Take the poll…Obama Speech

http://socialnomics.net/2009/08/11/statistics-show-social-media-is-bigger-than-you-think/

http://socialnomics.net/2009/08/11/statistics-show-social-media-is-bigger-than-you-think/

Shared via AddThis

Education in a global landscape

Referencing a recent report on the success of North Carolina schools,  I heard someone on the radio say…”why are we comparing average performing schools with average performing schools. My child will not be competing for jobs with other kids in North Carolina, but kids from around the world”.  We have known for a long time that US schools are falling behind other countries in the Science & Math disciplines, but I am not sure what is being done.  My kids have not started school yet, but it seems as technology continues to move forward by leaps and bounds that we are falling behind at that same pace.  We tend to be so focused on social rights and the feelings of our kids but science, math, and future competition doesn’t care.  As I work more and more with team members around the globe, I see the comprehensive understanding they have of our language, political structure, economy, etc…I have to often look at a map to even know where they are (embarrassing, I know).

Opinions are like…well, you know the rest

One of the key motivating factors for Jasmin and I moving out of NY was family.  Daily commutes of an hour and half each way was eating into time together and family time.  Thinking about sitting in traffic on Saturday was not our idea of family time.  We love NY and miss our families tremendously, but we wanted more out of life.  One of the great opportunities the move has provided was for Jasmin to make a choice to be a stay-at-home-mom.  With a tremendous job offer in NY, she put herself second and family first.  What a sacrifice!?

It was difficult early on…a city girl who always worked and was moving up the career ladder had shifted to the suburbs of NC to stay at home with a 2 yr old and a 4 mos. old.  Over the past two years (like everything else she takes on) Jasmin has become a tremendous Domestic Engineer.  My children have been taken care of better then I could have ever imagined..my house has been made a home…our life has been awesome!  Now we move on to another stage.

Jasmin has been provided an excellent opportunity to join a company that helps people, respects their employees (how many of you get off on your birthday in addition to vacation time?), and provides financially for our family goals.  It is time for the children to socialize and get introduced to the structure of classroom learning.  When we look at our goals personally and as a family…this opportunity supports all the key points with tremendous balance.  I am so proud of her and very excited to see where it goes and the opportunity for growth in so many areas of the family.

What I find interesting is the endless supply of unsolicited opinion she has received.  It is kind of like when she was pregnant and people told her “You look good, only your face is getting fat”….really, someone said that!  Honestly, we should all pause before giving advice…advice that was born from our own history and influenced by our own goals for the future.  I gaurantee the dynamics are different for all of us.   There are so many pressures in life, areas to stumble, and sources of doubt…as friends, we need to support one another vs. offering ‘opinion’.

Do people think before they speak?

Like most Saturdays, I started the morning slow with a cup of coffee, breakfast for the kids, and watching some TV. This morning it was coverage of Carolina and the NCAA tournament…how much money tickets are, the money it will infuse into the ocal Detroit economy and so on. They interview this guy who says he is a die hard Carolina fan and although his wife was upset he spending $1,200 to go the game, “It is a once in a lifetime chance”. If he is a die hard fan, doesn’t he know that Carolina won the thing about 5 times or so in the last 50 years? I don’t know how many times they have made it to the final four…I think last year.

I like when you see American Idol and these contestants say “This has been a dream my entire life!’ Really? Even the younger contestants are 16, so has it really been their entire life?

I was listening to the radio and they were discussing whether the US should focus efforts on the drug war at the Mexican border or Afghanastan. They had asked callers to give them a ring and share their thoughts. This woman called up and started talking about how husband has been looking for his niece since last night @!$#*& ???? No clue, but I guiess she was going for the actual effects of drugs in our society.

My wife could go on for pages here about things said to pregnant women over the 9 months (Sorry hun)

Why don’t people think about what they say first?

Why does it take so much?

Columbine…Virgina Tech…9/11…Katrina…Wall St crumbling

Why does it take tragedy for people to care?  Are they even genuine at times like this or they just jumping on the latest bandwagon?  I am curious to know how many people thank a member of the military for what they do for us?  How many people donate blood for the next tragedy?   Does anyone support their local fire department at the local BBQ or Fish-Fry?

According to the Bible, we are supposed to have storehouse accounts….use the times of harvest for the times of famine.  Regardless of your religious preference, I think this is a tremendous principle all people should implement in their daily life.  We don’t have to fly to a far off country to support the latest tsunami or coordinate the next great walk-a-thon.  All it takes is a consistent attitude of proactively  looking beyond the brim of our own hat.

I think we would all be amazed at the impact if we could get the fundamentals, little things done in life.

How love grows!

Not because I am posting this for all to see. I am not looking for brownie points here, but I really do love my wife.  We have had our challenges and have grown over the years (we will celebrate our 5 yr anniversary this coming week), but overall I really do love my wife and wouldn’t change anything.  My father past away a few months back and I realized how much I love him.  My mom has done so much and lived her life or her children…of course I love her.

However, when Jasmin had our first child….what a love! Everything about him was awesome!  I kicked into overdrive on my career with thoughts of what I wanted to provide for him.  He was colic and I could remember crying because I couldn’t do anything for him.  When my wife was pregnant with our second, I thought…”this poor kid.  how can I love them when I love my son so much.  This isn’t going to be fair to the new baby….”  I was pleasantly surprised that once she was born, my heart seemed to grow.  I now sit and watch my children across the room and just smile at the little faces they make and things they do.  My heart smiles when my daughter looks at me and says I love you daddy.

A few weeks ago, my wife gave birth to our 3rd!  While I was amazed at how my heart grew, I was again nervous about how I could love another person as much as I have the first two.  Someone was going to miss out..weren’t they?  Two weeks in and I was amazed again at how my heart simply exploded with love for my latest daughter – Briel.  She is two weeks old and I would do anything for her…anything to protect her, provide for her, etc.  I am a proud dad…excited over the smallest thing – sleeping.

God is truly amazing!  When I had no children, I didn’t miss.  When I had one son, I thought my world was consumed.  Now I have three and I love my family….love my wife…and love all my children with every ounce in me.  He gives us everything we need at jsut the right time.  Thank you God for growing love in my heart for these precious gifts.  They deserve every ounce!

Try church again for the first time!

Jasmin and I have been attending Living Word Family Church (www.lwfc.org) in Raleigh, NC for nearly two years now and we continue to be amazed.  From the moment we moved here it has been an amzing experience.  The acceptance, the support, the friendships were all so amazing!  We went through some financial issue….we received a gift card to WalMart, Financial Counseling, and tremendous support.  Lucas had his tonsils out and the phone calls, prayers, visitors, and dinners that week were awesome!  My father past away and again the support came from LWFC…calls,  a gift card for gas, flowers, etc.  This week Jasmin gave birth to our 3rd child…Gabriella and LWFC was there!  I can’t list the number of visitors, lunches and dinners, flowers, the friends taking care of our first two kids, a couple painting our baby room and an overall out pouring of love and support!

Our church says “Try Church again, for the first time” and LWFC really means it.  People don’t argue over titles, position, or leadership – instead they encourage one another in their growth.  People don’t do because God simply asks us to – instead, because they truly love to help and lift one another up.  The Worship team is better then many bands I have heard in bars (past life)..the media team does some amazing videos…better then many corporate presentations I have seen.  Folks come as they are…as God accepts them and not how people believe they should be (dress, culture, etc).  Most of all….Pastor Steve teaches us.  He does not stand at the alter and preach AT us.  He does not make up our minds for us.  Pastor Steve teaches us.  He presents the Bible in a way that gives us the understanding so that we can make decisions for ourselves.  I truly believe this has cascaded throughout our church and enables and empowers people to truly understand what it means when others say “I know who I am in Christ”.

LWFC is really an awesome church!  The pastors are teaching us how to live and love according to God’s desire.  We are never told what to believe, but taught what the bible says.  Where many Christians are singing hymnals to hell or judging and yelling ’sinners’, we are being taught to simply love.  LWFC teaches us to simply create the atmosphere…God will do the rest.

This past two years (a little under 2) has been an beautiful eye opener.  God is awesome!  A church family is awesome!  The LWFC family is genuine, beautiful….words can not express our joy and thankfulness for the acts of kindness, prayers, and teachings we have received.  It isn’t just those people that have provided a meal, called with a prayer, or watched  our kids for us.  It is everyone that attends LWFC and creates that atmosphere.

Thank-You all at LWFC!!!

Obama is in, now what?

Years of folks saying that GW was wrong and a horrible president.  2 years (or so) of a campaign where McCain was painted as out of touch and another GW.  Obama being introduced by Oprah as “The One”.  Here we are…history has been made and the peoples’ choice is in the White House.  I am surprised it took so long, as there are some tremendous men and women in the ‘minority’ category.  I do not want to go down that path though.

Obama is in and now what?  A friend of ours asked a great question…”What can people do today, that they could not do last week?”  Let’s stretch it out and ask “What will you be able to do in this coming year, that you were not able to do before he became president?”  If you have extended yourself in high interest credit card, bought a nice car, and take wonderful vacations then I don’t think Obama, GW, or even Oprah can do anything for you.  I know some people living on the system and let me tell you, they are not out everyday looking for a new job…they are not enrolled in local programs to gain additional skills…they are not at community assist programs working on interview skills and resume building.  Honestly, they do not seem bothered in the slightest that they are in the situation they are in and they even complain they should be getting more.  I know this may not be the majority and I don’t want to stir that up too much either.  I just believe our society is always looking for a bailout…the stimulus check is now expected!  We as a people need to step up and take responsibility for ourselves.  By a shirt from Target….get the store brand orange juice…shall I even say skip this years vacation to the Bahamas?

Obama is a very smart man and a tremendous speaker with charisma and a talent to motivate.  But in his first few actions he has chartered to close Guantanamo (yet he isn’t do anything about the other 2 prisoner camps…I guess they do not have as much press) within a year and doesn’t even know how to go about it.  The attorney’s representing these folks have even said it really doesn’t mean anything and does not change much for the clients.  Essentially this is a ‘marketing’ scheme.  He said we need a stimulus plan, not a spending plan – yet his next action is to overturn a ruling and allow tax payers to fund abortion groups.  I call that spending and not on what I think the country actually needs  at this time (my beliefs are 100% against, so it will never be the right time for me).

People can be very shallow..the same characteristics that look for the quick bailout is the same character flaw that causes a person to believe a simple news report.  Instead of taking time to research, validate, and look into the claims and voting records people took biased reporters views.  Very sad.

Chenique shared a great link that proves…the US is hated by other countries not because of who is president or the wars we are engaged in, but because we are a land of predominantly Christians.

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/commentary/newsblogs/thespectacle/061023.aspx

So I ask again…what can you do today that you could not do yesterday?

(Sorry for a long post..dont care for that usually)

Our 3rd and we still don’t know so much!

Jas and I are on our 3rd child and I have to say, it still feels like the first.  People make jokes about this being our third and we can do this at home…others joke about the baby not being in so many pictures like the first…doctors are always telling Jasmin “don’t worry it is your third, you know…”

Jas isn’t 100% sure of the pains she is feeling…when we went shopping for the registry we would look at each other like “Do we need that?”.  I completely forgot about the umbilical cord and the first bath.  My children are going on 4 and just turned 2, yet I feel like this is the first at times.

The most amazing thing that I have seen from 1 to 2 and then coming on 3 is how God fills us with Love for each.  How it happens, where it come from is all amazing to me.  I Loved Lucas so much and I wasn’t sure how I would love another child so much.  Then Bella came and I grew to love her so much and our family has been the four of us.  I couldn’t imagine 5 of us…I don’t know if it is another son or daughter, but I am already overwhelmed with joy, expectation, and love for a person I have never met.  God really is awesome!