at the end of the line

The "skunk" is off. I'd never caught a white sea bass- until that one I'm hoisting in the photo. It weighed in at 44 pounds- an infant compared to the one our son John caught just minutes before mine. You can see his "bragging rights" photo at his blog . A HUGE fish.

A good friend welcomed us to his place in San Quentin, Mexico, shared his boat and skipper and God honored it all with an incredible couple of days of fishing. The drive down is long... but the road is beautiful. We did it all with high hopes of fish at the end of the line- pulling on something that'd really pull back -and it all worked out: for us... the fish definitely got the hard end of the deal.

Driving home Wednesday afternoon, John and I shared how it's way more fun to catch the fish- then it is to kill them. Each time we've killed a big fish... and it's not been that many times... there's definitely been a sence of remorse. That said, we stopped at our children's home in Tijuana on the way home and absolutely filled their freezer with enough fish for weeks to come. That felt right. That felt good.

You never know what's at the end of the line; it's one of the real joys of fishing, it's also one of lifes' biggest challenges- in times of excitement and reflection. My prayer today is that together we can trust God for good things at the end of the line.

blessings,

Eric

Have a Great Week... be glad you're not on youtube!

Sometimes our "15 minutes of fame" is not all it's cracked up to be. Hope your week goes a little better than hers. I hope to be blogging again by Thursday.

later,

Eric

Great Job... if you can hack it

Many of you have read about the kid from New Jersey, where else?, who "cracked" the iphone code this week. Read this article in Newsweek and thought his future plans were perfect for a 17 year old... hey... there are some days they don't sound bad to me... if my waist line could handle it.

blessings,

Eric

from today's Newsweek

"Hotz, the whiz-kid behind the hardware hack, isn't concerned about his legal standing. He's not offering his services up for sale and the steps required to unlock an iPhone are sufficiently complicated. ("Who's going to use this?" he asks. "Very few people.") In fact, the only people who have called him so far are journalists, "a venture capitalist and a guy who works at Qualcomm offering me a summer internship," he says. But Hotz, who ships off to New York for his freshman year at the Rochester Institute of Technology this very afternoon, has other ideas. "I want to intern at Google next summer if I can. I've got a friend there and he's, like, 'Dude, they have a cafeteria 24/7. You can go in there and eat whatever you want. You can go to sleep, hack for a couple of hours and go eat some more'." Who said kids today don't dream big?"

7th inning stretch

Angels up 2 - 0. Perfect night. That's Debi enjoying good friends & the game.

Take me out to the ballgame!

Friday night- Angel's Stadium- getting ready for a hot dog in anticipation of a great game... I can't wait! Hope you're having fun.

Eric

Ten Years After

Alvin Lee was the hot lead - fastest fingers... or something like that - "Going Home" was their big hit, the one most remember, it's still a cool song. All that said as an admission that most days when I'm working on my computer I feel at least ten years behind the current technology.

I hate being behind the curve.

27 years ago... way back in the early '80's, I shared a California fellowship in education, working on computer literacy – actually we focused more on illiteracy - not in the classroom, but among educators, administrators and district leaders. Our point at the end of the day was that at least one, possibly two generations of students were going to be well ahead of the majority of their instructors in computer knowledge and practical application. We were dead on the money- almost three decades have passed and not much has changed… except that I’m no longer at the front of the vanguard… this morning, after my run through of current techno trends, I’m feeling ten years behind, minimum.

It doesn’t seem possible to me that I could have become the person we once wrote warnings about. It is what it is. Too often we evaluate our position in a field of study, practice or career according to those who surround us- big mistake –our most honest benchmark is always that which we know we’re capable of accomplishing and inviting others to do the same. Otherwise, we’re likely to find ourselves slipping into lazy habits and neglecting our continued personal growth.

Electrotechnology and it’s all encompassing reach is our unavoidable reality. To neglect it is akin to those who refused to have their homes wired for electricity only a few generations ago. Ignorance is rarely bliss. This blog is helping me grow. You’re invited to learn with me. We have an opportunity to learn from great minds at work in fields we barely understand. We have the opportunity to practically apply the lessons learned in each of our individual fields of endeavor. We don’t have to feel ten years behind the times… not as long as we call today, today.

When you learn something new, I hope you’ll share it with me! Check out lostfm on the side of my blog. Cool, free technology anyone with a computer can enjoy today.

Blessings,

Eric

first things first

The Apostle Paul talks about being a "fool for Christ," willing to do anything, go anywhere to any lengths to share The Love of God in Christ Jesus. Business leaders have for years taught the virtues of putting "first things first," outlined so clearly by Stephen Covey in his "7 Habits" books. Each of us face decisions on a daily basis that are guided by our own "Moral Compass," that which we consider to be "first" in our lives.

I'm blessed beyond measure to share in the work of Siempre Para Los Ninos, our children's home in Tijuana, Mexico. It's easy for the business of keeping the doors open to take first place in my time and investment in our work together there... it's necessary. That said... some of my most important moments are when I'm reminded of why we're there in the first place: the kids.

The little kids, those under 5, love to sing with me. I know just two (2) songs in Spanish. Learned them in 6th grade Spanish: Praise God for California's public school systems and Miss (or was it Mrs?) Davis who was faithful to set up the black and white tv, turn on public tv and be a "fool" for her profession as we laughed and sang together. I think of her often as the kids ask me to "sing it again, sing it again" with them. Hope you get a laugh out of me putting first things first.

Just double-click on the video screen... hard not to smile. The song in English is 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, I can count to 10.

Eric

I Love to Tell The Story

of Jesus and His Love...

The end of the line

Our workers scoop and serve the bitter end. Another night on skid row comes to a close. God is too good.

Blessings,

Eric

Bart

Driving to LA for Jackets for Jesus. Bart serious about the task of driving. Love blogging from my phone.

Eric

Sunrise 8-19-07

Went out to get the paper- not here yet - was greeted by this sunrise. Made me miss my morning runs and the hundreds of miracles I've shared before sunrise. God is too good. Have great Sunday!

Eric

Sunset

Going fishing!

We're on the boat - caught a few at the bait barge- wish us luck!

Eric

It's HOT!

8:45PM 8-16-07 driving home from church-posted this from my phone. Enjoy it now!

Eric

Gadgets

I can’t resist them… love the cool technology… if I was in my twenties, I’d be a super geek… instead of a closet geek. I have a handheld GPS for kayaking on the ocean… a GPS that hooks to my forearm while running… a third GPS, my newest and coolest by far, that clips onto my bike. Haven’t done much kayaking, running or cycling lately- no where near enough to need to search out the stars opinion of my training… but it’s sure cool to have them, just in case.

Most tragic aspect of it all is I barely touch the full capacity of what any one of the tools/toys are capable of doing. That would require a REAL geek… and Lord knows they’re not working out!

Stopped in for a fast food lunch recently and was greeted by the machine below- literally- greeted by it… a machine to order our whopper combos without talking to a soul… bliss… if I owned a Burger King I’d have one… just because.

I posted the photo using my new “blogger on the go” from my cell phone. More geeky, yet cool technology, allowing one to update their blog, photos and all, from anywhere there’s cell phone service.

Lord Help Us All.

While on a run, or ride, or in my Kayak, I can locate a Burger King, and if they’re really on top of it, text message my order to their new gadget, stop by and pick it up for lunch and then head out to work… oh yeah… work!

gotta go,

Eric

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