To my Non-Christian Friends

I've spoken to several of you about my faith (and your faith) from time to time over the years. I remember a few of you (Eric, Ryan, Chris, and others) heard exactly how I feel, including the parts about how Jesus died for us to give us new life. Others of you only know about my faith because of the debates we get into or the viewpoint I hold on random issues (Scott, Jamie, Kevin, and others).

Some of you have been ok with my claims regarding spiritual things, even if you didn't agree with them. A very few of you were actually combative when I brought the issue of Christ up. I appreciate the respect you've given me and I hope I've given you the same.

And let me be clear: This blog entry in no way absolves me of the actual need to tell you face to face about Jesus Christ and what he means to me. What this entry does is allow me to articulate (hopefully) better and for you to consider how both you and I feel about the issue.

Yes, I believe that Jesus was the promised one from centuries ago. I believe he was born by a virgin, that he was crucified in the manner consistent with Roman styles of his day. I believe that he died so that you and I wouldn't have to. I believe he righted the spiritual wrong that had been since Adam. I believe that he was dead for 3 days. I believe he rose again after that and appeared to several people. And finally, I believe that because of what the Bible teaches, which means I also believe the Bible.

So what does that mean for you? On one hand, it means that (if I'm right and you're wrong) that you'll unfortunately go to hell when you die and I will go to heaven. It doesn't matter if you're a good person or not. I know you're a good person. I wish that was enough, but by the same token I'm glad it's not because we're never going to be good enough.

On the other hand, it means I live with more peace about life than some of you. Not all of you. A few of you have found a very peaceful place in life. But some of you could use some more peace.

Mostly though, this post is to let you know that I'm sorry I haven't talked to you yet about Jesus and what he means for us and mankind in general. I don't really have an excuse. I can make some up, but the fact is they don't hold much water. I will try to get around to you folks as soon as I can. Please bear with me as I struggle with fear that you might turn your back on me, and I like you all too much to risk that some days.

But if I like you that much, I also like you enough to want you to meet the Savior. So I'll do my best from now on. 

Running with Good Memories

In September of 2011 I ran in the inaugural Fort2Base 10 Nautical mile race. For those who don't know the difference between nautical and standard miles, the race was 11.5 miles long. I had been in Chief Petty Officer Induction for about six weeks by that time, so I was in really good shape. I ran that race in 1:45:44 with an average pace of 8:56. Felt awesome!

As I was getting out onto the streets and into shape this spring, I felt too weak and embarrassed to run on the bike path that Fort2Base uses for the race, so I stuck to my local neighborhoods. Lately, though, I have ventured out to the race path, much to my pleasure. Some of the runs haven't been very productive, but some have been absolutely fascinating! What follows is a short photo diary of my latest run:

 We ran past a few older looking train stations on our route. The one above is the Lake Bluff station if my memory serves me right.

 The rest of the time we just met beautiful views like these. It was an amazing race!

 Apparently, the Army uses this track too.

That's Recruit Training Command...responsible for ruining about 10 weeks of my youth back in 1996.

In all, these runs have brought back wonderful memories of running against and with Jimmy Salazar, who also made Chief Petty Officer when I did. One of the better days of my life (esp when I saw my wife and kids cheering me on!) and one that I'm happy to relive as I train for this year's Fort2Base race and the Chicago Marathon.

Make sure you go to Fort2Base's website and register if you're up for a gorgeous and fun race!

Hong Kong at Night

Having traveled a good amount of the world, I've seen several very beautiful cities. Singapore, Tokyo, Dubai, Paris...the list goes on and on. However, once city, particularly at night, literally outshines them all. That is Hong Kong.  Here's a video I shot of it at night. It won't take long for you to realize how pretty it is!

Linux Mint 12 Review

As many of my readers know, I'm very much a Linux fan. While my main computer at home has Windows 7, I'm always tinkering around with Linux. In fact, the only reason I have a computer with Windows on it is because the formatting program I use for papers in college isn't cross-connected to OpenOffice or LibreOffice. Otherwise, I'd be done.

My Linux days started in the early 2000s with Redhat, then to Ubuntu, and then I got frustrated. I did not like Unity at all. Furthermore, it bothered me that Ubuntu made it so difficult to switch to Gnome desktop from Unity.

When my wife got her final date for our daughter's birth, I started thinking about Linux again. My Windows laptop is a desktop replacement and weighs in like one. I needed something light for the hospital, so I got out my old MSI U120 and cleaned the hard drive and went Linux shopping. I briefly tried Ubuntu 11-10 again, but still didn't like it. Then I tried the newest Fedora, but it's been a long time since I've really liked Fedora. Finally, I settled on Mint.

I've shied away from Linux Mint since it's inception because I felt that it probably went too far away from the source. It is, after all, built on Ubuntu, which is built on Debian. Then there was the statement made by the founder a few years ago about the government of Israel. I should note that there were no disparaging remarks made against the Jewish people, just the government. I suppose that would be akin to people not liking the Obama administration but not hating the African American population. Anyway, I just felt that there was no need for a Linux programmer to be involved in politics and activism. We're trying to make Open Source software like Linux more accepted in the technology community, not in the political arena.

Despite these issues, I broke down and gave Linux Mint 9 (Isadora) a try because I found a copy. I liked it immediately. It was based on Ubuntu 10.04, which was the last Ubuntu release I liked. It had a great feel to it, although I confess it struggled a little with immediately recognizing my network connection and wireless hardware. It came pre-loaded with Openoffice, which was fine with me. After tinkering around with it for a few days, I decided to upgrade to the newest Mint.

Downloading and Networking: Downloading Mint 12 (Lisa) was a breeze. I used Unetbootin to format a thumb drive to load it onto my U120 and I was running very quickly. Like Ubuntu, installing Mint is a dream. One you start installing, it walks you through the process step-by-step. Unlike Isadora, it found everything perfectly. I was on the internet faster than I could sneeze. Even moving to a new network in the hospital has posed no problems. It simply discovered the network and I clicked on it. Soon enough, I was posting pics of our beautiful new daughter on my blog.

The Desktop: The look and feel of Lisa's desktop was very similar to Isadora, despite the fact that Lisa uses Gnome 3 and Isadora uses Gnome 2.3. For those who don't know, there were quite a few changes in the look and feel of Gnome when it rolled out Gnome 3. I appreciate the changes that Gnome brought to the desktop with Gnome 3, but I also like what Mint did with MGSE (Mint Gnome Shell Extensions) to make it look like the standard Mint experience, which I have grown to enjoy. The Menu button at the bottom will get you to everything you possible need. It only took me a few uses to get moving in the new format since I had been used to Unity or Gnome 2. It won't take you long either and if you're coming from Windows only, it will probably be even easier.

Openoffice or LibreOffice: There are several people who believe that Openoffice is off the reservation. It's such a big deal that a bunch of former programmers left the organization and founded their own office suite, called LibreOffice. Here's a secret: It's practically the same thing. Honestly I don't know how the get away with it, except that Openoffice is open source software. What will happen with LibreOffice makes people mad and then some of those programmers leave? Probably the same thing. Anyway, if you can use Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc, then you can use LibreOffice. I'm typing this post on it now.

Internet: As I stated above, Lisa comes standard with the drivers I needed to get online quickly. She also updated fast to the most current source. Lisa comes standard with Firefox, which is the most popular non-Microsoft browser, at least until a few months ago. At any rate, I prefer Opera for a variety of reasons, so I downloaded it. As usual with Linux, it was a snap to get via the Software Manager.

Summary: You need to get on board with Linux Mint. Of course, that means that we all need Ubuntu to keep releasing great OS updates, but in the long run, I think Ubuntu is headed in the way of Debian. It will become the branch of Linux that Linux distros are made from. Should be interesting to see how it all unfolds. While I watch that happen, I shall enjoy Linux Mint 12.

Hannah in the Hospital

Hannah is going home today! She needed a few extra days because mommy was recovering from surgery. Both are doing just fine and are ready to get to the house. As we prepare to leave, I thought it would be nice to put some photos up about her time here at the hospital. Enjoy!

 Ok, so the first picture is Timothy being silly with Hannah's new stuffed animal. I'll get to Hannah in a few seconds.

 A simple picture of me and my daughter looking gangsta! Shout out to the USS Antietam peeps by the way. Nice serving with you all!

 All sleepy and milk-drunk, as the nurse called her.

And this is her not milk-drunk.

 I think this is just a really pretty picture of her. I like her a bunch.

 I don't know what she was looking at here, but she really concentrated on it hard!

 Our Beautiful Children!

What I can do for You

I can do two things for you. First, I can teach you what it means to be a believer in the military. I'm active duty in the Navy and have been for 16 years. I know what it takes to maintain the faith when bombarded by the myriad of things that Sailors face on a daily basis. I know what churches need to do to help them out. I know this first hand. If you want to support the military, and more importantly, if you want to support the believers in the military, then I can help you learn how.

Secondly, and maybe more importantly, I can teach your church how to become a mentoring community. Because I think this is so important, I'm willing to consult for free on the issue. I'll come give training lectures to your staff and/or congregation. I'll show you and your people how to do it. I'll help you get a program started. If you're outside of the Chicagoland region, I'll help you via Skype or phone. I'm that serious about it. I hope you are too. Then, if you or your people want more information, they can order the ebook on the subject later.

I care so much about these two topics that I wrote a few ebooks on the subject, which are available for download from ibooks, nook, kobo, or PDF to your computer or handheld device. You can see the publisher links for both of those projects below.

Sea Stories: A Sailor's Story of Faith on the Sea

Building a Mentoring Community

Hannah's Arrival: A Photo Diary

Our youngest daughter Hannah Grace Smith was born at 10:31am on the 9th of April, 2012. She weighed in at 7lbs, 11 ozs, and was 20 inches long. She's so beautiful! We are both so grateful for her and can't wait to get to know her more. Here is a short diary of her first day with us (If you're a little squeamish, skip the 3rd photo):

 Alicia and me headed into the hospital for delivery. Doesn't she look beautiful?

 Alicia had already been taken to the OR by now. As you can see, I'm ready for this to start.

 This is Hannah literally being pulled out. If you're squeamish, you shouldn't have looked at this photo!

 Hannah, meet your mommy! Mommy, this is your daughter Hannah!

 Love's first kiss...

 Such tiny fingers!

 Mommy and baby!

 Ready to take on the world already. "Come to me, my people!"

So precious!

 Maybe the most awesome Labor and Delivery nurse we've had in the three births!

 She's not too sure she likes this stuff yet.

 Ok, she's like her dad...time for a nap!

 The yawn didn't fix anything...still not sure if she's ok with this air-breathing thing.

Beautiful little feet...

Easter 2009 in Pattaya, Thailand

I was on deployment at the time, so I didn't post this episode in my life, but in 2009, on Easter morning, found myself in Pattaya, Thailand. Our ship's chaplain, Chaplain (LT) Jason Gregory, wanted to have a sunrise service and I thought that was a great idea. We put together a little service on our flight deck which just so happened to face the East. As I spent this morning on my back porch with my Bible, I couldn't help but think about that warm morning in Thailand. Here are some pictures from that morning:

First 5K of 2012

I missed the first official 5K of the year on the Great Lakes Navy Base because we were traveling back from my grandmother's funeral. Because of that, my first 5K of the year was on Monday the 2nd of April. I ran on the Navy Base in the monthly Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) event.

What I like the most about these races is that they give me a chance to test my ability against young Sailors who are in infinitely better shape than I am. What I like even more than that is beating them. I don't beat most of them by far, but I do beat many. Mostly it's because their studies are pretty demanding and I have a higher dedication to running than they do.

At any rate, I ran my first race without being in as good of shape as I wanted to be in. I can count the number of long runs I've done on one hand with 6 miles being the longest. Nevertheless, I lined up with about 230 other Sailors and civilians and took off.

I'll map the course some other time, perhaps during May's race, and show you, but the bottom line is that it's a pretty nice course. We get to run past the clock tower (pictured at night, above) and all over the base.

Mostly, I'm happy to have finished at all. I finished at 25:58 for an 8:23 split. My first mile was at 8:58, so I dropped the average quite a bit. Out of the 230 or so runners, I finished at 144. Not great, but not as bad as I've done before either.

All in all, it was a good race. Can't wait for the next one! The only thing missing from this race were my good buddies ET1 Mike Harris, who is busy with his retirement paperwork (he retires Friday) and FC1 Jeff Martin, who was not selected last year for a PTS (Perform to Serve) quota. Missed you guys!

Recent Mentoring Presentation

I'm grateful for the fact that I got the chance to present my ideas on mentoring to the Sailors who work in my command in February as part of the CPO 365 program at our command. As you might expect, I presented mentoring in its proper context, which was in a secularized position as it relates to the Navy career. Since the Navy requires all junior Sailors to be mentored, the Sailors gathered to listen to my mini-seminar were quite versed in the details of mentoring. This made for a lot of conversation and takeaways.

I presented a lot of information on how the Navy wants mentorship to work, how it does work, and then I presented two types of mentoring in the Navy.

1. Paperwork mentoring. In paperwork mentoring, the idea is to fulfill the Navy's requirement for junior personnel to be mentored without actually doing the work. The Mentor and the Protégé sign a contract that is worthless and never meet. Neither person knows the other outside of random meetings, and no career advice is ever really given.

2. Mentoring. Mentoring means that the junior person is giving the senior member the permission to enter into his/her life and make suggestions for change, provide guidance for career decisions, and helps with personal issues when possible.

As you might guess, my goal was for my Sailors to enter into real mentoring relationships with senior personnel. My other goal is for my people to become the mentors needed for future generations of Sailors. I probably spent as much or more time on what they should strive to be as a mentor as I did on what mentoring was in the Navy. You have to be someone who has something that others need. Be successful, and then be approachable so that others will need you. It's really that simple. The aspect of success comes from being mentored, and the approachable aspect comes from wanting to mentor.

In all, I enjoyed the 23 Sailors in attendance. I think both the senior folks in the room and the junior personnel learned a lot. I believe my command is headed in the right direction, and I'm once again grateful to be where I am.