Being Humble

Being humble is important when it comes time for healing to take place (that is, healing between two people). Arrogance is the polar opposite of being humble. Jesus was truly humble. He left his heavenly world which was perfect and filled with Angels worshipping him, and he came to earth as a pauper to give everything to man, including his life. He gave everything and took nothing.

Arrogant people on the other hand are usually very difficult because they always know the "right" answers. I've been watching this at work for years. Arrogance comes across as self-righteousness, it's condescending or judgemental and it alienates people. It takes things away from people, not physical things but emotional things.

I think when you work to live with humilty it means you grow in your ability to see yourself in the actions of others. Another person can become a mirror for you. Asking questions is a great way to find out what you don't know and a great way to start on a path to humility. I think this is the beginning of humility, not to mention it's honoring to others. You take nothing from them.

Nancy Pets A Big Horn

Today, Nancy and I went for a walk up Waterton Canyon. I never thought we would ever be this close to a Big Horn Sheep, mangy as it was. It has been a hard winter. I think it came down the hill looking for a free handout or a few granola bars. Ahh!! Colorado. 80 degrees, fish jumping in the Platte River, and not a cloud in the sky. I think we'll grill tonight...not the sheep.

What Is Man Face To Face With Infinity?

I enjoy camping and backpacking in the Colorado mountains. As I hike around and see nature, sit and watch a bird feeding it's family, or an ant carrying a morsel of food five times it's weight, I am amazed. I think it's wise to consider God's creation. The earth, the flowers, and all God made are truly remarkable. Instead of forgetting about God, consider this. According to Pascal, "The pettiness of our existence hides from our site the infinite."

I really like what SK says here; "God's providence is great precisely in small things; whereas for men there is something lacking here - just as lace seen through a microscope is irregular and unlovely, but the texture of nature under the same scrutiny proves to be more and more ingenious." II A 657 n.d., 1837

Colorado Politics

Today I had lunch and a meeting at CACI (Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry). I met with 8 other members for lunch and discussed the politics of Colorado as it relates to business and industry. One of the members is Chuck Berry who at one point in his career was the Colorado Speaker of the House for 8 years. We discussed the upcoming health care reform and climate change and what we can do. We also talked about the labor issues, unions in Colorado, and the Blue Ribbon Commission on transportation, and alternatives to gas tax.

The real question out of all the discussion centered on this question: Do we want incentives for market forces to make things work or do we want government mandates? I think the group was in agreement as to the answer. See my previous post on my opinion of government.

I am being placed on the Green Committee at CACI. I am excited to assume a leadership role in this area. Our company is moving full speed ahead as a leader in the green industry and I see great opportunity to affect other Colorado businesses and move them in this direction.

Rain Rain Snow Rain Rain

It rained all night last night. It rained all day today. According to the news this morning they said a foot of snow was predicted for today as low as the 6500 foot level. I got a call from my friend Steve Sumption this afternoon. He said he had a foot of snow at his house in Parker. Here it is, April 24 and we continue to get heavy weather. Okay, it's 7:00p and now it's snowing at our house, in fact it's sticking to the lawn. I love Colorado!

Growing Up With Coleoptera

Nancy and I were walking the trail near our house yesterday, the one that goes up the side of the hogback. It's about 3+ miles long and offers some great views and is rarely used. While walking Nancy called my attention to the black bugs scampering along the trail at our feet.

This reminded me of my years growing up. Most boys quickly learn the difference between a deer and an elk from the fathers, while out in the woods with him or camping. Some will learn the difference between a trout and a perch while fishing with Dad. Not me. I learned the difference between a predacious ground beetle and a tenebrionid. Nancy still thinks I'm making these things up when I tell her things like, "Oh, that's a tiger beetle." I think the green Tiger beetles are the most beautiful of Coleoptera. Beetles are one of the most diverse groups of insects. Their order, Coleoptera (meaning "sheathed wing"), has more species in it than any other order in the entire animal kingdom. Forty percent of all described insect species are beetles (about 350,000 species), and new species.

My Dad is an entomologist. He studies insects and taught entomology, among other things at NAU. In fact, he's discovered and described many new species. I certainly don't know all the insects, but I can still tell you quite a few of them, thanks to Dad.

Immortality

We've been studying heaven at our Church on Sundays lately. When we think about heaven, we're also compelled to reflect on our immortality and what that means. This is especially true since the events of last week bring death to the top of our minds. It is, after all is said and done, the final and most impressive thought. In a way I think, it even gives unbelievers a sense of morality. SK says, "The person who really grasps his immortality or that an eternal life awaits him will learn quickly enough to flee to grace."

Virginia Tech, Prayer Needed

Todd (a friend at my office) has a sister who works at Virginia Tech. She works at RUF on campus, wrote this letter and she is requesting the following prayers. Feel free to e-mail her with words of encouragement and by all means pray for them.

Hello All,I just wanted to quickly say thank you to all of you who have been praying for the community of Virginia Tech. I've told my students about the number of emails and phone calls I've gotten from all over the country and it's a comfort to them. It has been a long and exhausting few days as I'm sure you can imagine. In some ways, the horror of what happened has yet to sink in. A campus that was full of life is now subdued and the effects of grief are everywhere. Most of the Freshman have gone home for the rest of the week, however many of the upperclassmen have stuck around. During the week RUF has tried to provide various ways for students to gather, express their pain and their faith. My hope is not only to remind them of God's promises, but also equip them that they may be able to support their peers. Although no one from RUF was hurt, everyone has been affected in a personal way, whether it be a friend of a friend, a professor, or an acquaintance. One student told me, "I feel as though our campus has been raped." There are so many ways to pray for the students, too numerous to name, but I will give a few suggestions.

1. Leadership on campus. Students are proud of Tech and they love their school. It is hurtful to them the scrutiny the media has put the President of the school and the police department under. They also have a lot of decisions to make for months to come.

2. Victims and their families. There were over 62 people shot, of those 29 survived. In addition there were several students who were in the classroom and not shot. One of those students actually attends RUF. Pray for them too as they are tormented by the amount of violence and death they witnessed.

3. The Christian Community to have a voice and an impact. Both Christians and non-Christians are searching for answers, hope and someone to grieve with them. Pray for Christians as they are faced with questions they may have never asked. Pray for them as they wrestle with their faith, God's goodness and his providence as they suffer.

Thank you again for your love and support. praying with you,

Mackenzie--
Reformed University Fellowship Intern Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University m.l.skaer@gmail.com

Worrying

As humans I think we put ourselves through unhelpful, and unnecessary imaginings. My mother used to worry all the time. Whenever I went out to play as a youngster and then in later years when I would drive somewhere or go on a trip she'd worry. But she came by it honestly, my Grandmother was worse. She would sit around and wring her hands saying things like, "what's becoming of the world?" and "everything is so terrible it will all end soon, don't you think?" Someone once defined worrying as "suffering in advance." I read somewhere about the human mind being like a pendulum. It swings back and forth from the future to the past. Sometimes we remember what happened last year or the year before and all it's events and what it meant to us. Sometimes we look to the future thinking about what things could be like. When the pendulum hits bottom, it's the present.

I don't think it's too helpful to focus too much on the past (unless you're old and sentimental), until retirement years. Recalling the past and brooding over regrets or negative things serves little purpose. When I think about the future it's just not healthy to think about what might happen and worry over things out of my control.

Andre Gide said, "In order to be utterly happy the only thing necessary is to refrain from comparing this moment with other moments in the past, which I often did not fully enjoy because I was comparing them with other moments of the future." I see this in meetings at work. It's not uncommon for everyone to get paralyzed over things both past and present. Solutions are right there when we focus on the here and now and everyone is engaged in today's answers. I think it's important to live right now and minimize the distractions which are mostly out of my control anyway. When I pay attention to the here and now, then solutions usually present themselves. Of course, that calls me to some sort of action which is relevant and helpful.

Lake Powell Anyone?

I was thinking about Lake Powell again and ran across this photo of Rob. If his lights go out, I get two of those puppies!

Virginia Tech and The Tailor in Heaven

Hopefully this will be my last comment on this terrible event. As I watched the news last night, I noticed the continued and persistent effort by the media to find a reason for this. It was the campus police who didn't shut down the campus, or the University Administration, or lack of gun control, or it was too much violence on TV, or could it be his upbringing (so lets find out if it's his parents fault). A reporter suggested it was the fact that he was an immigrant and oh, we sure have immigration problems. One reporter even talked about all of the many social ills in this country and said this was the reason he did it. Not one of them, not one single reporter, not one person interviewed, not anyone said it was the shooter's fault or that he is to blame, or that he is responsible for his actions.

It is remarkable. The media are like the tailor in heaven (see the fairy tale "The Tailor in Heaven") in order to punish and judge a single abuse which they notice from our Lord's usurped throne, they grab God's footstool and hurl it down to earth - yes, to punish it they would willingly destroy the whole world.

Virginia Tech

Today is a melancholy day. Yesterday we sat in the office looking at the internet watching reports of the shooting at VT. My heart goes out to the parents who went for long periods of time not knowing where their kids were or what the outcome would be. As of this morning, I understand many still don't know and bodies are still not identified. It's a parents worst fear.

I heard a story about parents in Philadelphia who felt the city was unsafe and they encouraged their son to go to VT because it's safe and quiet. He attended there but he won't next year. Everytime Tyler goes on a trip diving or traveling in some strange exotic place, we pray more.

The thing that irritated me was watching the news last night. I couldn't believe how fast all those big name reporters got to Virginia to get their "scoop." And they got it without regard for anyone but themselves.

What am I doing for others?

Working with franchisees everyday I am sometimes astounded at how poorly some of them treat their people. And I know this isn't peculiar to our company, it's common in business everywhere from top to bottom. When I see this I am reminded of what John Whitmore says, "the carrot and stick are pervasive and persuasive motivators. But if you treat people like donkeys they'll perform like donkeys." The only way I know to change people, is to see them differently, to see them doing it right, and see them being excellent. It has to start with me and then go forward, both up and down. And, I know I can't change the world but I can be someone who is different and model a better way. My prayer is that I'll be consistent and good at that.

Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or the darkness of destructive selfishness. This is the judgment. Life's most persistent and urgent question is, what are you doing for others?"

The Government

Those of you who know me, know that I don't have the highest regard for the government. All big institutions are sloppy, irresponsible, and inefficient. The larger they are the worse it is, leaving the U.S. government at the top of my list. In Denver we have this thing called the Federal Center which makes Denver the second highest employer of Federal employees behind only Washington D.C. Having been contracted to do work out there over the years, I can tell you first hand, it's a little sloppy.

I really like what Ronald Reagan once said, "Government is like a baby - an alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other."

A Good Meeting

I meet with the company's large franchise owners twice a year and facilite a meeting where they exchange ideas and best practices. Today we met in Minneapolis. I always enjoy these meetings because they're very challenging and thought provoking. These people are some of the best minds in ServiceMaster. When you put them all in the same room with a clear agenda, it's pretty amazing what you come away with. I am proud to be a part of a company that encourages open dialogue and continues to seek better ways to do things.

Blazer/Rocket game

Last night I took some of my friends to the Portland Trailblazer/Houston Rocket game (they are key franchise owners) in the Portland area. We had a great time. Below is me pictured with Samuel Okafor (middle) and Jerry Mitchell on the right. Pictured below is Mike and Angela Ulwelling. I guess there were about 15 or 16 of us at the game including my friend Genaro Torres.

The Quick and the Dead

Today I read another Louis L'Amour book on the plane, The Quick and the Dead. I thought this was one of his better books. There's a great quote in the book on page 39. A Young 12 year old is wanting the hero of the book Vallain to teach him how be a hunter and how to sneak through the woods like an Indian and be a frontiersman. Here's what Vallian says:

"Shut up, boy, an' listen." After a moment he said, "Trouble with city folks. Always talkin'. You never learn learn anything when you're talkin', boy, only when you're listenin."

Baseball When I Was Young

As I was growing up I always had a love for baseball. Some of this came from my mother who loved the game. She would sit and watch games for hours. She especially liked the Cincinnati Reds, and the Detroit Tigers. She liked the players for their character and humility, or in some cases she disliked them for the lack thereof. I recently came across this quote and it reminded me of my mother watching baseball and of course my father, who would play catch with me by the side of the house night after night on hot Scottsdale nights.

My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard. Mother would come out and say, “you’re tearing up the grass.” “We’re not raising grass,” Dad would reply, “we’re raising boys.”

-Harmon Killebrew

Red Rocks

Today, I went to Red Rocks for the second time in three days and exercised. It's worked before, so why not try it again. Running "snakes" up and down the steps is a great form of exercise. It's right on the way home and is easy to get to. I drive to the park, hike up to the amphitheatre, and run/walk (mostly walk) up the steps, back down again, and then repeat 8 or 9 times. This time I ran out of gas at about 40 minutes. Click here http://www.redrocksonline.com/pages/multimedia/photo.html for some good photos.

Actually, it's kind of fun because Nancy and I have some tickets this summer to a few concerts. I was able to see the seats and check out the view. Maybe I will be in shape to walk up with her to the concerts.

Tyler Beal

I recently got a blog from my son Tyler. He was visiting the Philippines on spring vacation. Besides visiting some World Heritage sites (unusual rice paddies) and going into a remarkable cave, he went diving off the coast on some WWII Japanese ships. These dives were well over 100 feet in difficult water. You should check out his site at http://dailybellybuttonlint.blogspot.com/ to see what he did.

I am very proud of Tyler for his outstanding accomplishments. He has taught English as a foreign language in several Japanese Jr. High Schools for nearly three years. He's learned the language (and Japanese is not easy) and traveled all over the Pacific rim. His blog is 2ox better than mine and very well written. He's a remarkable guy. And, he's only 26!! I think God has some great things in store for him. Check out his site for a great read.

More Snow on Easter

Easter Sunday...Nancy went to the sunrise service (I was calling it the snowfall service). They all sat outside and had the service in the snow. Not for me. I went to the 9:45a service and ate sweet rolls made by Kathy Miller. That's for me! She made hundreds of them!! I don't know how she does it. It was still snowing when I got back, so I shoveled the driveway. Otherwise it was going to freeze tonight and be there for days.

Also, we (I did, Nancy was "resting her eyes") stayed up and watched the Nug's whip the Clippers in LA. This was especially good because I don't like the Clippers very much. They need to learn to play with their feet, not their hands and elbows.

More Snow this morning

I got up only to see snow on the ground and more coming down. There is only half an inch or so, but if it keeps doing this I will have to get out the shovel. Is this winter's last hurrah? I doubt it. I think I'll go get some coffee and try to enjoy it with Nancy from inside, next to the fireplace.

Denver - 75, Dallas - 71

Nancy and I stayed up last night and watched the basketball game. This was certainly one of the best wins for the Nuggets this year. Even though I was frustrated with extremely poor officiating, and "push and mug" basketball by the Mavs, it was great to watch.

Nuggets upset Mavericks in possible playoff preview

The Denver Nuggets won with defense, of all things. Carmelo Anthony capped Denver's best defensive effort of the season by stealing Dirk Nowitzki's skip pass in the closing seconds, then sinking two free throws with 9 seconds left to seal the Nuggets' 75-71 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night. Anthony left his man, Erick Dampier, and stepped in front of Jerry Stackhouse, then towed the line to stay inbounds. "I was looking at Dirk, I thought he was going to shoot the ball," Anthony said.

The Wedding

Last night we went to Rachel and Jeff's wedding. It was very nice and the prime rib at the reception was terrific. They had two harpists and a someone playing the violin at the wedding which was held at the First United Methodist Church. The wedding was Christ centered and focused on Ephesians 5. There were lots of children at the wedding and reception, which of course was what Rachel wanted.