It's "compatible"

There was some fear in my heart as I moved from Windows XP and Outlook 2003 to Windows 7 running Outlook 2010. Fear that I would not be able to sync my trusty Palm Tungsten E with my calendar that is managed in Outlook. Well, it turns out my fears were more than unfounded. In fact, with the fix that I dug up on the internet, my synching actually works better than it did under XP. I was having a hard time making it work, but here are the steps I had to take:

1. Install Palm Desktop 6.2 but choosing to install just the HotSync Manager rather than the entire Desktop
2. Install the Outlook 2007 conduit updates from Palm.
3. Install a couple of DLLs from a guy named pizzaboy192 - the link for the DLLs is: http://pizzaboy192.com/downloads

The real "duh" moment for me was that I was following all of the directions, but could not get it to work. I forgot that when you replace the DLLs of a running program you have to restart the program. Once I did that with HotSync Manager everything worked perfectly.

It is good to be back in business with an old friend.

First, only, primary, exclusive

I may be making too much of this, so if I am please ignore it.

I was thinking in service yesterday that I do Christ a great disservice when I put him first in my life. That seems to imply that there is this list of things, people, influences, etc. that are competing for my attention and affection and, above them all, there is Christ. I am wondering if there should be a list at all. At work or home I usually have a list (a mental one anyway) of things that I need to get done in a day. There is something that is first on the list and, when that is done, I get to numbers 2 through N in an attempt to clear it. Sometimes I get through all of the items on the list but I, almost always, get the first item taken care of.

This comparison may break down a bit but I am wondering, in regards to Christ, if there should be a list at all. I am wondering if, instead of Christ being the first of many things in my life he should be the "only"; instead of him as the primary influence he should be the exclusive influence. In my mind anyway it seems like less of an ordering of things that I can allow to influence me or devote time to (Christ, wife, children, church, work, etc.) and more of a solitary person and a single focus by which, and through which, my thoughts and activities turn. It is as if the earth could choose which star to revolve around. It is as if the sun was merely influencing its path rather than dictating it.

I am not all that sure that this is going to be helpful to me, but it is something that crossed my mind. I need to meditate on it and maybe incorporate it into my prayers to see what happens. Maybe it is too fine of a point to do anything of value for me. Or, maybe, it is much more than that.

Goofy geek test

I took a goofy online test yesterday to help me determine if I was a geek or not. Well, actually, I wanted to know how much of a geek I was (according to this test) because, well, I know that I am a geek. I guess anyone who can say, "Oh I have seen this one before..." while watching the only real series of the Star Trek that has ever graced television (yes, the one that ran in the 1960's) can be considered, at least, a bit of a geek. Well, there were some questions that baffled me (decreasing my geek credentials a bit) but there was one in particular that disturbed me.

There was a question that asked what my favorite method for inputting text was. I had to select the QWERTY keyboard as the option for Graffiti using a stylus (that came with my Palm Tungsten E). This absolutely decreased by geek score on the test by an order of magnitude. And I am not bitter about it. Much.

For the Lord

As much as I think I minister for an audience of One, it is hard for me to divorce "me" from the ministries that I have been called to. I want, so much, to minister on my terms and do what I think is the absolute best. It is so hard for me to subject myself to anything except me. Whenever the locus of control is somewhere else things work so much better. But I like me. I like me a lot. I like me so much that I would rather be ruled by me, even though I am a terrible master, than be under the authority of someone else. When things go my way I am so happy and convince myself that this happiness is really joy. I agree to myself that the cheese and crackers that I am eating is really Chicken French.

I am about to be on a different path in my ministry with the church now than the one I have been walking down for a while. It is easy for me to look back on the "good old days" rather than be captured by the wide-eyed wonderment of where God is calling me. It is easy to regret starting down the road that I have been called to abandon for something that could be so much better rather than step back and marvel that God uses me at all to advance His kingdom. And what a splendid kingdom it is!

My last breath was a revelation of God's sovereign will for my life. What He held out to me last night is a sign that He is not done with me yet. There is no doubt in my mind that I will struggle and stumble on this new road. Dad, I am going to need You to pick me up because I might not have the strength to do that. Please empower me to both lead and follow well. I want to thank You that You are always faithful to do that.

Doctrine + *Ding* = Coupons

There are a few things that I have known to be true that have not translated into concrete action:

• God's gift of Christ was personal, need meeting (for us), and costly (for Him)
• Time is the currency of the 21st century
• I need to imitate God in every area of my life
• The gifts I give should reflect His nature and reflect the great gift of His Son

All that being said it is easy for me to see where I have missed it. It is very easy for me to give things rather than giving myself. It is easy for me not to invest time in things that are truly important. That being said I have decided that I am going to give some coupons to my boys this year for Christmas. Each one of them is going to get a set so that we can spend some alone time with each other, but they will be able to combine them if they want to. Only two of them (out of six) require spending any money, but I think they will like what I have put together. So, shhh - don't tell them but here they are:

• Movie Night in the basement (includes popcorn, soda, and DVD of your choice)
• Go Karts - No fair beating Daddy around the track and making him cry.
• Free Food at the restaurant of your choice
• Camping in the back yard or...wherever
• Viewing the night sky through a telescope on a clear night in a dark place
• Stay up late and play Wii with Daddy (when your brother is in bed)

I think that these may, more accurately, reflect the gift that God gave me in Christ than the other gifts I was planning on giving them. I have always known that with right doctrine came right living. I just never though that a more complete understanding John chapter 1 would result in Christmas coupons.

You are full of surprises, Dad, aren't you?

While he was brushing his teeth...

While we were waiting for my youngest son to come down the stairs from brushing his teeth hilarity ensued:

[Unidentified noise from upstairs]

Nan: "Drew? Are you okay?"

Drew: "Yes, why?"

Nan: "It sounds like you have a bad cough..."

Drew: "Oh. No."

Nan: "Well, what was that noise?"

Drew: "Oh. That was my power spitting."

Mark: [under his breath] "Lovely."

Nan: [face palm]

Yeah...it's never boring.

Tebowing

I am not naive enough (I kind of wish I was) to think that people are doing anything less than mocking Tim Tebow's expression of his faith in the "Tebowing" craze that is happening now. One of the explanations that I heard from a reporter of this phenomenon was (and I am paraphrasing): "Tebowing is the act of taking a kneeling position regardless of what is happening around you." That is a great explanation on a variety of levels, but it sobers me.

I always "Tebow" to something or someone. Always. In fact, there is never a minute in my life that I am not "Tebowing".

I would like to think that I, exclusively, Tebow to God. That would be the best wouldn't it? That God would be a part of my life to such and extent that my wife and children would be fully and completely loved, my service with His church would be reverently pure, and my work record would be spotless. I would love to think that people would be able to look at my life, my Tebowing, and see only Him (God, not Tim). But they don't...at least not as often as He wants them to be able to. That is because I Tebow to a million lesser things. I fashion a million gods to run to when I just won't take it anymore. I let my mind drift into places it shouldn't go. I tell stories to myself that simply are not true and that harm my soul. I don't have to kneel in front of a mall to Tebow. My heart does it all the time.

Tim Tebow doesn't care if you mock him. He is made of much stronger stuff. But I think that he also knows that when that guy had his picture snapped Tebowing in a men's room in front of three occupied urinals, well, he wasn't just Tebowing then. No, he was doing it the minute before and the minute after the image was taken. He had been doing his whole life and would continue to do it until he found his rest in his grave.

And that I do the same thing literally terrifies me.