Day 21 – Thankful for My Customers

This is part of a series called 24 Days of Thankfulness. These posts are in RANDOM order, NOT priority order. Each is something I am thankful for leading up to Thanksgiving. DAY #21: My Customers Back in 1994 when very few people knew what the “Internet” was, I got an idea for a website: The KidologyWeb: I was already calling myself “The Kidologist” in my workshops as I sought to equip and encourage children’s workers to approach children’s ministry from the perspective of a child: By 1996 the first “Kidology Handbook” was published: VERY FEW people remember when Kidology.org (before I had that domain!) looked like this: OR when you clicked into it and saw crude pages like this: Only hundreds were lucky enough to BE on the Internet surfin’ kidmin back then! (And only a few bought the “Life Time Memberships” I offered back then when I needed to raise some money to buy some much needed Microsoft FrontPage software, and yes, they are still members!) More remember the next version of the site: Kidology 2.0 (which I called it long for “2.0” was hip) It had the infamous “frames” that if you navigated just right, would give you…

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Day 16 – Thankful for Da Cloud

This is part of a series called 24 Days of Thankfulness. These posts are in RANDOM order, NOT priority order. Each is something I am thankful for leading up to Thanksgiving. DAY #16: Da Cloud I might lose some people on this one, but I am incredibly thankful for cloud technology, and while I’m enjoying watching a lot of my friends starting to use it, I’ve been using it, and dependent on it, for years. Michael Chanley and I did a workshop together on Cloud Technology: What is It? at CPC last year and you can listen, watch and get the handout at the link above. In a nutshell, what this means is that all my files are no longer stored on my computer. Because the days of having only one computer (or device) have been long gone for me for several years, I needed to be able to access any file at any time from any device, update it and have that updated file be on the other devices, AND (this is key) NOT be online when I needed it. While MobileMe got a lot of flake (even from Steve Jobs) I used MobileMe to the max even puzzling…

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On the Passing of Steve Jobs

I’ve long said, there are three types of people in the world: Those who make things happen Those who watch things happen Those who say, “What just happened?” Steve Jobs was one of those who MADE things happen, and equipped others to make things happen too – which was why he was my hero. He enabled me to create. A lot of people spend their time talking about what others are doing, I prefer to DO. A lot of people spend their time talking about what others are writing, I prefer to WRITE. A lot of people spend their time talking about where others are going, I prefer to GO. A lot of people spend their time talking about what other people are creating, I prefer to CREATE. Steve Jobs was the man who taught me this. When IBM said “Think” – he said “Think Different.” He didn’t listen to conventional wisdom, he listened to his inner voice and went against the grain and did what his instincts told him. Often it led to mistakes. But he never let his mistakes stop him from pushing forward toward his dreams. He had a vision of what people needed and he was…

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They Read My Mind

O.K. – I’ll be honest. There WAS one thing I hated about being a children’s pastor. I avoided it like the black plague. It was pure evil. Satan, I thought, must have come up with the idea. It was a plot to keep me from ministering to kids, sharing the Gospel, doing visitation, and equipping and encouraging my volunteers. Database Management. And it wasn’t my fault! The church’s database stunk too! If they couldn’t even keep theirs up to date, what hope did I have?! So I’d create my own, I thought. I bought every software sold on the market. Even programmed my own once. (that was a nightmare!) For seasons at a time, I didn’t bother, or I’d let it look I was keeping track of the kids – but God knew I didn’t have a clue who had really been there or not. Don’t worry – I made sure the person who dropped off the kid picked up the kid and that we had a “never alone” policy in place. Sunday morning security was a priority. But beyond keeping the kids safe on Sunday – my data was usually a mess! Please tell me, I’m not the only…

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