Who Knew? Taking an early morning walk is pretty awesome

I get many things from my job. One of them is time alone in my car. I work for a software company in Silicon Valley, but I don't live there. That means I get up and drive 70 miles to work several times a week. It takes me anywhere from 1.5 to 2 hours each way.

At first I didn't enjoy the drive, but a few months ago I stopped listening to the radio and started listening to podcasts that my wife suggested. They helped pass the time and I started learning. One of my favorite podcasters is Timothy Keller, who is the pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York. 

In addition to listing to Keller, I started to talk with God(praying). It was great, because I had been wanting to spend more quality time with God, but with kids, etc., I was struggling.

Here comes the part about taking a walk. My work allows me to work from home a couple days a week. I found that I missed the time I naturally had with God when commuting, but I  wasn't taking any time to pray when at home.

I decided to change, and started taking a half hour walk around my neighborhood on the mornings I work from home. On my first walk a couple weeks ago I took the opportunity to notice my surroundings and realized that they were beautiful. Yes, it was overcast, but the air was crisp and the hills were awesome.

I recommend it to anyone. Both the walking and spending time with God.

Who Knew? Learning to read would come in handy

Second installment in the Who Knew series



I almost didn't learn to read. There, I said it.

That was almost 40 years ago and seems like another life. Actually, life was very different when I was in grade school. I tell my kids we had color TV, but in reality we only had one color-green.

Why do I find it interesting enough to blog about my almost tragic life? Last month, a few friends and I started blogging about what God is doing in our lives. I have to admit that I'm enjoying it. The 3gdadnetwork blog has provided me an easy way to document the events and causes that inspire me.

I was a late bloomer academically and struggled with phonics through third grade. I progressed by cheating and pretending and thought I was pretty good at it. My third grade teacher saw that I was struggling, and offered to tutor me that summer if my mom would watch her kids during that time. I don't remember her name or how often we went over to her house, but by the end of the summer, she caught me up.

I was an average student till high school, where it finally started to click. I did well and eventually received my BSBA from what was then called Central Missouri State University.

This blog post would not have happened if not for the compassion of my third grade teacher and the encouragement of my mom.

Who Knew? When you give something away, it isn't yours any longer.

Here are a few things I learned after my first full week of Giving It Away.  If you are on this journey with us, I hope you can avoid the mistakes I made.

Lesson 1 - When you give it away, it isn't yours any longer
Last Christmas I received a water bottle with built-in filter.  It was a great gift that I anticipated using often.  In reality, it was odd shaped and hard use.  I gave it to a co-worker thinking he would like it.  He later told me that he planned to use it for watering his plants.  My first thought was to take it back and give it to someone who would appreciate it.  Then I remembered that I had given it to him and therefore he can do whatever he wants with it.  It no longer belongs to me and I don't need to think about it anymore which is the reason I gave it away in the first place.

Lesson 2 - Think before you give
Last week I gave away my personal humidifier that was given to me as a Christmas gift in 2013.  After giving it away, it dawned on me that it was a gift from my wife.  I almost asked for it back and then realized that she wouldn't care.  I confirmed that assumption that night to my relief.

Lesson 3 - Not everyone will be excited about your gift
Who knew that a used water bottle(see lesson 1) is not a great Give It Away gift?  I for one.  When I told others that I was giving away my used water bottle, the most common response was yuke.

Lesson 4 - Cheating doesn't pay
Taking time each day to look through your stuff and find something to give away takes time and effort.  On Thursday, I had the great idea of finding several things and putting them aside for Friday and Saturday.  This worked great until I realized that doing this would keep me from creating the habit that I'm trying to form.  I've decided that it is better to miss a day of giving than to cheat by storing up stuff and giving myself a reason to not think about giving.

For those of you that either daily or frequently Give It Away, what lessons have you learned?