When I was a kid, sweet potatoes and yams disgusted me. The smell, the
taste, made me gag. I can still remember as a kid, celebrating the
holidays and someone, maybe my Grandad would ask for someone to pass the
sweet potatoes.
I remember the hustle and bustle of the meal, and always thinking 'this
is old people food.'
Waldorff salad. It had nuts in it. HELLO! Does anyone here realize I
am a kid and nuts and yams and stuff are gross!?
Now I'm 40.
And I like sweet potatoes.
I like them all sugary like at Thanksgiving. I like them sliced and
roasted. I like them mashed. I like them made into chips or fries.
It happened in the last 2 years. Something switched and I liked them.
I moved to a country where there are several dozen species of sweet
potatoes, and still I hated them. I thought it was God's sense of humor
that he sent me to a world full of sweet potatoes.
As I reflect on Thanksgiving, I think about the progression of change.
I think about how you change over time and things you once disliked, you
can learn to like.
There is a progression in making a place your home as well. This last
year we've gone through a bit of transition.
I have never been a very satisfied person. I've always wanted to be
more this, or more that. Work harder at this or longer at that. I've
never been able to sit still for a period of time and just be content,
and satisfied.
I can be happy, and I can sit still. But being still in my mind, was
always a challenge.
A year ago I sat in my living room and was still, and content.
That's saying something.
And this year, this holiday season, even though we've had an absolutely
crazy year... I can be still and content.
I think about how I went from not liking sweet potatoes to liking them.
I think about how I went from being unrestful, to content.
It makes me thankful to God.
11/29/2013
11/28/2013
Thanksgiving
My wife made this Thanksgiving decoration by putting these painted parts into a local food much like a Yam called Kaukau. Our family has been debating over its name.
Kendal and Sydney like: Tur-cow-key
Chad likes: Tur-cow-cow-key
Calvin likes: Cow-key
2 Weeks of meetings complete!
For the past two weeks I have been involved in leadership meetings where we make decisions regarding the direction of our work in this country.
We are the group of people tasked with representing the over 350 members and their opinions.
We usually meet 4 times a year, and bring together the ideas of these
350 people and find ways to strategically aim our efforts towards Bible translation.
Often this means going into a lot of nitty-gritty detail and documentation, long discussions, and difficult decisions that in the end are sometimes hard to communicate.
Many of you know that communication is my passion, and so it wouldn't surprise you that I found myself up in front of the podium for part of a public meeting explaining the decisions that had been made during the meeting.
Though improving communication is my passion, I've also enjoyed being a behind-the-camera kind of guy. Part of my training to come to PNG has been public speaking preparation, and I honestly don't get too nervous about speaking in front of people.
The only part that makes me nervous is my desire to be sure that my love for these people I support with my work comes through my words.
Sometimes in the detail you can get lost from the bigger picture.
I feel good about the decisions we made in this meeting, and there are 2 significant praises.
The first is that I made it all the way through. I missed the last of these meetings because I was medivac'd.
Today was the final day of meetings, and not only that, I wrote the check that allowed us to pay for the medivac that had me missing the last meeting.
Though this puts us flush, and out of debt now (THANK YOU TO EVERYONE)
it has completely emptied all of our accounts. So the good news is,
we've booked and paid for our flights home on furlough, and we've paid for our medivac debt. The bad news is, we have no safety cushion. So if something around the house breaks, or we have another medivac, we will be in very bad shape.
Another praise is that turning 40 was fun and enjoyable. It has been a crazy 2 weeks, I shoulder a significant extra load of work during these
2 weeks as the secretary, any current action item list is so long it'll take me weeks to accomplish... but I feel good about it and not overwhelmed!
Prayer points:
-Finance - we have been tightening the belt, so-to-speak regarding things we need, in an effort to save money for paying off our debt. That means we don't have some things we need, and have been working around them. Our home printer broke, so my daughter has been having to take her homework elsewhere to print it. We could use a nicer cushion so we felt free to buy a new printer.
-Guest - we will be celebrating U.S. Thanksgiving today with a new
(temporary) family member. Stacey is a 14 year old PNG 9th grader who needs a place to stay. Her parents work remotely at Bible translation and can not afford for Stacey to live near the school. We have agreed to take her in until the remainder of the school term. She is sharing a bedroom with Sydney. She's very polite, a good athlete and a good student. It's been nice to have family conversations with her about her faith and about her life. Please pray that our family would be a blessing to her.
Thank you for your continued prayers and support!
Thanksgiving
My wife made this Thanksgiving decoration by putting these painted parts into a local food much like a Yam called Kaukau. Our family has been debating over it's name.
Kendal and Sydney like: Tur-cow-key
Chad likes: Tur-cow-cow-key
Calvin likes: Cow-key
2 Weeks of meetings complete!
For the past two weeks I have been involved in leadership meetings where we make decisions regarding the direction of our work in this country.
We are the group of people tasked with representing the over 350 members and their opinions.
We usually meet 4 times a year, and bring together the ideas of these
350 people and find ways to strategically aim our efforts towards Bible translation.
Often this means going into a lot of nitty-gritty detail and documentation, long discussions, and difficult decisions that in the end are sometimes hard to communicate.
Many of you know that communication is my passion, and so it wouldn't surprise you that I found myself up in front of the podium for part of a public meeting explaining the decisions that had been made during the meeting.
Though improving communication is my passion, I've also enjoyed being a behind-the-camera kind of guy. Part of my training to come to PNG has been public speaking preparation, and I honestly don't get too nervous about speaking in front of people.
The only part that makes me nervous is my desire to be sure that my love for these people I support with my work comes through my words.
Sometimes in the detail you can get lost from the bigger picture.
I feel good about the decisions we made in this meeting, and there are 2 significant praises.
The first is that I made it all the way through. I missed the last of these meetings because I was medivac'd.
Today was the final day of meetings, and not only that, I wrote the check that allowed us to pay for the medivac that had me missing the last meeting.
Though this puts us flush, and out of debt now (THANK YOU TO EVERYONE)
it has completely emptied all of our accounts. So the good news is,
we've booked and paid for our flights home on furlough, and we've paid for our medivac debt. The bad news is, we have no safety cushion. So if something around the house breaks, or we have another medivac, we will be in very bad shape.
Another praise is that turning 40 was fun and enjoyable. It has been a crazy 2 weeks, I shoulder a significant extra load of work during these
2 weeks as the secretary, any current action item list is so long it'll take me weeks to accomplish... but I feel good about it and not overwhelmed!
Prayer points:
-Finance - we have been tightening the belt, so-to-speak regarding things we need, in an effort to save money for paying off our debt. That means we don't have some things we need, and have been working around them. Our home printer broke, so my daughter has been having to take her homework elsewhere to print it. We could use a nicer cushion so we felt free to buy a new printer.
-Guest - we will be celebrating U.S. Thanksgiving today with a new
(temporary) family member. Stacey is a 14 year old PNG 9th grader who needs a place to stay. Her parents work remotely at Bible translation and can not afford for Stacey to live near the school. We have agreed to take her in until the remainder of the school term. She is sharing a bedroom with Sydney. She's very polite, a good athlete and a good student. It's been nice to have family conversations with her about her faith and about her life. Please pray that our family would be a blessing to her.
Thank you for your continued prayers and support!
11/25/2013
Same Shock
Before we left the U.S. we took some Kina coins and put trackable dog tags on them, and dropped them into different geocaches. One we dropped off in N.Carolina
For those unfamiliar with the idea of a geocache, I would recommend this <a href="http://www.geocaching.com/guide/">link.</a> It's a great family hobby! A dogtag, is a trackable, which is a derivation of geocaching.
The idea is that someone sees your dogtag, picks it up, goes online, reads your story, and moves it towards it's goal, while registering on a website that they found it.
For 6 years we hadn't heard a word on our 4 dogtags, and assumed they went missing.
But recently one of them has popped up in Germany and we've been getting responses.
OUR dogtag goal was simple. To have the dogtag travel the globe and then be handed to us in person in PNG while spreading the news of Bible Translation. We'll make new friends that way and have a great story to tell about the dogtags trip around the world.
Today was our first non-English comment on the dogtag.
it was
Hab ich gesehen in den Händen von Elbenschreck, der ihn weiter mit auf Reisen nimmt : ) So I ran it through Google Translate and it came up with "I have seen in the hands of same shock, which further takes him on a journey." HA HA HA HA! I have only guesses as to what that might mean, but I think SAME SHOCK is actually 'Handen von Elbenschreck' which is a location. So I took this to mean "I found your dogtag in Handen von Elbenschreck (town, name of a cache? a statue? you never know where a geocache might be hiding), and I'm going to put it in another cache that will take it further on it's journey.' How cool! Anyway it's currently in Niedersachsen, Germany, after having gone mysteriously missing for a period of time. so far our dogtag has travelled 7,160 miles.
Solar Savings
A donation of $7000 could save us $250 a month for the remainder of our time here.
Let me 'splain.
A friend of mine recently installed an Outback battery backup/solar inverter system in his house. The panels up on his roof charge the batteries in his house, and the batteries power his entire house well into the later hours of the night. As a result, his large initial investment has saved him $75 p/month on electricity.
Electricity in this country is expensive. Our bill is approximately $250 a month, and that is AFTER taking several power saving steps some of which I've blogged about.
The price of electricity keeps going up, but the SUN... she's a free!
In the setting up of his system, I've been keenly alert of his progress. He's taught me a few things. The First is that batteries are about 50% of the cost. Shipping them here is pricey, maintaining them, and keeping them charged.
I spent a few hours with him the other day as he briefed me on the entire setup, but not being an electrician, I simply could not do it myself... which is when he told me this:
"I've been working on a plan which should reduce your total monthly electricity bill to Zero. It's called a 'sunny boy'. And there are no batteries and no complex monitoring involved. You put solar panels on your roof, you use normal electricity at night, and your power meter goes forward, your bill goes up. Then during the sunny days when you're not home using power (you're at work) the inverter sells the power back to the grid, making your power meter go BACKWARD, and your bill goes down. It has the potential to reduce your bill to nothing, as well as benefiting the community by providing more power.)
WHAT?!!! I had no idea your power meter (that spinning wheel in glass outside your house) could spin BACKWARDS!
This system wouldn't provide as much as his did, but it isn't as complex or expensive either. Batteries provide protection from over-voltage (spikes), under voltage, power outages etc. A sunny-boy system would still be subject to all of that. So we would still need UPS's on all our major electronics.
But the idea that a simple $7000 initial investment would have very little to no recurring maintenance costs.... and could save us up to $250 a month seemed like a no-brainer.
The investment would pay itself off in under 30 months. That's under 2 and a half years, and after that not only is all our future electricity free, but whoever owns this house after we leave the country wouldn't have a power bill.
WOW! can you imagine THAT as a selling feature? "Buy this home and never pay for electricity again".
Does it seem too good to be true? Well no. We don't have the cash for the initial purchase... nor do we have the expertise to install it. But I know people who know people. We would be a guinea pig installation, and because of that I think I could get friends to install it who are interested in proving the concept.
It's also not as good as a battery system. For $4000 more you end up having the TOTAL system, with power protection etc. But that system wouldn't be right for a house with too many buttons and levers to flip already.
Anyway, I love the idea. And I think when we're back home on furlough we'll be presenting this idea to some churches. Something like
$3000 buys the solar panels
$2000 buys the inverter
$1000 buys the cabling and conduit
$1000 buys the installation and mounting hardware.
I wonder if people would be more willing to donate for a one time ticket item, instead of agreeing to support us for $250 per/month for the rest of our lives... because that's what it would be.
If I had the capital right now, I would do this. I'm not willing to go into debt to do it, but I think it would one of those investments that keep on giving... because the price of power is only going to be going up.
11/21/2013
On Turning 40
Today I turn 40, so pardon me whilst I pontificate.
The 40 years I've spent on this Earth have been good. Though I do not consider this world my home, I've spent 40 years passing through it and have seen more blessings than any man deserves.
I was raised in a wonderfully loving family who obeyed and followed God. I love them enormously. That right there, is more than many men can say.
I met a good wife, and she gave me two good kids. We have been married 17 years. We have followed the guidance of a good God, who has sent us down a good path.
Years ago I overheard my dad speaking with a friend at someone's 30th birthday party. The friend said 'I loved my 30's, but the 40's is where it all began to fall apart. My body started acting against me, my eyesight weakened, my memory weakened, and it was the beginning of the end.'
And I thought at the time 'boy if that's true, I'm glad I'm not 40!'
And here I am 40. I don't have a gray hair on my head. I weigh less today than I did when I was 20. It's a small point of pride because I was pretty fat at 20, and I completely plan to enjoy pie again in my 50's.
In the past decade I've seen my little children grow from toddlers to a young man and a young lady that I'm happy to know. They also love and serve the Lord.
I've traveled to an exotic country, which is something I never planned to do.
I've worked in exciting fields, and met exciting people.
I've upheaved my entire life, and come out better for it.
I've made good friends who I enjoy greatly.
I've done it all not on my own, but because God has chosen to bless me.
I have never enjoyed giving my testimony. I came to know the Lord when I was 5, and it's been a good relationship ever since. I don't have exciting tales of backsliding, or recommitting. I have just been committed. I've never been perfect, I've never been all-knowing, I've simply tried my best to follow someone who is, and when I mess up, I'm thankful that I am loved by someone who is also forgiving and full of grace. I don't regret my testimony at all, I revel in what God has done for me. I just feel like sharing it is at times, bragging. I don't mean to make people jealous when I say this:
-Since I was 5, I've tried to obey God at every turn, and though my life has not been perfect, it has been good and I have very few regrets. Any regrets I have were times I chose not to obey Christ, and yet through them I have learned to grow closer to Him. Thankfully most of those regrets did not generate long term consequences that I've had to live with. It's easy then to forget the pain.
My life story is really just an example of one life where 1 man has endeavored to please God, and along the way, has turned out rather pleased with how it's turned out thus far.
I've always had this sense of doom… like 'my life is going so well, it has to have some bad things happen soon.' But I realize, I've had bad things happen in my life. Harm has come to those I love, to my family, to friends. When those times come, my gut is to turn to God for help. I know it can be trendy to question your faith during these times, but I don't have that luxury. I don't get angry with God, I don't question His goodness or existence. The only thing I question in those times is whether or not this is going to be one of those challenges He helps me through quickly, or wants me to spend more time experiencing it for some reason.
Still I've had this sense that no man deserves what I have been given, and so I am doubly thankful.
In the next 10 years, I hope to see my children graduate high school, and possibly college. I hope to hang on tightly to whatever God throws our way and remain a person with a thankful heart. I hope to see the friends and family around me mature and experience new things.
I'm looking forward with hope and anticipation because the last 40 years have been pretty good. If the next turn out to be bad, I'll figure that's fair, and hope to still be able to give God thanks no matter what.
.
The 40 years I've spent on this Earth have been good. Though I do not consider this world my home, I've spent 40 years passing through it and have seen more blessings than any man deserves.
I was raised in a wonderfully loving family who obeyed and followed God. I love them enormously. That right there, is more than many men can say.
I met a good wife, and she gave me two good kids. We have been married 17 years. We have followed the guidance of a good God, who has sent us down a good path.
Years ago I overheard my dad speaking with a friend at someone's 30th birthday party. The friend said 'I loved my 30's, but the 40's is where it all began to fall apart. My body started acting against me, my eyesight weakened, my memory weakened, and it was the beginning of the end.'
And I thought at the time 'boy if that's true, I'm glad I'm not 40!'
And here I am 40. I don't have a gray hair on my head. I weigh less today than I did when I was 20. It's a small point of pride because I was pretty fat at 20, and I completely plan to enjoy pie again in my 50's.
In the past decade I've seen my little children grow from toddlers to a young man and a young lady that I'm happy to know. They also love and serve the Lord.
I've traveled to an exotic country, which is something I never planned to do.
I've worked in exciting fields, and met exciting people.
I've upheaved my entire life, and come out better for it.
I've made good friends who I enjoy greatly.
I've done it all not on my own, but because God has chosen to bless me.
I have never enjoyed giving my testimony. I came to know the Lord when I was 5, and it's been a good relationship ever since. I don't have exciting tales of backsliding, or recommitting. I have just been committed. I've never been perfect, I've never been all-knowing, I've simply tried my best to follow someone who is, and when I mess up, I'm thankful that I am loved by someone who is also forgiving and full of grace. I don't regret my testimony at all, I revel in what God has done for me. I just feel like sharing it is at times, bragging. I don't mean to make people jealous when I say this:
-Since I was 5, I've tried to obey God at every turn, and though my life has not been perfect, it has been good and I have very few regrets. Any regrets I have were times I chose not to obey Christ, and yet through them I have learned to grow closer to Him. Thankfully most of those regrets did not generate long term consequences that I've had to live with. It's easy then to forget the pain.
My life story is really just an example of one life where 1 man has endeavored to please God, and along the way, has turned out rather pleased with how it's turned out thus far.
I've always had this sense of doom… like 'my life is going so well, it has to have some bad things happen soon.' But I realize, I've had bad things happen in my life. Harm has come to those I love, to my family, to friends. When those times come, my gut is to turn to God for help. I know it can be trendy to question your faith during these times, but I don't have that luxury. I don't get angry with God, I don't question His goodness or existence. The only thing I question in those times is whether or not this is going to be one of those challenges He helps me through quickly, or wants me to spend more time experiencing it for some reason.
Still I've had this sense that no man deserves what I have been given, and so I am doubly thankful.
In the next 10 years, I hope to see my children graduate high school, and possibly college. I hope to hang on tightly to whatever God throws our way and remain a person with a thankful heart. I hope to see the friends and family around me mature and experience new things.
I'm looking forward with hope and anticipation because the last 40 years have been pretty good. If the next turn out to be bad, I'll figure that's fair, and hope to still be able to give God thanks no matter what.
.
New Comm Policy
Some may be wondering why I haven't written a post lately on what God is
doing here... trust me there's a lot of neat stuff happening.
My blogging about work items has reduced greatly for 2 reasons right now.
1. - I'm in a 9 day confidential leadership meeting, and so I don't like
blogging during that time about what God is doing because the way I've
learned it is confidential. I will however ask about permission to
share it. For official 'what's happening in PNG' and a ton of inspiring
stories, check out http://thepngexperience.wordpress.com
2. - there has been a new communication policy enforced recently. The
values represented in the new policy are aligned around the idea of
protecting this organizations reputation inside the country. And so
guidelines were given to us to help make sure we don't say things in
blogs and social media that would damage the relationship we have with
the country's leadership. (If you notice I am specifically avoiding
certain words).
A little over a year ago there was a conflict in this country's
leadership that made world headlines. This country trended on twitter
for a while and the country's leadership became very aware that a lot of
people's first impression of this country was negative because they had
never heard of this place before, and then suddenly this large conflict
is all over social media.
So they decided to begin monitoring, and enforcing a rule that said
nothing derogatory can be said about the country's leadership. In the
newspaper it was reported that some ex-pats were deported because of the
content of their blogs. (It wasn't anybody I know).
The end result is, we need to be a little wiser about how we say
things. Honestly the way I've put things in my blogs hasn't been
intentionally derogatory about this country or its people.
I love this country and its people. I love them because God has put
that love on my heart. I am here to help them, and though it's harder
to blog inside these guidelines (because what I say may not appear
derogatory to you and I, but it may to the local culture)... my blog is
written with the intention of imparting some of my wonder to you.
Sometimes the wonder is more on the side of -Wonder meaning Confusion-.
And sometimes that wonder is more on the side of -Wonder meaning Awe-.
For those of you wanting to know more about the inner workings, I have
to work inside the new policy on communication, and so I will have
certain blog entries checked, an edited.
I know this blog is my link to a number of people who pray and care and
support us, and so I will find a way to continue to communicate with
you. I'm asking that when I do, you realize that I have to protect my
words and be wise in what I write publicly.
Thank you.
doing here... trust me there's a lot of neat stuff happening.
My blogging about work items has reduced greatly for 2 reasons right now.
1. - I'm in a 9 day confidential leadership meeting, and so I don't like
blogging during that time about what God is doing because the way I've
learned it is confidential. I will however ask about permission to
share it. For official 'what's happening in PNG' and a ton of inspiring
stories, check out http://thepngexperience.wordpress.com
2. - there has been a new communication policy enforced recently. The
values represented in the new policy are aligned around the idea of
protecting this organizations reputation inside the country. And so
guidelines were given to us to help make sure we don't say things in
blogs and social media that would damage the relationship we have with
the country's leadership. (If you notice I am specifically avoiding
certain words).
A little over a year ago there was a conflict in this country's
leadership that made world headlines. This country trended on twitter
for a while and the country's leadership became very aware that a lot of
people's first impression of this country was negative because they had
never heard of this place before, and then suddenly this large conflict
is all over social media.
So they decided to begin monitoring, and enforcing a rule that said
nothing derogatory can be said about the country's leadership. In the
newspaper it was reported that some ex-pats were deported because of the
content of their blogs. (It wasn't anybody I know).
The end result is, we need to be a little wiser about how we say
things. Honestly the way I've put things in my blogs hasn't been
intentionally derogatory about this country or its people.
I love this country and its people. I love them because God has put
that love on my heart. I am here to help them, and though it's harder
to blog inside these guidelines (because what I say may not appear
derogatory to you and I, but it may to the local culture)... my blog is
written with the intention of imparting some of my wonder to you.
Sometimes the wonder is more on the side of -Wonder meaning Confusion-.
And sometimes that wonder is more on the side of -Wonder meaning Awe-.
For those of you wanting to know more about the inner workings, I have
to work inside the new policy on communication, and so I will have
certain blog entries checked, an edited.
I know this blog is my link to a number of people who pray and care and
support us, and so I will find a way to continue to communicate with
you. I'm asking that when I do, you realize that I have to protect my
words and be wise in what I write publicly.
Thank you.
11/17/2013
procrastination vs patient waiting
My time in Corporate America taught me an interesting lesson. It wasn't
a good lesson to learn. In an age of immediate gratification, I had
always tried to be the person who did what was needed quickly and well.
I built a reputation on it, was often someone's go-to-guy at work,
because I got results. I hated procrastinating, and I was impatient of
people who weren't what I called 'ACTION people'. They were 'talkers'.
I would often think 'you guys sit here and talk some more, I'll go out,
do the thing, get it finished, and be back before you're done talking.'
The lesson I learned however was that in Corporate America, whenever you
run into inefficient 'by committee' scenarios, procrastinating almost
always turned out to benefit everyone involved.
I hated that lesson. I hated that it was true. I hated that if I went
out and did a thing, and then the committee changed their mind, I'd end
up re-doing it. Whereas had I just put it off for a little while
longer, I would have only had to do the thing 1 time instead of redoing it.
But it became true. Whenever I mentally told myself 'DON'T ACT YET'....
and purposely (and painfully) procrastinated, I was rewarded. More
often than not, by the work being cancelled entirely. It was truly an
empty victory to learn that I was best at my job when I strategically
realized the work I was being asked to do, would never happen, and
therefore I wouldn't do it.
I was hailed as being a good prioritizer. Somehow, in the midst of
several high priority jobs, I always got the small ones done too. How
did I do it? I realized that the odds were, anyone coming to me
shouting 'this has to be done now!!!!' would in a month's time be saying
'nevermind, we're cancelling that project.'
I hate that I learned that, and that it was true, and that I profited
from it. Because to me, procrastination is evil. He who hesitates is lost.
Then I moved to a world where it takes 3 months to get supplies from the
U.S.
And I had to learn to wait and plan.
And I had to learn to be patient with unexpected difficulty.
And it drove me nuts for the first few years.
But then I got used to it, and learned the trick. The trick was to have
several projects planning and going and hope they don't all come to
fruition in the same month.
What WAS procrastination, became careful planning, and patient waiting.
I would plan to install a new server, but the guy I was working with got
sick. So we postponed. I would order parts for a new AC unit to be
installed, but it got held up. A sudden emergency has us postpone this
other project.
Time and time again, projects getting put on hold all around me, and I
realized God was teaching me patience. Something I can see now but
couldn't see then.
5 months ago, I wanted to cut down a tree.
IT was leaning dangerously, the pine needles fell and covered my solar
water heating panels, causing us to have many cold showers. The acidic
needles in the gutters were promoting rust, I needed the tree cut down.
So I called the people who do that. They gave me a hefty bill, and said
they could come in a month. In a month's time they lost their main tree
guy and couldn't. So I asked a skilled neighbor who said 'oh yeah we
can do that!, in a month.' 2 months went by and they said 'we're too
busy still.'
I look at the tree every day, thinking 'I knew 5 months ago this was
going to be a problem, and it has been... but I've tried all I can do,
and I suppose it simply isn't meant to be.'
I tell myself to be calm and patient, and wait, and eventually something
will happen.
I seem to be doing that a lot lately. Telling myself, willing myself to
be calm and patient and trust that something will happen.
Whenever that 20 yr old young man in me shouts inside my brain 'no.. DO
IT NOW!!!! GET IT DONE!!!' the nearly 40 year old man in my brain says
'be calm, be patient you've done all you can do, now wait.'
Today, moments ago, a truck drove up, two men, not knowing I was home
got out and began talking. Overhearing I realized they were discussing
my tree.
I stepped out and this is what they said.
"We need lumber for a children's playground we're making. We heard you
wanted your tree cut down. We can have it down in 1 day, and we'll do
it for a discount if we can keep the lumber.... but we have to do it quickly,
we want the playground up before Christmas."
WIN WIN.
I couldn't have engineered that if I tried. No amount of pushing or
nagging or pressing my will would have helped. I remained patient, and
calm, and waited for something to happen. And something wonderful did
happen.
What is the lesson?
There is a difference between procrastinating and waiting, and the main
difference, is attitude. Which, as Chuck Swindoll used to say, that's
the only thing you can really control in life... your attitude.
a good lesson to learn. In an age of immediate gratification, I had
always tried to be the person who did what was needed quickly and well.
I built a reputation on it, was often someone's go-to-guy at work,
because I got results. I hated procrastinating, and I was impatient of
people who weren't what I called 'ACTION people'. They were 'talkers'.
I would often think 'you guys sit here and talk some more, I'll go out,
do the thing, get it finished, and be back before you're done talking.'
The lesson I learned however was that in Corporate America, whenever you
run into inefficient 'by committee' scenarios, procrastinating almost
always turned out to benefit everyone involved.
I hated that lesson. I hated that it was true. I hated that if I went
out and did a thing, and then the committee changed their mind, I'd end
up re-doing it. Whereas had I just put it off for a little while
longer, I would have only had to do the thing 1 time instead of redoing it.
But it became true. Whenever I mentally told myself 'DON'T ACT YET'....
and purposely (and painfully) procrastinated, I was rewarded. More
often than not, by the work being cancelled entirely. It was truly an
empty victory to learn that I was best at my job when I strategically
realized the work I was being asked to do, would never happen, and
therefore I wouldn't do it.
I was hailed as being a good prioritizer. Somehow, in the midst of
several high priority jobs, I always got the small ones done too. How
did I do it? I realized that the odds were, anyone coming to me
shouting 'this has to be done now!!!!' would in a month's time be saying
'nevermind, we're cancelling that project.'
I hate that I learned that, and that it was true, and that I profited
from it. Because to me, procrastination is evil. He who hesitates is lost.
Then I moved to a world where it takes 3 months to get supplies from the
U.S.
And I had to learn to wait and plan.
And I had to learn to be patient with unexpected difficulty.
And it drove me nuts for the first few years.
But then I got used to it, and learned the trick. The trick was to have
several projects planning and going and hope they don't all come to
fruition in the same month.
What WAS procrastination, became careful planning, and patient waiting.
I would plan to install a new server, but the guy I was working with got
sick. So we postponed. I would order parts for a new AC unit to be
installed, but it got held up. A sudden emergency has us postpone this
other project.
Time and time again, projects getting put on hold all around me, and I
realized God was teaching me patience. Something I can see now but
couldn't see then.
5 months ago, I wanted to cut down a tree.
IT was leaning dangerously, the pine needles fell and covered my solar
water heating panels, causing us to have many cold showers. The acidic
needles in the gutters were promoting rust, I needed the tree cut down.
So I called the people who do that. They gave me a hefty bill, and said
they could come in a month. In a month's time they lost their main tree
guy and couldn't. So I asked a skilled neighbor who said 'oh yeah we
can do that!, in a month.' 2 months went by and they said 'we're too
busy still.'
I look at the tree every day, thinking 'I knew 5 months ago this was
going to be a problem, and it has been... but I've tried all I can do,
and I suppose it simply isn't meant to be.'
I tell myself to be calm and patient, and wait, and eventually something
will happen.
I seem to be doing that a lot lately. Telling myself, willing myself to
be calm and patient and trust that something will happen.
Whenever that 20 yr old young man in me shouts inside my brain 'no.. DO
IT NOW!!!! GET IT DONE!!!' the nearly 40 year old man in my brain says
'be calm, be patient you've done all you can do, now wait.'
Today, moments ago, a truck drove up, two men, not knowing I was home
got out and began talking. Overhearing I realized they were discussing
my tree.
I stepped out and this is what they said.
"We need lumber for a children's playground we're making. We heard you
wanted your tree cut down. We can have it down in 1 day, and we'll do
it for a discount if we can keep the lumber.... but we have to do it quickly,
we want the playground up before Christmas."
WIN WIN.
I couldn't have engineered that if I tried. No amount of pushing or
nagging or pressing my will would have helped. I remained patient, and
calm, and waited for something to happen. And something wonderful did
happen.
What is the lesson?
There is a difference between procrastinating and waiting, and the main
difference, is attitude. Which, as Chuck Swindoll used to say, that's
the only thing you can really control in life... your attitude.
11/14/2013
UkaRadio
Faced with the reality that communication is about being understood, and a desire to include our PNG friends with announcements and what is going on, I have begun a streaming INTRANET radio channel. (only available internally to where we live, not on the internet).
It's not a podcast, it's a LIVE radio show that records itself and then re-broadcasts the recording on loop with music.
Here's how I do it:
-I am using Audacity at the heart. Check my levels, record the show, using a USB mic headset in.
-I am using a Barix Instreamer as the streaming/live converting unit. I have my computer's headphone jack out going to the Barix in.
-The Barix sends it's stream to a shoutcast server I built on Ubuntu linux, which serves out a url that people can click on to listen.
-Because I'm using the barix, I can use iTunes to play the music, other software to play sound effects or whatever I want... if I can make it come out of my speakers, it can go on the air.
-after the show goes OFF air from being live, I move the headphone jack from my pc, to an ancient ipod I have synced, which starts playing the playlist on loop. The ipod is almost useless for anything else because it has no battery charge, but it plays a playlist on loop, and so, I have found a use for this old piece of hardware.
If you were to look at my computer you'd have no idea it was a radio station. That's because the hardware I put together for it, fits in ziplock baggie, it's so portable. The idea is that since it's a DHCP unit, streaming to a STATIC linux server, it can be anywhere with a network connection.
This means I can recruit neighbors and friends to be guest DJ's.
Right now I'm using it to announce important items, community bulletins, etc.
Test audiences seem to like it... they like the idea of not having to READ all of the announcements, and having something they can listen to while doing other things.
For me, it's just a fun creative outlet, I do it at lunch time, on a lark. We'll see if it takes off and if people tune in.
11/09/2013
Carnival
One of the things I love about our subculture here is our yearly Carnival. It is put together by the students at the school, and it is a time to celebrate as a community. Any money raised goes to charity.
The reason I LOVE Carnival, is because you get to see the innovation, which to me translates into grass roots fun!
For example:
Sumo wrestling. Why buy hard to get Padded Sumo suits when you can duct tape inner tubes together?
Or what about a home made "Strong Man" contest. (hammer hit, bell ring) using an old car leaf spring, and a block of hard wood (kwila)
We even have an AirShow.... Remote Control Planes and Helicopters. The RC fans practiced to show us loops and rolls and unison flying, on a small scale.
And finally, the Ferris Wheel. A home made (welded and designed) steel contraption, powered by the teenage boys, who jump up, grab a bar, let gravity work, and then let go. It's an amazing feat. No electricity required.
Another reason I love this is because it gives families common experiences that aren't common. By that I mean, if one of our kids were to be in the U.S. and another kid ask them "have you ever ridden a ferris wheel?" they wouldn't feel as out of place and say 'what's that?' they'd say 'yeah, sure I have.'
Only the context would be different.
I personally think this down-home annual 'fair' beats any large fair I've ever been to in California, because it's more simple, it's a fun time at a time when people need something fun.
I can't really say that growing up here means you miss out.
Sure we don't celebrate halloween, but we have carnival.... and it's a wonderful part of living here.
The reason I LOVE Carnival, is because you get to see the innovation, which to me translates into grass roots fun!
For example:
Sumo wrestling. Why buy hard to get Padded Sumo suits when you can duct tape inner tubes together?
Or what about a home made "Strong Man" contest. (hammer hit, bell ring) using an old car leaf spring, and a block of hard wood (kwila)
We even have an AirShow.... Remote Control Planes and Helicopters. The RC fans practiced to show us loops and rolls and unison flying, on a small scale.
And finally, the Ferris Wheel. A home made (welded and designed) steel contraption, powered by the teenage boys, who jump up, grab a bar, let gravity work, and then let go. It's an amazing feat. No electricity required.
Another reason I love this is because it gives families common experiences that aren't common. By that I mean, if one of our kids were to be in the U.S. and another kid ask them "have you ever ridden a ferris wheel?" they wouldn't feel as out of place and say 'what's that?' they'd say 'yeah, sure I have.'
Only the context would be different.
I personally think this down-home annual 'fair' beats any large fair I've ever been to in California, because it's more simple, it's a fun time at a time when people need something fun.
I can't really say that growing up here means you miss out.
Sure we don't celebrate halloween, but we have carnival.... and it's a wonderful part of living here.
11/06/2013
Training Nationals to record Audio
Our department sent a team to the remote areas of Kavieng to conduct a training course which taught Nationals to record and edit audio Scripture.
Some of them had never used a computer before and so much of the time was spent teaching basic skills, but as our hopes are to train people with the skills to turn their own translations into audio recordings, it was very promising that this class went well.
I doesn't look it, but this picture is taken in the sweltering hot areas of tropical PNG.
11/01/2013
Time or Money
Three home improvement projects that cost nothing.
1 - Putting the Lot number on our house.
-took a piece of scrap wood.
-printed out the font I wanted using word and a printer
-cut out the letter from the paper and the numbers, making a paper pattern
-took some spare spray paint, and flipped the pattern backwards and sprayed it on the blocks of wood (thus making the black part the BACK of the letter)
-used a bandsaw, and cut out the shape of the letter/numbers.
-routed the edges
-sanded
-painted with left over house paint
-put double faced tape on the back of the letters, and put them in place as a family (we had to agree how they should go).
-NOW people can find our house!
2 - Painting the Baskeball hoop
-It's raining season now, this house had a plywood backboard and water was beginning to damage it
-run masking tape in a square around the old RED square
-paint with a brush, using leftover house paint.
-let it dry, put on another coat
-remove the masking tape
-paint by hand using BROWN leftover house paint.
3 - Water tank overflow drainage:
(I wish I thought to snap a picture before we filled in the ditches)
Need: - we have 3 water tanks. Yes that's a lot of water. Here's how water works in this house. The rain lands on the metal roof of the house, to the gutters which fill the water tanks. The bottom of the tanks are plumbed together and go to a water pump. The water pump takes the water and pumps it into the showers/sinks. HOT water comes from the flowing up to the roof, through solar panels, into a hot storage tank, and then runs gravity feed into the house.
BUT, when it rains a lot and all three water tanks are full, they run over. That overflow often times in other houses will go down a drain pipe, into a gutter, and out to the river. BUT, this house didn't have that. As a result the overflow was eroding the ground around the base of the water tank, which over time will lead to the weakening and possible failure of the tank.
SO... today's big project was to create drainage for 3 tanks, into 1 location.
BUT... PVC pipe is expensive. It's $10 for 1 meter. Fittings, couplers, elbows, etc, all cost $15-40 dollars. IT's very pricey.
SO... HOW was I going to do this drainage to stop the erosion?
-Step 1 - for Chore day, dad assigns himself and the kids to DIG ditches.
-Step 2 - the kids whine a bit after only 3 hours of digging... Dad inspires them to dig more.
-Step 3 - go under the house and pull out all the old scrap piping that you can, and sit down in the blazing hot sun to make a jigsaw of it all, put together the pieces
-Step 4 - realize that the pieces are all glued into place, device a method to salvage the elbow joints here's how:
-a. Chop the pvc pipe off at the joint, leaving about 1/2" of pipe left
-b. using a saw, saw inside the pipe until it's just about through the pipe but NOT touching the joint
-c. using pliers and a screwdriver, pry, break, snap the inside pipe out, leaving a good joint in tact.
-d. (this takes time and effort)
-Step 5 - rest from step 3 and 4, check that your kids are still digging. (-;
-Step 6 - Once all the pieces are fit into place, realize that you have to go from 100mm to 80mm pipe, make a funnel out of an old coffee can because hardware is all out of 'reducers' which would cost you $30 anyway. Use duct tape to connect the funnel to the pipe
-Step 7 - Realize that now you need to put an 80mm pipe into a 100mm fitting. So go get an old tire, cut it up, and zip tie it around the 80mm pipe and then snugly fit it into the 100mm fitting.
-Step 8 - test the 4 way drainage.... when it doesn't drain properly, dig more until everything is downhill
-Step 9 - fill in the ditch.
Steps 5-7 are not necessary if you buy the right size fittings. But the blog heading says it all. Time or Money. I didn't want to fix the drainage and have it cost me $200, because odds are, the erosion isn't going to be that bad. It's just as easy to put stones at the overflow, but nice drainage means you can avoid muddy messes of still water that breed mosquitos. So, jury rigging it was. I do not recommend using coffee cans, pieces of tire, duct tape, and wrong size fittings when doing plumbing. But keep in mind, this is a overflow drain, and so long as it was all going down hill, it didn't have to be water tight.
Now, the water flows out of our tanks, and into and around our garden, thus avoiding wasting even a drop.
I do not advise jury rigging plumbing.
Do it right, by the right fittings.
Jury rigging takes effort, creativity and time, and almost always turns out not to work 100% and is frustrating.
But it's cheap!
I'm not proud of my drainage project at all, but I'm proud that it costs me nothing more than time, which was well spent along side my kids doing work together.
1 - Putting the Lot number on our house.
-took a piece of scrap wood.
-printed out the font I wanted using word and a printer
-cut out the letter from the paper and the numbers, making a paper pattern
-took some spare spray paint, and flipped the pattern backwards and sprayed it on the blocks of wood (thus making the black part the BACK of the letter)
-used a bandsaw, and cut out the shape of the letter/numbers.
-routed the edges
-sanded
-painted with left over house paint
-put double faced tape on the back of the letters, and put them in place as a family (we had to agree how they should go).
-NOW people can find our house!
2 - Painting the Baskeball hoop
-It's raining season now, this house had a plywood backboard and water was beginning to damage it
-run masking tape in a square around the old RED square
-paint with a brush, using leftover house paint.
-let it dry, put on another coat
-remove the masking tape
-paint by hand using BROWN leftover house paint.
3 - Water tank overflow drainage:
(I wish I thought to snap a picture before we filled in the ditches)
Need: - we have 3 water tanks. Yes that's a lot of water. Here's how water works in this house. The rain lands on the metal roof of the house, to the gutters which fill the water tanks. The bottom of the tanks are plumbed together and go to a water pump. The water pump takes the water and pumps it into the showers/sinks. HOT water comes from the flowing up to the roof, through solar panels, into a hot storage tank, and then runs gravity feed into the house.
BUT, when it rains a lot and all three water tanks are full, they run over. That overflow often times in other houses will go down a drain pipe, into a gutter, and out to the river. BUT, this house didn't have that. As a result the overflow was eroding the ground around the base of the water tank, which over time will lead to the weakening and possible failure of the tank.
SO... today's big project was to create drainage for 3 tanks, into 1 location.
BUT... PVC pipe is expensive. It's $10 for 1 meter. Fittings, couplers, elbows, etc, all cost $15-40 dollars. IT's very pricey.
SO... HOW was I going to do this drainage to stop the erosion?
-Step 1 - for Chore day, dad assigns himself and the kids to DIG ditches.
-Step 2 - the kids whine a bit after only 3 hours of digging... Dad inspires them to dig more.
-Step 3 - go under the house and pull out all the old scrap piping that you can, and sit down in the blazing hot sun to make a jigsaw of it all, put together the pieces
-Step 4 - realize that the pieces are all glued into place, device a method to salvage the elbow joints here's how:
-a. Chop the pvc pipe off at the joint, leaving about 1/2" of pipe left
-b. using a saw, saw inside the pipe until it's just about through the pipe but NOT touching the joint
-c. using pliers and a screwdriver, pry, break, snap the inside pipe out, leaving a good joint in tact.
-d. (this takes time and effort)
-Step 5 - rest from step 3 and 4, check that your kids are still digging. (-;
-Step 6 - Once all the pieces are fit into place, realize that you have to go from 100mm to 80mm pipe, make a funnel out of an old coffee can because hardware is all out of 'reducers' which would cost you $30 anyway. Use duct tape to connect the funnel to the pipe
-Step 7 - Realize that now you need to put an 80mm pipe into a 100mm fitting. So go get an old tire, cut it up, and zip tie it around the 80mm pipe and then snugly fit it into the 100mm fitting.
-Step 8 - test the 4 way drainage.... when it doesn't drain properly, dig more until everything is downhill
-Step 9 - fill in the ditch.
Steps 5-7 are not necessary if you buy the right size fittings. But the blog heading says it all. Time or Money. I didn't want to fix the drainage and have it cost me $200, because odds are, the erosion isn't going to be that bad. It's just as easy to put stones at the overflow, but nice drainage means you can avoid muddy messes of still water that breed mosquitos. So, jury rigging it was. I do not recommend using coffee cans, pieces of tire, duct tape, and wrong size fittings when doing plumbing. But keep in mind, this is a overflow drain, and so long as it was all going down hill, it didn't have to be water tight.
Now, the water flows out of our tanks, and into and around our garden, thus avoiding wasting even a drop.
I do not advise jury rigging plumbing.
Do it right, by the right fittings.
Jury rigging takes effort, creativity and time, and almost always turns out not to work 100% and is frustrating.
But it's cheap!
I'm not proud of my drainage project at all, but I'm proud that it costs me nothing more than time, which was well spent along side my kids doing work together.
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