What do we think about Starbucks?

I must admit, I am reeeeally behind on this story, but since it is still within the pulse of our times, I feel obligated to 'blog' about it. I just had a friend, who is a former Marine, share with me that he doesn't go to Starbucks because they don't support the war on terror or the troops. This story has been bouncing around for a couple of years, I guess, in that a Marine wrote to the Starbucks corporation asking them to send some coffee to some troops serving in the Middle East. Allegedly, Starbucks sent an email reply that told the Marine that 'Starbucks didn't support the War on Terror, or anyone having anything to do with it'. I have done a little research and Starbucks defends themselves by saying #1 that they did not reply in this language but that they do not give to religious groups or political organizations, choosing to focus their resources in their local communities, and therefore would have denied the request from this Marine based on this corporate policy.

True to a big corporation, Starbucks goes on to take credit for the good that its employees do on their own, by saying that many of Starbuck's employees donate their free pound of coffee to shipments that do indeed go to soldiers overseas. There is also a retraction from the original Marine Sergeant that posted this story saying that he didn't do proper research in the beginning to find out if Starbucks had actually sent this email.

What do you think? Does anyone have any first hand info as to whether or not Starbucks is anti-military or just guilty of bad business etiquette?

A NEW YEAR!

I have been sitting here reflecting on the first month of my time back in Texas, which included working 22 straight days, and marveling at how something as simple as an attitude change can impact your world.

I had a roller coaster summer in terms of searching for what God's will was for my life this year: Would I pursue a job and be hired to work at a school back in Iowa? Would I begin a Doctorate out in Virginia? Would I return to Texas? Obviously those questions have been answered, for now, but I came away with a new, fundamental understanding of myself and a new motivation:

I don't want to be negative.

I have found that I allow myself to wallow in my ineffectiveness at times; hoping that something will come along to lift me up out of my indecisive nature. What I have come to realize is that I now want to be part of the solution and that I don't have the time or the energy to BE negative or WORRY about those that are choosing to be stuck in their own runt of apathy. IF I talk about anything or anyone that is negative, it has to be in the context of relating the problem because we are now talking SOLUTION!

This simple attitude shift has made a world of difference so far in my time management, my effectiveness in dealing with judicial situations, and in my role as a leader and mentor to my RA staff. I am prepared for meetings. I have a clear vision for what I want to see from myself and others..........it even has me working out almost every day of the week because I want a better vision of myself and my physical health. This is infectious! This whole attitude came out of the fact that I love my family and any time that I would get depressed, I would get angry and default into the whole, "Why ME?" model because I wondered why I couldn't find a ministry closer to those that I love.

The motivation that I have now has everything to do with living for someone else. My little nephew, JJ (in the picture above), is almost 10 months old now and he is everything to me. I want to live a life that he can someday be proud to say that I am his uncle. I wonder if this is what people feel as they get married and start families. It is a very sobering thing to know that your actions will now affect and be crtiqued by others. I truly want to live a life that means something to not only myself.

I encourage all of you to look at your life and ask yourself two things:

1) "Is it really worth my time to be pouring energy into those people that are negative and probably aren't going to change?" Wouldn't it just be better to acknowledge those people for who and what they are and take care of the things in your own life that need work?

2) "What kind of life and witness am I projecting when I merely perpetuate the problem and do not become part of the solution?" I find that focusing on the goal helps me to create strategies that build the foundation upon which any vision can stand.

People shouldn't give up on people but there comes a point in every person's life where they have to live in the consequences of their own choices and we cannot force someone to change. We have to be consistent in who we are-What is the point in griping about others when we have so much to do ourselves?

LAST DAY!

I am sitting here taking a break from moving furniture-the inevitable result of having people in your buildings all year and then renting them out for conferences all summer-thinking about the year that was here at McMurry and Abilene, Texas since this is my last official day under contract until August 1st.

As any of my friends know, I tend to do this ALL the time=reflect on things and try to find application or perspective for the days to come. This last year has been a very full one, full of ups and downs. As is always the case with time at college, the year seemed to just fly by. All in all, I had new friendships, new relationships that helped me feel more at ease with issues of the heart, I finished my Masters degree (finally!) and went through my usual questioning if McMurry is the place for me for another year. I definitely tested the waters a little, as a job opened up back in Iowa that would have brought me closer to my family (which is the ultimate goal in the next 5-10 years) but I am thankful that it didn't work out (I haven't heard anything from them at all) because I didn't really feel like it was a fit for me and I would have been bitter and unhappy there.

The thing that I have learned over the years and during my various travels is that I now have a greater foundation of trust in God. No matter what I struggle with, or how much I still worry, I can always come back to the fact that God has always provided for me. When I think about how much I would miss people or things here in Abilene, or wherever, I am reminded that just 2 years ago I didn't know any of these people and that God has brought them into my life as a blessing and wherever I end up, He will provide those relationships again!

I now enter into the fun part of my year as I get the next 2 months off to do a little traveling and hanging out with family and friends. It is always such a rejuvenating time for me that I look forward to it every year. I am sure that I will have stories and pictures to add to my blog and hopefully I will get to see some of you during my journeys!!!

14 Years

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/r/reitler_tricia.html

Please look back at what I wrote last year at this time-I don't think that I could say it any better than that.

I will never forget!

http://williamshall.blogspot.com/2006/03/i-will-never-forget.html

MARCH MADNESS!!!

Ok, I know that you can't really see this but, you can here: http://www.ncaasports.com/basketball/womens/brackets/viewable/2007/DIII

The only thing that you REALLY need to know is that my school, McMurry has qualified for the Division 3 National Tournament for the second straight year, which is only the THIRD time in school history!!!

McMurry actually gets to travel up to Newburg, Oregon (Having schools travel in D3 is almost totally unheard of, so is a big priviledge for us!). The host school is George Fox University and the draw is favorable for us because we don't have to see our nemesis this year, Howard Payne, until a potential matchup in the Sweet Sixteen. I have every confidence that our ladies will have a great trip and come back and crush Howard Payne and get our revenge as we end their season.......BUT first things first--The team we play, Puget Sound had a good year and tied for their regular season crown with George Fox but lost to George Fox in the Conference Tourney Final. Our conference has been much tougher this year, as we have had 4 teams ranked in the top 25 for most of the year, and 3 teams in our DIVISION were ranked in the top 15 almost all year!

I just wanted to say publically that I am soooooo proud of our Lady Indian Basketball team this year and I can't wait to watch as they show the country what they are all about!

Fun in Texas 2

I just wanted to make sure to write a quick note to all of my friends and family up north who are struggling with the nasty weather. I heard on the internet radio from Cedar Rapids that they are under a winter storm advisory, could get up to 8 inches of snow, and the wind chill is down around zero AGAIN. I just want everyone reading this blog to know............IT WAS AT LEAST 65 DEGREES DOWN HERE IN ABILENE TODAY!!!

This is for all of you that made sure to call me last fall when we had gotten snow and none of you had--PAYBACKS!!!

PS-I have finally updated my myspace account so please come and add me as your friend if you have a myspace account!!!

Pardon me while I go put on a light jacket because the temp has dipped down to 57 degrees and I just got a chill! =)

HOORAY for college life!

I have been having a renaissance recently in regards to my love for the college life. I have been remembering all of the wonderful experiences that I had in order to bring me to this point in my life. I have started to remember what it was for me to be a college student and all that wonderful possibility that laid out before me. Having the excitement, wonder, and feeling like anything was possible is what makes college life so amazing! It's the hope of something more. I am reminded that THIS is my role as a college professional=it is to play a role in shaping the dreams of students. So often I get bogged down in the negative decisions that some of my students are making that I forget that they too are just trying to figure out who they are and what can be done with this new found freedom that they have. The real problem is that a lot of these same students don't have enough of a foundation to have a real skill set to make good decisions; They have been thrown in the deep end of the pool and told to swim with barely a beginning knowledge of the 'doggie paddle'.
I was encouraged by a colleague recently that said, "How can we be asking our students to go out and live and function in the real world, if we ourselves have not done so?"-This statement was her pitch for working at non-Christian institutions. It made a lot of sense to me. As I am constantly reflecting on my life and what God has in store for me next, I am able to think back to the amazing experiences that I had in Williams, and I think that I can now add White's AND McMurry to that "Hall of Fame" for different reasons.

As a side note, another reason that college is such a buzz is because of some of the rivlaries that occur on the sports field. McMurry's arch rival is Hardin-Simmons because they are both here in Abilene. After a men's basketball game 3 years ago, someone was STABBED!!! A close second to HSU in terms of intense animosity is Howard Payne. The YellowJackets are located in Brownwood, Texas which is about an hour up the road (imagine a Taylor/IWU rivalry) but this year for our Basketball girls, the feud is especially powerful. Last Saturday, Howard Payne came into our gym and was ranked #6 in the nation. We rallied from 19 points down to beat them by a point-To ratchet the intensity up even further, they didn't drop any spots after their first loss, and we play them in their building again on Saturday. We are taking a hoard of people down and it should make for a very interesting afternoon of college hoops!