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Throwback Thursday: The Sound of a Healthy Spring

Pond Awakens Before Spring

Every year this is the sound that lets my family know that spring is here: peepers of spring

peepers

peepers

The first animals to awaken from our pond are the frogs we call peepers, they get very loud. This winter (2013) had seemed particularly long so this sound is particularly sweet to us.

2018 Update

[Its late February 2018 now and I thought I would revive this post from 2013. I’m eagerly anticipating the start of spring again. When I hear these first peeps from these mini frog I plan to dance a jig. Spring time is a particularly exciting time for me, I enjoy gardening and spending time outdoors. We live in NY and the winters seem particularly long and cold.

Since this post in 2013 I’ve learned to see Jesus Christ in all things. So I see him now in these peepers and in the end of NY winter.

Song of Songs 2:11 For behold, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. 12 The flowers have already appeared in the land; the time has arrived for pruning the vines, and the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land.

The sounds of the peepers for me are spiritually like my friends and family discussing Jesus Christ. His name on their lips is a reminder, he is coming, he is still there, the time is short now when everything will change.]

These little frogs get progressively louder, after them come the bull frogs, then the toads.  This post is also my first attempt at adding an audio file to my blog, I plan to host a podcast soon so this mp3 file is practice for what is to come.

Check out another post about the spring time.

What sounds remind you of spring time?

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Lessons from Working Within a Hierarchy – Lesson 2

Almost all of us currently do or will need to participate within a hierarchy. Some hierarchies are very healthy and others are extremely toxic and everywhere in between. I write these posts to share with young people how to do well within hierarchies. I wish I would have realized these long ago when I started working in my company.

The idea that we will be judged entirely based on our merits and performance is rare, its partially our performance but most of the time more than half of our value is based on behaviors that we can exhibit toward the chain of command and/or senior leaders. These behaviors can instantly make us much more valuable in the perception of leadership. If we are disgusted in the senior leadership or are out of step with their vision we can expect to stay stagnant or pushed out until that is resolved.

Lesson 2:

The laws and ground rules (‘culture’) which defines success within a hierarchy is not necessarily based on truth or reality. Often they are based more on the preferences and ideals of the leader at the top. So our value within a hierarchy is defined by our relationship with, proximity and/or loyalty to its leader(s). We must stay on our toes because those culture-rules can rapidly change as the leader changes or as new leaders take over.

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My 3 Hours in the Mountain

Three Hours in Mount Columbia

In early May I traveled to Buena Vista, Colorado staying in a cabin at the base of Mount Columbia. I was there with my wife and 5 children on vacation at about 9000 feet in elevation thanks to the generosity of Ken and Diane Davis. One Sunday that we were there we stayed in the cabin after a very dangerous day of hail and blizzard conditions near Colorado Springs. As terrifying that 4-hour ride home was last night (should have been 2), Sunday was as good. Days like that are what vacations are all about for me. A time to write, to pray and a time to reflect about the path we are on.

I spent about hours in the mountain, it felt like those 3 hours exploring and praying negated a year of life-stress for me. I hiked up 3 Elks Stream Trail up to the base of Mount Columbia, it was calling me. The temperature was 45 and sunny and the 6″ of snow from last night was quickly melting away in the sun. It was dropping from the trees, filling up the stream for me to drink. I walked about a mile up the trail.

Colorado Wildlife

I saw many signs of Rocky Mountain life including a large coyote print in the snow, the paw was shockingly large, larger than what we see in NY. I also saw a large dropping from an elk and his hoof prints. As I wrote this I heard maybe the same coyote calling near where I was sitting taking photos earlier.

As I walked back to the cabin I heard an Elk calling from about 200 yards down in another raveen so I decided to walk down in pursuit. This raveen then brought me to another part of the mountain where it is too steep to walk.  I walked up as far as I could then sat down and took pictures of the breath-taking view. In one photo I saw a hawk soaring …below me. I sitting on a very steep area from where the hawk was soaring with the mountains in the background on the other side.

above a soaring hawk

above a soaring hawk

Book Ideas

I also started writing a book on this trip. Its a book about how creativity is the result of the communion and love between God and man. Some chapters of this book is already written. After seeing another corner of God’s creation (Rocky Mountains) and reading the creation story in Genesis and John, I realized that the entire creation. The universe itself, all of humanity is a result from the mutual love and communion between the Father and Son. The Greek word for this love and communion is koinonia.

The premise of the book explores the fact that all of creation is a result of their unmatched love and shared life.  This is the reason for life, this is the purpose of the creation. The mutual communion between people and God and then people with other people is the key driver of human creativity. I see many of examples of this.

Rocky Mountain Coyote Track

Rocky Mountain Coyote Track

Thanks for reading.

 

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