My passions, loves, and interests

PASSIONS

KNOWING GOD This may be the longest and most consistent passion of all. I have always wanted to know God, to understand him, to be in a relationship with him. When the Bible says that Moses spoke to God as a man speaks to a man... that's knowing God.

TRUTH I have always had a passion for truth. I can’t stand easy and simplistic answers. I always like to dig deeper, synthesize data from all sources, poke holes in common beliefs, etc. Eagerly pursue and get at truth.

LEARNING, RESEARCH, DISCOVERY, AND ANALYSIS I am very curious, and like to research and discover new things. I get a question in my head and am driven to research and analyze until I come up with an answer. Obviously, this goes hand in hand with my passion for truth. I am constantly driven to learn something new. A new field, subject, problem, etc. I use the internet a lot for this, as well as anything on TV that is of an educational nature.

ROMANTIC LOVE The full expression of two people committed to a lifelong pursuit of oneness in body, mind, and spirit.

BIBLE I have always had a passion for understanding the Bible. Most of the time it has seemed confusing and contradictory and difficult to apply in any meaningful way to my personal life. Even though growing up in a Christian home with much bible reading, church attendance, Christian radio, Christian college, Bible College, being a pastor, Seminary, etc…. I still did not feel like I really understood it very well. However, the more I learn (about myself, life and the Bible), the more fascinating it becomes. There is sooo much there.

COMPUTERS, INTERNET, TECHNOLOGY Ever since I was little I liked knowing about and getting and using the latest gadgets. Read popular science as a kid. Reel to reel tape recorders gave way to cassette, which gave way to cd’s. 8mm home movies gave way to video recorders, to camcorders. Digital cameras. Stereo systems, components. Black and white tv’s gave way to color, to cable. Rotary phones gave way to touchtone, to cordless, to car phones, to cell phones. But then COMPUTERS! The door was now open. I had a computer in 1989. I only knew one other person who had one. Dos, Windows 3.1, 95, 2000, ME, XP… Had ‘em all. Then, INTERNET! Pandora’s box now open to the world of knowledge… Started with a 2400 baud modem, 9600, 14,400, 56k, then cable! The interenet is fascinating to me… As a kid I used to read encyclopedias for fun. Now I have the world of knowledge at my fingertips! Add to that email, Instant Message, chat rooms, bulletin boards, voice chat, video cams… and the world of communicating with the world opened. Always an advocate at my jobs for using technology to the greatest advantage for the benefit of employees and customers. Very comfortable around most computer programs. Have an intuitive knowledge about how they work, and how they should work!

ORGANIZING, SYSTEMITIZING, CLASSIFYING, GROUPING, CLARIFYING As this exercise is an example, I love to break down a mess of data into it’s component parts and lay them out and group them appropriately. I can do this with things, but mainly with ideas and information. Groups, sub-groups, inter-relations, etc. The effort is to make it clear and understandable for me, and for others.

MY CHILDREN I love my children, care deeply about them, and am passionate about their spiritual/psychological growth.

ENVISIONING/INVENTING I love to imagine what could be… whether it is an idea, a solution, a vision. I have the eyes to see… what could be, not just what is. I have a fertile, creative mind.

LOVES

MUSIC I love music… listening to it, playing it, etc. I am an amateur musician –singing, guitar, keyboard, drums. Mainly like popular music of all genres. I have enjoyed being in choirs, bands, etc. I've written a couple of songs.

SOCIAL SCIENCES Any study, observation, or analysis of the human being… psychology, sociology, anthropology, religion, etc. How human beings function. And then, more particularly how it relates to Christianity.

LANGUAGE AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES I love words and meanings. I love to be precise and accurate and clear with my speech. I love the Romance languages (French, Spanish, Italian, Latin, Portuguese). I speak French fluently. I have a passing acquaintance with Spanish. I love to see the correlation in the vocabulary between these various languages.

CATALYST FOR CHANGE I love to intervene in people’s lives in such a way that it has a big impact in a short time. In other words, my encounter with them becomes a pivot point, setting them in a new direction, helping them get unstuck, putting my finger on the problem, etc. I’m not that passionate about the “maintenance” part.

HELPING OTHER SUCEED I am driven to try to help others succeed, whether it is information, training, or tools. I was a customer service “coach” for P&G and really enjoyed helping the phone agents and the team as a whole be as good and sharp and successful as they could be. I coach people individually and in groups in my job now. I would rather help others succeed than succeed myself.

HELPING ORGANIZATIONS RUN WELL Wherever I work I tend to have lots of ideas about how to make things run better… Work flow, communication flow, systems, tools, vision and mission, organizational structure, employee morale, etc.

INTERESTS

PUBLISHING/PRODUCING Helping people (or myself) get their works published or produced. Writing, poetry, art, music, etc. Have interest in helping them in terms of critiquing and modifying and perfecting their words, as well as helping them get launched/sold.

NATURE I like the outdoors, woods, rivers, oceans, mountains, scenery. Wind, rain, clouds, etc. Storms are cool.

COMMUNICATION Writing and Speaking. Mainly writing. I can speak (phone, small groups, large groups, etc.), but typically prefer to write.

ART I have a lot of appreciation for art and artists… mainly painting, although I have never studied it seriously. I love colors. Beauty in all forms. At times I have done quite a bit in the way of photography.

CRITIC Although I have not done much in a formal way, I would really like to be a critic… of music, books, movies, politics, events, etc. I think I have a great ability to observe or experience and then to give a highly readable, yet critical, description and analysis.

POLITICS I have had a life-long interest in presidential politics, particularly elections.

HEALTH Issues relating to a healthy lifestyle... eating and exercise.

CREATIVE WORKS I have fantasies of writing books. I have also thought how cool it would be to write/direct a movie.