Holli recently got me a new devotional book called "5 Minute Bible Workouts for Men".   I'm really enjoying it.  It's easy to read and the contents are great.  From time to time, I'll share on the blog some of the things I'm reading.

Did you know Abraham Lincoln was a failure?  He ended up with an amazing presidency, but he had many failures on the road to the white house.

I found this really interesting and I never knew this about old Honest Abe:

• Failed in business in 1831
• Defeated for legislature in 1832
• Second failure in business in 1833
• Suffered nervous breakdown in 1836
• Defeated for speaker in 1838
• Defeated for elector in 1840
• Defeated for congress in 1843
• Defeated for congress in 1848
• Defeated for senate in 1855
• Defeated for vice president in 1856
• Defeated for senate in 1858
• Elected president in 1860

That's a 30 year span.   Talk about diligence and perseverance.

Makes me think of 1 Cor 9:24 -- "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize."

 

To iPhone, or Not To iPhone.   That is the question.   I need to know, what do you think?  Should I get an iPhone?

I stopped in at my local AT&T store and they said they would have the new iPhone available on July 11.   So, I'm sold on the functionality of the new iPhone, I love the Exchange ActiveSync built in.   That is a necessity for me.   I'm 50/50 on the virtual keyboard, but could probably get used to that.   My biggest question is the AT&T network -- I'm on Verizon right now.   Is the AT&T network reliable?   I don't talk an overly huge amount on my cell phone, I mostly use it for email, text messaging and calendar.  I have a Treo 700 Windows version right now.   I really like it, but I guess the iPhone hype and marketing is getting to me.

I need to hear from anybody out there on the AT&T network:  Do you like it?  Do you drop calls?  Are you satisfied with the service?  Do you have an iPhone already?  What do you think?

When I started my business 8 years ago I would have told you that the number one reason I wanted to start my own business was to make a lot of money. It may sound shallow, but it is true. Over the years my feelings have changed. It's tough being an entreprenuer. Peaks and valleys, ups and downs. Good times and really hard times.

Owning a business is really hard. But I love it so much. I love the freedom of choosing how to spend my day, what I want to work on and being able to spend good quality time with my family. This is what I've come to love, but it hasn't always been easy. Holli would tell you that for the first 6 months or so of Caleb's life, I was always working. We were launching a new product and I was slammed. I don't really remember that because I was so focused on my work. I had a friend from Truth@Work recently remind me of this time of my life too and what it was like. Money comes and goes, but my family is something I can pour my life in to and I really do try to focus on that these days.

Those of you with small kids have maybe wondered in the past what it will be like when your kids are grown up and what the conversations will be like. I know I have thought about that before. Tonight I got a glimpse of that with Camden. Holli had MOPS tonight so I got to put the boys to bed. Caleb was so snuggly.

Anyway, Camden has been asking to come to work with me. I asked him if he would like to work with me when he gets bigger. He said yes that he wants to learn how to "program computers and build websites". I thought, "OK, this is cool". I told him one of the cool things that daddy gets to do is dream up great ideas for websites and then build them. I asked him if he had any cool ideas. He said yes and then went on to describe something like this (I'm paraphrasing):

"When I get bigger I want to work with you and we can build a website to make a lot of money. Then we will open our own bank and give all of the money to a teller. We'll tell lots of people about the bank and tell them if they have a need or don't have enough money, they can go to the bank and the teller will give them our money. The teller will say that a nice man gave them this money to use because God loves them."

WOW -- all that from a 5 year old. Obviously it wasn't that concise, but that was the jist of it. I told him that God gave him such a special heart and that He has big plans for his life.

After we had kids I have wondered from time to time if they would be interested in learning what I do and maybe one day work with me. Tonight was my first real glimpse at that. Very cool.