Guest Post for InAMirrorDimly.com: "A Powerful Gift"

Today, I'm guest-posting at InAMirrorDimly.com, a site run by my friend Ed Cyzewski. Ed runs a series of posts that revolve around the concept of "Belonging in the Church."

Ed was kind enough to share his platform with me, as I posted a bit about my background as a worship leader. Here's a snippet of the post:

When you have a talent and you go to church, people are going to find out. It doesn’t matter how hard you try to “hide your candle under a bushel,” if you can speak, teach or are particularly gifted in the passing of offering plates, this is knowledge that will somehow, magically make its way up the leadership flagpole. 

Moreover, if you are a musician, this is information that will be even more valuable. If you can strum a guitar, hold down a steady beat on the drums, tickle the ivory during the offertory or are able to sing on key, you will be found out.

READ THE REST OF THE POST HERE

Lost in Yosemite: A Guest-Post for ThomasMarkZuniga.com

Photo by Flickr user Queenofthelibrary

Today, I'm guest-posting on the blog of my friend Thomas Mark Zuniga. Tom asked me, a while back, if I could write a guest-post on the topic of 'wandering,' which he, ironically, planned to run during a long cross-country trip he would be taking (which he is currently in the middle of). 

Here's an excerpt from my guest-post, titled: "Lost in Yosemite:"

By the time I knew it, I had no idea where I was. The campsites ran together and started looking the same. I tried to retrace my steps (or pedals), but it only got me more and more lost. 

Eventually, it got to the point where I had no idea where I was. It was getting dark. I was just a kid. Every possible worst case scenario started running through my mind. 

My parents wouldn’t be able to find me. They’d be worried. Maybe I wouldn’t get back in time and they’d leave me in Yosemite.

Check out the rest of post HERE!

Things That Go Bump in the Night

In October of last year (2011), my wife, Kim, and I bought a house. Not only is it the first house we've purchased, it's the first house we've lived in, period.

We lived in an apartment for the first two years of our marriage, before we decided to step our game up. Boy, did we ever.

It's been a big change, but one of the biggest changes is the issue of security. Now, you need to be aware that we live in a small town called Gloucester. We also live in a small part of that already small town.

Most of our neighbors are old. Really, really old. We like it that way. It was honestly a big selling point for us.

So, with that said, you should know that it's totally inexcusable for me to ever worry about our safety. There's virtually a zero-percent chance that we will ever have issues with break-ins, theft or violent crime.

But that doesn't stop me from doing a double-take every time I hear a sound, late at night. It's different now. When we lived in an apartment, there was one door, and it was bolted shut. We also lived on the second floor, so getting in through a window was going to be difficult, at best. 

We now live in a two-story house (plus a finished basement). We have three different doors that could be used as a point of entrance, plus countless windows.  

Sometimes, I hear noises. It's never anything major. Usually, the source of the disturbance is a bug bouncing off the window, the cat pretending to stalk invisible prey or just the air conditioner noisily cutting on.

But I still haven't gotten used to the noises.

I'm the man of the house, the first and last line of defense. It's my worst nightmare that anyone would ever invade the sanctity of our domain and do anything that could endanger my wife and our unborn child.

Because of this, I've been known to walk the premises with the tiny shovel from the fireplace. I don't know what I'd do with it if I ever happened upon an unwelcome intruder, but one of us would be going to the hospital. (Decide amongst yourselves who the unlucky victim would be.)

Ultimately, it's all just in my head. It isn't real, and I'll get used to the dumb noises. For now, it's a process I'll just have to settle into.

Don't we do that with other things?

How often do we get freaked out and paranoid over something, only to find out the big deal was only in our minds?

It reminds of the scene in Home Alone where Kevin McAllister goes down to the basement and finally tells the furnace to "shut up."

Maybe it's a physical condition that you've Googled and are currently fearing the worst case scenario.

Maybe it's a creditor who you're scared to death of, but they might just chill out if you'd have a 10-minute conversation with them and work out a payment plan.

Maybe there's something you need to tell a spouse, family member or close friend, and it's acting as a wedge in your relationship.

Whatever it is, don't live in fear today. You can't keep running around your house with a tiny shovel, but it's only going to make you more fearful.

Be honest about what you can control and what you can't. Do the best you can with what you have, and then just let go of what's eating you.

Fear will eat you alive if you let it. Don't let it. Not today. Go downstairs and tell your furnace to "shut up!"


What's eating you today?

When God Closes a Door

Photo via Creative Commons

A while ago, my wife, Kim, and I started doing something dangerous. We started asking God to close doors.

It's unorthodox. As Christians, we usually ask God to open doors, not close them. We ask for confirmation, but usually, we prefer it in the positive variety.

Why?

Because it's a lot more fun when God puts an anonymous check in our mailbox for the exact amount of money we needed than it is to get an e-mail, informing you that the job you applied for isn't going to come through.

The thing is, a closed door is pretty definite. When a road closes, it almost always directs you towards the path you were supposed to be on.

But it's no fun. Even though you know it's for the best, dealing with rejection, in the moment, is never a good time.

From the Archives: 'An Idiot's Guide to the Galaxy'

Can I be real with you guys? I'm nervous. I'm not sure why. I write words and sentences for you all the time. It's not that big of a deal. I know you. I like you. Some of you even like me back.

So, yeah, I'm nervous, but I'm also excited. Here's why:

I wrote an e-book called An Idiot's Guide to the Galaxy. The book is a satire on society. It takes shots at everyone, even myself. Check out this excerpt:

From the Archives: 'I'm Gonna Be a Daddy!'

What a gigantic difference one tiny line makes.

On Friday, Dec. 2, 2011, my entire world changed. That was the day that my wife Kim told me that, ready or not, I was going to be a daddy. She was going to be a mommy.

WE...are having a baby.

From the Archives: 'People Who Don't Have Facebook Profiles'

Photo by Flickr user Thos003

Remember Myspace? Believe it or not, it still exists, but you don't hear it talked about much, these days. How about Friendster? The domain is available if you'd like to purchase it.

Then there was Facebook. 

Facebook is everywhere. It has taken over. It's unavoidable. 

Sort of.

There exists a population of people whose number grows smaller every day. They are like unicorns or leprechauns. An urban myth of sorts. 

Who are these people, you ask?

Non-Facebook users.

Guest Post: The Golden Age of Videogames

I first discovered my friend Cole Bradburn via Gentlemint, when I stumbled upon a post that he wrote about "The Legend of Zelda." Being a child of the 80's, I was drawn in immediately.

Like myself, Cole is also an expectant father. During the day, he is a doctor of chiropratic. By night/free time, he writes at ColeBradburn.com. He writes good things. You should read them.

Cole was kind enough to guest post for me during my absence. Appropriately, the blog has to do with old school Nintendo.

Hope you enjoy.

I'm Taking a Vacation

It's finals week. It's been a tough schoolyear, and I haven't taken break from this blog since December when I started it. It dawns on me that it may be a good idea to take a step back.

So I'm taking a week off. 

For the next seven days, I'll be running archived posts and a couple of guest posts from some awesome friends who volunteered to help out.

I also won't be on Twitter very much. It's not because I don't want to be. I'll miss you guys. I just need some time to unplug and unwind.

With that in mind, here is a post that I published a couple months ago about "Bromance:"

Friday Funhouse: May 18, 2012

I've been doing the "Friday Funhouse" for a few months now. Every now and then, I get positive feedback, but most of the time, you guys observe quietly.

I need your help. While I do post stuff that I enjoy, it's important to me that I'm hitting my target and that you, the readers, are enjoying what I do.

So, please, take a minute and leave a comment. Let me know what' on your mind. Are you enjoying the "Friday Funhouse?" What do you like about it? What could be better?

Thanks and enjoy this week's edition of the Funhouse!

Guest Post for LisaDeLay.com: "The Day I Fell Down a Mountain"

Today, I'm guest-posting at Lisa Colón DeLay's blog about a painful experience I had in college that helped shape me as a person.

Some life-changing moments are internally painful. Some are physical. Today's post encompasses all of the above (or to the left, depending on what type of browser and resolution you are currently using).

I won't give away too much, but it involves me falling down a mountain.

Intrigued? Well then why are you still here? Head on over to Lisa's website and check out my guest post: "The Day I fell Down a Mountain."

CLICK HERE TO READ THE POST

A Letter to My Two-Year-Old Self

Recently, I've noticed a trend in the blogging community. Nostalgic posts are all the rave. Namely, I've seen several friends of mine who have written letters to previous and younger versions of themselves.

My buddy Leanne wrote an awesome post called: "To My 20-Year-Old Self: Sometimes It’s Better to be Single." You should check it out. It's awesome.

The idea behind this post (and others like it), is that if we could just instill some wisdom in our younger selves, perhaps we could have avoided some really painful mistakes.

Also, these fictitious conversations can be helpful for people who haven't yet gone through those kind of struggles. If you're twenty(ish) and you read Leanne's post, it may help you avoid some of the pitfalls she was unable to see.

But it all got me thinking. What if I went back even earlier. Shoot. If I can create a fake blog time machine, I can go back as far as I want, right?

So I'm going back. Way back.

This is a letter to my two-year-old self:

'Thor' Makes Everything Better

I realize yesterday's post was kind of a bummer. I was venting. It was a little negative. Sorry about that.

In light of all that, I wanted to pick things up today and try and lighten the mood.

So, I thought I'd bring up the most entertaining conversation I had this week and share it with you guys.

A few days ago, I had a very humorous Twitter exchange with my friend Jamie (from Jamie's Rabbits), wherein, we decided to take famous movie titles and insert Thor's name into them.

We thought it would be funny.

We weren't wrong.

Unfortunately, Twitter (which is currently on my "doo-doo list") decided to delete our whole conversation, so I can't share them, but here are examples of what it may have looked like:

- "The Thorshank Redemption"
- "12 Angry Thors"
- "Thorception"
- "Thorrest Gump"
- Thor to the Future"

You get the idea.

So, since I lost our list, I'm imploring you to help me rebuild. The task is simple. Take some of your favorite movie titles and insert Thor into them. The funnier the better.

Go!

Monday, How I Loathe Thee

It's Sunday night as I'm sitting here writing this. I had a pretty good day. It was a pretty solid weekend. But I'm really bummed right now. Why, you ask?

Because tomorrow is Monday.

I dread Mondays. I hate that I'm going to have to wake up early and make a 45 minute commute. I'll probably go through the motions till lunch time and will be looking forward to an afternoon nap, all day long.

I'll spend the rest of the week trying to psych myself up to be at job that will be going away very soon. That's no easy task, and I gotta be honest, I've had a lot of trouble motivating myself lately.

Friday will come. I will rejoice. The weekend will go too quickly, as it usually does, and I'll be right back here on the couch again, dreading the Monday morning to come.

I cannot do this for the rest of my life. I will suffocate. I will die. Even if my body lives on, my dreams and my creativity will be snuffed out.

Everyone keeps asking me if I have a new job lined up. They wanna know how the hunt is going. And really, they just want me to tell them something safe and comfortable.

They'd be ecstatic if I told them I had an office job, or maybe even that I'd be teaching somewhere else. That would be a big relief to them. They'd be so proud of me and happy for me.

Not the people who love me and are close to me, though. They don't want that for me.

This morning, we had brunch with my wife's parents. My father-in-law looked across the table, while we talked about my job situation and, in reference to my being laid off, he made the statement: "You were overqualified for that job, anyway."

I thought he was just fooling around at first, but he wasn't. He meant it. I could tell he believed it.

I don't know if he's necessarily right or not, but I do know this period of my life is going to necessitate a major change.

I'm not sure what that means, but I know I have to shake things up. I have gifts and abilities, and I deserve to be appreciated and feel important.

In two weeks, the school year is over and I have no idea what I'm doing for a job after that.

And that's okay.

Rant -- over.


Wanna let off some steam? Vent a little in the comment section. It can be about Mondays, your job, people who still think "planking" is cool...you name it. If it bugs you, leave a comment about it. It won't fix anything, but you'll feel better for a minute.

Friday Funhouse: May 11, 2012

Before we get to the shenanigans, here are the winners from Wednesday's Caption Contest:

1st Place -- Brian (I don't have any contact info for you so please e-mail me!)

2nd Place -- Jason Ziebart (journal coming your way)

3rd Place -- Rob Sorbo (tweet of awesome on its way)

If you weren't in the top 3, take no shame. All the submissions were really good. You're funny. Really. You are.

In addition to the Caption Contest, here's what else went on at TheIsleOfMan.Net this past week:

- On Monday, I was honest about an episode where "technology kicked my butt."

- On Tuesday, I guest posted at ShawnSmucker.com about facing your fears.

- Yesterday (Thursday), I asked the blasphemous question:

"Is 'The Avengers' better than 'LOTR?'"

And today? Well, today, we're sticking with the format and checking out some of the best pics, vids and articles from the past week of interweb goodness.

You can check it all out, after the jump, but before you do, I wanted to remind you guys to check out MendMark.com and OurShirtsDontSuck.com. They are both friends of mine who are Christian-run clothing businesses that kick a lot of butt. 

MendMark specializes in a complete apparel line for Christ seekers who also like to dress fashionably. They really make some cool stuff. You should check out their website today.

Our Shirts Don't Suck is a company that helps churches, organizations and even private individuals who just want to get some high quality shirts made. VBS is coming up soon. Does your church need shirts? You really need to check these guys out!

If you do end up pacing orders with either company, do me a favor and let them know you found out about them through TheIsleOfMan.Net. Thanks!

Without further banter, here is the best of the best from the past week:

Is The Avengers Better than Lord of the Rings?

Last Friday night, I was privileged to finally witness a movie that I'd been looking forward to for as long as I can remember hearing about it as a possibility. That movie is "The Avengers."

My brief review is that "The Avengers" rocked. I thought it did start a little slow, and some of the dialogue was cheesy, but you expect that in this kind of film. Once it did get moving, it never stopped.

The action was intense, and I cannot tell you how the chills ran up and down my spine at being able to see all my favorites on screen together.

It was a lot of fun.

I will see the movie again, in the theater, probably multiple times. Yes. It was that good.

None of that will probably be controversial. Here's the part where eyebrows may raise.

After the credits rolled on "The Avengers," my friend Tony looked over to me and made this seemingly blasphemous statement:

"That was better than 'Lord of the Rings!'"

My kneejerk reaction was to feel uncomfortable with the comparison. You can't compare action/sci-fi thrillers to LOTR, can you? Isn't it heresy in the geek world?

But, the more I examined the idea, I began to let myself entertain the idea.

Could "The Avengers" possibly be better than "Lord of the Rings?"

Caption This: Spiderboy

The above picture was snapped by my awesome sister-in-law Brooke. Apparently, there is a little boy in her neighborhood who has superhero aspirations. I can't hate on him for that, but I can ask you guys to help me caption this picture.

First prize winner will get a free shirt from the incredible folks at OurShirtsDontSuck.com. Second prize will win a free leather journal. Third prize will get a free mention on Twitter (this has no cash value as it cannot be measured by human currency). 

So, what are you waiting for?

On your mark, get set...be funny! 

Guest post at ShawnSmucker.com: "Don’t Be Afraid to Look Your Worst Fears in the Eye"

Living in fear can be totally paralyzing. It can make you worried, it can make you sick. It can ruin your life, if you let it.

But just like a bully, you have to stand up to fear.

Today, I'm guest posting over at ShawnSmucker.com on this very topic. As most of you know, I'm currently through a bit of a rough patch, and I've been very honest with you guys as I go through all of this.

Here's a snippet of the post I wrote, titled: "Don’t Be Afraid to Look Your Worst Fears in the Eye:"

It’s frightening. The worst case scenario is that the money will run out in a few months. I’ll have a wife, a newborn son and my house will be taken away. 

So why post about that? That’s not encouraging at all, right?

First off, I just wanted to be honest. If you’re going through a similar situation, or you may be in the future, I’m doing you know favors by dressing it up. This is my burden. This is real.

Second, and more importantly, I’m sharing because I’ve come to an important realization that I hope will be helpful. Here it is:

My worst case scenario isn’t something I can’t come back from.

Check out the rest of the post HERE.

Technology Kicked My Butt

I'm about to go to bed. It's 1:00 a.m. and I've been up for two hours trying to figure out how to put together a slideshow with music.

My goal was to create a slideshow that showed the progress of my wife's pregnancy (i.e. her "baby bump"). It was going to be thoughtful and sweet. People would have laughed, cried and wondered how they ever lived without witnessing such an inspired piece of media.

Alas, it wasn't meant to be.

Windows Movie Maker is cursed, and by that, I don't mean some wicked witch placed an evil hex on it, I mean I literally cursed at Windows Media Maker. Just kidding. Not kidding.

So, I resorted to crawling Google for a web site that would provide this service for free. I found several would-be winners. But they all turned out to be busts, due to the fact that they wanted you to pay to be able to publish anything worth a crap.

I'm now prepared to throw my laptop out a window and kick an inanimate object that totally doesn't deserve it. Technology has beaten me. It has won the battle. I will win the war.

I'm going to bed now, but I wanted to post something. So this is it. This is what I went with. I'm not going to re-think it. I'm not going to go back and flower it up or add a hilarious viral video of a baby eating carrot flavored food.

What I would like though is to turn my tragic evening into a discussion, if you're up for it.

So here I go.

When the last time technology totally kicked your butt? Feel free to include all the embarrassing details and pictures, if applicable.

Friday Funhouse: May 4, 2012

I've been waiting for today for months. Why, you ask? Because tonight, I finally get to see The Avengers. I'm a grown man who has looked forward to a comic book hero movie like a young boy looks forward to Christmas morning. It's a little pathetic. I know.

I'm still excited and tonight is going to rock.

Here are some other things that rock:

Junior Seau's Death Should Be a Wake Up Call to Us All

Former NFL linebacker Junior Seau was found dead yesterday by his girlfriend, in what appears to have been a suicide via a self-inflicted gun wound. He was 43-years old, and leaves behind an ex-wife (Gina Deboer) and three children.

Seau was also famous for his "Say-Ow" clothing line, his restaurant, Seau's The Restaurant, in Mission Viejo, California, as well as his short-lived tv show on Versus called "Sports Jobs with Junior Seau."

This morning, on my way to work, I was listening to ESPN Radio as they eulogized Seau, his career, his life and the legacy he has left behind.

One of his friends and former teammates, Marcellus Wiley, was interviewed about Seau and his passing. Wiley became emotional and broke down as he recounted an episode last year, when Seau was involved in a dubious one-car accident that involved him driving off a hillside.

He recalled that moment in time and spoke about how he went to Seau to make sure everything was okay. Junior affirmed that it was just an accident and that there was nothing to worry about.

In retrospect, that appears to not have been the case.

The prevailing sentiment from Wiley was that he never saw it coming. He never knew Seau was that kind of depressed or even depressed at all. He regretted not being close enough to him that he was able to help him.

In no way do I want to trivialize these events. I also don't want to attack this story with overtly Christian overtones. There's a time and a place for that...and this is neither.

However, I do think it's a good time to sensitively examine this situation in the layout of all our lives. Seau is gone and that is tragic. With that said, this should be a wake up call for us all.

Dating Advice for Dummies

When I was in High School, I was terrible with girls. Seriously. You have no idea. They didn't give me the time of day. I didn't know how to talk to them. I didn't know how to act around them. I was an utter and total mess.

When I got to college, I "leveled up." I was a little more at ease with myself and developed a deeper confidence in who I was as a person. But still, I was no expert. I dated some girls over the course of a few years, but no one was confusing me for a "ladies man."

Over the next several years, a light switch flipped on. I figured out some very key things that helped me get to a place where being around females and even being romantic with them was really not a big deal.

The truth is: It's not that complicated. As I notice some of the guys at the high school where I teach and see them making some major mistakes, I can't help but want to reach out and share some knowledge with them.

It certainly isn't limited to just those guys. I look on Facebook and note other young men making equal amounts of silly errors that are totally avoidable.

So, with that in mind, here are a few things I've learned about dating:

Kids Gone Wild

The following is an excerpt from a book I'm working on called "Your Baby is Ugly," in which I discuss the dynamic of parenting from the perspective of a teacher...and someone who was once a child. I'd love your input, good or bad.


When I was a kid, my brothers and I used to get into a lot of trouble. We were home-schooled and, generally speaking, a regular day consisted of getting up early, flying through our schoolwork (at mach speed), and then finding things to do outside.

Occasionally, those things ended up getting us grounded.

One of the most unique episodes had to do with an elderly man who mowed the lawn on the property behind our house.

We rented our house from the next door church, and there was a very large piece of land, adjunct to our backyard. We called this property “The Farm,” and we used it every day as an outlet for what would otherwise be dangerous energy.

Let me preface this story by saying that I have nothing against elderly citizens. I think old…er…experienced people are great! I’d love to be one some day.

Back to the story.