Merry Christmas.*
* unless of course, this offends you. In that case, let me urge you to get past it. America is made up of lots of different people with a variety of backgrounds and beliefs. By making us all merge into some watered down version of who we really are and desire to be, America loses its edge. It is the different ideas that make us special. The ability to express ideas and views and be ok with others doing the same is foundational in these United States. That in itself does not make all ideas right, but it does protect the right to share ideas, whether true or flawed. Our founding fathers made sure they expressly recorded and conveyed the right to freedom of speech and freedom of religion, and any movement trying to abridge these rights in order to glorify the newly coronated "right" to not be offended is without merit. So with that background, and with the warmest of thoughts for you at the end of the year, I wish you a very Merry Christmas.
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Friday, November 18, 2005
Kindergarten Update
Our kindergartener has had a great year so far. Here is a link to a couple of the videos that she appears in briefly from her elementary school:
http://homepage.mac.com/smithelementary/iMovieTheater90.html
In this one, she is in two of the shots about the color songs.
http://homepage.mac.com/smithelementary/iMovieTheater96.html
In this one, she is in the parade near the end of the video. She is the one in the red shirt with the hat almost over her eyes and the sweater tied around her waist waving.
I thought you might enjoy seeing those clips.
http://homepage.mac.com/smithelementary/iMovieTheater90.html
In this one, she is in two of the shots about the color songs.
http://homepage.mac.com/smithelementary/iMovieTheater96.html
In this one, she is in the parade near the end of the video. She is the one in the red shirt with the hat almost over her eyes and the sweater tied around her waist waving.
I thought you might enjoy seeing those clips.
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
What Does a Five-Year Old Know?
Plenty. You'll find out if you talk to one. I happen to have one (they are great to have around), and I listened to her talking while playing with two cups in the bathtub. "This is the good one, and this one is contaminated," she said.
CONTAMINATED?! I had to ask. She learned the word from one of the kindergarten teachers who was talking to her class about recycling. Did she understand what it meant? Yes. What does it mean? It means when something gets other stuff in it that is not supposed to be there.
That's right.
I'm not pointing out how brilliant my child is -- okay, maybe just a little -- but rather how much kids absorb (she probably knows what that means, too). She can tell me what foods are healthier than other foods and is right most of the time. She can tell me food groups, and why we recycle our plastic, glass, and cardboard containers. She knows about exercise and protein. She knows that plants breathe out oxygen and we breathe in oxygen. I think when I was five, I probably knew what a plant was, but that's about it.
I think that children really do learn a great deal of what they really need to know in kindergarten, if not before then. All the more reason to make sure they are in church "soaking up the Son and having some fun."
CONTAMINATED?! I had to ask. She learned the word from one of the kindergarten teachers who was talking to her class about recycling. Did she understand what it meant? Yes. What does it mean? It means when something gets other stuff in it that is not supposed to be there.
That's right.
I'm not pointing out how brilliant my child is -- okay, maybe just a little -- but rather how much kids absorb (she probably knows what that means, too). She can tell me what foods are healthier than other foods and is right most of the time. She can tell me food groups, and why we recycle our plastic, glass, and cardboard containers. She knows about exercise and protein. She knows that plants breathe out oxygen and we breathe in oxygen. I think when I was five, I probably knew what a plant was, but that's about it.
I think that children really do learn a great deal of what they really need to know in kindergarten, if not before then. All the more reason to make sure they are in church "soaking up the Son and having some fun."
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Hurricane Katrina
Someone that I work with was called up for New Orleans relief for Hurricane Katrina. He is working in the SE part of NO in the command center. He was called up on Sept 1, 2005, only 4 days before Labor Day. He told me tales of finding an 80-year old woman locked in a basement with water up to her neck for several days. She was alive and they rescued her. In their evacuation and rescue efforts, they went door to door, breaking into houses and marking them with an X for evacuated or with B and a number if they found bodies in the home. They would then call the coroner in and they would proceed to the next house.
He said that everyone is armed. The military and police to try to restore order, the looters to protect their looting, and those that want to stay against orders to leave to scare off the police and to protect their homes from looters. This seems so Lebanon and Middle Eastern.
They found 6 dogs, 5 horses, and two people in one rescue effort. They have tickets or arrested civilians, police officers, and military personnel for looting, even if it was just a bag of chips or a few s. Randall told me that NYPD and LAPD are there. SWAT members are there. Some wealthy man is housing the media and has ex-special forces troops guarding his house. There are former Navy SEALs guarding the children's hospital near them. They have no electricity and just recently got showers. There are generators in the Command Center, and one private generator that they use to take turns recharging their cell phones, which are the only means of communication (when they work). It's pretty rare and amazing stuff.
Meanwhile, Olivia and Camille have joined Shelby's Kindergarten classroom from New Orleans. It is amazing how much impact this one storm had. I don't think NO will ever be the same, and I don't know if that is a bad thing in the big picture. I feel for those who have lost so much in the blink of an eye. Randall said that with the contaminated water, all of the houses will have to be leveled. Razing a city is a mind boggling thought.
I am using this to inspire a children's book. The book is about a names Katrina who makes do with a simple toy that is not a toy at all, but with her imagination, it can become everything she needs.
He said that everyone is armed. The military and police to try to restore order, the looters to protect their looting, and those that want to stay against orders to leave to scare off the police and to protect their homes from looters. This seems so Lebanon and Middle Eastern.
They found 6 dogs, 5 horses, and two people in one rescue effort. They have tickets or arrested civilians, police officers, and military personnel for looting, even if it was just a bag of chips or a few s. Randall told me that NYPD and LAPD are there. SWAT members are there. Some wealthy man is housing the media and has ex-special forces troops guarding his house. There are former Navy SEALs guarding the children's hospital near them. They have no electricity and just recently got showers. There are generators in the Command Center, and one private generator that they use to take turns recharging their cell phones, which are the only means of communication (when they work). It's pretty rare and amazing stuff.
Meanwhile, Olivia and Camille have joined Shelby's Kindergarten classroom from New Orleans. It is amazing how much impact this one storm had. I don't think NO will ever be the same, and I don't know if that is a bad thing in the big picture. I feel for those who have lost so much in the blink of an eye. Randall said that with the contaminated water, all of the houses will have to be leveled. Razing a city is a mind boggling thought.
I am using this to inspire a children's book. The book is about a names Katrina who makes do with a simple toy that is not a toy at all, but with her imagination, it can become everything she needs.
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Kindergarten
I am now the proud father of a kindergartener. She sits at the table farthest from the door when you walk into her classroom. Kylie from her soccer team sits across from her. Shelby is one of five girls at a six person table. I hope Jack doesn't get tired of Care Bears and rainbows this year.
The PTA was ready with donuts for their Tears and Cheers meeting for the kindergarten parents in the library. Today is one more step towards an independent daughter who we pray will be used by God for His glory. We have a lot of construction paper, skinned knees, lip gloss, makeup, boys, telephone calls, IMs, dances, heartbreaks, and big decisions ahead of us, but today is a day to simply reflect and relish that God has given us two wonderful little girls to love, care for, teach, and raise up to know and love God. And one of those girls seems a little less little today.
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Corporate Wanderings
RE: http://www.cio.com/leadership/buzz/column.html?ID=9311
There are still companies in the Stone Age for whom the opening statement is not true. "It’s taken at face value that mission-vision-values statements are worth doing."
My first problem is convincing anyone at my company that corporate values, having and communicating a mission, and having a long-term vision are of any worth at all. Here, they are seen as fluff, and we have no time for that. We are too busy doing "whatever it takes" rather than assigning roles. We are too busy "stepping up to the plate" instead of asking whether the task that we are doing is worth doing at all. We are too busy pleasing our clients' whims to determine whether or not doing so is in our or their long-term interest. We are too busy saying "yes" to see if what we just promised will cost us more than it will make us or the client.
I not only suggest that doing missions, visions, and values in a company correctly is worthwhile, I would settle for a company that would at least try and do it poorly at first.
There are still companies in the Stone Age for whom the opening statement is not true. "It’s taken at face value that mission-vision-values statements are worth doing."
My first problem is convincing anyone at my company that corporate values, having and communicating a mission, and having a long-term vision are of any worth at all. Here, they are seen as fluff, and we have no time for that. We are too busy doing "whatever it takes" rather than assigning roles. We are too busy "stepping up to the plate" instead of asking whether the task that we are doing is worth doing at all. We are too busy pleasing our clients' whims to determine whether or not doing so is in our or their long-term interest. We are too busy saying "yes" to see if what we just promised will cost us more than it will make us or the client.
I not only suggest that doing missions, visions, and values in a company correctly is worthwhile, I would settle for a company that would at least try and do it poorly at first.
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