From Marion, Indiana With Love
You probably all hate me and I can understand why. I haven’t posted in weeks. It’s a tough battle raging in my life right now for my time and attention. I have a wife and 6 month old daughter, a job, a second job, grad school, a blog, etc., etc., etc.
Is there too much on my plate…sure one could argue that. Heck, I’ve been arguing with myself about that and that’s why I haven’t been posting much the last month or two.
Right now, I’m in Marion, Indiana taking a couple classes for my masters degree and as a result, my wife is at home sick with our daughter…who is also sick apparently. My work email inbox is inevitably filling up, and I think I’m working on putting on the freshman grad school 15 by eating in the cafeteria for two weeks. Life is crazy and yet I feel so blessed.
I have such a supportive and amazing wife who is willing to let me pursue my dreams, a job with the flexibility to let me take off for a couple weeks…a second job that is flexible enough to let me take off for two weeks,…and a metabolism that is strong enough to still keep my weight barely in check even though I’ve had chocolate milk and soft serve ice cream the last two days. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on August 2nd, 2011 by David | 9 Comments »
Shoot I Love This Song Too…
So literally, just a few minutes ago I posted a video by Kris Orlowski, but I have to post this video as well. I love the video, the strings, the singers and the most importantly the song itself as it speaks of many of the best places in my home away from home, Bellingham, WA.
Enjoy!
Posted on June 24th, 2011 by David | 5 Comments »
“Waiting” By Kris Orlowski
I’ve mentioned this before, but one of the things that I absolutely love is connecting people with each other.
I find it to be exciting.
And so tonight, I want to introduce you to Kris Orlowski. Kris and I both went to Western Washington University and in fact had a some classes together. I doubt he’d remember me, but when I saw his name on a schedule of local concerts I had to check to see if it was the same guy I knew from college.
And sure enough it was.
Kris is a talented musician and if you haven’t heard of him before, hopefully this little introduction will be “the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
If you would like to hear more of Kris’s music you can find more music videos on YouTube or you can check out his website.
Posted on June 24th, 2011 by David | 13 Comments »
It’s Time For A Course Correction
I am working on my fourth year of blogging. When I began blogging I started a blog called “An Anthology of Thoughts” and I blogged like crazy. I was a posting virtually every day and often times I would post multiple posts. I was a blogging machine.
Although my blog was anything but focused it ended up acquiring a fairly nice audience of people who were just interested in talking about life.
I ran “An Anthology of Thoughts” for a year and then shut down shop to began ”24/7 Life” and have been blogging here ever since.
I began this blog because I wanted to be more intentional, more focused.
I wanted to find my proverbial “niche,” and at times I did.
I would begin shifting my blog in a particular direction convinced that this was what my blog was supposed to be about, only to realize that there were other topics that I wanted to share thoughts on.
Truthfully, I kind of feel as though I am at one of those places now. There are some great topics that I would like to write about but I can’t decide what specifically to focus my limited time on and that has resulted in a lack of inspiration. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on June 17th, 2011 by David | 14 Comments »
Creating Change In And Through People
When was the last time you stopped to truly think about whose life you’re investing in?
Was it recently or somewhere in the distant past?
Could you even come up with a name?
I was watching the music competition show “The Voice” last night and a surprising thing happened. Blake Shelton, one of the coaches chose to save a contestant on his team who quite honestly is not a favorite to win. While she has a beautiful voice, she is young and inexperienced especially compared to the other other members of her team who were vying for this spot in the next round of the competition.
However, Blake said he chose her because there was more opportunity to create change with her than with the other two competitors. There is no doubt about the fact that this is true. Xenia, the teenage girl he decided to keep is a diamond in the rough. She has talent, but little in the way of confidence or stage presence. She really is a project, if you will.
http://youtu.be/5G3G_cpGLoI
Posted on June 15th, 2011 by David | 11 Comments »
Friday Feature #15 (On Monday): Laura Miles (AKA Mom)
As promised, here is last week’s Friday Feature…today… on Monday.
There are a lot of women that blog, in fact there is a vast community of mom bloggers who regularly post on life as a mother. However, there is one mom whose blog I am quite fond of and that is my mom.
My mom, Laura Miles has been blogging for several years now about the ins and outs, ups and downs of life and she never fails to do so in a humorous and/or heartfelt way.
If you knew my mom, you would know that her writing sounds exactly like the way she speaks and perhaps that’s one of the things I enjoy the most. Every post she writes is like having a conversation with her and that’s a nice thing.
Over the last several years as I have blogged and engaged in reading the blogs of others I have come to really appreciate those blogs that are open and honest. Heck, if they’re not honest, what’s the point.
Well my mom’s blog, In The Midst is one of the good kind. It’s an open and honest reflection on her life, both the joys and frustrations.
So if you are looking for a new gem of a blog to begin following, I would definitely encourage you to begin following In The Midst, by Laura Miles (aka my mom). It is a great read and full of wonderful laughs, insights and “tidbits” of knowledge.
Check it out and leave her some comment love.
http://lauraemiles.blogspot.com/
Posted on June 13th, 2011 by David | 6 Comments »
Flexible Friday
Friday is my day to feature people. I love Fridays for a number of reasons and this actually happens to be one of them.
You see I love the idea of helping people connect. Whether professionally, personally, or here in the blogosphere I think there is something pretty amazing about helping people find each other.
Last week I took off from blogging and subsequently didn’t have a “Friday Feature” like I normally do. And this week I was going to surprise someone by featuring them, but I have been so caught up in preparing for a local festival that my church is participating in all weekend that I have not had the time to do the post justice and so I’m not going to post it today.
And that’s okay.
Flexibility is important and sometimes you just have to roll with the punches. In this case, my Friday Feature wil go out on Monday and that’s perfectly fine.
Life is full of chaos, both good and bad, and it is important for all of us to recognize that at times we have to be a little “bendy” and work with the situation we’ve been give.
So today, instead of a feature, let me leave you with this question, “Are you flexible?” I’m not talking about turning yourself into a human pretzel, I’m talking about are you willing to roll with the punches that life throws at you? Are you willing to make adjustments and modifications without getting bent out of shape?
I’m not always flexible, that’s for sure. But today, I choose to be. I’m going to be flexible and enjoy my Flexible Friday.
Posted on June 10th, 2011 by David | 6 Comments »
Faith And Finances: the tightrope of balancing god and gold
Over the last few weeks I have had some conversations with people about finances, budgeting, and the role that faith should play in the way that we manage and steward the resources that God has given us.
It’s a tricky subject especially in the economic climate that we are living in. The line between being fiscally responsible and greedy is often razor thin.
Am I relying on God to provide or am I taking unnecessary risk?
Am I trying to be a good steward of the blessings God has given me or am I hoarding the blessing?
I believe most of us have to address this issue from time to time in our lives and it’s not an easy subject to gain 100% clarity on in terms of specific financial moves that we should make.
However, I believe there are certain principles, or guidelines that can help make these difficult types of financial decisions.
Posted on June 8th, 2011 by David | 10 Comments »
Memories Of A Radical Transformation: Part 2
As I mentioned in Part 1 of this series on my experiences with Hurricane Katrina, I planned on going into marketing. In fact I had been working in the marketing department of a multi-million dollar, international company before I ventured down to Louisiana and there had been talk of me coming on board after graduation. Talk about a great opportunity.
However, as I got off the plane in Baton Rouge and saw the military helicopters occupying space just outside of the terminal, I couldn’t help but think back on the images I had seen on television. Images of families sitting on the roofs of their flooded homes, waiting to be rescued by these very aircraft. Waiting to reluctantly leave behind everything they had worked so hard to build.
After finally arriving at Florida Boulevard Baptist Church, via what was essentially a hitch-hiked ride from a couple men delivering soup from one shelter to another, I was immediately introduced to families who had gone through similar situations, and now found themselves without homes, businesses and in some cases family members.
This was overwhelming. The thought that the things a person works so hard for can be taken away so quickly was earthshaking for me. As a soon to be college graduate who had aspirations of corner offices and white picket fences, I was left to consider if these were worthy goals. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on May 25th, 2011 by David | 16 Comments »
