next to her picture is a picture of eight-month old Grayden Hudson.  (Click either picture to enlarge.)  Mary Kay and I have volunteered to babysit Grayden for a couple days (and nights) while my son, Jonathan, and his wife, Bethany, take a couple days to drive to Tennessee.  Who could have known that the first day we'd be watching my son's son that my daughter would birth a daughter?

Ok, she was due any day and we knew it was a possibility.  But what a serendipity.  This is just too much fun... or work... depending on one's point of view.  I have to admit that I forget how much work it is to watch (stand guard? protect? chase? carry around?) an eight-month old baby.  I told Mary Kay this morning that my arms were sore from yesterday.  Bethany is half my size... how does she do it?  I gave Grayden a bath last night in the bathtub and I thought my back would give out in the process.  Constantly picking up and putting down, lifting and lowering... it's a better workout than anything at the gym!

The toughest part is trying to understand what exactly Grayden wants.  He cries and fusses.  I've learned in the last forty-eight hours that this is really a signal for the multiple choice test to begin.  A) His diaper needs changing... I guess if my diaper felt like that, I'd be crying too.  B)  He's hungry.  Yesterday it took me about 30 minutes to figure this one out.   I put some Cheerios in front of him and you should have seen him put them away!  C)  He's tired and needs a nap.  I'm getting good at that one.  Rubbing his eyes is a giveaway hint.  I've also learned to try and avoid D)  All of the above!!!

The monitor is still quiet and I've stil got lots to do.  Mary Kay is going to be gone for the next four days to spend time with Jennifer and Sicily.  And I've got Grayden until later tonight when his parents come home.  The floor is a mess, strewn with toys, blankets, bottles... and one wet diaper.  I'd better get this posted and get the house picked up... and then get Grayden's next bottle ready... before he starts crying across the airwaves.  Uh-oh... I hear him stirring.  I've got about five minutes until the fun starts all over again!

Call Me Grandpa... Again!

		I'm a grandpa again!  The pictures to the left are of my newest grandchild.  Let me introduce you to Sicily Grace Carrick.  She is the daughter of my oldest child, Jennifer and her husband, Mike Carrick. Sicily was born this morning at 11:30am.  She weighed 7 pounds, 13 ounces and was 21 inches long.  Both baby and mother are doing fine this evening, though Jennifer is surely exhausted. Mary Kay and I had just left Jennifer and Mike's home last night, when Jen's water broke at 9:30pm.  Fourteen hours later, Sicily made her dramatic appearance.  Click on any of these thumbnails to see the larger picture!

Hoedown Fun

Boy, does my dad know how to throw a party!  This is nothing new.  For almost 48 years now I've watched with amazement as Dad puts together parties to thrill almost every group with which he's ever been associated.

Last weekend was no exception.  Dad threw a Hoedown Party for members of his church.  Of course, Dad invited his whole family and their friends to be a part.  This party included a fantastic meal of ribs, chicken wings, and covered dishes and desserts - more food than twice the hundred folks assembled could possibly eat.  This was followed by a most forgettable after-dinner talk given by yours truly, who found himself in robust competion with a preschool girl running on the wooden floor behind.

The real fun began next when a trio of country singers entertained along with an honest-to-goodness jug band of bango, harmonica, and wash tub bass.  My dad played the wash tub bass with as much gusto as he could manage.  Square dancing and country waltzes followed, with every age and ability finding a place to participate.

When all was done (before ten - we were all exhausted) we circled up, sang Amazing Grace and Will the Circle be Unbroken and heard a benediction given by Dad's pastor.  I hugged a very tired, but immensely satisfied dad.  His parties just get better and better!  Thanks Dad!