An Update on Jonathan

Today we moved into a room where Jonathan can stay with us. Praise God!

Though we’re not home yet, it’s a huge improvement. The room is a little larger than our closet, but with all three of us in there at the same time, it’s just right.

Jonathan gets to come out of the NICU and stay with us in this room. He still has to go back to the NICU nurses for his antibiotics, tests, and regular vitals. But other than that, he gets to stay with us, in our room! (like naps being wasted on the young, babysitting is wasted on us, the new parents)

With Jonathan in our own room, I was able to video chat with some family in Florida and spend the day relaxed with Jonathan napping on my chest.

Tonight, around 4 AM, they will run another batch of tests on Jonathan. If his CRP isn’t at 5 or below, we’ll be staying another night. If it is at 5 or below, we’ll talk with the doctor on duty about circumcision and see how quickly we can get home.

One last phenomenon to mention. Before Jonathan I had never changed a diaper. It’s not like I was avoiding the experience. I never really get offers to change diapers and I have never been in the situation where the child needed a diaper change and their parent wasn’t there to change it. So yesterday was my first diaper change. Since then, I’ve changed a few. I don’t get the hysteria that surrounds changing a diaper. It’s not like it’s hard or disgusting.

From what I’m told… that will change once he starts on baby food.

Here’s how to pray for us:

• Pray that God would be glorified in Jonathan’s life.
• Pray that he would grow up to be a man who honors God with his life.
• Pray that his CRP falls from 11 to 5 tonight, before the tests and we would be able to come home quickly.
• Pray for Stephanie, that she can get some sleep on the pullout chair/bed we’re sleeping in tonight.

Lastly, here’s a picture from today. It’s still in the NICU, but we had so much fun sitting together. We talked about the Bible, Jesus, friendships, relationships, how much I love Stephanie, politics, foreign oil, how the internet works, and life in general. He’s a great listener.

I’ve also included a video. Sorry for the 3 minutes of his face and little movement, but that’s what happens with 2-day-old babies…

Jonathan Daniel Gossett

Wednesday, January 20, 2010, Jonathan Daniel Gossett was born. He was 8 lbs, 2 oz and 18″. We are so overjoyed!

How you can pray for us:

• Pray that Jonathan would grow up to be a man who honors God with his life.
• Pray that Jonathan would pass his NICU tests with flying colors, free from all infectons and other reasons to keep him there.
• Pray that Jonathan would be able to come home with us Friday.
• Pray that Stephanie would recover quickly and would not have any complications.
• Pray that our stay at the hospital would be short, sweet, and would glorify God in our interactions with doctors, nurses, and other patients.

How you can help:

• Please pray for us. We covet your prayers.
• Our church is providing meals for the first few weeks as we adjust and Stephanie recovers. If you’d like to join them and you’re on The City (our online community), join the Care Team. If you’re not on The City, leave a comment and I’ll send you the email address of the girl involved.
• Again, pray for Jonathan’s health and our patience.

How you can visit:

Because Jonathan is in the NICU, we’re spending most of our time there. If you came to Norton Suburban, you could meet Stephanie’s parents, see our empty room or if you’re really lucky, run in to one of us. Jonathan is not allowed to leave the NICU, so he can’t have many visitors.

So, we’re going to have visiting hours at our home. Assuming we get to go home with Jonathan on Friday night, we’d like you to visit us during our visiting hours at our home. If Jonathan cannot come home on Friday night, we’ll update our blog to let you know the new visiting hours.

Visiting Times: this Monday – Wednesday from 10 AM- 6 PM.

When visiting, please provide the same courtesies you would at the hospital. They are:

• All adults 18 and older are welcome. Please no children.
• If you are feeling sick or have been sick in the last 24 hours, please abstain from visiting as Jonathan’s immune system is still developing.
• We’d love for you to meet Jonathan. But for his rest and ours, please limit your stay to 20 minutes.
• As always, please wash your hands.

Here’s the story:
Tuesday morning at 10 AM Stephanie’s water started to leak. I came home from the office and worked from home while she kept busy doing just about everything to stay active. She had mild, light contractions about 7 minutes apart. We called the doctor to check in and talk about what was going on. Nothing changed until 11 that night, after Stephanie’s parents arrived from Philadelphia. As we were crawling into bed, Stephanie started to have hard contractions that lasted about 90 seconds and were about 10 minutes apart. We tried to sleep as best we could, waking every few minutes to deal with the contractions and then trying to flop over to sleep for the next few moments. At 6 AM on Wednesday, after 7 hours of hard labor, we called our doula, Leah Morris, to join us. We continued to labor at home until 11:30am and then went to the hospital.

There, Stephanie’s contractions continued to be about 2 minutes long and 5 minutes apart. By 4 PM, after 17 hours of hard labor, we had only progressed 3 cm (for a total of 6 cm since we were already 3 cm at our last Doctors appointment). Stephanie was exhausted from having not slept since Monday night and couldn’t keep anything down (including water) since 9pm the night before, so she was probably dehydrated. Because of extreme fatigue and no food or water to help refuel, she was having a really hard time relaxing with the contractions and so they were hurting her more and more. (I am amazed at how hard she worked and for so long!)

After consulting with our nurse (who was well versed in and preferred natural childbirth), our doctor, and our team, we decided to get an epidural for Stephanie to be able to rest (and rehydrate from an IV). Soon after, the epidural was in and we were all able to regroup. After resting for a while, Stephanie had them turn off the epidural, about an hour or two before delivery, so that she could be back in business for the pushing stage. By 8:30, our doctor said we were ready and Stephanie started to push. Stephanie was so awesome. I will always rember how great she did and how hard she worked.  Jonathan came out completely alert and excited. He cried so loud and healthily, but as soon as he was in Stephanie’s arms and she started talking to him, he stopped and muzzled her. It was awesome. Everyone in the room was overcome with joy, tears, and thankfulness for the baby.

While getting his vitals taken, his temperature registered at 104.3. Stephanie had begun a low grade fever as well shortly before delivery. This could be due to the prolonged time (36hrs) that her water was broken before the baby was born. It opens the uterus up to infection. So as a precautionary step, our pediatrician asked that he be taken to the NICU for testing and observation. We were disappointed but knew that infections can be fatal for infants. I stayed with Jonathan while Stephanie got cleaned up and moved to a new room. It was hard to watch my 30-minute old baby stuck with needles and hooked up to monitors. But at the same time, I was strangely thankful that we were in a place where he could receive such great care.

Since then, we’ve stayed with Jonathan around the clock, switching out so each other could rest or eat. We get to find out tonight, probably around 1 AM, if the 24 hour tests come back negative. If so, we will be able to go home late Friday or early Saturday. If not, there’s a chance he’ll have to stay for up to an additional 7 days to receive treatments.

We’ll keep you updated as things develop.

Here are some pictures for you to enjoy.

Grandma’s Waffles – Tasty Kitchen

This morning we made waffles from a recipe we found on the internet. It sounded like a really fluffy, wonderful recipe.

We’ve cleared out our schedules, hoping to be busy in the Hospital with a newborn son, which has left us with next to nothing to do.

Enter Googling Waffle Recipes.

The best part about the recipe was that it called for beating the egg whites and then folding them in later, which made wonderfully fluffy waffles. They were crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside.

I did my best Julia Childs impression while Stephanie read me the directions. It was a treat.

We realized we wanted good food and Stephanie usually makes the best food on the face of the planet (no exaggeration or kidding here). But since she’s 40+ weeks pregnant, I’m talking over the kitchen. What I lack in skill, I make up for in randomness (see Julia Childs impression).

This morning we’re enjoying some great waffles and some oolong tea while praying Jonathan will come quickly.

If you’d like to check out this waffle recipe, you can find it here.

The Hope of Righteousness

5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

via Passage: galatians 5 5-6 ESV Bible Online.

We eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. The HOPE of righteousness.

That’s not a lofty dream of one day becoming righteous. It’s an active, knowledge-based hope, knowing that is going to happen.

I can’t make it happen. As hard as I try, I can’t make myself righteous. I can’t produce righteousness. No one can. We’re sinful.

So we hope for it. We know that we can’t do anything to obtain it. Instead, we have to wait for God, who is righteous,  to complete righteousness in us. It’s an act of faith on our part, not something we can do. It’s something God does.

Why is that distinction important? Because it removes any reason for us to boast, be proud, brag or be conceited. It’s God’s work in us, not our work that counts for anything.

In Galatians, a book in the Bible, the missionary who brought the Gospel of Jesus Christ to Galatia (Paul) is writing to the people in the church who are being led astray by false teachers who are distorting the Gospel by adding regulations to it that do not belong. Specifically, circumcision.

Jewish law said that all males needed to be circumcised. Gentiles (meaning not-Jews) were becoming Christians and believing in the Jewish Messiah (savior), Jesus Christ. They were gaining the righteousness that God freely gives through Jesus. Some men who came after Paul started to distort the message and required the Gentiles, who were not circumcised, to be circumcised in order to truly worship and be in right standing with Jesus. After all, the Jewish law says so.

Paul’s whole letter seems to return to this issue. He’s furious that some are coming to the Galatian Christians and requiring them to follow the Jewish law. Actually, Paul takes it so far as to say that he wishes these men who are wrongly teaching circumcision would emasculate themselves (verse 12).

Circumcision is such a big deal to Paul because if circumcision is required for non-Jews, than the rest of the Jewish law is required of them as well. And if that is the case, then they can only obtain righteousness by observing the whole law. And if righteousness comes through the law, then Jesus is of no value to them.

So by requiring circumcision of the Galatian gentiles, these men were removing the importance of Jesus. No wonder Paul was mad.

So here’s how this works. Here’s why Jesus is important.

Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life. He died a death he did not deserve to die. In his death, he was the sacrifice for your sin. And what he asks of you is that you put your faith (complete trust or confidence) in him and him alone. In doing so, you acknowledge that this is the only way that your sins are forgiven and you can be made right with God. You can’t do it on your own. You need his sacrifice to pay for your sins.

This is called repentance. It leads to salvation.

In the beginning of the history of the church, right after Jesus left the disciples, Peter stood up and preached a sermon about Jesus. In the end, the men listening asked him, “what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37).  ”And Peter said to them, ‘Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’” (Acts 2:38)

(to read more about the history of the church’s position on this issue, read Acts 15)

It’s the little things

We love our house. I moved in during the Spring of 2005. We got married and Stephanie moved up that October. Since then, it’s been our home. It’s decorated the way we like it. We have enjoyed having friends over and throwing parties. Stephanie and I both have a passion for hospitality. We love making people feel comfortable and at home with us. It brings us joy to have people in our home.

We’re very thankful that God has blessed us with this home.

Growing up, my parents encouraged us (all 4 children) to always invite friends over. It was important to our family that we kept the house clean so at the drop of a hat we could invite friends over and not have to worry about cleaning up first. So there were always groups of kids hanging out at my parents’ house. It was a beautiful thing.

We have the same philosophy in our home today. We always try to keep it clean so at the drop of a hat, we could invite over anyone and not worry about the cleanliness of our home. And let’s be honest, no one likes going over to someone else’s house when it’s messy. Especially if you’re a neat-freak yourself.

One of the only limitations we’ve found in our home is the size. It’s more than enough for just Stephanie and myself, but we always want to invite friends over. Our living room can only hold so many. Rather than accepting that fact, we set out to see if we can change it.

We tackled our living room to see if we could fit more people in it. Here’s a before picture:

Truth be told, I stayed up late one night after Stephanie went to bed and moved this furniture around until I landed on this arrangement. The main thing that frustrated me before this was that the couches were in an “L” shape and both facing the TV. I wanted to be able to face friends when they come over, not my own TV. We really don’t watch that much TV, so I didn’t want it to be the focal point of the room either.

But with this arrangement, once we move in extra chairs, it maxes out at 10 people. The space fills up quickly.

So, Stephanie helped me out and we mixed it up, moved it around and came up with this:

Voila. Now, we can fit 2 more people!  We can still only seat 12, but that’s a lot better than 10. That means 2 more people can be invited to the party.

What about the TV? It still works over there. Just the other night we watched the Sugar Bowl and it was just fine. When we invite people over, we actually talk or play games instead of watch a movie. I’m not against movies, I would just rather hear what you have to say than sit next to you and watch a movie.

This project costs us $0. We had to get creative and try out different arrangements. Often we didn’t think it would look good before we put the furniture there, but after trying it out, we actually liked it. Sometimes you just have to try it out.

When is God enough?

Last January I found out that a good friend of mine had a brain tumor. It was a very difficult time. To make matters worse, he found out as he stepped off the plane to take care of his father, who recently learned that he had cancer.

Sometimes things are tough. And you never know how you would handle it until you’re in that situation. I pray that my response would honor God and glorify His Name.

Here’s a video from a pastor in our network. On Thanksgiving day he had a seizure and found out that he had a tumor in his right frontal lobe that was pretty big. He recorded this video before he went into surgery.

Video from Matt | The Village Church : From Our Pastors.

Since the 5 hour surgery, he seems to be doing well. He has recognized people, had conversations, and has been taken out of the ICU. He even had the humor to tweet “Trying t prrrrintp a Dallas plasticbublet ehile sirtting ip tight is a lot hdtder than it doubds” after his surgery. His wife quickly informed us that he thought that was funny and has since been banned from his phone.

I pray that my response would honor God in the same way. Praise God for men like Matt.

A Great Commission Resurgence

I usually don’t blog about church life things. However, today I’ve been attending the Southern Baptist Convention held in Louisville, KY.

There are benefits and costs to being a Southern Baptist. The SBC is sometimes related to the awkward family member that shows up at family reunions. They’re family and you love them, but sometimes they act in ways that embarrass. Today, I am proud to be a Southern Baptist.

I’ve watched a business meeting that started at 8 AM and is scheduled to end at 9:15 PM tonight. Then it goes on tomorrow. But what I am most excited about is the passing of a resolution that will add greater accountability and effectiveness to the SBC for our future. It’s called the Great Commission Resurgence. You can read it here.

There were some that opposed the resolution, but it passed with amazing unity. That makes me happy.

I may not like to spend the rest of my life living with this awkward relative of the SBC, but they’re family and I love them for that. And yes, we can do more together than we could apart.

Home screen

Sometimes, with new technology comes the ability to get more things done, more quickly. The only danger is that you become so obsessed with the speed of things that you don’t ever stop and unplug. It’s traffic to see a couple at a nice restaurant sitting silently as one or both of them use their smartphone to connect with people who are not there.

The flip side of the argument is that some new technologies allow us to communicate more quickly or work remotely so we can spend more time with others.

For me, The iPhone is one of those technologies that allows me to be more connected so I can spend more time talking with Steph and engaging with those around me. It also helps me organize and communicate with others so we can continue good conversations and meet face to face.

I use the email function of my iPhone at least twice a week to confirm meetings with friends to get a cup of coffee and talk about life. Without instant access to email, it would not be as beneficial.

Instead of blaming thetechnology, let’s focus on the user. It’s the user tar decides to ignore those around them and pay attention to the toy.

So, for productivity’s sake, here’s what is on my homescreen. What’s on yours?

Standard Apps:

• SMS – for all my texting needs.
• Calendar – I use this most frequently. EVERYTHING I do is in here. That way, I can usually schedule and reschedule on the fly. Quicktip: If you use iCal & the Calendar App together, you can add meeting agendas or talking points to the notes field of an event and it works well to keep your meeting on track. I only suggest this for more casual meetings. You can also use it to give yourself a list if you’re going out to do many errands…
• Contacts – self explanatory. I currently have 627 entries. 
• Notes – This is WAY helpful. I am really looking forward to the iPhone 3.0 software release, which will let you sync notes with Apple Mail. Even more useful!
• Camera – of course. 
• Weather – faster than any other weather app. I keep tabs on Louisville (where I am), Hollywood (my family), Philadelphia (in-laws), and Orlando (brother-in-law). It comes in handy to remember how nice the weather is down there and how cold it is up here.
• Maps – every week I am amazed at how this has changed the way I meet with people, pick places to go, find closer routes, and find my way anywhere.
• Clock – alarms, stopwatch, timer. Always helpful.

Additional Apps:

• WordPress – to do this jazz on the go. Also, I can use it to approve/check comments. I have both my personal and work websites on here. Helps when there is a typo and I need to fix it quickly.
• Facebook – why not?
• TwitterFon – my favorite Twitter app. Keeps me in touch.
• RTM – Remember The Milk. The best to-do application (both computer and iPhone) out there. And it’s web-based, so I’m always up to date.
• Instapaper – lets me save websites that I want to read later. Currently, I have three books on there, two by A. W. Tozer. A bookmarklet in my browser lets archive a page for reading later. This app makes it text-only and lets me read in my spare time, and keeps my place. 
• NetNewsWire – best RSS reader I could find for the iPhone. It syncs with a web-based reader and downloads the articles to my phone for off-line enjoyment.
• Car Care – My favorite way to keep tabs on my car and Stephanie’s car. It alerts me when tires need to be rotated, oil changed, and lets me keep an eye on gas mileage. It also keeps a service record, get for cars that are business expenses!
• TWC – The Weather Channel. I love the speed of the native weather app, but when I need an hourly forecast to decide if I should put the top down on the jeep or not, this one comes in real handy.

Across the Bottom:

• Phone – of course.
• Mail – keeps me connected to my work, personal and school email.
• Safari – because it’s just so cool to read the NYT on an iPhone.
• iPod – you can’t forget your roots. 8 Gigs isn’t a lot for a music collection, but you need your tunes!

 

TIP: to take a picture of your homescreen, press the power and home buttons at the same time, then release. The screenshot will be saved in your photo roll. 

Derby means…

It’s Derby weekend. That means it’s safe to start putting plants in the ground and we can finish off our garden! I’m excited!

Morning Routine

Nothing beats a good morning routine to help you get started. Mine starts here:

I purchased an ESV Study Bible for the free online version that comes with every print version. I have found that this online version comes in very handy. I did not think, however, that I would ever use the print version. It’s huge. And who likes to use a huge bible? But, I have grown fond of my extra-large bible. The notes it contains and the feel of the pages is a little nicer than reading online. And I’m pretty sure we still read faster and better in print than on screen. 

How do you start your mornings?

The Sombrero

Last night we went to El Tarasco, a great mexican place, for Jeremy’s birthday. It was a surprise to him, but since he doesn’t like surprises, his fiance Lauren told him about it before they got in the car.

Jeremy isn’t a fan of surprises or being put on the spot. So when he saw the waiters putting together the birthday celebration package, he took the opportunity to go tell them that it was MY birthday instead of his. So, the waiters came out with a small dessert and a sombrero for me. They sang a little song and I got to wear the sombrero for the rest of our visit. It was actually a pretty nice sombrero.

So here’s some pictures for you. One of me wearing my “birthday” sombrero, and one of Jeremy, who finally put it on before we left.

Socks

Stephanie made me some sweet wool socks. She’s taken up knitting and crochet. These socks are awesome and keep my feet nice and warm when it’s freezing outside.

I’m a lucky man.

Orange juice

On a recent trip to visit Graham and Becky in Orlando, we made some fresh squeezed orange juice. I thought I would share a picture for you to be jealous of.

Creature Comforts

It’s nice when a company does something above and beyond what they need to do for their customers.

I have a 3 hour layover in Birmingham today. Southwest has started providing a few leather chairs with plugs and powered USB ports for customers to wait comfortably and recharge their phones, laptops and iPods.

I’m a fan.

Now, to pickup some airport pizza.

Do What You Love To Do

I’ve learned recently that I have to spend time wisely. Part of this is learning what I am good at, what I can do, and what I can’t do. There are certain things that would be fun to do but would be a waste of my time because I am not tallented or gifted in those areas. For example, I should not attempt to pursue these careers:

• Jockey
• Track Athlete
• Professional Baseball Player
• Astronaut

There are other professions that take skill and practice as well as some natural gifting. Because I don’t enjoy these things and I am not passionate about them, I should pursue these careers either:

• Professional Artist
• Snake Handler
• Gator Wrangler
• Bass Fisherman

However, I do need to acknowledge my skills and focus my time there.

That’s how I decided I wanted to be a church administrator. I grew up with a very specialized training from a mom who put color coded threads in the toe of my socks to tell them apart form my siblings. She had masking tape labels on everything. All of the towels were folded the same way. My dad also has a folder on his computer for everything! There isn’t a single file on his computer that you can get to without going through at least 43 folders that narrow down the content of that file. For example, things that are purely recreational, like family photos, are in a folder tree that looks like this: C->Recreation->Creativity->Canon->Pictures->Family. They are also future broken down by family member, then event. For example, you could probably find this kind of folder tree on there: Family -> Daniel -> Daniel & Stephanie -> Birthday -> 2007 -> Cakes -> singing -> action shots -> blowing out candles -> smoke -> lighting effects. It’s truly amazing.

I picked up on the extreme organization and methodology that my parents used in our everyday life. I’ve also connected that with my love for people. The result is a passion for organizing people. I’ve used this to move toward systems designed to help people connect  and be shepherded by other people who have things in common with them. The more people, the more complicated the system, but that is what I am passionate about. I know, probably sounds a little weird.

The only problem is I don’t get to spend the majority of my time working with those systems. Right now I work for a church plant, which means I do MANY other things during the week. This week I did everything from stuff envelopes to purchase books for the staff’s training. 

But focus is the key. I focus on the systems. I spend time thinking about them as I am driving to and from work. I ask all sorts of questions in my head while I work out or go for a run. And I am always looking for another way to get people to connect and grow and then find out how to make it easier for that to happen. 

When I am in the store purchasing coffee cream and cups for the church, I am able to take that time to step away from the distraction of my computer and task list and think about the people that I get to work with and wonder how I can better serve them through connecting them to others for genuine community. 

I get to do what I love to do. And I have acknowledged what I am not good at doing. It seems like that list grows bigger every day…

Grillin & Chillin

Tonight, I grilled some tuna steaks and sea scallops for dinner. It wasn’t a feat to grill amazing seafood, though that is awesome. It was special because it was 17 degrees outside when I was grilling. Yes, it was cold. No, I did not loose anything to frostbite. Thanks for asking.

I’ve included some pictures because I didn’t want you to think I got lazy and stopped putting up pictures of food we are eating. I do think it’s amazing that Stephanie continually comes up with amazing meals that taste euphoric, and look like a magazine photo shoot!  I am a lucky man.

So, here are the shots. We had fresh tuna steaks and sea scallops. We enjoyed them with wild rice and spinach. The seafood had a soy-ginger marinade. 

 

3 Smart Things About Sleeping Late

I read this article the other day and I can’t decide if it is a good article that I should learn from or if it is stupid. You decide.

3 Smart Things About Sleeping Late .

Found dog

Sunday afternoon we took Lucy for a walk and found a dog running around in our yard by the time we got back. This cute little pooch had a hankercheif on but didn’t had any tags. We grabbed another leash from inside and took this dog for a walk to find it’s owners.

Though the dog was a little on the cute side, it was definitely not leashed trained. It whipped around and nipped at any and everything it could only pausing to pee on every bush we passed.

We had plans to go out Sunday night so we printed up some fliers and posted them all around our neighborhood and the neighboring streets. The dog got put in a crate in our front room. After all, it was only 45 degrees outside.

Three days later and two sleepless nights due to barking, whining, whimpering and all other forms of annoying dog noises, we haven’t heard a thing from our fliers.

In a last ditch effort for our marriage and sanity, we called animal control. All other shelters would charge you a fee to drop off the dog and the vet couldn’t find a microchip in the little hellyon.

So to update those who follow me on twitter (www.twitter.com/dangossett), ding dong the beast is gone.

Social Media

My friend, Aaron Marshall, just did a presentation at Southern Seminary about the use of social media. Of course, it was tailored to ministry because it was at Seminary, but the idea definitely spans across all walks of life. 

The biggest thing I took from what he said is it is not about self-promoting, but it gives people a closer look into the every-day life of their friends. 

Not only do I agree with this, but my friendship with Aaron is proof. We met in the winter of 05/06 when he visited Crossing Church. We had similar passions, to bring the church up to date with the messages it sends. Aaron was more involved in technology and I was filled with all sorts of ideas about Public Relations and evaluating the messages that are being sent. 

Aaron and his then girlfriend, Nicole, didn’t end up staying at Crossing. We ran into each other once or twice in town the following year. Almost two years later, through mutual friends, I was reconnected to Aaron via Facebook and Twitter. We ran into each other at a bakery and it was like seeing an old friend. The vast majority of our conversations/communication had come from online media. Then, we attended the same Acts 29 training event and spend some time together that evening over dinner. 

I’ve grown because of my relationship with Aaron. He has put into practice what he talks about. He uses social media as a platform to teach and share what he is teaching. When God is doing things in his life, he shares it through Twitter and his blog. His companies, TechSMO and ChurchSMO, have influenced my job at my church. 

I highly recommend checking out Aaron’s video. It’s an hour long, but it’s worth it!

Social Media 101 2.0 from Aaron Marshall on Vimeo.

Google Reader

Google Reader is an amazing tool that keeps me up to date and informed. I use to follow a bunch of different news sources, development resources, and of course, my closest friends’ blogs.

One of my favorite things about it is the ability to check it out on my computer, iphone, or anywhere else in the world with mobile access to the internet.

I highly recommend you check it out.