What's in a name

Submitted by dean on Wed, 2012-02-22 11:29

Jay-Z and Beyonce named their kid Blue Ivy. To my knowledge they have not explained the meaning behind the name, although gossip bloggers have presented dozens of stupid interesting humorous guesses. It of course provoked the usual public criticism from traditionalists (as if "Jay-Z" is traditional) and the expected celebration from fans of the Unofficial Celebrity Child-Naming Competition (trademark pending).

Reading List for 2012

Submitted by dean on Wed, 2012-01-18 10:00

This is my reading list for 2012. It has been updated as of February 20th. Those crossed out have been finished. I have been reading other books not on the list as well and the entire list of what I have read is on my 2012 Goodreads reading challenge page.

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Resolutions 2012 Part V: Ministries

Submitted by dean on Fri, 2012-01-13 11:39

We're almost done, I promise.

Because the resolutions of three of my friends,Bryan, Meg and Robert, were so thought-provoking I have written out my own resolutions for 2012. I have categorized them in "Life Accounts" according to the Life Plan model that Michael Hyatt teaches in is free resources and will be highlighting a different "Life Account" each day. Today we're looking at Ministries.

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Resolutions 2012 Part IV: Friends and Family

Submitted by dean on Thu, 2012-01-12 11:21

Because the resolutions of three of my friends,Bryan, Meg and Robert, were so thought-provoking I have written out my own resolutions for 2012. I have categorized them in "Life Accounts" according to the Life Plan model that Michael Hyatt teaches in is free resources and will be highlighting a different "Life Account" each day. Today we're looking at Friends and Family.

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Resolutions 2012 Part III: Giles

Submitted by dean on Mon, 2012-01-09 08:00

Because the resolutions of three of my friends,Bryan, Meg and Robert, were so thought-provoking I have written out my own resolutions for 2012. I have categorized them in "Life Accounts" according to the Life Plan model that Michael Hyatt teaches in is free resources and will be highlighting a different "Life Account" each day. Today's resolutions are all about my wonderful wife Giles.

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Resolutions 2012 Part II: Self

Submitted by dean on Fri, 2012-01-06 14:57

Because the resolutions of three of my friends,Bryan, Meg and Robert, were so thought-provoking I have written out my own resolutions for 2012. I have categorized them in "Life Accounts" according to the Life Plan model that Michael Hyatt teaches in is free resources and will be highlighting a different "Life Account" each day. Yesterday I talked about my first Life Account, God, and today I share my "self" resolutions.

Resolutions 2012 Part I: The God Ones

Submitted by dean on Thu, 2012-01-05 08:00

Yesterday I talked up my mind shift about resolutions and as promised, will begin to share my resolutions today.

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Resolutions and Life Plans

Submitted by dean on Wed, 2012-01-04 09:00

If you asked me this time last year what my 2011 resolutions were I probably laughed at your question. For most of my life I have viewed resolutions as a frivolous activity that people partake in every year, only to forget them a week or two later. This past weekend I saw a local news clip of street interviews where people were asked to give their number one resolution for the new year. Their responses were telling:

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A New Chapter

Submitted by dean on Tue, 2012-01-03 12:00

Thanks to Facebook's new Timeline feature, I have spent a good amount of time reliving lots of status updates, comments and other things I have posted since 2005. By filtering through all of the self-produced noise of the past seven years, I found that I have invested a lot of time on things not worth investing in. It has forced me to consider my own legacy and impact and has led me to several conclusions that I will be sharing in the next couple of weeks.

Through this process, I revisited the things most important to me and reaffirmed my hopes, dreams and goals for the future. In order to see these things through, it has required an active adjustment of my attitude and perspective on time, priorities, sleep, energy, prayer, and people.

Serving Others

Submitted by dean on Wed, 2011-12-28 15:42

"Serving others" is a concept that is prominent this time of year. In the chaos of the consumer-driven holidays we are implored to think of others. That idea is often marketed as the "true spirit of Christmas."

Until recently I often viewed service in this way. Hold a door here, give up a parking spot there, and you are really making a difference in someone's life. But how do we know? And what is the point of service anyway?

I finally had a run-in with what service really looks like. In December my wife had wrist surgery, a relatively simple procedure to remove a 14-year old cyst. We were at the hospital less than four hours and were home before lunch time.