Still waiting on my new driver's license.  Perhaps tomorrow I'll take my expired passport to the Post Office to see about the PO Box.  That way I can finally get my email system up and running. Throughout this journey I've certainly learned a lot.  Between three books by Russel Brunson, several webinars, and a focussed way of looking at Social Media I've been gaining some new skills.  Just six months ago I wouldn't have known how to set up a landing page for an email list, and then develop an automatic sequence to welcome the new person into this online community.  But now I have a pretty good idea on how to do it. I was reading through another parish profile today, and saw how one of their goals was to increase communication both within the Church and the wider community.  Heck, that's exactly what I've been learning how to do since December.  I'm scarcely six weeks into this project and I've gained some new skills that I think would really benefit

Saturday I started some seasonal work.  Just like when I was in seminary, I took a part time job working for Jackson Hewitt doing tax preparation.  It had some mixed feelings.  On the one hand it felt good to put on a tie and go into an office again.  As much as I enjoy my various interests, I find sitting at home pretty agitating - especially when I'm not financially contributing to my family.  At the same time there's this nagging feeling that it's not what I'm supposed to be doing.  I am a minister of Word and Sacrament and haven't found a place to exercise that ministry yet. The storytelling ministry continues to march along.  I'm at the point where I'm waiting for a few moving pieces to come together.  After trying out a few different options for an email list and distributing my free resource, I settled on Mail Chimp.  It's pretty easy, user friendly, and even has a free version.  Even as I scale it's not going to cost me hundreds of dollars ev

Between snow days and half days of school I've fallen behind on my blogging and posting.  It's alright though.  My family and I dug out several snow forts in the various piles that accumulated, and I wouldn't trade those moments for anything.  Even while I was shoveling and my arms began to ache, I looked over my shoulder to see my seven year old digging away at the fresh snowbank I just made on the corner of the driveway.  He was hollowing out a side entrance, and throwing the excess snow right where I had just cleared.  I could have gotten mad at him but the scene was just too cute. Snow kind of gives me another glimpse into what God does in the world.  My favorite time is right after the snow fall, where a layer of pure white blankets everything.  It's so pretty and makes everything look so clean.  Then the plows come through, with the salt and the sand, and a layer of grime gets mixed in with everything else.  Mind you these things are necessary.  We would kill ours

Today I pulled the switch and signed up for Groove.cm.  I was looking for an affordable funnel software but this thing has so much more.  Website, eStores, Funnels, Email - it's all in there. I think I've hit the point where I'm a bit overloaded with what to do.  I've been working on my Free Guide to Christian Storytelling for several weeks now, and I feel like I have it in a format ready to release.  It's going to be a freebie, as are many other things at first.  It's strange in this world there are so many opinions and so much advice out there. While I've been working on this free guide I got an email about a Challenge Masterclass.  It was free so I signed up.  It's had some really great content, put on by Russel Brunson at Clickfunnels, and the speaker is really passionate.  He also tells me that Challenges are the only funnel you need.  "Great," I thought, "Now what should I do with all this other stuff I've been working on. The th

“Sure,” he said from the other side of the table. “People are going to hear Scriptures that bother them.  I mean I have to hear about Sodom and Gemorrah.” This was 1999 and the man sitting across from me at brunch just came out to me.  Our small college chaplaincy leaned more to the left, and did so while maintaining orthodox beliefs.  I was pretty familiar with the other Christian groups on campus, and I knew I wouldn’t have had this conversation elsewhere. But at The Episcopal Church at Cornell I was able to make a new friend who didn’t fit the typical mold. I appreciated that because I don't fit the typical mold in my own way. As the years progressed he and I became really good friends. Our minds work in similar ways so we would often talk long into the night and forget that time was passing. We developed some code words too. I can remember getting an email about making cinnamon bread - that meant he had just had a difficult conversation and needed company. The bread was warm an

Today was more of a household chore kind of day. Grocery shopping, cleaning thr kitchen counters, cleaning out my car (really overdue).  BTW - do you know what happens when you leave a cough drop in a cupholder with a few Lego’s?  Well I do now. It’s pretty sticky.  When I get on social media I’m seeing all sorts of ads for free eBooks related to ministry. I see that and think, hey that’s what I want to do.  They have some pretty slick ads, and I wonder if I’ll ever get mine that nice - I’ll probably have to hire a graphic designer. But it does give me hope that people are doing it - just in a different niche than me.  I’ve got my dream all laid out - just working on the execution bit by bit. I want to: Teach individuals how to tell stories as a way of sharing good news.  Train leaders to teach these courses in their congregations.  Provide a year-long program for a Church so they can make storytelling an integral part of their culture.  Among the resources I need to develop are: Free

“Conor …” I heard Gurdon Brewster’s warm and raspy voice behind me as I was slipping out after Church.  My summer schedule had been pretty crazy, as my Chuch back home was begging me to play bass each weekend.  I loved to play, but it meant a 90 minute drive from Ithaca to Chittenango and I had a full class schedule at Cornell. “I’m glad you came,” Gurdon said.  I had been slowly making my journey into the Episcopal Church over that year.  In the fall semester, Gurdon agreed to be my subject for a class project.  I was to interview someone over the course of a semester and write a twenty page paper on their religious life.  Gurdon’s first response was, “Wow that’s a lot of talking.”  But we set a schedule over several weeks so as not to overwhelm either of us. During that time he told me stories from his life.  He had the dramatic ones where he worked with both Rev. Martin Luther Kings, and he had his ordinary stories like the one about his childhood teacher, Ms. Stump. I was at a funn

The new email popped up in my inbox.  I didn't recognize the address so I was tempted to skip past it, but then I remembered I had just signed up for a three week webinar.  I got a personal email from the priest running it, and he and I corresponded a bit.  It was nice to make that connection, and I went back and forth about asking if he would like to do some joint projects, but thought I'd let that wait for a few weeks.  The organization is called TryTank, kind of like a think tank but actually trying out the ideas in real time - seeing what comes out of it.  It's nice to see other people doing some innovative ministries. I was really hoping to add some graphics to my Brief Guide to Christian Storytelling, but the phone was ringing today and didn't get much done other than pick a few things out from Canva.  I appreciate the free version because it allows me to do this upfront work while I'm investing more time than dollars. I am continuing my traffic efforts on Fac

Today I had one of those really productive days where I sat down for several hours and wrote.  As my fingers danced over the keyboard on my laptop I remember a short note from my 10th grade English teacher - Mrs. Agnew.  She was one of the most encouraging people I ever met, and she and I clicked on so many levels.  She was the first teacher to explain what a thesis was, and gave us an assignment to write a position paper with a clear thesis.  Mine was a commentary on Beavis and Butthead and their cultural impact.  She loved it and gave me 100% on the paper.  At the end of the year she signed my yearbook, told me to have great adventures, and to write about them. So today I heeded Mrs. Agnew's advice and finished a short paper I had been working on for the past month.  Aside from this blog and the social media posts it's going to be my first public offering of my storytelling framework.  I am really excited and apprehensive at the same time.  Since I'm still unemployed I ha

"Can I have one?" "No I can only take out one a day." My friend Dale had just removed a piece of chocolate from this odd looking thing.  It was the size of a piece of paper, thick as a book, and had several little doors opened.  The remaining doors had numbers on them. "That's his Advent Calendar." Dale's mom told me.  "It counts down to Christmas and every day he opens up a new door." I stared at this marvelous thing for I don't know how long.  For a six year old, the idea of waiting for a piece of chocolate was well ... weird.  Given my caffeine intolerance we rarely had chocolate at home, so I had some practice restraining myself.  But at that moment I knew there was something special about this chocolate - I just didn't understand until years later. Another time I was spending the night at Dale's house.  When we woke up on Sunday morning he told me we needed to get ready for Church.  I don't think I had ever been befor

Years ago I was part of a young adult book group.  Each month was something different, but usually of a spiritual nature.  One author that stuck with us was Anne Lamott.  I can clearly remember a member of our group concluding that in order to have something to say about the spiritual life you needed to have a lot of difficult experiences first.  He kind of sighed and said he didn't have much to contribute because his life to that point was pretty smooth sailing. This memory is in stark contrast to what I recently read in Stories that Stick by Kindra Hall.  In Hall's framework, the first aspect of a good story is one with an identifiable character.  In her thinking, a larger than life character is actually detrimental to a good story, because yor audience can't relate to them.  I think back to the Star Wars prequel trilogy, and how it never quite captured the magic of the original.  One of the reasons is that the characters were almost too perfect, unattainable.  Anakin fr

When I was a boy, I can remember going to the library each week at my elementary school.  One day, after my mother encouraged me, I asked the librarian where all the learning books were.  It was kind of a big question for an eight year old.  The librarian, Mrs. Rodman, took me to a huge wall with floor to ceiling bookshelves and spread her arms wide.  "Here are all the learning books." That captured my attention much more than the word "non-fiction."  I stood there amazed at this wealth of information - biographies, science, history, music - it was all there.  Since that day I've always had a love for books because of the information contained in them. So it comes as no surprise that some of my favorite Christmas gifts are books.  There's the Blood Sugar Solution , that I'm writing about on  HackMyBloodSugar , and then there's another book about storytelling.  This one is Stories That Stick by Kindra Hall.  This is one of those books that both teach