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Running without Someone Chasing Me

September 9, 2010 in Personal, Technology with 2 Comments

If you follow me on Facebook and Twitter then you’ve probably noticed the self-promoting “I’m Running!” run updates.  The look like this:

Besides the obvious (I’m bragging about how far I’ve run), the updates have become a way for me to track how much I’m running and where I’m running and compare it with others in my area.  The link on the Twitter and Facebook updates will take to the greatness of RunKeeper.  Check this out.  Here is how it works.

I installed the RunKeeper app on my iPhone.  There is a free version, but after using the Free Version for a few days I upgraded to the $9.99 paid version.  The only difference is that the Pro Version allows you to set your own training schedule.  I’ll get to that…

With the free version you turn on the app, select what iPod playlist you want to listen to, tell it how often you want verbal updates (every mile? every kilometer? every minute?, etc…), press the start button and run.  The RunKeeper app takes advantage of the GPS location tracker to track where you are running, thereby telling you how long you’ve been running.  Genius!  And yes, you can set your type of activity to cycling or other outdoor activities.  You can even do things like swimming and treadmill walking; but of course you have to enter the data into your RunKeeper account after the workout.

Here is where it gets good.  The paid version of the RunKeeper app allowed me to setup training specific to what I’m doing.  I was running the Couch to 5K program that you see so often online, and found a variation of this program from RunningMateMedia.com that I liked.  However, when I downloaded the podcast from Running Mate with built in verbal cues telling me when to run and when to walk it was also full of cues telling me what shoes to buy and what websites to visit.  Who wants to listen to ads while running?  Here is where RunKeeper proved worth the money.  RunKeeper allows me to setup exactly what cues I want, and then it interrupts my playlist at the appropriate times to tell me when to run and when to walk, and it even tells me my mileage, time, and pace.

Here is what I am using:

You can check out all my stored runs with RunKeeper HERE and follow along by visiting my Facebook and Twitter feeds.  And this October 2nd I’ll be running in the 2010 Komen Lubbock Race for the Cure with a group of friends.  It’s only a 5K, so it shouldn’t kill me!  If you’re in Lubbock you should join us!

People I’ve Met Online: Matt McKee

September 7, 2010 in Personal, Technology with 0 Comments

Over 3 years ago I was Googling (is that a word?) looking for some reviews online about a video curriculum I wanted to use at the church I was working at.  All I could find were standard reviews, from those that were being paid to say positive things.  Then I stumbled upon Matt McKee’s website (remember when it was on the 3cords web network?), where he was writing about the very curriculum I was interested in. He said nice things about the curriculum, but he also said some not-so-flattering things about it.  Now, it’s important that you understand that he wasn’t being mean, just honest from his Children’s Ministry perspective.  I was drawn to his honesty, and began to lurk on that there website of his.  Eventually I started leaving comments, and even emailed him with some questions.  He was sharp, quick, and funny every time I had an interaction with him.

Since that time Matt has transitioned into a very different role, yet still maintains a great understanding of all things Children’s Ministry.  If you follow his blog or twitter feed, you might be tempted to just label him a technology nerd, or maybe a marketing sign snob…but he’s so much more than that.  He’s one of the few people that I can talk to about doing Children’s Ministry, and he keeps that part of his expertise hidden way down there under all the geekery.  Don’t believe me?  I dare you to just fire off an email to him about anything Children’s Ministry related and he’ll quickly become a great resource for you too!

When did I meet Matt?  I met Matt for the first time at The Orange Conference in 2009.  Believe it or not he was one of the guys I shared a hotel room with at that conference.  Yes, I did share a hotel room with complete strangers that I met online at the Orange Conference.  Strange, but true…  I’ll never forget awaking one morning and Sam Luce, Kenny Conley, and I being shocked that he was going to actually walk out of that hotel room with white pants and orange combat boots on.  And believe you me…that brother can work the white pants and orange boots.  I’ve met up with him again at the Orange Conference this year, and many, many, many times I’ve video chatted with him from his office.

Today Matt McKee is one of the very few friends that just calls me to see what’s going on in my life.  And by the way…that’s a good way to judge a friend.  Do they ever call to just call?  I’d be a bad friend if I didn’t tell you to check out www.r04r.com and see what Matt is up to right now.  His company can create some super great iPhone and Android apps for your church.  Take the time to see what R04R can do for your church.  And take the time to visit the often neglected, but rarely NOT read blog that Matt runs over at www.mattmckee.me.

People I’ve Met Online: Kenny Conley

September 2, 2010 in Personal, Technology with 3 Comments

Kenny Conley is proof that it’s a small world.  I did not officially meet the giant of a man (physically he’s like a giant tree…even in my own backyard) until 2009, but we’ve been dangerously close to meeting for years.  He lived in Tulsa, OK at the same time that I did in college.  He then lived in the DFW Metroplex for years at the very same time I did.  We both left churches in DFW around the exact same time, and even attended the Orange Conference in 2008 at the same time!  I remember Matt McKee telling me that I should visit with Kenny while I was there, but I guess I was preoccupied with sitting in Atlanta traffic and never got to it.

I did finally meet Kenny at the Orange Conference in 2009, and 2010.  I’ve also had Kenny and his family over for an evening in Lubbock once when they drove through town on their way to Colorado.  This summer my family returned the favor (albiet staying for much longer) and we all had a blast.  Ask him to tell you about the time he almost killed me and my oldest son on the San Marcos river in late July 2010!  My kids knew him much before they actually met him; because when we had some family medical issues a few years ago, Kenny and his wife Sara paid to have some pizza delivered to our house.  Such a special thing for my family at the time, and much appreciated!

Kenny is somebody worth following, and he can be followed at www.childrensministryonline.com.  He’s worked in small churches, and big churches; baptist churches, and pentecostal churches; and he’s been through some pretty great ministry highs, and some pretty sorry ministry lows.  For being only in his early 30′s, it’s amazing what Kenny has seen and been through as it relates to Children’s Ministry and now Family Ministry.  In Austin he’s transitioned to a more family ministry leadership role, taking the coolest job title in the word; “Next Generations Pastor” at Gateway Church.  While he no longer teaches kids with weekend regularity, or recruits 3 year old teachers with reckless abandon; he’s still committed to leading others into leading churches to intentionally equip children.

He’ll try anything, and has a closed mind about very few things in ministry.  He’s easy to get time with, and I promise if you email him…he will eventually return your email.  And when he does, I can guarantee you it will be sent between the hours of midnight at 2:00 a.m.

New Check-In Procedures

August 27, 2010 in Ministry, Technology with 8 Comments

This weekend at Trinity Church we are kicking off a totally new way of doing check-in for our Elementary students.  I’m a HUGE advocate of self check-in, and this plan has worked for our Elementary areas for a few years now.  Due to our building setup this is NOT a security check-in system, it is a attendance check-in system.  We do not do any kind of check-out, and still rely on small group leaders and other leaders to help identify parents and others that have business in our Children’s areas.

What’s different?

  • Families can check-in using a RFID key tag.  Each family is being given two key tags that they will then be able to use anytime they visit Kidsplace.  Previously we used name tags with magnetic stripes that kids “swiped” on a reader.
  • After check-in for each child, there will be a name badge printed for them next to the kiosks.  Previously we used hard plastic name tags that had to be returned each week to be used again the next week.  Can you say time-intensive?
  • All visitors are entered into our ARENA database program when they visit.  Using Family Registration, every visitor will be entered in, and subsequently checked-in to their appropriate location.  Previously we kept a running spreadsheet and didn’t enter a child until they had attended 3 times or more, and then we would create a permanent name tag for them.
  • Visitors will be able to check-in using their phone number on there very next visit to church.  No more visitor line for them!  Previously, they continued to visit this visitor line until they had attended for a few weeks and were moved to a permanent name tag.  I’m so excited to be able to give our first-timers a real special experience!

I’m real excited, and mildly concerned about how easy this will all pull off this weekend.  I can tell you that I’m gonna love the RFID name tags, as we no longer have to deal with barcodes or magnetic stripes at check-in!  Here is a short video that was distributed to parents this week to prepare them for the transition.  Now…fire away with those questions in the comment area!

People I’ve Met Online: Keith Geeding

August 26, 2010 in Personal, Technology with 3 Comments

I first read Keith’s blog over 5 years ago.  I believe I saw a funny picture that somebody had on their blog, and it pointed back to bagofnothing.com.  BON is a great link-blog, and it’s beginning to be filled more and more with the life of it’s author.  I recommend anybody wanting to waste hours of their day to see all the Internet goodness that Keith has gathered for his readers at www.bagofnothing.com.  Over the years I’ve learned that he hates windchimes, that most Baylor graduates annoy him, and he’s frustrated by people that don’t return their carts at Wal-Mart.  He’s a big fan of the Dallas Cowboys and was even raised not too far from the heart of West Texas.

But I’ve also met Keith.  For months and months we would exchange emails about various things happening in and around our lives.  Once I emailed him and asked if he would give me a run-down of all the U2 songs that a newbie to U2 like myself should listen too.  See, if you’ve read BON you would know that Keith rarely listens to other music and is the quintessential U2 snob.  (That’s not an insult!)  As I awaited his return email with a list of songs I should buy on iTunes, I instead received a package in the mail.  This Internet stranger had sent me a mix-tape of his favorite U2 songs, along with the reasons for him including each song on the mix-tape.  Seriously, he did this!

I’ve read and exchanged emails while he nursed his sick mother, who would eventually pass away.  I’ve followed along from a distance as he visited her native land in Vietnam along with his wife.  And recently I’ve watched him learn to be a father for the first time!  Keith is a seeker of truth, and I love his spirit and perseverance to find answers to his questions on spirituality.  We would all benefit from his curiosity.

So when have we actually met?  A few months after he sent me the U2 mix-tape, I had an extra ticket to a Dallas Stars game; so I invited him and we got to hang out for the evening.  I think we may have had lunch before I left the Dallas area and headed to Lubbock, I think we did; but I’m not sure.  But last September on a Sunday afternoon I got a call from Keith.  He had purchased two tickets to the U2 show in Arlington for a Monday night, and through a series of unfortunate events (and more close friends being unable to attend) he asked if I was interested.  So in a matter of 24 hours I was back in Dallas, camping out in his spare bedroom and standing right next to the stage for the U2 concert at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX.  What a thrill!  I count this as one of the more spiritual experiences of my life!

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Keith is a long-distance friend, and is one of the many reasons that I love the Internet.  If you’ve not taken the time to shoot of an email to that blog author that you read, then do it.  It’s always worth is to make a new friend, even if it’s an Internet friend!

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