In this week’s episode I talk about the struggle to give my attention only to what needs it in that moment rather than allowing it to be hijacked by so many smaller, less urgent matters. Technology is a major culprit in this battle. I’ve tried to come up with some creative solutions to keep myself from getting lost in a sea of digital clutter.

If you’re a student at FSU taking finals this week, good luck on all your tests!

Links from this episode:

• Here’s the podcast episode I recorded back in October on the tyranny of the urgent.
• It makes me sad just looking at the tree limb crushing my car.
• This article by Stephanie Losee sums up how I’ve been ignoring my email inbox as of late. Make sure to check out the accompanying flowchart.
• Clay Johnson of Lifehacker agrees with me: notifications are evil.
• Visual is the iPhone/iPad timer app I’ve been using.
• I use Boxcar for granular notifications, like being told I have a new email from my girlfriend.

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In this episode I follow up on a question I received from a friend who read my birthday essay last week. He was interested to know how I planned on becoming physically and spiritually healthy, something I mentioned as a goal of mine for the coming year.

See that. I actually do care about my readers and listeners. Ask me questions and I’ll address them, maybe even “on air.”

I know I sound a bit disinterested in this episode. I’m actually just running out of steam.

Links from this episode:

• Thanks to Austin for the great question. He asked me about this during Old Man Breakfast, a 6:30am Friday feast of eggs, grits, toast and coffee with some great friends.
• Here’s the birthday essay I’m talking about. I briefly mention wanting to become physically and spiritually healthy in the second to last paragraph.
• To help me get to sleep I’ve been using an iPhone app called Brainwave. In order to comfortably listen to its tones while trying to sleep I’m using the SleepPhones that my roommate Zack got me for my birthday.
• When I memorize scripture I use the process I learned through the topical memory system.
• I will soon be a contributing writer to Florida Navs.

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In this episode I talk about my recent brush with envy, how it so easily captures my heart. It feels good to have gotten this off my chest.

I recorded this podcast while out for an evening stroll in my neighborhood. Can you tell when I start walking uphill?

Links from this episode:

• My sister Alison turns 24 this week.
• I wrote a monster post about leading the ’08 spring break trip to Chicago.
• The man I planned that Chicago trip with was a man named Larry Hope (pictured on the right). He’s still a dear friend. I’m so glad I got to see him in Kentucky last year.
• Toward the end of summer ’08 I wrote about my decision to leave my position as a vocational campus minister. I haven’t read that piece since posting it. I don’t think I want to.
• I shared 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.

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Another unscheduled hiatus has come to an end. In today’s episode I talk about growing up, how it means different things for different people. I muse over the differences between being grown up and feeling grown up.

This episode is a bit self-indulgent and I ramble on more than usual. I think there are a few good points in there somewhere.

Links from this episode:

• This week’s links are all on the subject of prolonged/suspended adolescence.
• On the subject of prolonged adolescence, John Starke wrote a great piece called Letter to a (Frustrated) Single Young Woman that encapsulates the areas in which young men of my generation (yes, including me) need to mature.
• Donald Miller posed some ideas for how to overcome suspended adolescence.
• This mammoth article from the New York Times goes into great detail on “the changing timetable for adulthood.”

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Happy almost Valentine’s Day to you. In today’s episode I talk about the risks of publishing something personal when you know it will be read by people who know you well.

The audio quality on this episode is much better because I used Quicktime instead of my iPhone. I should probably do that more often.

Links from this episode:

• The surprise party was for my roommate Zack.
• On this day two years ago Joe moved out of Camp Special.
• Back when Joe got married I had a little fun with one of his wedding photos
• You can always check out the FSU Navigators Podcast. I specifically mentioned my two messages on idolatry and the three messages from Ignite 2012.
• Matthew 7:1-6, the passage that helps inform my blogging policy.

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Happy MLK Day! In today’s episode I talk about how we all have personal non-negotiables, things we choose to hang on to no matter what the cost. I’ve found that I often choose my non-negotiables without careful consideration. That lack of intentional decision-making can lead to trouble.

Links from this episode:

• You should eat at the Crepevine too.
• I’m teaching this week and next for the FSU Navigators campus ministry.
• In a podcast episode last summer I detailed all I had to do for my property management gig.
• Here’s Psalm 15. Also, here’s the passage my pastor taught on this past Sunday which brought up that verse in Psalm 15.

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Man, it’s cold in Connecticut. In this week’s episode I share the topic of my two-week message series I’m scheduled to teach for the FSU Navigators early on in the spring 2012 semester.

I think I ought to clarify the final spoiler. Each December I begin to evaluate whether I should stay on staff with the Navs in the upcoming fall semester and, if the answer is yes, how I can best serve the ministry. I’ve started that process for fall 2012. There’s a good chance I won’t make a decision until after I’ve given these talks.

Links from this episode:

• The campus ministry in question is The Navigators at Florida State University.
• If you want you can learn about what I do with the ministry.

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