Design work
November 30, 2005
I have enjoyed some time recently to do some Web design work. Design is what really makes me feel alive. I have had several ideas that I have wanted to work through. I also have some tools that I am trying out or have learned about different functions within Fireworks or Photoshop that help to realize some of my ideas.
Barbara Walters to Take a look at heaven, Take 2
November 30, 2005
Here are the questions I came up with this morning. I got most of them from QuEST 1.0.
- What happens at death?
- What determines a person’s experience of either heaven or hell?
- An ABC News Special seeks to answer two questions. “Where is heaven?” and “How do we get there?” Would you be interested in hearing how the Bible answers those two questions?
I want to work on the last question. These were my first ideas.
Barbara Walters to Take a look at heaven
November 30, 2005
Last night, I watched Barbara’s look at her 10 most fascinating people of 2005. At the end of the show, she promoted her next show which will be about heaven. The tag line is “Where is it? How do we get there?” I will be interested to see if she comes up with an all-inclusive answer or does not really answer the questions. She is going to interview several religious leaders including the Dalai Lama, Richard Gere and others.
I was thinking this morning about a survey to get to students that would tie in. I think this program would be a good starting point for a spiritual conversation. It airs on December 20 which is not a time that will work very well with the college schedule.
One final note: I was disappointed that I could not find any information about this show on abc.com or abcnews.com. I find that to be a big useability problem and a missed opportunity when they promo something but have no information on it on their site. I wanted to see the two questions they asked and when it aired. Nothing on their sites about it. I found more info by Googling “barbara walters and heaven.” I found an article on StarPulse that gave me the basic info I wanted.
Narnia Resources
November 28, 2005
I really enjoy being in the office around the holidays. It is quieter and there are not as many pressing things. I took advantage of this last week and finally put together a Narnia Resource Center on GodSquad.com. This is a collection of resources that help students use The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrode as an outreach opportunity. I have been wanting put this together this for several weeks. I think movies can be a powerful way of getting into spiritual conversations.
I found several helpful resources at narniaresources.com. I highlighted several ideas that I thought our student leaders would find helpful. I also had the chance to look through some resources that our Campus Crusade staff in Eastern Europe put together. They gave me permission to use the content in a tract they put together and I was able to get permission from narniaresources.com to use several images from the movie. I am looking forward to putting that together this week.
Daughter’s Baptism
November 21, 2005
Katy, my 5 year old daughter, was baptized yesterday. Last December, she asked Jesus into her heart after I had the privilege of sharing the gospel with her. It has been exciting over the last year to see God grab hold of her life. I see so much faith in her prayers. She has taken a very active part in joining the family as we have sought God’s direction and His provision.
Katy is very outgoing. Almost every Hungarian camper knew who she was this summer when we went on a mission trip which used English camps as the outreach. I am also amazed at how articulate she is and how comfortable she is in front of a group of people. I really saw it come out yesterday when she shared her testimony at church before the baptism.
I took video of her testimony and baptism and converted it to Flash video.
Another Eagle Sighting
November 18, 2005
I saw two bald eagles on the ground on the way to work yesterday. The guy carpooling with me thinks I must have “eagle sensors.” I saw them in the Cypress Springs area on the north side of Curry Ford here in Orlando.
Flash Album Generator
November 18, 2005
I just put together my first Flash photo gallery with an extension I bought for Dreamweaver. The extension, Flash Album Generator, is a command in Dreamweaver that creates the album along with Fireworks so the program Flash is not involved. I like helpful extensions like this because I do not know Flash.
Is Your Homepage Immature?
November 11, 2005
I found this essay on Adaptive Path to be helpful as I am thinking through how to redesign the homepage of CampusCrusadeforChrist.com. I did not design this site. Our current homepage is just not working for what our team wants to communicate and highlight.
Redesign or Realign?
November 8, 2005
This morning, I read an article by Cameron Moll, Good Designers Redesign, Great Designers Realign. I found it very helpful as I have been considering a couple of redesign projects. It was also affirming to me that I am heading in the right direction as I consider a major redesign of one of my sites, GodSquad.
“In direct contrast to the Redesigners, the Realigners cite strategic objectives and user needs as reasons to consider a site overhaul. The desire to redesign is aesthetic-driven, while the desire to realign is purpose-driven. One approach seeks merely to refresh, the other aims to fully reposition and may or may not include a full refresh.”
Cameron also cited another article on A List Apart that I read last week, Never Get Involved in a Land War in Asia (or Build a Website for No Reason). Both of these articles are helping me to think about the importance of strategy as we do Web design work.
Simplifying
November 1, 2005
The other night when I was with some friends, a common theme we shared was that we all felt really busy. It reminded me of something I read on simplicity a couple of years ago.
“For many people, simplifying means nothing more than ‘doing less.’ But simplifying is not so much about doing fewer things as it is about doing the right things.” — Donald Whitney, Simplify Your Spiritual Life, p13.
I liked this perspective because I have found it to be true. God promises to give us more responsibility as we prove ourselves faithful in smaller things. So I can expect my responsibilities to multiply as I prove myself a faithful leader.
I have been reading Taking Back Your Life and I am trying to live my life more by the right things and investing in the things of most significance.
Bald Eagles
November 1, 2005
One of the things I enjoy is seeing bald eagles in Florida. I only see them on occasion so it is always a treat when I see one.
This morning I had my camera so I stopped on my way to work to try to get a picture. I saw at least 5 eagles. There were several young ones that did not have white feathers yet. I spotted 2 adults sitting on the ground across the lake so I decided to walk over to try to capture them with my lens.
I was disappointed because as I got close to where I was going to stop for the picture, they took off. So I did not get a picture but I did get wet shoes because of the morning dew. I did get one picture of one in the air. It is not as good as I would like but a start.