Etsy and Harriman Woodworking

Have you ever heard of Etsy? It's a website that serves as a hub for artists, artisans, and craftspeople of various types to sell their wares to people everywhere. My best understanding of it would be that it is an online grassroots marketing and distribution site for people who are skilled in various arts and crafts. If it had been in existence when my mom was living, I have a feeling she would have been enjoying a profitable retirement as she could have an outlet (beyond local craft shows) to distribute her amazing crochet, knitting, beadwork, and jewelry. 

I first discovered Etsy through my friends Clare and Jimmy Shreeves. Clare buys a number of handmade items on Etsy. My wife also frequents Etsy, and has bough multiple wedding gifts through the site (and also bought our cupcake toppers from our wedding there). The site has tons of listings in various categories, and each listing has an image. Many of the artisans are willing to make custom items as well. I love the idea behind this site, because I feel like there's something really special about hand-made items. Hand-made items tell a story. The creators of the items have refined a skill, a process, and strive for excellence in their work. 

Recently, I found out that one of my old roommates from college, Luke Harriman, just opened an Etsy page. Luke and his wife Diane, are incredible friends, and I'm grateful for any time I get to spend in their presence. Luke has also always been gifted with his hands. He also has recently completed a PhD in English--so he's a pretty smart guy too! Back in our undergrad, I can remember Luke teaching himself how to crochet, play the fiddle, and he even taught himself pottery and made our plates, bowls, coffee mugs, and drinking cups when we were living together.

Luke is also an incredible woodworker. He has worked in carpentry as well as cabinetry, and I'm really excited that he has started making beautiful clipboards and cutting boards and is selling them on Etsy. The photo above is his "End Grain QR Code Cutting Board" that he is selling on Etsy. It's a pretty intricate piece, and it is also a great conversation piece. The QR code is becoming an increasingly common format for bar codes and it is able to be scanned with smart phones. This particular cutting board has a QR code that takes you to the website of Nuru International. Beyond being an incredible conversation piece about Nuru, Luke has dedicated 20% of the proceeds from sales of this item to further Nuru's work.

Looking for a high quality cutting board from a talented craftsman? Looking for a kitchen tool that has an incredible story to tell, and that benefits an organization doing incredible work? look no further, visit Harriman Woodworking on Etsy, and tell others about Luke's incredible handiwork!

Five Years

Today marks five years since my mom left this world and journeyed to be with Jesus. The time has passed so quickly. It really feels weird to think about how much my life and the life of my family has changed since she went home to be with Jesus. I wish she could have been around to see it all, and that she was still here with us, but she has gone on to a far better place. She no longer suffers the challenges of high blood pressure, type two diabetes, congestive heart failure or metastatic invasive carcinoma breast cancer. And when I list out all of those challenges she faced daily, it makes it even more impressive she stayed with us for as long as she did. 

In 2007, I cut a significant amount of my hair in honor of my mom, and in 2008, I cut the remainder of my locks in honor of her, and to mourn her loss as per our Shawnee tradition. I’ve not grown it back since. My brothers, Chuck and Willie, both made sacrifices of their locks as well. Chuck even shaved his mustache—a permanent fixture on his face since the 80s. Even Willie’s son Christian shaved his head in honor of my mom. Willie also wrote this beautiful song to honor and remember her upon her passing. It still brings tears to my eyes as the memories come flooding back of her courageous last days on this earth.

I started my first garden the year my mom died. Over the years, I’ve learned a lot through my dabblings in local agriculture, but more than anything, I’ve been reminded of lessons she and Dad taught me about planting, growing, harvesting, and hard work. Of course like any kid, I didn’t enjoy the discipline at the time, but I can look back with immense gratitude now.

And within a month of mom saying goodbye, I began to have serious conversations about global poverty and international development withmy longtime friends Jake Harriman and John Hancox. These conversations along with extensive reading and research on the subject, and much prayer, fasting, and wrestling, led me to a significant career change as I joined my friends as they started Nuru International. I’m grateful that I have been able to deepen my service to others, and invite more people to confront the crisis of extreme poverty in our world. I really wish mom could have been here to see what we have been able to accomplish in the five years since she died, but I am incredibly grateful my dad has been here cheering us on in this work.

And a little over a year ago, I got married. I wish my mom could have spent more time with Jamie. She’s absolutely incredible, and I think they would have absolutely loved each other. They are two of the best examples I know when it comes to compassion and caring for people around them.

And then there’s my sister. She left a ten year job at a doctor’s office to start a new career this year. Not only that, but my sister has become quite the runner. It seems like every weekend she is getting a new trophy or award for her running exploits. Since the year my mom went to be with Jesus, Becky has led our family in participation with the Wood County Relay For Life. Mom was never able to attend—the first year, she was in ICU. Little did we know she would be leaving so soon. And Becky had her own bout with cancer in 2007 too. Just a month after mom’s parting, she had a malignant melanoma removed. She’s a survivor.

Dad was walking twelve miles a day, and riding his bike 20-30 miles 2-3 times per week after mom died. And then in 2009, he had a massive heart attack. It was utterly unexpected. Dad has always been healthier than most people half his age. Since that attack he doesn’t walk twelve miles a day anymore, but he is probably in better shape and eating better than ever before. As much as we kids miss mom, Dad lost his best friend of 43 years. Dad continues to be an example of generosity and compassion to others too. He supports Becky at virtually every race she runs, and he maintains his garden the way he has done for years and gives away significant portions of its bounty.

My brother, well he is still working in the same job, but his level of responsibility keeps increasing. He’s an extremely talented engineer. And he lives and loves sacrificially with his time. He’s up at 430AM virtually every day to drive himself and several coworkers to work and stays up late to make sure dogs are walked and chores are done. And further, his son has graduated high school and is a student at Notre Dame (not WVU, but still not a bad education).

And in the last five years, each one of us has grown in our faith as well as in our service to others. My dad just recently took the steps to join his church and was baptized the same day.

On Mom's last trip to the hospital, my sister, dad, and I spent the day with her, and I left the hospital to drive to Morgantown to receive my MA in English. I leaned down to hug her and told her, “I’ll try to make you proud tomorrow mom.” As I stood up, she looked at me with her eyes filled of compassion, as she breathed deeply from the oxygen tube running under her nose. She smiled and said, “Every day you make me proud.” Those words echo in my mind every time I think of her. She loved each one of us well, and she showed us by example, even during her last days, how to love the people who cross our paths in seemingly random ways.

I wish mom was still with us, but one day we will reunite with much rejoicing. And until that day, we will labor, and dedicate the remainder of our days to love God and love others well, and to work to serve our neighbors both locally and globally. I know that if she were here, she would continue to be so proud of each of us. I know she would be cheering us on alongside Dad, and she would be cheering Dad on as he maintains his health and faith so well.

Wherever and whoever you are, you have an opportunity today to make a choice. You and I have an opportunity each day to pour out a legacy of hope and compassion, to wisely steward the gifts we have been given, to love well, and to live well. And I pray we may live as an example worth imitating as we walk this earth, just like Mom.

Fairmont Senior High School Students Join Nuru International’s Efforts To Fight Extreme Poverty in Kuria, Kenya

Back in February, I had the privilege to witness a first in the short history of Nuru International. I visited a high school in north central West Virginia that had organized an entire week of events dedicated to raising awareness about Nuru’s work as well as raising funds to further our efforts on the ground in Kuria, Kenya. To my knowledge this is the first time a school anywhere in the country has dedicated an entire week to ‘being Nuru’ and, as a West Virginian, it makes me extremely proud to know that this school is in my home state of West Virginia.

Over the course of the week, students organized a variety of activities to raise funds and to ‘be light’ on their campus. (Nuru is a kiswahili word that means light and has a connotation of hope.) The week started with me visiting the school for an all school assembly to talk to students about the issue of etreme poverty, what Nuru does, Nuru's West Virginia roots, and how young people just like them are getting in the fight to end extreme poverty together with Nuru.  That same day, students and faculty were encouraged to wear their “We Bears Do Care” Nuru Club T-shirts, and wrote statistics on clothes pins and pinned  these to one another to raise awareness around the school about global extreme poverty.  The week progressed with students being able to buy glow in the dark bracelets, raise funds to participate in a ‘bucket walk’ , and culminated last Saturday with a 5K race on the campus of Fairmont State University.

To me, one of the most amazing aspects of the week was the fact that it was largely coordinated through the efforts of one teacher and a handful of students. Mrs. Adrin Fisher, an English teacher (and also a past graduate of Fairmont Senior High School and West Virginia University), helped her students form a club, get permission for the events of the week, and mentored them along the way. As a result of their efforts, more and more students and teachers began getting involved with the events of the week, and together they had a massive impact.

Over the course of the week, over 200 people joined Nuru International’s fan page on Facebook, and these students together raised over $2700 to support Nuru’s work on the ground in Kuria Kenya. I am so proud of these young people. As Mrs. Fisher noted, too often, young people from small town America are discouraged from believing they can do something really significant to make a difference in this world.  The fact that Nuru was started by Jake Harriman, a person from rural Appalachia (Preston County, West Virginia), really resonated with the students and served as an example that they also could step up and make a significant impact on our world.

I hope other schools around this state, country, and world, will follow the example of these students, and organize their own unique events and fundraisers to inspire even more people to join us in this fight so that one day, we can say that together we were the generation who ended extreme poverty, and helped people everywhere have choices and the opportunity to determine their future.

Nuru International Partners With Sevenly Clothing To Help Families in Kuria West, Kenya

Last fall, you might remember a blog post I wrote about a clothing company called Sevenly and their partnership with Nuru. Well, this week, Sevenly partnered with Nuru again.

Each week, Sevenly partners with a different nonprofit that is helping people around the world in areas varying from hunger alleviation, to human trafficking.  They have partnered with organizations including International Justice Mission, CompassionInternational, and Charity: Water. We are grateful to be among the organizations that they have invited to partner with them on multiple occasions, and we are even more grateful for the funds that they are raising through their business model this week that allow us to further our work.

When Sevenly designs a shirt, they design it for a limited run. The shirt Sevenly is creating for Nuru will only be available for one week, and as of my writing this post, there are just under two days left to purchase this design. Sevenly donates $7 from every shirt sale to the cause of that particular week, and because they have a quality product, they are able to generate a large donation in a relatively fast amount of time.

I love this model for a couple of reasons. Number one, it is effective. Since Monday, Sevenly has raised over $11,000 for Nuru through selling t-shirts. My second reason for loving this model is for the reminder it brings. You see, often we underestimate the power of a small donation. But several small donations added together make a huge impact.

Last Sunday, I was able to share with a group of folks from my home state of West Virginia (Almost Heaven), the amount of money they have raised over the last four years as a result of their small monthly contributions to Nuru. It is absolutely amazing to consider how quickly these contributions add up. Don’t ever make the mistake of thinking your contribution is too small. Everybody has a contribution to make toward ending extreme poverty, and we put these contributions together, more and more lives are changed for the better.

So consider buying a quality shirt or hoodie this week from Sevenly and putting another $7 toward the amount they are raising for Nuru this week. And beyond this week, consider making a recurring donation to Nuru. Twenty-nine dollars per month (less than a dollar a day) can help an entire family lift itself out of extreme poverty. Together, we are ending extreme poverty, one community at a time!

Creating A Bu$iness You’ll Love: Top Entrepreneurs Share Their Secrets

Toward the end of 2011, I received a copy of a new book in the mail. The book was Creating A Bu$iness You’ll Love: Top Entrepreneurs Share Their Secrets edited by Mark Chimsky-Lustig. The book features essays from a wide array of entrepreneurs including Howard Schultz of Starbucks, Tony Hsieh of Zappos, and Craig Newmark of Craigslist. One entrepreneur on the cover of this book caught my eye in particular though—Jake Harriman of Nuru International.

I’d like to give a review of this book that was completely unbiased, but because I know Jake fairly well, that will be a bit difficult. So I’m balancing this post between the book as a whole and Jake’s contribution.

As a whole, I was really impressed with the book. The essay authors and their styles vary considerably, and make this book a very enjoyable book to read either as a whole, or by reading an individual essay.  I’d have to say the most creative essay in the book was Tony Hsieh’s “Everything I Know About Business I Learned From Poker”—It was extremely brief, fun, and engaging.

The book consists of several chapters that include a brief author bio and then a short essay about some of the pivotal decisions they made that helped them  to start and grow successful businesses. As I mentioned before, some of the authors include folks like the founders of Starbucks and Craigslist. I think it is wonderful that so many have contributed a nugget of wisdom from their experience as a contribution to this book.

Separate from the book as a whole, I love the fact that this book has given Jake an opportunity to share some of the experiences that served as the engine for what would become Nuru as well as sharing some of the challenges he has overcome in seeing this dream become a reality (including contracting malaria twice, getting struck by lightning, and being attacked by thieves). At the close of his chapter, he offers five practical pieces of advice for anyone who wants to start a business or social enterprise.

One piece of advice in particular that I appreciated was Jake’s suggestion to develop a “getting out of bed” answer. What drives you to get up each morning and do the work that you do? What compels you to push forward. I think the reason that this particular passage struck me is that I believe that this is the key to participating in any endeavor. When times get tough, what is going to motivate you to keep pushing  ahead? What is going to be your reason to not give up, when giving up is the easy route?

There’s a ton more in the book, across all of the essays, and I highly recommend you pick up a copy, and give all of these essays a read. This book would be a great inspiration for pushing your dreams forward and taking them from ideas to reality.

Jumping Rope Into Fitness

As 2011 was coming to an end, I found myself, among other things, considering ways I could maintain my fitness in a low cost, time effective way.  A few years back, I had purchased a jump rope, but could never really get started jumping because I was looking for the perfect surface to jump on.

Rather than continue the search, I thought back to my childhood, and jumping on sidewalks and gym floors and varied surfaces. And as a result, I started jumping rope in my gravel driveway as well as on a couple of different streets at Lake Floyd & in Parkersburg over the holidays last december.

The first day I jumped rope, I think I set a goal of jumping 500 times. I thought I was going to have a heart-attack after 100 jumps. (So I took a break after each set of 100 jumps, and made my way step-wise to 500.)

What I discovered along this journey is that jumping rope is definitely not as easy as it was growing up on 15^th Street in Parkersburg and chasing each other & playing tag as we raced through double-dutch jumping.  It was not nearly as easy as it seemed when I participated in one of my first fundraising events a Jump Rope for Heart at Mckinley Elementrary school. And it was definitely not as easy as it was when I tried out for the jump rope team that later became known as the River City Skippers (I didn’t make the cut).

Instead, I found that jumping rope is a challenge and that a little bit goes a long way in burning calories and improving cardiovascular fitness. After a few minutes of jumping rope, my heart rate can get up to 170-180 bpm (similar to running sprints or running longer distances at near max effort). I can get about 120-130 jumps in per minute, and I can also carry a jump rope with me anywhere I travel.

In essence, I can pack an intense cardioworkout into my day with 5-10 minutes of jumping rope (in 1-2 minute intervals), and I can take the equipment with me anywhere. I think the idea came to me when I saw the rope, and I had seen a few of those infomercials advertising the latest in exercise equipment (and known of a few people who made purchases but failed to use them). I feel like any health or fitness plan needs to travel well, and should be able to happen at a relatively low cost.

So far, I have a little over five months of jumping and building a baseline with the rope. If you are looking for an inexpensive way to jump start cardio and fitness, I recommend a jump rope. Or even if you are looking for a way to vary already existing workouts or a way to take a simple workout on the road, jumping rope is a great form of exercise.

My one recommendation is to go slow. Unless you are incredibly fit already, you aren’t going to be able to jump rope in the same way you did as a child. You’ve put on weight, and your body is not accustomed to the impact. The cardio workout is intense, but it is also an impact workout, and as such I recommend entering in slowly and build a strong base. Of course, in saying this, I’m not an expert. I’m just a guy with a jump rope who is trying to maintain and improve my health. 

Acquiring a Bike Trainer Part Four: Cultivating a Habit

This is the last of my mini-series of blog posts on my acquisition of a trainer. In previous posts, I gave some of my reasoning for why I purchased a trainer, some basic research on trainers, and then how I took the plunge on Craigslist.

Now, I have had the trainer for about two months, and I have been riding 5-6 times per week for 30-40 minutes per day. And this is where discipline has been important.

The hardest part of starting any new habit is carving out the time to add it to the daily routine. My solution has been to rise earlier to insure I get a ride in. Most of the time (but not always), I’ve been getting up between 5 and 530AM to insure that I can get my ride in before going to the gym and getting started with my work day. 

It hasn’t been incredibly easy. After not riding or running for a while, muscles in my legs were not conditioned for the new exercise. I knew that if I was to make this a habit, I would need to be disciplined—especially during the first week when I would be sore. I pushed through, and now I’m starting to reap some of the benefits.

Because I have cultivated this habit, I have been able to increase the duration of my rides. I have more energy throughout the day. In general terms, I feel better. I used to run 4-6 times per week, but fell out of the habit a few years ago, and I’m starting to feel like I used to feel when I was running regularly. Instead of being completely exhausted at the end of a run, I feel refreshed. Instead of riding being part of the discipline of cardiovascular fitness, I feel like riding is now a means for me to clear my head and regain focus.

Of course, these changes don’t happen overnight. And without an attitude of discipline, any cultivated habit can quickly disappear if I ‘get to busy’ or allow my circumstances to distract me from the habit.

Separately, since the beginning of the year, I’ve enjoyed watching my wife cultivate a similar habit with running. She has a goal of running a marathon this fall, and since the beginning of the year, she has been slowly and deliberately been building a solid foundation in her running to help her train without injury and prepare her body to be able to run 26.2 miles.

I hope this series of blogs has been helpful for you if you are considering a trainer, or if you are making steps to cultivate a healthy lifestyle in general. Thanks for reading, and happy riding, running or whatever you do to increase your health and well being for the long haul. 

Acquiring A Trainer Part Three: Craigslist

As I continued the process of acquiring a bike trainer, my friend Derek presented me with a dilemma. Do I buy a new trainer or a used one? My first thought was that since he was the only cyclist I really knew, it wasn’t like I could just find a quality used trainer. It was then that Derek started telling me about Craigslist.

Of course I had heard of Craigslist. It is a highly successful venture started by Craig Newmark and essentially serves as a free online bulletin board for selling goods, finding roommates, and giving away unwanted items, and a number of other activities. While I knew that this was a tool used by many, I had heard bad stories about people getting scammed, acts of fraud, or even advertisements of trafficked people. As with any tool, or anything either online or face-to-face, it is important to use a degree of caution and discretion when entering into a new venture.

So for the first time, I checked out Craigslist. Some of you are reading this and thinking, “Welcome to the twenty-first century!” While many times I am an early adopter, I try to proceed with caution always, and so I was slow to check out Craigslist. At first, I looked at listings in Morgantown WV, and found nothing. Then, realizing I would be in Pittsburgh four different times to pick-up and drop-off friends at the airport, I began to expand my search area. I found two trainers in Pittsburgh.

Then came the debate of whether it was better to pay more money for a new trainer that I could return at any time if unsatisfied, or buy an almost new trainer for about half the price, with no return policy. After some debate, I searched both options. I met with someone who had posted an almost new trainer for a low price on Craigslist, and proceeded with caution. Just because I met with the seller didn’t lock me into buying. And from the details the seller had left online, it appeared they were being equally cautious.

The trainer had hardly been used. It looked new. It was still in the original box. The seller told me that he bought it, kept it for a year, and just couldn’t get into the habit of moving things around to make consistent use of it. I bought the trainer, and proceeded home with my purchase, feeling like I had acquired a bargain tool that could be used by both me and my wife.

After my experience I would say that Craigslist is a solid tool, but as with any sites online, proceed with caution. Craigslist even gives some tips to avoid getting scammed.

And then a few days later, I set it up in the living room and started riding. It has been about a month since I started. More on that in my next (and final) post.

Acquiring A Bike Trainer Part Two: Research

In a previous post I mentioned the reasons why I began looking for a bike trainer, and then I began researching different types of trainers, brands, etc. For the core of my research, I poured over multiple blogs, but relied most heavily on the counsel of a trusted friend and one time competitive cyclist, Derek Roberts.

My dad and brother had told me about a cool site called Nashbar and that’s the first place I began researching different trainers. Of course I also visited sites like REI as well to look at benchmark prices. You can buy a trainer for as little as $119 and you can also spend several hundred for one.

So here are the three types of trainers listed the least expensive first. All three types have their benefits and if you are going to use it, any trainer is better than none at all.  All are essentially a tool that allows you to convert your road/mountain bike into a stationary bike.  As such, be mindful that they will wear tires just like riding on the road, and you also need to be careful to keep your tires inflated properly.

Wind Trainer—This is most simple and least expensive form of trainer. The faster you pedal, the more wind resistance is picked up by the fan on the trainer, and so your pedaling becomes more challenging. The negative of this type of trainer is that the faster you pedal, the louder the trainer becomes. If you live in an apartment complex, you might get complaints from your neighbors with this one. The real benefits are that they are simple and inexpensive.

Magnetic trainer—This type of trainer is slightly more expensive, and utilizes magnets to create resistance and change tension for you as you ride. One of the criticisms of this type is that there are occasions during which riders applied enough force as they pedaled to break through the tension of the magnets. This means minimal resistance as you pedal. These trainers are more quiet than the wind trainer, and so could be beneficial if you live close to others.

Fluid trainer—The most expensive of the three basic types, these trainers rely on resistance created by an enclosed flywheel spinning through a viscous fluid that does not expand significantly when heated (as when someone pedals quickly for long periods of time). These are the quietest of the three types of trainers, and come the closest to simulating riding on the road. As one shifts through gears, the resistance increases, and many consider these to be among the most long lasting types of trainers as they are an enclosed system.

So as I visited websites and listened to the counsel of others, my friend Derek suggested that I consider taking a look at Craigslist. He thought I might be able to find a quality trainer at a reasonable cost, and also might be able to help out another person who bought a trainer but never really used it.  I was a little skeptical of Craigslist, but more on that in another post.

Acquiring A BIke Trainer Part One: Why A Trainer?

My dad and brother have been riding bicycles for fitness for quite some time now. In fact, in late January, my dad visited my brother and they spent multiple days riding around southern California on bicycles. One day they actually ran into my friend and boss, Jake Harriman while riding along the coast in Orange County.

During the winter, my dad usually rides for 20-30 minutes 2-3 times per week at the local YMCA. During the warmer months, he is out 2-3 times per week and usually rides a minimum of 10 miles but has pushed around 30-35 on some longer rides.

After hearing them share some of the fun they had, it made me feel a little sad that I’ve gotten out of the habit of riding, or almost any form of intense cardio. Although this year I’ve been consistent about going to the gym (to lift), and I typically walk 30-40 minutes per day, I just haven’t been disciplined about stepping up my cardio.

I visited the gym with my seventy year old dad this winter, and after joining him for one of his 3 hour workouts, I felt pretty tired. I decided I needed to do something to step up my fitness beyond weights and walking, so I started looking into bike trainers.

Why acquire a bike trainer instead of just using a stationary bike at a gym? Well, there are a couple of reasons. The first reason is that I really don’t like to spend more than an hour total at the gym—I want to be in and out quickly and early in the day so I can get started with work. Also, having the trainer at home allows me to get a bike workout in whenever it fits my schedule. Lastly, being on a trainer allows me to closely simulate actual riding, and since I want to be able to enjoy riding as the weather gets warmer, what better way to get my back, core, legs and arms prepared than by riding on an actual bike. 

And so, after discussions with my dad and brother, I began to dive into researching trainer types, costs, and brands before making the commitment of the purchase. More on that in a future post.

Nuru International In the New York Times

It’s been a little over a month now since my longtime friend and CEO of Nuru International, Jake Harriman made a guest appearance in the New York Times on the blog of Nick Kristof. If you haven’t had a chance to read it yet, I highly suggest giving it a read.

In the post, Jake shared a little bit of the background as to why he left the marine corps, applied to business school, and has essentially dedicated his life to working toward ending what I believe is the greatest humanitarian crisis of our generation, extreme poverty.

It’s hard to really get one’s mind around all that has happened since Jake finished an MBA at Stanford, and launched Nuru in southwestern Kenya. Both in the states, and in Kenya, growing numbers are joining in this work, and helping to equip people with the tools and knowledge needed to lead their communities out of extreme poverty. I'm personally grateful for the number of friends who have joined us in this work, and who continue to inspire me daily by the commitments they make to help end the greatest humanitarian crisis of our generation, extreme poverty.

Thanks for reading, and have a great weekend!

Lenten Commitment 2012

This year, although I still made it to visit an early morning church service, I did not get to blog about my Lenten commitments, Ash Wednesday or any related subject. 

Each year, I approach lent in the spirit of taking an opportunity to gauge how I am growing in my relationship with God, and specifically, I look at lent as a time to re-commit, re-set, and re-engage with God and identify areas for growth. According to church tradition, people typically take this time to either give up something or add something to their life with the intention of being able to better focus on their relationship with God.

In the past, I’ve taken what some would consider some pretty radical steps of fasting or engaging in the discipline of simplicity. In the past I have also added dimensions to my devotional life in order to better know and connect with the Creator of the universe.

This year, I decided to walk through a devotional book, that may be the best devotional book I have ever read or used. It’s called Developing Intimacy With God and it’s by a guy named Alex Aronis. In the past, I had noticed that Aronis suggests lent as a great time to engage in this eight week devotional, as the last week coincides well with a celebration during the week after Easter Sunday. 

The book has a simple cover and title, but I love the way it encourages me to think about my walk with God differently. Rather than focusing on all of the things I might be able to do for God, Aronis’ book encourages me to focus my energies on spending time with Christ so I can learn to be like Him in my actions and attitudes.

The last few weeks have been incredible with regard to slowing down from the busyness of life to listen, abide, and cultivate my relationship with Christ. I really love taking time to be intentional about meditating on the words and life of Jesus and praying that as I develop this habit, that I might learn to better love both God and my fellow human beings more deeply.

It has been a wonder-filled journey thus far, and I look forward to continuing it, not only throughout the Lenten season, but for the rest of my life.

On My 38th Birthday

As I awoke this morning, I rose with a singular focus. Tired and groggy, but resolute. I began my pre-dawn ritual of reading and exercise with renewed determination.  My wife greeted me at the end of my  solitude and exercise with a wonderful breakfast, made with love, and my heart welled up with gratitude. Even as I write this, I am moved to tears for the gift I have been given to have this truly blessed life, and the opportunity I have to give back to others, and to serve as an ambassador of hope.

One year ago today, when I woke, I was greeted by the African sun, and faced, in an unavoidable way, with the reality that there are people on our planet who live on less than the buying power of one US dollar per day. These are hard working people, who lack in opportunities and choices that most of us take for granted.

One out of six people on our planet live in that condition. They don’t have access to clean drinking water, so quite often they are sick from drinking polluted water. For many living with these challenges, they are malnourished and unable to produce enough food to feed their families. Beyond this, illnesses like malaria and diarrhea threaten their lives in ways that most of us cannot begin to fathom.  And I dream of a day in which injustices like this are not part of our world.

Today I am 38 years old, and I have spent 13879 days learning and growing on this earth.  Each year, and each day for that matter, I find myself learning and growing in my understanding of how to truly live in this world. And the more I learn and grow, I find that the knowledge doesn’t make the living that much easier. Although, the lesson is simple. One’s life in one’s best moments is an opportunity to provide a window to others or a taste of what life looks like when God’s Kingdom comes and His will is done on earth as in heaven.  It is those moments when we live out our purpose best, and we love others as we love ourselves. And part of this life is a journey toward cultivating a life that reflects those moments often.

I am reminded today of an Annie Dillard quote—unfortunately I can’t remember the source. It goes something like this. “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” I have 38 years of days, some good and some bad, but all of them are past now. I have seen people living in desperation financially, emotionally, spiritually, and physically, and I’ve seen glimmers of hope piercing past the pain.

I’m not sure how long I will be walking this earth; I guess none of us really are certain, but I want to spend my days, and my life well. Sometimes I think we have grand dreams for what we would like to accomplish and the impact that we will have on the world, and I think that these are great aspirations and hopes we should all run toward.  But at the same time, I know that the best thing I can do (and you as well) is to strive to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with my God. None of us really do that in some grand plan. We do it in our daily interactions, our greetings on the street, our responses to challenges, and our willingness to love others, and be ambassadors of hope.

As I move forward into my 38^th year of life on this planet, I long to make each day count. I long to make a difference in this world, and to be an instrument of ushering in beauty and justice in places where there are despair and injustice.  I’m grateful to be part of work that is helping to create a world in which people living in extreme poverty have choices and opportunities for a better future. And I’m thankful that as part of my role at Nuru, I am able to invite others to join in this amazing work. We all have a contribution to make while we have life and breath on this earth.

May today be a day during which we are able to contemplate what our unique contributions will be, and may we each be diligent in our efforts to make those contemplations reality. May we each strive to love others well, and to make our limited time on this earth count for the good of all. 

Will You Help Make My Birthday Extra Special This Year?

This time last year, I was able to meet face-to-face for the first time with the Chairman of Nuru Kenya, Mr. Philip Mohochi. To learn more about his story, click here. 

This time last year, I was on the ground in Kuria, Kenya witnessing first-hand the impact Nuru has had on the ground since 2008. I said goodbye to my dad, and my then fiancée Jamie at the Pittsburgh airport, and then flew to Detroit, Amsterdam, and finally landed in Nairobi late Saturday night. It was there that I first met one of Nuru Kenya’s staff and now a great friend, Julius Nyamohanga. Julius and I sat in Jomo Kenyatta airport sharing stories and waiting for a few others to arrive before leaving for a quick night of sleep in a small simple apartment in Nairobi before awaking at 400AM to prepare for a long bus ride to Isibania.

It would take a lot to capture all that I experienced during that week, but I tried to capture some of it in my blog last year while I was there. Here’s a few links to posts that I wrote during my stay. Among other things, for the first time, I celebrated my birthday in another country. It was absolutely amazing. Let me tell you about what happened on my birthday last year.  I witnessed 165 people make commitments to join savings clubs with Nuru’s CED program (similar meetings were held in other communities, and over 465 people joined savings clubs in one day).

One of the things that struck me about the meeting—which was a 45 minute drive from the nearest town of any size, was that 165 people were gathered and ready for the meeting 10 minutes before it started. They had walked 45 minutes to an hour to gather for this meeting which told me that they believed it was worth the time commitment it took them to be there. It is absolutely mind-blowing when I step back to think about the step I watched people take that day.

And since that time, Nuru has continued to grow. There are now roughly 15,000 people who are benefitting from Nuru’s programs in Kuria, Kenya. And all of that has been made possible because of passionate people like you and me who are willing to support these programs.

That’s why this year on my birthday, I’m proud to be the among the first to use a brand new tool Nuru is introducing. The tool allows people to raise funds and awareness for Nuru’s work by creating their own fundraising campaign online. For my birthday this year, I want to ask you to check out the page, give me your feedback about what you like/dislike about the tool, and consider making a donation. On the occasion of my birthday, I’m trying to raise $1000 to support Nuru’s work, and thanks to the generosity of others, I’m already halfway there. Will you check out my page and make a donation?

Thanks for taking time to give your feedback, and if you like the tool, consider using it as create your own unique way to spread the word about all the good Nuru is doing. Thanks for reading, and thanks for being Nuru!

E4 Fantastic Theological Content In A Portable Format

In 2003-2004 I had the privilege of participating in a series of intensive lectures featuring some of the great theologians of our generation. The intensives were part of a project called ‘e4’ and they varied in length from one to five days. Each class featured both lecture and impromptu Q & A sessions and was professionally recorded. And just recently, this content was made available in an affordable iPhone app format.

This app features a series of in-app purchases that enable the user to be able to learn from some of the most influential and thoughtful theologians and religious scholars of the modern era. Each module is reasonably priced as they contain several hours of video content of teachers like Dallas Willard, Rick Warren, Andy Stanley, Alister McGrath, Graham Tomlin, Gordon Pennington, and many others.

As an example, for $4.99, a user can purchase 19 hours of lectures from Dallas Willard sharing thoughts about spiritual formation, the nature of truth and a number of other subjects.

The app allows users to switch from watching video to reading while listening to a transcription of the lecture, and even has a feature which allows quotes to be tweeted directly from the app with the hashtag #e4app.

The lectures are divided into individual sessions of approximately one hour each so one does not need to download the entirety of the content at once, but can enjoy the lectures within a course section by section.

The app was created by a friend of mine named Pavi Thomas and features all of the content created during the series of e4 lectures in 2003-2004. He had a pretty incredible team of people working on the initial project with him, and as a participant in the classes and a user of the app, I am extremely thankful for the efforts of his team to bring together such a high quality tool, and to make it readily accessible to many for a low cost.

Overall, I highly recommend this app for its quality of content and its extremely affordable and portable platform. If you have an interest in theology, spiritual formation, media, science & faith, stewardship and/or apologetics these classes are an incredible tool  for learning.

Progress On 2012 Goals

I thought it might be helpful to go back and review my goals from earlier this year just to see how I am doing. So here’s a breakdown of how it’s been going so far.

Practice Sabbath, Solitude, Silence, and Fasting—This was once a strength for me, but I’ve allowed this discipline to slip in recent years.  I started off the year well, but have lapsed into looking at my phone late at night and early in the morning over the last three weeks. Time to start leaving it in another room again. :)

Blog More Consistently—This year, I would like to have at least 105 posts (2 per week). I’ve got some catching up to do here. :(

Exercise—I worked on lifting weights 1-3 times per week, walking at least 30 minutes each day 3-5 times per week, and I recently added cycling 30-40 minutes 5 times per week.

Lose Weight—I would like to lose at least 18 pounds during 2012. On February 6, I weighed 197 and currently I weigh 190. 11 more pounds to go!

Parkersburg Half-Marathon—I hurt myself playing basketball in February and haven’t been able to start running yet, but I am getting 30-40 minutes of cardio each day on my bike.

Steward Resources More Wisely—We are doing well, but we constantly look for ways we can be more efficient.

Get Outdoors—I’ve been outside for at least 30 minutes each day, almost every day this year. It has been FANTASTIC!!! I love being outside, breathing the air, and I’ve been able to hike in the woods a few times too.

Connect—We have been able to visit a few friends, but not as many as we would like, not as often as we would like, and not for as long as we would like. Hoping to see more friends in the coming months though!

Plant a Garden—Jamie has already started on some greens inside. I figure in the next few weeks we will work on turning over the soil for the first time.

Leave Margins—So far this year, I’ve been on the go a good bit, but we have also been able to experience some down times in the evenings. We start our days early, but we have been carving out space to be able to just do spontaneous fun stuff in the evenings.

What about you? How are you progressing toward your 2012 goals?

Stewarding Resources More Wisely In 2012

I realize it has been a little over a month since I last blogged, so I thought I'd share a shorter version of my goals for 2012 in terms of stewarding the limited resources with which I've been entrusted. It's a different way of thinking about things, but maybe there will be something about the way I've broken it down that will encourage you toward better stewardship of your resources as well.


My Body—Improving diet and exercise habits. Walking 30 min per day 3-5 times per week. Push-ups, jumping rope, and stretching 3-5times per week. Cutting intake of sugars, corn syrup, and red meat. Eating more nutrient dense foods.

My Time—Practice Sabbath. Go to bed earlier. Identify and minimize time suck activities (Email, Facebook, TV, Twitter). Take time to separate from technology (computer, phone, TV). Spend time in solitude, silence, and fasting from the hustle and bustle of life.

My Finances—Cut spending on unnecessaries—new clothing, meals out, un-needed ‘treats’.

My Energy Usage—Dry clothes using a drying rack. Turn thermostat down to 55 when leaving the house. Turn off/unplug appliances when not in use. Turn off  power supply to electronics when not in use (anything on standby is draining power).  Raise AC temperature to around 80 degrees in the summer. Turn off lights when not in use.

Good Idea, Now What?

Today, I am pleased to share a review of a book recently published by my good friend Charles Lee. It’s called Good Idea, Now What? and it is one of the best books I have read on the subject of bringing ideas to implementation and execution. The first time I met Charles, he was sharing with individuals at West Virginia University and in the city of Morgantown, WV as part of a week of events called “Another World Is Possible.”  Charles spent an afternoon talking about how to take an idea from the starting block to implementation, and gave some fantastic examples. The same evening, he gave a presentation on the subject of slavery and human trafficking and gave people tangible steps to take toward eradicating modern day slavery and the trafficking of human beings. The next morning, while I was taking him to the Pittsburgh airport, he told me about a small conference he was hosting two weeks later for idea makers that was called Idea Camp. After talking it over with other members of our team at Nuru, I made it a point to go. Everything I’ve seen Charles produce or implement, has been done with thoughtful excellence and quality and with an end result of helping others to do better at doing good in the world.

As I picked up the book, I must admit,  I wondered if the world needed another book on getting things done or idea making. Books like ReWork, Making Ideas Happen, and The War of Art all seemed to hone in on the subject—what more could possibly be said?  Charles’ book is actually quite remarkable. It is a series of études within a book. He has put the book together so that individual chapters are short, and easy to draw out applications. He uses real world examples from both his own life and the experiences of other idea makers to drive home his points, and he talks about subjects that can be challenging for creatives and ideamakers to talk about, things like team chemistry, implementation, and maintaining a family life and boundaries for work.

With each new section, I was thoroughly impressed with both the quality of content, the brevity of words to communicate the content, and the practical next steps offered to individuals to take ideas to reality. I believe this book could be helpful for individuals involved in start-ups as well as for teams.  This book is perfect for creative folks who have a hard time staying grounded to push their ideas into implementation as well. The chapters are short enough that anyone can pick up and read and think through application points for individual concepts. For folks who chronically start books and cant finish, the book is set up to be read as a whole, or read as chapters in isolation.

If you know, have heard, or are in other ways familiar with Charles’ work, you know that this book is a must read. If not, and you have an entrepreneurial bent, you should give this book a read and add it to your short list of books that are motivating, informative, and practical for converting ideas into reality.  Buy it today,  and, if you have time to insert it into your calendar, you should make it a point to participate in a conference Charles’ consultancy created, called !deation in Chicago this May.

A Little Encouragement For Your Health And Wellness Goals: Twenty Three And A Half Hours

My good friends Luke & Diane Harriman recommended this video to me while I was in Florida as an extra incentive to pursue some of my health and wellness goals for 2012. I was just able to watch the video for the first time this weekend, and I did so with my wife and her parents, and we all found it insightful, engaging and inspiring for pursuing improved health and fitness.

What I love most about this video is the different tact taken to describe how to pursue a fitness goal. We’ve heard that 20-30 minutes of exercise(walking, cardio, hiking, biking) per day can do the body a world of good, but to ‘couch’ it in a different way is pure brilliance.

Dr Mike Evans encourages us to limit our sitting and lying down to 23.5 hours per day to enjoy some pretty amazing health benefits. There’s something about looking at it in this way that I find extremely motivating.

I hope you enjoy the video as much as we did, and that it can provide additional motivation toward your own health and wellness goals this year.