![](\"https://stephen.braunius.org/media/production/images/item-4ece060eb8d70035eb2ce8493e13a689.jpg\")
Seek | Do | Share
I have always loved to learn new things and put that knowledge to use. This is where I share what I’m learning.
","icon":"/media/production/images/item-03dca25ffbbc24c77ac4bc2c4d97c965.png","favicon":"/media/production/images/item-03dca25ffbbc24c77ac4bc2c4d97c965.png","authors":[{"name":"Stephen Braunius"}],"language":"en-us","items":[{"id":"ghJ1aeBDjOz","title":"Erupting Toilet!","url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/erupting-toilet/","authors":[{"name":"Stephen Braunius"}],"content_html":"I’ve had many plumbing problems in our home. It started with the dishwasher. Our dishes were no longer getting as clean as they once had and then the dishwasher started leaking water through the sides of the door all over our kitchen floor and down into our basement. I started investigating this problem and assumed it was a plugged drain line. After removing various plumping parts I did not find any plugs. Next, to the door seal. It must be that the seal is failing, right? After cleaning the seal, the problem continued. Next on to the drain in the dishwasher. Nope, that wasn’t plugged. I then noticed that the drain pump under the dishwasher was getting hot and making some strange noises. It wasn’t all the time which made things a bit confusing. So, I found a replacement pump and noticed that the description stated that it was a fix for overflowing dishwashers. After taking the dishwasher out, removing and replacing the pump, and re-assembly. All was good and dishes were once again clean.
\n\nFast forward 3 weeks and we had more water on the floor. This time from an erupting toilet. One morning, after a shower and flushing the upstairs toilet, my wife yelled that she was seeing water flowing all over the floor. This time, it was bubbling over from the toilet on our first floor. More water on the floor and in the basement. So much water was flowing that I had to get out a shop vac to pick up all the standing water. Any time we would send water down drains in the home the main floor toilet would overflow. Once again, on to investigating the problem. I took apart various plumbing parts, bought tools to clear plugs, and took things apart. With nothing working, I had to call a professional because the plugged sewer line was outside of our home. The company wasn’t able to help until the next day which meant we were unable to use any plumbing in our home. The next day a company arrived to run a special cutting tool through the sewer line which resulted in pulling out 3 feet of tree roots that were plugging the line. These came from a river birch that found a highly nutritious water source through cracks in the sewer pipe. No wonder the tree has been so healthy. For the time being, until we do a permanent fix, we have working drains.
\n\nWhy do I tell you these stories that are so crappy (pun intended)? Because I see this happen so often in my own life. Ok, I’m not talking about the physical drainage system in my body. Rather, I’m talking about the importance of having a way to rid ourselves of the mental and emotional trash in our systems. One of the most effective ways for this to happen is through forgiveness.
\n\nRegularly practicing forgiveness for yourself and others allows the trash in your heart and mind to be drained away. Guilt, shame, hurt, and pain are jettisoned from your system which allows your true self to be light and whole. It also equips you to handle additional challenging circumstances, relationship, and emotions.
\n\nWithout frequent forgiveness, like a dishwasher drain pump, all of the negatives overflow from us. This might look like anger, a short-fuse, avoiding others, or finding temporary ways to mask your own pain through food, drink, or media. Numbing yourself.
\n\nThe only long-lasting solution is to build the forgiveness muscle. Look for every opportunity to forgive others and yourself. Ask forgiveness from others when you do something that hurts them in small or big ways. Forgive yourself by releasing the self-doubt and instead celebrating the learning that has come from your actions. Ask forgiveness from God any time you have strayed from the path you are meant to be on in order to live a well-lived life.
\n\nForgiveness does not give you or others the right to harm repeatedly. That is not true forgiveness. True forgiveness recognizing a wrong turn and then going in a new direction. Don’t allow for someone to repeatedly hurt you in any way and cover it up by seeking forgiveness. True forgiveness will allow you to grow in your relationships, in yourself, and in your relationship with God. False forgiveness will keep you in unhealthy cycles.
\n\nHow do you forgive? Reflect on these questions?
\n\nNow, take the courageous act to seek forgiveness. In doing so, also have the courage to ask how the action hurt the person. Then, truly listen and hear it. Then, commit to a new path forward and leave this behind.
\n\nKeep forgiving and also receive forgiveness. This is the great story of Jesus coming to earth so we could know that we are forgiven and free.
Originally published on stephen.braunius.org
","content_text":"I’ve had many plumbing problems in our home. It started with the dishwasher. Our dishes were no longer getting as clean as they once had and then the dishwasher started leaking water through the sides of the door all over our kitchen floor and down into our basement. I started investigating this problem and assumed it was a plugged drain line. After removing various plumping parts I did not find any plugs. Next, to the door seal. It must be that the seal is failing, right? After cleaning the seal, the problem continued. Next on to the drain in the dishwasher. Nope, that wasn’t plugged. I then noticed that the drain pump under the dishwasher was getting hot and making some strange noises. It wasn’t all the time which made things a bit confusing. So, I found a replacement pump and noticed that the description stated that it was a fix for overflowing dishwashers. After taking the dishwasher out, removing and replacing the pump, and re-assembly. All was good and dishes were once again clean.\n\nFast forward 3 weeks and we had more water on the floor. This time from an erupting toilet. One morning, after a shower and flushing the upstairs toilet, my wife yelled that she was seeing water flowing all over the floor. This time, it was bubbling over from the toilet on our first floor. More water on the floor and in the basement. So much water was flowing that I had to get out a shop vac to pick up all the standing water. Any time we would send water down drains in the home the main floor toilet would overflow. Once again, on to investigating the problem. I took apart various plumbing parts, bought tools to clear plugs, and took things apart. With nothing working, I had to call a professional because the plugged sewer line was outside of our home. The company wasn’t able to help until the next day which meant we were unable to use any plumbing in our home. The next day a company arrived to run a special cutting tool through the sewer line which resulted in pulling out 3 feet of tree roots that were plugging the line. These came from a river birch that found a highly nutritious water source through cracks in the sewer pipe. No wonder the tree has been so healthy. For the time being, until we do a permanent fix, we have working drains.\n\nWhy do I tell you these stories that are so crappy (pun intended)? Because I see this happen so often in my own life. Ok, I’m not talking about the physical drainage system in my body. Rather, I’m talking about the importance of having a way to rid ourselves of the mental and emotional trash in our systems. One of the most effective ways for this to happen is through forgiveness.\n\nRegularly practicing forgiveness for yourself and others allows the trash in your heart and mind to be drained away. Guilt, shame, hurt, and pain are jettisoned from your system which allows your true self to be light and whole. It also equips you to handle additional challenging circumstances, relationship, and emotions.\n\nWithout frequent forgiveness, like a dishwasher drain pump, all of the negatives overflow from us. This might look like anger, a short-fuse, avoiding others, or finding temporary ways to mask your own pain through food, drink, or media. Numbing yourself.\n\nThe only long-lasting solution is to build the forgiveness muscle. Look for every opportunity to forgive others and yourself. Ask forgiveness from others when you do something that hurts them in small or big ways. Forgive yourself by releasing the self-doubt and instead celebrating the learning that has come from your actions. Ask forgiveness from God any time you have strayed from the path you are meant to be on in order to live a well-lived life.\n\nForgiveness does not give you or others the right to harm repeatedly. That is not true forgiveness. True forgiveness recognizing a wrong turn and then going in a new direction. Don’t allow for someone to repeatedly hurt you in any way and cover it up by seeking forgiveness. True forgiveness will allow you to grow in your relationships, in yourself, and in your relationship with God. False forgiveness will keep you in unhealthy cycles.\n\nHow do you forgive? Reflect on these questions?\n\nWhat did you do? What impact did it have? What feelings does it stir up in you?\nHow might I seek forgiveness? A phone call, letter, email, or face-to-face?\nWhen might I seek forgiveness?\n\nNow, take the courageous act to seek forgiveness. In doing so, also have the courage to ask how the action hurt the person. Then, truly listen and hear it. Then, commit to a new path forward and leave this behind.\n\nKeep forgiving and also receive forgiveness. This is the great story of Jesus coming to earth so we could know that we are forgiven and free.\nOriginally published on stephen.braunius.org","date_published":"2021-09-22T15:41:52.000Z","date_modified":"2026-10-28T20:33:51.368Z","_microfeed":{"slug":"erupting-toilet","authors":[{"name":"Stephen Braunius","type":"Person"}],"web_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/erupting-toilet/","json_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/ghJ1aeBDjOz/json/","rss_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/ghJ1aeBDjOz/rss/","guid":"https://stephen.braunius.org/2021/09/22/erupting-toilet/","status":"published","date_published_short":"Wed Sep 22 2021","date_published_ms":1632325312000}},{"id":"ZaMY7K2e1zr","title":"Belong...Grow...Serve","url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/belonggrowserve/","authors":[{"name":"Stephen Braunius"}],"content_html":"This is a recent post written for the Parablog of Fellowship Church as a part of Lent.
This past weekend, lots of folks from our Fellowship community headed up to camp in Lake City for our Better Together All Church Retreat. At our first gathering, we met three characters who would show up throughout the weekend: Randy Rinkleson (Pastor Ross), Amber (Pastor Lindsay), and Jake (Pastor Nate). We learned that Amber and Jake were from Mope College and had gotten a great deal on a spring break vacation to Lake City. They got off the plane only to find that they are in Lake City…. Michigan, not Florida!
Randy Rinkleson, as the mayor of the town, greeted them by saying, \"Welcome to Lake City! Where the lakes are mostly frozen, the people are almost Yoopers, and the sun is always shining....somewhere else.\" Randy then showed Amber and Jake that Lake City is a great place to be by including them in crazy games and activities that could only happen at a retreat; things like squirt guns, flying goldfish crackers, and whipped cream. In a way, this became a parable about belonging that unfolded before our eyes. We saw strangers in a new community become embraced through a warm welcome and doing life together.
If you were at the retreat this weekend or at Fellowship on Sunday, you learned about words we use frequently at Fellowship: Belong, Grow, and Serve. You will find that we represent these with three colored dots in blue (belong), green (grow), and orange (serve). Here are a couple of my takeaways from this full and fun weekend.
![](\"https://stephen.braunius.org/media/production/images/item-ea0697ef00fe940ad821dc9eb1654092.png\")
At the retreat, our speaker, Tanner Smith, shared that these three words together are the foundations of being a church. In particular, serving moves us into surrendering our own agenda and following what God wants us to do. He shared a story from Mark 14 where a woman pours expensive perfume on Jesus as an anointing before he is killed. Jesus had been telling the disciples of his upcoming death and they did not believe him. This woman believed Jesus and \"did what she could\" (Mark 14:8). This became a challenge from Tanner to \"Do something beautiful. Do what you can.\"
At Fellowship on Sunday morning, Pastor Ross shared a parable from Matthew 18:21-35. In this story a king decides to collect all outstanding debts that are owed him. One man owes millions of dollars and pleads to the king and is forgiven his debt. This man then goes to someone who owes him a couple thousand dollars and will not forgive the debt. Once the king learns this, he arrests the man and sends him to prison until his debt is repaid. We are reminded that we have been forgiven much and, we too, must forgive others. It is also an act of surrender and results in freedom for you and the person you forgive.
What beautiful thing is God inviting you to do now, this week, or as your life work? Is it serving in a way that addresses a pain in this world or might it be in forgiving someone for a pain that has impacted you? Either one is a true act of beauty and courage.
With that, welcome back to Fellowship where everybody belongs, everybody grows, everybody serves, and the Son is always shining.....through us!
Originally published on stephen.braunius.org
","content_text":"This is a recent post written for the Parablog of Fellowship Church as a part of Lent.\nThis past weekend, lots of folks from our Fellowship community headed up to camp in Lake City for our Better Together All Church Retreat. At our first gathering, we met three characters who would show up throughout the weekend: Randy Rinkleson (Pastor Ross), Amber (Pastor Lindsay), and Jake (Pastor Nate). We learned that Amber and Jake were from Mope College and had gotten a great deal on a spring break vacation to Lake City. They got off the plane only to find that they are in Lake City…. Michigan, not Florida!\nRandy Rinkleson, as the mayor of the town, greeted them by saying, \"Welcome to Lake City! Where the lakes are mostly frozen, the people are almost Yoopers, and the sun is always shining....somewhere else.\" Randy then showed Amber and Jake that Lake City is a great place to be by including them in crazy games and activities that could only happen at a retreat; things like squirt guns, flying goldfish crackers, and whipped cream. In a way, this became a parable about belonging that unfolded before our eyes. We saw strangers in a new community become embraced through a warm welcome and doing life together.\nIf you were at the retreat this weekend or at Fellowship on Sunday, you learned about words we use frequently at Fellowship: Belong, Grow, and Serve. You will find that we represent these with three colored dots in blue (belong), green (grow), and orange (serve). Here are a couple of my takeaways from this full and fun weekend.\nAt the retreat, our speaker, Tanner Smith, shared that these three words together are the foundations of being a church. In particular, serving moves us into surrendering our own agenda and following what God wants us to do. He shared a story from Mark 14 where a woman pours expensive perfume on Jesus as an anointing before he is killed. Jesus had been telling the disciples of his upcoming death and they did not believe him. This woman believed Jesus and \"did what she could\" (Mark 14:8). This became a challenge from Tanner to \"Do something beautiful. Do what you can.\"\nAt Fellowship on Sunday morning, Pastor Ross shared a parable from Matthew 18:21-35. In this story a king decides to collect all outstanding debts that are owed him. One man owes millions of dollars and pleads to the king and is forgiven his debt. This man then goes to someone who owes him a couple thousand dollars and will not forgive the debt. Once the king learns this, he arrests the man and sends him to prison until his debt is repaid. We are reminded that we have been forgiven much and, we too, must forgive others. It is also an act of surrender and results in freedom for you and the person you forgive.\nWhat beautiful thing is God inviting you to do now, this week, or as your life work? Is it serving in a way that addresses a pain in this world or might it be in forgiving someone for a pain that has impacted you? Either one is a true act of beauty and courage.\nWith that, welcome back to Fellowship where everybody belongs, everybody grows, everybody serves, and the Son is always shining.....through us!\nOriginally published on stephen.braunius.org","image":"/media/production/images/item-4ece060eb8d70035eb2ce8493e13a689.jpg","date_published":"2019-03-12T17:40:00.000Z","date_modified":"2026-10-28T20:33:50.064Z","_microfeed":{"slug":"belonggrowserve","authors":[{"name":"Stephen Braunius","type":"Person"}],"web_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/belonggrowserve/","json_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/ZaMY7K2e1zr/json/","rss_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/ZaMY7K2e1zr/rss/","guid":"http://stephen.braunius.org/belonggrowserve/","status":"published","date_published_short":"Tue Mar 12 2019","date_published_ms":1552412400000}},{"id":"yyE6yNayHMc","title":"What’s in a name?","url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/whats-in-a-name/","authors":[{"name":"Stephen Braunius"}],"content_html":"This is a post I wrote for the Fellowship Church of Holland eNews that was sent out on June 27, 2018.
We humans seem built for names. We name everything in the world around us. When we don’t have a name for something or someone, we create one. In our minds, names create images and images create names.
My name is Stephen Braunius. It has been mis-spoken too many times to count. Teachers, on the first day of school, would call me Stephanie or Stefan. Kids would make fun of my last name by calling me Brontosaurus or Brain-ius.
My parents named me after the biblical Stephen, who was martyred for being a believer. In ancient times, our last name would have been “Braun.” The “ius” was added when people were scholars. I find this fascinating because both of my parents were teachers and have PhDs. I, too, became a teacher and still love to teach even though it is no longer my occupation. As a fourth grade teacher, I told my students to call me Mr. B. as a way to keep it simple. I now tell people to just call me Steve and to remember our last name by thinking about Brawny paper towels + “us.” Our names are important and we want to be known by them.
As we progress through the Lord’s Prayer, we now bring to mind the name of God by saying, “Hallowed be Thy name.” Hallowed makes me think of reverence, adoration, holiness, and awe. Jesus, in teaching this prayer, was reminding us that we should use God’s name with care, intentionality, and wonder. This is, after all, the same God who created everything, is everywhere, knows everything, and cares about everyone. Wow! God, hallowed be your name!
What is even crazier to me is that God names us sons and daughters. I feel woefully inadequate for that designation and also grateful that God loves, protects, and cares for us. This gives me a feeling of hope and freedom. What feelings do you have as you reflect on the name of God and who God is? How does this impact who you are?
This Sunday we will hear 1 Peter 3:13-17. Take some time to read it before Sunday and think about how you might be known as a person of hope because you are a child of God. Hallowed be Thy Name.
By the way, feel free to call me Steve.
Tags: Fellowship Church · Originally published on stephen.braunius.org
","content_text":"This is a post I wrote for the Fellowship Church of Holland eNews that was sent out on June 27, 2018.\nWe humans seem built for names. We name everything in the world around us. When we don’t have a name for something or someone, we create one. In our minds, names create images and images create names.\nMy name is Stephen Braunius. It has been mis-spoken too many times to count. Teachers, on the first day of school, would call me Stephanie or Stefan. Kids would make fun of my last name by calling me Brontosaurus or Brain-ius.\nMy parents named me after the biblical Stephen, who was martyred for being a believer. In ancient times, our last name would have been “Braun.” The “ius” was added when people were scholars. I find this fascinating because both of my parents were teachers and have PhDs. I, too, became a teacher and still love to teach even though it is no longer my occupation. As a fourth grade teacher, I told my students to call me Mr. B. as a way to keep it simple. I now tell people to just call me Steve and to remember our last name by thinking about Brawny paper towels + “us.” Our names are important and we want to be known by them.\nAs we progress through the Lord’s Prayer, we now bring to mind the name of God by saying, “Hallowed be Thy name.” Hallowed makes me think of reverence, adoration, holiness, and awe. Jesus, in teaching this prayer, was reminding us that we should use God’s name with care, intentionality, and wonder. This is, after all, the same God who created everything, is everywhere, knows everything, and cares about everyone. Wow! God, hallowed be your name!\nWhat is even crazier to me is that God names us sons and daughters. I feel woefully inadequate for that designation and also grateful that God loves, protects, and cares for us. This gives me a feeling of hope and freedom. What feelings do you have as you reflect on the name of God and who God is? How does this impact who you are?\nThis Sunday we will hear 1 Peter 3:13-17 . Take some time to read it before Sunday and think about how you might be known as a person of hope because you are a child of God. Hallowed be Thy Name.\nBy the way, feel free to call me Steve.\nTags: Fellowship Church · Originally published on stephen.braunius.org","date_published":"2018-06-27T21:23:00.000Z","date_modified":"2026-10-28T20:33:48.475Z","_microfeed":{"slug":"whats-in-a-name","authors":[{"name":"Stephen Braunius","type":"Person"}],"web_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/whats-in-a-name/","json_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/yyE6yNayHMc/json/","rss_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/yyE6yNayHMc/rss/","guid":"http://stephen.braunius.org/whats-in-a-name/","status":"published","date_published_short":"Wed Jun 27 2018","date_published_ms":1530134580000}},{"id":"Zv_r8NWDPem","title":"HALT","url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/halt/","authors":[{"name":"Stephen Braunius"}],"content_html":"This was originally written for the Fellowship Reformed Church eNews sent out on April 25, 2018
Halt is such a startling word. Just writing it makes me feel a tinge of worry and fear as images come into my brain of an angry person shouting at me because I have somehow gone where I was not supposed to be. I envision it being used by people who are in positions of authority who want me to immediately stop and listen.
HALT is also an acronym that is sometimes used as a reminder for people who are struggling with an addiction or unhealthy habit.
We can make poor decisions when we experience any of these feelings on their own or in combination. I’ve experienced all four at once. Sometimes on family trips we pack a day too full and don't plan our food well. We will walk far distances (tired), not eat anything (hungry), not see an end in sight (lonely), and become angry with each other. That’s when we just need to halt and seek a time to rest, refresh, regroup, and reconcile. Often, we can then laugh at ourselves and how we acted when we were “hangry.\"
This past Sunday, Pastor Lindsay shared a message based on Acts 4:32-35. In it we see a picture of the early church where the believers shared everything with one another and spent time together. It is a wonderful story that is quite a contrast to the way many of us live. This type of life can be an anecdote to experiencing HALT if we are willing to enter a Christian life of faithfulness filled with LoTS. What is LoTS? It is a life where we:
I love the idea of less HALTs and more LoTS in my life. How might you pause when you are hungry, angry, lonely, or tired and change direction to love more, truth more, and share more?
If you would like to learn more about HALT, check out this website. Learn more about LoTS from Pastor Lindsay’s sermon and reading Acts 4.
Tags: Faith · Originally published on stephen.braunius.org
","content_text":"This was originally written for the Fellowship Reformed Church eNews sent out on April 25, 2018\nHalt is such a startling word. Just writing it makes me feel a tinge of worry and fear as images come into my brain of an angry person shouting at me because I have somehow gone where I was not supposed to be. I envision it being used by people who are in positions of authority who want me to immediately stop and listen.\nHALT is also an acronym that is sometimes used as a reminder for people who are struggling with an addiction or unhealthy habit.\nH unger — physical, emotional, or spiritual\nA nger\nL onely — from isolation, fear, or doubt, and can even happen around others\nT ired — being too busy and not taking breaks\nWe can make poor decisions when we experience any of these feelings on their own or in combination. I’ve experienced all four at once. Sometimes on family trips we pack a day too full and don't plan our food well. We will walk far distances (tired), not eat anything (hungry), not see an end in sight (lonely), and become angry with each other. That’s when we just need to halt and seek a time to rest, refresh, regroup, and reconcile. Often, we can then laugh at ourselves and how we acted when we were “hangry.\"\nThis past Sunday, Pastor Lindsay shared a message based on Acts 4:32-35. In it we see a picture of the early church where the believers shared everything with one another and spent time together. It is a wonderful story that is quite a contrast to the way many of us live. This type of life can be an anecdote to experiencing HALT if we are willing to enter a Christian life of faithfulness filled with LoTS. What is LoTS? It is a life where we:\nLo ve more — by seeing people first and, as Pastor Lindsay said, we are like-minded because we actually like the minds of others.\nT ruth more — by being honest with ourselves and others\nS hare more —by relying on others rather than being alone and independent\nI love the idea of less HALTs and more LoTS in my life. How might you pause when you are hungry, angry, lonely, or tired and change direction to love more, truth more, and share more?\nIf you would like to learn more about HALT, check out this website . Learn more about LoTS from Pastor Lindsay’s sermon and reading Acts 4 .\n\nTags: Faith · Originally published on stephen.braunius.org","date_published":"2018-04-25T19:12:00.000Z","date_modified":"2026-10-28T20:33:46.382Z","_microfeed":{"slug":"halt","authors":[{"name":"Stephen Braunius","type":"Person"}],"web_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/halt/","json_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/Zv_r8NWDPem/json/","rss_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/Zv_r8NWDPem/rss/","guid":"http://stephen.braunius.org/halt/","status":"published","date_published_short":"Wed Apr 25 2018","date_published_ms":1524683520000}},{"id":"4vcTF7ofH9l","title":"Computer help from afar","url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/computer-help-from-afar/","authors":[{"name":"Stephen Braunius"}],"content_html":"Are you the tech support person for your family? Do they live far away? In looking for ways to help them using remote control and viewing of computer screens I found that with Windows 7, 8, or 10 the tools are built in. Read more about how to do that over at www.howtogeek.com
If your are using computers other than Windows it looks like this would be a good free option (for personal use) from Team Viewer
Either way, this is better than trying to figure things out over the phone….
Tags: Support · Originally published on stephen.braunius.org
","content_text":"Are you the tech support person for your family? Do they live far away? In looking for ways to help them using remote control and viewing of computer screens I found that with Windows 7, 8, or 10 the tools are built in. Read more about how to do that over at www.howtogeek.com\nIf your are using computers other than Windows it looks like this would be a good free option (for personal use) from Team Viewer\nEither way, this is better than trying to figure things out over the phone….\nTags: Support · Originally published on stephen.braunius.org","date_published":"2018-04-02T17:35:00.000Z","date_modified":"2026-10-28T20:33:44.341Z","_microfeed":{"slug":"computer-help-from-afar","authors":[{"name":"Stephen Braunius","type":"Person"}],"web_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/computer-help-from-afar/","json_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/4vcTF7ofH9l/json/","rss_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/4vcTF7ofH9l/rss/","guid":"http://stephen.braunius.org/computer-help-from-afar/","status":"published","date_published_short":"Mon Apr 02 2018","date_published_ms":1522690500000}},{"id":"sIqeMdwzeMq","title":"Practicing Presence","url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/practicing-presence/","authors":[{"name":"Stephen Braunius"}],"content_html":"This was first published in the Fellowship Church eNews on 2018-02-28.
In high school I was a trumpet player. Trumpet players have a brash and brazen reputation, like the sound of the instrument itself. There are, in fact, hundreds of jokes that highlight this stereotype. For example:
Q: How many lead trumpet players does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Fifty. One to do it and the others to stand around and say, “I could do that better.
Not only was I a trumpet player, I was the first chair trumpet player. Being first chair means that you literally sit in the first chair of the section of instruments. You get this spot by being able to play the assigned music or scales better than the rest of the people in the section.
I discovered that by being just a bit better than the rest of the players in my section I could earn first chair. I did not need to be the best in the world, just a bit better than everyone around me. Over the past few years, I have reflected on how unhealthy this viewpoint was. Rather than seeking to be the best I could personally attain in order to help the band, inspire others, and grow my skills, I was limiting my development to the level of those around me. This was an act of pride as I sought recognition and status.
This past Sunday Pastor Lindsay preached a sermon based on John 13:1-17 where we see a way of being that is the opposite of pride. Jesus intentionally put himself as a servant to the disciples by washing their feet. He literally postures himself below his disciples. He then challenges them to do the same with one another. Pastor Lindsay highlighted that this act required the disciples to let Jesus serve them and demonstrated how to love and be loved.
I often feel like pride and shame get in the way of being able to selflessly love others or receive the love of others. I think of pride and shame as:
For me the alternative to pride and shame is presence. Presence requires me to fully participate in the world by paying attention to God, others, and myself. It often forces me into uncomfortable situations where I have to respond rather than react, receive rather than control, and feel rather than shield.
What might it look like to not raise yourself above others or to hide from them and instead fully experience life abundantly in Christ by staying present, selflessly loving others, and humbly receiving love?
In the coming days read about this counter-cultural life in Romans 12 and think of how you might apply it to your life and relationships. Here are a few highlights:
Read the rest of Romans 12 here
Categories: Learning · Tags: Faith, faith · Originally published on stephen.braunius.org
","content_text":"This was first published in the Fellowship Church eNews on 2018-02-28.\nIn high school I was a trumpet player. Trumpet players have a brash and brazen reputation, like the sound of the instrument itself. There are, in fact, hundreds of jokes that highlight this stereotype. For example:\nQ: How many lead trumpet players does it take to change a light bulb?\n\nA: Fifty. One to do it and the others to stand around and say, “I could do that better.\nNot only was I a trumpet player, I was the first chair trumpet player. Being first chair means that you literally sit in the first chair of the section of instruments. You get this spot by being able to play the assigned music or scales better than the rest of the people in the section.\nI discovered that by being just a bit better than the rest of the players in my section I could earn first chair. I did not need to be the best in the world, just a bit better than everyone around me. Over the past few years, I have reflected on how unhealthy this viewpoint was. Rather than seeking to be the best I could personally attain in order to help the band, inspire others, and grow my skills, I was limiting my development to the level of those around me. This was an act of pride as I sought recognition and status.\nThis past Sunday Pastor Lindsay preached a sermon based on John 13:1-17 where we see a way of being that is the opposite of pride. Jesus intentionally put himself as a servant to the disciples by washing their feet. He literally postures himself below his disciples. He then challenges them to do the same with one another. Pastor Lindsay highlighted that this act required the disciples to let Jesus serve them and demonstrated how to love and be loved.\nI often feel like pride and shame get in the way of being able to selflessly love others or receive the love of others. I think of pride and shame as:\npride = look at me, I deserve it\nshame = don’t look at me, I am worthless\nFor me the alternative to pride and shame is presence. Presence requires me to fully participate in the world by paying attention to God, others, and myself. It often forces me into uncomfortable situations where I have to respond rather than react, receive rather than control, and feel rather than shield.\nWhat might it look like to not raise yourself above others or to hide from them and instead fully experience life abundantly in Christ by staying present, selflessly loving others, and humbly receiving love?\nIn the coming days read about this counter-cultural life in Romans 12 and think of how you might apply it to your life and relationships. Here are a few highlights:\n(2) Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.\n(9) Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them.\n(10) Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other\n(16b) Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!\n(20) If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink.\nRead the rest of Romans 12 here\nCategories: Learning · Tags: Faith, faith · Originally published on stephen.braunius.org","date_published":"2018-02-28T17:00:00.000Z","date_modified":"2026-10-28T20:33:42.957Z","_microfeed":{"slug":"practicing-presence","authors":[{"name":"Stephen Braunius","type":"Person"}],"web_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/practicing-presence/","json_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/sIqeMdwzeMq/json/","rss_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/sIqeMdwzeMq/rss/","guid":"http://stephen.braunius.org/practicing-presence/","status":"published","date_published_short":"Wed Feb 28 2018","date_published_ms":1519837200000}},{"id":"K3PNfozy_HM","title":"Mountains, Canyons, and Mesas","url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/mountains-canyons-and-mesas/","authors":[{"name":"Stephen Braunius"}],"content_html":"These are some quick notes from our recent trip to Colorado.
We left home at midnight and drove to Detroit International Airport. This got us to the airport in time to check in and be ready to leave by 6:30A. We had an uneventful flight on SouthWest and arriv
![\"\"](\"https://stephen.braunius.org/media/production/images/item-c18de881cea5458a003f3c8110e912d5.jpg\"/)
ed in Denver at around 8:30A their time. We then took a train to the main terminal in order to catch a shuttle to our rental car. We had a mid-size SUV and started working our way to Grand Junction. The drive got interesting when we went into the mountains. The
![\"\"](\"https://stephen.braunius.org/media/production/images/item-77f055388ca407ed057b9acf0f3a6588.jpg\"/)
re we found that it was snowing and the roads, at times, were covered with snow and ice. It was strange to be traveling through a winter wonderland in October. Thankfully, the snow cleared once we were out of the mountains. We continued on through some stunning scenery of canyons, mountains, and mesas.
We arrived in Grand Junction at around 1:30P. It was too early to check in to our motel so we grabbed a sit down lunch at Chik Fil A and then went to WalMart to purchase our groceries for the week. This included a small cook stove and fuel from the camping section so we could heat up food for picnics on our day trips.
![\"\"](\"https://stephen.braunius.org/media/production/images/item-6e248a1622cb8baa5478b25347891e24.jpg\"/)
We stayed at a Candlewood Suite in Grand Junction. The room included a kitchen with a stovetop, microwave, sink, and refrigerator. It also had pots and skillets for cooking food. We unloaded all of our supplies and enjoyed some rest and relaxation after a full day of travel.
Today we decided to check out a National Park that was only 20 minutes from our hotel, Colorado National Monument. We entered from the North side of the park. This park is on Monument Mesa. We stopped at the visitor center and talked with a park ranger who shared some good spots to hike and also shared other places we might want to visit over the coming days. He highlighted Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, and a road that we should travel along a river, 128.
We stopped at many scenic views in the park and then had a picnic lunch at the Devils Kitchen Picnic area. We enjoyed heating up soup and seeing amazing views from our picnic table. We then hiked the Devils Kitchen trail which brought us into a rock area that had amazing views of the area. Thankfully, the weather was in the 60’s with full sun which was perfect for hiking.
We ended the day by checking out the local mall, Mesa Mall, and then resting in our room at the motel.
![\"\"](\"https://stephen.braunius.org/media/production/images/item-cb248a7fd5da4ca3ce4d38f534bf9334.jpg\"/)
Today we went to Arches National Park in Utah. Before heading out, we decided to get so fresh crusty bread from a local bakery called Main Street Bagels, 559 Main St., Grand Junction, CO 81501 http://gjmainstreetbagels.com. We purchased a few baked goods along with a fresh loaf of ciabatta that we could use with our lunches. We then headed out for our day.
![\"\"](\"https://stephen.braunius.org/media/production/images/item-749bedfeee4da61d11fec936c099e99f.jpg\"/)
We arrived in Arches National Park and stopped at the visitor center. We took some time to watch a video about the park and how the arches were formed before checking with a ranger about recommended hiking destinations. We then went on our way to stop at “The Windows Section” where we walked to the Double Arch. We then traveled to an area known as the Delicate arch. From there we stopped at the Fire Furnace, and then ended at the Devils Garden Trailhead where we saw the Landscape Arch. All of these arches were amazing and we were filled with awe at the size of the arches and rocks that surrounded us. It is hard to capture the scale with photos.
Arches National Park, overall, was pretty busy. We couldn’t imagine how busy it might be in other seasons. Many of the parking areas were close to full.
After Arches, we took a quick drive into Moab. In Moab we stopped at an outdoors shop where I picked up a chalk bag for climbing and bouldering. We then found a local coffee shop and filled up with gas. Then we started heading back to Grand Junction. We took a different route by following a road, 128, that goes along a river and through a canyon. This road was recommended by the park ranger at Colorado Monument Park. It was a stunning ride and we are so glad we took that route back to I-70.
This day was our longest day of driving. Neither of us had memories of seeing the Great Salt Lake in Salt Lake City, Utah. So, we decided to drive there. This journey took us through Provo and Salt Lake City Utah before getting to Antelope Island. This Island is located in the Great Salt Lake. You can get to the island by driving a causeway. Our research showed this as being one of the best ways to see the lake. Once we arrived on the island, we found a picnic area and enjoyed another wonderful lunch with amazing views of the lake and surrounding mountains. As we ate, thundering fighter jets would fly by from the area Air Force base.
After lunch, we stopped at a beach location where we could walk all the way out to the water. The sand was crusty and filled with thin slivers of sandstone which made the walk rather challenging. Once at the waters edge, it was quite peaceful. we then went to a few more viewing locations before working our way off the island. Along the way we saw one of the Bison from a heard that lives on the island.
The trip out of Salt Lake City was challenging because of all of the traffic we encountered because it was around rush hour. Once past Provo and back on the back country highway roads, all was good. Once back on I-70, it was dark. We found a rest area and stopped for a moment to see all of the stars. With so little light pollution, we were able to see the Milky Way and so much more. It was a glorious sight.
![\"\"](\"https://stephen.braunius.org/media/production/images/item-e755ecf8354bb3fda373af89483c99d3.jpg\"/)
Today we decided to stay around the Grand Junction area since we had done so much driving the day before. We took some time to walk the downtown of Grand Junction. We walked through a tea shop and a few outdoor goods shops before returning to Main Street Bagels. We had such a good experience there before that we decided to stop for lunch. The lunch service was really slow this particular day but we still enjoyed the time together and the food.
We then headed out of Grand Junction and found a bouldering spot along Monument Road. This spot is across the street from a major mountain bike trail system. Bouldering is where you climb low enough to the ground that you don’t need any particular climbing gear. After climbing on a few boulders, we drove into the Colorado National Monument from the South entrance. It was amazing to drive the same route we did earlier in the week from a different direction. It felt like we saw entirely new sites. Along the way we took time to drive a few back roads onto the Mesa before completing our tour of the National Park. It was such a gift to have this park so close to our motel.
![\"\"](\"https://stephen.braunius.org/media/production/images/item-0ecc4854a2d59ff57f311a87f0444535.jpg\"/)
![\"\"](\"https://stephen.braunius.org/media/production/images/item-28daf229a654caab7bdd47612c27b6fc.jpg\"/)
Today we traveled to Canyonlands National Park in Utah. This was a trip that followed almost the same route we took to get to Arches National Park. Once again, once we reached the park we stopped at the visitor center. The park ranger shared some spots she loved. You could tell that she loved the park. When we asked about a picnic location, she just said to find a rock someplace and enjoy our lunch. We followed her suggestions and went to Mesa Arch, Upheaval Dome (hiked a trail to the First Overlook), Green River Overlook, Grand View Point Overlook, and White Rim Overlook. White Rim Overlook had an assortment of private picnic tables. Once again, we had a wonderful lunch in the sunshine outside with some stunning views. We then headed back to our motel so we could pack up our stuff in preparation for heading back to Denver. We also took some time to track down a Drury Inn that we could stay in the next day.
It is hard to believe that we need to leave Grand Junction today. It has become our home away from home. We chose to make breakfast in our room, pack up, and head out. We stopped at Starbucks and then headed out on I-70. We hoped to go through Rocky Mountain National Park on the way home but found that the road in the park was closed. So we, took back roads where we drove dirt and paved roads through mountains and valleys. They ultimately took us through Winter Park and back to I-70. It was worth it in order to get off of the expressway and experience the back-country beauty of Colorado. We ended up at the Stapleton Drury Inn between Denver and the Denver International Airport. We arrived early enough to have time to relax and enjoy the Drury Inn 5:30P kick-back time. Our room at the Drury Inn overlooked Denver and the Rocky Mountains. It was a perfect location to end our time in Colorado.
![\"\"](\"https://stephen.braunius.org/media/production/images/item-0a73f3e8788f68329cade83dcde62692.jpg\"/)
Today we were able to have a nice hot breakfast at Drury Inn at 7A. We then drove approximately 20 minutes to the airport, returned our rental car, rode the shuttle to the airport, checked in, went through TSA, and found our gate in terminal C. We had a great seat at the end of the terminal where we could see the Rocky Mountains in the distance. Once again, SouthWest was on time and we had a wonderful flight back to Detroit and had an uneventful drive home. We give thanks for the opportunity to celebrate our 25th anniversary by having such a wonderful time together as a couple and as best friends.
![\"\"](\"https://stephen.braunius.org/media/production/images/item-8b42ee487e22e6b27f06f5b3be6f4c00.jpg\"/)
![\"\"](\"https://stephen.braunius.org/media/production/images/item-fd181ac37f743871b767cc255f59094f.jpg\"/)
Categories: Family · Tags: Family, travel · Originally published on stephen.braunius.org
","content_text":"These are some quick notes from our recent trip to Colorado.\nDay 1, Saturday, October 21, 2017\nWe left home at midnight and drove to Detroit International Airport. This got us to the airport in time to check in and be ready to leave by 6:30A. We had an uneventful flight on SouthWest and arriv\ned in Denver at around 8:30A their time. We then took a train to the main terminal in order to catch a shuttle to our rental car. We had a mid-size SUV and started working our way to Grand Junction. The drive got interesting when we went into the mountains. The\nre we found that it was snowing and the roads, at times, were covered with snow and ice. It was strange to be traveling through a winter wonderland in October. Thankfully, the snow cleared once we were out of the mountains. We continued on through some stunning scenery of canyons, mountains, and mesas.\nWe arrived in Grand Junction at around 1:30P. It was too early to check in to our motel so we grabbed a sit down lunch at Chik Fil A and then went to WalMart to purchase our groceries for the week. This included a small cook stove and fuel from the camping section so we could heat up food for picnics on our day trips.\nWe stayed at a Candlewood Suite in Grand Junction. The room included a kitchen with a stovetop, microwave, sink, and refrigerator. It also had pots and skillets for cooking food. We unloaded all of our supplies and enjoyed some rest and relaxation after a full day of travel.\nDay 2, Sunday, October 22, 2017\nToday we decided to check out a National Park that was only 20 minutes from our hotel, Colorado National Monument . We entered from the North side of the park. This park is on Monument Mesa. We stopped at the visitor center and talked with a park ranger who shared some good spots to hike and also shared other places we might want to visit over the coming days. He highlighted Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, and a road that we should travel along a river, 128.\nWe stopped at many scenic views in the park and then had a picnic lunch at the Devils Kitchen Picnic area. We enjoyed heating up soup and seeing amazing views from our picnic table. We then hiked the Devils Kitchen trail which brought us into a rock area that had amazing views of the area. Thankfully, the weather was in the 60’s with full sun which was perfect for hiking.\nWe ended the day by checking out the local mall, Mesa Mall , and then resting in our room at the motel.\nDay 3, Monday, October 23, 2017\nToday we went to Arches National Park in Utah. Before heading out, we decided to get so fresh crusty bread from a local bakery called Main Street Bagels, 559 Main St., Grand Junction, CO 81501 http://gjmainstreetbagels.com . We purchased a few baked goods along with a fresh loaf of ciabatta that we could use with our lunches. We then headed out for our day.\nWe arrived in Arches National Park and stopped at the visitor center. We took some time to watch a video about the park and how the arches were formed before checking with a ranger about recommended hiking destinations. We then went on our way to stop at “The Windows Section” where we walked to the Double Arch. We then traveled to an area known as the Delicate arch. From there we stopped at the Fire Furnace, and then ended at the Devils Garden Trailhead where we saw the Landscape Arch. All of these arches were amazing and we were filled with awe at the size of the arches and rocks that surrounded us. It is hard to capture the scale with photos.\nArches National Park, overall, was pretty busy. We couldn’t imagine how busy it might be in other seasons. Many of the parking areas were close to full.\nAfter Arches, we took a quick drive into Moab. In Moab we stopped at an outdoors shop where I picked up a chalk bag for climbing and bouldering. We then found a local coffee shop and filled up with gas. Then we started heading back to Grand Junction. We took a different route by following a road, 128, that goes along a river and through a canyon. This road was recommended by the park ranger at Colorado Monument Park. It was a stunning ride and we are so glad we took that route back to I-70.\nDay 4, Tuesday, October 24, 2017\nThis day was our longest day of driving. Neither of us had memories of seeing the Great Salt Lake in Salt Lake City, Utah. So, we decided to drive there. This journey took us through Provo and Salt Lake City Utah before getting to Antelope Island . This Island is located in the Great Salt Lake. You can get to the island by driving a causeway. Our research showed this as being one of the best ways to see the lake. Once we arrived on the island, we found a picnic area and enjoyed another wonderful lunch with amazing views of the lake and surrounding mountains. As we ate, thundering fighter jets would fly by from the area Air Force base.\nAfter lunch, we stopped at a beach location where we could walk all the way out to the water. The sand was crusty and filled with thin slivers of sandstone which made the walk rather challenging. Once at the waters edge, it was quite peaceful. we then went to a few more viewing locations before working our way off the island. Along the way we saw one of the Bison from a heard that lives on the island.\nThe trip out of Salt Lake City was challenging because of all of the traffic we encountered because it was around rush hour. Once past Provo and back on the back country highway roads, all was good. Once back on I-70, it was dark. We found a rest area and stopped for a moment to see all of the stars. With so little light pollution, we were able to see the Milky Way and so much more. It was a glorious sight.\nDay 5, Wednesday, October 25, 2017\nToday we decided to stay around the Grand Junction area since we had done so much driving the day before. We took some time to walk the downtown of Grand Junction. We walked through a tea shop and a few outdoor goods shops before returning to Main Street Bagels. We had such a good experience there before that we decided to stop for lunch. The lunch service was really slow this particular day but we still enjoyed the time together and the food.\nWe then headed out of Grand Junction and found a bouldering spot along Monument Road. This spot is across the street from a major mountain bike trail system. Bouldering is where you climb low enough to the ground that you don’t need any particular climbing gear. After climbing on a few boulders, we drove into the Colorado National Monument from the South entrance. It was amazing to drive the same route we did earlier in the week from a different direction. It felt like we saw entirely new sites. Along the way we took time to drive a few back roads onto the Mesa before completing our tour of the National Park. It was such a gift to have this park so close to our motel.\nDay 6, Thursday, October 26, 2017\nToday we traveled to Canyonlands National Park in Utah. This was a trip that followed almost the same route we took to get to Arches National Park. Once again, once we reached the park we stopped at the visitor center. The park ranger shared some spots she loved. You could tell that she loved the park. When we asked about a picnic location, she just said to find a rock someplace and enjoy our lunch. We followed her suggestions and went to Mesa Arch, Upheaval Dome (hiked a trail to the First Overlook), Green River Overlook, Grand View Point Overlook, and White Rim Overlook. White Rim Overlook had an assortment of private picnic tables. Once again, we had a wonderful lunch in the sunshine outside with some stunning views. We then headed back to our motel so we could pack up our stuff in preparation for heading back to Denver. We also took some time to track down a Drury Inn that we could stay in the next day.\nDay 7, Friday, October 27, 2017\nIt is hard to believe that we need to leave Grand Junction today. It has become our home away from home. We chose to make breakfast in our room, pack up, and head out. We stopped at Starbucks and then headed out on I-70. We hoped to go through Rocky Mountain National Park on the way home but found that the road in the park was closed. So we, took back roads where we drove dirt and paved roads through mountains and valleys. They ultimately took us through Winter Park and back to I-70. It was worth it in order to get off of the expressway and experience the back-country beauty of Colorado. We ended up at the Stapleton Drury Inn between Denver and the Denver International Airport. We arrived early enough to have time to relax and enjoy the Drury Inn 5:30P kick-back time. Our room at the Drury Inn overlooked Denver and the Rocky Mountains. It was a perfect location to end our time in Colorado.\nDay 8, Saturday, October 28, 2017\nToday we were able to have a nice hot breakfast at Drury Inn at 7A. We then drove approximately 20 minutes to the airport, returned our rental car, rode the shuttle to the airport, checked in, went through TSA, and found our gate in terminal C. We had a great seat at the end of the terminal where we could see the Rocky Mountains in the distance. Once again, SouthWest was on time and we had a wonderful flight back to Detroit and had an uneventful drive home. We give thanks for the opportunity to celebrate our 25th anniversary by having such a wonderful time together as a couple and as best friends.\nCategories: Family · Tags: Family, travel · Originally published on stephen.braunius.org","image":"/media/production/images/item-c18de881cea5458a003f3c8110e912d5.jpg","date_published":"2017-10-30T16:00:00.000Z","date_modified":"2026-10-28T20:33:41.550Z","_microfeed":{"slug":"mountains-canyons-and-mesas","authors":[{"name":"Stephen Braunius","type":"Person"}],"web_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/mountains-canyons-and-mesas/","json_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/K3PNfozy_HM/json/","rss_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/K3PNfozy_HM/rss/","guid":"http://stephen.braunius.org/mountains-canyons-and-mesas/","status":"published","date_published_short":"Mon Oct 30 2017","date_published_ms":1509379200000}},{"id":"c-GTFeIplaz","title":"Coulda, woulda, shoulda","url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/coulda-woulda-shoulda/","authors":[{"name":"Stephen Braunius"}],"content_html":"Imagine life without
coulda.
woulda.
shoulda.
Don’t you think this is a wonderful vision for life? The way to get it, according to the billboard, is by playing the local lottery. Yes, the lottery promises a rich life without coulda, woulda, shoulda. Sadly, I know from personal experience how hollow life is when I seek happiness through money or purchasing things. My frequent trips to Goodwill is a sign of how often I have fallen into that trap.
This past Sunday, Pastor Lindsay told us about the story of Abraham and Isaac from Genesis 21:1-3 and Genesis 22:1-14. In this passage, Abraham is asked by God to do something that is truly disturbing, offer his son as a sacrifice. Thankfully, this isn’t how the story ends. Rather, we learn that God provides a replacement sacrifice at just the right moment. The place where this happens actually gets named, “The Lord will provide.”
This is a very different way of living than what we see and hear around us. Instead of relying on the lottery to provide, we are challenged to live a life where the Lord will provide. What a wonderful reminder as we all go through seasons of challenges, change, celebrations, or course corrections. The only way I have found to live a life without coulda, shoulda, and woulda is when I have put myself in a posture of saying, “The Lord will provide” instead of believing that, “I will provide.” Over the past months, I have been particularly aware of this as I see the people God is putting in place to lead and serve at Fellowship. I’m hoping that you, as you read this, might be able to look at life and see where you need to trust in God’s provision or where you might be feeling stirred by God to meet the needs of others.
This is a life without coulda, shoulda, woulda.
Categories: Learning · Tags: Faith, faith · Originally published on stephen.braunius.org
","content_text":"Imagine life without\n\ncoulda.\n\nwoulda.\n\nshoulda.\nDon’t you think this is a wonderful vision for life? The way to get it, according to the billboard, is by playing the local lottery. Yes, the lottery promises a rich life without coulda, woulda, shoulda. Sadly, I know from personal experience how hollow life is when I seek happiness through money or purchasing things. My frequent trips to Goodwill is a sign of how often I have fallen into that trap.\nThis past Sunday, Pastor Lindsay told us about the story of Abraham and Isaac from Genesis 21:1-3 and Genesis 22:1-14. In this passage, Abraham is asked by God to do something that is truly disturbing, offer his son as a sacrifice. Thankfully, this isn’t how the story ends. Rather, we learn that God provides a replacement sacrifice at just the right moment. The place where this happens actually gets named, “The Lord will provide.”\nThis is a very different way of living than what we see and hear around us. Instead of relying on the lottery to provide, we are challenged to live a life where the Lord will provide. What a wonderful reminder as we all go through seasons of challenges, change, celebrations, or course corrections. The only way I have found to live a life without coulda, shoulda, and woulda is when I have put myself in a posture of saying, “The Lord will provide” instead of believing that, “I will provide.” Over the past months, I have been particularly aware of this as I see the people God is putting in place to lead and serve at Fellowship. I’m hoping that you, as you read this, might be able to look at life and see where you need to trust in God’s provision or where you might be feeling stirred by God to meet the needs of others.\nThis is a life without coulda, shoulda, woulda.\nWhere in life are you trusting in your own thoughts, strength, or talent?\nThis week, where might there be a situation you could enter by saying, “Lord, I trust that you will provide.”\nCategories: Learning · Tags: Faith, faith · Originally published on stephen.braunius.org","date_published":"2017-09-20T16:00:00.000Z","date_modified":"2026-10-28T20:33:40.171Z","_microfeed":{"slug":"coulda-woulda-shoulda","authors":[{"name":"Stephen Braunius","type":"Person"}],"web_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/coulda-woulda-shoulda/","json_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/c-GTFeIplaz/json/","rss_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/c-GTFeIplaz/rss/","guid":"http://stephen.braunius.org/coulda-woulda-shoulda/","status":"published","date_published_short":"Wed Sep 20 2017","date_published_ms":1505923200000}},{"id":"99cbp3h6VEk","title":"#GLS17 Opening Session – Bill Hybels","url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/gls17-opening-session-bill-hybels/","authors":[{"name":"Stephen Braunius"}],"content_html":"August 10, 2017
\nMy 30 second summary:
\nHere are my notes:
\nLeadership
\nWho believed in you as a leader before anyone else? Who planted the leadership sead in us?
\n“As leaders we must take responsibility to plant leadership seeds in young people.”
\nReflect on who the people are that spoke life and leadership into us. Write them a note of thanks.
\n2 Challenges:
\nCivility
\nSuccession
\nClosing
\nChallenges from Bill
\nCategories: Leadership, Learning · Tags: gls17 · Originally published on stephen.braunius.org
","content_text":"August 10, 2017\n\nMy 30 second summary:\n\nWe should be looking at people of all ages and speaking leadership into them as we see it. Help them see themselves as leaders.\n\nAlso, this is a time where civility is important. Talk with those around you about what civility rules you might follow in order to treat each other with respect, always. This is not a time to just tolerate each other. Rather, it is a time to seek to understand one another.\n\nIt is of vital importance to spend every day, first thing, in solitude in order to spend time with God and reflect on life and leadership.\n\nHere are my notes:\n\nLeadership\n\nWho believed in you as a leader before anyone else? Who planted the leadership sead in us?\n\n“As leaders we must take responsibility to plant leadership seeds in young people.”\n\nReflect on who the people are that spoke life and leadership into us. Write them a note of thanks.\n\n2 Challenges:\n\nThank someone who spoke into your life as a leader\n\nRecommit to planting seeds in young leaders\n\nCivility\n\nBook “Mastering Civility”\n\nWe are near a crisis point with civility in society\n\nThe solution to civility issues begins with us\n\nrespect everyone always…we do not get to choose who we respect, all are made in God’s image\n\n10 rules for leaders\n\nset the example of how to differ without demonizing\n\nhave spirited conversations without drawing blood\n\ndon’t interrupt those who are talking or dominate conversation\n\nrefuse to use volume or incindiary words in talking about others\n\nset the example of being coureous to all\n\nnever stereotype\n\nimmediately apologize when wrong\n\nbe open minded and form opinions carefully\n\nshow up on time and do what is do\n\nform rules of respect and enforce them relentlessly (write written rules of respect)\n\nDon’t just tolerate each other…seek to understand each other (Randolph Stephenson from AT&T)\n\nHave a conversation with your team to write rules of civility\n\nSuccession\n\nQuestions\n\nWho?\n\nWhen? Setting the date makes the difference and keeps things moving\n\nHow? How will the process be led\n\nPhases\n\nplanning\n\ninternal candidate? (Higher chance of success)\n\nexternal candidate?\n\ntransition\n\ninitial learnings\n\nhaving a well thought plan/document is very important\n\nkeep journey bathed in prayer and keep personalities and politics out of it\n\nwhen a succession plan takes too long it hurts the vision\n\nhard to restructure during process\n\ntakes an emotional toll on the senior leadership\n\nProverbs 11:14\n\nClosing\n\ntrust in God’s custom plan for my life\n\nGod will write a better script for my life than I can write on my own\n\nthere are seasons in our lives…we must be able to discern times when God is writing the ending for a particular season in our life\n\nendings matter, too\n\nBook “Necessary Endings” by Henry Cloud\n\nChallenges from Bill\n\nspend 15 minutes each morning to read and reflect on your life, leadership, faith, character, family, read the Bible and think about who we are becoming (chair time)…we need reflection time\n\nchoose an organization in the community that is meeting a deep need and get behind their work “mere financial success should bore you”\n\nmeasure the health of your organizations culture and increase its health…it will only be as healthy as the top leader wants it to be\n\nDo you have a personal betterment plan for the coming year?\n\nAre you leading on the home front as well as you are leading at work\n\nCategories: Leadership, Learning · Tags: gls17 · Originally published on stephen.braunius.org","date_published":"2017-08-13T16:00:00.000Z","date_modified":"2026-10-28T20:33:38.741Z","_microfeed":{"slug":"gls17-opening-session-bill-hybels","authors":[{"name":"Stephen Braunius","type":"Person"}],"web_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/gls17-opening-session-bill-hybels/","json_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/99cbp3h6VEk/json/","rss_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/99cbp3h6VEk/rss/","guid":"http://stephen.braunius.org/gls17-opening-session-bill-hybels/","status":"published","date_published_short":"Sun Aug 13 2017","date_published_ms":1502640000000}},{"id":"tUk0FEKBemh","title":"No Agenda","url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/no-agenda/","authors":[{"name":"Stephen Braunius"}],"content_html":"This is an article I wrote recently for a weekly email mailing for Fellowship Reformed Church of Holland
![\"\"](\"https://stephen.braunius.org/media/production/images/item-e9fb3e526d1e4a69300cc18f7b84e81a.jpg\"/)
I recently took a trip to New York City with our daughter to visit a college. We drive through the night in order to make it to our hotel by around noon on the Friday. As we entered New York State, we talked about what we wanted out of our visit to the city. Strangely, we both were so focused on the actual trip and visit that we hadn't thought about how we wanted to spend our time. It turned out that we both just wanted to experience the city for what it was and not run around trying to catch popular tourist attractions.
We bought 7 day unlimited subway passes so we could travel wherever we wanted, whenever we wanted. This allowed us to get anywhere in a relatively short time. Our weather couldn't have been better, and on Saturday, we took the subway to the northernmost part of Central Park and then walked our way through the entire park. We experienced peaceful gardens, bright flowers, quiet paths, boisterous buskers, sleek radio controlled sailboats, and a wide diversity of people and animals.
Along the way we saw a large group of children listening to a storyteller. She spoke with an enthusiasm and passion that held everyone captive. Not an easy task when surrounded with so many distractions in the center of a bustling city. This image of a storyteller is what struck me as I listened to Pastor Lindsay share the the story of Naaman from 2 Kings 5:1-14.
We heard about how Naaman wanted to be healed in the way he envisioned. His plan was to follow some grandiose ritual prescribed by Israel's leaders. Instead, he was told to jump in a dirty river. Only after some convincing by his servants, was he willing to try this simple act. In his stubbornness, he almost missed out on being healed.
Naaman got trapped into trying to author his own life and experiences rather than being open to what God might do in him and for him. Pastor Lindsay applied it to our lives by saying, \"When we write our own stories we miss out on what God has planned for us.\" It is so appealing to think through how everything should go rather than how we should be.
What might it be like to live in a way where we are open to the experiences God has for us rather than trying to script everything? What might it be like to be captivating storytellers who share what God has done rather than trying to be God? Who, that we least expect, might show up in our lives to speak truth? My sense is that we might experience a greater joy and peace than we ever thought was possible. I'm looking forward to hearing your surprising adventures as we all learn to live into the stories God has written for us.
Categories: Learning · Originally published on stephen.braunius.org
","content_text":"This is an article I wrote recently for a weekly email mailing for Fellowship Reformed Church of Holland\nI recently took a trip to New York City with our daughter to visit a college. We drive through the night in order to make it to our hotel by around noon on the Friday. As we entered New York State, we talked about what we wanted out of our visit to the city. Strangely, we both were so focused on the actual trip and visit that we hadn't thought about how we wanted to spend our time. It turned out that we both just wanted to experience the city for what it was and not run around trying to catch popular tourist attractions.\n\nWe bought 7 day unlimited subway passes so we could travel wherever we wanted, whenever we wanted. This allowed us to get anywhere in a relatively short time. Our weather couldn't have been better, and on Saturday, we took the subway to the northernmost part of Central Park and then walked our way through the entire park. We experienced peaceful gardens, bright flowers, quiet paths, boisterous buskers, sleek radio controlled sailboats, and a wide diversity of people and animals.\nAlong the way we saw a large group of children listening to a storyteller. She spoke with an enthusiasm and passion that held everyone captive. Not an easy task when surrounded with so many distractions in the center of a bustling city. This image of a storyteller is what struck me as I listened to Pastor Lindsay share the the story of Naaman from 2 Kings 5:1-14.\nWe heard about how Naaman wanted to be healed in the way he envisioned. His plan was to follow some grandiose ritual prescribed by Israel's leaders. Instead, he was told to jump in a dirty river. Only after some convincing by his servants, was he willing to try this simple act. In his stubbornness, he almost missed out on being healed.\nNaaman got trapped into trying to author his own life and experiences rather than being open to what God might do in him and for him. Pastor Lindsay applied it to our lives by saying, \"When we write our own stories we miss out on what God has planned for us.\" It is so appealing to think through how everything should go rather than how we should be.\nWhat might it be like to live in a way where we are open to the experiences God has for us rather than trying to script everything? What might it be like to be captivating storytellers who share what God has done rather than trying to be God? Who, that we least expect, might show up in our lives to speak truth? My sense is that we might experience a greater joy and peace than we ever thought was possible. I'm looking forward to hearing your surprising adventures as we all learn to live into the stories God has written for us.\nCategories: Learning · Originally published on stephen.braunius.org","image":"/media/production/images/item-e9fb3e526d1e4a69300cc18f7b84e81a.jpg","date_published":"2017-07-18T16:00:00.000Z","date_modified":"2026-10-28T20:33:37.244Z","_microfeed":{"slug":"no-agenda","authors":[{"name":"Stephen Braunius","type":"Person"}],"web_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/no-agenda/","json_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/tUk0FEKBemh/json/","rss_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/tUk0FEKBemh/rss/","guid":"http://stephen.braunius.org/no-agenda/","status":"published","date_published_short":"Tue Jul 18 2017","date_published_ms":1500393600000}},{"id":"0MO_x8uEp6_","title":"Holland 100 2017","url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/holland-100-2017/","authors":[{"name":"Stephen Braunius"}],"content_html":"This past Saturday, July 15, 2017, I completed the Holland 100 for the third year in a row. Strangely, I think this was the hardest of all of the years. More about that later. Here are my notes to self as I think about future rides.
![\"\"](\"https://stephen.braunius.org/media/production/images/item-59b70666d1abbee0f424a33f21f83e42.jpg\"/)
The Holland 100 is meant as a fun ride where people can choose 18, 35, 67, and 100 mile routes. One of the unique aspects of this ride is that all routes include a pancake breakfast at East Saugatuck Christian Reformed Church. Here is a copy of the route as captured by my Apple Watch:
I started the day by eating 2 sausage, egg, and cheese burritos that we made up at home. We then headed out to the Herman Miller Greenhouse facility. I started my ride at 7:30am. The first 30 miles felt great. I was keeping a steady pace at around 15 miles per hour and the weather was sunny and in the 60's. I skipped the first rest stop, 11 miles in, since I felt so good. This meant that I was committed to a 32 mile loop before returning to the same rest stop.
I started feeling tired at 40 miles and made a point to stop for refreshments and to rest my legs. I parked my bike and found some grapes and blueberries to eat. I also topped off my water bottles with water and Gatorade. To my surprise my family came running toward me. They tracked me down using the Find my Friends app on our iPhone and brought be a large half-cut iced tea from McDonalds along with an sausage mcmuffin. This was a huge boost to my spirits and meant that I wouldn't need to spend much time at the pancake breakfast stop. I continued on for the next 20 miles and felt challenged by the hills. My pace started to slow down. I stopped at Saugatuck Church and grabbed a cup of dark roast coffee and some watermelon. Once again, I topped off my water bottles. I had started the day with 2 bottles filled with fresh sweet tea. My thighs were feeling incredibly tight at this point so I took time to stretch which helped quite a bit.
![\"\"](\"https://stephen.braunius.org/media/production/images/item-e95935faa154dfe041090a9450599ddd.jpg\"/)
I got back on the bike and the ride became more challenging as much of it was going into the wind. Mentally, I was feeling pretty down and wanted to give up so I put in some headphones to start listening to podcasts as a diversion. As I listened, which helped a lot, I then found myself looking at my bike computer every 30 seconds and getting discouraged that it didn't show more progress. I made a deal with myself to only look at the screen when I reached intersections. This gave me a boost of actually seeing progress when I did look at the screen. While all this was going on the sun was out in full force and I found myself fighting a headache and needing to drink many liquids. I took time to drink my slow release corn starch, water, Gatorade, salt mixture. It is a bit disgusting to look at, but seems to help fuel me well. I ended up only drinking 16 ounces out of a 32 ounce bottle.
The rest of the ride was more of the same: tight legs, headache, sun, drinking liquids, sore rear, and needing to stand up on the bike frequently. I stopped at the Fenn Valley Winery rest stop (mile 78) and topped off my water bottles, drank some pure maple syrup I had brought with, drank more of my corn starch mixture, and ate many grapes and blueberries. I also took time to do more stretches. From here it was only 8 miles to the last stop where I had promised to stop by and see Tim from Rock and Road Cycle. I had him take a picture of me holding a water bottle from Joel Krause. Joel is the one who taught me, 3 years ago, how to do road riding and how to train for long distance cycling events. Sadly, he passed away this year and I'm thankful that his wife, Karlene, allowed me to use one of his bottles in his memory. I shared this story with Tim while he took my picture and it made me weep. I skipped grabbing food at this stop in order to push to the end.
My family tracked me down shortly after this stop and yelled words of encouragement. This helped me get through the final miles which also included numb toes and a blister in the webbing area of my hand between the thumb and index finger. I finished the ride at 4pm. It was a long day where I faced many mental and physical challenges. What would I do differently for the future?
Training was hard this year because we were gone over a couple of weekends prior to the Holland 100. I did bring my bike on one of the trips and got in 30 miles of hill training on gravel but this didn't make up for just getting a lot of hours on the bike. In general, my training for these rides starts with 20 miles one week and increments up by 10-20 miles per week until I get to 75 miles. This year my longest ride was 65 miles. I also try to do as much commuting by bike as possible to keep active. I'll need to stay focused until the end if I don't want to fight the same mental and physical battles during the ride. Either way, I do these challenges because they are hard and it is very possible that I won't be able to complete them.
Believe it or not, I can't wait to get back on the bike.
Categories: Learning · Originally published on stephen.braunius.org
","content_text":"This past Saturday, July 15, 2017, I completed the Holland 100 for the third year in a row. Strangely, I think this was the hardest of all of the years. More about that later. Here are my notes to self as I think about future rides.\n\nHolland 100 route The Holland 100 is meant as a fun ride where people can choose 18, 35, 67, and 100 mile routes. One of the unique aspects of this ride is that all routes include a pancake breakfast at East Saugatuck Christian Reformed Church. Here is a copy of the route as captured by my Apple Watch:\n\nI started the day by eating 2 sausage, egg, and cheese burritos that we made up at home. We then headed out to the Herman Miller Greenhouse facility. I started my ride at 7:30am. The first 30 miles felt great. I was keeping a steady pace at around 15 miles per hour and the weather was sunny and in the 60's. I skipped the first rest stop, 11 miles in, since I felt so good. This meant that I was committed to a 32 mile loop before returning to the same rest stop.\nI started feeling tired at 40 miles and made a point to stop for refreshments and to rest my legs. I parked my bike and found some grapes and blueberries to eat. I also topped off my water bottles with water and Gatorade. To my surprise my family came running toward me. They tracked me down using the Find my Friends app on our iPhone and brought be a large half-cut iced tea from McDonalds along with an sausage mcmuffin. This was a huge boost to my spirits and meant that I wouldn't need to spend much time at the pancake breakfast stop. I continued on for the next 20 miles and felt challenged by the hills. My pace started to slow down. I stopped at Saugatuck Church and grabbed a cup of dark roast coffee and some watermelon. Once again, I topped off my water bottles. I had started the day with 2 bottles filled with fresh sweet tea. My thighs were feeling incredibly tight at this point so I took time to stretch which helped quite a bit.\n\nStill smiling I got back on the bike and the ride became more challenging as much of it was going into the wind. Mentally, I was feeling pretty down and wanted to give up so I put in some headphones to start listening to podcasts as a diversion. As I listened, which helped a lot, I then found myself looking at my bike computer every 30 seconds and getting discouraged that it didn't show more progress. I made a deal with myself to only look at the screen when I reached intersections. This gave me a boost of actually seeing progress when I did look at the screen. While all this was going on the sun was out in full force and I found myself fighting a headache and needing to drink many liquids. I took time to drink my slow release corn starch, water, Gatorade, salt mixture. It is a bit disgusting to look at, but seems to help fuel me well. I ended up only drinking 16 ounces out of a 32 ounce bottle.\nThe rest of the ride was more of the same: tight legs, headache, sun, drinking liquids, sore rear, and needing to stand up on the bike frequently. I stopped at the Fenn Valley Winery rest stop (mile 78) and topped off my water bottles, drank some pure maple syrup I had brought with, drank more of my corn starch mixture, and ate many grapes and blueberries. I also took time to do more stretches. From here it was only 8 miles to the last stop where I had promised to stop by and see Tim from Rock and Road Cycle. I had him take a picture of me holding a water bottle from Joel Krause. Joel is the one who taught me, 3 years ago, how to do road riding and how to train for long distance cycling events. Sadly, he passed away this year and I'm thankful that his wife, Karlene, allowed me to use one of his bottles in his memory. I shared this story with Tim while he took my picture and it made me weep. I skipped grabbing food at this stop in order to push to the end.\n\nMy family tracked me down shortly after this stop and yelled words of encouragement. This helped me get through the final miles which also included numb toes and a blister in the webbing area of my hand between the thumb and index finger. I finished the ride at 4pm. It was a long day where I faced many mental and physical challenges. What would I do differently for the future?\nMake sure to stay on my bike multiple times a week prior to the ride\nGet a long ride of 75 miles or more 2 weeks prior to the Holland 100\nDon't bring extra food (just maple syrup and my corn syrup mix)\nTraining was hard this year because we were gone over a couple of weekends prior to the Holland 100. I did bring my bike on one of the trips and got in 30 miles of hill training on gravel but this didn't make up for just getting a lot of hours on the bike. In general, my training for these rides starts with 20 miles one week and increments up by 10-20 miles per week until I get to 75 miles. This year my longest ride was 65 miles. I also try to do as much commuting by bike as possible to keep active. I'll need to stay focused until the end if I don't want to fight the same mental and physical battles during the ride. Either way, I do these challenges because they are hard and it is very possible that I won't be able to complete them.\nBelieve it or not, I can't wait to get back on the bike.\nCategories: Learning · Originally published on stephen.braunius.org","image":"/media/production/images/item-59b70666d1abbee0f424a33f21f83e42.jpg","date_published":"2017-07-18T16:00:00.000Z","date_modified":"2026-10-28T20:33:35.732Z","_microfeed":{"slug":"holland-100-2017","authors":[{"name":"Stephen Braunius","type":"Person"}],"web_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/holland-100-2017/","json_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/0MO_x8uEp6_/json/","rss_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/0MO_x8uEp6_/rss/","guid":"http://stephen.braunius.org/holland-100-2017/","status":"published","date_published_short":"Tue Jul 18 2017","date_published_ms":1500393600000}},{"id":"Yp8wkiRyEtQ","title":"Waiting and Wondering","url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/waiting-and-wondering/","authors":[{"name":"Stephen Braunius"}],"content_html":"Waiting can be so difficult. The days seem long, and the world seems dark. I’ve been a part of a men’s group that meets for breakfast once a week where several of us have been in seasons of waiting. So, as we investigated what we wanted to read and discuss it seemed natural to find a resource that spoke into waiting. This is where we found a reading plan in the free YouVersion Bible app called “Victory in the Wilderness”
Over the past weeks we have read passages in the Bible that gave us wisdom and guidance around topics such as self-control, waiting, worrying, offense, and peace. It has been such a rich time for our group to hear each other, hear what God is saying, and to encourage one-another. We also wonder about God’s timing when our prayers our not answered in the way or time we expect.
What might it have been like for the followers of Christ to wait on the day after he was crucified and buried? This is what we learned on Sunday as Dr. Suzanne McDonald, a Professor at Western Theological Seminary, shared about Holy Saturday. In Luke 23:56b we read that “On the sabbath they rested according to the commandment” (Luke 23:56b). We can infer the darkness and hopelessness that must have been experienced by all who loved Jesus even as they were faithful in honoring the sabbath by resting.
Dr. McDonald proposed ways we might journey through dark times:
In addition to these ways of being in the dark times you might also find hope in the following passage from Philippians that our men’s group is reading this week:
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 6 Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you. – Philippians 4:4-9 (New Revised Standard Version)
Originally published on stephen.braunius.org
","content_text":"Waiting can be so difficult. The days seem long, and the world seems dark. I’ve been a part of a men’s group that meets for breakfast once a week where several of us have been in seasons of waiting. So, as we investigated what we wanted to read and discuss it seemed natural to find a resource that spoke into waiting. This is where we found a reading plan in the free YouVersion Bible app called “ Victory in the Wilderness ”\nOver the past weeks we have read passages in the Bible that gave us wisdom and guidance around topics such as self-control, waiting, worrying, offense, and peace. It has been such a rich time for our group to hear each other, hear what God is saying, and to encourage one-another. We also wonder about God’s timing when our prayers our not answered in the way or time we expect.\nWhat might it have been like for the followers of Christ to wait on the day after he was crucified and buried? This is what we learned on Sunday as Dr. Suzanne McDonald, a Professor at Western Theological Seminary, shared about Holy Saturday. In Luke 23:56b we read that “On the sabbath they rested according to the commandment” (Luke 23:56b). We can infer the darkness and hopelessness that must have been experienced by all who loved Jesus even as they were faithful in honoring the sabbath by resting.\nDr. McDonald proposed ways we might journey through dark times:\nBe faithful even if you don’t feel it.\n\nSometimes we just need to keep doing the actions of a faithful follower of Jesus. This might include setting aside time for prayer, reading the Bible, participating in worship on a Sunday, and gathering with other believers.\nStop and rest in the Lord.\n\nStep back from trying to control the outcome and, instead, hand it over to God and find rest in Him.\nHelp one another see glimpses of God’s love and care.\n\nLook for ways to love and serve others. This moves us out of a self-focus and into an other-focus. You have the ability to be the physical presence of God to those in need.\nWait with certain hope of what God will do.\n\nRemember what God has done in the past in order to trust in the future He has planned for you.\nIn addition to these ways of being in the dark times you might also find hope in the following passage from Philippians that our men’s group is reading this week:\n4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 6 Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.\n8 Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you. – Philippians 4:4-9 (New Revised Standard Version)\nHow might you be faithful even when you don’t feel like it?\nWhere can you make space to find rest in the Lord?\nHow might you care for someone else as a way of showing God’s love?\nWhat is one area of life for which you can give thanks to God?\nOriginally published on stephen.braunius.org","date_published":"2017-03-29T16:00:00.000Z","date_modified":"2026-10-28T20:33:34.325Z","_microfeed":{"slug":"waiting-and-wondering","authors":[{"name":"Stephen Braunius","type":"Person"}],"web_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/waiting-and-wondering/","json_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/Yp8wkiRyEtQ/json/","rss_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/Yp8wkiRyEtQ/rss/","guid":"http://stephen.braunius.org/waiting-and-wondering/","status":"published","date_published_short":"Wed Mar 29 2017","date_published_ms":1490803200000}},{"id":"kVBHldiCVt3","title":"TedXMac 2017: Mike Harris, Shifts Coming in Business and Work","url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/tedxmac-2017-mike-harris-shifts-coming-in-business-and-work/","authors":[{"name":"Stephen Braunius"}],"content_html":"![\"\"](\"https://stephen.braunius.org/media/production/images/item-beb92aac877f88fae520ef42451b4f32.jpg\")
\n Mike Harris, Shifts Coming in Business and Work
Categories: Learning · Tags: tedxmac2017 · Originally published on stephen.braunius.org
","content_text":"Mike Harris, Shifts Coming in Business and Work\n\ngap between businesses and workers is widening\n\nIs it the millennial?\n\nThe discontent generation - highest unemployment\n\nlargest generation\n\nleast engaged\n\n3x more job changes\n\nValues through the ages: - Industrial Age (creation)\n\nInformation Age (efficiency) - “automation allows us to automate the automaters”\n\nRelational Age (outcome) - businesses will succeed if they deliver outcomes to people that they desire in their life\n\nworkers will want jobs that deliver outcomes that they want in their life\n\nGen X/Boomers want success, advance, independence, goals, & results Millenials and Gen Z want gifts, passion, fulfillment, and growth\n\nYou don’t need a new business you need a new interface that focuses on impact, passion, & beliefs. How? 1. State your passion: How do you impact the world?\n\nAlign on outcomes: What’s our shared interest?\n\nGive them a voice: Innovation through risk, risk through trust – Alignment!\n\nCreate advocates: Let them wear the T-shirt (employee advocates)\n\nGrowth through coaching: let them drive (They will care AND it will free you)\n\nBelieve: People follow people (as a leader, you must believe in what you do)\n\nDoing this will allow you to outperform everyone else\n\nCategories: Learning · Tags: tedxmac2017 · Originally published on stephen.braunius.org","image":"/media/production/images/item-beb92aac877f88fae520ef42451b4f32.jpg","date_published":"2017-03-21T16:00:00.000Z","date_modified":"2026-10-28T20:33:28.653Z","_microfeed":{"slug":"tedxmac-2017-mike-harris-shifts-coming-in-business-and-work","authors":[{"name":"Stephen Braunius","type":"Person"}],"web_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/tedxmac-2017-mike-harris-shifts-coming-in-business-and-work/","json_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/kVBHldiCVt3/json/","rss_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/kVBHldiCVt3/rss/","guid":"http://stephen.braunius.org/tedxmac-2017-mike-harris-shifts-coming-in-business-and-work/","status":"published","date_published_short":"Tue Mar 21 2017","date_published_ms":1490112000000}},{"id":"WNQe3F3eY9W","title":"TedXMac 2017: Dirk Hughes, Bee Keeping","url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/tedxmac-2017-dirk-hughes-bee-keeping/","authors":[{"name":"Stephen Braunius"}],"content_html":"![\"\"](\"https://stephen.braunius.org/media/production/images/item-11453af01c6146cb8e32cec4f7a1ca56.jpg\")
\n Dirk Hughes, Bee Keeping
Categories: Learning · Tags: tedxmac · Originally published on stephen.braunius.org
","content_text":"Dirk Hughes, Bee Keeping\n\n“You can help the world by keeping bees.”\n\ndistinct roles of bees in a hive: - queen lays eggs\n\nmale drones mate\n\nthousands of female worker bees do all the work: construction, repair, cleaning, defense, raising young, forging, making honey\n\nbenefits - honey and bees wax are useful\n\nhoney improves health\n\npollination of plants (food for animals and people) more bees = more food\n\nbee keeping is meditative\n\nhow to get started (less than $500 to start with 1 hour per week per hive) - reach out to local bee keeper association (Holland area bee keepers association)\n\nbuild or purchase an appropriate hive (top bar hive or land\n\npick appropriate location for hive and follow local ordinances\n\nget bees\n\n“more food, healthier lives, and a healthier planet”\n\n“Help the world by keeping bees”\n\nCategories: Learning · Tags: tedxmac · Originally published on stephen.braunius.org","image":"/media/production/images/item-11453af01c6146cb8e32cec4f7a1ca56.jpg","date_published":"2017-03-21T16:00:00.000Z","date_modified":"2026-10-28T20:33:23.241Z","_microfeed":{"slug":"tedxmac-2017-dirk-hughes-bee-keeping","authors":[{"name":"Stephen Braunius","type":"Person"}],"web_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/tedxmac-2017-dirk-hughes-bee-keeping/","json_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/WNQe3F3eY9W/json/","rss_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/WNQe3F3eY9W/rss/","guid":"http://stephen.braunius.org/tedxmac-2017-dirk-hughes-bee-keeping/","status":"published","date_published_short":"Tue Mar 21 2017","date_published_ms":1490112000000}},{"id":"VMKJmULaIX9","title":"TedXMac 2017: Dean Whittaker, Jason Sosa: Back FROM the Future","url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/tedxmac-2017-dean-whittaker-jason-sosa-back-from-the-future/","authors":[{"name":"Stephen Braunius"}],"content_html":"![\"\"](\"https://stephen.braunius.org/media/production/images/item-0e4fd54afa762c7aa23518b2c26d0d61.jpg\")
\n Dean Whittaker, Jason Sosa: Back FROM the Future
Categories: Learning · Tags: tedxmac2017 · Originally published on stephen.braunius.org
","content_text":"Dean Whittaker, Jason Sosa: Back FROM the Future\n\nmost of us do not think past 5 years\n\n50% of US jobs at risk because of automation (robots and artificial intelligence)\n\nchanges to the baby boomers: globalization, demographics, technology\n\ntechnology = revolution\n\nwe can’t adapt fast enough so we must learn to anticipate change\n\nhuman adaptability is not matching the rate of change in technology\n\nchange is revolutionary vs. change is evolutionary\n\nthe ‘gig economy’ working on multiple projects and with diverse teams around the world\n\nthis time is different - automation will replace workers (self service and augmented reality)\n\nreality itself will change\n\nthe entire work force will need to be retrained\n\n“robe advice” “robe doctors”\n\nmachines will be able to outperform humans at almost all tasks\n\nbe continuous learners and retrain self\n\nabundance for some and hardships for others\n\ncommunities will lose financial resources\n\n“we need radical mindsets for this radical time”\n\ntechnology might displace us from our jobs\n\n“Gig economy” value freedom and flexibility and can do work from anywhere\n\nHope and preferred future - rapidly deploy new skills\n\nacquire wealth through skills\n\nWisdom from the past, leadership of the present, and vision for the future\n\nvalue diversity\n\nown the robots\n\nthere is a human advantage\n\n“as a community, will we choose to embrace change” - develop a learning center to re-skill our work force 24×7\n\nconnectivity is a key\n\nimplement model community initiative\n\nbe daring to try new ways of working and networking\n\naccept failure as learning\n\n“our future is determined by the choices we make today”\n\ncreate the preferred future that is meant for us since we know with 80% certainty where it is headed\n\nCategories: Learning · Tags: tedxmac2017 · Originally published on stephen.braunius.org","image":"/media/production/images/item-0e4fd54afa762c7aa23518b2c26d0d61.jpg","date_published":"2017-03-21T16:00:00.000Z","date_modified":"2026-10-28T20:33:21.716Z","_microfeed":{"slug":"tedxmac-2017-dean-whittaker-jason-sosa-back-from-the-future","authors":[{"name":"Stephen Braunius","type":"Person"}],"web_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/tedxmac-2017-dean-whittaker-jason-sosa-back-from-the-future/","json_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/VMKJmULaIX9/json/","rss_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/VMKJmULaIX9/rss/","guid":"http://stephen.braunius.org/tedxmac-2017-dean-whittaker-jason-sosa-back-from-the-future/","status":"published","date_published_short":"Tue Mar 21 2017","date_published_ms":1490112000000}},{"id":"PVitURPUmBO","title":"TedXMac 2017: Meika Weiss, People-Friendly Cities","url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/tedxmac-2017-meika-weiss-people-friendly-cities/","authors":[{"name":"Stephen Braunius"}],"content_html":"![\"\"](\"https://stephen.braunius.org/media/production/images/item-abd7e736a09f0c05f586dba6ff49fb00.jpg\")
Categories: Learning · Tags: tedxmac2017 · Originally published on stephen.braunius.org
","content_text":"“Places that are made primarily for people work better than places made primarily for cars”\n\n“pivot toward people”\n\nPast - streets were markets and thoroughfares where people walked\n\nstreetcars and cars came onto the scene\n\ncar manufacturers pushed to remove people from the streets\n\nPresent - challenges with mass transit in our areas\n\nbeing able to get around is necessary for all people\n\nKeys: - People-friendly cities invest in many types of transportation - affordable to government and citizen\n\naccessible to all people\n\nmaintain air quality and quality life\n\nPeople-friendly cities prioritize safety over all (especially speed) - death is not an acceptable outcome of our transportation decisions (Vision 0 in Sweden)\n\nPeople-friendly cities are willing to make change - transform communities to make streets more people friendly\n\nWhat is next? - we know our system will change\n\nour decisions now matter\n\nCreate a more livable community\n\nChoose one thing you might engage in to support a people-friendly city\n\nCategories: Learning · Tags: tedxmac2017 · Originally published on stephen.braunius.org","image":"/media/production/images/item-abd7e736a09f0c05f586dba6ff49fb00.jpg","date_published":"2017-03-21T16:00:00.000Z","date_modified":"2026-10-28T20:33:27.443Z","_microfeed":{"slug":"tedxmac-2017-meika-weiss-people-friendly-cities","authors":[{"name":"Stephen Braunius","type":"Person"}],"web_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/tedxmac-2017-meika-weiss-people-friendly-cities/","json_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/PVitURPUmBO/json/","rss_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/PVitURPUmBO/rss/","guid":"http://stephen.braunius.org/tedxmac-2017-meika-weiss-people-friendly-cities/","status":"published","date_published_short":"Tue Mar 21 2017","date_published_ms":1490112000000}},{"id":"9gcAz6KoQIa","title":"TedXMac 2017: Jon LoDuca, Competitive Advantage of EQ","url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/tedxmac-2017-jon-loduca-competitive-advantage-of-eq/","authors":[{"name":"Stephen Braunius"}],"content_html":"![\"\"](\"https://stephen.braunius.org/media/production/images/item-4c027a1561fa87ca73a8754d2e904539.jpg\")
\n Jon LoDuca, Competitive Advantage of EQ
Categories: Learning · Tags: tedxmac2017 · Originally published on stephen.braunius.org
","content_text":"Jon LoDuca, Competitive Advantage of EQ\n\nartificial intelligence has learned how to learn\n\nworld is dividing between AI & EQ (head vs. heart)\n\nEQ: identify own emotions, gauge others, adjust to come to common ground - it makes commerce tick\n\n“We suck at being robots”\n\nif our value proposition (job/business) can be reduced to an algorithm then it will face challenges\n\n2 business models - Product-based: - we have a product and let’s find a market\n\ngoes wide\n\nshare of market (loves AI and technology)\n\nClient-based: - aligning around shared story and needs connecting with a tribe\n\ngoes deep\n\nloves EQ\n\nGoing between the 2 business models is where business’ die\n\nLaws of successful EQ companies - law 1: total authenticity - fear gets in the way\n\nneed to know your values and world view\n\nhave confidence and faith that a market exists for you\n\nlaw 2: radical empathy - love and care about their clients\n\nwatch out for focusing on ourselves (imposter syndrome, future, past, and not being Here)\n\nremember your mission and truly bear witness to the other human being (truly listen)\n\nlaw 3: humbly irreverent - be irreverent to the rules and the laws that get in the way of doing the right thing\n\nrespect the client and solve problems in order to serve them\n\nwatch out for paying too much attention to the competition\n\nLet’s go ahead and be empathetic to each person around us\n\nbreak any rule that keeps us from serving people\n\n“Whatever is coming, we don’t know, it will be our humanity that saves us”\n\nCategories: Learning · Tags: tedxmac2017 · Originally published on stephen.braunius.org","image":"/media/production/images/item-4c027a1561fa87ca73a8754d2e904539.jpg","date_published":"2017-03-21T16:00:00.000Z","date_modified":"2026-10-28T20:33:26.148Z","_microfeed":{"slug":"tedxmac-2017-jon-loduca-competitive-advantage-of-eq","authors":[{"name":"Stephen Braunius","type":"Person"}],"web_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/tedxmac-2017-jon-loduca-competitive-advantage-of-eq/","json_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/9gcAz6KoQIa/json/","rss_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/9gcAz6KoQIa/rss/","guid":"http://stephen.braunius.org/tedxmac-2017-jon-loduca-competitive-advantage-of-eq/","status":"published","date_published_short":"Tue Mar 21 2017","date_published_ms":1490112000000}},{"id":"7V09cyHRMC8","title":"TedXMac 2017: Sara DeVries, What’s next for libraries","url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/tedxmac-2017-sara-devries-whats-next-for-libraries/","authors":[{"name":"Stephen Braunius"}],"content_html":"![\"\"](\"https://stephen.braunius.org/media/production/images/item-a542f728b7da30b3c739404aa66e2a29.jpg\")
\n Sara DeVries, What’s next for libraries
Categories: Learning · Tags: tedxmac2017 · Originally published on stephen.braunius.org
","content_text":"Sara DeVries, What’s next for libraries\n\nlibraries used to be the place that collected and shared learning and stories\n\nthe digital age has allowed everyone to be able to share their stories\n\nthe local librarian is a digital navigator for all of us\n\nas a society we are losing connection with our neighbors\n\n“We don’t know each other”\n\nthe library is a currated collection of global knowledge available to the local community\n\nWhat if the libraries became the publisher of the community to share with the world? Examples: - Nuestra Comunidad Hispana: collecting, sharing, honoring, and preserving the stories of local Hispanics – these stories can be checked out from the library\n\nLakeland Library has a seed library as a result of working with individuals in the community who had a large amount of knowledge about heirloom seeds\n\nlibraries can help us share knowledge\n\nHuman Library “Books” – participants can check out a human who has a particular story to share\n\nTry it out: - My name is…\n\nI am passionate about…\n\nMy work in this community is…\n\nWe all hold valuable stories. Tell your story.\n\n“Your story has power and you are the only one who can tell it.”\n\nCategories: Learning · Tags: tedxmac2017 · Originally published on stephen.braunius.org","image":"/media/production/images/item-a542f728b7da30b3c739404aa66e2a29.jpg","date_published":"2017-03-21T16:00:00.000Z","date_modified":"2026-10-28T20:33:30.044Z","_microfeed":{"slug":"tedxmac-2017-sara-devries-whats-next-for-libraries","authors":[{"name":"Stephen Braunius","type":"Person"}],"web_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/tedxmac-2017-sara-devries-whats-next-for-libraries/","json_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/7V09cyHRMC8/json/","rss_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/7V09cyHRMC8/rss/","guid":"http://stephen.braunius.org/tedxmac-2017-sara-devries-whats-next-for-libraries/","status":"published","date_published_short":"Tue Mar 21 2017","date_published_ms":1490112000000}},{"id":"19yMMH6fvwD","title":"TedXMac 2017: Steve Marshall, Beauty & Astonishment","url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/tedxmac-steve-marshall-beauty-astonishment/","authors":[{"name":"Stephen Braunius"}],"content_html":"![\"\"](\"https://stephen.braunius.org/media/production/images/item-8232523d925bddb534247b35a99f8717.jpg\")
\n Steve Marshall, Beauty and Astonishment
Categories: Learning · Tags: tedxmac2017 · Originally published on stephen.braunius.org
","content_text":"Steve Marshall, Beauty and Astonishment\n\nwhy a trick works is more important than how it works\n\nastonishment happens every time you experience for the first time\n\n“Astonishment is not an emotion that’s created. It’s an existing state that is revealed.” Paul Harris\n\nthe easiest person to fool is a scientist…children are the most difficult to astonish\n\nthe feeling of astonishment can be found all around us\n\na little mystery is a good thing\n\nrise table rise\n\nsee something you did’t see before…pay attention and look with new eyes\n\n“How much better could your life be if you were astonished every day.”\n\nCategories: Learning · Tags: tedxmac2017 · Originally published on stephen.braunius.org","image":"/media/production/images/item-8232523d925bddb534247b35a99f8717.jpg","date_published":"2017-03-21T16:00:00.000Z","date_modified":"2026-10-28T20:33:32.626Z","_microfeed":{"slug":"tedxmac-steve-marshall-beauty-astonishment","authors":[{"name":"Stephen Braunius","type":"Person"}],"web_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/tedxmac-steve-marshall-beauty-astonishment/","json_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/19yMMH6fvwD/json/","rss_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/19yMMH6fvwD/rss/","guid":"http://stephen.braunius.org/tedxmac-steve-marshall-beauty-astonishment/","status":"published","date_published_short":"Tue Mar 21 2017","date_published_ms":1490112000000}},{"id":"-IzThO9ogm1","title":"TedXMac 2017: Sarah Morin & Will Lowry, The Future of High School Education","url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/tedxmac-2017-sarah-morin-will-lowry-the-future-of-high-school-education/","authors":[{"name":"Stephen Braunius"}],"content_html":"![\"\"](\"https://stephen.braunius.org/media/production/images/item-919544b4132c152563e5557517a8bd0e.jpg\")
\n Sarah Morin & Will Lowry, The Future of High School Education
Categories: Learning · Tags: tedxmac17 · Originally published on stephen.braunius.org
","content_text":"Sarah Morin & Will Lowry, The Future of High School Education\n\nHigh Schools lack direct purpose to life outside of the classroom\n\nAP classes are no longer a differentiator (4 million AP tests taken this past year)\n\nindependent study could be a solution - study outside of a classroom in the community\n\nonly 3.45% of local students participate in independent study\n\nre-frame what an independent study is and turn it into a differentiator\n\nbusiness leaders should take initiative to give students an opportunity to work with them\n\nmany students are leaving the state of Michigan because they are not connected to local businesses\n\nschools should be open to having students leave campus to work in businesses\n\nwhat’s next - high schoolers need to believe in themselves\n\nthe community needs to believe in the potential of our students\n\nCategories: Learning · Tags: tedxmac17 · Originally published on stephen.braunius.org","image":"/media/production/images/item-919544b4132c152563e5557517a8bd0e.jpg","date_published":"2017-03-21T16:00:00.000Z","date_modified":"2026-10-28T20:33:31.356Z","_microfeed":{"slug":"tedxmac-2017-sarah-morin-will-lowry-the-future-of-high-school-education","authors":[{"name":"Stephen Braunius","type":"Person"}],"web_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/tedxmac-2017-sarah-morin-will-lowry-the-future-of-high-school-education/","json_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/-IzThO9ogm1/json/","rss_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/i/-IzThO9ogm1/rss/","guid":"http://stephen.braunius.org/tedxmac-2017-sarah-morin-will-lowry-the-future-of-high-school-education/","status":"published","date_published_short":"Tue Mar 21 2017","date_published_ms":1490112000000}}],"_microfeed":{"publisher":{"name":"Stephen Braunius","type":"Person","url":"https://stephen.braunius.org"},"authors":[{"name":"Stephen Braunius","type":"Person"}],"microfeed_version":"1.0.13","base_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org","categories":[],"subscribe_methods":[{"name":"RSS","type":"rss","url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/rss/","image":"https://stephen.braunius.org/assets/brands/subscribe/rss.png","enabled":true,"editable":false,"id":"3ruTYsoZVaf"},{"name":"JSON","type":"json","url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/json/","image":"https://stephen.braunius.org/assets/brands/subscribe/json.png","enabled":true,"editable":false,"id":"5nhVQKje4_K"}],"description_text":"Seek | Do | Share\nI have always loved to learn new things and put that knowledge to use. This is where I share what I’m learning.","copyright":"©2007–2026 Stephen Braunius","itunes:type":"episodic","items_sort":"published_at","items_order":"desc","items_next_cursor":"WzE0OTAxMTIwMDAwMDAsIi1JelRoTzlvZ20xIl0","next_url":"https://stephen.braunius.org/json/?next_cursor=WzE0OTAxMTIwMDAwMDAsIi1JelRoTzlvZ20xIl0&sort=published_at&order=desc"}}