In the next few weeks I’ll be a dad for the third time. This is kind of a strange thing and, despite the size of my beautiful wife’s belly, it hasn’t sank in quite yet. I keep asking her, “are you sure there is a baby in there?” She keeps saying yes. I’ll trust she knows what she is talking about. We have a number of friends at The Well who have had babies in the last few months and when I look at the size of those kids I realize that it’s been a while since we’ve had an infant in the house. Cole turns 6 this July and Mason came home when he was 10 months (he’s adopted from Guatemala). That whole prospect...Read More →
Category: Life
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April 29, 2009
Church as Family
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March 20, 2009
Social Networking for Dummies (Advanced Version)
So over Christmas this past year I spent some time trying to explain to my family how I spend use the different social networking websites out there. It took some time but I finally resorted to drawing it out on a napkin so it made some sense. While I participate in an number of different sites, I don’t actaully spend much time on all of them. Through interconnecting some of these different things I am able to spend most of my time in one or two places while still participating in the others. Here’s a rundown of the map… Twitter feeds my blog with my most recent update in the upper right hand corner. Twitter sends my most recent update to Facebook’s status line...Read More →
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January 29, 2009
Paying Attention to What’s in Front of Me
Those of you who visit my blog daily, whoever you are, may have noticed that I’m not posting as much as I had been recently. That’s on purpose. I’m doing my best to pay attention to the things that are right in front of me and not spread myself too thin. I often, with the best of intentions, tend to get way too many sticks in the fire and then it gets hard for me to manage them. So, I’m focusing these days on being faithful to what’s in front of me while still looking intentionally at the future. That means I’ve got to say “no” or “not now” to some things that I really want to say yes to. For now, my blog is...Read More →
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January 4, 2009
Thinking about 2009 – A More Disciplined Life
I’ve been processing things like resolutions and goals more than ever this year. I’ve been thinking through a lot of different things but the one I keep coming back to is my need for a more disciplined work week. It’s not that I am totally undisciplined. I mean, if I were there is no way I could run my own freelance design business and pastor at The Well. But there is a need for me to have more boundaries and guides so that I can be faithful to my responsibilities. I currently love my lifestyle. I am mostly my own boss. Each day I wake up and can choose what I want to work on (at least, mostly) where I want to work on it. ...Read More →
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December 16, 2008
Use Cash, Spend Less. Boo Credit.
I read this article on CNN.com today. Bascially it was talking about the shopping habits of Americans this Christmas season. “Most Americans have put themselves on a budget this holiday season and are sticking to it,” said Phil Rist, executive vice president of strategic initiatives at research firm BIGresearch, in a statement. “Retailers are finding that consumers who pay with cash or a debit card may be less likely to make impulse purchases, but recognize that these shoppers are also trying to put themselves in a better financial situation to spend in the future.” I don’t get the feeling that the article is pointing out the problems of this approach, but its funny that this is possibly conceived as bad news. At least, I’ve seen...Read More →
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December 3, 2008
Mailing List Subscription Stupidity
This is what you call re-dic-u-lous. These days, there is absolutely no reason that I should have to wait 10 days for your records to be updated. Get with it people. It’s 2008. Not 1996. Don’t even get me started on how I got on the list in the first place. I’ve never used their product. Marketing is a bit more effective when I am actually interested in your product.
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November 24, 2008
The Miracles of Technology
I don’t share YouTube videos on this blog very often (though, i did design it so they would embed really nicely into the left column here). But, this guy has totally shared my feelings about technology exactly. And, if I’m being humble, he is almost as funny as me. I saw this via Matt Heerema via some guy named Larry.
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November 17, 2008
Moving from Man to Man to Zone Defense…
So, in May/June Melanie and I will be switching defenses. We’re going from man on man to zone. That’s right. Two kids to three. Needless to say we’re pretty excited about the transition. It’s going to bring about some major changes. Cole is excited. He wants a little sister. Mason on the other hand, has no clue what’s coming. Mainly, we need to find a three bedroom apt/house to rent and we need to get a car that will fit three car seats. This should all be pretty easy. :)
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November 5, 2008
Reflections on the 2008 Election
I don’t delve into polictics on my blog alot. Heck, I don’t delve into politics in my life a lot. But, whether you voted for Obama or McCain, tonight was historic. I had a stream of thoughts as I wanted the events unfold tonight. Here are a few of them: I don’t believe that the significance of an black man being elected as the president of the United States can be overstated. John McCain’s concession speech was moving and inspiring. I appreciated his humility and it’s clear that he loves America more than he loves himself. This speaks volumes of about this man’s character. I appreciated the way that Obama’s victory speech was reverent and a tad subdued. He could have easily whipped that huge crowd into a...Read More →
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November 3, 2008
Aug – October Phamily Photos
It’s been a while since I uploaded pictures to our flickr account. I’ve added a bunch. Here is a sample.
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November 3, 2008
Fix My Country. Just Don’t Ask Me To Do Anything.
Over the past few weeks I have been struck with the fact that Americans are basically looking for a president who will: Fix our country’s financial crisis Figure out what to do with the mess in Iraq Guarantee protection from all possible terrorist attacks Reform Healthcare. Find a solution to social security Okay, I’ll stop there. But I could go on. But here’s my problem. We want those things. Heck, we need those things. But most Americans are asking for the farm while willing to give very, very little. Fix my country. Just don’t raise my taxes. Care for the poor, just don’t ask me to help. Fix healthcare, but don’t inconvenience me. I think evidence of this is seen by the fact that...Read More →
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October 31, 2008
ESPN Linkage: My 15 Minutes of Non-Fame
Most of you know a recent blog post of mine was one of the links in this article on ESPN.com (go to #6 and click the link there). Needless to say, it was pretty cool. There was a bit of a traffic spike for me from the link but I’m almost sure that is because I wrote everyone I knew and told them to check it out. Then I posted the news on twitter and facebook. So, while I had about 150 hits from that one link, I am assuming most of you people were the ones doing the clicking. But, who really cares. I just think its cool that an author at ESPN the mag linked to my site. Most of you are probably...Read More →
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October 28, 2008
God Hates Philadelphia Sports Teams
Perhaps William Penn and God are in cahoots on this one...
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October 24, 2008
Reflecting on Adoption
Tomorrow we are celebrating our son Mason’s 2nd birthday. (His birthday is on the 30th though). It’s hard to be believe that he’s that big. It’s been a whirlwind since he came home to be part of our family (he’s adopted btw). He’s such a spunky kid and has a lot of personality. His smile and big eyes melt my heart. As I was thinking about his birthday, I started looking at some of the blog entries that I wrote when we were down in Guatemala meeting him and bringing him home. If you are new to the blog, you may have missed these. For me, reading them reminds me again just how much of a gift this child has been to our lives. So, in...Read More →
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October 23, 2008
How To Start a Blog…
So over the past few years I’ve had a number friends who have said they wanted to start a blog but they didn’t know how. There is always the “here is why I have a blog” approach and often people start out saying “i don’t know why I am blogging” or “I am not sure what to say” but others start out pretty well. So, because I am kind of a nerd, I went through some of my favorite bloggers and checked out their first post. I figure, if you want to have a successful blog, learn from the best. Here is a run down of how some my friend’s first posts: Uber-blogger Scot McKnight just jumped right in with a post about praying...Read More →
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October 21, 2008
My Workspace
One of the nice things about my line of work (pastor / freelance webdesigner) is that I get to work from anywhere. Most of my friends know that if they want to find me, there is a good chance I am at the nearby Starbucks. I’m a fairly social person so I like to be in locations where there are other people. But sometimes, I need to find some peace and quiet and lose all the distractions. The picture above is my “new” work space in my basement. I used to have all kinds of stuff on my desk and on that shelf you see. I had a ton of books, file shelves and other office type stuff. But, yesterday I organized my desk again...Read More →
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October 19, 2008
The Most important Jobs in the world (repost)
I had some weird, strange happenings with WordPress this weekend. So, this post has moved to a new url… http://www.toddhiestand.com/the-most-important-jobs-you-never-think-about-or-appreciate/01/
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October 16, 2008
Learning to Read Like Daddy
Today is my day off so I’ve been doing my best to stay off the computer. While Mason has been napping and Cole watching a short video, I’ve been reading a new book that finally came by way of USPS today. I am the kind of person who has to read with a pencil in my hand (preferably a Pentel Forte .05 mechanical pencil as pictured above). If I don’t have a pencil, I probably just won’t read. Underlining really helps me concentrate, retain and also helps when I go back over the book later remember what I found helpful. I’ll confess it also makes me feel smart. Today as I was reading, Cole asked me why I was writing lines in my book. I...Read More →
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October 16, 2008
USPS Shipping Blunder
I’ve been waiting for a new book that a friend strongly recommended to me for the last week or so. But, my effort at using the Free Super Saver Shipping on Amazon.com didn’t work out in my favor. Go USPS. The book is called “A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix” and Tim told me that he’s recommending it to almost everyone he meets these days. When I told him I was about to start reading it (assuming it was showing up that day) he told me to “hang onto my hat.” I don’t wear hats that often anymore but maybe I will when I read this book.
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October 7, 2008
A Few New Website Launches
I’ve been slaving away on a few websites. A couple of them are done and a few of them are a few days away from launch. But, I wanted to draw your attention to a few sites that I not only designed but also wholeheartedly recommend. C4ML – Catlyst for Missional Leadership at Biblical Seminary This isn’t a new website but its one that I developed about 6 months or so ago and we refreshed and reworked the site layout a bit. With a site so heavy on content, it’s often helpful to revisit the site a few months after launch to see what worked and what didn’t. So, I spent a few hours yesterday reworking some stuff. I like the results. The site...Read More →
