Relevant Magazine - First Word

The only thing better than receiving my Relevant Magazine in the mail is getting cash/checks/gift cards/etc. I love my Relevant and when I flipped through the first couple pages of the new Sept./Oct. issue today I found another jewel in Cameron Strang's editor's page (what he calls First Word). I've linked the title to this blog entry to an online version of the article on Relevant's site.

Here's what I took away...take some time away from technology. I love spending time on Facebook, Hulu, Pandora, iTunes, Relevant Magazine online, etc. and I love to play with my iTouch and iPod, and I enjoy blogging (when I have time) but these things can and do take away from LIVING LIFE! I found myself doing things when I first started Facebook just so I could get on Facebook and tell people what I did. Now I just enjoy seeing what my old and new friends are up to. I was up last night at 2 am because of one of my children and got on for a few minutes just playing around. You will find that I hardly ever "update my status" and instead just enjoy "people watching."

Anyways, what I got from all this is to UNPLUG and live life. I have a wonderful wife. Three great kids. A good job. A fun team to coach and coaches to work with. A nice town to live in. Good church. Good neighborhood. Anyways, I can still enjoy being online and playing with these gadgets but I need to intentionally turn them off and live my life.

Peace.

Outsiders

After getting hooked on Needtobreathe from their previous LP "The Heat" I was anticipating their new album "The Outsiders." I got their single "Lay 'Em Down" early and counted the days until I downloaded the full album. I was not disappointed. My favorite tracks thus far include the title track, Lay 'Em Down, Hurricane, Let Us Love and These Hard Times. I highly recommend this album for those that like Christian music as well as Alternative (which is the genre iTunes has listed this one as). Also check out their web site for lots of fun material and this review by Jesus Freak Hideout.

The Summer of a Teacher

Week 1: Loving the school year being over - so much planned for the summer!
1) read 5 books that I bought last year and was too busy to read
2) work on organizing my garage, filing papers, purging the attic of junk, etc.
3) start running again in the morning before kids wake up OR work out more (because I have the time now)
4) really have a good quiet time everyday since I have more time now
5) tweak my teaching style OR work on math curriculum OR something school related that I don't have time to do in the school year

Week 2: started reading a book but it's going slow so far - Quiet Strength by Tony Dungy
Hanging out at local high school with my wrestling team for a camp
Having fun playing with my own kids

Week 3: having a good time at wrestling camp - a lot of summer left
Realize goal #1 is too lofty (make it 3 books)

Week 4: working everyday for a couple hours at our own wrestling camp and then hitting the neighborhood pool in the afternoon

Week 5: man the summer has slowed down and I really haven't done much with all those plans I made
Acknowledge goal #3 is not happening everyday - change it to 2-3 times a week

Week 6: most of the summer thus far has been a "stay-cation" since we aren't going anywhere until the end of the summer
Bought a trampoline at the beginning of the summer and we're having fun on that - at least in the evening when it's not burning hot

Week 7: uh-oh the summer is wrapping up fast - work in my classroom a little
Goal #2 can wait until next week

Week 8: sweet - vacation time - maybe I'll read some more while we're away from home

Week 9: last chance to get all those items on my summer to-do list done
Goal #5 needs to happen now!

Week 10: I don't wanna go back - do I have to?
Goal #4 is going to start as soon as school starts and I'm on a tighter schedule