Archive for the ‘family’ Category

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>My life guiding principles

In family,principles,Theology on December 31, 2008 by mstevensrev

>Okay one more thing here.  In 2008 I worked on my life principles.  Still am working through the goals part, but at least I have these buckets to help guide me:

1. Not afraid of hard or messy work.
Proverbs 14:4
Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean,
but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.
(this is also my “life verse”, with the ox you get crops but also a shitty barn)

2. Relationships are key to life, honor them.

Galatians 5:14
14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Luke 10:25-28
25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

3. The greatest opportunity I have for blessing from God is through my children.

Proverbs 20:7
The righteous who walks in his integrity—
blessed are his children after him!

Acts 2:39
39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

4. A generous life is a rich one.

Psalm 112:1-5
Praise the Lord!
 Blessed is the man who fears the Lord,
who greatly delights in his commandments!
His offspring will be mighty in the land;
the generation of the upright will be blessed.
Wealth and riches are in his house,
and his righteousness endures forever.
Light dawns in the darkness for the upright;
he is gracious, merciful, and righteous.
It is well with the man who deals generously and lends;
who conducts his affairs with justice.

Mark 12:41-44
41 And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny.  43 And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. 44 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

1 Timothy 6:18-19
18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

Mark 14:3-9
And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded her.But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial.And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”


Articles

>One story to end ’08

In family,Technology on December 31, 2008 by mstevensrev

>This year was wacked.  Not sure how to even begin to describe it to those of you who were not along for the ride, some of you know, and I might have time to put together a list of some of the events, but it will take some thought so I want to tell a heart-warming tale to end 2008.

Christmas day I convince Karin for our family to get a wii.  Doesn’t sound like a big deal for most, but for us it really is.  We are saving, pinching pennies, the budget rules us and was feeling like a prison.  So it was a big deal and thanks to it being a gift from family it made us feel good.  Little did we know that there aren’t any in stock anywhere.  We call Bestbuy on the 26th, the person lied and said they had them, and then wasted a trip there only to be disappointed.
So I twittered on it.  Then I began searching wiiripofflist, errr  craiglist to see what was there, made a few calls, but none of the leads seemed good.  So we waited.  Then I get an email from an account manager for a very large localization company who I compete with out at Microsoft, though there is not much competition since his companies does lots more business than us.  He email and texted me that he had an extra wii.  This whole waiting time I had been hoping for a used one because frankly full price seemed silly and I didn’t want to add one more to the waste pile in a few years.  He had a system which he gave me a very reasonable price on!  We have been having a blast the last two days playing!  My daughter is amazing at bowling and has been kicking our butts!
A few lessons for me from 2008, some related to this and other events:
1.  People matter, not just a little bit, the are the most valuable thing in your life (after God) and you  need to treat them that way.  It does not matter who they are.  Yes, family get special treatment and spouses even more special, but these relationships are what we are given and God cares about what we do with them.  I hope to treat people better next year.
2.  Technology is cool and even cooler when it brings people together.  We are just making baby steps about how technology can bring people together.  The Social Web is nice, but it is worse than baby talk right now.  I am excited about how we will be brought together as we move into the future.  Twitter, blogs, facebook, wii, iPhone are all neat technologies but just the beginning.  Not only do I want to continue to take advantage of these, I’d like to drive the creation of a cool one myself.
3.  Be true.  Nothing causes more trouble than lies.  I make stupid decisions, I need to own them.  I try to cover my own butt, I need to stop it only makes things worse.  I get angry, listening and patience go a lot further than a raised voice.  People eventually learn to deal with the truth, and in the long run it is best for everyone!

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>My daughter taught me…

In family,Theology on December 16, 2008 by mstevensrev

>Tonight while playing with my one year old I learned.  I was sitting on the ground, as she would get up I would grab her and hug her.  After two times I quit grabbing her, instead of running away at full speed she would actually walk backward and fall on me.  The fun for her was not the play of running away but rather falling into her father’s arms.  

Maybe that is what sanctification looks like.  Instead of the fun we think we are having running away and being grabbed by the Father, perhaps we need to find out if when God let’s us go, falling back into his arms is the way to go?  Just something I learned.

Articles

>A marathon and another significant event

In church,family,Prayer on October 24, 2008 by mstevensrev

>Karin and I arrived in MD three days ago, after two days in my parents house we left the kids and are vacationing in Washington D.C.  To be specific we are staying in Old Town Alexandria and I am running the Marine Corp Marathon (MCM) on  Sunday when the kids and grandparents will meet up with us.  

One of the most significant moment, I felt something shift in me, was when I ran my first marathon, Big Sur, over three years ago while still living in Oakland, CA.  While running the race something changed in me and I knew that a year from that day things would be significantly different in my life.  About six months after I had resigned my job, lost my house and turned thirty years old.  Very significant.
Now I’m about to embark on my eighth marathon, and my first full day in MD I received some significant and very sad news regarding our old church in Oakland.  Thankfully since Karin and I are on our own, no work or kids, we have tons  of time to process and pray about it.  There will be pleny more for me to write on the matter at this time I am unable though.  For one I don’t know how much of the information I have is rumor and truth, I’m not confident in what direction God is taking things, I have no idea my role, and God and I are still talking (so far most of our conversation has been in passing and we need a sit down).
If you read this blog please pray.  Currently Karin and I are doing great, there is anger and sadness, but both are expected.  We are going out and having fun today.  I am very grateful for what God has done for me and my family.  We have been at arm’s length of tragedy a few times in our short life, and God has protected us from being grabbed and dragged down with it.  Being so close to tragedy isn’t fun though.

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>Too long for twitter…too funny not to write

In family,k ids on October 8, 2008 by mstevensrev

>I’m lying in bed with my wife last night (you know a real funny joke is coming with that start) and she says, “I could read the nutritional content of Aidyn’s poop today.”  And I begin guessing what food our baby ate, peas, carrotts…

Karin says, “No, she ate some paper product that had the nutritional contents listed…I READ WORDS IN HER POOP.”
I fell out of be laughing.

Articles

>Happy Birthday Dad

In 4th of July,family on July 4, 2008 by mstevensrev

>July 4th means lots of things in my house.  Today is cool because it means I get to see my girls who have been away camping for a few days while I put in marathon days at work.  Until they arrive I get to sit in Cupcake Royal drinking my Verite Coffee in downtown Ballard.  Paul Simon’s, Me and Julio is blasting and I am feeling very inspired.  On top of all that Kinko’s was open so i could get my passport photo which I am  having to rush around because it is looking likely I be going across the pond for work.  Did I mention it is Aidyn’s Birthday Eve.

Beside BBQ and hanging with friends, 4th of July has always meant one thing for me.  My dad, Michael William Stevens Sr. Birthday.  This was the guy who I would have called my best friend through age thirteen.  He has model honesty, hard work, and how to enjoy other people for me.  I am very grateful for  a great picture of being a father, friend, and man of God that my dad has given me.  He turns 63 today!  That’s pretty cool, I remember when my grandparents were 63 and it was like they were from another planet.  Now 63 seems like a few days away.  I talked with him this morning and he was out mowing the lawn and working in the yard, mind you he has had some serious health conditions including lime diseases going on this year, so while it might not be a very restful Birthday being able to be so active is reason to celebrate.  Now like any Grandfather I know hearing from me is alright but he really wants to hear from the grandgirls.  So we will give him a call or perhaps hook up a video chat with all the girls later.  
I’m terrible with getting the card and gift off on time, just sent his card this morning.  But I do try to let the people I know I love them on their Birthday.  I love my dad, he is a great man and I am looking forward to his visiting next month…that is just a few days away

Articles

>Exposing our Children through our blogs

In blogging,family on May 8, 2008 by mstevensrev

>Yesterday I was in a session on blogging. There ended up being an interesting discussion on how we expose our children through our writing online. This was something that I have not concerned myself with assuming that the crazies are crazy and will find away to act crazy.

Now most of the bloggers agreed with that not as concerned with the security exceptions. Yet the question was asked, Would you post a pic of you kid up at the community center? Of course not, good thing to consider. Some suggestions were to wipe out the face of your kids like Michael Jackson does, the other is to make up a pseudonym for yourself and your children. Interesting. The thought was, Don’t your children have the right to created their own online identity? I don’t think so, though I think it sounds nice. Part of being a parent is integrating you kids to the world, I start the path for them being exposed, this starts with who holds your baby…so obviously wisdom must be used. The problem is there are lots of DA (dumb asses) around.

Lastly one of my favorite authors exposed her son and herself in an amazing way. Ann Lamott writes about parenting and has reached my soul. Now her son surely had plenty to overcome since he has been so publicly exposed, yet I am grateful to know some of his life. Sorry your suffering is my gain. But as I have said before it is just one more contribution to my daughters story she will share with her counselor in the future.

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>My Grandfather Post #2

In family,Granddad on April 30, 2008 by mstevensrev

>I’ve got plenty more to highlight regarding my grandfather’s career as a pilot. In thinking about how my grandmother hooked him up has caused me to reflect on their relationship the last day. When my granddad died, or was almost dead the took him away into the ambulance unconscious. As they wheeled him out my grandmother was next to him holding his hand saying over and over again, “I love you Billy, I love you Billy.” This is after over sixty years of marriage, nine children, many years spent with him as a practicing alcoholic, seperate bedrooms, the whole soap opera.

When I was about sixteen the family decided to throw my grandparents a 50th wedding anniversary party. We rented out an old gym at their church (St. Marks), the renewed their vows. My responsibility was to DJ the event. I borrow some turn tables and speakers from some friends and set them up. The coolest part was my grandmother highlighted all the songs on her vinyl records that she thought would make for an excellent dance! I was really into jazz, especially swing at the time so I was in heaven. The family danced, all of us, and I remember even though my granddad’s health wasn’t great then, he danced a few songs, and he had a special dance with my grandmother. His dancing partner at that point for over 50 years.

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>My Grandfather Post #1

In family on April 29, 2008 by mstevensrev

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A little over six months ago my granddad, Bill Stevens died. It was right around the time of the birth of my second daughter and so I was unable to attend the funeral. The summer before his death I began asking my dad lots of questions about Granddad, and began to feel that we were a great deal alike, I’ll probably go into that conversation at some point with these post. This weekend as I was cleaning in my garage I found a story my Granddad’s neighbor had written about him that chronicled his career as a military pilot in WWII.

I wanted to share some of that story and some of the details as I have recently been think a lot about my Granddad.

Though my grandfather wanted to be a pilot before he entered the service he was in training to be an infantry officer. It wasn’t until his girlfriend, later my grandmother had a good friend who was the secretary to the head of Army personnel who would process the application for his transfer into the US Air Force. My Grandmother hooked him up! He began his training at Bennett Field, SC in 1943 as part of Class 44C. His flight training was conducted in a Boeing Stearman BT-17 biplane, a radial-engined, two-seat, dual-control airplane that has always been capable of aerobatics. Only 40% of the group that began training with him made it through, the other sixty were washouts.

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>Arizona Rocks especially while running

In family,running on March 11, 2008 by mstevensrev

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So last weekend my family and I spent it in Scottsdale, AZ! What an amazing place. The views were beautiful, my only other tripto AZ was the Grand Canyon, and this was up there in overall beauty.

On Saturday Karin, Jon (my bro-in-law) and I went for a run which ended up being about seven mile and included a 400 ft. Hill. The above picture is part of the view from the top, amazing 360 degrees, breath taking beauty.

The part that made the run the most fun was how truly Arizona it was. First on the way down I slipped and caught myself without falling, the only problem was I kept myself running by grabbing a cactus. Needless to say there was lots of blood. The picture is great, looked much worse than it felt.

As we stopped to take a picture of my hand we looked at the sign and snapped a picture while Karin ran by. Beware of AFRICANIZED BEES JUST OFF PATH!!! Glad we avoided them.

The trail ended in someone’s back yard. Instead of getting to know the neighbors we had to cut through uncut desert to get back to the road and eventually a trail. On our way there, I heard what sounded like a rattle. Thinking I was paranoid imagining things I went the opposite way to be safe. After getting on the road I asked if Jon or Karin had slipped while behind me, then Karn looked at me and said I heard it to…A RATTLE SNAKE. So no lie while running in Arizona we had close calls with a cactus, africanized bees, and a rattle snake! The wedding was great, but the run made the trip:)