Caleb is one competitive kid and thoroughly enjoyed sports day at false creek elementary this last week. Caleb was on the green team and you can check out this pic of him below. Check out the other sports day pics here
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Reachd.com (the company I am working for and helping to start) was featured in the Vancouver Sun today. We just finished hosting our first 3 Hour Online Video session and gave each participant a Flip Video Camera to help boost their use of online Video. In the picture, Steve Jagger, the Co-Founder of Reachd is showing off the cool video cameras and I’m hanging out in the background teaching. You can check out the story on Digg and even take a minute and digg the story 
If you’d like to check out a few of the videos we have shot, you can check them out on YouTube
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It is has been awhile since we communicated with some of you and we are attempting with this blog to do it through a different medium.
Video & Blogging — Hi tech, eh
We just returned home recently from a trip to Kansas and Texas and had a great time hanging with friends and family. The kids loved being with their cousins as you could tell from the video as Caleb said, “I miss my cousins…” Funny because when we were in KS he kept asking when we were going home to Vancouver. Ah well, guess the grass is always greener on the other side.
Just to bring you up to speed… I am working for a new company called Reachd. We provide search engine optimization and Adwords training to small and medium-sized businesses. It is a company which I am actually helping to start and am working as the lead instructor at the company trying to help businesses get the most out of their websites. I am not on staff at the church but am still leading the worship, overseeing the website, and helping with the finances.
Since I’ve begun working full-time, Tiff and I are no longer on support but we do appreciate and want your prayers. Currently there are three things that we would appreciate your prayers for.
We’ll have some pictures coming soon of stuff we are up to and invite you to take some time (if you want) and drop us a hello by commenting on our blog.
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Well seems like forever since I posted to this blog. Actually it has not been forever only a couple of months.
I’ve been in Las Vegas the last few days at PubCon 2007. It is a conference for webmasters interested in learning how to improve their search engine rankings and gain skills for marketing on the internet. A really useful conference so far. Yesterday there was a keynote address from Craig Newmark the founder of Craig’s list. Never met the guy before or read much about him, but he is a great guy super down to earth and genuine.
In his speech there were 2 things that stood out to me.
1. Doing what feels right
2. Treating others the way you want to be treated.
Doing what “feels right” Those were Craig’s words and taken out of context they might make you think some strange things. Craig made that comment when talking about the decision not to place banner ads on Craig’s list. Placing ads on the site would have generated HUGE amounts of income, but he didn’t think it “felt right” because the user would not appreciate the ads. It is sort of nice to meet a guy who is not concerned only with making more money. He really challenged me.
Secondly treating others the way you want to be treated. Sounds reasonable right? I mean that is what I teach my kids at home “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” We even sing a song about it at our house. In fact we have 2 songs that we sing with those exact words. Simple stuff but definitely hard to do. Craig just reminded me that treating others with value, dignity and respect is not just for kids. Its for big people to and can even be for businesses as well.
Anyway, good stuff from Craig and good conference so far. I was able to do a short interview with Craig for the company that I am working for called Reachd. I hope you enjoy it.
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Well we had a pretty warm sunny day in Vancouver, so it was off to the Jungle. At least according to Caleb it was off to the Jungle. The Jungle is Caleb’s name for any of the forested areas in Vancouver. Thankfully the only wild-life was 2 high energy boys named — Caleb and Jesse
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The volume is a little low, so you might have to turn it up.
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This may be one of those experiences that you probably have to witness to appreciate, but I’m going to write about it anyway. I was tired of being in the apartment, but it was a bit chilly outside, so I called some of my friends in the building with small kids to join us in the meeting room. I also had the bright idea of bringing the kid’s basketball goal downstairs too. And, of course, if you have a goal, you need balls. Caleb took a cart with four balls in it, Emily took her walking toy, Jesse just ran as fast as he could down the hallway, and I drug the basketball goal and base (partially filled with water) down to the elevator. There wasn’t too much excitement on the way down and we had fun playing basketball for about five minutes or so. The rest of the time, the kids ran around the room and played foozball. After an hour and a half of fun, we left with my friend Amber, her newborn, and two-year old to go back to our apartments for dinner. While I’m trying to drag the basketball goal down the hall, Emily and Jesse run ahead and get in the elevator. To save them from getting shut in the elevator, Amber and her two, with a stroller dash into the elevator. Caleb joins them with his cart of balls and I squeeze in with the basketball goal and base. All is well until we reach the 6th floor where Amber needs to get off. She was in the back corner with me and my junk trapping her in. Three of the five kids run out of the elevator and down the hall. While I’m still trying to move the cart, Emily is trying to squeeze out and screaming in protest. I shove the cart into the hallway, Emily darts out, and Amber gets the stroller out. By then the bell rings because the door has been open too long and the door is shutting on me. Amber shouts “I’ll take the kids and you get the junk back upstairs!”
While I was putting my things away, Amber was chasing the kids down the hall. When she got to her apartment, she realized one of the kids was missing! “Caleb, where’s your brother?” “I don’t know!” Amber soon realizes that Jesse has let himself into her apartment because “I have to pee!”
So, the question is…Was it worth it? probably not, but it sure gave us something to laugh about!
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It has been an quite a period of transition for us over the last several months as I’ve started to work part-time. I’m a contractor working with a company called Ubertor. We host web-sites for real estate agents. It is a unique market and I’ve already learned a ton about the real estate buisness. I sort of went into the job with mixed feelings. Tiff and I moved to Vancouver 4.5 years ago and our main focus has been trying to help start the bridge, a new church in Vancouver. The bridge is the reason that we came to Vancouver and I’ve been working exclusively for the Bridge for the last several years. I say I went into the job with mixed feelings because I was afraid that my heart or my desire for the success of the Bridge would diminish with the start of this new job. I’m happy to say that just the opposite of that has happened. The new work has caused me to be more sure and more committed at the Bridge. My time to do Bridge work is now limited, but this has caused me to strive to be more focused and work harder in the time that I do have. Overall I guess I’ve found that my heart is not divided. I can still work with all of my heart as working for God and not man whether I’m working a secular Job or working for the Church. I want to do my work as best I can in order to please my earthly boss and my Heavenly Boss (aka Jesus).
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Our drive to Kansas was quite amazing. We were driving from Wichita Falls Texas through Oklahoma to Wichita Kansas. I forgot how long the horizon is in Kansas and Oklahoma. The Blue sky just stretchs on and on. Caleb made a few interesting comments on our road trip. He was sitting in the back seat pretending we were “Lightening McQueen” from the movie Cars. Caleb kept saying, “come on dad pass em on the inside.” It was a fun trip although I think we lost the race and didn’t win the piston cup.
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A new year — where did 2006 go? I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year celebration. We enjoyed celebrating an early Christmas in Vancouver. On Christmas day we loaded up in the van and drove to Seattle where we caught a flight to Dallas/Ft Worth and spent a week with my parents in Wichita Falls, Texas. As we were waiting for our luggage, Caleb looked around and said, “This isn’t Texas. This is still the airport.” Spoken like a truly observant 4 year old. We had a good visit with my parents and we were able to all be together with my family for at least one day before everyone had to start heading back for jobs and other family commitments.
We left Texas on Jan 2nd to spend some time in Kansas. Tiff and I enjoyed the drive up through Oklahoma (never thought I’d say that). The sky was clear and the horizon seemed to stretch on forever. In Vancouver we enjoy the majesty of the mountains, the vast forests and wide oceans. The plains and rolling hills of the Midwest contain a unique beauty. At sunset the sky was on fire with brilliant orange, yellow and blue. Our drive made Psalm 19 come to life — “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands”
Some changes ahead for us
We wanted to let you know of a few changes that are coming for Tiff and I. I have accepted a part-time position as customer service representative for a company called Ubertor. The company host websites for realtors and mortgage brokers. I will only be working 20-25 hours per week and will be doing 90% of my work in an online chat environment or over the telephone. I will still be working for the church but will scale back my hours at the Bridge. I’m excited about the job. The job could give us more of a long term future in Vancouver. Over the years the Bridge has remained 50 or fewer members and cannot support two pastors. The longer we are away from you, our supporters, the more difficult it is to maintain and raise new support. This new job will help supplement our income and provide us with more options for our future.
MSC
We have also applied to the Mission Service Corp (MSC) program. This is a program of the North American Mission Board. Just before Christmas we received our acceptance letter. Being a MSC missionary will not be a major change for us. We will still be working at The Bridge and Jerry Conner will still be my supervisor. The primary change will be in how our support is handled. Currently all of our funds go through River Community Church. River has been gracious to collect our funds and distribute receipts to all of you. MSC has a financial team dedicated to support people in our situation and will begin handling our support and distributing tax receipts. Beginning in February of 2007 our financial support will be handled by MSC. We will be in touch to let you know more about how this process will work.
A new year can cause you to look back and also look ahead. As we look back we are grateful for you. Your prayers and support have allowed us to be in Vancouver. Your investment of time and resources has given us the chance to give our lives away for God’s glory to Canadians in Vancouver. As we look ahead and God leads us through these changes, we can be confident because we have a future hope and our hope will not be cut off.
Thanks for your love and support
Rodney, Tiffany, Caleb, Jesse and Emily
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