BrianHimes.com

Love & War

Brian — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 18:01:00 +0000

So, a few months ago a friend passed along a link for a free book on marriage.

The book was called Love & War by John and Stasi Elderege. And, the only catch was that you had to agree to write a review of the book on your blog.

Since I like to read, and write, I signed up.

It wasn’t too long before the book arrived in the mail. Upon opening the package I was surprised that it was, in fact, an actual hard-cover copy of the book. It wasn’t a cheap paperback edition, or a photocopied pamphlet. It was an actual book.

A couple days later I started reading.

The book was a team effort written by a husband and wife who obviously have a few years of marriage and ministry under their belt.

It began pretty much like any marriage book, and it wasn’t until page 24 that something jumped out at me. Here’s what they wrote.

The bible begins and ends with marriage.

Simple.

And yet profound.

Maybe I’m the dumbest guy to ever get a degree in religion from a Christian, liberal arts college but I had never really thought about the Bible beginning and ending with the image of marriage.

Interesting stuff.

And, upon further reflection, and reading, I came to the realization that the entire Bible is filled with the imagery of marriage.

Quite interesting when you consider how messed up marriages are in today’s society, especially in Christian circles. You’d think that with all of the time the Bible devotes to the concept of marriage Christians would have it down.

Not so.

Throughout the rest of the book the couple goes on to discuss what that means for our marriages and our relationships with God. I won’t go in to any more details because this is already getting long but I will say if you’re married, and a Christian, you should pick a copy of this book up.

Prior to getting married I read a lot of books regarding the subject and I thought I was pretty well prepared. But, I have to say that I definitely didn’t really understand everything I read then. And, I’m sure I’ve forgotten a lot of it. Today, more than 5 years into my marriage, I had new insight and life experiences to bring in as I read Love & War. I’m sure you will to.

Posted via email from brianhimes’s posterous

Weekend Update

Brian — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 19:20:15 +0000

It was a quiet relaxing weekend. I don't have much to report but here's what happened.

Erin and I were sitting around the house trying to decide how to fill our weekend when I received a text message from my Dad asking if I'd come down to work on my mustang. Not having better plans we packed up and headed down the Whittier. It was a fun impromptu visit and I made some good progress on the mustang. Maybe it'll run again some day soon.
And Sunday, Erin and I spent the majority of the day just hanging around the house, watching movies and relaxing. It was nice to not have any commitments for once.

And that's my weekend update. Short and sweet this week.

Posted via email from brianhimes’s posterous

Mustang Update

Brian — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 18:38:43 +0000

Doesn't that engine look nice?

As far as I can tell, here's what still needs to be done to the mustang to make it run again:

Drain and clean the gas tank and lines
Change the oil
Change the coolant
Install choke tubes
Install PCV tube

Doesn't sound too bad does it? I'm sure there will be a few hiccups. I actually spent some time working on the choke tubes this past weekend and was unsuccessful, so I'm sure that will continue to be a pain but with a little work that engine will be purring again in no time. I think.

Posted via email from brianhimes’s posterous

Weekend Update: An Oldie but a Goodie

Brian — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 17:10:44 +0000

Since I seem to be suffering from a form of writers block, I thought I'd bring back an oldie but a goodie. Say hello to Weekend Update. It's been a long time.

Here are a few highlights from the weekend.

Erin and I had an amazing dinner on Friday night celebrating Erin's hard work. She's been putting in 12+ hour days and deserved a nice break so we had a fancy, leisurely dinner at Arnie Morton's in Burbank. Incredible steak, bacon wrapped scallops, asparagus, wine, coffee and a chocolate lava cake graced our plates that evening.
And, another great meal followed that. Saturday we had a BATH (BBQ at the House) for a friend who's getting hitched later this month. It's basically a guys shower, with less planning and a lot of meat.
Sunday Erin and I spent some time with my parents. We drove down and joined them for church and a little visit.
And finally, Sunday night was filled with an evening of music at the Hollywood Bowl. We saw The Swell Season, She and Him and The Bird and the Bee. It was a great concert and both the Swell Season and She and Him surpassed my expectations.

And that was my weekend.

Posted via email from brianhimes’s posterous

Facebook Privacy: Friend Lists

Brian — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 16:17:06 +0000

Love it or hate it if you use Facebook you have to figure out those ridiculous privacy features. And if that wasn't enough, those features seem to be changing every day. It's impossible to keep up.

This is far from ingenious, but I decided the other day that I would do away with all of my friend lists and categorize all of my friends into one of three lists. The lists I created are called Full, Limited, and No Access. You probably have a pretty good idea of what each of those categories means just from their titles, but let me break it down a little more.

Full gets full access to everything I have on Facebook. This group is limited to only a select group of friends that I want to be able to see my status updates, address info, etc.

Limited gets limited access to my Facebook profile. This group doesn't get to see my status updates, but they have access to my address and contact info. This is for that group of long lost high school friends, co-workers, etc. You want them to be able to contact you, but you don't want them to see everything you do on Facebook.

No Access has everything locked down. Since Facebook changed the way pages works all of the pages that you previously followed show up on your friends list. I dumped all of the pages in here. I don't want them to have my contact info, photos, or be able to see my status updates. Call me a grouch but I don't think it's necessary.

And that's what I've done with my friends lists. If you're worried about privacy amongst your thousands of Facebook friends you might consider doing something similar.

Posted via email from brianhimes’s posterous

You Deserve This

Brian — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 19:30:46 +0000

If you are trying to sell me something please don't tell me I deserve it.

I've been involved in two situations recently in which a sales person used those words and both times it made me want to walk out right then and there.

Honestly, I don't think I deserve anything, especially a time share or a new car. God never promised us nice stuff if we work hard. It's a nice perk, but to say that something is deserved is going a step to far in my opinion.

What do you think? Do you deserve nice stuff?

Posted via email from brianhimes’s posterous

Take a Break from DI

Brian — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 21:22:56 +0000

Yesterday, as part of a Volunteer Management class I’ve been attending, I took the DISC Dimensions of Behavior test. It’s one of those personality tests that I’m sure everyone has taken at some point. As expected, I most closely identified with Conscientiousness and Steadiness. I was equally low scoring on Dominance and Influence.

So, according to DISC I am:

Motivated to achieve high personal standards
Tend to be diplomatic and carefully weigh pros and cons
Prefer environments with clearly defined expectations
Motivated to create a stable, organized environment
Tend to be patient and a good listener
Prefer participating in a group rather than directing it and listening more than talking

I agree with all of these things; however, the roles I find myself taking on at church and in my job call me to be on the opposite end of the spectrum a lot of the time.

It’s interesting. Leadership positions call me out of my comfort level. They require me to step out of my bubble. They demand that I try to be something that doesn’t come second nature to me. But when all that is said and done, I think I usually enjoy the challenge.

What I learned from this exercise is that maybe I need to take a break from stretching myself sometimes. Maybe I need to allow myself to be Conscientious and Steady. Maybe I don’t need to take on that additional leadership role. Maybe I should just sit back, listen and be a part of the group sometimes.

It’s something to think about.

Posted via email from brianhimes’s posterous

Renewable Energy Certificates

Brian — Tue, 25 May 2010 16:10:09 +0000

I was talking with some co-workers this morning about Renewable Energy Certificates. The topic came up while we were discussing cleaning products and how some companies purchase these credits to offset the damage done to the environment by the production or use of their product.

Now, I may be naive about the subject, but this doesn't really seem like good long term solution. Yes, it's nice that these companies are purchasing these credits, but it means that they are still producing chemicals that are harmful to the environment. Does that seem weird to you too?

The thing that bothers me is that it gives companies the opportunity to tell the public that they are doing great things for the environment but in reality they are still doing harmful stuff. That's kind of misleading if you ask me.

I'm not normally an environmentalist, but in light of recent events like the oil leak in the gulf, I'm really beginning to think we're doing some serious damage to our planet. It's probably time that we start to really think about the consequences of what we do.

Posted via email from brianhimes’s posterous

Have We Forgotten the Outdoors?

Brian — Mon, 24 May 2010 22:38:32 +0000

While reading one of my favorite blogs today, Curbed LA, I came across a post discussing a recent UCLA study. In the study Los Angeles families were videotaped for three years and the results were interesting. Although the families had yards, none of them used them.

I find this particularly interesting because the wife and I are about to finish the long tedious task of making our backyard livable.

I have to admit that I haven't spent much time out in my backyard in the 2 plus years I've lived in my house. I hope that's about to change though. We're planning to put in sod on Memorial Day. I hope the plan works out.

In the past, I have blamed it on the atrociously tall weeds that have dominated the landscape, but perhaps there is something more to it. Perhaps our culture has changed in Los Angeles. Perhaps we no longer value the outdoors.

While we have amazing weather year round, I wonder if we, as a culture, are becoming too focused on things that draw us indoors. We have our TVs, DVRs, computers, air conditioning… and the list goes on and on.

Have we forgotten about the outdoors? Is it too easy to just come home and wait for our technology to entertain us?

For me the answer to both of those questions is yes, but I am going to make a conscious effort to change that. How about you?

Posted via email from brianhimes’s posterous

This Weekend Things Change Forever

Brian — Fri, 21 May 2010 16:52:14 +0000

I’m a little sad today.

This weekend things are going to change forever.

After 6 years of devotion, confusion, excitement, frustration and anticipation a piece of my life will be gone forever after this Sunday night.

Yes, I’m talking about the television show Lost. This Sunday night is the two and a half hour season finale.

It’s such a strange show, and I’m not just talking about the content of each episode.

It’s strange because it’s a show that pulled people together.

I’m not sure if your experience was the same as mine, but Lost seemed to have this magical power that caused people to want to get together and share in the rollercoaster ride. My friends and I were no exception.

Interestingly enough, we formed a community around watching the show. And, when Lost moved to Wednesday nights for a while we even formed a Wednesday night Bible study around it. We cleverly called it Lost and Found. I’m sure the shows creators had no idea Lost would have this kind of affect on people.

Lost has been so much more than a great television show to me. It’s been a huge part of my life over the last 6 years… and I’m sad to see it go. But, more than that, I’m sad to see the community that was formed around it come to an end.

There will be other reasons to get together. I’m not loosing my friends. I’m just loosing one more excuse to get together each week.

I guess it’s just part of growing up.

Goodbye Lost. You will be missed.

Posted via email from brianhimes’s posterous