What do you wonder.....

Everyone wonders.....

Why is the sky blue?

Why haven't the Cubs won the series in over 100 years? 

And on, and on...

Lately, I've been wondering....

Why haven't I found that job I've been looking for?

Why does it seem that when I'm inches from the surface, the water rises again? 

What did Jesus write in the sand?

I want to know....

What do you wonder?

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Keeping Me Alive

Another survivor was pulled from the wreckage in Haiti today.....

4 days short of one month....

He said that someone in a white coat kept showing up and giving him water. He lost over 30lbs. But he is alive.

What would keep you alive, buried in tons of rubble? Your memories of family, friends? Your faith? There is no right answer....

What would be responsible for "keeping you alive"......

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My Zero Inbox Plan

I get a great deal of email every day. After a while, my inbox starts to fill up, to the point where I had over 2000 emails in my inbox at one time. Then, I found Kyle Chowning's(@kylechowning on twitter, http://www.kylechowning.com)Zero Inbox plan. Here it is for those who don't know, the original plan is below.

My problem was that I have several different project areas going at once. Between Rock The Cross, Web Development, School, etc., my brain can't wrap around one folder for each category. So, I tweaked it. Under each category (action, someday, follow-up, and Archive), I created an individual folder for each area. It helps me in this way:

-If I am devoting time to catching up on RockTheCross emails and all of my Action emails are in one folder, I feel like I spend most of my time reading through trying to find those email. Now, I just go to the RTC action folder and burn through it. The same with the other folders.

It helps me keep my inbox clear and still stay organized with the information that I need to keep accessible. What are your thoughts?

1) Create a few folders:

• @Action – Used to put emails that require a timely response
• @Someday – Used to put emails that require your attention, but timing is not an issue
• @Follow Up – You put emails here that you’ve replied to, but it requires that you follow up with someone about the status of the email
• Archive – This is where all of your processed email will reside. When it’s here, you’re done.

2) Survey your inbox and look for emails that you know require a response. Don’t forget to separate them into what kind of response is required. Drag those into your @Action, @Someday or @Follow Up folders so you can process them later.

3) All emails that remain, select them all and move them to your Archive folder.

Before I go, here are some keys to remember:

• Your inbox is a place to process and sort email. It’s not where you store it.
• When an email comes in, if you can reply in under two minutes, do it immediately. If not, sort it.
• Empty your inbox every day. Yes, that means that when you shut down for the day, your inbox is empty.
• Set aside one day a week to go through your @Someday and @Follow Up folders to make sure out-dated items aren’t piling up. In doing this, you’ll be surprised at how on top of things you’ll feel.
• DON’T GIVE UP! Even if you get behind, spend an hour and process your inbox accordingly. </quote>

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What is the status of your "cup"

We have had A LOT of rain in Georgia over the last 8 months. If you watch the news, you certainly saw the coverage of the record floods in September. There were portions of the metro Atlanta area that were completely underwater. Entire neighborhoods were destroyed. Since that time, we have hardly gone a week without some type of precipitation. I've noticed that parts of my yard have been completely saturated for months now. There is no where for the water to go, so it just stays on the surface, overflowing the underground water flow. 

In the physical sense, when water has no where else to go.... flooding occurs. Rivers run out of their banks. Creeks turn to rivers. Water turns into a destructive force. However, in a spiritual sense, when your "cup"(life) is full with Christ, it runs over and makes an impact on those around you. In Psalm 23:5

5You prepare a table before me

   in  the presence of my enemies;

you anoint my head with oil;

   my cup overflows.

 I admit.... my cup doesn't always overflow. In fact, sometimes, my cup isn't even half-full. Thats not God's fault though. Its my own. I let other things get in the way. 

What about you? Does your cup overflow? Or are you struggling to keep anything in your cup?

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A Worthwhile Mission

I need your help.....

At my parents church there is a family that is going through a great deal of suffering right now. Their 21 year-old son, Justin, is suffering from advanced stage cancer, and has been sick ever since he was 16 years old. 

This coming Tuesday is his birthday and we think it would be great to overwhelm Justin with birthday wishes. Here is his address:

Justin John

389 Quail Creek Drive
Monroe, GA 30656

Lets make this birthday memorable for Justin and his family.

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Step 2: Reading.... ALOT!

For most of my christian life I've never really made a huge effort to read my bible, and I've never made an effort to read much of anything for that matter. So I am making a covenant with myself to read more, not only books, but I'm reading my way through the Bible. 

My Year Long Bible Plan

There are any number of "reading plans" floating around, and they are all excellent. I chose to use a new feature that my friends over @ http://www.youversion.com are offering. They just debuted their reading plans and make it fool-proof to get started. Just chose a plan, click start, and you are off. You can even choose start and end dates and it will adjust accordingly. And, it keeps track of your progress and gives you a status bar as you read. 

I can honestly say that I know that my personal relationship has been deeply affected by my determination to have a daily prayer and study time. And I don't plan on making my year-long reading time the only time that I spend in the Word. I will be doing some studies of various books in the Bible as well as reading through other biblical based books, etc.

My OTHER reading plan

I do enjoy to read..... the first several chapters of books. Thats one of my problems in life as well. I have troubling "finishing". There are probably 7-10 books in my house right now that I am in various stages of reading, and my brain doesn't handle that well. So, I'm hitting reset. Any book that I have started, I will start over, one at a time. I'm going to read through those books, and more, giving myself the time to process them.... I don't plan on rushing at all. So I'm not setting a number books that I want to read... I just want to read. So after I finish all of these books, I want your suggestions of more books to read. Fittingly, I'm starting with Revolution, by George Barna (http://www.amazon.com/Revolution-George-Barna/dp/1414307586).

I encourage you, that if you aren't currently in a one year reading plan, join me... 

And if you are... keep on reading!

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Our New Year's Tradition

Growing up, Ashley and I had family traditions that we have tried to carry on with our children (Christmas Eve Dinner @ Waffle House, Volunteering at the Peachtree Road Race on July 4th week, etc.). Last year, we were trying to decide what exactly we wanted for New Years Day Dinner and we never could all get on one page....

So we improvised...

All of us chose one food item, whatever we wanted, and they didn't have to go together at all. We enjoyed our New Years Congloma-feast so much, that we decided to do it again this year. Our menu for yesterday consisted of:

Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Collard Greens

Fried Pickles

Sliced Potatoes

Crab Rangoons

Shrimp Cocktail

Strawberries

I know... it sounds strange... but its a lot of fun....

So, what are some of your family traditions?

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My NY Revolution:Part 1-Digital Cleanse

I will admit that I am on the computer a lot.... Its kind of part of what I do. But Ashley and I have been wondering how much time we waste posting and checking twitter and facebook. So, last week, when I saw that John Mayer had posted about taking one week off from Twitter and FB, I was intrigued. After reading his tumblr post (see it here http://jhnmyr.tumblr.com/post/308807536/the-one-week-digital-cleanse) last night... I'm in. So at 12 noon today, I'm shutting down Tweetdeck, closing out Facebook.... and getting back to a time where I didn't work about that so much. My plan for the next 7 days is to use that time to finish projects that I have started and need to finish, to plan out the first few months of my personal and professional life, to read, to exercise, but mostly, to spend time with God. I'm ready to decrease the noise....

Here are the guidelines that John put forth on his blog....

Guidelines:

*email only from laptop or desktop computers

*cell phones can only be used to make calls, and no text messages or e-mails are allowed - if you receive a text, you must reply in voice over the phone. E-mails must be returned from a laptop or desktop computer.

*no use of Twitter or any other social networking site - this includes reading as well as posting.

*no visiting of any entertainment or gossip sites. (No need to detail which ones - you know what they are.)

Not really worried about the last one... not an entertainment news guy, and I will follow these, with a couple of caveats. I will blog during those 7 days, and I will be updating RockTheCross.net. And I have an automatic tweet setup for when I make a new post on my blog and rtc.net.... so dont think that I am cheating. 

All this being said, if I don't text you back, or email you right away, or respond to your tweet or fb post... don't get offended.... I'll just see you in a week.... and IF you need to get in touch with me, email me... or call me. My number is on my facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/wesbrawner)

Happy New Year 2010.....

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