mumblefrog…

Although the guy in the photo may be an amateur I am the “amateur photographer”.  I managed to snap this on a cloudy day in New Orleans on a recent business trip.  Photography is something I love to do but seem to have little time for.  I have to many interests, in fact it’s a little embarrassing to list all the hobbies I have been into at one time or another.  Bonsai, Reef Aquariums, and cycling are just a few.  But the arts are something I will always come back to.  The creativity feeds me, helps me remember the wonder God put into the world for us.

During my trip the thing that surprised me the most was it seemed like a normal city.  Signs of the hurricane we not very visible with a few odd exceptions, the tent city under a raised highway just outside of downtown for example.  I did not visit the hard hit areas, I know I did not see the worst of it.  It was clear however that the media has painted a less than accurate picture of how New Orleans as a whole is doing.

Anyway let me know what you thin of the photos, these are the best of the group.  I have a bunch but so many are exposed incorrectly because i had the camera in the wrong mode.  Did I mention I am an amateur photographer?

Many of you know my wife Gina is in the ministry, a children’s pastor in fact.  Not only that she is at one of the worlds most inovative chruches.  The pace is fast and often furious, which can be at times discouraging.  But there are days, days like today, that I remember I am going to see the King.  Can you imagine that, going to see a King?  One who wants to see you.  But the King I speak of is like no other, he is the King of Kings, the Alpha and the Omega.  He knew me before the foundations of the world, he knows me now and he wants to see me.  So on days like today I remember I am going to see the King, and everything else fades away.

 I am going to see the King, don’t you want to come with me?

For those of you that don’t know I work for a company who helps other companies deal with their documents.  We are first and foremost a supplier of printers, copiers and fax machines as well as service to go with them.  In addition to that we also provide what are called EDM and ECM services.  These snappy acronyms stand for Electronic Document/Content Management.  Even with that explanation many of you are still wondering what I am talking about.  There in lies the pain of EDM, when we talk to companies about it they all agree they need to do something with out really having a good grasp of what that is.  It’s hard to determine our needs when we don’t fully understand the source of our pain.

 Document management is painful for most organizations.  Some just grin a bear it, others deploy sophisticated computer systems to manage their paper files.  But even in our “google” driven electronic world a precious few organizations understand the impact EDM can make.  Those who do have an unmatched power of their documents and more importantly the information contained within them.  This makes the pain of getting there worth it.  It brings them an unfair advantage against their competition and they know it.

So if your like me and the rest of the U.S. you get that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach every time you drive by the gas station.  So it stands to reason that you might think to your self ” I wonder if getting a different car would save me money?”.  Again if your like me you would sit down in front of your computer and ask the Internet the same question.  Most people have heard of Cars.com, Autotrader.com and Edmunds.com or at least one of them.  It’s stands to reason that at least one of these guys would have a tool that let you search for a car based on gas mileage right?  Sounds like a safe bet right?  EEAAAHHH!  Please try again! 

 Not one of these sites has a tool that allows you to sort by MPG.  If they do it’s really hard to find.  How dumb is that!  All three of the mentioned sites live and die on the Internet, two started life as print media but that part of their business is gone or just barely hanging on.  With gas prices on a rocket ride to $4 per gallon everyone will think MPG when buying a car, truck or SUV.   You would think that as fuel prices have steadily climbed over the last decade one of these site would have figured this out. 

 Companies like these who sell information must understand that the way the consumer wants to filter the information will change.  If they don’t provide a tool to  look at their product from a different angle they will lose out.  Is your organization losing out because even though it has lots of data it has no way to change the viewing angle?

We had life group tonight and our assignment was to read John chapter 1.  I read it just as I had done many times before. 

1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning.

 3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood^[a] it.

 Our group began discussing what the text means in verse one.  The Word was with God, and the Word was God.  Wha?    Where does this ”Word” thing fit in?  Through discussion and a note in my study bible this is where we landed.  

 The note in my bible taught us that “Word” in this verse stands for a Greek term that means a thought expressed.  It also suggests that  Jesus is the human expression of God.  In a way it’s like the dreaded “word” problems in high school.  Train A leaves the station at eight fifty nine PM going sixty five miles per hour, Train B…etc,etc.  The problem is still math, it’s just expressed in language rather than numbers.  I know it’s not a huge leap but read the verse again, this time I replaced “Word” with Jesus. 

 1In the beginning was Jesus, and Jesus was with God, and Jesus was God. 2Jesus was with God in the beginning.  3Through Jesus all things were made; without Jesus nothing was made that has been made. 4In Jesus was life, and that life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood^[a] it.

 It’s a lesson in the context of Christ, His pre-human expression history if you will.   Just like a “word” problem can help us understand a complex mathematical equation when Christ expressed God in human form the solution to the complex equation of being separated from God became simple.  For me this is one of those moments where you smack your self in the forehead in “could of had a V-8″ style and think to your self how did I miss that before!  So if you notice a bruise tomorrow you’ll know why.

I can’t tell you how many times I have seen something like this.  The fact is people treat software like it’s magic.  Buy my software and all your problems will be solved!  Behind the scenes it takes long hours solving complicated problems with a lot of variables.  The web has spoiled people and business into thinking the solution is justg a few lines of code away.

If you provide services how do you combat this?  Communication, and in most cases over communication or at least what seems like it.  Believe it or not but when a client receives no communication over a five day span on a project that will take six months they get antsy.  This can be combated with communication, either by establishing assigned dates they will receive updates or pre-determining a regular communication interval.  And NEVER fail to deliver communication on time, even if it’s just to say nothing has happened yet.

We had life group last night and had two new couples attend.  It was great to hear their stories and see how God had been working in their lives.   Our life group is just getting started and I can’t wait to see where God takes it

I like many of you have a facebook account.  Today I had two messages in my in box.  Both were spam.  A new kind of spam.  I got “Happy Thanksgiving” Messages from two groups I am a member of.  I was not amused.  I know that sounds harsh but I belong to these groups because I care about their mission not because I want cheesy holiday messages from them.  I want real communication about what’s going on, not idle chatter.  Both of the messages had no relevant content to the mission of the organization.  One was hocking t-shirts though.  I understand that by having a facebook account and joining these groups I gave permission to market to me.  But I gave permission for a specific reason.  When marketing to your loyal base be careful your not just spamming them.  If you want to send them holiday wishes make them personal.

I absolutely love my job.  To be sure their are aspects of it I could do with out.  Things like hard conversations with under-performing employees or getting chewed on by a customer for something that we had no control over.  But all of that is no big deal.  Because I work for people who believe I belong here, that I am the right person to do my Job.  Wow! Think about how profound that is.  Does your boss believe in you that way?  Do you believe in your employees that way?  I firmly believe that your organization won’t hit it’s groove until it starts to look at personnel as more than just plugging people into the system.  People make the system not the other way around.

I am testing a nifty plugin for Worpress.  It passes my posts to my facebook account to be displayed on my news feed.  Check it out on facebook!