finite speck

We've always done it that way and it works great. Why do we need to change something that's already working? I put a lot of time into developing this and you're telling me you want something different? How do you respond to a change in direction? I know it can be tough, but it also can be a really good thing. Change just because with no reasoning behind it is very tough. But if there's an explanation as to why we're making a change and what the end results will be it may make it easy for your team or individuals to get behind it. Remember it's tough and have empathy towards those that the change is impacting. Empathy will go a long way.

We had a meeting yesterday with one of our agency partners. They asked for the meeting and they had an agenda. The main focus of the meeting was around generating content/pieces and the main article that would interest our customers. Our agency began describing what the main website page would contain and I really couldn't believe what I was hearing. They were describing the page that had already been created and launched over a month ago. The website page that is on all of the print ads that are now in market and the website page that all of the display and pay per click ads that they have been working were directed to. So... I asked the question. "Have you looked at the website? The one that our print ads are directing to and the display and pay per click ads you've worked on are going to?" In which I didn't get an answer. But they then proceeded to go to and realize all the content is already live and has been written. Ouch. And we had at least 4 people f

Should our company have an Instagram account? Should we start a podcast? Everybody else is doing it. Is that a good reason to start utilizing a new tactic? I have no doubt in my mind that there is value in the above two tactics and others as well, but I continue to struggle with knowing we have a small team and not knowing the impact that either one of these two will make or another new tactic for that matter. Especially Instagram. I don't think that a lot of our customers or potential customers are on there, but then I see Argentina, Brazil, and Ukraine company accounts with a presence there and I wonder maybe we need to be doing something in this space. How do you know? The other things I've wrestled with is from past experience of biting off new technology and not having the bandwidth to do it well and it just dies. So my answer is, it depends. It depends on what you're trying to do. Is it a test? What are your goals? Do you have enough staff to support it? Do

Within the last two weeks, we've started doing family devotions after or even before dinner instead of right before bed. Why? It just seems like our kids tend to listen better and are more focused if we do it earlier. Typically if we read devotions right before bed, Baer can't sit still. If we do it while the kids are still eating they're at least sitting. There's also the other side in which I may have more patience with our kids if we're doing devotions earlier instead of right before bed. I can't really explain it, but something seems to happen right before bed a lot where the kids just get kind of crazy. While on the topics of kids going to bed, another thing that has helped to wind them down is letting them pick out some books to look at before bed. I notice, especially with Baer again, a big difference between when we just put him to bed and when he gets to pick out books and look at them for a little while before he goes to bed.

Some further thinking on what I want our family to strive to be about... We love others more than stuff. "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matt 6:19-21 We remember God's word. It is THE way. "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." Psalm 119:105 We need help desperately. Help us receive it. "Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4:16 We obey, for our good and God's glory. "Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfec

I get a lot of emails. Especially for work, but also personal, and then there are all the lists I'm on too. So, how do we be more thoughtful about what we send to other people's email boxes? One thing that used to always annoy me was quippy emails that basically told me nothing other than thanks. That feels like a waste of everyone's time. I guess that emails that are an approval, are somewhat unavoidable. But, I guess what I'm getting at is how do we provide value every time we send something into someone else's email inbox? We all get a lot of emails. It's something I dread, but also in a weird way feed off of and even work from. It's something I want to get better at.

This year I ended up having a lot of days still to take off by October and I decided to basically take all Fridays off for the rest of the year to make sure they get used up. Now, the challenge with this is... how to use them? Do we do something as a family? Do I do a home project? How do I maximize these Fridays? So far the last couple I've done a few home projects, like painting and cleaning, as well as did a few things with the kids. And I think this Friday is going to be similar. Today I'm hoping to finish putting together our treadmill and plan to deep clean our showers. I digress. I think the main point of my post is to say. Make sure you use your time off and if it looks like it's going to be challenging to do so, consider taking one day off a week. You still get your time off and it can make it easier on the rest of your team than really big chunks of time taken all at once at the end of the year because you were too lazy to plan ahead.

I was asked, "What do you think?" yesterday as well as some other questions which were basically an opportunity to give feedback on our companies Town Hall meeting. When we ask questions it means we are looking for something. We're looking to get better. We're wanting to know what others think of what we're doing... It felt good to get asked. Especially when you believe it's an opportunity to be heard and have influence. But even if what I say doesn't change anything I still got the opportunity to say it. When you have the opportunity ask for feedback. Don't just assume. When you're asked for feedback and you're looked at as a reliable source. Share it. Asking and giving. It's a way for us all to get better.

What does it mean when you go over on your allotted time for a meeting? Do you care about the other people in the room? What does it say about you? Do other people care? Did you practice your talk? Did you not allow enough time? I sat in a lot of meetings yesterday and there were parts of them that were good, there were parts that were long, there were parts that were irrelevant specifically to me. I can't say I participated in a lot of it. I was actively listening, but I wonder what the rest of the room thought. I'm not sure if we ever ask for feedback or not. It's making me think just in general about meetings, how long we make them, how much I prepare for mine, how closely I stick to the allotted time, how engaged I am. Let's make meetings better.

Our family went to go visit my wife's grandma at the nursing home. And one of her grandma's next-door neighbors brought a meal for all of us. They've lived next to them for a long time. And I've seen these neighbors many times. They've brought over meals sometimes when Ilene and Bob were still living in their home. This is a true neighbor. They were at Bob's visitation and funeral. And I feel like they would have been at many more things as well. People don't generally stay in the same house as long anymore, so it's somewhat unique to have such a long-standing relationship. I hope we are able to stay where we are for a long time now and build relationships with those that we live next to. There's an older couple that is our next-door neighbor and we may have similar opportunities to serve them potentially if we are able to build that relationship now.

This phrase, "this world is not our home" popped up in my head as I thought about a foster girl this morning who this next weekend will be moving to another home. I believe she's 6. And it's very unlikely she'll be back with her biological parents and we hope that she'll be able to stay with the foster parents that she is now moving to, from another set of foster parents. The hope is she and her other sister will be adopted by this new family. But I had to think in this situation and many like this, home is not a place that's necessarily comfortable or happy. It's probably confusing. You don't know if will stay the same or change again. You don't know if you'll sleep in the same bed again or not or even if the people you'll be with will stay the same. It feels very broken and can look really hopeless. And I was reminded by my wife last night that we live in a fallen world and things aren't all going to work out perfectly, for

So, I'm home, sick today. I had other plans, but getting sick pretty much cancels everything. Anyway, I watched two movies that I picked up the library that I had wanted to watch for a long time and I had no idea, but it was interesting how they both had similar storylines in that the villain is the "system" of the man-made computer network. They were both the kind of movies that I like where you're not sure exactly where they're going to go and even who the bad guy is. The movies where "Eagle Eye" and "I, Robot". The other thing about them was that instead of the villain being a person it was more of a system that in both cases went out of control and had to be shut down. I had no idea they would be so similar. These two movies were both made before 2010 and at that time a.i. and machine learning wasn't anywhere as complex as they are now. I don't know how probable the storylines of computers taking over really is, but it made for

Is the extra effort worth it? How do you know? How do you measure it? Can you measure it? That was part of my discussions yesterday with my team as we looked at a mock-up of an invitation to our conference that I put together. I knew the cost of it was going to be more expensive than in past years, but I also believed that it should get more attention than our typical invitation does. But even in the end, I couldn't prove for sure that the increase in cost will for sure drive more attendance or even get more attention. Yet we did decide to move forward with the design and I'm looking forward to still seeing what kind of notice it does get. Not only was there extra effort on my part, but our vendor who typically produces our invitations had to outsource the design to China because they weren't able to do it in-house and they could find any other printer in the US that was willing to take on the project either. Part of the invitations will have to be done by hand!

Yesterday was a day with the kids. Josie just kind of froze during a game of Duck, Duck, Goose at church and started crying. We don't know exactly why. Baer peed his pants at church and they had to find him another outfit. When I got home Mac had just spit up all over my wife. And I know this was just a few things at the end of the day that I know about. As we were getting the kids to bed I saw a bunch of mismatched socks on the floor in Mac's room and I asked, "Are all of these Mac's?" My wife responded, "That's what my life feels like right now... A bunch of mismatched socks all over the floor." When we look back on our days when we had little kids I'm not sure what all we'll remember. I hope it's not all of the stuff that was so tough. The thing about all of the things that happened above is they're all kind of out of our control as parents. We think we have more control than we do. It's more about what do w

So, we've started something new. I talked about it earlier on my blog but hadn't done anything yet. Chores. I made a chore chart for each of our kids. On it is four jobs for Josie who's 4 and two jobs for Baer who's 2. It's fairly simple. During the week, Monday through Friday, they need to do their jobs each day and they get to fill in the circles for each job. At the end of the week, we'll do something special with each of them if they complete their chart for the week. Now, the hard part is going to be coming up with something special for the week. Maybe it's a piece of gum or a sleepover with dad. Maybe it's sherbert during the week. I want to come up with things that are fun and memorable for them so that they have motivation to do what they've been asked to do and with having two kids there will be a little fear of missing out if one doesn't do their chores.

Why do you so many people have a Gmail account? Is it that better than the other email services out there? When someone's personal email account ends with @yahoo or @aol what does it make you think? Is there a status in having an @gmail account? Even though it's free? How did Gmail get so many people on their platform? Storage capacity and search. They offered the ability to keep 1 GB worth of storage (unheard of at the time) and the ability to search it all super fast from anywhere you could get on the internet.

I'm thankful for my wife who does the laundry the majority of the time. Friday, Saturday, and today I spent some of these days doing laundry. I'm on my last load as we speak, but there's more in the laundry chute already. It just doesn't stop coming. It's the never-ending pile. I'm also thankful that the hardest part of it is just folding and putting it away. I don't actually have to wash any of the clothes by hand. Instead, I'm able to just throw the laundry in a machine and do something else instead. It's easy to complain about things we have to do. Or to complain about how there's always more to do. But, I want to challenge myself to have a thankful heart about work. About the never-ending pile of things. There's always another side to the pile. At least I'm able to do physical work. At least I don't have to do the laundry by hand. At least I have family around to do laundry for and even do the laundry with.

It's 8:30am and I already needed a break from the kids this morning. I didn't get up earlier than the kids, so... no alone time, which I don't do well with. So my wife graciously asked me if I needed 30 minutes. Which I've taken. Thankful for a wife that knows me well. Just a little time to pray, read the bible and write. Before I left for a little alone time something came up about a camo camel. And my wife said, "Hey that could be your kids' book." Hey, maybe it will be. A quick Google search brings up no results.

As I get ready for my Friday off from work I'm faced with the main task at hand which I believe is going to be painting the hallway. It may change, but I'm hoping I can get it all accomplished today. I would love to do even more than paint the hallway today, but I've come to realize that with three little kids the amount of time you have to do things is just different than what it was like before them. Depending on if they're around for the day or not I may try and listen to some podcasts while I'm painting to try and take advantage of the monotony of painting too. Painting walls is probably one of the most mindless exercises I know. It gives you plenty of time to think.

Right now there's a mouse in our house. I saw it yesterday as I was washing dishes out of the corner of my eye. What is it about having a mouse in your house that just really gives you an unsettling feeling? I guess because you have no idea how they got in and no idea where they are or how soon you'll catch them. Well, my in-laws bought us some traps last night so we'll see how long it takes to catch the one we saw and hopefully there aren't more.

"Can you believe they took away our car?" I think I've heard my grandparents say this at least 10 times in some way or another since their kids talked with them and they all mutually decided that it was best to give their car away. My grandma has macular degeneration in her eyes and my grandpa has some form of dementia. So neither one of them is really fit to drive whether alone or together. But, it's been really tough for them. They've been independent for a really long time. They've been able to drive wherever they wanted to go. Now, they have to call up someone to take them to the grocery store, they need a ride to church, any appointments, or anything else. So, whenever we see them it seems like the not having a car conversation comes up. And whenever they see their empty garage it brings some sadness. It's tough. I can't imagine what it would be like to have had something like a car for so long and then not be able to get around anymore wi

So we have friends that moved away about 2 years ago and they just moved back to the area last month. They have kids that are almost exactly the same age as our kids. And yesterday they invited us over for dinner. It was pretty exciting for my wife and me because typically we don't get invited over somewhere else... or at least it doesn't seem like it. We had a great time. We just picked up where we left off. Josh and Katie are great and a lot of fun. And their kids and ours played together good too. And they moved super close to where we now live. I would just say that my wife and I came away thankful last night for some friends that live close, that we feel like we'll be able to do things with for years to come. Praise God for hospitality and friends.

This is something that I asked my wife about last night and I want to continue to think on. What is our family about? The one thing we say to our kids a lot is we want them to, "Obey. All the way. Right away. With a happy heart." They know it. And they can tell us these words by heart. It doesn't mean they do this all the time, but at least they know our expectations. This could be one thing perhaps... But I'd like to have a list of maybe 3 or 4 things only that we'd say as a family we're about. Kind of like our core values. I started thinking about this because our company has a few things that we hold on to that we'd say we're about. And I think even more importantly I'd like this to be true for my family. So, a few thoughts from my wife and I talking are here. And I want to have some verses to also put together with them. Love others. (Who are you thinking about?) ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Matt 22:39 Remember. (Knowing God&#

There are over 700,000 active podcasts as of 2019, so how in the world do you pick something to listen to? And according to a quick Google search in 2018, the number of podcasts was 550,000. That's a big jump. So, there's plenty to pick from for sure... So this is my attempt to help narrow it down to just a few of my favorites as of today. Thanks to others that have made recommendations to me. In no particular order: Fight Laugh Feast Network (particularly Cross Politic) Akimbo Freakonomics Radio The Bible Project Building a StoryBrand American Innovations The Ben Shapiro Show The City And I'm sure there are many more that are super good.

According to the Pew Research Center , "roughly a quarter of U.S. adults (27%) say they haven’t read a book in whole or in part in the past year, whether in print, electronic or audio form, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted Jan. 8 to Feb. 7." The idea that adults don't read or don't read much made me think how much am I reading? I can't say that I've loved reading... not for a long time. I read books to my kids. And sometimes I'll find a book I can really get into, but I typically don't. I've started a few books this year, but haven't finished them. So, how do I get myself back into reading? Reading can be good right? It's a way we learn. I think both my wife and I would say the same thing about reading too in that a lot of times by the time we get to the time of day when we can crack open a book and read we're ready to fall asleep. Although, I have to give my wife credit... I've seen her reading more this year

I'm not good at being social with those I work with outside of work. I don't think I can really recall a situation where I've done something semi-regular outside of work with those that I've worked with. Sure, I've gotten together before in different ways. For example, I had an old co-worker that helped me learn how to change the oil and filter on my car. I've gone to a co-worker's wedding. I've gone out for dinner or to watch a movie with co-workers before. But all of these are few and far between. Not even a semi-regular occurrence. Ironically, at the same time where I work currently, I would say is the best place I've ever worked in my life. I don't know where all of this stems from. And I don't know that I like it. I'd like to get together with some of the guys that I work with just to hang out. Not to just help me to do something that I couldn't do without them. As I think of two of my co-workers specifically they have kids

October 2nd marks one year for me of regularly blogging. My goal was to write something every day. I haven't done that, but I've managed to write 296 posts. That means on average I've missed 5 days per month. When I decided to start a blog I wasn't thinking about how many I might write I just knew I wanted to start writing and wanted to get better at writing. I wasn't out to get a bunch of people following me (believe me there aren't many reading what I write). I really wanted to get better at writing and have a way to do that on a daily basis. I think having a blog that I write almost daily has really helped me in accomplishing my goals in writing and I plan to keep it up. So, if you're interested in learning what's in my head, follow along. If you want to get better at writing yourself, start a blog and keep showing up every day. If you want a bunch of people to start following you... good luck!

Yesterday I was at work and was prepping for some interviews when I got a call from my wife. She said, "I can't find my wallet anywhere. Did you put it somewhere when you emptied out the groceries? Is it still in your car?" I had about 45 minutes or so before the first interview started and I had a choice to make at this point. Would I respond lovingly? Would I choose to help? Would I figure out a way to solve her dilemma? Sure it's inconvenient and I wasn't planning on it, but how was I gonna respond? Well, I said I'd go look in the trunk of the car and then call her back. So, I checked the trunk and found her wallet in there. So, I gave her a call and found out she needed to get gas in her car and was heading to a friend so she really needed her wallet. And I still had time to be able to meet her and get her wallet and still get back to work for the interview, so I said I can help. Notice there's no blame in any of this? There's no shame. She