Also, this week.

• LookupCenter.org
• thesavageathlete.com
• landorhomes.com

Today, I am just enjoying the quiet while I write and think a little bit.  The next few weeks are going to be a radical shift for my family and I.  I’ve never done a long-distance move before.  I’ve contemplated it when I interviewed at churches in Lake Havasu, AZ and Kalispell, MT & sent a resume out to Juneau, AK.  As you can tell probably, Becca & I are really excited about the move.

There is a bittersweet part of moving in all of it too.  We had gotten pretty close to our church family at Narrow Road Community Church.  I mean, they knew we were looking for where God would take us since we first started attending there.  I had mentioned it in prayer enough while I was frustrated with the job search (which was often).  They knew also that it was wearing on us considering Becca being pregnant and also the primary provider for our family financially.  But we love these people.  We had gotten involved in numerous ways (not as much as we wanted even) and really felt loved.  They have in many ways become family to us.

I know there are problems in every church, but being at Narrow Road Community Church has been one of the best experiences I’ve ever had with a church… warts and all.  We have been blessed beyond measure, prayed for, lifted up emotionally & spiritually and invested into while being a part of the family there.  There’s been way more opportunity to get connected with the church family that I’ve never been able to take advantage of.  More ways to serve than you could shake a stick at.  I can honestly say that no one in that church feels like they are left out feeling that they don’t know how they can get involved.  If they do, it’s their own fault.  Now I know not every church is destined to be a mega-church.  I had never understood that till I came to Narrow Road.  Some churches are meant to be small.  Small is what they do best.  A congregation can be cared for adequately.  People can grow together in ways they just can’t in a big church.  The pastors (both of them) excite in me a passion for preaching the Word, really caring about people, and just being around them you know you are loved and cared for yourself.  I don’t know if Narrow Road is destined to be a large church, but I can say they do small really well and I think they would do large well too.

I am not belittling the lessons I’ve learned elsewhere before coming to Narrow Road as a burned out (probably mostly my own fault) recent Associate Pastor from another local church, but here is where I’ve been re-ignited, reforged, and set aflame with passion again.  Narrow Road has been a refuge for me and a place of renewing for both Becca & I.  I hope in the future I can maintain the relationships I’ve found at Narrow Road and bridges can be built in the Kingdom of God for God’s Word to be spread all the more because of it.

I got a job!

But job sounds like something you do for money as in “selling out”.  I prefer the term “position” because it sounds more like the way I view it.  Doing something you love while getting paid and being able to provide for your family doing it.  So what does this mean for the immediate future.  Well, we are moving for one.  Right now the moving is scrounging around for moving boxes and trying to pack while looking for a place to live.

So now for the details.  The church is Franklin First United Methodist Church in Franklin, KY.  This means we are moving in the next few weeks.  Becca is really excited as it means going back south.  Kentucky is her home state and as she’s lived pretty much all over western Kentucky, she counts the whole state as “hometown” for the most part.  We will be about an hour away from Mammoth Caves, 45 minutes away from Nashville, 30 minutes or less from Bowling Green.  I will be the Youth & Young Adults Pastor at the church Full-time & Becca will get to be a stay-at-home mom (which is what she wants to do).  She is also probably going to start writing on her site a lot more, www.motherhoodfordummies.com.

Now, the only thing I’ll be worried about is the fact that I’m going to be working with this guy below as he is the pastor at the church I’m going to.  He’s the one on the right.

See I didn’t realize the underlying Jewish Rabbi Cult that has permeated the United Methodist Church.  The fact that he has Henna Art on his hand along with painted fingernails.  I will assume that this image is of some strange new age Jewish wedding or “The Night of the Henna”.  Looking at Wikipedia I find: (via this link under the section for “Traditions of Henna as body Art”)

The Night of the Henna was celebrated by most groups in the areas where henna grew naturally: Jews,^[11] Muslims,^[12] Hindus, Christians and Zoroastrians, among others, all celebrated marriages by adorning the bride, and often the groom, with henna.

Today all that changed.

My new keyboard arrived. I installed it in about five minutes and fired up my computer to all the “A” goodness I could muster. My first few attempts at typing were awkward as I had become accustomed to not pushing the “A” key because I was copy and pasting the “A” from other places where I could find an “a” on the screen. Every time I needed an “a” I would instead hit ctrl+v and paste it from the clipboard. I am much happier today.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Location:Stone Ave,Columbus,United States

Location:Kentucky 10,Alexandria,United States

Swings.
We had decided to go for a drive up to the Wooster, Ohio area. 514 is a beautiful drive and I love driving country roads. (don’t even start singing that song right now) We drove up to Killbuck wetlands near Wooster and decided to head back. We saw a sign for Mohican state park, and made our way there in hopes that we might find a place just to hang out at a park or something for a little while. The campgrounds proved to be the best spot and we found a nice little playground. My son, Aidan loves swings. But as you can see in the picture below, my wife does too.

The Funeral.
The Second Moment, I don’t have a picture for but hopefully I can do the scene justice as I illustrate it with words. My grandfather died recently. My grandmother and him were married for 67 years. The day after they were married, he headed to war. So he was a veteran. Now the scene.

My grandfather died the week before the fourth of July. Every year on the fourth of July they put flags out at cemeteries much like they do on Memorial day. Being a veteran, they also give military honors. It was cool for late June. Around seventy degrees and the wind blew just enough to keep the flags all flying and flapping in the breeze. All the family was gathered around and right at the beginning of the service, the veterans with rifles at the ready saluted and raised their guns and all seven fired three times. I held my son, Aidan (a gentleman from the funeral home held his hands over Aidan’s ears for the gunshots). In the quiet peace that followed, Taps was played. I am not usually the most emotional of people, but in that moment, with the wind flapping American flags as far as I could see behind the veteran soldiers as the trumpet played the tune of a soldier who has finally laid down his life, I felt something more than mere patriotism. Several soldiers then proceeded to in front of the casket and folded the American Flag and presented it to my grandmother. Bullet shells were passed out to family. I got one for Aidan. It is a scene that I will never forget.

These are the two moments that I have recently had that I will never forget. Things I will cherish. Moments that will go with me the rest of my life and be played out in dreams for years to come.

NEWARK: A graveside service for Jesse Dale Morton will be held 11:00 a.m. Wednesday at Newark Memorial Gardens with Pastor Les Crossfield presiding. Licking County Veterans Alliance will render military honors. A gathering of relatives and friends will be one hour prior to service time, beginning at 10:00 a.m. at Brucker-Kishler Funeral Home, 985 North 21st Street, Newark. A procession to the cemetery will form at the funeral home.

Mr. Morton, a retired computer programmer for the Newark Air Force Base, passed away June 26, 2010 at Flint Ridge Nursing Center at the age of 87. He was born August 26, 1922 in Uhrichsville, Ohio, the son of the late Willard R. and Ruth (Utterback) Morton. Jesse married Janis Avril Holcomb on January 13, 1943. He served in the U.S. Army during WWII. Jesse attended Wesleyan Community Church.

Mr. Morton is survived by his loving wife of 67 years, Janis Morton; three sons, Gary (Nancy) Morton of Heath, Willard (Beverly) Morton of Heath and Marvin (Rose) Morton of Clarksville, TN; two daughters, Sheryl (Robert) Williams of Newark and Linda (Bill) Lehman of Buckeye Lake; a sister, Louise Thompson of Uhrichsville; 11 grandchildren; and six great grandchildren.

In addition to his parents; Jesse was preceded in death by his brother, Faye.

To sign an online guest book, please visit www.brucker-kishler funeralhome.com and click obituaries/view full details/add memorial guest book entry.

Did you catch it?  If you didn’t, the title of this post certainly should have clued you in.  My grandfather and grandmother were married for 67 years!  Another tidbit to the story is that when they got married, they married the day before my grandfather was shipped off to war.  In today’s age, I am proud of this.  It’s a testament to commitment, love… and those vows that are so often uselessly repeated each day by people supposedly in love with each other.  I wish this kind of love and commitment every time I go to a wedding.

Here is a man who kept his word, A man I am proud to say was my grandfather.  Not because he was rich or powerful or famous, but because he demonstrated with his life something I wish more people would “get” today, the value of commitment & keeping your word.

So we listened to pandora and mapped out yard sales with the gps (with satellite view).

And I stayed up last night playing around with sketchbook pro and came up with this rather strange looking guy staring off into space.

To tell the truth I look forward to listening to it again myself… but I’ll try to sum up what I got out of the sermon today that challenged me.

• It’s the overflow of our faith which is the outpouring of worship.
• Faith gives it’s best.
• Faith is how we know we are saved.
• Faith calls us to do things that look strange to others who don’t have faith.

I am sure I am not quite getting all the points that were listed, but what it comes down to is this.  Everything in the Christian life comes down to an issue of faith.  From what we give of our time, ourselves and our income to how we live on a daily basis.  Without faith, it’s just words and works.  Neither of which will save us.  Faith is how we understand.  Not knowledge.  Not more study.  More faith.

I have a friend who likes to study things and devise theories on how God works.  But he is quite lost.  I don’t think he knows it either.  He knows a lot of God.  He is a pastor even.  But deep down it seems he has pushed faith aside for ideologies, philosophies, and mere spirituality.

I am challenged by this because it means that all the Bible Study in the world won’t get me closer to God unless it comes from a genuine faith that God will meet me when I come to Him.

I find that a scary proposition actually, but also quite freeing.  Faith must come first.

Hebrews 11, Genesis 4

His will.

Our will.

That’s all it really comes down to. So when we pray those words “Not my will, but thine… on earth as it is in Heaven” is a prayer that encompasses the heart of repentance. To turn away and become infatuated with what God’s will is rather than our own. This is the great denial. This is the catch. This is where we die and Christ lives…

…if we let Him.

Web & graphic design was never the objective, but it’s what pays the bills when I am otherwise out of work (along with my wife working outside the home).  This way, we both can make some income and not pay a daycare service.  If we had to do that, we’d be deeper in debt and not have the time we currently get to spend with our son, Aidan.  Soon, though there will be two.

Another little one is on the way, so I’ve been trying to up the number of websites I build and host on a regular basis for people.  Hopefully, if I get enough (around 10 more) sites, I will be able to tell my wife that she doesn’t have to work outside the home anymore which in turn will free me up more to do more design work.

But that is still plan B.  My heart is in Christian Ministry.  I’ve applied at a few more churches looking for a full-time opportunity.  But if that doesn’t pan out, I guess I’ll just get more involved where I am at now.  (See link to the right – in the sidebar)

More often than not, my plan b sometimes is God’s plan a.

If you’ve checked the tech blogs lately, they’ve been buzzing about a next generation iphone that came to light after an Apple employee lost the prototype at a bar.  Tech blog, Gizmodo apparently bought the device for $10,000 to take it apart and break the news on it for the sake of a few advertising dollars and a spotlight for a few days on the other tech blogs.

It’s an issue of morality & integrity that I think is unfortunately lost on a lot of our culture.  Apparently Gizmodo is also on the bandwagon of moral degradation too.  But I am curious what would have happened if Gizmodo had just given the device back to Apple instead of knowingly purchase stolen property to exploit?

Now, I have a lot of respect for Apple over their decision to ban porn applications on their app store.  A decision that I think actually embodies the philosophy of Google’s to “not be evil” better than Google has done themselves.  In this they have proven a moral stronghold when they could have easily chosen otherwise.

Bridges torn down instead of built up.

I am not sure what would have actually happened if Gizmodo had just given the device back, but I am sure that bridges would have been been built instead of torn down.  Now you have Cupertino upset over the issue.  Not because their device was leaked, but because of the lack of respect that has been shown them on behalf of the tech blogs in the face of the massive security measures usually taken by Apple to keep things under wraps till a launch date or press conference.

I will admit I am an idealist.  I think a person or company should be respected in regards to information like this.

If the device had been given back, Apple would have taken notice.  I do not think that they would have been left out in the cold either when the device was actually launched.  Apple likes to do things differently which is well-known.  An uncommon company like them would have also probably been uncommonly grateful as well.

Meet the Press.

Gizmodo hasn’t always been the giant tech blog that it is today.  Now it sits in the ranks of TechCrunch, Engadget and Lifehacker with millions of page views every month.  But Gizmodo has made it clear that they are the same caliber of journalists that made us hate printed media, blood-sucking journalists that are out to exploit anyone and anything for the bottom line.  Of course that’s what makes the page views.  That’s what pulls in the advertising dollars.  That’s how you make a name for yourself.  Exploitation.

It’s also why Gizmodo has been deleted from my feedreader as of late as well as other blogs that have done the same thing.

There are a lot of news organizations out there.  There are some really good tech blogs that I still enjoy reading, ones that haven’t “sold out” to get ahead of the game through buying stolen property.  I hope Apple shows grace to you.  I hope forgiveness is a part of their language.  The fact that this was a knowingly unreleased product, any judge in their right mind would rule in their favor, regardless of whether a police report was filed or not.

As a result of the changing, we are become less bound up in living where we are geographically too.  We need this impending change.  Spiritually.  Physically. Emotionally.  But let me be clear, it’s not because problems have been stirred to the surface.  It’s because it needs to happen.

You have to take the good with the bad and trust that somehow God is moving despite it all to accomplish His will.

See, I am clear about my calling to ministry.  I know that’s where I need to be.  If it’s in a paid capacity or not.  I’d like to be paid and I think it’s scriptural, but so many churches are hurting financially right now too.

The truth is that God will provide.  I know that.  My prayer is that He puts me where He wants me and that I listen well enough to do what I need to do.

I am happy about another child.  I am.  I am overwhelmed too.

Let me share what I use my laptop for.

• Browsing the web.  Simply searching for things, doing research, and writing posts and engaging with people and friends through online communities like facebook or twitter.  The iPad definitely looks to be the better choice for this in the long run.  I can use an app to engage different social tools like I do on my iPod touch.  Now I can actually use these applications on a decent sized screen without having to sit down at a desk.  Let’s face it, laptops were not designed for the lap.  Maybe to burn your legs while you cradled the awkwardly tilted screen while the dog chews on the power cord?
• Managing web sites. Yes, most of my sites are now run on wordpress.  It’s simple to use and easy to get it to do what you want.  I even build other people sites using wordpress.  A laptop has always been the best way to do this on the go.  Now I occasionally use  the wordpress app for ipod/iphone but I find that the mobile login plugin for my wordpress installations actually has a decent interface for doing about everything I need to do on a regular basis.  In the future I think the iPad will do equally, or better than my ipod touch.
• Writing. Not just posting on websites.  Occasionally I still open up OpenOffice and write something larger than just a single post.  Resumes for example.  But there are even apps for writing resumes now.  Increasingly, I have found that sitting down to write something using my laptop is becoming more of a multi-tasking adventure and quite a distraction from actually writing.  My antivirus needs updating.  I just received an email or windows itself needs some kind of update.  One of the greatest complaints about the iPad is that it doesn’t multi-task, but to me this is one of the reasons I am getting an iPad.  I don’t want to have to babysit my laptop so I can settle down to write something.  I might also mention that apps are better alternatives to over priced software as well.  Apple has always had a better software pricing scheme.
• Graphics. I do a fair number of graphics.  I design websites.  I do occasional cartoons using my wacom.  I put together marketing materials for others.  In short, this is one area that I may miss a laptop… or would I?  Macs have always been the choice for graphics professionals.  I just never had the money to go that route and still get a laptop-type computer.  Apple Macbooks are pretty expensive, but if I have something else to replace my laptop… maybe a Apple desktop would be a good choice now?  Two apple products (iPad and Mac Desktop) instead of a laptop pc or macbook sounds like a great alternative anyway.  I will be able to keep my desktop clear of unnecessary software because of my iPad, and since I am usually sitting down to do graphic work at home anyway, I can use my iPad to sketch out the idea if I get a brainstorm on the go.  Even in the short term, I may buy a pc and just go with a version of Linux.  Heck, I use gimp for graphics anyway, and WINE does a great job of porting windows applications to linux anyway.

I am sure I will find more reasons why I am most likely never going to buy another PC, but for now I think I better turn off my laptop.  It’s getting a little hot.

After Becca got home from the doctor’s visit today with Aidan.  I hunted down all the pictures of Aidan that I have on my computer.  886 images that show Aidan’s face.  Shown Below.

Picasa has a nice little feature that allows you to categorize photos with faces so it found all the images of Aidan’s face and I went through and verified the ones the program had trouble with.  I noticed that Picasa made all the images portrait shots of just his face for the categorization so I decided that I would try something else.

Picasa has a collage feature that allows you to effectively make digital double exposures.  I decided that it might be fun to get an “average” of all the pictures of Aidan that I had on my computer.  He’s grown a lot over the last year (he is after all 15 months old) and see what the “average Aidan” looked like.  The final image originally was a little muted, so I used the “I’m feeling lucky” button to give the image more dynamic range.  I thought it looked a little like a Rembrandt painting myself.

So take that, doctors who think Aidan has to measure up to some growth chart!  He may not be average according to the chart, but he is average for himself.  This makes him uniquely himself too.

1. Hosting and Running an online Forum.  1 year.

TRIED: Back in my college years, I was always writing some paper or another.  It became apparent that merely reading books was not a good way to engage the reader of my college papers in current events and social thought that was currently happening.  I launched williamlehman.net in 2001 and quickly thereafter managed to put up my first few adsense ads.  The site was doing rather good for those days and some guy running a forum based website.  I had on average 67 members who were active participants in the conversations that took place in about 15 different threads at any one time.  I abandoned the project in 2002 because I needed the domain for my ministry work that was picking up as I was an active youth leader at that time and didn’t have money to shell out for a second domain name.  Also, I had gotten married in college and balancing ministry, family and school was not something that worked very well.  All in all,  I consider the forum a success as it prepared me for both running scripts on websites and the maintenance of them as well as social networking through content production and online conversations.

2. Making Hand Hammered cymbals, chimes & gongs.

WANT TO TRY: I have an uncle who has started making hand hammered cymbals.  I went over to his place yesterday and fired one of the cymbals with some propane and was amazed at how the metal changed in sound quality with different things that were done to it.  The cymbal I worked on was a bronze cymbal that wasn’t exactly “bell quality” but it had a unique sound that I wouldn’t mind adding to my hand percussion ensemble.  Currently, I play each week at the church with the worship band.  This I must admit is a recent addition to my interests after looking at some online forums and getting the feel for what this entails from my uncle.

3. Glassblowing.

WANT TO TRY: Two of my favorite artists are Dale Chihuly and Josh Simpson.  Both are glassblowers by trade and artists.  They make the most amazing works.  I just saw the illuminated Chihuly Exhibit at the Columbus Museum of Art a few weeks ago.  I don’t have the space to try this right now but I know a gallery locally that gives glassblowing lessons.  This is probably one of the things that will have to wait till we are out of debt to do.  Becca might also like to try it as well.  Maybe we can do a class like this together someday.

4. Landscape Painting with Oils (eventually “en plein air”).

IN PROCESS: I am currently working on the first oil painting that I’ve even attempted in about 10 years or so.  It’s been fun getting reacquainted with oil paints.  At first I was a bit intimidated by the nature of oils to try this at home.  Right now, I am a stay at home dad who builds websites for income while my wife works outside the home so it’s a little hard to get away to set up an easel and paint a painting with the little guy in tow.  So for now I am working on my latest painting from the comfort of home while I take breaks for playtime and feedings.  I have also felt the need to get away from abstract paintings and try more traditional representational art forms.

5. Photography. (about 1 year)

IN PROCESS: I have worked with Olan Mills as a portrait photographer photographing families and infants mostly.  I have also photographed the occasional dog at Olan Mills, but what really excites me is landscape photography and photo journalism.  These things I’ve only really attempted with a little point and shoot and have had moderate success at doing.  In the past, I’ve always been the guy that people typically ask to bring a camera and do some photography for various events.  In the last few years, a local professional photographer who is a friend of mine has had me help out with some events he has done.  Outdoor group sports photography for kids.  I have done okay, but in the end I felt frustrated over the constraint of trying to fight the light in these types of sessions.  Several of my group sittings needed to be retaken due to equipment malfunction or blinking or squinting children.  I enjoy studio photography but ultimately would like to get out and take pictures of landscapes and things as they happen.  Street and urban photography also appeals to me as these are seen as modern landscapes.

6. Blogging Professionally. (about two years full time)

TRIED and TRYING AGAIN: Back in 2006 I had been running wordpress for a few years and blogging on my own.  I had built a few sites using it as well as I had early on recognized the simplicity of the platform for cms or content management.  I saw that Darren Rowse’s blogging network b5media was hiring.  I did my research, put together a blog proposal and submitted the idea.  A few months later I was up and blogging a site called Artist Hideout.  I had the privilege of working with some pretty amazing people.  Within a few months, I was channel editor and a few months after that, my wife was a channel editor and writer as well for a different channel.  It was good times.  It was strange being in the same house and writing and interacting with people all over the world and then taking breaks to spend time with each other.  We would often IM back and forth about what we were doing or ask advice or just goof off while we worked.  Over the last few months while I was there I had put in a request to Darren to bring his blog Digital Photography School into the fold of my channel as an Owned blog.  I also transitioned the arts and crafts channel to be more broad by incorporating design into it and renaming it The Arts and Design Channel.  Overall, I consider my time there a success.  The blog network decided to go more niche oriented with their channels and Becca’s job was eliminated whereupon she gave up writing her blog, Mother Earth’s Garden.  My Channel was merging with hers and another channel so I was given the opportunity to take over the Music channel.  At the time I was also transitioning back into a reinstated full-time pay at the church I was working at so I decided to leave b5media and blog a little on the side with my own site.  A lot of things have changed since then.  Blogging is completely different now then it was then, but in many ways it is the same too.  I heard the frustrating news a week or two ago that b5media let go a lot of their bloggers.  Some were good friends and I hope they continue plugging away and writing their own sites now that b5media is no longer paying them.

Now, I am going at it again.  I’ve helped numerous bloggers get up and running and currently help several manage their own sites.  One friend, David is doing quite well with his blog nakedpastor.  I am not sure what the future holds around here but I know that if I want to succeed I need to be more focused and write more often.  So that is also in the works.  I’ve redesigned and finally dropped the domain name “williamlehman.net” from the site.  Hopefully people will still find me here.  If not, I’ll start fresh and build a new audience.  It’d be nice to have more discussion around here.

7. Pastor. (about 7 years altogether as paid pastor in different roles)

ONGOING: I am avid in my faith and beliefs and have been all of my life.  My actual degree is a BA in Biblical Theology with an Emphasis in Youth Ministry.  I love working with teens and showing them God’s love, but more than that I love being in love with God and sharing him with everyone I encounter.  It’s not just a thing I do.  It’s a calling.  The particular paid role within a church is a job.  What I do in that role is a calling.  So if you’ve been around here for awhile, you know I am looking for a new ministry opportunity.  I’d love for my wife to be able to come stay at home with Aidan and for me to be the provider for our family again.  But, the ministry that is a part of my life has not stopped.  Over the last six months we have been involved in a ministry here locally called Narrow Road Community Church.  Currently, I manage their website which has provided multiple different leads on other ministries locally that need websites.  I have felt the most at home and accepted within Narrow Road because the people truly love Jesus Christ.  There’s no competition focus with other local ministries either like many churches feel inclined to partake in.  I am challenged to grow through fellowship with other guys.  Guys who aren’t afraid to be vulnerable and share the gritty details of life either.

8. Write a Novel.

WANT TO TRY: I’ve always dreamed of writing a fantasy novel of some sort.  My favorite Authors include Stephen Lawhead, CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien, Frank Peretti and more I can’t think of right now.  I am committed to eventually doing this, but I am at a loss as for how to begin.  For now, I will see what I can do on refining my writing skills through writing more often and exploring new ideas to write about.  Maybe I’ll add some short stories to the site eventually as well as I grow more confident in my abilities.

9. Be a
Great Dad, Husband and all-round family guy.

ONGOING: Last year in January, my wife and I had our first child, Aidan.  He’s growing every day and walking already.  He’s working on some words now.  I love him so much.  It’s fun to see him develop new skills and I already miss the little bundle we brought home.  Maybe we will have more children, we are not sure on that just yet.  We know that God will have to work in some amazing way for us to be able to support more children, but He is able to do so if He chooses.  I love my wife too.  She is an amazing woman and great mother to Aidan.  I couldn’t have asked for someone more loving and amazing than her.  We celebrated our five year anniversary this last month and I can’t believe how much we’ve grown together in that time.  So while I am already in the mix on this one, it doesn’t stop so I’ve listed this one as ongoing because it will give me something to look back on and remember where I was when I wrote it and how sappy it probably sounded to everyone reading it.

10.  Build a dome home.

WANT TO TRY: This is a bit of a random way to end this list.  But both my wife and I are quite infatuated with one day building our own home.  A dome.  A monolithic dome to be precise.  About monthly, Becca looks through dome home layout plans to get ideas.  We know it is most likely years away from being a reality, but it is something that we very much want to do.  Right now we are renters and have neighbors on all sides of us.  It can be loud at times, but usually those renters move out and we either get louder ones or more annoying ones.  Now that I think about it, the neighbors on either side are great.  It’s just the people above that are usually the ones we… have to put up with being loud or annoying.

William,Hey I was wondering what are the costs, and all that is involved in setting up a website. I’m looking for a site that we can post pics, newsletters, and videos. I also am interested in a blog. I’m not sure if we should do a blog somewhere else and feed it also to the website. I would like to have a site that if any body is interested in this ministry, they can find everything out right on there. Thanks bro.

Then that’s all there was.  No email I could respond to or anything.  I’d love to help you get up and rolling, and even share with you my pricing for this, but I don’t know where to send it.  If this is you, call me at (740) 281-1351 and we can chat about it.

CS Lewis makes the statement (I think it’s in Mere Christianity and please pardon the bad paraphrase) that we don’t lose ourselves in Christ to become a bland shell of who we once were.  The miracle of our faith is that when we are made more ourselves by the Creator.

My advice to my friend about his domain name was to be authentic.  Be yourself and quit trying to fit the mold you created for yourself.  You may lose readers, you may gain readers, but ultimately it comes down to you being yourself.  If the old name doesn’t fit who you are anymore, then surprise your readers with a more authentic version of yourself.

I am trying a different tack.  Yes, the sharp pointy things that you used to put on your teacher’s chair but now you would probably get expelled from school for doing because in our culture you were trying to kill the teacher with tetanus instead of a mere tack.  Tact.  Yeah that word too.

A simple journal.  This is a deliberate effort to be more real.  Be more myself.  Something like that.  I think the other voice was me too, but it was a critical, self-absorbed version of myself trying to shoot myself with the same gun I was trying to aim.  Maybe it’s all a bad analogy… maybe I should just shut up my critical self and write more?

image credit to one of the most unflattering images I’ve ever taken of myself