So, this morning I was facebook chatting with one of my students, Noah. He is on the Pac Rim trip, which is one of the study abroad programs that Bethel College offers each Spring term. Right now they are in China, and I just noticed that he was online this morning, so we struck up a good conversation.  One of the things that I asked him was what was his #1 highlight so far on the trip?

He said that was impossible to answer, but that he has been growing a lot with the “man upstairs.” Of course I knew he was talking about God, but they are not supposed to write anything that concerns God or Jesus because any communication leaving China may be screened. But then the next thing that he said really stuck with me. . . .

“oh and how our struggles shouldn’t be something we should be ashamed of, its a learning experience, that draws us closer to Him”

Far too often I forget that struggles are really growth opportunities disguised as problems.

I have many struggles myself that I rarely admit. Sometimes I think I don’t admit them because then someone else will know that I have them. . . .and be watching me to see if I improve. . . a little something called accountability. Recently; however, I have come to realize that when I withold my struggles from those that are close to me, I am eroding the trust and authenticity that those relationships are founded on . . .AND. . . . destroying the very thing that I was trying to find – true intimacy.

Yes, . . . I know it takes vulnerability to be “real”, and yes. . . . we will get hurt from time to time, but. . . today. . . . my desire to have the FULL life promised to me (John 10:10) is stronger than my fear of taking those risks.

This is just a wonderful piece. . . I love seeing people trying to authentically guide and help other people through life

It doesn’t hurt that I am father of a soon to be 5 year old (4 days!!!)

I was driving along Cleveland yesterday on the way to rehearsal at GCC for a monologue I did this weekend, and traffic was packed in the right-hand lane coming up the hill right there where SR 23 breaks off to the South by UP mall. I was in the left-hand lane cruising along at like 15 mph without a car in front of me at all (and still about 50 yards to the light) . . . . . . and then a van decides to pull out of the right lane and into the left just as I was getting ready to pass her (i.e., I must have been in her blind spot). . . . . . there was nothing that I could do – no time to dodge . . . . in an instant, I heard a crunch, and then like a bumper car was spinning into the 2 lanes of oncoming traffic. . .praise God the light had only just turned green – so the oncoming traffic had plenty of time to slow down (if the timing would have been different. . . , well, I am not sure what would have happened, but I know what could have. . . ).  I pulled into a subdivision – long story short. . . I got a relatively small dent, some scratches. . . she was 16 and freaking out – it would have been really rough for her to have that on her record already. I decided to let her go. . . . but not not without trying to help her understand that we all make mistakes, . . . really it happens to everyone – then we talked a little more and we were on our way. . . . probably never to see each other again – and I prayed to God that in some way she had felt His presence in all of this. . .

It is amazing what happens when you realize for a moment that for some reason your life was spared. . .

you ask. . . why?

and though I cannot fully answer that question – especially in light of the unexplainable deaths of so many people everyday – including my aunt and uncle (see post below), but I do know one reason

I still must have work in God’s Kingdom bringing process to complete. . . . and I do not plan on wasting any time pursuing things for only myself or even my family – because those motivations pale in comparison to God’s will, which I trust already has what is best for me AND my family. Now this does not mean that I must run myself into the ground with busyness – I fully believe there is a divine rhythm  for me – for all of us. . . . . and a rhythm is nothing without its pauses (times when there is a rest/silence).

That being said though . . . I am on a renewed drive to crank up the amp on my electric guitar and ROCK! . . . .seriously, what is there to fear? . . . failure – no, because I believe that the only true failure is inaction, stagnation, being lukewarm, refusing to give God what little I have – -remember, God can never use you to feed 5000 if you never give him the 2 fish!

I got these in an email recently, and thought I would share them all with you. . . . These are some great comics . . . . especially for a psychologist!

so, I love vocabulary games, and I love to feed hungry people starving all around the world . . . .

I can do both here: . . (a game that can really help someone study for the GRE too!)

http://www.freerice.com/index.php

My colleague (Dr. Stephanie Carlson) told me about this link – Thanks Stephanie!

So, I am putting this on Craig’s list today, but I thought that I would show you guys too, just in case you were interested.

We bought this red oak Broyhill set in 2003, and it is in really good shape (the coffee table does has a few scratches and dings though). It is solid wood construction (except for the back panel) with the following dimensions:

center unit: – 77 tall X 44.75 wide X 22 deep (in inches)
two side shelves: – 74.5 X 21.75 X 16.75
coffee table: – 18.25 X 46 X 28

We bought it for around $2000, but I am looking for $650 for the main unit (center and two shelves) and then $50 for the coffee table, so $700 total for everything.

Here are the pictures with our 27 inch TV and DVD player still in it. . . .

Watch this video:

My question to you is why does this happen?

As a Cognitive Psychologist, I have studied attention a lot in my career. . . here are just a few findings about attention:

1. We only have a limited supply of it, so we need to be intentional on where it goes
2. Very few things actually CAPTURE our attention
3. We often are not aware of things in our plain sight due to a phenomenon called “inattentional blindness” – that is, . . . because we are giving all of our attention to something else.
4. Attention and awareness are primarily driven by OUR expectations

The questions then becomes. . .How does this relate to this scripture?

Jeremiah 5:21
Hear this, you foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear

Perhaps we do not see God move. . . . because we have no real expectation of seeing Him at all. . . . if our awareness is linked to expectations. . . . how about we start expecting to see Love winning. . . . His kingdom coming. . . the Holy Spirit igniting. . . . seeing opportunities in our Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria. . .

Father I pray that we pay more attention to what you are doing all around us. . . . Give us the courage to expect to see you move. . . . please. . . . even as our lives may be in difficult times. . . you say that you are with the brokenhearted. . . . help us to expect you to faithful. . . you always are – thank you!

1. I already mentioned this in a previous post. . . but I love wordles.net – here is an example of one created with the content of my blog:

All you do is go HERE and choose to create one from any text or from any url. . . have fun

2. Here is a new toy called 12seconds – and as you might have guessed – it is just a place to instantly record 12 seconds of video and then just imbed it anywhere – like this:

paying full price on 12seconds.tv

- I love this stuff. . . . thanks Aaron for the social media makeover

Have fun. . . . oh, . . . you need to be invited to get on 12 seconds. . . you know where to find me

I have just been in a random thought mood lately. . . . I don’t think it is clinically pathalogical or anything, but you can be the judge of that. . .

5. Should I be concerned that the first reaction that my youngest son, Dakota, has when he’s upset with me is. . . . . . to try and head butt me?

4. So, my daughter calls me at work and asks “Daddy, what are you working on“, and I say “Oh, just some grading some papers” – to which she responds. . . . . “what kind of papers Daddy?  yellow or green, or red or blue – “ 

3. I love it when students wonder how people that are color-blind can drive b.c of stoplights. . . . then I ask them – where is the red light. . . . . ALWAYS. . . . and the green. . . . ALWAYS *ding* – lightbulb

2. Does it worry anyone else, even for a split second, when water fountain pressure right outside the bathroom goes to zilch when I hear the toilet flush inside?

1. Should a restaurant, that I saw driving in to work today, really be advertising “we serve gizzards?”

5. I sort of like the smell of skunk

4. The second time I went to the local zoo here in South Bend (Potawatomi zoo), my daughter and I got peed on (i.e., “sprayed”) by one of the female lions – and yes, it was from point blank range. . .

3. I was the state free-throw champion of Tennessee when I was 13 – my basketball career went downhill from there. . .

2. I love to play online chess – especially when people start to trash talk. . . yes, . . . people actually do trash talk in online chess.

1. Even though my PhD. is in Cognitive Psychology, my undergraduate degree is in Quantitative Bio-physics with a minor in Computer Science. . . it’s a long story. . .