finite speck

Most of the time my posts are fairly upbeat or flat I think. Like photos and videos, people post to show things are going well. Well, last night had some rough spots. One of my kids spilled a whole glass of milk right before we sat down to eat. Stop. What's your response? I'm actually curious how that hits you. Does it cause frustration? Would you raise your voice at them? Would you be compassionate and say it's alright because it's not like the did it on purpose? As you can imagine based on how I started this post my response was not pretty. It was ugly. And my wife has a hard time knowing how to confront me in those moments. And these moments happen more than I'd like to admit. I do realize it and I know I need God's help to step back and not get angry about things and instead have compassion, help clean up, and talk in a normal tone. This is tough for me. But I know it's possible because of Christ working in me. I'm writing this post to help me ...

I texted Tom yesterday. Our next-door neighbor in Gulf Shores. And within minutes I got a phone call. He's probably around my parents' age and instead of just texting me back he wanted to give me a call. I simply asked him how it was going down there with our renters so far and he could have replied it's going pretty good or something short and sweet. But, he gave me a call and talked for about 10 minutes filling me in on how great they have been. He said, "I don't know where you're finding these people or how you're deciding who to rent to, but they have been great people so far. We are so thankful." He said they've introduced themselves to every family that's stayed there so far and they've really enjoyed getting know them. He did mention that we had a mechanical failure (our dryer) went out he was told by one of the renters. But it's great to know we have someone down there that's watching what's going on at our property!...

It took me and my wife bribing my son first with the promise of a couple bites of chocolate to get him to try. But what put him over the edge was the cheers of the neighbor girls. Our 3-year-old son learned to ride a bike last night! It took more work with him than it did with our 5-year-old a couple weeks ago because Baer didn't really know how to pedal. But, once he started getting the hang of it and once he knew the neighbor girls were watching he was all in and he started riding his bike. It's been interesting to watch the motivations of our two oldest. Josie got in her mind she was going to ride a bike and she did it. No coaxing from us at all. Baer on the other hand needing a lot of persuading, bribing, and cheering. I noticed he said, "I can't do it." I lot through the process of teaching him to ride. But he could and he did. Another big thank you to some other neighbors of ours, Ben and Sarah, for giving us the bike that both Josie and Baer have now ...

It's just stuff, right? My daughter said this last night, "God is more important than things." It was in response to my mother-in-law's family feud around all the stuff that they have to divvy up. It's been over a year since they started and it's been extremely emotionally charged. Many things have been said among the siblings about each other and who gets what. Some are upset that others don't value some things as much as they do or want them. Some think some have taken too much stuff. Some feel like they don't get anything. Some think it's not fair. Some just want it all done. All these things are important to all of them for different reasons. And they're not the only ones that value stuff. I do. My kids do. My wife does. Not everything, but there are things that we place value on. But, my wife and I want to work to instill in our kids that people and God are way more important than things. I find myself saying things like, "Don...

I remember as a kid loving them, but as an adult, not so much. But about every 6 months or so I say it's time to pull out the inflatable mattresses and let the older kids sleep in a tent, the basement, or the family room with me. They love it! Usually, it's a day of excitement for them where they can hardly contain themselves. For me, well I need to learn to enjoy their excitement and channel that energy into more than something that annoys me. I should be glad their excited... that I came up with something that they enjoy. We watched a movie, had sherbert, and then told silly stories for a little bit. It always takes a bit for them to wind down. Then they are out... and I usually am able to sleep for a while on those mattresses and then I'm usually awake, not able to sleep well. But I made it through another one and 6 months or less from now we'll probably do it again. Hopefully this next time I can better enjoy the moments leading up to it as their excitement bu...

So you're married, you have little kids, you're both in bands that are touring, and COVID-19 hits. What do you do? You keep showing up every night with a cover from your kitchen instead of with your band from the stage. You use the tools you have like Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook to share the music you and your wife recorded in your kitchen. You play live shows from your home to your fans via social media. And then you release multiple albums from these kitchen covers to your fan base. At least that's what Drew and Ellie Holcomb have done. Way to make something out of the hard situation this pandemic has brought the music industry. Thanks for showing up every night. Our oldest 2 kids (4 and 3) ask if they can watch the newest kitchen cover every night now before bed. You can check them out here or find them on most social media channels.

So I write this blog post just about every morning. It's one of the ways I start my day and I enjoy it. It helps get my brain going. It's my best time to write. I could write a bunch of posts all at once and then schedule them out ahead of time. It might be more efficient, but I like the idea of writing every day and there's always something from the previous day that comes to mind that I can write about. I've also started handling social media for our vacation rental property and throwing that in as part of the morning routine, but being consistent with it has been challenging. Because it involves images, text, hashtags, etc. there's more to it and to do it on a whim in the morning has been a challenge. So I've started scheduling them out on Facebook and I've found some tools for scheduling on Instagram as well that I'm going to look into which allow me to already have the posts ready to go and then the posts just release when I want them to. That...

I have another neighbor story. Yesterday a neighbor I hadn't introduced myself to yet was out grinding stumps in his front yard with a stump grinder. This got me excited because we cut down a bush last fall but there was still a stump in our backyard which I had planned to grind out this spring sometime. Well know was the perfect time I thought. I went over to talk to him to see how much it costs to rent and where he got it from. To my surprise, after talking for a bit he said he had until the next morning, and when he was done he would let me use it to grind out the stump. I offered to pay him something for it and he wouldn't take anything. And then he ended up just grinding it out for me! Plus, my father-in-law came over to help me. And we ended up also doing some yard work in the front pulling out another dead plant and reworking one of the front beds. Plus, during lunch yesterday, my mother-in-law came over and did some yard work as well. But, back to my neighbor, Pa...

There's one thing that's changed this year for sure. You know when you incorporate a new thing in your life and you're not sure how it's going to go? Are you going to stick with it? What all will it impact? Well, my wife and I both started using the 1 Second Everyday app at the beginning of the year to compile, 1 second of every day of this year. And the result of using this app has been that we take way more videos of our life on our phones than we used to... in a good way. We're not constantly whipping out our phones to record. But, when those little moments happen and we have a phone on us we're getting a few seconds. I think I used to think getting those videos needs to kind of be planned or that certain things aren't worth getting my phone out for. But looking back on the year so far I'm thankful for the idea behind the app of just capturing little moments. A lot of it is of our kids, sometimes super happy, sometimes sad. Sometimes it's be...

Do you disagree with what someone is saying? How do you handle it? Are you right? Are you sure? Is there are a right to the argument? Why do you get so uptight? These are all questions for me. A lot of this is my personality. I don't enjoy conflict. Many times I might even sit back and listen instead of jump in. And it depends... I'll give my input if asked or even if not asked. But, if I strongly disagree I sometimes lose my tactfulness. Especially with my family or people I'm around regularly. But why do I take it so personally? I think it's because I want things to be fair. If it doesn't seem fair or there are rules that have been established and they're going to be changed and I've been following them I don't like it. Writing this down seems silly, but I think there's truth here as to some of what goes on in my head around conflict. I'd say another part of it is just sin. I want to be right. I want to be a hero. I want to be the one peo...

Well, I wasn't planning on it. No one was yesterday. We didn't even have the bike until this weekend. My neighbor across the street asked me this weekend if I would want to borrow their beginner bike for our son because he thought my son was doing awesome on his balance bike. So I said sure. But, my daughter had other plans. She's a little older than my son and has been practicing on his balance bike and her bigger bike with training wheels. So yesterday, my daughter decided that she wanted to try this smaller pedal bike with no training wheels and within a matter of about 30 minutes she was riding a bike! It was a super proud moment for me filled with a lot of running beside her and encouraging words. And she was stoked. So much so we had to show her grandparents and all she wanted to do the rest of the evening was ride that bike. Thank you Ben and Sarah Hawkins.

I learned one thing yesterday about getting more people to follow you on Facebook yesterday. We just started a business page on Facebook for our rental property in Gulf Shores about a month ago and I was having a really hard time getting much engagement at all. I started doing some reading on ways to get more eyeballs on our page and one that "seems" to have helped at least in getting people to notice us was to reach out to all of our friends and request that they like our page. We went from about 10 likes to over 100 in one day. Now what I don't know is if that group of people is really the "best" group of people to start with or not to get the word out about our rental property in Gulf Shores. Are they themselves interested? Do they know people that may be interested? We'll see. Here's how to invite all your friends to like your page: Go to your Facebook Page. On the right-hand side, under Community, click on “invite your friends to like th...

Yes. It was announced for the state of Illinois that schools will be closed for the rest of the semester. I don't know what exactly that means for kids getting ready to graduate or even for those that are in a different grade. We don't have kids in school. But, it's a huge disruption for our state. So many unknowns once things begin opening back up. Will companies start hiring again? What will the job market be for kids that did graduate? Will there be graduations this year? I don't know if something like this has ever happened that kids were not allowed to go back to school for about 3 months and they instead were taught remotely from their homes.

Do you want to have a solid workgroup? Communicate. I can't think of anything more important than regular communication with your co-workers. Let them know what you're working on and encourage them to do the same. Have meetings when it makes sense. Ask questions in a group setting. Don't hide things unless there's a reason to. Some of the worst things that can happen if you don't communicate are multiple people working on the exact same thing. I'm all for people having autonomy and not having to report everything they're doing, but I'm also for working as a team, so you don't have overlap or time wasted. So, today as you think of your fellow employees, when is the last time you talked to them?

As I was sitting here thinking about what to write about this morning I'm thankful that at my age of 40 I have people I can go to for different things that I have a personal connection with somehow. I'm thankful for Craig Moore who handles our insurance. Thankful for Travis Critten and Todd Sauder who are our financial advisors. I'm glad we have Scott Sauder for electrical work. And Nate Kern for plumbing work. I'm thankful for my brother-in-law, Chad Herman, for just about any kind of home advice. Thankful for my parents and my in-laws for just about anything. I was originally thinking this morning and the last few days that with how bad things have gotten with COVID-19 that if there are ways for me to support those that help me and my family I want to. And I was thinking about writing short posts about how they support help us... maybe I still will. I know testimonials/reviews are really helpful, so I'll see what transpires here.

For those out there that want to be better at writing, I would encourage you to start a blog and write every day. Don't think too much about what to write or how good what you're writing is, just write. Don't worry about how many people, if any will even read your blog. Just write. Don't concern yourself with how well your grammar even is. Just write. It's all about practice. And all about the number of words that you can churn out regularly in my opinion. It doesn't mean that because I write a blog every day that I will become the best writer that ever was. But it does mean that I'm showing up every day for a few minutes and practicing the craft. With time the skill will get better. It's like anything. The more you do it the better you'll become at it. Do you want to be a better writer? Find a way to write every day. Create a blog. Create a social account. Create PDFs. Create emails. Just write.

At our life stage, once our kids are in bed we're right behind them. There's always plenty that we could do, but rarely are me or my wife motivated to keep going much after their bedtime. Last night I was ready to watch a show, but my wife was ready to talk or do something else. So we compromised and talked for a bit and I got some ice cream. The downside is getting up the next day is tougher... even though we really didn't stay up that late at all. When you have little kids when do you get things done? It's tough. I've defaulted to realizing that it's more important to enjoy my kids when their little than try to do a lot of projects and "get things done."

Yesterday was so good. It was different not to go somewhere for Easter Sunday, but it was good to be at home with our little family and celebrate together what God has done. And teach our children about the forgiveness of sin that comes from God through Jesus' death and resurrection. My wife found something really awesome online that I hope we do every year from now on. On Good Friday we had our kids go outside and pick up a bunch of rocks and put them in their Easter baskets. We talked about sin. How each rock represents sin. How the more we have the heavier the basket is to carry. Then we went inside and talked about what sin is. We had our kids' name different sins as they pulled out rocks. And we did as well. Then we covered the basket of rocks with a red blanket representing Christ's blood that was shed and covers our sin. Then on Easter morning we got rid of the rocks and filled their Easter basket with good things and covered the baskets back over with the red bl...

I can be such a perfectionist. I want to do things well to a fault. I have picked up photography over the last year or so and I've learned a lot, but I still feel like I have so much to learn. Case in point yesterday we decided to take photos of our family and I had in my head we're only gonna take 10 photos or so and they're gonna be really good. Well, they turned out OK. I used a timer and had it only take one photo each time, where I probably should have had it take at least 5. And I shot manual. They weren't bad, but maybe they could have done better. I drive my wife a little crazy with it all because she just wants me to shoot automatic and just shoot a ton of photos. That drives me crazy. Then in the middle of it all, I think am I actually doing this right? Are my settings right? I still feel like I have a long way to go. But I'm gonna keep trying. I have learned a lot and I like to think I'm getting better.

God Rested Andrew Peterson So they took His body down The man who said He was the resurrection and the life Was lifeless on the ground The sky was red as blood along the blade of night As the sabbath fell they shrouded Him in linen They dressed Him like a wound The rich man and the women They laid Him in the tomb Six days shall you labor The seventh is the Lord's In six He made the earth and all the heavens But He rested on the seventh God rested He said that it was finished And the seventh day, He blessed it God rested So they laid their hopes away They buried all their dreams about the kingdom He proclaimed And they sealed them in the grave As a holy silence fell on all Jerusalem But the Pharisees were restless Pilate had no peace And Peter's heart was reckless Mary couldn't sleep But God rested Six days shall you labor The seventh is the Lord's In six He made the earth and all the heavens But He rested on the seventh God rested H...

I really enjoy music. I haven't been to many concerts in years with having little kids, but it's something I really enjoyed doing in my 20s and 30s. But lately, I've been thinking about all of the music artists. They make the majority of their money off of concerts I believe. Definitely not from being on streaming services. And right now there's no way to have a concert with COVID-19 going on. I'm sure it's tough. I also believe the whole landscape of concerts may change in the future some with the lasting impacts of this virus. Maybe it won't, but I can't imagine we're going to have people flocking to huge concerts any time soon. What I am encouraged to see though is the generosity of some artists on social media as they are just playing music from their kitchens and living rooms regularly. Especially during this time. I think of artists like Andrew Peterson who's been reading his books and is playing music tonight. Sara Groves who did a c...

At least until April 30th (I believe this is true) in the United States, social distancing is still in effect due to COVID-19. That means... No more dates for those that were dating and not living together. No more hanging out at bars. No more parties. No more athletic games. No more church activities. No more family gatherings. No more bowling. No more arcades. No more restaurants (other than take-out/drive-through). No more retail shopping that isn't essential. No more movie theatres. No more conferences. No more trade shows. No more school. No more nonessential use of mass-transit. And there's a lot more that there is "no more" of for the time being. It is a very different world that we live in right now. I've heard that the highest spike in Illinois for COVID-19 is predicted to be 4/12/20, this coming Sunday. We'll see what this weekend brings.

Yesterday I mentioned something about the chairs in our kitchen and how I see more scratches continuing to show up on our floor from them. I know I've mentioned it quite a few times because yesterday my daughter said something to me about having said it many times. To which my wife also agreed. So, why do I keep saying something about it? I know this isn't the only thing on repeat for me. Why not just take care of it? Or stop talking about it? It makes me think of the Israelites in the wilderness as the complained not about scratches on the kitchen floor, but about the food, they had to eat. And God called what they were doing sin. And they were punished for it. Why do we complain? Does it make things better? Does it make me feel better? Does it make anyone else feel better? Sometimes it might make us feel better about ourselves, but it really never builds up. Most of the time I don't even think I notice it sadly. But, what the antidote? Is it to just take care of the...

What will things look like in 2 weeks? Will we experience a lot of death? Are there going to be a lot of people I know that get sick? How much is COVID-19 really spreading? I don't know the answer to any of these questions personally. And I'm not writing to scare anyone. More for my own recollection of this event in history. Time passing will be the one thing that truly tells us what is happening. One bright spot in this (there have been many), but a little girl named Molly has been hiding painted rocks around our neighborhood with little messages on them. Our kids have loved going on walks and looking for them. Yesterday she hid one right in our front yard and Josie was super excited when she found it. What are ways during this COVID-19 pandemic that you can brighten the days of others like Molly?

Zoom. I'd never heard of it until about a year ago when one of our clients we work with started using it. And since then I've loved it. And our company has incorporated it into all of our meeting rooms and we use it all the time now as we moved to work from home. But, I'm not the only one. They've seen crazy growth. My parents have used it now. My sisters. My Aunt Barb even... she's in her mid-70s. I think it's just easy to use and it works well. I know they've experienced some issues in the last few weeks due to the huge success on their video conferencing platform with "zoombombing", where people jump on a call that is supposed to be private and they are working through those privacy challenges. But it seems like they're really doing it well in general. They have to have a huge percentage of the market today compared to Skype, Hangouts, and WebEx.

There's an aspect of COVID-19 that's been good. I've been challenged many times to reach out to others. I've video chatted with people I never would have before. Like our pastor and his wife. And we've done it just to encourage others. Have you called someone today just to see how they're doing? Just do it.

Of any time in my life. Now is a time to give thanks. To think of others. I still find myself very selfish, even during these times. I'm thankful for my neighbor across the street who manages a Lowe's and has figured out how to keep it going and provide people with home needs even though many of his employees have taken time off and he's having a hard time finding others to fill their spots. I'm thankful for my inlaws that have graciously allowed me to work in their basement as I work remotely since I think I would have a really hard time with 3 little kids working from our home. I'm also thankful for all of those that are working from home while having kids at home too and are able to make things happen, like Caleb Smith or Bryan Jackson. I'm thankful for lunches with my kids during the week. I'm thankful for those that are working the tough jobs. Like another co-worker's wife who is working with COVID-19 patients at OSF. And for others that are...

My kids are 4, 3, and 11 months. The older two have heard the word Coronavirus many times and in some ways understand what is going on, but yet they still don't totally get it. They know that we aren't going places like we used to. We're pretty much at home, other than me going to my in-law's basement to work. I typically have been coming home for lunch with my family. It's just so different. We talk to our neighbors from 6 feet away right away. We ask questions like, "Are you still working?" and "How's your family doing?" and "How are you doing with your kids' e-learning?" I look at my kids with different eyes right now. I think, our world may never be quite the same as it was before. Will that be a good thing? My wife says it's all kind of depressing. The news just talks about the virus 24/7. Talking about what the government is doing. What healthcare is doing. How many cases there are now. This all makes me want t...

My wife asked me what day it was last night. And that's when it really hit me that this stay at home thing has changed things. It's tougher to even know what day it is. Every day seems similar when you don't get out. My wife asked that I lead our family more and think about what we can do as a family since it's just us now. It's tough for me when I get criticized. I don't like to hear I'm doing things well. Yet I realize I could do way more. I could think of ways for us to do some things as a family regularly that point our kids and my wife towards God... and myself. It's easy for me to get engrained in a task, in work, and now on our vacation rental property. It's tougher for me to think about how I really help my family grow. God, today, help me think about my family. Help me love my kids and wife. I want our kids to understand the gospel. I desire for our kids to know you and follow you. Help me get creative like I am for work, with my fam...

I've been thinking about ways to start building up a following on social for our vacation rental property. I've mainly been on Instagram so far, but I want to start posting more on Facebook as well as getting our website up and running. But, this Coronavirus has put a real damper on things. There are positives and negatives. The positive is that people are probably spending even more time on social and so the likelihood of being seen if you're using good hashtags and spending time writing things well is higher. The downside is that the chances of people traveling right now are getting lower and lower for the next month or so though. The one thing I wish I had done while I was down at our rental property though was to take even more photos. I got some beautiful ones of the rooms and property, which I believe is most important. Now that I'm Instagram and getting likes by other beautiful rental properties I'm noticing the little details that they've taken photo...

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.

No, this is not about work. My wife and I watched the movie, "The Intern", last night and it was really good. The basic idea of the movie is a 70-year old takes a job as an intern, for a young CEO. The CEO, Jules, doesn't know if she can keep the company going and is experiencing a lot of stress. Ben, the intern, is the guide that she needs that's had a ton of past experience. He helps her make it through with a few surprises and laughs along the way. I think one part that makes this movie enjoyable is playing a 70-year-old male and a late 30-something female together. A 70-year-old working in a 20's work environment is just a fun thing to watch. We don't watch a ton of movies and a lot of times when we do we're like it was alright. This was closer to a 5 out of 5.

Time. We all have it... and it's all less now than it was when I first started writing this blog post. Not just for me, but for anyone that would ever read this. We only have so much of it. It's also like money in a way, because we "spend" it. We spend it doing something. Whether that's sleeping, staring, eating, creating, writing, talking, anythinging... How will you spend your day today? What will you do first? How do you decide? What's important? What's not important? As I think about this year so far there are ways I wanted to spend my time. I'm making a little headway, but there are other things that have evidently taken my time too. My regular workouts haven't happened, although I've gotten some in over the last few weeks. My wife and I have started a study together. Still, only 1 book read. No more progress on the family mission statement or the kids' book. Finalize a family mission statement. Regularly workout.  Bible stud...

I was getting my teeth cleaned by my wife (always have to throw that in there) yesterday at the dentist's office. They have TVs on the ceiling so you can watch something as you're getting your teeth cleaned. But, the TVs have a slideshow playing. And the slideshow is of the dentist's vacations and then there's trivia. All the photos don't show any people it's just scenery. Honestly, it's pretty boring. I said if you're gonna make me watch a slideshow why don't you at least put people in it from the office? Put photos of their families in there. I would enjoy seeing that. It gives a more personal connection to the office. Maybe I'll run it by the dentist. I think it's true though... people like seeing people. In marketing, people tend to resonate much more with photos of happy people than with images that don't have people in them, even if it's a beautiful landscape.

So one of the first questions I ask people when I meet them is, "How much do you make?" said no one ever. At least not anyone that I know. In fact, I don't know very many people that I know well that I've asked that question to. Why is that? It's super taboo in the U.S. to ask that question and it seems like most other places in the world as well. It's seen as rude and judgemental. I've joked before in our friend group that a fun thing to do would be to go around the room and everyone guess who makes the most money and then have every tell how much they make. Even that made the room a little uncomfortable. But, there is something that's not uncomfortable about divulging a lot of financial information to your financial planner, banker, lender, or business partner. And I think the reason is it's for a different purpose. In order to help you make a purchase or invest the other party needs to know what you have. On the other hand, when some other...

Should I wait until the last minute? Should I work right up until the deadline? Or should I turn the work in early? Should I try to get ahead? Should I wait or don't wait? I would say it depends. I think many would argue that the best work often comes towards the very end... right before the deadline. And there's something to be said for that. But, there's also something to be said for getting ahead of things if it's more of a regular task, so that you can focus on something else or so that others aren't waiting if they are also depending on your timeliness. If your decision to work right up to the deadline is causing others to also work after your done to still meet the deadline and it's a regular occurrence, you need to figure out how to get ahead and stay ahead. You don't want to be holding up the process and risking poor quality work, because you're working to close to the deadline. On the other hand, if this is a one-off request and the othe...

We took my grandparents out for dinner last night to Culver's. Actually, they paid for our meal, but we drove them (since they don't have a car anymore). My grandpa, Al, doesn't remember a lot anymore. I was asking him how they ended up living in Morton, IL since both he and my grandma were from Cissna Park, IL. He couldn't remember. He then went on to talk about he just can't believe his kids took away their car so they can't drive anywhere anymore. But, he then went on to say, "I've got a lot to be thankful for though." Saying at least he and my grandma have lots of families that live really close that they can rely on if they need anything. It is somewhat unique. They have 4 of their kids that basically live in the same town, plus 9 of their 15 grandkids live close by in Morton or a surrounding town. Well, we had a great time with them at Culver's last night and I'm reminded every time we go visit them, that it's always worth i...

Yesterday was a sporadic brainstorm session via video on Marco Polo across 4 states (I think). Illinois to Indiana to Alabama to somewhere between Alabama and Florida (on the road). We were trying to figure out a name for our almost purchased vacation rental property in Gulf Shores, Alabama. We started off with the Big Blue, or something like. Blue Bulega, Blue Lady, and then we started down this path with Lady names. Our property is blue so that's where that was coming from. But we ended up with the "Lazy Lady" as the name for our rental. We were trying to come up with something memorable for those that visit to remember and rhyming and alliteration always helps. Now to come up with a logo, a website, some branding, a look and feel for the place. We've got a lot to do over the next month... but it's coming together.

It's a dilemma. Do you have someone build it, do you build it yourself, or is it already built and you can customize it? It's the world we live in. You need online software systems to help you get the job done. Some of them talk to each other and others aren't friendly. Some continue to have development behind them and others get left behind. How do you pick the right ones and not get left in the dust? I never thought I'd be thinking about things like this and evaluating different systems, but I've been involved in multiple purchases from marketing automation software to digital asset management to print on demand to custom built to video platforms and more. Every time is a process. Research. Initial phone calls. Second phone calls. Demos. Pricing conversations. Selling internally. In-person visits. Sometimes you go with something sometimes you stay with what you've got. It's not an easy process, but I've learned a lot through it. The biggest thing...

The last couple of days I've been struggling to get going in the morning. Why is that? I don't really know. Maybe it's that we've had more things on our minds. Maybe it's because I've been getting to bed a little later. Maybe it's because I haven't been as motivated to get going in the morning. Whatever it is I don't want to stay there. I really enjoy getting up early and spending time writing this blog, reading the Bible, reading other blogs, and just spending some time doing a little early morning learning before everybody else is up. When I get up a little later my kids are up, my wife is up, and I can't focus. We'll see how I do tomorrow morning.

We just inherited 2 hamsters for a week from my sister's kids. We'll see how it goes. I have a feeling I'll be doing most of the taking care of them over the week, but maybe my kids will be less scared of animals after the week. Our kids were pretty freaked out when I got them out of the cage last night. Their names are Marco and Polo. And I guess hamsters are nocturnal, so they probably had a big party last night at the new house. Hopefully, we can keep them alive.

Trying something new takes time, but through the process, you're learning. Right now I'm trying to understand the difference between Airbnb and VRBO. Should we list both? Should we only use one for our rental property? How do we give everyone access that needs access to our listing account to make changes? I have more questions than answers and I want to make the best decision. But we also don't have a ton of time, so at some point, we'll just have to pick. I'm also not one that likes to do a lot of research on my own, but instead, uses the experience of others that have already done it.

Taken from an old journal of mine from 8th grade. 2/1/93 "This year for part of my money making jobs I am going to get a piece of land from my grandfather and I am going to grow pumpkins and ornamental Indian corn. It is hard work because I've done it this last year." I would have never thought I'd be working in the agriculture industry in central Illinois way back in 1993 when I wrote this.

Will an extra 8 hours per week make a difference? As a company we're experiencing more demand than we can ship out in the time frame we need to right now and the answer is more people and we can't get them hired quick enough either, so the answer is existing other department employees volunteering for 2, 4-hour shifts a week. The idea is to support this department as well as build relationships over there as well. To say we're here for you. I don't believe it's to say we will always do this and it's a way to get things done cheaper by using existing employees. I'm planning to help out... and look forward to supporting this department through a challenging season of growth. So is will an extra 8 hours per week make a difference? If we have enough employees do it, it most definitely will.

Has anyone ever told you, "Wow, that's good! It looks like a professional did it."? Was it about something you do for a living? It's happened to me many times. And this is a little bit of a rant, but if what is being claimed looking like what a professional would do is actually what you do for a living then it's kind of a backhanded compliment. Because I take it as wow I'm impressed with what you did, but I don't consider you a professional. I would say you are a professional in the field in which you work. You may not be the top of your field, but you're in it. So, next time you're complimenting someone on their work. Just say, "Wow, that's good!" or something else like that. Don't say, "Looks like a professional did it." Because a professional probably did it.

What words come to mind when you think of Valentine's Day? "I love you" is probably what most would say. Today is a day I think of my wife. Perhaps just a little more than I already do. And I do love her, but it's way more than 3 words. You're the one I can talk to about my day. You're the one that's with our kids more than anyone else. You're the one that figures out most of the food we will eat. You're the one that keeps our house in order. You're the one that helps make sure our bills are paid. You're the one that makes sure we get in on good deals. You're the one that keeps us all on schedule throughout the week. You're the one that comes up with creative ideas for our kids and teaches them new things during the day. You're the one that found our house in Morton. You're the one that remembers things when I forget them. You're the one that helps me see my sin when I get angry or frustrated. You're the one th...

So at our property, we were hoping to put in some more concrete for the driveway to allow for an easy turnaround, but we found out about the Alabama beach mouse. I did just a little reading up on it and basically, there's a whole bunch of rules that need to be followed to protect these little endangered guys. We are only allowed to pave so much concrete in order to preserve their habitat. We can't use any kind of material like gravel or loose rock, because it could end up in the ocean. We're also not supposed to put up any decorative outdoor lights because they're nocturnal. My brother-in-law was saying you could possibly buy land somewhere else to allow us to get around this law... we'll see what we end up doing. I'm also not sure if we were hoping to put some concrete around the pool as well, but we may be limited in how much more we can do.

We got back from the Wilderness water parks in Wisconsin Dells last night after a couple days there with the kids and another couple and their kids. I always forget that a "vacation" with little kids is a lot of work, but I'm glad we did it. There's a lot of extra stuff to bring... especially with a baby. And then there's a lot that the parents have to do since our oldest is only four. Keeping track of their stuff. Making sure they get food and get dressed. But they really enjoyed the water parks. They were too little for a lot of the slides, but our two older ones enjoyed the kid areas, the wave pool, and the lazy river. Our youngest on the other hand who is 8 months did not like the water parks at all. Mac just wanted to snuggle close to one of us the whole time. I would recommend it. And I would recommend going with another couple with kids of a similar age as we did. It just helps with kids playing together and even being able to have someone watch the oth...

I've heard a few of us say the same thing over the last week. "I can't believe we're buying a house in Gulf Shores." I know I've said it, my wife has said it, my sister has said, my sister-in-law has said it, and the rest of the family that's in it on it has probably thought it. It's not all finalized, but the offer was accepted on Tuesday last week and in about a month we will be closing on the property. Then in less than another month, we hope to have it available to rent. It's all happened really fast and I'm looking forward to learning a lot through the process. "I can't believe we're buying this place in Gulf Shores!"

It's been a year of a lot of change at work. We've hired two new people in the last couple of months. We've incorporated some new platforms for our marketing department. We've had a lot of turn-over in individuals at some of the vendors we work with. We've gained more insight into how things are done. What we like and what's are big hurdles. And we're getting better. Yet I still see more changes as well. I see more platforms being adopted soon or updated to help our marketing department. I'm seeing new marketing efforts deployed soon to better communicate with our customers. I see potentially new partners that will better help us reach those we want to reach. I see even more change this year again, all in an effort to get better. As a team we're definitely not going back... we're going forward!

I spent a lot of time yesterday putting together some slides and recording a presentation. It was tough. I don't do this very often and I wanted it to be good. But after I was done I still felt like it was just OK. I noticed I said um a lot and I felt like it could have been shorter. I created a script but then decided to go more off the cuff with my slides so I could look at the camera better. I probably could have run through it another 3 or 4 times and got it to a better place, but at some point, you just have to ship. So, the video ships today. My hope is that it gets watched, educates, and eliminates confusion. Fingers crossed.

I remember very vividly a moment early on in my career at Precision Planting. I came from the advertising agency industry and knew very little about farming at all. In fact, I didn't even know how many ears you want to have on a corn stalk. By the way, the answer is one. But Paul (one of our product support guys) took me outside when I started asking him some questions around farming and walked me over to a field behind our building and begin teaching me about a corn plant. Things like where the corn ear typically is on the stalk. What the names of the different stages of the plant are. What the names of the different roots are. He even dug up a plant to teach me about how far down the seed will be. It was mostly over my head at the time, but it was a start to understanding why we do what we do as a company. And it speaks to the kind of people that work for Precision Planting. The kind of people that will stop what they're doing and teach someone who doesn't know a thin...

It's not the way I typically think, but it works as long as you work to pay off what you borrow from what you already own quickly. I've taken a loan out on my car before to pay for some renovation work on our home. And we're working on taking a loan out on our home now to pay for part of a down payment on a vacation rental property. I believe it's also a good way to just have some extra cash available if something happens and you need it, as long as your intentions are to pay it off quickly because you have the interest that you also will pay on what you've borrowed. I'm not one to get really excited about debt. We've been debt-free for a while. But, if you can borrow for a short time and know that what you're borrowing it for, in this case, a vacation rental, will pay you enough back to cover what you've borrowed and you'll be making money on it, I say consider it. This is just the start of a totally new journey for us. I'll probably k...

I don't think I ever would have thought I would spend as much time as I do with my in-laws, but I do. They are super hospitable and help us out a ton with our kids. The last 3 nights we've had dinner with them. Saturday night we had them over. Sunday night, last-minute we went over there for the Super Bowl and dinner. And last night we had dinner over there again since my mother-in-law watched our kids for us since we both worked. We would never be able to do this if they didn't live so close, but they're less than 6 blocks away... so it makes getting together easy. Thankful for my in-laws today.

Yesterday was absolutely beautiful outside for a February 2nd day. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, and it was in the mid-60s outside. We took the kids out for a walk. I wore a T-shirt for part of the day. We smoked some chicken wings. I swept the minivan out. And Brittany swept out the garage. We weren't the only ones up getting outside and doing things either. That 30-degree swing brought out everybody. People were working on cars, taking Christmas lights down, playing outside, grilling, and just enjoying it. I'm thankful that it was so nice out because it's back down into the 30s today.

It's been a long time since I've regularly worked out. A really long time. I used to swim every day except Sunday back when I was in high school... maybe that was more than I needed to, but it did develop a very regular routine. Then I went to college and the routine went away. I started working in Chicago and I began running some, which eventually turned into running most days of the week and completing a marathon. And then I made some changes again and eventually ended up in central Illinois and haven't regularly worked out again for probably 10 years. It's time to start a regular routine again. I'm currently 40 right now and I need to not be so sedentary. I plan to run this afternoon, Tuesday morning, and Thursday morning this week. Here we go trying to get back into a routine.

Sitting here on the couch this morning and thinking what should I write about? Staring at a blank page. Again lots of thoughts race through my head and as I keep thinking my mind just goes back to the peacefulness of the early morning where everyone is still sleeping. I have a hot coffee beside me. Blanket to stay warm. Laptop on my lap. Not a sound at all other than sound machines of in the distance in our kid's rooms. There's one lamp on. I enjoy this time. Time to spend a little time reading the bible. Reading a blog. Writing my blog. Thinking about the day that's starting. God, before my family wakes up, prepare my heart for this day. Help me to love my kids. Help me to help my wife. I pray we could have a weekend filled with joy and peace. Help me to use my time wisely, not selfishly. Give me patience. Help me to think of others, not myself.

We've been having internet issues at our office over the last few days. When it happens a lot of productivity goes down because we have become so reliant upon the internet. Everything is connected to it. It got me thinking what if the internet all of sudden became closed? What I mean is only certain people could access it. Somehow privileged people. With the reliance that we now have on the internet for many things... shopping, bills, orders, information, entertainment, communication, etc. I could see this making life for those not given access extremely difficult. But, I could also see something like this happening at some point. It's a little scary to start thinking about. This also spurred another thought just for myself and my family. Maybe we have an internet free night once a week just because. To maybe help break us of our thinking that we need to have access to the internet all the time. When the internet goes down. Because sometimes it does. What do you do?

My son is 3 and at certain times in the day a switch gets flipped and he just decides to talk gibberish. It's usually not for very long... sometimes it's around bedtime, but he makes absolutely no sense. And you can try to get him to talk with actual words, but he'll just keep going with his made-up words. My daughter is almost 5 and I don't remember her ever talking gibberish. I've noticed sometimes my son will also start talking nonsense when he's being disciplined. It might be his way of avoiding the conversation perhaps. It's kind of a random post here, but I just didn't want to forget the way my son will just randomly start saying things like, "Sanuch. Sali. Baluch. Wabi." I have no idea what you're saying, but you're a funny kid.

What a good action forgiveness is. Along with that is the ability we have to ask for forgiveness, which I'm thankful for. I experienced forgiveness yesterday with one of my co-workers and it felt so good. To know that even though I screwed up and didn't think in the way that I responded to my co-worker, once I realized what I had done, and asked for forgiveness, he extended it. I went out to lunch with a co-worker of mine yesterday to talk through some challenges we were facing. And I'm so glad I did. We were able to talk through things. We both came to see that we both interpret things differently in our conversations with one another. There are areas where we can both grow. We also both want to really want to work together well. He's also a believer and I know that has helped in us both wanting to work through our challenges and forgive. I think one of the biggest things I've realized through the process is that you can't take back things that you've...

5 years ago we had no kids and our closest friends didn't either. Today, we 3 kids each! And last night we all went out to Chick-fil-A for supper. 9 kids and 6 adults. It was great to just get out of the house and our kids were pretty well behaved. But, it's just a lot different than the times we had 5 years ago with no kids. We all have a lot less me-time and a lot more them-time. I'm thankful for the friendships that we've made and that even after all of us having 3 kids we're finding time to get together. It's neat seeing our kids start playing together too.

When's a good time to start a new habit? To start doing something regularly? There may be certain times that make more sense. But, just start. Start small and keep it up regularly. This morning I'm starting to go through a bible study that my wife is going through as well. Over the last year, I've been reading a passage in the morning and that's it. So, I feel challenged to spend more quality time reading the bible and hope to be able to make that happen. I believe I have the time to do it, it's just doing it. So, here's to getting started today and keeping it going.

Well, this has been on my mind for the last day or so because I screwed up again via a text. I've done the same thing via email before as well. "Correcting" someone or giving my opinion brashly via one of these mediums while others are also included on the thread and knowing they were. Right after I sent the text I realized... "Ewe, that's not going to sit well." It was my opinion, we hadn't discussed it and I'm going to need to ask for forgiveness. Top that all off with it was work-related and it's the weekend. Not a good combo. My takeaway from these types of scenarios is to just keep communication open with people. And think about how I would want to be responded to in the situation. Think about my emotions as I'm typing... if they're rising up... it might be a bad thing to be texting or emailing anyway. Make a phone call instead. Don't hide behind words that are typed. I care about those I work with and I believe we all want...

The last people have left the conference. Your team won the tournament. The parade just had the last people walk by. Your flying back home from a fantastic vacation. There's a build-up to the event. There's the duration of the event... and then it's all over. There's been a ton of prep. A busy week of our Winter Conference. And now I sit at home the morning after knowing it's all over. Sometimes it's all over is a restful feeling... sometimes you wish it the event would keep going. Like in the example of a vacation. But all things with a build-up, like everything else in this life, come to an end. I look forward to the culmination of the build-up to "it's all over" to when we're with God. Where there is a new heaven and a new earth. When everything is as it should be. The thing with all things in this life is there's always an aspect to the thing we looked forward to that's not as good as we thought it could be. It's good, but...

I just got back from the NAMA regional awards tonight and we won first place for unique print advertising and for audiovisual presentation. Awards are a funny thing... it feels good to be recognized by others, but it also doesn't feel like that big of a deal at the same time. Awards don't necessarily make our company more money, that I know of. If we were an ad agency it might, but we're the client (we do a lot of our work in-house). I think part of it that I enjoy is just getting to know other people. Learn what they do. How they do it. Ask them questions. They're in the same industry and they're also being recognized by our "ag club", so they must be doing pretty good work. The other part is just representing the company that I work for. It's an honor to work for Precision Planting and do good solid work for our company. So, I'm thankful to go up and receive an award on behalf of Precision Planting. So, here's to many more awards.

It's possible to be in even more places, but today our company will be present in 11 different locations at the same time giving the same message to over 3,000 farmers! It's the beauty of the simulcast. The ability to stream content from one location to multiple other locations so that you can reach more people without them having to travel the full distance to the main location. It's allowed us to grow our conference 2X from around our max at our main location of about 2,400 attendees to what I hope to be over 6,000 total.

Some mornings writing is really hard to start. This is one of those mornings. Many thoughts are swirling through my head. Do I write about my kids, about work, about the church, about something that happened yesterday? Sometimes you've just gotta start typing. Start hitting some keys. Strum the guitar. And see what comes out. As I sit here I'm just thankful this morning. After the kids went to bed I opened up my work email to take care of a few last-minute things for Winter Conference and I got an email from some newer team members of a video they put together to promote the conference on social media. It looked awesome! And I had to write a quick note back saying I'm so thankful ya'll are on our team. This is just one thing I'm thankful for... a solid team at my work. I'm also thankful for the kids God has given my wife and me.  I'm thankful for our parents both living super close to us. Thankful for the home we are living in. Thankful for an amazing ...

I think 10 years ago I would have been more concerned about only doing the work, especially with 1 day left before a big event. But, this year I was thinking about some of the people we bring in for our event and how I might serve them a little. One, in particular, is the guy that does our simulcasting. He's a solo guy, doesn't have a team he works with, so when he gets here through his last day he's kind of on his own. So my and wife talked and decided to invite him for dinner with our family last night. Just to give him at least one night over the next 5 nights with someone for dinner. I really enjoyed it. I hope he did... we have 3 little kids. My point. I think I used to not think about people much at all. I still have a long ways to go, but I'm trying to think more about people and serving them alongside working hard and doing good work. So, I may have a busier day today because we hosted someone last night for a couple hours and made a meal, but I'm learni...

Yesterday we had a tea party at home for my daughter and invited her great grandparents over for it. It was the highlight of not only her day, but my son's, and my grandparents. It was also something to do with the weather getting colder again. But, I don't know if would have happened if Chick-fil-a hadn't done their Time Shop program where they gave customers the opportunity to write notes of something they'd like to do with family and sent them in the mail to that special someone. So one of mine was a tea party for an hour with my daughter... so yesterday my wife helped make that happen. We all dressed up a little, set out nice mugs, plates, and silverware. We put out fancy napkins. Put some candles on the table. Josie got her hair done. We went and picked up my grandparents. And we had a fun time for an hour... sipping hot chocolate, coffee, and eating brownies. A big thanks to my wife for deciding to do it yesterday and thanks to Chick-fil-a for coming up with a...

3 days left until our biggest conference of the year starts. This will be my 8th Winter Conference and there's something that they all have in common. Everything comes together, but it all happens in the last few days. It doesn't seem to matter how much we plan in advance and how many people are involved, we manage to keep tweaking until the day before. And I think that's a good thing. It makes it more stressful perhaps, but I think we also create our best work in this way. By going all the way to the deadline we give everything we're working on the most time possible. So, we still have 3 days left. Things are coming together. Monday will be crazy, but it's going to be a great week! My wife also reminded me last night that things have gotten a little less crazy... I used to spend hours and hours reformatting presentations for presenters. At least one year we decided to use Keynote instead of PowerPoint which meant for most presenters I had to take their PC Pow...

I've seen more people tear up, not full-out cry, just watery eyes at my current employer than anywhere else I've worked. But the tears aren't tears of despair, they're tears of passion. It's because we're a group joining arms saying, "We're in this together." It's a group that has joy as we grow. It's a group that does tough stuff. And it's a group that shares things with one another from a place that cares a lot. I'm so thankful to be working where I am currently at Precision Planting. It's the place I've worked the longest, 8 whole years. It's the place I ended up at when I totally gave up and let God take control.

I had a proud parent moment yesterday when my daughter Josie was at the Wednesday night kids program we attend. She saw two girls that she had played with before at a play date but had never been to this kids' program. I don't know if the girls knew many other kids or not, but Josie went up to them and said hi and started playing with them. This may not seem like a big deal, but for our shy 4-year-old, it was. We had prayed with Josie before we left for church last night that she would be a friend to some other kids there and talk to them. So it was neat to see how God used that prayer and answered it last night. When we got home last night she was feeling so good. It might have been her favorite night at the kids' program.

Our baby will be 8 months next week and he still likes getting up multiple times at night. And once he wakes up there's a lot of crying going on until he gets a "snack". I think he's only made it through the night twice since he was born so far. How do we get him to sleep through the night? I kind of forget how long it took with our other two kids. And I'm not even the one getting up with him. We've been trying to let him cry, but you can only listen to a crying baby for so long... it doesn't exactly put you to sleep. One quick Google search says that anywhere between 4 to 12 months is when you can expect your baby to sleep through the night. So I guess we could have another 4 months to go. We (my wife especially) look forward to fewer interruptions to our sleep someday.

We're almost halfway through January and I wonder how people are doing with their resolutions? Are you still on track? Are you giving up? Did you even start? I would put myself in the boat of really not even starting. Where has the first half of this month gone? I could easily blame my inaction on other things, but the reality is I didn't come up with enough of a plan to get going or I made it to hard... one of the two. One area of focus was in deepening relationships. Some others were... Finalize a family mission statement. Regularly workout.  Bible study with my wife. Write a kids' book. Read 6 books. Organize our basement. So far I have read a book already. My goal with this was to read a book every 2 months. I've also made some headway at organizing our basement. We've got a ways to go on this one still, but we can now use our pool table! The workout, bible study, mission statement, and kids' book are going to take regular discipline or the...