Today my wife and I went around to look at some yard sales. Didn’t really do too much else. But, I took the ipad out to try out pandora on the go (we only have edge network access since 3g isn’t available in our area yet) and it worked rather well.
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.
I was quite challenged by the message today. I’ll post the Audio of the sermon on the church website when they get it to me and link to it ( link goes here).
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.
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
Sometimes I wish I had lived as a monk in the early Catholic church. The idea of penance seems easier than that of forgiveness at times. Probably because it’s something that I have to do. It’s something that I could take into my own hands and perform at will. Even the idea of going into a confessional booth and sharing my sins with some guy with a white collar seems easier than kneeling in total supplication to the Creator of the universe. In the Old Testament, the priest could go on your behalf before God. Buying a goat and taking it to the temple doesn’t seem hard either. But when the veil is torn and there is nothing between God and me but my sin… it makes my sin the culprit, but not just my sin, me. Our will is what separates us from God.
Then Jesus goes and takes all that sin upon Himself. Those thoughts I am so ashamed of thinking, those images that are burned in my brain, those words that I can’t take back all belong to the blameless spotless lamb of God. God took Himself and was made manifest in flesh for us and allowed us to take the very standard of perfection and drown it in the filth and mire of our deliberate disobedience of His will.
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.
I’ve been busy today working on a client/friend’s website and some marketing materials. Below is the front of the flier I designed earlier this morning. I still have to design the back of the 6×9 card, but so far I am pretty pleased with how it has come out.
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.
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.
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.
There is change in the air around our home as of late. New baby on the way. It’s pretty outside. There has also been trouble with customers regarding web payments for hosting. Extended family problems that have gone unchecked for years have sprung up with raging viciousness. I even got threatened in my own home this last week by one of these family members. In short things are changing.
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.
Over Easter, my wife and I learned that we are going to have a second child. We are excited about this. But I have to admit we are a bit scared too. Another child? I’ve been thinking a lot about finances and ways I can leverage my knowledge and expertise to make a decent level income from home in the wake of this news. Another child means to me “sink or swim”.
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.
It was first a classic iPod that I loved for music and video. Then the iPod touch which integrated apps for almost everything. My laptop has been getting increasingly less used since I purchased an iPod touch. I check email on it, I play games and I even compose music on it and use it to make phone calls via skype. I still sit down at my computer every now and then to write an email or a post on my site, or even do graphic work with my wacom tablet. But going through my software that I use on a regular basis, I think I am done using a laptop PC for most everything else.
Let me share what I use my laptop for.
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.
Aidan had his 15 month checkup today. He got a few shots. My wife was berated by the doctor as Aidan didn’t fit their growth chart. He’s a bit small for his age and doesn’t weigh what they want him to weigh. Both Becca and I were small kids when we were little. It’s just our family. But apparently they think he isn’t fitting the growth chart for weight & that he’s too little and we must be starving him. Aidan eats pretty much from Sun-up to sun-down. Breakfast, milk, snacks, lunch, milk, snacks, dinner, more milk (maybe a juice or two) then more snacks. He could eat half a loaf of bread if I gave it to him one at a time. He has before. (I wasn’t trying to feed him half the loaf, but I absentmindedly just kept giving him pieces of bread and before I knew it half the loaf was gone. I cut him off after that.) But, he has a pretty fast metabolism for a little guy. Now, I will also say that he works a lot of it off through playing in his room too. He was early walking and early sitting up and rolling over when he was really young, so we decided early on that his room needed to be “romp ready” so he could play in there on his own.
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.
I tend to be a person who likes to try new things. I have failed utterly at times and wildly succeeded at other times. It’s a part of who I am. I am not the kind of guy who typically decides that he’s bored or doesn’t know what to try next. Most often, it’s when I try these new ventures that I find some other experience in some field aids me in some way. So here are 10 things that I am hoping to do, have done or are already doing in some way.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.