Reflection: Making Space

Every year, Jamie and I spend time together setting goals and reflecting on how we fared on our previous year's goals. In past years, I feel like I have personally been able to get those goals to paper with a moderate degree of speed, but this year, it seems that we both have been carrying our goals and our reflections in our head more than we have been putting them to paper. It has been a time of major transition as we adjust to what it means to be a father and a mother, but we still have our goals, and we are making some headway. I'm sure every parent transitions into this new role in a series of adjustments, and maybe those adjustments become more accurately described as adaptations as life takes on new color and dimension with new life.

One theme of our goals that has endured as long as we have been together has been the theme of simplicity. One could also call this goal the goal of making space. As I think about it, that's definitely an aspect of simplicity, and one which it seems there is dire need of in our lives. Whether it is making space in our homes or in our habits, all of our "habitations" or places and spaces in which we dwell, are very easily filled.

We each have been granted a gift (among many) from our Creator limited in scope from our birth. That gift is time. We have a limited number of days in a week, and hours in a day, just like we have a limited amount of space in our homes. Without some degree of intentionality and development, our time and our spaces become packed, congested, cluttered, full, and sometimes even suffocating. We can get caught up in checking our Twitter feeds, our Facebook streams, and our emails as our mobile devices continue to send us notifications from a wide array of apps and tools. We can gather more and more activity and more and more material goods, and crowd out the space for enjoyment of these activities and goods.

So what is the solution to the problem of filling our habitations with activity and clutter? I believe the answer lies in simplicity. What do I mean by simplicity? For me, I believe simplicity means exercising my ability to say no to busyness, say no to activity, and say no to holding on to items that could be bringing joy to others, and that have served their purposes in our home and life (books and clothes probably rank highest here). Simplicity also means saying no to distractions. It means refraining from checking email, Facebook, Twitter, or other 'news feeds' before or after a certain hour of day. (Jamie just recently made me aware of how I've slid into this habit over the last few months, and I'm grateful for her insight.) It means keeping the TV covered up for the most part, and making watching television into a special occasion or treat.

As a result of this line of thinking, Jamie and I have (among other things) made a habit of going through clothes and books and giving them away so they can have new life and bring more people joy. Each year, we give away bags of clothes, and the incredible thing is that we have never seemed to run short of something to wear. Each year, we take a hard look at the goods we have been blessed with, express our gratitude for them, and say goodbye to some of them.

And while this is healthy and good, I'll have to admit, that making space, whether physical or in time, is also challenging. When we looked back on our year last year, there was so much happening. And after a time of incredible busy-ness, at least for me, one of the hardest things to do is to slow down and to make space. Busy-ness becomes the norm, and then it feels weird to have space where something isn't happening whether it is a project moving forward or a new goal to conquer. But, I know that I need that space--we all do. It's probably one of the reasons that God gave humanity the practice, the space, and the commandment of Sabbath.

May we all create space for enjoyment, for reflection, for simplicity, and slow down on our desire to fill all of our moments with activity and acquisition. May we each slow down for a few moments to enjoy being present to what is happening in us and around us, caring for our souls and our world in the process.

Five years of Twitter

On March 21, 2006, Twitter was born when Jack Dorsey sent the first tweet.  Now, literally billions of tweets are emitted from mobile phones, computers, and other technology as people share news, updates from life, links, and sundry other 140 character pieces of information.

I joined the world of twitter on May 26th, 2008 while attending a leadership conferences for churches called Drive. I wasn't quite sure what to do with the technology at that point in time, but I thought it might be worth checking out. Over the last three years of my own use, I've been able to see it used a number of ways, including staying connected with friends I've met during my life's journey. I've watched people use it to share information with others on an amazing scale, and I've seen Nuru International use it to share the release of media, updates from the field, and more.

Twitter is defined as a micro-blogging technology. Since you are reading this post, you probably know what a blog is. A Tweet is 140 characters long and can share anything from links to life reflections. There has even emerged a form of philanthropy called Twestival which in years past has been used to raise $250,000 for great organizations like charity: water.

With the emergence of smart phones and dozens of apps and platforms for managing twitter accounts, I'm curious to see where this technology is going.  Do you have a twitter account? If so, what do you use it for? If not, what do you think about all of this tweeting going on?

Regardless, I think the emergence of twitter speaks to a great desire we have as human beings to share both information and experiences with others. Whether you tweet or not, may you find a community of people with whom you can share your experiences and may you together help make the world a better place.

New View For 2011

Ok, so I made many of the changes in 2010, but I wanted to introduce you to a few of em.  One of my goals this year is to post entries 3-5 times per week.  This can get challenging when traveling and I can almost guarantee that this will happen less often when I’m on my honeymoon later this Spring.

So first, you might notice the fact that my blog looks different.  I may make additional tweaks as the year goes on, but a few friends encouraged me to lose the lighthouse theme, and go with something a little more contemporary.

In an effort to make the posts more “share friendly, each post has buttons at the top that allow you to share posts that you like with friends on facebook, twitter, google buzz, your own blog, or even through email.  And, for those of you who don’t like to leave comments,  you can check a box for “funny” “Interesting” or “cool” and give me feedback with a click.  You can also “follow” posts from my blog if you have a gmail account, and tell others (and me) that you like reading my posts.  It is always encouraging to get feedback from folks and following my blog is a simple way to do it.  

I’ve attempted to “clean up” my links to other blogs and websites a bit.  Many of my blogging friends who were listed there have either stopped blogging or moved their blogs to more private settings, so I have thinned out the links.  If yours was one of the links removed, I’ll put you back if you let me know you started blogging again.

I’ve tried to make the blog my one stop place to read my micro-blog on twitter as well as keep up with other things going on in my life.  I also added a badge for Nuru International’s fan page (If you are on facebook, you should join it!).  You can also see which blogs have most recently been commented on as well.

One idea I’ve been playing around with is creating themes around different days of the week. I was thinking that at least one day per week would be dedicated to a review of a book, music, movie, or some other media.  Another day would be dedicated to social justice, advocacy, and sharing opportunities.  I thought one day might be good for stories and reflections, and yet another might be snippets from travels. Are there any particular subjects you would like to see me write about?  Please let me know.

If you have any suggestions on how to further improve this blog, I’m all ears.  I hope you enjoy the changes, and I look forward to continuing to share thoughts, reflections, news, reviews, dreams, and more in 2011.

Encouragement for the Journey

That's the view from my house. I took the photo last fall. I usually walk down a set of stairs/sidewalk for a few blocks to enter the heart of Morgantown and the heart of WVU's campus and start my day of work. I think it's pretty incredible to live in a town where I can walk to and from my primary workspace, and where there's a pretty reliable public transit bus system to boot. The morning air in Morgantown refreshes me, but when I see a view like this image every day, it's just a great encouragement as I start my day.

Do you know what else is an encouragement to me? The words of others. Late Saturday night, my friend Jim Pace sent me a message across twitter. Jim and I have both been involved in the spiritual development of college students and young professionals for the last few year. We also spent a few summers working together in a summer leadership training program that we (along with a few others) led for college students. He's a great friend, and he's just written a book called Should We Fire God? Jim leads a church of about 1000 students at Virginia Tech, and has walked through some really difficult times there. In fact, he had the challenge of representing the faith community of Virginia Tech on major network television and walking his parishioners and staff through the grieving after the shootings back in 2007. Honestly, he is an inspiration to me.

And that's the irony. Late saturday night, I received this message on twitter. "@chanchanchepon just want to say this... You inspire me man. No joking, you really do." I don't know what prompted the message, but I do know that it meant a lot to hear words from my friend.

A similar thing happened to Jamie Sunday morning before church. She received a text from a mutual friend that said "Thanks for bringing me to Jesus." Can you believe it? What a text! It was from a mutual friend who left the area just a couple of years ago. Needless to say, Jamie was very touched by that text, and honestly, so was I.

You see, I've come to a realization lately that we end up touching people's lives far more than we realize. And yet, we are so slow to share that truth with others. Maybe you've shared your faith with friends or family members and then lost contact with them, and they now have embraced a life of faith. Maybe you took the time to listen to a friend when they were hurting and didn't know where to turn, but you comforted them. Maybe you were the one whose words may have seemed to sever a friendship, but they were actually the words that rescued someone from destroying their life.

Or maybe you are reading this, and realizing, "You know what, when ________ said or did _______, it really helped me, and I never took the time to thank them or let them know."

You know what I think? I think that YOU have had more of an impact on others than you may ever realize in this life. I also think that YOU have a great opportunity to encourage someone today just by sending a note, a text, a tweet, an email, or (deep breath) a letter. Never, never underestimate the power of your words or your presence in the life of another.

Maybe you are reading this and thinking about all of the people who have touched your life (to be honest it's what I'm doing too). You probably feel overwhelmed (because I do). Can I make a suggestion? Take a moment to send a little encouragement to just one person today.

Honestly, your note could make more of an impact in that person's day than you realize, and it will probably make a difference in your own day as you take time to remember the kindness of others.

So get to it. Seriously. It'll just take a second, and it's a really good thing.

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Social Media Revolution?

So I just received a link to this video on twitter, and thought I'd share it with you. Here's the gist of it. This video explains a MAJOR shift in the way people communicate. The cool thing for all of you who aren't up on social media is that people still communicate by talking face to face, writing letters, and even using their phones. But, I imagine if you are reading this blog you have used at least one of these other communication methods. Email, skype, facebook, myspace, twitter.

And if you haven't used any of these, well, it appears that this may be the direction the world is taking. Ironically, while people are using these sites more and more, and reconnecting with many friends old and new, the number of relationships we can successfully maintain has not fluctuated much. According to social theorists, the magic number is around 150. And according to a recent article written in 'The Economist', that number hasn't fluctuated with the advent of social media.

It's pretty wild to think about the rapid shifts that are taking place with new technologies emerging. It's hard to imagine that it was less than 100 years ago (1933) that FM radio came into existence. We make the assumption sometimes that these technologies have always been around.

Even though social media has helped facilitate connecting with others, I get an eerie feeling that we are living in an age with greater feelings of loneliness than any other. So, while these technologies can be very handy, and they do help us reconnect in a fairly splintered society, maybe we need to experience a deeper and more substantial connection than tweets, homepages, and even skype calls can manage. Maybe what we really need is to somehow learn to share a real experience with others, and to know presence.

May you experience the presence of the One by which and for which you were created. And may you find community in this world that is only supplemented by social media, and not substituted.

Why I Tweet

And what is tweeting anyway? Tweeting is both what a bird does (some of them also hoot and make other calls, but that's really not what this post is about. This post is about the rise of social media (like this blog), facebook, and of course twitter in the way people communicate, share ideas and the like.

This past weekend, I had two people point out this BRILLIANT John Piper article about why and how he is using social media. I highly recommend reading it, and more than that, I recommend considering how God may want to uniquely use the mundane activities of your life to bring Him glory and inspire His worship. In the article, Piper says that He believes that because God intends to use all things for His glory, that things as seemingly trivial as twitter are not an exception.

I would have to agree. When I first signed up for twitter in May of 2008, I thought, "this is it?", "this is what all of the hype is about?" I really don't see the point. Over the last year though, as I've experimented with the media more and more, I'm seeing it's benefits. I've seen a number of people, organizations, and even news channels begin to use the media. I've seen a mix of self-promoting entrepreneurs, and straight-up garbage mixing in with the world of twitter and other social media as well.

While it would be easy to write off such disembodied pursuits like twitter and facebook as a waste of time, I tend to disagree. As I write this, I think about all of the different things that people twitter about. While these social media forms are no substitute for face time with real people, there are some pretty amazing things that I'm becoming attuned to through twitter.

For instance, because I follow International Justice Mission's twitter, I was able to discover that they had a partnership with a coffee company that gave 100% of their coffee sales revenue to IJM for the month of May. That's pretty phenomenal. Also, because of these media (as I have blogged before), many friends were able to send words of encouragement and support when my dad suffered a heart attack.

There can be a tendency to shy away from new media because of the potential negative effects it might have. That happened with radio and with television in the past. And there is definitely a fair portion of garbage on the web as well as television and radio. But if and when you and I blog, or twitter, or facebook, or whatever the next thing is, we have an opportunity. We have an opportunity to be a message of hope or to point people to good things that are happening in this world. We can tell people about God, we can encourage folks to smile for a moment, or we can even bear one another's burdens in new ways.

I tweet for all of these reasons and more. Part of it for me is an opportunity to encourage others toward good things that I discover while sailing the waters of Spirit and Life. Part of it is to share new insights about life, and maybe an adventure every now and then. Part of it is to stay connected in ways and with people that I now live far from but who I care about very much.

But, my hope is all of it helps people grow in their joy, their peace, their patience, their love, and so much more.

And as you read these words today, I hope you will consider how you use not just 'social media' but all of your resources for the glory of the Creator of the Universe. For from Him, through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen.

The Latest On Dad

Well, dad has been pretty active today, so there hasn't been a lot of time to write. I wanted to take a few minutes though and give a little update on the day thus far.

Dad's still making pretty incredible progress considering he had a massive heart attack monday night AND a quadruple bypass AND had his chest reopened tuesday because of he was bleeding a bit much. Of course at the same time, my dad is a total stud. Until this surgery, he walked an average of twelve miles/day.

But today, he's pushing himself, and I'm pushing him too. This morning he was laying in bed a little tired, and we had a heart to heart. My dad is in excellent physical condition. He can recover really quickly. But the thing that's going to make the difference as to whether it's going to be a few days or a few weeks before he gets home is ATTITUDE.

But isn't that the case with all of us? So often we all feel the chips are stacked against us and fail to realize the incredible potential and opportunities we possess at our fingertips.

Dad is working hard, and now he is resting hard. After we talked, he sat up for a bath, and even stood up for part of his bath too. A little later, cardiac rehab came in, and they thought he might not be up for walking yet. Dad walked with them from the bed to the hallway, and then sat in a chair for TWO hours. He sat up to eat his lunch (he needs to eat more), and then asked to be able to lie down. The nurses helped him to get in his bed, and he was pretty talkative but tired for a while.

I grabbed a quick bite to eat while he started napping, and when I came back we talked about what his strategy would be for the rest of the day. His goal is to sit up again for supper, and then to walk across the room one more time today. I think those are respectable goals.

Earlier today, I sent a prayer request through twitter and facebook that said the following:

"back at hospital (w) dad. His no. 1 need now is a (+) attitude, tenacity, and discipline to push through his rehab. Pls pray 4 this!"

Supper time is coming soon, but thanks for reading, and I hope your weekend is off to a wonderful start. Keep praying if you don't mind--keep praying for a positive attitude for my dad, and for yourself while you are at it. Many obstacles can be overcome simply by changing our attitude and our perspective.

May your obstacles become opportunities and your perspective be one of perseverance!

Prayers of the Saints

Last night, Willie, Becky, Ray, and I made our way into the small chapel in CAMC for a brief while yesterday evening, and while there, Willie discovered a series of notebooks. The notebooks (one of which is pictured above) contained prayers written out by people who had relatives in this hospital and in this particular wing. I took a few minutes this morning and read a few of these prayers. Some might think this an invasion of privacy, but I think each of these people who poured out their heart wanted to share their hearts not only with God Almighty, but with anyone who might wander into the chapel looking for a bit of encouragement.

I can't fully describe how beautiful and touching these words on the pages are. When you are going through any type of emergency care or trauma, it feels like the world is crashing in on you. It's the same with all of us. These prayers reflect that. Sure we all know statistics on various illnesses. If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know about the tragedy of over one billion people when it comes to clean drinking water. But when we are confronted with statistics, they might impress or depress us.

On the other hand, when we are confronted with prayers, the numbers become more personal. All of a sudden our lens gets a little less myopic. We realize that there are many who are hurting in our world, and there's a sense of solidarity because as they say in Kiswahili, "Tuko Pamoja", We Are Together. We are not alone. We are all connected and united. And yet these words in spiral notebook in a chapel point to an even deeper solidarity.

For me, when I read the prayers of others who are calling out to Jesus, it reminds me of a deeper truth. It reminds me that Jesus draws near to those who are hurting in the world. it reminds me that Jesus also suffered and understands everything we may be going through. It also reminds me of a vision from scripture in which the prayers of the saints are described as a fragrant incense to God.

When I read these prayers, they are a fragrant incense to me as well. I'm encouraged by them, humbled by them, and moved deeply in my soul by them.

I'm so thankful for the prayers of the saints. Spoken and unspoken. Written and unwritten. The heartfelt prayers of the saints are a thing of beauty.

Thanks again for all of the encouragement and prayers you have sent to the family over these last few days through phone calls, visits, tweets, and facebook. These have been a strong source of encouragement for me and my family.

Twitter

twitter icon (for Fluid), originally uploaded by seyDoggy.

So last week, I started diving into twitter. Twitter is like a micro-blog. I can write about things that take 140 characters or less, share links, and share a little bit of my life in the process. Who would do this? Businesses, celebrities, individuals, friends, the sky is the limit. Our current President twitters as do many celebrities, pastors, and bloggers (like some of the ones linked to this blog). I'm finding out that quite a few of my friends twitter as well.

Lately I haven't been able to share as many full length blogs, but I'm readjusting some things to make that more viable (plus there have been some really cool stories that I want to share, but haven't been able to yet!)

Anyhway, I thought I would take a moment to introduce you to twitter. I'm amazed at the number of people I'm finding on twitter. Some people treat it like a facebook status update or wall post (read more about facebook and twitter in the articles linked in this sentence.)

So I'm telling you about twitter because I have linked my "tweets" (twitterese for updates or blog posts) to this blog in the left hand column. While this will never replace full length blogs, it does allow for me to share a bit of my life while on the go. You can twitter from a phone (but standard texting rates apply), so I choose to use the web and twitterfon to make my posts.

Now some people twitter about anything and everything--for instance, some twitter that they woke up and went to bed. I don't plan on doing any such thing. But I do plan on experimenting with it a bit. So if you are into the whole twitter thing, check my little mini-blog out it goes by the same name as this one.

And if you feel like it, you can let me and the world know your thoughts on the whole thing by leaving a comment on this blog.

Have a wonderful day!

NURU BLOGS!!!

Nuru International, the organization my friends Jake Harriman and John Hancox co-founded to work toward ending extreme poverty one community at a time has commenced it's first project in Kuria, Kenya. The team left the United States on Monday September 22, and have been in Kenya for the last three weeks.

Three of the team members have started blogs to give people back here a little insight into their daily lives. (The fourth is working on content for a soon to be launched website for Nuru.) It has been more than a little eye-opening to read. The team's work is just beginning, and it is really wonderful to get stories of what life is like for them on the ground. I'm setting up a new category on the left so you can easily click to read their blogs.

Janine is nuru's health care specialist and started her blog by sharing a snapshot of one day in her life. One of the most eye opening portions deals with her work in the health care clinic. There are amenities and standards that we really take for granted here in the West among them being the quality of health care that is available here in the states. I recently made a doctor's visit, and there were four people (including the doctor) who offered varied assistance during my visit as I had a mole removed--the whole thing took about 20 minutes. One machine made an incision as another cauterized blood vessels to minimize bleeding. Such a fast procedure would be unheard of in much of the world. In Nyametaburu, there is simply a nurse who does EVERYTHING. No receptionists and no computers and all the records are handwritten by the nurse. No privacy either, patients just stroll in while the nurse is meeting and treating others. But you can read more about it allhere.

Nicole left Chicago to begin working to improve the water and sanitation in Nyametaburu. In one of her blog entries, she shares a very detailed picture of what water and sanitation is like for the people she is serving. As I started reading her accounts, I've had my eyes opened even more to what is the norm for over one billion people. For instance, she shared in one entry what it was like to get clean drinking water. First you have to travel to get to a water source--no plumbing. And then, the water must be boiled once you get back to the house. So then you've got a bunch of really hot water, and then there's still some stuff floating in it--dirt, etc so it has to be filtered through a clean cloth (you've gotta clean the cloth again once you go through this process once). And THEN, you have some clean hot water, so you have to let it sit, and cool down a bit. No refrigerators. No Brita filters. No ice either, so you never really have a COLD glass of water. So after you go through all of that process of acquiring and purifying the water, you wait for it to cool to whatever the temperature is that day, just so you can have a drink. We really do take A LOT for granted here! Wanna read more? Check out Nicole's blog.

Jake started his blog with a Bible story. It's a story of a young man standing up to insurmountable odds, and in the end triumphing over a monstrous evil. He ended that entry with a challenge, and it's a challenge I will echo and leave you with. You see, there's no reason why anybody needs to live this way. The technology and the resources are available--what the world needs is people who are willing to say "Enough!" and begin to DO something! It's time for our generation to STAND UP and GET IN THE FIGHT!

Will you join us in the fight?

You only live once…be the change you wish to see. Be hope…be light…be nuru.

Why Nuru?

On monday, four of my friends left for Southwestern Kenya to begin a project that has been years in development.  It all started my freshman year in Arnold Hall when a group of people from all over the region became really great friends.  And then we stayed friends.  And then we dreamed together.  We dreamed of what might be possible one day if we all worked together toward some goal.  We dreamed about the possibility of something that would require great faith, and would tap into ALL of the skills and talents that we developed during our college years, and in the professional world beyond.

Enter Nuru.  It's a Kiswahili word that means light.  In many parts of East Africa it has connotations of hope.  Lasting hope.  Light that is all encompassing.  Pretty amazing stuff.

A couple of my friends, John and Jake started Nuru with a vision of bringing lasting hope and sustainable solutions to poverty.  And then as they started putting the plan together, many more of us joined them in the fight.  It's been like watching a dream come true.  We are all  embarking on a journey that really started at WVU during our freshman year--yet we had no idea.

Because of our faith, we have been stirred in our spirit to DO something about the over one billion people in our world who live on less than one dollar a day.  God has called us to care for the poor--it's irrefutable.  Any doubts, check out Isaiah 58, or Matthew 25.  Nuru's dream is becoming reality in southwestern Kenya.  A community of 8,000 people are being given an opportunity to lift themselves out of extreme poverty in a period of five years.  Five years, and 8,000 peoples lives will be changed.

And YOU can be part of it too!  YOU can be Nuru for this little group of people.  YOU can join in the fight.

I know that we are bombarded with invitations to support various causes.  I also know that in a situation like this small gestures of support can make a significant impact.  A small gift of $10 can go a long way.  I also know about a God who takes our few loaves and fishes, and does amazing things with them.  That's why I want to challenge you to make at least a $10 contribution to Nuru International.  There's two ways you can do it.  1) Join facebook, and read more about the cause on there and find out what your simple gesture can do.  2) Send a check made out to Nuru International to 189 Highland Ave, Morgantown, WV 26505.

So why nuru? Nuru is already doing great things, and I want YOU to be part of it all!  Do YOU want to CHANGE the world?  It starts with small, yet significant gestures.  It starts with a decision to contribute to making the world a better place.  Be the change you want to see.  Be hope.  Be light.  Be Nuru!!!