Month: April 2011

My Favorite Animal

My Favorite Animal

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My mom sent me this story. You may have already seen it — it may not even be true — but I hadn’t seen it, and it makes me laugh every. single. time. So, here you go:

Our teacher asked us what our favorite animal was, and I said, “Fried chicken.”

She said I wasn’t funny, but she couldn’t have been right, because everyone else in the class laughed.

My parents told me to always be truthful and honest, and I am. Fried chicken is my favorite animal. I told my dad what happened, and he said my teacher was probably a member of PETA. He said they love animals very much. I do, too. Especially chicken, pork and beef.

Anyway, my teacher sent me to the principal’s office. I told him what happened, and he laughed, too. Then he told me not to do it again.

The next day in class my teacher asked me what my favorite live animal was.

I told her it was chicken. She asked me why, just like she’d asked the other children, so I told her it was because you could make them into fried chicken.

She sent me back to the principal’s office again. He laughed, and told me not to do it again. I don’t understand. My parents taught me to be honest, but my teacher doesn’t like it when I am.

Today, my teacher asked us to tell her what famous person we admire most.

I told her, “Colonel Sanders.” Guess where I am now…

What to do with Twitter?

What to do with Twitter?

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A week or two ago, a professional colleague (for lack of a better word 🙂 asked me what I think is a pretty good question, “I can’t tell if it’s professionally wise or socially irresponsible to stay silent about my political views. @jasondlee thoughts?” It’s a tough question, I think, so here’s my rambling answer. 🙂

Twitter is, for me, a mostly personal outlet. Yes, I follow several peers, etc from around the industry, but I also follow friends from church, politicians, journalists, commentators, comedians, musicians, etc. For the most, I try to segregate my blogging into “personal” (here and here) and professional (here). Twitter, though, I tend to treat as more of a middle of the road outlet, more like the hallway conversations I’d be having if I worked in an office. Since I don’t, I tend to ramble more on Twitter. People that don’t like that know where the “unfollow” button is (and, believe me, from what little I’ve paid attention to follower counts, it gets used :).

Having said that, whether it seems like it or not, I try to be sensitive to the interests of my followers. I try not to spend too much time on political or religious matters, and, to a lesser extent (for the benefit of my Facebook Friends who see all my tweets via the Twitter app), I try not to tweet every geeky idea that comes to mind. I am, though, admittedly, MUCH less concerned with the latter. They can (and do, I hear 🙂 hide me from their stream on Facebook if they want to.

Some topics, though, I feel are either too important to filter out of my Twitter stream, so they get some attention. I also know that I follow a lot of people who don’t hold my positions, be they political or theological (and some even technical). Despite how incredibly awful Twitter is for real discussions (“Twitter is where conversations begin, then move somewhere more appropriate”, I’ve heard, kind of like this one), I do enjoy hearing the opposing viewpoint to the topic du jour. If I only ranted about this politician or that dangerous theological idea to the Duke stress relief squeezy, I wouldn’t get the sharpening and education that comes from active, public discussion (such as it is on Twitter).

So, in a nutshell, I treat Twitter as a *mostly* unfiltered venue for discussion/venting. That may irritate some and may cost me professionally (tough to say on that front), but I’m OK with that. I say nothing on Twitter that I wouldn’t say in a hallway conversation or a coffee shop. If someone doesn’t like that, well, there’s the unfollow button. 😛

My Son Is Now My Brother

My Son Is Now My Brother

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Last Sunday, my wife and I received an answer to many years of prayer as we were given the opportunity to help our oldest son, Andrew, to faith in the Lord. As a Christian parent, I can’t imagine there’s anything more satisfying than seeing your child come to Faith, and that we were able to help him make that all-important prayer brings joy beyond description.

We have been talking to Andrew about the Lord since before he could read. We would read the Bible to him, teach him the truths of God’s Word, explain to him that God loves him, etc. We were careful, though, not to push too hard or try to convince him of his need; that’s the Spirit’s job. We have, though, done our best to be faithful to teach him as he grows, trusting that the Lord would grow the seed He planted through us. That Sunday morning at church, then, our pastor was continuing his walk through the book of Mark (you can listen to the whole sermon, which was great, here, or see below). At the end of the sermon, Andrew tapped Angela on the shoulder and told her, “I think Jesus wants me to ask Him into my heart,” adding “My heart is beating really, really fast.” 🙂 She was excited, of course, but she told him that we’d talk once we got home.

Once we got home and finally had the chance to talk to Andrew without distractions, we asked him about what he told Angela. For a while, we gently probed, not wanting to “trick” him into a decision he might not be ready for. Those that know me well know that I went forward at a church service once, thinking that I was making a true profession of faith, only to realize years later that what I had done wasn’t authentic. Perhaps I’ll write that up in another post, but it should go without saying that we wanted to make sure Andrew made this decision for himself, and that it be authentic and truly efficacious, so we were very careful.

After some discussion, Andrew told us again that he was ready. He had told us this before, several weeks ago, but he seemed to be fully aware this time of what he was saying. We bowed our heads, then, and helped him walk through that simple prayer. After the prayer, we hugged on Andrew, and reiterated to him how much we loved him and how proud of him we were. What a precious time that was. 🙂

No one can truly know, of course, the heart of another with certainty, but I’m convinced the Andrew had finally come to the point where he knew what he needed to do, and I’m so proud and pleased that I can now call him my Brother.