Let wonder replace worry

I'm thinking about Obama tonight...

I'm not supporting Obama. Honestly, I can't think of one reason why I would vote for him. We view the world in radically different ways. Although, I feel the same way about McCain so maybe its just me.

However, it does seem that if the polls are true, Obama will be the next President of the United States.

That is unless he pulls some boneheaded move like preempting the potentially decisive game of the World Series with an infomercial about himself when the 2 teams are from Pennsylvania and Florida- 2 must wins states.

Wait- he is doing that tomorrow night? What in the world is he thinking?

The one question I would ask Obama if given the chance: "Why didn't you simply change your name?"

I remember reading about Harpo Marx. His name was Adolph Marx- but sharing a name-even with a different spelling- with Adolf Hitler was something he did not want to deal with. So he became Harpo.

Barack Hussein Obama could have easily became Barack Harry Obama before getting into politics. He would have had the perfect reason for changing it and the sensitivity surrounding it would be nonexistent.

This time next week, he may be the president-elect. He will give it his best shot, supply Leno, Letterman, and SNL with endless material, and he will fall short. He will disappoint his legions of fans and not follow though on all of these promises he is making. Not because he is a bad man, but because he is a man. A totally depraved man- just like me- and just like you.

While he may not have my support- he will have my prayers.

Either way, I am hoping for a decisive election night. I do not want to stomach a couple of months of court battles. How about you?

Presentation Pep Talk

I subscribe to 5 or 6 different magazines- ranging from Youth Worker to Rolling Stone (which I feel is less and less relevant all the time-seriously thinking about dropping it.)

Besides books (obviously), this is about the only reading I do that is not in front of a computer screen.

One of my favorite magazines is Fast Company. It's a business magazine with some of the best leadership insights I read anywhere.

This month they published a great article titled "How to Avoid Making a Bad Presentation." This is something everyone in ministry who ever presents anything on a screen should read.

The line I can't get out of my head:

The best presenters don't structure their presentations by thinking, What's the next point I should make? Instead, they decide, What's the next question I want them to wrestle with?

I encourage you to head over to the website and read through the article. It is worth your time.

Girl with Down syndrome voted Homecoming Queen

A suburban Chicago high school crowns a 17 year-old girl with Down syndrome their 2008 Homecoming Queen.

This story has made me smile all day.

I've grown quite fond of this spider...

I first noticed him 2 weeks ago on an afternoon I needed to haul some equipment around town. This spider had made himself at home in the back of my truck. I pardoned the spider, destroyed the web, and went on with my haul.

The next morning he was back-and I was amazed at what I saw. This spider had rebuilt one of the most beautiful spider webs I have ever seen. I was so impressed, I decided to let him be. I figured the wind would take him away as I was driving down the road, or the rain would wash his web away.

That was almost 2 weeks ago. This spider has been all over town with me since then. I even found myself telling him 'good job' when I noticed he had a moth tangled in his web.

Now, it has rained all afternoon and evening and I've been tempted to go check to see if he is still there. (A temptation I have resisted by the way.)

I never imagined I'd find myself emotionally invested in a spider.