Paper in the Wind

Tom Petty sings a song about how the days went by like paper in the wind. Today, I was thinking about that.

Six years ago, I was gearing up for a Saturday afternoon game as a college football player at Taylor University. Six years ago. Unbelievable.

Five years ago, I was getting acclimated to Bible college, packing up for the wilderness trip.

Four years ago, I was living on a guy’s couch, doing my second year of Bible college, and teaching a study up at Taylor University.

Three, I was healing up from a shattered nose and reading Captivating (hoping to figure out the female persuasion).

Two, I was immersed in political science, preparing a paper for a conference in Tennessee, and being a bad husband. (I wouldn’t tell my wife I loved her. My reason: I didn’t want to wear out the phrase.)

One year ago, I was living in Portland, getting to know the Bieri family. My wife and I were beginning to attend a marriage class at Imago Dei, and I had just told her that we could start trying to have a baby.

Now, I’m a working man, starting a church/community with some friends, and raising a baby girl.

The days are going by like paper in the wind.

So I ask you, “What were you doing at each of these times?”

Something New

When I began this blog, nearly a year ago, I told you I wouldn’t write about personal life happenings very often. I most certainly wasn’t going to bore you with my latest trip to the grocery store or dentist. And thus far, I think I’ve kept that promise.

Today, however, I must inform you of a personal life happening.

I wish I had a title for it, or a word or phrase that summed it up, but I really don’t know how to explain it. I can only describe it. What’s happening is that a group of three families (mine included) is starting to meet. We’re talking, we’re praying, we’re watching, we’re listening. We’re having a storm develop not only in our brains, but also in our hearts. We’re being stirred toward action like never before. We’re getting giddy and we don’t even care. In a sense, we’re finding our true selves. We’re recognizing what we’re made for, what our hearts are longing for, and what our community of friends and strangers need. We’re being open, genuine, and bold. We’re planning. We’re doing.

The best way I can describe it: We’re doing something new.

Last night, our three families met, along with a few others. This next week, we think we’ll have more coming. We don’t know what’s going to happen with us all, but we do know where we’re going.

We know where we’re going, and who we’re following. We know who we’re competing against, and who we’re competing with. We’re in a race, a relay of sorts, and each of us is doing our best and counting on the next person to do his or her best. This race we’re competing in–we’re competing to win.

Compete to win–that’s our motto.

If you want to join us, let us know. (Here, Facebook, etc.)

Productivity (Addendums)

For fear of being misunderstood, let me add some addendums to my last post on Productivity.

First, this type of schedule is for adults, not children. It would be wrong of us to force this schedule at a young age.

Second, don’t think that every day has to include this many tasks. Your evening can be productive without having to do so many things. Your “work” might look like you investing time in your children, reading books to them or wrestling with them on the living room floor. It might mean that you take a walk with your wife and dog. It might mean that you visit a friend or relative.

Third, you don’t have to wake and rise at the exact same time each day. Some days it might be 6am to 11pm. Other days it might be 9am to 9pm. Your work day will depend on your sleeping habits and your responsibilities.

Fourth, there is a need for vacations. Back in Old Testament times, God instituted a variety of feast days. Basically it worked out so that you had between two and three weeks off each year. So, take a vacation or two. Enjoy time off from your labor.

That said, I still hold firm to the notion that we are supposed to follow this pattern of life. Six days of work, one day of rest, with the above items considered. Follow this and your life will be swell. Or at least it’ll be better than it is right now.

Productivity

Productivity. That is the word of the day.

I awoke, packed my lunch, ate breakfast, and drove to work. At work, I stayed busy, labored outside, and earned my wages. So far, an average day.

When I finished earning my wages, I returned to my abode. I treated myself to a popsicle, then headed to the garage. There, I sorted through six storage containers and threw away two boxes full of trash. I fixed dinner. I read forty pages of a book. Then, I did some carpentry work and finished making a drawer to go under a crib. From there, I rode my bike. I showered. I played a game of NCAA football against my brother. I ate dessert. I typed this. I talked to my wife. I read some more. Then I went to sleep.

The workday began at 6:45am and ended at 10:45pm.

Now I’m not advocating that you or I keep this type of schedule every day of the week. Seven days of this, no way! I’m not crazy. But I am advocating this as a six-days-per-week schedule. I mean, we weren’t made to only work five, 8-hour days each week. We weren’t made to work four, 10-hour days. And we certainly weren’t made for three, 12-hour days. We were made to work six full days per week. Think back to the Garden of Eden for a minute. Even before sin entered the world, Adam had work to do. He was made in the image of God, and what we know from the first two chapters of Genesis is that God worked too. He created. He made something out of nothing. And then Adam and Eve were supposed to make something out of something.

Fast forward to today and I’m convinced that many people have it all wrong. They either don’t want to work at all, or they want to work like madmen. People who are trying to get rich will often work seven days per week, every week. Those who are lazy or milking the system usually don’t work at all.  My advice: Avoid the extremes. Find something worth doing and do it. After six days, rest and recharge. Then go at it again.

Fantasy Football

Last Sunday, I drafted my fantasy football team. I think I pieced together a pretty good roster (Adrian Peterson, Tony Romo, Michael Turner, Jason Witten, Pierre Garcon, etc.).

But the fact of the matter is this:

I don’t have fantasies about football. I have no passionate lust to create an all-star team. I have no deep longings to become a GM in the NFL. Actually, I hardly even watch football.

It’s not that I don’t like it or I think it’s evil. I just have other things to do. And I think the other things that I do are more constructive and meaningful than sitting in front of the tube every Sunday or managing a fantasy football team. I mean, if I think about it too long, I begin to wonder if it’s not a completely worthless endeavor all-around. Using five hours a week to check stats, change rosters, and try to predict the future…it sounds like a huge waste of time. And in the end, what do you win? Bragging rights? A jank trophy? Sounds fishy to me.

So here’s my strategy: I usually log on for ten minutes, make sure I don’t have anyone on my starting roster who is hurt or on a bye, then I’m off, done. This might lead you to ask, “Why do it?”

Because it keeps a few relationships intact. I can call up my buddies, give them a hard time about how I’m kicking their butt in fantasy football, then catch up on life and talk about more important things. Fantasy football then, in my mind, is a means to an end.

I’ll end with this: if you’re a fantasy football type-of-guy (or girl), I encourage you to consider your time committment for this season. How much time do you want to devote to your team? Ask your spouse the same question. Then ask yourself why you participate. What purpose does it serve?

Education

Like the old sage once said, “Never let schooling get in the way of your education.”

The other day, on a break at work, I picked up a magazine called Governing. In it, I found an article, “Ditching the Carrot and Stick.” The title intrigued me, so I read the article and came to find some suprising information.

The public school system in Washington D.C. was experiencing miraculous climbs in their standardized test scores, only later to be accused of cheating. Why? The two organizations that scored the students’ test sheets came to find an uncanny amount of erasures. Suspicious, they began a more thorough examination; and what did they find? The students had taken the tests, submitted them, and then, someone was going through and correcting answers; all of this in an effort to reach the high bars set by the governing structures in the public school system.

The sub story of this article is that the Chancellor of the D.C. public school system was firing low performing teachers left and right. Forty-five percent of the teachers and principals in D.C. had been replaced. On the other hand, high performing teachers and principals were being rewarded with $8- 10K bonuses. Basically, the bar was set so high, and the faculty felt so much pressure, they decided to cheat. They fudged students’ test scores so they wouldn’t be canned at the end of the year. And maybe, just maybe, they might receive a reward.

You show these rabbits a carrot, they’ll chase it all day. They may never realize the knot wrapped around it or the stick being held by the tempter. As the author of the article says, “Yelling at systems doesn’t improve systems; bribing systems doesn’t improve systems. Fixing systems improves systems. True accountability looks like love and respect; we keep making it feel like fear.”

In this particular case, the Chancellor’s bribes and scare tactics set forth a feeling of fear, which later provoked wrong action. Don’t misunderstand me, the teachers and principals are at fault as well. They made the choice to cheat. But also don’t forget that some of them were worried they might not be able to put bread on the table without their jobs. 

In short, I think the moral of the story is summed up adequately by the author.

“True accountability is shoulder-to-shoulder.”

College

Today, I went back to college.

Normally I love college. I mean, in the past, college has felt like home. I’ve  felt comfortable there. I gobbled up any knowledge the professors were willing to give. I read hundreds of books. I wrote hundreds of papers. I interacted with other students. I even set up my tent at the library.

But today, when I pulled onto IUPUI campus, it no longer felt like home. Girls were scantily dressed. Guys were  acting like middle-schoolers. It all seemed so juvenille.

Last time I checked, colleges and universities were hubs for learning. They existed to create better citizens. Knowledge was shared. Ideas were tested. Progress was made. Instead, today, I saw regress. Bodies were flaunted. Attire was displayed. Men acted like animals. Maybe I’m already turning into a grumpy old man at the age of twenty-five. Maybe I’m more grounded and mature now that I have a wife and child. Maybe I felt like I was regressing because I was returning as an undergraduate after already completing some graduate work.

Or maybe I’m becoming more aware of a thing called decadence.

Sorry to be a downer. But I’m not sorry for speaking the truth. Oh, one last thing–I decided to drop my class.