Robert Pooley

Saturday afternoon

**I talked on the phone to Bill Otten... he is our guest speaker for tomorrow at Coast, and he is awesome...
I can't wait to hear him.

**Right now, I am dressed in Garnet and Gold and getting ready to watch the FSU-Bama game... Don't let me down
Noles! Should be a good game...

**Just got back from the mall... and Vicki bought Leanna a homecoming dress.... Yikes! Strapless. Double yikes!

**I'm going out to the garage to get some duct tape... that should help with the strapless deal.

Cya

Checking out

I am checking out of the blogosphere for the next few days...  should be back around Friday or Saturday.

Saturday Night

Its Saturday night...  just some thoughts

** I did a wedding today... I don't do a lot of weddings any more but this was one was nice, and a really great couple...  Was supposed to be outside but wound up at the church due to weather.

** I never seem to be able to do a wedding without thinking about Martin Short's character in the Father of the Bride.  "It will be a lovely wadding Mr Bonks."

** I am really looking forward to tomorrow morning... I get to lead the worship band, which is always a blast... and finishing up our Grace Anatomy series.  Should be a great day.

** Sunday after church I am getting away with Vicki for about 4 days... It was just her birthday... mine is coming up on the first of October... and then its our Anniversary on the eighth... so we are going away for a few days... am really looking forward to it... We will be back for next Sunday.

** We have some really incredible teens in our church... one of them is a 15 year old named Ryle Cannon.  Man he is so much more together than I was at 15... of course I'm not sure  thats saying much... I was a mess at 15.  Anyway he is currently working on his Eagle scout project at the church.  Do you realize how few make it to eagle scout?  It is quite an accomplishment...  Ryle is one of those guys that make me so excited about our next generation.

**Well, I'm going to look over my talk for tomorrow one more time and settle in and hang out with the family...

Guilty Pleasure #7

Joe vs. the volcano....  very underappreciated... there is a whole subculture of people who are really into this movie...  you can see themes running all through it... each time adds a new layer.  Why not grab yourself an orange soda and enjoy....

The Future Conan?

I went tonight with my good friends Bobby Lepinay and Roger Hirth to hear Charles Landry speak at the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition.   Charles was discussing his latest book, The art of great city making.  The book has been well received and the talk was very thought provoking. 

I found myself looking around to see if our city and county leaders from Escambia and Santa Rosa County were present and there were less than a handful.  (That is a generous assessment)  I don't really have the time right now to really develop and present my thoughts... but I find myself looking at our community... seeing the potential... watching as the brightest and best of our young people move to other areas because there are no real opportunities here... and I wonder... Why?  I wonder where is the visionary leadership? 

Where are the risk takers... the visionaries... the movers and shakers... the people who think beyond the now to the future?  Where are the ones who think more long term?  Where is the innovation?  I wonder where is the creativity?

As I thought about it... I believe God spoke a couple of things to me.

1)  First, I need to step up to the plate and begin to think more creatively, to dream, to question, to discuss, to act, and sometimes even provoke those around me in our quest to becoming great leaders.  It has to start first with us as individuals.  So with me...  first.  I need to press in even harder than I have in the past to be a top level leader. (A Holy Spirit Inspired and led leader)

2) We need to begin to pray for our community and for our leaders as never before.  This needs to be more than a once a year national day of prayer thing...  We need to begin to fast and pray for our leaders...  Its going to take people rising up to a new level to see our community change.

Again, its been a long day, and I'm tired and really don't have the time or energy to develop this further tonight...  but wherever you are... whatever community you live in...  Why not stop right now, take 5 minutes and pray for our community, and for our leaders?  Why not look for opportunities to encourage them... to inspire them... and push them a little too, if that is possible?  It really starts with us!

I'm inspired... I have a vision for our community... and I have a vision for our church... and both are growing within me.  It will be exciting to see where God takes this.

Ch-ch-changes

Oh my... I've got my new iMac and my first thoughts are... what have I done? Everything is different.
Don't get me wrong, I beleive this is going to be great down the pike.... I believe that after awhile I w ill be extremely happy...
But for right now, its freaking me out. this is more of a major change than I was expecting.

I have always believed in positive change, but for all my bravado... this is hard. One of my favorite programs
Microsoft Publisher is not available for the Mac. Ironically, I got out of Macs years ago just to use this program...

Everyone is telling me about an Adobe Program they love... and I guess thats where I will head eventually...
but for now... the winds of change are blowing... and they feel like Gale Force.

Packed Monday

It's Monday... my day off.  Yesterday was a great day at Coast... only one week left in our "Grace Anatomy" Series.  It was fun leading worship this week... and several people committed their life to Christ after this week's message.  Yeah God!

Today Vicki and I are headed into Pensacola to pick up some things, and then its back to Gulf Breeze to pick up Leanna at School, take her to a class after school, and then head back to Pensacola to celebrate  Vicki's birthday at "Yamato's"  This is a Japaneese restuarant where they cook the food right there in front of you.  Lots of fun...  any way... busy, busy, busy.   But good stuff.

Guilty Pleasure #6

It ain't over till I say its over...  Try this one on for size.  Howard Jones is guilty pleasure #6.

New iMac

My new iMac shipped today... for some reason the iMac I origninally ordered was slow shipping...  but I talked to the folks at Mac Mall and they made me a sweet deal on an upgraded version of the same thing that they had in stock... and it shipped this afternoon...  And probably not a second too soon... my pc is limping along.  won't be long now and it will join the bones of the many pcs that have fallen before it.

Side note: I actually started on Mac... my old Mac is still in the garage... If I pulled it out of the garage it would still everything it was capable of doing when it was new... which isn't much by today's standards... but the point is... they keep on keeping on.  I am glad to be switching back.

Note to my friend Mike who now works at Microsoft...  nothing personal...  I still think you rock!

Couple of great quotes...

"Ideas are only ideas, until someone takes action."  Charles Simpson

"Hell begins on the day when God grants us clear vsion of all that we might have achieved, of the gifts which we have wasted, of all that might have done which we did not do."  Gian-Carlo Menotti