Family Life Revealed

When I am broken, you mend
When I am lost, you guide
When I am confused, you simplify
When I am distraught, you comfort
When I am hungry, you feed
When I am thirsty, you quench
When I am poor, you come up with money out of thin air
When I am rich, you remind me that I am not
When I am alone, you hold me close
When I am Godless, you remind me of who my God is
When I am, it is because you are too

Melissa, I love you. Thank you for being my bride and my best friend. I will always be yours.

I have always been an individual who has sought after knowledge and truth (qualities that may often, unfortunately, conflict). That quest has brought me down some roads that might be labeled as “interesting”. Many times, however, it has led me down the path of righteousness. Well, as those who know me are aware of, I have a new-born daughter (she is six months old already)! So, as all parents should do, my wife and I have been attempting to learn to train our daughter in the ways of the Lord. This is not a trivial task, and any who attempt to make it such have already failed. This quest has led us to many books, but none have even come close to being the great resource that is in “To Train Up A Child” by Michael and Debi Pearl.

The following is an excerpt that I have found especially encouraging and helpful in my training and leading of Autumn-

Understanding the nature of love
You may have strong feelings that prevent you from spanking your child, but it is ignorance to claim that love is your motive. The God who made little children, and therefore knows what is best for them, has provided them parents to employ the rod in training up their children. To refrain from doing so, based on a claim of love, is an indictment against God himself. Your actions declare that either God does not desire what is best for your child, or you know better than He.

Parent, you must recognize the difference between true love and sentiment. Natural human sentiment- often taken to be love- can be harmful if not submitted to wisdom. Love is not sentiment. That is, love is not simply the deep feelings we have in association with those close to us. Such feelings can be, and often are, self-serving.

Love is not an emotion at all. Love, in the purest sense, is goodwill toward and good doing for your fellow man. “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” True love is disinterested. That is, there is no thought of personal gain or of personal loss in the act of loving.

The Pearls, throught great, and articulate argument continue to debunk the theories that our societies have so frequently entitled “Love”. I highly recommend this book, and upon reading it, I believe that you will as well.

Even when 37 Signals is dead wrong,  they are 100% right.  A paradox of great proportions to be sure, but the truth it is.

I am a huge fan of all of the work that 37 Signals has done in the community.  Half of the apps that I have written are in Rails, I use Basecamp for both my personal and professional projects, and I have purchased and read both Rework and Getting Real. I am a daily reader of the ever-so-popular blog Signal vs. Noise, and have watched many a lectures from DHH. Some might call me a 37 Signals fanboi.

But a fanboi of 37 Signals I am not. Constantly (and consistently) I disagree with the things that come from the mouths of DHH, Jason Fried and Co. I have seen them contradict themselves; they over-simplify (I know, that is the whole point), and I often feel that they speak just to get a reaction. But even when they are wrong, they are right.

Back when I was in Business School I had a teacher, a lawyer by profession, that could take any side in any debate, and without question, whatever it was that she was trying to prove would be made true. Even when she was wrong, she was right, and everyone knew it. The could sell snow to an Eskimo; get them on the lifetime subscription plan.

And that is exactly why 37 Signals is great at what they do. Even when they are wrong, it is their passion, their energy, and their vehement and eloquent vocabulary that convinces the world that they are right. That is why they are the movers and shakers. When they say jump, half of the business world says, “How high?”

The leaders are not always the ones that have the most knowledge, are the greatest thinkers. No, the leaders are the ones who know how to lead. Who push the masses in the best direction that they see fit. Their voice is loud, strong, and unwavering.