Let me start off by saying, "It's no wonder they use sleep deprivation as a form of torture."
I really wish I could apply the Eighth Amendment to having a newborn. Not being able to sleep through the night is certainly a cruel and unusual punishment. But, it can make for some funny stories.
The other night Rachel and I were enjoying a few hours of sleep, and I was dreaming that I was sitting in bed holding Isaac. It was one of those waking dreams where everything feels real, so when Rachel woke me up asking in a panicked voice, "Where's the baby!?!?" I freaked out. My lap was empty, and I couldn't feel him anywhere on the bed around me. In horror I looked over the side of the bed worried he had fallen onto the floor. I was getting frantic as I patted the blankets around me and could not find the baby!
I looked over at Rachel and she was doing the exact same thing - looking around on the bed with an extremely worried look on our face. We both turned up nothing and looked at each other for a minute. Then I jumped out of bed and looked in the crib where I found Isaac fast asleep.
Later that same night, the exact same thing happened again, but with me waking Rachel up asking where Isaac was. I had dreamed that she had him in bed, but when I woke up and looked around, I couldn't see him. This again led to a frantic search of the bed only to find him in his crib.
The next day we talked about what happened, and came to find out both of us had been dreaming he was in bed with us each time! So when we woke up and couldn't find him, we turned to the other and had our fears confirmed, that he was somewhere in the bed.
We laughed long and hard over what happened that night. Isaac is certainly living up to his name, bringing laughter into our home. I only wish it wasn't through fear and adrenaline.
(I had the same thing happen again last night. I hope it doesn't become a regular occurrence)
Friday, May 18, 2012
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Never the same again
A couple of months ago, I wrote about an experience seeing a new father give his child his first bath. If you haven't read it and want to, here's the link. Well, a couple days ago, that was me giving my son his first bath.
To be honest, I didn't feel any different while giving him his bath, but in reality, I am a very different person now, and I'll never be the same again. It's hard for me to put into words what has changed - maybe in another couple of weeks it will be easier to explain - but I think it can be summed up in that I now bear the burden of an incredibly great responsibility.
I am responsible for the protection, provision, care, and development of another human being - a human being that I helped create. I have gained a new identity. I'm a Dad! My mind is still reeling from all the ramifications of it. My future now has a different direction - it's no longer just my and Rachel's future, but it's my family's future - a future I am responsible for.
I used to scoff at those who said that you're not really a family until you have kids. Logically, I argued that a married couple is a family, but now that I'm on the other side, I see it very differently. Yes, Rachel and I were a family prior to Isaac, but the word family carries a much stronger sentiment now that we have a child.
Anyway, my mind is whirling with all of the paradigm changes that are taking place. It's an exciting time to be sure! :)
To be honest, I didn't feel any different while giving him his bath, but in reality, I am a very different person now, and I'll never be the same again. It's hard for me to put into words what has changed - maybe in another couple of weeks it will be easier to explain - but I think it can be summed up in that I now bear the burden of an incredibly great responsibility.
I am responsible for the protection, provision, care, and development of another human being - a human being that I helped create. I have gained a new identity. I'm a Dad! My mind is still reeling from all the ramifications of it. My future now has a different direction - it's no longer just my and Rachel's future, but it's my family's future - a future I am responsible for.
I used to scoff at those who said that you're not really a family until you have kids. Logically, I argued that a married couple is a family, but now that I'm on the other side, I see it very differently. Yes, Rachel and I were a family prior to Isaac, but the word family carries a much stronger sentiment now that we have a child.
Anyway, my mind is whirling with all of the paradigm changes that are taking place. It's an exciting time to be sure! :)
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Chick-fil-a Leadercast pt3
Last week I got to attend the Chick-fil-a Leadercast at one of their
remote broadcast locations. There was a lot to absorb, so I'm trying to
really focus in on just a couple of the lessons I learned. I wrote about
the first and second lessons in previous posts. Here's the third lesson I walked away with:
Leadership requires trust, and trust empowers good people to greater innovation and creativity.
In just a few short years, Angela Ahrendts has transformed the company Burberry from being an old, stagnant company into the vibrant, expanding company it is today. She said that the 'cause' for her success was Trust. As a leader, when you delegate something, you have to trust they will accomplish the task. You also have to trust the input you receive from others regarding a decision. If Bob from Accounting says that a decision doesn't make fiscal sense, don't argue with him over it, trust him.
Of the lessons I've come away with, this one scares me the most. Trusting others requires vulnerability. It leaves unanswered the question, "What if.....?" But the truth is, people thrive under trust. I don't know how many times I've become frustrated over the years when I have to explain my reasons again and again to those around me. I just want to ask, "Do you trust me? If so, then trust me with this!" And I've listened to church congregations spend hours debating over trivial matters, and I just want to ask, "Do you trust the church leadership? If so, then trust them with this!"
Generally speaking, people are good-willed, meaning that destruction and mayhem is not their goal. People want the best results, and they want to contribute their best. Both of those will be met if you extend trust to them. Combine this with the lesson, "people will rise or fall to the expectations placed upon them," and you have a powerful one-two punch.
Of the lessons I heard at the Chick-fil-a Leadercast, this one is certainly the most nebulous. There are times when you need to follow up with someone, and trust is something that in some situations needs to be earned. But too often I find myself living under the adage, "If you want something done right, do it yourself." How freeing it is to allow others to do the task. It may not be done exactly the way I would have done it, but if it's done, what am I complaining about?
Leadership requires trust, and trust empowers good people to greater innovation and creativity.
In just a few short years, Angela Ahrendts has transformed the company Burberry from being an old, stagnant company into the vibrant, expanding company it is today. She said that the 'cause' for her success was Trust. As a leader, when you delegate something, you have to trust they will accomplish the task. You also have to trust the input you receive from others regarding a decision. If Bob from Accounting says that a decision doesn't make fiscal sense, don't argue with him over it, trust him.
Of the lessons I've come away with, this one scares me the most. Trusting others requires vulnerability. It leaves unanswered the question, "What if.....?" But the truth is, people thrive under trust. I don't know how many times I've become frustrated over the years when I have to explain my reasons again and again to those around me. I just want to ask, "Do you trust me? If so, then trust me with this!" And I've listened to church congregations spend hours debating over trivial matters, and I just want to ask, "Do you trust the church leadership? If so, then trust them with this!"
Generally speaking, people are good-willed, meaning that destruction and mayhem is not their goal. People want the best results, and they want to contribute their best. Both of those will be met if you extend trust to them. Combine this with the lesson, "people will rise or fall to the expectations placed upon them," and you have a powerful one-two punch.
Of the lessons I heard at the Chick-fil-a Leadercast, this one is certainly the most nebulous. There are times when you need to follow up with someone, and trust is something that in some situations needs to be earned. But too often I find myself living under the adage, "If you want something done right, do it yourself." How freeing it is to allow others to do the task. It may not be done exactly the way I would have done it, but if it's done, what am I complaining about?
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Chick-fil-a Leadercast pt2
Last week I got to attend the Chick-fil-a Leadercast at one of their remote broadcast locations. There was a lot to absorb, so I'm trying to really focus in on just a couple of the lessons I learned. I wrote about the first lesson in a previous post. Here's the second lesson:
This year's Chick-fil-a Leadercast was focusing on choices, so the various speakers spoke on making choices, dealing with choices already made, and examples of choices they've made. Andy Stanley opened the conference talking about how to go about making the 'best' decision. He said there are three questions to add to our 'arsenal of decision-making questions:'
1) What would my replacement do?
Andy did a great job explaining this question when he said, "This question immediately brings objectivity to the decision-making process." Sometimes we get wrapped up in the making a decision based upon what the supposed expectations are, or in the ways we've always made decisions. For instance, if I always were to answer 'yes' to a certain type of request, but my replacement would answer 'no,' why should I wait until I get replaced for the answer to be 'no'?
2) What would a great leader do?
If Abraham Lincoln or Benjamin Franklin were here in my shoes, facing this decision, what would they decide? Trying to take the perspective of a leader you admire and look up to helps to "eliminate self-imposed expectations and limitations. This question will reveal to you the chance to become a great leader." Often times, our decision making process is tainted by selfish desires, conscious or not. The heroes we look up to are heroes because they make selfless decisions. Would Superman put in an extra hour at The Daily Planet or would he go home to his kids (assuming of course he had kids)?
3) What story do I want to tell?
Despite how glamorous and immediate a big decision may be, "every decision you make will end up being nothing more than a part of a story you tell." We all have a story to tell, and our story is comprised of the decisions we made to get us to where we are. Think through the decision and ask yourself, "Do I really want this to be a part of my story?" Andy made a hard-hitting point, "Don't choose anything that will make you a liar for life." We have an idea of what we want our story to be, but sometimes the decisions we make go contrary to that desire, and the temptation is to cover up the decision to make the story fit better. Don't start lying your way through life, instead make a decision you want in your story.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you were to look at an org-chart, I'm pretty low on the totem pole, but these three questions are applicable to even me. Even if I don't make business decisions for my organization, I do make decisions about my life and my family. These questions will help me become a great leader of myself and my family.
This year's Chick-fil-a Leadercast was focusing on choices, so the various speakers spoke on making choices, dealing with choices already made, and examples of choices they've made. Andy Stanley opened the conference talking about how to go about making the 'best' decision. He said there are three questions to add to our 'arsenal of decision-making questions:'
1) What would my replacement do?
Andy did a great job explaining this question when he said, "This question immediately brings objectivity to the decision-making process." Sometimes we get wrapped up in the making a decision based upon what the supposed expectations are, or in the ways we've always made decisions. For instance, if I always were to answer 'yes' to a certain type of request, but my replacement would answer 'no,' why should I wait until I get replaced for the answer to be 'no'?
2) What would a great leader do?
If Abraham Lincoln or Benjamin Franklin were here in my shoes, facing this decision, what would they decide? Trying to take the perspective of a leader you admire and look up to helps to "eliminate self-imposed expectations and limitations. This question will reveal to you the chance to become a great leader." Often times, our decision making process is tainted by selfish desires, conscious or not. The heroes we look up to are heroes because they make selfless decisions. Would Superman put in an extra hour at The Daily Planet or would he go home to his kids (assuming of course he had kids)?
3) What story do I want to tell?
Despite how glamorous and immediate a big decision may be, "every decision you make will end up being nothing more than a part of a story you tell." We all have a story to tell, and our story is comprised of the decisions we made to get us to where we are. Think through the decision and ask yourself, "Do I really want this to be a part of my story?" Andy made a hard-hitting point, "Don't choose anything that will make you a liar for life." We have an idea of what we want our story to be, but sometimes the decisions we make go contrary to that desire, and the temptation is to cover up the decision to make the story fit better. Don't start lying your way through life, instead make a decision you want in your story.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you were to look at an org-chart, I'm pretty low on the totem pole, but these three questions are applicable to even me. Even if I don't make business decisions for my organization, I do make decisions about my life and my family. These questions will help me become a great leader of myself and my family.
Monday, May 7, 2012
Chick-fil-a Leadercast pt1
Last week I had the privilege of attending one of the remote broadcast locations for the Chick-fil-a Leadercast. It was an incredible time, and I heard many great truths about leadership, how to make good choice, and how to deal with the choice we make. John Maxwell, one of the speakers, stated it well, "We make a decision, then manage that decision the rest of our lives."
I got to hear wisdom from some people who's names I recognized: Tim Tebow, John Maxwell, Pat Lencioni, Andy Stanley. I also heard from people who's names I didn't recognize: Urban Meyer, Angela Ahrendts, Marcus Buckingham, Soledad O'Brien, Roland Fryer, Sheena Iyengar.
Trying to absorb all of what was spoken is like sitting in a bathtub and trying to absorb all the water from the tub. You're not going to get it all. The key is to find one or two things that really resonated with you and focus on those. Here are the two or three things I'm taking away from the conference:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1) How to improve learning
Dr Roland Fryer spoke about the decay of our educational system, especially as it pertains to minority groups. As an economist, he looks at the data, and the data is horrifying to behold. Out of the countries of the world, the United States of America invests the 4th highest amount into its country's educational system, but it ranks around 20th educationally. Stop and ponder how horrible that is. A ray of hope is some data from a few small areas of the country where the educational scores are through the roof. Those areas implement 5 key principles into their educational systems, and the proof is in the pudding. The heartbreaking problem is that other areas of the countries aren't willing to implement these principles. The leadership lesson here is that sometimes "We know what we need to do. Do we have the leadership and courage to get it done?"
The five principles are:
1) Increase time spent studying
2) Choose good teachers
3) Get prompt feedback and make necessary adjustments
4) Utilize small focus groups
5) Have high expectations
These principles apply to how I can increase my learning as well as how the American Educational System can improve. If I want to learn something better, I need to spend more time studying it. I need to choose good sources of information for what I'm learning, and I need to have some way to evaluate my progress quickly. It would also be good to learn together with a few others, and most importantly, maintain high expectations. "People, especially children, will rise or fall to the expectations placed upon them."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Since this went a bit long, I'll post my other take-aways over the next couple of days.
I got to hear wisdom from some people who's names I recognized: Tim Tebow, John Maxwell, Pat Lencioni, Andy Stanley. I also heard from people who's names I didn't recognize: Urban Meyer, Angela Ahrendts, Marcus Buckingham, Soledad O'Brien, Roland Fryer, Sheena Iyengar.
Trying to absorb all of what was spoken is like sitting in a bathtub and trying to absorb all the water from the tub. You're not going to get it all. The key is to find one or two things that really resonated with you and focus on those. Here are the two or three things I'm taking away from the conference:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1) How to improve learning
Dr Roland Fryer spoke about the decay of our educational system, especially as it pertains to minority groups. As an economist, he looks at the data, and the data is horrifying to behold. Out of the countries of the world, the United States of America invests the 4th highest amount into its country's educational system, but it ranks around 20th educationally. Stop and ponder how horrible that is. A ray of hope is some data from a few small areas of the country where the educational scores are through the roof. Those areas implement 5 key principles into their educational systems, and the proof is in the pudding. The heartbreaking problem is that other areas of the countries aren't willing to implement these principles. The leadership lesson here is that sometimes "We know what we need to do. Do we have the leadership and courage to get it done?"
The five principles are:
1) Increase time spent studying
2) Choose good teachers
3) Get prompt feedback and make necessary adjustments
4) Utilize small focus groups
5) Have high expectations
These principles apply to how I can increase my learning as well as how the American Educational System can improve. If I want to learn something better, I need to spend more time studying it. I need to choose good sources of information for what I'm learning, and I need to have some way to evaluate my progress quickly. It would also be good to learn together with a few others, and most importantly, maintain high expectations. "People, especially children, will rise or fall to the expectations placed upon them."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Since this went a bit long, I'll post my other take-aways over the next couple of days.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
News?
I had breakfast with my pastor this morning, and on the way there, the radio station I was listening to played a 'news update.' The first story they told was about how the Colorado Springs Fire Department may start providing basic medical needs (checking blood pressure, administering insulin, etc) at their stations. It was reported that about 70% of the calls they receive is related to medical needs, so it makes sense that while the firemen are at the station they can do that for those that show up.
The next story was about how a group of Park Rangers and volunteers are headed into the mountains to take care of a bunch of dead cows. They had supposedly wandered into a cabin in the middle of a blizzard and had frozen to death, and now they need to be disposed of. A couple of options on how to deal with them included blowing up the cabin, burning it down, or going in with chainsaws and cutting up the cow carcasses. They chose to cut up the cows.
As I was listening to this, I asked myself, "Is this really today's news?" I wondered if these particular snippets were chosen to pertain to those who generally listen to country music. I decided to flip the radio over to a Christian station, and their news was just happening to air....
The first story was about how the cost of driving a passenger vehicle in America was going up. Because of fuel cost increases, insurance premium increases, and repair costs increasing, the average annual cost of a passenger vehicle is about $8500. The second story was about an elephant at the zoo who likes to play the harmonica. The zoo keeper had noticed the elephant rubbing its trunk and legs against different things and apparently liking the sound of it. So he decided to attach a harmonica to a railing, and the elephant likes to play it. They made a point of saying they don't make the elephant play it, the elephant chooses to play it.
I honestly laughed out loud at the difference between these two radio stations. Each one reported something actually newsworthy, which applied to their audience's interests, then each reported something kinda crazy, which also applied to their audience's interests. When I told her about it, Rachel reacted to the cow story with, "That's GROSS!" But she reacted to the elephant story with, "Aw....I want to see the elephant!" I had the exact opposite reaction. I want to see the cows get cut up and could care less about the elephant.
But I still have to ask, with everything that's going on in the world, in our country, and in our city, that's today's news?
The next story was about how a group of Park Rangers and volunteers are headed into the mountains to take care of a bunch of dead cows. They had supposedly wandered into a cabin in the middle of a blizzard and had frozen to death, and now they need to be disposed of. A couple of options on how to deal with them included blowing up the cabin, burning it down, or going in with chainsaws and cutting up the cow carcasses. They chose to cut up the cows.
As I was listening to this, I asked myself, "Is this really today's news?" I wondered if these particular snippets were chosen to pertain to those who generally listen to country music. I decided to flip the radio over to a Christian station, and their news was just happening to air....
The first story was about how the cost of driving a passenger vehicle in America was going up. Because of fuel cost increases, insurance premium increases, and repair costs increasing, the average annual cost of a passenger vehicle is about $8500. The second story was about an elephant at the zoo who likes to play the harmonica. The zoo keeper had noticed the elephant rubbing its trunk and legs against different things and apparently liking the sound of it. So he decided to attach a harmonica to a railing, and the elephant likes to play it. They made a point of saying they don't make the elephant play it, the elephant chooses to play it.
I honestly laughed out loud at the difference between these two radio stations. Each one reported something actually newsworthy, which applied to their audience's interests, then each reported something kinda crazy, which also applied to their audience's interests. When I told her about it, Rachel reacted to the cow story with, "That's GROSS!" But she reacted to the elephant story with, "Aw....I want to see the elephant!" I had the exact opposite reaction. I want to see the cows get cut up and could care less about the elephant.
But I still have to ask, with everything that's going on in the world, in our country, and in our city, that's today's news?
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