Increase your blog traffic…
I’ve been blogging since September 2005. 6 months. Woohoo. However, in that short span of time, I’ve gotten to know dozens of amazing people who have blogs of their own. Some of their blogs are reflected in the “Scouts” link to the left, and others are mentioned under “Places I’ve Been,” also to the left.
Since beginining, I’ve felt somewhat like an Amway family. I am PRO-blogging. I could go on and on with reasons for it, but the challenge of disciplined writing combined with life observation is high up on the list. the opportunity to build new relationships in which I eventually/intentionally communicate my belief in Christ as being life’s ultimate joy is also high up on the list…
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Hazardous for your health
My thoughts flashed back to the previous night. Carolyn said, “Oh, it’s fine. The floor is clean.”
As I emptied the third shopvac full of minivan mulch, I had to remove the visor from my hazmat helmet to wipe the sweat off my brow. “I can never tell Mike & Kristy about this…” I thought to myself. Their 8 week-old daughter, Lillian, had dropped her pacifier on the floor of the minivan on our way back from the fish place in the Country Village. In the dark, I have no idea how Kristy blindly latched onto it rather than the colony of millipedes breeding under one of our seats.
OK, so maybe it wasn’t quite that bad, but as I cleaned out our minivan for our trip to Jim Knox’s wedding in Little Rock on Saturday, I was, well, completely grossed out. I had just vacummed it out 3 weeks before, and already there was an entire ecosystem growing underneath the socks, Happy Meal toys, cups, straws, sand, and refuse. How do moms deal with the minivan mulch? It totally turned by stomach. Is it that they resolve only to look in the back via the rear view mirror? Can they not see the vines growing up the side of the back seat?
I felt like my entire body needed to be sandblasted to be free of the filth after finishing. Or to gargle with Lysol. Unfortunately, I know the pristine condition of the vehicle will last for… well, about 2 days. Remember Pigpen in the Charlie Brown strip? Minivans have Pigpen syndrome. If you’re a significant male figure in the life of a minivan-driving female, get used to the regular safari into the wilds of minivan mulch. I’m told by a few husbands that it’s not just minivans that acquire their own ecosystems, but any vehicle with a mom and someone under 18.
Dining for 16…
On the other hand, these minivans could be used to feed the homeless. Park a mom’s minivan on the street outside a shelter, crank the heat on high for about 5 minutes, and everything within could be warmed up nicely. Fling those side doors open, and the hungry could cobble together a decent meal between the fries, pieces of chicken nuggets, bread pieces, half-empty juice boxes, and bank suckers. It’s almost a well-balanced meal.
WMDs
I think Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld should just round up about 200 minivans driven by moms and park them outside insurgents’ known locations. Within a few days, with the doors left open, it would be total and complete devastation – biological warfare. These 4-wheel contagions are truly WMDs (weapons of minivan destruction).
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Hoop Dreams
If you haven’t seen the video yet, you need to see it here.. It’s awesome. A senior at a New York high school is the basketball team manager. He’s also autistic. For the last game of the year, the coach lets him suit up. The video shows what happened.
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Mac Plaxo 2
I posted a while back about there being a sync solution for us Mac-Plaxo users. e2xo (at macplaxo.com) had released a very promising beta. But it ceased functioning late last year, and they have not updated it since, nor will they respond to emails…
However, I may have discovered why today… Plaxo has released a Beta version of its own which seems to sync extremely well with the Mac Address Book. As yet, no iCal support, but it’s getting there!
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Blog Lurkers
Shandra over at her blog (which I found through Jill’s blog) had a funny self-confession of being a blog “lurker.” She says this…
I totally admit that I am a blog lurker/stalker…whatever you want to call it. I can’t believe how many old Tech people have blogs! I would comment on some of them, but don’t want to make a fool out of myself when they don’t remember me. :) It’s really neat to see everyone and hear what’s been going on in their lives tho!! So, come on, admit it….are you a lurker too???
I think there are a TON of blog lurkers oout there! I’m seeing my blog stats rise every day, but have very few comments! So here’s the deal… if you’re lurking, just post a quick self-confession on the comments here!
I think there are a lot of blog readers who don’t realize that blogs are made more fun when they comment on the entries they like/hate. The ongoing dialogue is fun and actually helps a blog be more visited, as well as gives the blog author some feedback…
So if you haven’t been in the habit of commenting on blog entries… get there. You lurker, you!
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Tag! (Man Version)
Welcome to the winter 2006 edition the MAN SURVEY. After getting too many of these that have estrogen-filled questions like, if you were a Crayon, what color would you be? I decided to sit down and hammer out one that is for guys…
I’d welcome any additions to this or deletions… I did try to keep it as tame as possible since I know so many folks who are easily ruffled.
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Post Charismatic
There is an excellent blog resource that has recently been posted here that relates to the charismatic movement in the western church. Characterized by great enthusiasm but little depth, the charistmatic movement has had many interesting twists and turns. This blog author has done an immense amount of research and observation. There is even a forum for you to comment…
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Leaving Ur… wanna go with me?
For those of you reading this blog semi-faihtfully, you know that last year I read the Bble through using the excellent plan available at Journey Church’s Ancient Words group. In January, I did a lot of reflection and study on the book of James to prepare for a teaching series in it this year.
However, on the recommendation of Craig Jenkins, I am beginning Beth Moore’s interactive Bible study called The Patriarchs. Craig has been boldly going where no man has gone before… that is, he’s doing the study his wife’s women’s group at Immanuel Baptist Church Warren. Pray for Craig as he battles the influence of estrogen as he seeks inspiration from God! ;)
Anyway, I’d like to invite any of you to join me. I just began this a.m., and for those of you who indicate interest, I’ll hold up for you. You can purchase the workbook at just about any Christian bookstore, or you can get online at Lifeway. I’m thinking about setting up a separate blog here just for those of you wanting to do the study… or I might set up a group at mac.com. (If you haven’t checked out mac.com’s groups, they are the most user-friendly, fun around. You have to register a mac.com ID, but it’s free.) Anyway, comment here if you’re willing to embark on a journey through Genesis with me as we study the lives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And get your book ASAP!
As someone with a lot of sheep, do you think Abraham ever had staffing problems?
NEW 2/20/06… Click here for the link to The Patriarchs Study Blog….
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I’m Your Father…
OK, my wife is mad at me. Well, kind of. It wasn’t enough that Sam and I are addicted to Madden and Star Wars games on the Xbox. Now that Sam got me Star Wars: Battlefront II for my birthday, Adelyn is in on the action too. She wants to be the “green girl with the pretty-colored swords.”
Carolyn sits in the back of the house and watches home improvement shows while we save the universe.
Since it’s Valentine’s Day today, we’re going to be thoughtful… and see if Caro wants to play as Yoda.
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The never-ending blog (it’s done!)
With a title like that on your blog entry, you’re sure to incur the “click wrath” of impatient web surfers. But I’ve got a few thoughts about waiting that I want to make, so, uh, wait!
The way I am going to be doing this is by entering my thoughts periodically into this one blog entry over a period of time.
So, if there’s something after this sentence… it ain’t done yet. Got it?
Ok, see here’s another sentence. So you see, that previous sentence was right. I’ll try to let you know if it’s done. But if you see “if there’s nothing after this, it ain’t done yet” that means to come back periodically and check this particular blog entry.
Now that we got the ground rules out of the way, I’ve got to share with you how much John Ortberg’s book If You Want to Walk on Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat is meaning to me at this particular life juncture. Besides winning the award for the “Longest Titled Book Ever,” it has deeply and profoundly encoruaged me in the last couple of weeks. I’ve been trying to read a chapter a day, as devotional material and discovered the quiet voice of God speaking consistently through it.
So run out right now and get a copy. Or order it on Amazon. Either way, when Zondervan sees sales of this 5-year old book surge suddenly in the next couple of days, my blog will be solely responsible! Yea, right. Anway…
He notes in the chapter called Learning to Wait, that Robert Levine coined a new expression for time in his book A Geography of Time. He terms it the “honko-second” and defines it as the measure of time between the greening of the stop light and the honking of the horn of the car behind you. Most of us, Ortberg notes, do not like to wait. Besides being kind of a “duh” observation about our culture, if you’ll reflect a honko-second on your own level of impatience… with situations, people, finances, etc., you may be able to transcend the duh-ness of the observation and begin learning more about really enjoying life.
Added 2/6/06:
Did you have fun “waiting” for the next part of this post?
The more I reflect on waiting, the more I’m confident that the person who waits well, lives well. In our instant gratification culture, you can see the damages of demand for the “now” particularly in our debt loads (both national and persoanl) and our sexuality. The latter is evidenced in abortion rates, teenage pregnancy, adultery, etc.
Learning to wait is essential to your mental and physical health. Park your passions. Discipline your desires. It is in waiting that character is built and peace is found. Waiting equates to patience, and patience, even in the midst of hardship, builds perseverance. When you persevere, you grow.
For most of us, we have knee jerk responses to unpleasantness, as well as knee jerk embraces of pleasures, whether it’s impulse shopping, lust, gossip, substance abuse, etc. We dislike the discipline of waiting and choose instead what makes us feel good or gives us the quickest solution (even though it may carry consequences of its own).
I said Sunday in sermon, “The path of least resistance is also the path of least existence.” I believe that. If you go through life choosing the easy way out, you will never discover what it means to really live…
Posted February 12:
The waiting is over… I know none of you have had a good night’s sleep since I began this particular blog entry. You’ve not been able to exist. Your life has been bland. Meaningless. Empty. Like a Dallas Cowboy fan waiting on the next Superbowl, you’ve thought it would never happen. Well, here’s the final wrap-up to this neverending blog entry…
Just what is it you’re waiting for?
You know, there’s a whole ‘nother side to this waiting thing. All the above speaks of the virtue of waiting, and scripture certainly advocates this type of waiting. Yet there is another type of “waiting” that is really life inertia. It occurs somewhere between knowing that you can’t stay where you are and being unwilling to get off the warm end of the couch in cold weather. Know what I mean? It’s that part of life that you know deep down that God doesn’t want you where you are, but you’re still waiting there for some unknown reason…
What, for you, would put the icing on the birthday cake of your life right now? As I interact with friends and folks, I get this sense from so many that they just haven’t thrown all of themselves into this thing called life. (No, I’m not thinking about the Prince song – or the artist formerly known as Prince). 
It’s as if they just are yet sure if they’re really willing to really live. Their attitude is one of caution, kind of a I’ll-bide-my-time-and-see-what-happens approach.
Can I just say… get off your heinie and LIVE! Really live! Laugh, love, learn, risk, run, fail, and try again.
Consider the following collection:
? Trying times are no time to quit trying
? Enthusiasm is contagious and so is the lack of it.
? If there is no wind, row.
? Never say “never; Never say “always,” and never give up.
? Those who expect nothing shall never be disappointed.
? Today is the tomorrow I worried about yesterday – and all is well!
? While seeking happiness for others, we unconsciously find it for ourselves.
? Success consists of getting up just one more time than you’ve fallen down.
? A man’s character and his garden both reflect the amount of weeding that was done during the growing season.
You could come up with a hundred of these pithy remarks, smile, and say, “That’s right, that’s right…” But until you launch the boat of your life, you’ll never make it to the undiscovered country. The church that I’m a part of is aptly named “Journey” Church. We earnestly feel like we are here for a purpose, and that God did not create us to sit still and and attempt to experience life from the proverbial armchair.
When you determine what it is you’re waiting for… determine if it’s worth waiting for. Many times, upon its arrival, you’ll find your sights set on yet something else that’s “just around the corner.” Quit waiting. Get up. Go out. Jump in. It’s not perfect, but you were made for it. Let me be the first to introduce you to…. life.
Oh.. and this blog entry… is done. No more waiting!
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Just a whisper…
Welcome Brandon Massey to the blogosphere! Got an email from him this evening that said he’d started a blog. Check it out here!
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Recommended…. Smallville
I’ve never been much of a TV show watcher, well, not since I was in grade school. In those days, I’d walk home from school and lose myself in my daily routine of Gilligan’s Island, Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, and Beverly Hillbillies. I remember faithfully watching Three’s Company (much to the chagrin of my mom who hated the show), Mork & Mindy (recently at a church gathering, someone related to me that a youth had said, “Mork who?” when he heard about a converstaion about the show. I mean, is this generation really American? Na-noo, na-noo!)
However, since college, I’ve just not found anything I really watch much. I’m a big DVD renter now, and love to lose myself in a good flick. But as far as serial TV shows, nothing has captured my attention. Enter Lost.
I don’t know what sparked my imagination, but I watched the pilot and have TiVo’d every show since. I love it. It’s weird to think I can now join the ranks of millions who have a “favorite show.” I feel so… common. But Lost has now been displaced. In a big way.
On a whim, I rented Season 1, Disc 1 of Smallville from Netflix. The lure was cast. I bit. And I’m hooked. I really want to encourage you to watch it. It’s brilliant, wholesome, incredible acting, and always leaves you thinking, “Whoa!” I’m into the second season now, and the character development that began towards the middle of the first season has bloomed, and the show now stands on its characters, rather than just the action plot. I grew up a big comic fan, but more into Spiderman than Superman. But this show, well, it puts such a unique spin on the development of a hero, that it captures your loyalty before you know it.
Rent it and see for yourself. Today. Faster than a locomotive.
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Killing Cartoons
Michelle Malkin has an excellent commentary about the recent Danish cartoons that have provoked an Islamic firestorm. She has even posted the cartoons so that you can see them and judge just how offensive they are for yourself.
You know… a person earns your respect. You can’t force someone to respect you. Islam seeks to enforce what it cannot earn. It does so through fear, terror, and false teaching. Read the Koran and make your own judgements.
While you cannot force someone to respect you, the Christian faith teaches love for your enemies. That one counter-cultural, inhuman teaching by Jesus Christ reveals the reality of His divinity.
I respect the right of the Muslim to be mad. I respect the right of the cartoonist. But I cannot respect the person who, through violence, tries to solve a matter of opinion with the sword.
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Now THAT is one cool phone…
Gizmodo shows us the the coming Samsung phone that has a pivot screen for TV.
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Are you reading the Bible?
Scott McKnight has an interesting entry at his blog about noticing people reading the Bible. What say you? Have you noticed more people reading the Bible? Generate some comments about this for us all. Or better yet, go read the comments at Scott’s site.
Also, there is a Bible reading group at Journey’s site…
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About
Notes from the Trail
The Personal Blog of Jeff Noble
Info: From the misty hills of Virginia, "Notes from the Trail" seeks to encourage you on your journey. Written by a graphic designer-pastor, this blog is a blend of humor, insight, and faith discovery.
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Life Shots
Feeling sweet?
Copy this number: 6058013378446529, and then reload my Starbucks card here!Lifestream
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RT @churchplant123: If you want to be a successful new church planter, shave your head. It's the Samson principle. [journeyguy]
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For a brief second, I had just over 500 followers. After blocking spammers and businesses, I'm back under. Do you filter your followers? [journeyguy]
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New blog post: Review: Sticky Teams: Larry Osborne is pastor of North Coast Church, a megachurch, by anyone’s de... http://t.co/KKL4zZFs [journeyguy]
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A blog from the past: "The need for church planting" http://t.co/iwlT5jOh [journeyguy]
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RT @funnyoneliners: I keep a well-stocked pantry in case friends drop by. I could hide in there for days. [journeyguy]
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