Today has been a long and busy Monday, but a productive one. Dad coming by was a wonderful surprise. I don’t get to see him near as much as I would like to. However, I will be glad to go to bed tonight.
Below is my dad bringing Reagan into the house.

Speaking of that alarm clock, it has been driving me crazy.  My regular one broke a few weeks ago and I have yet to buy another one.  Instead, I downloaded a program off the Internet that is an alarm clock that you can set for each day.  It will pull from any mp3 file that you have on the PC to wake you up.  It’s actually very nice, but the problem is that I can’t remember to make sure the volume is turned up.  It plays files through Windows Media Player, so you have to make sure that the volume is up on WMP, on the Windows system volume, and on the physical dial on the speaker.  Crazy!

Last night was nice.  The family and I went to Strattons, a fifty’s style diner down the street.  I had a really good bacon cheeseburger and then we all ate ice cream cones.  It is so funny to watch Reagan trying to eat a chocolate ice cream cone.

Speaking of chocolate ice cream cones, I want to say Congratulations! to my friend Marty on *************** (I did have what happened here, but then I realized that they may want to tell some people).  I am SO VERY HAPPY for him and Amy.

Look there, y’all made me go to 6 minutes.

Final word:  Let God do his perfect work in you.  He has a specific plan for each of you and for me.  If we open up our lives for him to work, that plan will be fulfilled.  It is not about our desires or plans, but of his will.

Final final word:  Never give a 5 minute time limit to a guy who likes to ramble.  8 Minutes!!!! Excuse the typos.

Can I own a Hummer H2 and be a Christian?

Wow! What a question. This is basically the same question that was posed to me by Tony Campolo during a lecture at Maryville College, which I believe was about 8 years ago. He asked it with a BMW rather than the H2, but I felt that an H2 gets the spirit of the question much better. I will tell you now that my answer to this question is “no.” I do not believe that I could ever buy and own a Hummer H2 and be a Christian. This tells you that I am not an objective interviewer here. I am most definitely biased, and therefore you may have an inclination to tune me out right now (or already have). But I ask you to have patience with me and listen to my thoughts. This is only my answer. Others will undoubtedly have a different one.

When I began college, I did so with the intention of becoming a doctor. I remember thinking at the time that this journey to doctordom would lead to an elegant home and luxury cars. I mentally created a queue of cars and SUV’s that I would buy. I had one for family travel, one for husband/wife travel, and multiples for me travel. But at the same time as my monetary aspirations, I was also taking a spiritual journey. I was asking God who he was and how I could find him. In the years after I was asked the Question, these two journeys would collide again and again. Finally, I came to some conclusions about where Christ wanted me. I also came to an answer to the Question.

Here is my reasoning for my answer to the Question. In my understanding of Christ, I feel very strongly that we are to take care of those that are in need. I get to this Biblically using many references, but here are two. First we have Jesus telling the rich man that if he really wants to get it right, then he should sell all that he has and give it to the poor. Second you have the early church of Acts selling everything that they had and giving it to the church. James then follows this up in his letter by saying that half of true religion is to visit the widows and orphans in their affliction. So the church held all the money and its job was to help.

How does this relate to a Hummer?

How can I justify spending $60,000 on a Hummer H2 when I could spend $30,000 on a nice vehicle that provides the same function and have $30,000 extra that I could give to those in need.

But what if I’m insanely wealthy and $60,000 is just chump change plus I am already giving to people? My answer would be this. First, not buying the car and earmarking that money for someone else is still $30,000 more than what would have happened had I not purchased the Hummer.

Second, I am called by God to modesty and moderation, which falls under the second part of true religion where I keep myself unpolluted from the world. How can I reconcile this call with driving a chrome encrusted behemoth.

I know that I am not actually in a position for me to be deciding on $30,000. But even though I picked an unrealistic example for my life, I still feel it applies in every decision that I make. Do I desire those things that are far in excess of what is needed? If so, what is the root of that desire? Materialism? Servanthood? Piety? Godliness? Insecurity? Greed? Need?

These are questions that lead me to my answer to this Question. This realization has changed my entire outlook on life. It doesn’t mean that I will dedicate my life to living in poverty. I plan on having nice things, a nice house, and a nice car. God has already blessed me tremendously and I have every reason to think that he will continue to do so. What I do intend on doing is striving to be Christ like in my purchases and decisions by reflecting the Word’s values on charity and modesty.

Thank you for tuning in. You can now return to your regularly scheduled programming.

The philosophy of Kaizen is at the root of this improvement. Toyota makes it easy for little things to be improved. Maybe a parts picker thinks that things will work better if a certain part is placed in a certain location on the shelf. Maybe the receptionist at the front desk says that the welcome sign’s color clashes with the building’s paint. Rather than being a top-down company where these small requests would be lost in a bureaucratic jungle, Toyota has built itself around a bottom-up philosophy where changes like these can get done. Do they all work? No, but the net result is continual improvement.

So, the word ‘kaizen’ stuck with me. Obviously it applies to my workplace and others’, where businesses could be substantially improved by focusing on the small improvements over the big splash (granted, though, that if you can do both successfully, the better for you). But I think it also applies to our personal lives, our churches, and our relationships.

Benjamin Franklin once decided to follow a system of continual improvement when he laid down his Thirteen Virtues. He would reflect daily on how well he was doing in regards to each and would often take a full week and focus on only one virtue. If we ever want to be successful in life or in death, we must have the same mentality. We must seek to always progress within ourselves and within Christ.

I also felt strongly that this Kaizen philosophy could makes its home in my church. As a caveat, you should know that I love my church and think it wonderful with wonderful people. However, just like in businesses, it is the small things that all too often slip through the cracks. I think a system that encourages the people to spot small, needed changes that would effect continual improvement would allow our leaders to focus on the bigger things. It’s something I want to think further about.

Kaizen. Continual Improvement. Are you better today than you were yesterday? What will you do today to insure continual improvement in your life?

It is now 6:18, and I here my son awake in his room. I didn’t see him all day yesterday, so I’m off to go give him some attention. How’s that for improvement? =)

Update:  I’ve also ran into some non-working parts, like the print and email links, but I’ll work on those.

Stephen Covey echoes this in his book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, when he opens the book with the chapter, “Living With the End in Mind”.  (I think that was the title, but I know it’s close.)  In it, he challenged each of us to think about the eulogy that will be given at our funeral.  What would we want people to say about us?  Then, after we have that speech in mind, we need to do the things that will make those ideals a reality.

1. I was once a member of a black gospel choir. (If you’ve never seen me, you can’t appreciate the humor in this. Just think overweight white guy with NO moves.
2. When stressed at work, I listen to classical music in my office.
3. Way back when I had the time, I could easily read for 12-13 straight hours (with bathroom breaks) and be upset that I had to stop.
4. By the time I had graduated high school, I had switched schools 22 times. All within the same rural county.
5. I’ve eaten biscuits and gravy in almost every state in the union. (My wife made fun of me for saying “in the union”. Will you mock me too, oh audience of mine?)
6. My Papaw  sang with Dolly Parton.
7. I drive slow.  And if I get to thinking about something, I start slowing down even more.