Forest

One weekend a few years back, when I was in France on business, a buddy and I bought some food from a street vendor, packed it in the car, and drove about a half hour west of Clermont-Ferrand. We drove up a scenic road into the hills, and ate lunch at a picnic shelter in a large wooded area. The road sign said we were in a "foret" (forest), similar to what we would call a "National Park".

Some of the French guys I worked with pointed out that forests are rare in France, since most of their land is farmed. When the French visit the USA, they are absolutely amazed about how much wooded land we have. As I flew home that week, I looked down out of the airplane window, and could see a couple lone "forests" here and there, mixed in amongst acres and acres of brown and amber farmland.

What I experienced that week was the literal version of the old saying, "Can't see the forest for the trees." When you are in the woods, all you see is a bunch of individual trees, stretching as far as the eye can see. Its not until you move back, way back, that you can see the size and shape of the forest.

In life, the ability to see the "forest", i.e. the big picture, is considered a valuable skill. In business, particularly, we pay big bucks to people who are able to step back and consider the whole, not just the sum of the parts. Economic analysts, political strategists, and retirement planners are all examples of jobs where this ability is crucial.

In my own job, I have improved in this skill over the years. When I hired on at Michelin as a 21-year old mechanical engineer, I was given smaller tasks and projects to accomplish. As the years progressed, I have been given greater responsibilities, which require greater vision. In my role now, I must oversee portfolios of projects, ensuring that all move forward to accomplish a larger business objective. In short, my job is to see the big picture.

In so many areas of our lives, we recognize the wisdom of considering the whole, the big picture, the long-term vision. When we raise our kids, we try and make decisions based on what is best for them in the long run. When we save for retirement, we invest our money in mutual funds that have the best overall performance, the best long-term outlook.

Although most of us are making smart choices in these areas of our lives, many times we fail to ponder the "even bigger picture." We plan our lives to a certain extent: do well in high school, get into a big-name college, get a job at a good company, get promoted, live a big lifestyle, sock a lot away for retirement, retire in style, enjoy our golden years.

Well, then what?

How many of us, in the busy day-to-day activity, stop and consider what comes after this life? Do we think about why we are here, where we came from, where we are going, if there is an afterlife? Does God exist? If so, is He the God of the Bible? Was Jesus Christ a liar, a lunatic, or the Lord?

Some folks have studied and pondered these questions and have concluded that there is no afterlife, or that they don't believe in God. I would strongly disagree with them, but at least they have spent some time considering these major issues. But so many, it seems, go through life without stopping and reflecting.

A hundred years from now, our diplomas, portfolios, retirement activities won't matter a bit. What will matter are the answers we found to the important questions.

If you haven't done so lately, why not take some time to get up above the trees and look at "the big picture"?

Peeves

You know what really bugs me?

Well, a lot of things, actually...

Some are serious things, like drug-dealing thugs murdering college class presidents, warlords preventing food shipments from reaching starving children in Africa, and politicians saying what we want to hear but never intending to do any of it.

But this post isn't about those serious things. No, we've had too many serious posts lately.

So, today we'll have a series of mini-rants on some of the little things in life that I can't stand, my "pet peeves". Ready? Here we go.

• "Fitness water" - Oh my goodness. I can't believe people actually pay money for water, to begin with. (Although we buy it by the crate, like everyone else...) What would your great-grandfather have said if you told him you were going to start a business selling WATER. That's right, he'd tell you you're a dang fool! Maybe I'm just upset that I wasn't the guy that figured out how to market it... And what the heck is with "fitness water" and "flavored water"? To me, it tastes like the Kool-aid your little sister tried to make, but didn't use near enough sugar. Blecch!
  
  
• Grunge music - OK, I'm sure this is a generational thing, but... Why on earth is grunge rock so doggone DEPRESSING! Did all grungers get up on the wrong side of the bed every day of their life? Why would anyone want to listen to such dreary, woe-is-me music? Do we have it that tough, living in modern suburban America? What a bunch of whiners. As my Dad used to say, "I'll give you something to be upset about!" Wow. I feel better now. And yes, I realize that I sound like all old people, giving the standard rant about music that came along after they stopped being young!
  
  
• Bluetooth headsets - These are those little "ear pods" that you see people wearing in public, when it looks like they're talking to an invisible friend. I realize they are convenient for hands-free talking (like when you're in a car), but why must we wear them around all day? Maybe to say, hey look at me, I've got the latest cool cell phone device? True story: I'm in Books-a-Million, looking at the magazine racks, and a guy walks up beside me, also facing the magazine racks. "Hey, how's it goin?" he says. "Good, how 'bout you?" I reply. Except he continues talking into his Bluetooth headset, which I failed to notice. So I feel like an idiot, when in fact the guy with the space-age egg in his ear OUGHT to be the one feeling stupid! (My apologies to Gran...I did NOT knock your Bluetooth headset off on purpose that time when I hugged you. For real.)
  
  
• Self-absorbed people - Do you know people who will talk on and on and on about themselves? (Yes, sort of like I'm doing in this blog...) But I mean people who will walk up to you and start a "conversation", and ten minutes later they're still going strong, and you haven't gotten a word in edgewise. I think these people gravitate toward "nice Christian folks", who generally are too nice to be rude and cut them off. I have two or three of these at my workplace, and two or three more outside of work. A similar personality type is what pastor Steve Keyes calls VNP's: Very Needy People. These folks always have multiple major problems in their lives - health, emotional, etc. They can sap all the energy out of you within five minutes. As Christians, we are certainly called to love the self-absorbed and the VNPs. But that doesn't mean I have to like them! Just kidding, but you know exactly what I mean...
  
  
• Sanjaya - Enough said.
  
  
• Hackers - Now, I realize that 15 year old geeky boys need something to do with their time, but can't they just stick to X-Box? Why do they have to go the extra mile to invent thousands of malicious little computer programs that threaten to ruin my computer? Hackers forced me into buying Norton Anti-virus. And I'm really not sure which is worse: Norton or the viruses. I mean, how many computer viruses would it take to slow my laptop down more than Norton does? Is it just me? Can anyone relate? Anyone?
  

These are just a few of the many thousands of things that irk me to no end (just ask Cathy, ha!). Somehow, I feel a little bit better now after my little mini-rants. I'll try and go back to being my generally positive self.

Thanks for listening, doc - send me the bill.

Marty

Three cheers for Marty Moore!

Marty is a big fan of bluegrass music in general, of Last Road Bluegrass band in specific, and just an all-around nice guy. I met him last year when our band played at Rholetter's Apple Valley bluegrass festival in Westminster, and was struck with what an enthusiastic, outgoing guy he was. Marty just LOVES bluegrass music.

Well, there's more. Marty is also an esophogeal cancer survivor who has lately been undergoing another round of chemo. Marty had been kicking around the idea of having a bluegrass benefit concert, with the proceeds going toward the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. After some encouragement, Marty organized it, promoted it, and...

Last night, Marty's benefit concert became a reality, and it was a big success. It was held at Gettys Middle School in Easley, and featured two local bands (Wooden Nickel and Last Road), as well as national touring bluegrass act Kenny & Amanda Smith. There were a few hundred people in attendance, and everyone had a good time. It was great to see Marty so excited, so enthusiastic about the fundraiser.

Marty is a wonderful example of an upbeat Christ follower who is looking to the Lord for his strength, as he battles this terrible disease. At my own church, I know of at least two people who are in various stages of battling cancer. Sue is a wonderful, energetic Christian missionary whose cancer has been in remission for a number of years now. Shari is another great example of a believer whose walk has been intensified since her diagnosis a year or two ago. She shared in our Life Group meeting last week that she considers her cancer diagnosis to have been a blessing in that it has brought her so much closer to her Lord.

It's been said that nothing focuses the mind like the diagnosis of cancer. Finding out you may only have a few years or months to live makes us ask some important questions, questions that we might otherwise ignore or put off until later.

For a non-believer, these questions might be: Is there really a God? Was Jesus just a man, or were his claims true? If Christianity is true, where do I stand? How can I have a relationship with God? Where will I go when I die?

For a Christian believer, the questions might be: What is God's unique purpose for my life? In the time I have left, what do I want to get done? What does God want me to get done? What do I want people to remember me for? Am I living the way God wants me to be living?

One of the two coolest questions I've ever heard asked is this: "If you were diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer, and had only a few weeks or months to live, what would you do differently in your daily life?"

Your answer to that question reveals your true values. It forces you to look at the "big picture" of your life, and decide what is truly important.

The other coolest question relates to your answers from the first question: "Why not start doing these things today?"

Is there something in your life that you know you need to give up? Or something you've always wanted to do, but never got started? A natural talent or skill you've neglected? A person you've never reconciled with?

Well, why not live like there's not much time left, and do these things now?

That's the way Marty's living, and it's an awesome thing to see.

Technology

Have you ever stopped and thought about what an incredible time we live in? It really is amazing how quickly technology is advancing.

About eight or nine years ago, Zach and I went up to Virginia to visit my parents. During the trip, Zach and I joined my Dad on a trip into Washington DC to do the museums. At the Museum of American History, we went through an exhibit that showed the history of the computer. As we walked through the exhibit, we saw room-sized pieces of the first modern electronic computer, called Eniac. In the next room, they had some huge IBM mainframe computers from the 1960's (they were bigger than a car!)

I remember my Dad commenting that when he started working for the Naval Research & Development center (he retired after 40 years there), those were the computers he remembers using. I was pretty amazed...some of the older PCs looked familiar to me, but the stuff my Dad remembered seemed ancient: big, clunky, awkward machines with vacuum tubes and wires going everywhere...

It occurred to me then, and again today at work, how quickly technology is changing before our eyes. I'm only 41 years old (only?), but its still pretty cool to think about how much things have changed since I was a kid.

Here are some examples you may be able to relate to, if you are 40 or older. (You 25-and-unders, just sympathize with me here...):

• Telephones: When I was a kid, our house had two wall-mounted rotary-dial phones. It used to take forever to dial a simple 7-digit number! Those were eventually replaced with wall-mounted pushbutton phones (with the same curly cords), and then by wireless phones. Those first "cordless" phones were HUGE by today's standards...if you're ever watching Seinfeld, look for the cordless phone he uses, it looks "ginormous"! Of course, today the tiny cell phone has taken over, and phones are now associated with people, not with locations. In the olden days, we would call and ask "Who is this?" Now we call and ask, "Where are you?"
  
  
• Music: I got into music when I was about 12, and joined the Columbia Record Club. I'll never forget the day my 7 "free" 12" vinyl LP records arrived...woo hoo! (No, I never did 8-track tapes.) I had amassed a pretty large record collection when everything started changing to cassette tapes. Cassettes were cool - you could play them in your car or on a portable "boom box"! I re-recorded most of my records onto cassettes, and then CD's came out. Aaargh! They were a big improvement: no more records skipping, no more cassette "hiss" noise. But I pretty much had to re-buy all my albums, but on CD. Now, of course, music has gone digital. If we buy a CD, we rip it onto our iPods immediately, but more often than not we download straight from iTunes... My 80GB iPod contains every song on every CD I ever bought, and still is only about 1/3 full! Absolutely amazing progression in about 25 years.
  
  
• Writing: I learned to type on my mother's 1950's vintage Royal typewriter. This thing had a black cast-iron frame, shiny round black keys that were really hard to push down, and a carriage return lever that would go "ding!" when you "hit return". You really had to peck the keys, or your letters would turn out faint grey (and you'd get a bad grade!) In the 1980's, Mom bought a IBM Selectric II typewriter. This thing was touch-sensitive: just barely touch the key, and the typewriter would do the hard work of typing the letter on the paper. And it had a "correction" button that would print a white patch over the last letter you typed, so you could type the correct letter over the top of that! This was all replaced by word processor programs on the personal computer, of course. Volkswriter, Word Perfect, then Microsoft Word. I still recall trying to explain to my Mom that the words I was typing were "in the computer", and that I wouldn't PRINT them until I had everything fixed just right "in the computer". She was used to composing her thoughts directly to paper...it was a real mind-blowing change for her. And of course now, we don't even need to create a "document" at all - we publish directly to the internet, like with this blog. Awesome.
  
  
• Computers: Probably the biggest progress has been made with the personal computer (PC). I can say that in my lifetime, I have personally experienced the birth of the PC! In high-school (1980-84), we used Atari 800 computers, which had amazing graphics for back in the day. This was about the time the first IBM PC came out, the first computer to really "take off" on a big scale. I went off to Virginia Tech as a freshman engineering student in 1984, with my new IBM "PC portable". This "portable" was really heavy, and about the size of a suitcase, so we nicknamed it the "luggable". It had two 5.25" floppy disk drives, a monochrome screen, and no hard drive (!). All your programs were on floppies, and all the documents you created were on floppies. (For you Mac types, my roomate had an original Apple Macintosh...we played a lot of this which was considered an awesome game in 1986.) I started at Michelin in 1988, and witnessed a lot of technology advances: hard drives (mid 80s), Microsoft Windows 3.1 (1990, first time we used a mouse!), first laptops (early 1990s). In 1993, Cathy and I signed up with America Online, which we would connect to with a 28kbps modem (SLOW!!!). AOL at the time was sort of like the internet, but not all self-contained. We eventually got a 56k modem, bagged AOL for Concentric(an ISP), and connected to the internet for the first time (late 90's). It was cool, but still slow. Today, we take wireless broadband internet for granted, but sometimes I forget how incredible it is compared to before! I'm sitting comfortably on my couch, with a wireless laptop, publishing to the internet, where this post will be available for anyone in the world to read. Wow!
  

Just as I was amazed at the wide range of technological improvements my Dad had seen in his lifetime, it occurred to me that I will likely see much more progress than he ever did. And you young folks will live (God willing) to see even more change than I ever will.

Will all these changes make our world a better place? More convenient, yes, more comfortable, yes, but probably not "better". Human nature has not changed -- we are still sinners living in a fallen world. Each of us still must choose whether we will do good or evil, but whatever we choose, technology is enabling us to do more of it, faster, and more easily than ever before.

Well, my brain hurts from just thinking about it, so I'm off to the refrigerator for a little non-technological time.

Thank goodness ice-cream sandwiches are still the same!

50

You ever watch Seinfeld, and it's one of those "100th episode" type shows? You know, where they take the best clips from all the shows up to that point?

Well, this is my 50th blog post!!!

So, I thought I'd hit some of the highlights of my brief (but productive) blogging career... Since my first post in October 2007 (trivia: its my only post with a title of more than one word), I have covered a variety of topics...

Family: Anniversary trip with Cathy, Brandon & Megan buying house on Pliney Circle, Christmas memories, my Dad's old watch, my awesome sons, my dog, why I love working with kids.

Hobbies: My bluegrass band Last Road playing for President Bush, a new mandolin, playing disc golf, a new iPod, restoring our old house, a reawakening in me for drawing and calligraphy, a-pickin and a-grinnin in Nashville, my take on this whole blogging thing, my strange attraction to fountain pens.

Serious stuff: my 2008 New Years resolutions, the real meaning of success, beauty, the Gospel, specific ways God blessed me in 2007, our country's greatest shame, the origin of the species, 41 blessings, true friendship, how I know God exists.

Random stuff: Favorite Twilight Zone episodes, negative people, the threat of snow in Greenville (gasp!), Dr. Seuss book.

If you missed some of these, or are a new reader of this blog, feel free to go back and check them out!

If you have time, please post a comment, I'd love to hear from you...

Here's to 50 more posts, Lord willing!

Kids

Its Sunday afternoon, and I'm exhausted. But in a good way.

This morning at church I taught 16 3rd-5th grade boys about God (or tried to!). Every week in KidZone at Crossroads Community Church, I work with these young boys and try to share my excitement about our awesome God. It's not easy to keep their attention, but I try my best to think and communicate on their level. (Cathy tells me I act like a 5th grader most of the time, so I think I must be serving in the right ministry!)

I love working with children, and always have. I think a lot of this came from my own family situation when I was growing up... I was the second of three children born within three years of each other (David is a year older than me, Teresa two years younger). About ten years later, my parents had a fourth child, a girl named Angela.

To us older siblings, Angela was our "kid sister", and we had a lot of fun teaching her things and keeping her entertained. I remember that we would make up games for Angela to play: homemade board games, puppet shows, fun "homework" that she would complete and we would grade, etc. Angela loved the attention, and we enjoyed coming up with new stuff that she hadn't seen before. (This was before the days of video games, and my parents limited the amount of TV we watched, so we had to do SOMETHING.)

Fast forward ten or so years... After graduating college and moving to Greenville, it wasn't too long before I met Cathy and the boys, in 1989. The boys and I hit it off well, mainly because I was only 22 and still had a lot of "kid" left in me. The first day I met Brandon, he was sitting in the living room of Cathy's duplex in Spartanburg, playing Mario Brothers on his brand new Nintendo system he had gotten for Christmas. I loved video games too, so Brandon and I spent long hours working our way through the levels of that game.

Cathy and I were married the next year, and I became the boys' official step-dad. We had a lot of fun together in those years. I remember some highlights:

• One day, I took the boys to Dorman High School (the old one) in my old 1966 Pontiac. We played football for a bit, then got bored and decided to roll down a steep grassy hill, again and again. We had a ball.
  
• Playing "horsie" with Zachary in the living room of the duplex. This is one of the rare photos of Zach when he was not dressed in his Superman outfit (PJ's with cape), or sporting his favorite combination of plastic goggles with pacifier. (We'll get those pics posted here in a few days...)
  
• Going on the ferris wheel at the "redneck carnival" when it came through Simpsonville.
• At Myrtle Beach, a thunderstorm came up, and started pouring hot rain in sheets. The boys and I decided it would be cool to experience the storm first-hand on the porch, in our bathing suits...

Here's the proof I'm not making this stuff up! (Click pictures to zoom...)



When the boys got older, I missed having little kids to entertain, so I began volunteering to work with the kids at church. Since my talents lie mainly in the area of entertaining kids, I would always volunteer to do games during Vacation Bible School at Temple Baptist, and later at CRCC. A couple years ago, God helped me to realize that I have a special gift for working with kids, and that's where he wants me to be.

As long as I have breath in me, I intend to do just that. I'm looking forward very much to having some grandkids in a few years, who I can pour into as I tried to do with Angela, Brandon, Zach, and the kids at church. Children are such a blessing to me, and God frequently uses them to teach me lessons about humility, innocence, trust, and love.

I guess in a lot of ways I am just a big kid...and that suits me just fine.

And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.
(Mark 10:13-16 ESV)

Esterbrook

Today, Cathy and I went to the local antique store, looking for bargains. She looks for her favorite things (old pictures, antique furniture, lamps, etc), and I look for mine (antique watches, advertising signs, instruments, etc).

Lately, I've been renewing my interest in drawing, handwriting, Moleskines, and fountain pens (hereafter referred to as "FPs"). So while we walked the aisles today, I had my eyes peeled for vintage FPs. And sure enough, I found a bargain - an old FP with a beautiful copper finish & nickel and black accents, in great condition, for $19.99! I talked the guy down to $15 and walked out with my prized find.

After coming home and doing a little internet research here, I determined that my find was a 1950's vintage Esterbrook J model. I found out that Esterbrooks have quite a following among FP collectors. They were not high-end pens in their day, but more of a solidly-built, well made pen for the masses. They are not rare, but are well-respected for their tendency to write perfectly even after sitting for decades.

After a little cleaning and flushing with water, I filled the old Esterbrook up with some copper-colored ink, and gave it a test run. Perfect! To say this pen writes smoothly would be like saying Jordan was "pretty good" at basketball. It is amazing: woo-hoo! Don't you just love when you get something great for a bargain price? (These Esterbrooks typically sell on the internet for $30-$50.)

For those of you who have never used a FP, you need to try one, now. (That means you, Rich Butler.) You'll never be able to go back to a 49-cent Bic again, trust me! Here are some reasons I love FPs:

• Smooth feel - FPs require almost no pressure - they write effortlessly. This means you can hold the pen lightly, and write for much longer without your hand hurting.
  
• Crisp line - FPs lay down a smooth, wet line of ink, that looks great on the page. No light lines like a ballpoint, no gooey mess like a gel pen.
  
• Ink colors - You can get inks for FPs in all kinds of cool colors: check this out.
• Not messy - The stories of people getting big ink spots on their shirt pockets and spilling ink jars are not generally the case, unless you're a klutz. Most modern FPs use ink cartridges, which snap in place and don't leak.
  
• Environmentally friendly - Buy a FP, and refill with ink when it runs out. Stop littering the landfills with worn-out cheap-o pens, and "recycle"!
  
• Well made - Quality FPs are made to last many years, versus "disposable" pens. Who ever said pens should be "throwaway" items?
• Cool looking - FPs are available in every color you can think of, and generally have silver or gold metal accents.
  
• Vintage - Old FPs take us back to an older time, the time of our grandparents, when people weren't so rushed...when they had time to fill a pen with ink, and carefully put their thoughts on paper...

If you are reading this and have never tried a fountain pen, you owe it to yourself to find a buddy who has one and try it. You may never go back.

But be careful, you may get addicted!