4tunate

(Written by: Brad)

Routine. Repetitive. Unremarkable. Unmemorable. Ordinary.

What words would you tend to use when describing the day you are about to begin? Do these words describe most of your days?

I woke up early this morning and it started like any other day. Shower, get dressed, pray, and going to the Word of God for study. I am generally very happy with my life, my family, my career, and most other aspects of my existence. However, I recognized this morning that I have again slipped into a state of mind that does not produce good fruit in my life. I have begun to live my life as though I am in control, and as though I will never die.

I am 30 years old, soon to be 31. My children are already 4 going on 5 and I feel like they were literally born about 2 years ago. It is slipping by so quickly. The Bible describes this life as “a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.” (James 4:14) (NASB) THIS LIFE IS SHORT, WHAT AM I DOING TAKING ANYTHING FOR GRANTED?!?

Everyday of life that God gives to us is a grand gift. A TEMPORARY gift that must not be taken for granted.

Every time I get to embrace my wife, kiss my children, eat a meal with my family, wake up in a warm home, feel the crisp clean fall air, watch my children play, and enjoy every other blessing in this life, I should give thanks. But you know what? Every time I change a load of laundry, soak up another spilled glass of milk, clean the toilets, and mow the grass, I should thank God for the gift of nice clothes, food to feed my family, plumbing for a comfortable life, and a home with a yard.

Why don’t I think this way? Nearly everything in this life is a blessing if we choose to recognize that although we have done nothing to deserve any of it, God has chosen to bless us with life.

I jumped over to my favorite Bible reference site after praying about this topic, and in the sovereignty of God, this set of videos were on their blog. A couple years ago, Zack didn’t know cancer was about to rock his world. His wife didn’t know she might soon be a single mom.

The Story of Zac Smith

Then watch this:

A Story | Tears of Hope from Adam Kring on Vimeo.

We have personal friends who have gone though something similar, and yet I still allow some of my days to be ordinary and without purpose? I really want to strive today to make the most of every moment. I still have to work today, but I am going to work with a thankful heart and a smile on my face. There are many routine tasks to complete, but I will strive to complete those tasks with joy. I don’t know whether God will graciously give another day to enjoy them.

Brad

Most people plan an organized trip to our Nation’s Capitol filled with tours, sightseeing, museum visits, and other Kodak moments. However, when we faced with a less than 2 day trip to plan in a little over twelve hours, we were forced to sightsee by the seat of our pants.  We didn’t have time to see much, but we made the most of the time we had.

Our plane landed in Baltimore on Thursday night.  My friend Suzanne picked us up and took us directly to our very first Crab Pick experience at Cantler’s in Annapolis.  If you’ve never had the opportunity to take in a Crab Pick, you order fresh crabs and they deliver them in their shell to your table by the bucket full.  Then you use a mallet and knife to break open the shell and dig out the incredible white crab meat. Melts in your mouth!

The next morning we woke up to the quaint capital of Annapolis.  I could have spent a week there.  It’s so historic with so many cute shops, and a beautiful view of the Chesapeake Bay. We had to be at the White House Tweetup in the morning, so we mostly just looked out the car window, but I would LOVE to go back!

Most of our daylight hours were spent inside the White House and the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, but we did manage to take a few pictures during our lunch break.

You know like the classic pinch a National Monument pictures.

(You can see pictures and details from our time at the White House Tweetup over here.)

Except for this one. 

I know.  It’s a urinal.  But it’s not just ANY urinal.  This is the urinal just steps away from Vice President Biden’s office.  So yes, this is proof that my husband has relieved himself in the same place as our current Vice President and those in the past.  You want his autograph?

After leaving Press Secretary Carney’s office late Friday evening, we took a cab to take in a few monuments at sundown. 

The Lincoln Monument is breathtaking at night. 

As is the Washington National Monument.

And the World War II Memorial is stunning. A highlight of our trip was looking up Brad’s grandfather and my uncle on the World War II Registry and viewing their records. So grateful for their service as well as so many thousands of lives who fought for our freedoms.

And THIS is where I want to stay next time we are in town. {Insert Sarcasm.} I could live in the entrance of The Mayflower Hotel.

And in almost the blink of an eye, we were back on an airplane and headed back to the Midwest.

Maybe we’ll have the time and opportunity to PLAN and take in more sites next visit!

Have YOU been to our Nation’s Capitol?  Where is your favorite place to sightsee?

What a whirlwind of a trip to our Nation’s Capitol! If we didn’t have the pictures to prove it, we might have thought it was all a dream.  In less than 24 hours, we booked airline tickets, hotel, arranged a night in Annapolis with a friend, and found 3 sets of babysitters for our quadruplet boys.  It seemed like an impossible task to pull together in such a short amount of time, but when the White House invites you over, you just can’t refuse! 

Brad and I will break it down for you how our day was spent, and some things that we were able to take away from our unique experience. (Forgive us in advance for our lack of brevity – it was a lot to take in!)

Jen: We took this opportunity of a lifetime along with 13 other invited guests of The White House Tweetup to tour The White House, and to discuss technology and job strategy with Macon Phillips, The White House Director of Digital Strategy; Aneesh Chorpra, US Chief Technology Officer; and Press Secretary Jay Carney in an intimate setting. A couple of invited guests were unable to make the trip at the last minute, which enabled Brad to accompany me for the entire day. 

Brad: Our day began with a private tour of The White House, led by Kori Schulman.  She is the “voice” behind most of the @WhiteHouse tweets. We were not allowed to take any photos or video inside The White House, but tweeting was allowed for our group.

I think the two things that most struck me about The White House was both the intricate detail and history of every decoration and design, and the amazing thought of how many important decisions had been painstakingly made inside these walls.  Every single room holds a hundred historic moments. 

Jen: After our tour of East Wing, we headed to the adjacent Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Office Building.  This is where many of the Executive Branch Officials have offices, including Vice President Biden. In fact, our meetings took place just down the hall from the Vice President’s office, as well as the offices for our National Security.  Not exactly your “normal day at the office home” kind of day.

Macon Philips @Macon44, (pictured below on the left) discussed the social media strategies of the Obama team, and their desire to increase both accessibility and citizen participation in our government.  They have shown an outstanding effort in social media during the campaign and this term.  

Later in the afternoon we met with Aneesh Chopra @AneeshChopra (pictured above on the right) to discuss leading technologies and several new initiatives in business, education, and innovation. 

Brad: I was greatly impressed by the personal way that both Mr. Chopra and Mr. Macon approach their jobs.  There was no apparent arrogance about their position within The White House. In fact, they seemed genuinely open to the ideas presented by the group.  While I may have philosophical differences with the administration on some issues, there were some technology goals that I was excited to hear the Obama Administration are pushing.

One example is creating a reliable way for first responders to communicate in the event of a major disaster or terrorist attack.  Did you know that the police, fire department, and city officials in New York had no good way to communicate with one another on the morning of 9/11/2001?  Thousands of people made calls instantly as the attack began, this crippled the cell phone networks, making it impossible for the first responders to coordinate rescue and public protection properly.  There must be a solution to assure public safety.

We were shocked to learn at the last moment that we would be meeting with Mr. Carney @PressSec in his office instead of the Press Briefing Room, which happens to be in the West Wing of The White House, a mere 10 paces from The Oval Office!  We walked right by “The Situation Room” as we entered his office from the west door.  The walls were lined with fresh photos of monumental moments in our recent history such as the leaders of our country huddled in the Situation Room during the raid on Osama Bin Laden’s hideout.

All of the Tweetup participants were allowed to ask a question of Mr. Carney.  Since they allowed both Jen and I to participate, Jen delegated our question to me. Thanks, Babe!  She was a bit nervous anyway, and I was ready to fire my question. 

I told him that in the last stimulus package, the Obama Administration had promised 75,000 jobs to the state of Indiana by the end of 2010.  By their own accounting, less than 7,500 jobs were actually created.  I wanted to know what assurances they could offer that spending another $500 billion on a new Jobs Act would accomplish its goals. (Thanks to Pete Seat with the Indiana Republican Party for that statistic.)

Mr. Carney began his answer by reminding us of the economy that the “former administration” had left them.  I then interrupted him.  I immediately turned  bright red as I realized what I had done.  But, I went on to say that I was not asking the question from the perspective of a Republican in congress running for office.  If we are going to spend this money, I truly want it to succeed.  I love America, not a party.  I don’t necessarily agree that we should spend it, but lets make sure it makes a difference this time if we are going to do it.

He assured us that every effort was being made to study the last package, and craft this one in a way to make it more effective.  I pray that God would give them wisdom in these critical decisions.

Jen: At the conclusion of our discussion, we were able to interact with Mr. Carney more personally.  We were impressed that he already was familiar with our family.  He took a genuine interest in our job situation, of Brad’s layoff in 2009, and our business start-up as a result. Political differences aside, it was a very respectful, kind-hearted, and sincere conversation.

Overall, it was an unforgettable experience, and a well executed event by the entire Digital Media Team.  We deeply valued their personal approach and their desire for input from “common folk” like us.

(And FYI, the only taxpayer money spent on this trip was for this Swag Box of Presidential M&Ms. Our travel expenses and arrangements were our own personal responsibility. This post was in no way compensated or required.)