I’m on a blog tear right now. I think it’s the new batch of premium French press coffee I bought yesterday.
I came across a few articles today that brought me to the same conclusions.
First, it was a CNN op-ed piece by Larry Rosen titled “Generation ‘Text’: FB me.” It’s definitely worth a read if you work with youth or have a child who’s growing up in the Net Generation or the iGeneration, as Rosen calls them. Here’s a quote by Rosen:
I came across two new heroes today – Charlie Wilks and Matt Steven. Both are in high school. Both are athletes. Both are incredible young men. And both are blind. If you click on their names, you can see both their stories on Youtube in separate pieces by ESPN. I can guarantee that they’ll inspire you and that, afterwards, Charlie and Matt will be your heroes, too.
Charlie plays football for his high school team. Matt is a player on a youth league basketball team. Both guys work hard, overcome incredible adversity, and shine like champs in big moments. Watch their stories, they’ll make you see the possibilities in all young people a little bit differently.
I serve with youth. Some of them have challenges you and I couldn’t even dream of facing on a daily basis. Some of them are physical challenges, some of them are difficult life circumstances. And it’s amazing what potential they have to do great things and impact and shape this world. I know that God sees great things in them. Much greater than we can imagine. I want to see what he sees.
What you’ll notice in the stories of both Charlie and Matt is that there are families, friends, and coaches who gave these young men a chance to shine. There are probably countless other stories like this of youth who are doing extraordinary things. And in each story, there are unseen heroes who loved these kids, saw something great in them, and gave them a chance.
I can’t think of a better way to spend my life.
Thanks, Charlie and Matt, for doing what you’re doing. And thanks to everyone who has your back for reminding me that I have incredibly talent, potential, and passion around me all the time. I just have to see it.
I’m a little overwhelmed right now.
There are about 10 books that I want to start reading but I already have 6 books that I’m in the middle of reading (I think) and another couple books that I just finished but probably need to go back and look at. Add to that the growing number of blogs that I want to follow, NY Times and ESPN articles to read, Facebook and Twitter updates that provide not very useful but nonetheless compelling reading material, and the occasional magazine that I like to pick up now and then and what you get is information overload.
The word I hear a lot these days is “bandwidth” as it relates to people and our capacity to give energy and brain power to a certain number of projects, ideas, or relationships. These days I’m feeling a little bit more 56k than T1 or 3G. (That sounded very nerdy.)
One of my favorite things about being on staff at New Life is my colleagues are incredible readers and great resources for all sorts of literature and ideas. Whenever they mention a book they’re reading, my first thought is always, “that sounds great, I want to read that.” And the reading list grows longer and more ominous.
So I’m wondering where to start. I’m seriously rethinking my bad habit of starting a lot of different books at the same time. It would probably be more efficient. But the problem is that I like the diversity range of ideas and information you get from reading Culture Making, Big Book of Basketball, and Freakonomics at the same time. And isn’t it the responsible thing to do to read what’s going on in the news and find out what the hottest and latest happenings are in the blogisphere? But I’m getting that feeling of being reading hungry at lunchtime at a busy food court with way too many choices and it’s like 12:40pm. Have to hurry up and make a decision. It’s nerve-wracking. And then you have to stand in line. And then you have to pay. And then you get to eat. And by then you’re just scarfing down your food for dear life. And then you feel sick. Somehow, somewhere the point of the whole thing got missed.
So I’m at a place right now where I’m reading with fervor but also a little anxiety. So many books, so many articles….it can drive you crazy. And if I’m feeling way too behind on that stack of books sitting next to my bed (true story), then the chances of missing a huge moment of revelation because I’m too busy turning pages are much high than I’d like.
Am I the only one that goes through this?
I didn’t see as much of this year’s Winter Olympics as I would have wanted, but I caught most of the major events and tried to keep up with the compelling story lines and personalities. I’m a big Olympics guy – I love the passion and hope and intense pressure that comes from spending years (and usually a lifetime) preparing for a route, jump, game, or run. Here are some random thoughts I had:
Ohno and the Koreans
There is probably no person who is the focus of more intense sports hate than Apollo Ohno by South Koreans and Korean-Americans. Ever since the last Olympics, the hatred toward Ohno has reached extreme and irrational proportions. If you’re around Koreans and Ohno’s name comes up, you’ll invariably hear someone say, “I hate that guy.” And it’s not even that people hate that he wins or think that he cheats; it’s at the point now where people say “I don’t like his face” or “If I met him, I’d want to rip that soul patch right off.” That is some intense sports hate. Here are some thoughts why:
No, this will not be a post about the recently concluded season of Heroes. Charlie the waitress was found, but unfortunately the point of this whole past season was not. But that is for an entirely different post.
Way back when, there was this place in the blogisphere called Xanga. This was my first foray into the world of online communication, and I kept up with that site in xangaland for a good five years. So I went back through my xanga site and checked out some of my past entries. It felt like flipping through the pages of an old journal; some of it looked completely brand new to me and some of it felt like yesterday. I came across this post from 11.16.07 that really stuck out to me, especially given all that God is teaching me right now in my own life and with our youth ministry. It’s taken from My Utmost From His Highest by Oswald Chambers, and I thought I would re-post it here:
“We have a tendency to look for wonder in our experience, and we mistake heroic actions for real heroes. It’s one thing to go through a crisis grandly, yet quite another to go through every day glorifying God when there is no witness, no limelight, and no one paying even the remotest attention to us. If we are not looking for halos, we at least want something that will make people say, “What a wonderful man of prayer he is!” or, “What a great woman of devotion she is!” If you are properly devoted to the Lord Jesus, you have reached the lofty height where no one would ever notice you personally. All that is noticed is the power of God coming through you all the time.” (My Utmost For His Highest, 11/16)
Heroes don’t look for the limelight. Heroes don’t look for the praise from people. Heroes are the ones who probably had no idea anyone would know their name, but were motivated because God knew their name. I’d love to see more and more heroes around. Quiet, faithful, consistent heroes who will serve and give and love like Jesus. Wouldn’t you?
