Live A Revolution... Every Day

The $500 Lesson - Ouch!

So...

Last night, at Revolve, my Xbox 360 was ripped off. Locked the doors, thought we had a good head count. But one dude was able to slip away and took off with the console, three games and two controllers.

What is that, about $500 bones worth of stuff. And to top it off, it's "my" stuff that we used for ministry purposes.

Not gonna lie, I was pissed... on the inside... and prolly a little on the outside as well. Still am. And, I'm sad to say, I even prayed at one point that my Xbox would get the Red Ring of Death as he was playing UFC.

And what sucks even more, we were teaching James 2:1-13. Here's what verse 10 says, "For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God's laws." Nooooo. I wanted to be sooooo angry at this kid. He's guilty. I am justified with being angry at him, at thinking negative thoughts about him - at thinking he's just as grimey as the nasty cat pictured below. There's just one problem, I'm guilty too. Just as he's broken God's law, I have too... making me

just

like

him.

And then to top it off, verse 13 says, "There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you." When someone hurts me, I get angry, like Incredible Hulk angry. Only without the muscles or turning green. But it doesn't have to be like that. In fact, it shouldn't.

So I had a choice last night, as I do today and tomorrow - to live in my anger, or extend mercy. I wish it was a natural, easy choice for me. But it's something I'm still working on.

But here's the bottom line - things are just things. If I place more value on things than relationships, then I'm just as bad off as the thief. And, even though it hurts, this is the exact type of kid we're trying to reach.

It just sucks that it took $500 to teach me a lesson.

This Is My Lifeline

My iPhone. I want it. I need it. Email. Calendar. Twitter. Facebook. iheartradio. Google Reader. Pandora... etc. It's my lifeline. I know, pretty sad. Which got me thinking...

What would my life look like if God was this important? What would it look like if Jesus was my Lifeline everyday?

Hmmmm...

Gadget Graveyard: 10 Technologies About to Go Extinct

I'm a gadget junkie. If I had more cash flow, I would be swimming in the latest tech toys. But I don't. In any case, I thought this was an interesting story on Fox News: Gadget Graveyard: 10 Technologies About to Go Extinct.

1. Landline Phones. If @jamiruth would let me get rid of ours, it would be gone.

2. Floppy Disks. Need I say more?

3. Wristwatches. I knew these things were on their way out 5 years ago when I asked what time it was and everyone pulled out their cell phone.

4. VHS tape and VCRs. TiVo and DVRs are so much better. But now we can watch our shows online. So when will DVRs go extinct.

5. Beepers. Seriously, they're still around? I think even the drug dealers gave up on them years ago!

6. Film cameras. I still love Polaroids where you have to shake the photo.

7. Typewriters. It's too bad they're gone. I loved throwing back the thing that moved the letters.

8. The Walkman, Discman and MiniDisc Player. I never even had the MiniDisc Player. 

9. Dial-up Internet Access. I would shoot myself if I had to go back to this.

10. DVDs. Almost all of our Dora the Explorer content is kept on our TiVo. ALL of our Backyardigans and Mickey are for sure. And I would rather rent a movie without going out.

So what did Fox News miss. Any tech toys you think will be extinct soon that didn't make the list?

My Handwritting's A Font Now!

Check this out. Chris, over at Youth Ministry Geek, stumbled upon yourfonts.com. It's a font generator that will take your handwriting sample and make it an official font once you upload it. Best part... it's free. So I did it. Directions are super simple - even I could get 'er done. (Sorry for the redneck expression. I'm going to a Keith Urban concert in June... just practicing up to fit in. And yes, I'm wearing a wife beater with mustard stains on it. ;-)) Anywho...

Below is a sampling of my handwriting, plus my signature.

It's not me. It's you.

Ok. I'm gonna be shallowy honest with you. I say honest, because I'm gonna - um - be honest. I say shallowy, because it's well - fairly shallow.

I don't know about you, but I've had a few girlfriends in my time. I know what you're thinking, "Well, duh. You are so hot. Of course you've had a few hundred." That might be overstating it by - well - a few hundred. And I've noticed that Twitter and the boyfriend/girlfriend relationship has at least one thing in common.

Because of Twitter, I've got one relationship that I had back in the day when I was like nine years old on my mind. It developed fast during the bowling league me and my brothers participated in during the winter months (I know what you're thinking... "Really, I didn't think bowlers were cool enough to get girlfriends." Hey, we were cool... maybe.).

I forget the girl's name, but I do remember she was two years older than me - yaya mac daddy! This relationship was awesome. We dated for all of like a week. I thought everything was cool. Until after a week's time I tried calling her. No answer. I called again and left a message with her mom. No return call. I called again. Again no return call (again, I know what you're thinking, "STALKER.") Don't worry, I waited for a period of a few hours!

Then the day came, Saturday. The day me and my brothers bowled - the day I would see this girl, because she bowled too. We arrived at Chippewa Lanes on the south side of South Bend, Indiana. In between the first and second game, I made my move down to her lane. Her game was ending and I waited on the concourse to talk to her. She walked up to me, looked right - through me, and made her way past me to another dude. Speechless. Disappointed. Hurt. That discribed my feelings back then.

She broke up with me without actually breaking up with me. Is that really allowed? I thought we had something. I thought things were cool. I thought I was funny and personable. But for some reason, it didn't work out. And the killer was, she broke up with me without telling me, so I thought we were dating even when we really weren't. How cruel is that!? I didn't even get the, "It's not you. It's me." benefit.

Today, as I sit in front of my Twitter home page, I'm flashing back to the relationship above. I'm checking through my followers and have suddenly realized that a few of who I thought were friends are no longer following me. No warning. No explanation. It's like I was broken up with without being told. The feelings on that fateful day that described me back then, describes me now. I thought I had something. I thought things were cool. I thought I was funny and personable. But for some reason, it hasn't worked out. And the killer is today, like it was back in the day, I've been broken up with without being told, so I thought these peeps had been following me when they really weren't. And it's like THEY'RE telling ME,

"It's not me, it's you."

;)

You Will Be Exterminated

This is one of the first emails I ran across today. Here's the quote that jumped at me, "Unfortunately, if after 7 days we still cannot successfully bill your credit card then your TypePad account will be suspended." What!? Suspended!? I have never been suspended in my entire life... well maybe one time if you count the one time in high school that I got an In School Suspension. But never a real "suspension". So as I'm sitting in my chair, all of these thoughts started racing in my mind. What will I do if my account is suspended. Would I be able to go on living? Would I seep into a deep depression? Would I cry like a baby? I felt confused and lost - ok. I didn't. I actually just logged on and updated the year from 2008 to 2009 and hit submit.Done. Crisis averted. 

It's Herrrreeee!

Their tagline is dead on. Very seldom do I find a user experience that I can rate as excellent. But when it comes to me dropping my phone in the bathtub on Saturday morning, to me calling in my claim Saturday night, then me getting my replacement phone on Tuesday afternoon - heck ya, I'm impressed. Overall, the experience I had from the associate taking my claim, to DHL getting me my phone has to rate as one of the best experiences I've ever had as a user/customer.

Twittering

So I've been getting into this deal. I didn't think I like it, but I'm getting the hang of it. So,I was thinking, if I'm letting complete strangers know what I'm doing and thinking, why not begin to twitter God. Hmmm. Ya. God twitter. Sa-weet. Oh, but don't worry. I'm not going to write these out. I'll protect these updates so they can't be viewed on the public timeline. :)

Cell Phones Don't Need Baths

So I was giving the kids baths today and put in some Mr. Bubbles. Morgan dipped her face in it and had a bubble beard. So I thought, "great photo op." Unfortunately, Morgan decided to slide under water in the middle of the photo shoot. So, like any good dad would do, I dropped everything in my hands to pull her up. That everything happened to be my cell phone. As I pulled Morgan up, my phone disappeared under the bubbles in the water. At this point, the phone is dead. But Morgan is not. Good trade off.

Dumbing Down the Smart Phone

So. The day finally arrived. I was able to switch out my Q for something that actually works. I mean, it was cool that my Q was so smart it would shut itself off and start back up again without even asking for my help. And, I loved that it was so smart that it threw attitude  when I tried to charge it up by not charging up. Actually, I hated it. Couldn't wait to get rid of it. And the day finally arrived yesterday when I switched it out for the phone above - the Samsung Alias... and... it's just as cute as Jennifer Garner from the TV show Alias. Plus, it's got voice-activated texting... something the Q a.k.a. smartphone can't do. Now, which phone is the real smartphone.