Just a quick note to lifeasmission readers out there.  A few weeks ago someone contacted me to let me know that my category pages were broken.  If you read this mainly in a feed reader and don’t click through to the blog itself, I have all my posts categorized across the themes of: Bible & Theology, Church & Culture, Life & Mission.  Under those categories are a bunch others, but clicking on any of them was just displaying an error page.  I tracked down the error to one particular plugin, deactivated it, and we seem to be back in business.

Anyway, just in case you’re looking to shuffle through some previous content on the blog (since I am quite the slacker in terms of producing new content these days.. sorry), have at it!

Tell me this isn’t who you want taking care of you if you get sick!

Who even needs insurance??!

It’s not often I post about stuff like this — even less often that I am inclined to even think much of it, but I got a killer deal on a couple of sweaters that I really like yesterday.

And truth be told, the real credit goes to Amy and her twin attributes of 1) an ability to spot a deal and 2) simply being in the right place at the right time.

So, we’re walking into the store and knowing my wife’s insatiable desire to check EVERYTHING out, I cover her eyes with my hands and lead her, undistracted, through the store so that we can accomplish our one and only task, return an item.

What I didn’t count on was that with her eyes covered, her superhuman powers were redirected to her ears and she made out an announcement over the PA about a free giveaway going on upstairs.  This announcement was barely audible to the human ear and nearly unintelligable on top of that.  How she noticed and discerned the message is beyond me.

She left me to the return and as she sauntered away, shouted back over her shoulder, “Hey, you should check out those sweaters over there.”  I swear we walked by them when she had her eyes covered.  I hadn’t even seen the sweaters.  I finished quick and she was still upstairs, so I walked over to look at the sweaters.  $55 bucks!  “Yeah right,” I thought.  But then I looked closer.  They were marked down to $10 – more than 80% off.

Now listen, I’m not one of those who’s fooled into believing that I could get a sweater that is really worth $55 for $10.  But $10 still seemed like a pretty good deal for how well the sweater fit and looked.  So I got 2!  But the story’s not over, oh no!

We get to the register to check out and they have an offer for a Sears card where you can get $15 off your purchase.  So, between the 80% off sale, the small credit from the return, and the Sears card offer, I walked out of the store with 2 “$55″ sweaters for under 2 bucks.  Oh, and besides the sweaters, Amy came home with a couple kitchen tools that she got for free just for walking upstairs.  I think I’m gonna like shopping with Amy!

Oh yeah, forgot to mention, I finally managed to get a new “About Me” page up.  Let me know what you think it’s missing.

And here’s 10 reasons why…

1) I had to get up at 4AM to make a flight.

2) Dumb TSA lady said my carryon, which I had carried on before, was too big so I had to check it for $20 bucks.

3) American Airlines then proceeded to break that bag.

4) Hertz, since they had my credit card number, decided to OVERNIGHT the sungalsses I left in our rental car to me.

5) FedEx squashed them.

6) Driving my in-law’s van home from the airport, I got a speeding ticket that within 100 yards would not have been a ticket.

7) I was late for a meeting when I figured out that my car battery was dead.

8 ) I found an angry note on my car, probably from a drunk teenager, who didn’t like my parking job, which had been forced by the bad parking job of someone else 10 days ago.

9) Someone stole and cashed a $700 check intended for us and recovering the funds will probably be a big pain.

10) Oh yeah, and my wife (also having a bad day) is working a conference a thousand miles away and I won’t see her until late Saturday night.

Time for a long hard run.

I don’t claim to know all the ins and outs of Human Resources, but as a job seeker, here’s a letter I wish I could send to all HR people everywhere.

Dear HR,

You know those stacks of paper you have in front of you – they represent real people. People with hopes, ambitions, and dreams, many of them aching to use their knowledge and skills to help you, your company, and your cause. It’s not enough to serve them well after they are hired. If you are good at your job, you will serve them well as potential partners.

I know the job market is tough right now, but still, anyone worth your time, worth being considered and hired as a part of your organization, will be interviewing you as you interview them. They will want to know that they can trust you as an employer with their time and efforts. When you trivialize them and the time they took in preparing the necessary paperwork for you to consider by ignoring them, giving them sketchy information, and not truly being thankful that they would consider investing a huge chunk of their lives in your company, you are creating an environment for bitterness, resentment, and mistrust before a formal relationship has even begun.

If a position is worth hiring for, it must be worth thoroughly communicating, even if en mass, to prospective candidates about.

To be as plain as I can be – tell your candidates when you hope to hire by. When they submit materials, acknowledge that you received them, letting them know when you hope to follow up and then actually do follow up when you said you would.

True, there are so many people hurting for jobs that they will put up with being trivialized for the sake of a paycheck.  But are those really the people you want working for you?  Do you think they will serve you well or do just enough to get by?  Or, do you want to hire people with enough self-respect and dignity that they actually care when you treat them like crap?

Respectfully,

Your Potential Co-Worker

This is why I love to fly Southwest.

(ht: Steve)

I wish it happened more, but it’s only every so often that the appreciation of little things seems to really exhilarate me.

But each of the last two nights I have been able to go to sleep with the window open – letting in fresh air, falling asleep to the sound of the rain, and waking up to the sound of birds chirping.

Little things, but man have I enjoyed it.

So, I did some math yesterday.  In the last three months (between August 24 and November 25) I have been to Afghanistan, taken two trips back to Ohio, two to chicago, two to Florida, and one to Dallas.  All told, right after moving into a new house, I have been gone 34 days, attended two conferences, performed my cousins wedding, and finished instructing my first course at Fuller.  Yeah, I am glad to be home for a while.

I am in the process of upgrading my blog to include the IntenseDebate plugin.  I think this will be a helpful tool for commenting in the future (or maybe not, in which case, we’ll go old school).  But, while it is doing its thing, it seems that existing comments are unavailable and perhaps new ones won’t show up right away.  All should be back to normal in a few hours.

The Oil ferry visited Memphis, thanks Oil ferry.

I LOVE THE FALL.  There is just no two ways about it, I look forward to it all year long and it always ends far too quickly.  Today was the first day of fall and it was a great start.

For starters, I found my Tracy Chapman album (New Beginning) from college.  I played this thing to death and today it emerged from the depths of my stuff as a timely surprise.  Here’s my favorite track off the album,

Then it was off to a party with some friends, complete with warm cider, pumpkin carving, and my personal favorite, baked pumpkin seeds.

It was a beautiful evening, 72 and clear.  There was great conversation, Corn Hole, and that little extra something in the air that just makes the world feel like a better place.  See, told you I love the fall.

I made me an invention today – The Ultimate Cookie.  This is going to seem really complicated to those of you who don’t cook much, but believe me, it is much easier than you might think. Just try it.

Step 1: Purchase your average store brand frosted cookie.

Step 2: Purchase Oatmeal Cream Pies

Step 3: Delicately open Oatmeal Cream Pie and insert frosted cookie

Step 4: Experience Ultimate Cookie Bliss

By my third Ultimate Cookie, I pretty much had the process down cold.  Good luck!

Joey and Joanna Goforth have become two of my best friends since I moved from my home of Canton, OH to Memphis a few months ago. They have 2 great kids, Seth and Ella and the highlight of my Sunday is when Seth, who is 1ish, sees me, smiles, and wants me to carry him. Joey tagged me on one of these random, “tell everyone six random blah, blah, blah” blog things, but since I am in Afghanistan, where it is 8 1/2 hours aread of Memphis, TN (yes, 8 and 1/2), I am not going to play. Or am I?? All you “Where’s Waldo” fans out there should get this. I am not, however, going to perpetuate the madness, sorry Joe.

We’re back.

Thanks.