finite speck

So you're not going into the office for a while. You're working from home. How is that going when you're used to being around others regularly to check-in, to review work, and keep things moving? I think it can be really challenging, especially for those that are motivated by others. The video conferences are helpful, but it's not the same as being in person with others. But, this is an opportunity to really get a lot done too. Fewer interruptions... unless you have kids at home and can't get away somehow. This might be an opportunity to learn more as well. If you have some more free work time, maybe you sit in on some webinars or online classes. When things change we have the opportunity to complain about them and wish it were different or get creative and find ways to work with what we have right now.

Well, we are back home. And the last couple days of travel and realizing that my actual blog website is down kept me from posting. I still need to figure out why my blog website isn't loading. But, back to the new normal. It sounds like most people at my office are working from home. Which means I'll be back working in my in-law's basement for this week. Today will mostly be catching up on email and figuring out where to pick up since I left on vacation over a week ago. We'll see how the new normal goes.

Over this past week, I've realized we have all the right players on our team. We have Chad with tons of construction experience and running a business. Helping us with the numbers, how to be profitable, making projections, making sure all crucial projects get done and knowing what to get done. We have Julie with the interior design eye and knack for what looks good. We have Amanda, the pharmacist, who just knows how to help get things done, has some design sense, and isn't afraid to give an opinion. We have Chris, a physical therapist, that knows how to use a lot of tools and has knowledge of how to run a pool. Then there's Traever, our pastor/engineer, how is meticulous and knows how to make stuff out of nothing and fix things that no one else probably would, but people would totally notice. Plus, he's got the skills of staying up late and being on the internet all the time. Making him great for corresponding with renters. Andrea, has tons of real estate experience s

I've really enjoyed learning more about photography over the last year and it feels endless. And I believe it truly is. After talking with a friend that's a professional in the photography business yesterday he mentioned the same thing about photography. He continues to still keep learning in this field.  As I've been evaluating how to best photograph our rental property over the last week I've learned about bracketing. Which is basically taking 3 photos that are merged into one photo to get the best photo. Basically the more difference in light that you have the larger difference in stops you want to have in order to capture everything. So you can see the view outside through the window as well as everything inside of the house. I'm a little nervous that I'm not going to take these photos well, but I'm gonna give it my best shot and we'll see what we come up with.

Yesterday we made it over the hump working on this rental property and it's looking really nice. It was a really tough day working outside shoveling and moving sand, gravel, and rock. We moved sand and gravel around the driveway and house where we had the driveway exposed and were at risk of it cracking. We also got the beach cleaned up. And at the end of the day, we got some river rock put in around the pool and at the front of the house. This morning I'm feeling a little achy, but not too bad. We're getting close to having this place ready to go. I've got a little more research to do on getting the photos taken that we need for this place. Photos coming soon. The other thing that's been fun about this week is seeing our four families working together to get what needs to get done done.

I keep learning more and more about my camera. Even though I think that it's a very beginner camera any more. The more I learn the more I also think it was probably the right camera for me to get started on for now. I'm working through getting ready to do take a bunch of photos of our rental property down in Gulf Shores towards the end of the week and I want to make sure that I nail these photos. I'm learning about bracketing which is basically taking HDR photos (sometimes your phone can take these now). You basically take 3 photos consecutively one underexposed, one overexposed, and one right where you want it to be. I'm hoping I can figure out how to do it well and merge them together to get some nice shots. This allows you to capture what's outside the house seen through the windows as well as what's inside the room you're shooting in. Otherwise, you end up with blown-out (really white) windows that you can't see anything through. So bracketing ma

Funniest moment of the day happened yesterday in the afternoon as I was changing light bulbs out on the second-floor deck. All of sudden I looked over and I see my son with his pants down, leaning back and I'm thinking what is he going to do? And then it happens he starts peeing off the second story deck on to the driveway below. And not just onto the driveway below, but onto my sister's car! Obviously, there was no way for me to stop what was happening and more than stopping him, I really wish I would have had my camera. It was hilarious. I think he just had to pee really bad and this seemed like the best option at the time to my 3-year-old.

I love being the first one up in the house. But in a house of 17 right now I wasn't sure if it would happen. But, if I can make this a habit... even though I'm going to bed later than normal I know the pain of getting up early is worth it in the end. To get a chance to make the coffee. To read the Bible. To read a blog. To write my blog. And enjoy some total quiet. Before the sun comes up. It's worth it. God much of our world right now is very uncertain. We are being asked to keep to ourselves. We may be asked to go home at some point. We are being limited in what we can do as far as work to contain this virus. Be our peace right now in the midst of this storm. Help us place our confidence in you. Help the leaders, in government, in business, in homes, in churches and other places lead well. We always need you, but when times seem more uncertain, it's more obvious to us. Forgive us when we place our trust in what we have instead of you. In this day today, help me

I'm exhausted. And this is only day two of work! I got up early this morning, but the kids got up early too. Today was a lot of building furniture. Putting together beds. And a lot of cleaning the bottom of the pool by sweeping sand by hand underwater and pulling out with a bucket. We also had a lot of moving of furniture. I'm tired. It's also at the same time pretty exciting though getting this place ready. We just hope we can somehow get this property rented sometime in the near future with everything going on with the Coronavirus. And tomorrow is only Saturday.

Well, this will be the first "vacation" I've ever taken like this. 8 adults and 16 kids for about a week. All working together to get a vacation rental property ready to rent. It's 6:30AM right now and a couple of dads have already left with some of the oldest to head down to Gulf Shores to close on the property by noon. Then the real work starts. We're looking at leaving in about 2 hours or less. Here we go. And in the middle of this all there's the Coronavirus.

Over the last few days, we've been wrestling with whether we leave or stay put. Not because we want to go on vacation. Not because we're a bunch of rule-breakers, but because we have an obligation. We are obligated to close on our vacation rental property in Gulf Shores. And because we have work to do on it before it's ready to rent. And so that means we (my family, my two sisters' families, and my wife's brother's family) are all heading down there to get it ready. It's a little nerve-racking. Not really because of the Coronavirus, but because there are 16 kids going down and 8 adults and we're going to try and work. We plan to stay pretty isolated other than being around our family in the house we're working on. Lot's of unknowns. But we're committed to getting it ready. I imagine this being almost like reality TV, but instead real life. We're praying that the dynamics of our families will work together to produce something good. We

This is what feels like day two of things really changing a lot for us here in the U.S. even though it started last week. We have been encouraged to stay inside or keep our distance from others as much as possible. Staying 6 feet away from others. To not gather in large groups. But, that doesn't keep us from communicating with one another. It made me think I should text one of my buddies in Chicago to see how he's doing. He's married and has 8 kids and lives in the city. So I texted him last night to see how he's doing. He's doing well and using this time to try and come up with creative ways to do ministry with college students via video chat bible studies. Then I was reminded this morning as well to just try and call 5 people to see how they're doing today. Call them or video chat. In some way communicate with others as we're all being encouraged to keep our distance.

Today, I start working from home. Last night I went to the office and picked up my computer monitor, hard drives, keyboard, and other equipment I need to work from home. This morning I'll set up my at-home office and try to keep myself and my family away from others as much as possible until the Coronavirus begins to subside. Meanwhile, my wife has to work today at the office and she's a hygenist. Along with that she's subbing today at an office she's not really familiar with, so she's concerned about their policies and plans to take more precautions right now. It will be interesting to hear how that goes for her. I'm curious how many people will actually want to go in and have their teeth cleaned, even though it's a very sterile environment typically. At this point, I read that it is being strongly encouraged that people limit gatherings to 50 people or less. Sports, schools, churches, bars, nightclubs, restaurants, and libraries are all shutting down

There's a lot of brainpower thinking about the current state of things in our country and the world with the Coronavirus. Thinking about the future and trying to predict things. If there wasn't there wouldn't be a run on toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and masks. But are we thinking to pray? I know we live in an age when the medical world has a lot of knowledge. There are many illnesses that can be addressed. But, we are finite, we are all going to die someday. And someone else is greater than us who is control of every molecule in our world. Today is Sunday. And I want to spend time in prayer with my wife and kids asking God for wisdom. Asking God for healing. He can do anything. It doesn't mean he will, but He can. The Coronavirus is bad, but my sin is way worse. And God made a way that I could be redeemed from my sin through Christ. I don't know how we'll look back on this time period of the spread of the Coronavirus, but I hope it will stir Christians up

We were at my grandparent's house last night and had dinner with them. And somehow my wife got on the subject of dancing and asked my grandparents if they had ever danced before. To which they both said no. I couldn't believe it. Never danced? So, I asked my grandma if she knew any dance moves. She proceeded to have me hold her hand and dance with her doing two steps forward and one step back. My wife got it on video. Then we got my grandpa and her both dancing together, and they said they'd never danced before. And they've been married for almost 70 years! So, it's never too late to do something you've never done before. Dancing is one of those things that it doesn't matter if you're good at it if you're willing to put yourself out there a little it brings a smile to everyone's face. So, go ahead and dance. It made me think of this song by Caedmon's Call called Dance. My name is Mary and I'm from Greenville, Mississippi But

My email inboxes have a ton of unread emails and very little organization. This goes for my work email and my personal emails. And it kind of bugs me. Yesterday as I went to open our email account for our rental property I noticed all emails were gone from the inbox. This email account just opened up recently and my brother-in-law really owns this email account, but I also have access to it. The emails weren't really gone, but just filed away and read. I was impressed with my brother-in-law's ability to conquer email... granted there were probably only 20 total emails so far. But, this got me thinking again. Is it even possible to conquer your email when you have a lot of emails, spam, and unread clogging up your inbox? I think so, but I think the only way to make it happen is to start going after it a certain amount per day. I've been challenged to really get after it. We'll see if I can get my inbox down or not.

Leading my family. Many times after I get home from work it's the last thing I want to do. But it's something I'm called to do and my wife wants me to do. Engage with my kids. Ask them questions about why the Bible is important? Why do we need to obey God? Our kids are starting to get older. Our oldest is almost 5. I do read them a Bible story every night, but we don't do much more than that in any regular fashion right now. And I don't spend much time thinking about it either. This is my time thinking about it right now. I'm more apt to think about a project on the house that needs to get done or something at work or something else than how do I engage more with my kids or talk to them about a specific topic. But, I do believe just making space for conversations with them when the time avails itself for a teachable moment is huge. I can plan all I want and miss the little moments that are big moments as well. God. Help me lead my wife and kids well. G

Well, this morning it's not 3:30AM, but we still have one up again before 6AM and he's not back to sleep yet. So, my wife and I are both up with Mac, where normally he's still sleeping. I don't know why the change in the last 2 days, other than the time change where we lost an hour, but that doesn't make much sense since it seems like that would cause him to get up later. We'll see how tomorrow morning goes.

It's been a rough morning this morning. Starting at sometime after 3AM, Mac woke up. That woke up Josie. And those two kept me and my wife up. I like getting up early, but not when everybody else is up. There's something about some alone time in the morning that I really enjoy. It's quiet and I can think. I didn't get that this morning, until now. It's 6AM now and Mac is sleeping and Josie fell asleep on the couch. My wife and I are still up, but I'm not feeling quite as driven as I usually am on my own. It took some time in prayer to focus my heart on my need for God to help me to have a good attitude. I didn't want to be up with the kids. I didn't want to get my daughter a drink. I didn't want to change my son's diaper or hold him. I just wanted what I wanted. God help me to not just be about me.

I thought building a website using something like Wordpress would be quick and easy. Well, it is and it isn't. With anything, there's a learning curve and it's not as easy as it looks. It seems like with any software there still isn't a standard where tools are placed. Sometimes the tools are on the top, sometimes to the left, sometimes to the right. The words used to describe the tools or the icons aren't always the same. It just takes time to learn them. But the more time you spend with the tools the more efficient you get at using them. Anything you build takes time and thought. There's no easy button that just does it all for you. There are tools that make building a website easier than knowing all the code for sure these days, but you still have to think about what you're writing, where the buttons go, what pages you need, etc.

Given the choice, I'd much rather have someone quit that has a better opportunity come along than someone stay that really should quit and you have to fire them. Both scenarios are tough. In both, you have to eventually hire someone else. But the one where the person won't quit is going to be drawn out with more drama compared to the person that has a better opportunity and leaves.

Yes. I want my kids to be "good" kids. But, the problem is if that's all I want it's possible that they become really good Pharisees. What I mean by this is that they obey all the rules that my wife and I enforce, but they don't do it because they love Jesus. They only do it because they want to look good. The reason I want "good" kids is really that they're easier for me. I don't have to have as many conversations about why they did something bad. I don't have to discipline them in some way. If they're being "good" I can spend my time doing what I want to do. But, there's little opportunity to teach a child whose "good". A kid that "has it all together" doesn't need a Savior. Plus, no kid has it all figured out. So, I was challenged last night to not desire kids that do things the way I want them to. Instead to desire many little moments where their sin can show up and my wife and I can come alon

How do you gauge your day? If it was good or bad? Most days a good day for me is sadly based on whether or not I got praise from other people. If someone tells me that the work I'm doing means something or that they think it's awesome that is huge for me. But if I get little positive feedback I typically don't think the day was that great. The other thing I tend to think makes a good day is a lot of accomplishments. Did I get a lot done? Did I get a large project checked off the list? So on the days when it's slow or I don't have much that is crucial I don't feel like the day was as good. But why should my day be based on the praise of others or the worth of my accomplishments? I don't think it should. I don't think these things are inherently bad, but if I'm gauging my day based on these things I don't think that's good. They're also all about me. God help me to see this more clearly. Help me to understand what good days really

My wife bought a whole lot of Aldi toilet paper a few weeks ago because the price was right. I've started using it in the last few days and it's a really good toilet paper. Not what I expected at all, but it's soft, thick, and it tears well. If you haven't tried Aldi's toilet paper. I highly recommend it.

As kids when we would poke some fun at my mom she would say, "Laugh, laugh, laugh." I was just reminded of this as I was thinking about last night. Our youngest, Mac, started laughing, then we all started laughing. Then Mac stopped laughing and looked around as we were still laughing and then our little 9-month-old started laughing again. He's starting to observe what's going on around him and react. It is amazing how much they are learning at such a young age. How they copy what you do. This all happened around the table last night at dinner. One of the good memories you want to hold on to. There's something about laughing that's just good.

Every day I want to write something amazing. Or something that I want to remember... and some days nothing comes to mind other than I know I just need to do this writing thing. I want to be consistent and persistent in blogging so I can look back on it later and remember things. Also, to just be generous with what I'm learning. But, some mornings I'm just in a funk and stare at the screen for a while as I sip my coffee and think about the day before and what's going on in my life. Today is one of those days. I'm still writing, thinking, and thankful, but don't have a lot to report.

Last night was the annual daddy-daughter dance in Peoria and we had a blast. Josie really came out of her shell this year and was dancing like crazy. I think it helped that she knew a lot of other girls there this year. It's really a fun event for both dads and the girls. We saw a neighbor of ours, friends from church, from work, and family. And the best part about the whole event is it's free to those that come. I'd say it's probably one of the things that Josie looks forward to the most each year. It will probably be a highlight for the next 5 years or so. I don't know when she'll get too big to where it's not her thing anymore.