jakemiller

where's jake?

here's jake.

yes. i do realize that it has been over a month since i've updated my blog. feel free to keep pointing it out to me every time i see you... i don't mind. it's nice that you notice... it feels good to be missed. i hate that i haven't posted in so long... life has just been to flippin' busy to blog. 

what's been keeping me occupied? three things...

:: our brand new building. that, in and of itself, has kept enough on my plate to feed an army. this sunday, may 31, we open up our brand spanking new building... and it is sweet! it's amazing. but getting this building open has brought its fair share of challenges. we've had some delays. we've called some audibles. we've implemented some new systems. our staff has been stretched a ton during these last few months... and i'm so proud of the effort that's gone into getting this building ready. i can't wait to see what God does in the coming weeks... 

:: sunday's coming. a little phrase that means a lot. in the midst of all the preparations for the new building that have kept so much on our plates... we've still had a sunday to prepare for each and every week. no small task. but again... so proud of our staff and volunteer teams. we finished our portable days strong. in the midst of all that's been going on, sundays haven't suffered. pretty remarkable. 

:: my family. easily the most important of the three. i've been putting in more hours at work, which translates to less hours at home. that means the precious time i get with my family is just that... precious. when i'm not working, my attention and energy is on my family. they have been, and always will be, my number one priority.

i really love my job... and i really, really love my family. when i'm at work, waters edge gets 100% of me. when i'm at home, my family gets 100% of me. i used to carve out little pieces of time here and there to post... but those pieces of time have become fewer and fewer. doesn't mean i'm never going to blog again... just means you shouldn't count on daily posts. i love the fact that a couple hundred of you still drop in here on a daily basis. it's really cool... and i hope you'll keep coming back.

thursday thoughts

it's been a little while since i posted. i guess i need to get caught up. this could take a while, but here's what's happening in my world...

• waters edge church turned six years old!
• if you've ever wanted to know why we are who we are and why we do what we do... give this a listen. 
• we're baptizing a bunch of people this sunday. i love baptism. evidence of life-change. there's nothing better than seeing people take the next step.
• my ibook is dying a slow death. it's really quite sad. i'm currently accepting donations for my new macbook...
• only 2 weeks until easter. you won't believe what we're doing. trust me. 
• only 9 weeks until we move into our building. 9 weeks! so much to do...
• work is moving at a frenetic pace right now. i've never worked so hard in my life... but i love it!
• i'm trying to plan our family vacation for june. where should we go? 
• my community group put my "slightly used right knee" on ebay. very funny. 
• speaking of my knee... it's getting better. no more swelling. i'm moving around like a man twice my age, but i am driving again... which is nice.
• surgery is scheduled for april 16th. i've been told i can watch the surgery on the screen above me... which i will most definitely do. they're giving me a nerve block from the waist down, so i'll be wide awake.
• i want to be the first person to give live twitter updates during their arthroscopic surgery. since i'll be awake, i figure i should make the most of it. i've asked my doctor if he'll let me bring my iphone in the operating room... so far, he's not going for it. i'll keep asking...
• my house still hasn't sold. keep praying!
• i never thought i would say this, but... it's entirely possible that i eat too much chick-fil-a. 
• carolina advanced to the sweet 16! i think gonzaga will be a really tough matchup friday night. nothing comes easy from here on out. 
• i'm not gonna lie... my brackets are looking good (for now).
• i'm currently at 98.8% in the espn tournament challenge, currently leading the bloggermadness challenge, and i'm currently tied for 35th (out of 947) in the catalyst marchmaniac competition.
• i'm currently out of things to say.  

one down, eleven to go.

my first sunday at waters edge church was january 4th, which means i've been here for a little over a month. in that short time, i've learned a lot. probably the most important thing i've learned, though, is this... i have a lot to learn!

tony shared his take on new employees the other day and it hit the nail on the head for me. take a look at what he had to say...

It takes 12 months in any new job to figure out the role.

I’m talking about leadership roles here. If you are a widget-fabricator, maybe it’s different for you. For those of us that transition into new leadership positions, though, it always takes a full year to find out what we were really hired to do.

In those 12 months, we get to figure out what the unspoken expectations are. We have the opportunity to determine how our uniqueness fits into the unique organization that now provides our paycheck. We have the chance to see how we relate and work beside the people on our team. It takes 12 months. Until then, we aren’t really adding true value. We’re just trying to survive.

This is why finding the right people before you offer the job is so important. This is why finding the right employer before accepting the job is so important. This is why keeping the right people in your organization is so important. Every time the position opens, we lose 12 months.

when i first read that, i thought "man, that stinks. twelve months?". but i have to say i agree with tony's thoughts here 100%... because i'm there right now. i can attest to it first hand. i know i found the right employer. and (hopefully!) they think they found the right employee. but i'm still the new guy. i'm still learning the ropes.

it takes twelve months. well... one month down, eleven to go...

weekend update

weekend update is all about random. what's on my mind, what i've been up to, and all points in between. my little way of getting things caught up. here we go...

• today was a GREAT day at waters edge church!
• i managed to survive my first experience on the waters edge stage. that's a little out of my comfort zone, but i sort of enjoyed it. don't tell anybody...
• sundays are long. four services in two locations. i leave at 7:00am and get home about 7:30pm... and it's worth every single minute.
• our family is beginning to feel at home here. 
• speaking of home... i left the greenville network on facebook. i joined the virginia beach/norfolk network. that's a pretty big deal. almost as big as changing the relationship status...
• i think... emphasis on think... we've found a house. i should have details in the next couple of days. 
• our house in greenville is still on the market. we need that thing to sell, folks.
• it has been ridiculously cold here the past few days.
• spent the day saturday in williamsburg. very cool place.
• i'm so glad 24 is back. television wasn't the same without you, jack. 
• watched hancock the other night. kind of a stupid movie. 
• i realized that i twitter more than i blog these days. i'm not sure if that's good or bad. brent had some interesting thoughts on that same topic.
• after two losses to open acc play, the heels seem to be out of their funk. 
• pretty pumped about seeing a cardinals/steelers super bowl... should be exciting. how can you not like kurt warner?
• fyi... any "expert" that says they predicted the cardinals would make the super bowl is a liar. 

alright, that's all i've got. it's been a long day. i need sleep. good night all.

i'm still here...

... i've just been too busy to blog.

but, since i've got people in greenville wondering what's happening with us, and quite a few new readers (welcome!) from waters edge checking up on the new guy, i figured i better get something up here.

here's an update on what's happening...

:: we got into town safely last friday night. unfortunately, when we got here, there were several issues with the house we were supposed to be moving in to and we weren't able to move in as planned. obviously that wasn't good, but it was out of our hands. we were able to get checked into a hotel for the weekend until things could be resolved. (by the way... staybridge suites, very comfortable place to stay.)

:: sunday @ waters edge was great. i am so thankful that God brought us here. everyone made us feel right at home, and we had a great first sunday. i'm so excited to be a part of what God is doing at waters edge church. i love our team, i love our volunteers and i love why we do what we do!

:: by monday, it became clear that our temporary housing was not going to work out (i'm not at liberty to share the details, so don't ask... sorry), so we moved on to plan b. 

enter karen and ray. 

:: also known as stu's (my boss') in-laws, karen and ray graciously offered to let us stay in their home as a temporary solution until we are able to find something more permanent. karen and ray are amazing. they have made us very comfortable and we have thoroughly enjoyed living in their home for the last several days. i told them not to let us get too comfortable or we might not leave...

:: tuesday was my first official day in the office. since then, honestly, this week has been a bit of a blur. i have definitely been working hard, though. and the more i work through that "to do" list, the more seems to be added to it. but that's alright... that's the way i like it. i love my job!

:: as for what happens next... well, i'm off for the next couple of days, so kristi, logan and i will be out bright and early tomorrow to start house hunting. we still have a house in greenville that needs to sell, which does hinder us a little. we're not yet certain how we're going to work out paying an additional mortgage/rental payment up here until our house sells, but we don't really have a choice at this point... we have to move forward. there's no doubt God's big enough to work out the details on our house, so we're just not going to worry about that. 

i would appreciate your prayers going forward, though. specifically, please pray for our transition to continue to be as smooth as possible. especially for kristi and logan. obviously it's been a little bit of a roller coaster this first week, but we're doing good. also, please continue to pray for our house in greenville to sell quickly. that would solve a lot of problems. and lastly, pray that God would lead us to the right place to live and make it possible for us to afford it.

if you're still reading at this point, well... thanks for sticking around for the whole thing. this was a pretty long post... i'm proud of you. thanks for stopping by, and thanks for praying!

happy new year!

it's 2009! 
i'm glad.
2008 was kind of a weird year.
but this is a new year.
and we're making some big changes as we start 2009.
what's on tap?
new job... check.
new church... check.
new place to live... check.
new city... check.
new state... check.
new start?
check.
it all begins tomorrow.
come along for the ride.
happy new year, everybody!

what would you take?

so we're moving this week... sort of. actually, we're only partially moving. because we're going to be living in someone else's house for a while, we're only going to be taking some of our stuff.

because we're limited in what we can take, we've found ourselves asking "what do we really need?". what are the things that we absolutely have to take with us? certainly there are the obvious things, like clothes. and a toothbrush. because let's be honest... nobody wants to be around stinky, naked jake.

since we've been asking ourselves this question... i thought i would try something that i've never done in my year and a half of blogging. i'm going to pose a question to you, and ask you to comment back. a lot of you stop by here every day but i never hear from you, so here's your chance. 

if you were moving and could only take one thing with you (besides clothing and toiletry items), what would you take?

alright readers, comment away. like i said, i've never done this before so if nobody comments i'm gonna be really embarrassed. and it will be all your fault...

i don't use tokbox.

 
so, it appears that the world is jumping on the tokbox bandwagon.
the world i live in, anyway.
i don't use tokbox.
oh, don't get me wrong...
i would love to join the party.
i blog.
i'm on facebook.
i twitter.
i use ichat.
why not add something else to distract me from actually getting any work done?
here's why...
i have a 14" ibook g4.
as in, before apple began including isight in their laptops.
that's right, i'm kicking it old school.
so...
who wants to buy me a new macbook for christmas?
i promise i'll say thank you.
every time we video chat on tokbox.

update... in bullet points

• hard to believe in 19 days we'll be living in virginia... in someone else's house!
• that's still a little strange to me... but really cool. 
• january 4th is my first official sunday on staff @ waters edge.
• people keep coming to look at our house, but no bites so far. keep praying!
• do you know anybody that needs a house in greenville? let me know. 
• had logan's 2nd birthday party yesterday. so much fun. his birthday isn't actually until the 27th, but we sort of have a lot going on around that time... 
• the next three weeks of my life are going to be insanely busy. 
• our good friend heather did a photo shoot with us @ falls park in downtown greenville on saturday. we had a great time. thanks, heather! 
• i love christmas parties. just thought i'd share.
• watched the dark knight again the other night. best superhero movie ever?  
• in case you missed it, my good friend and former co-worker ryan fitzgerald just went on staff at north point. congrats, ryan! 
• speaking of north point... another good friend, david mcdaniel, executive director of campus expansion has started a blog. you need to be reading it. he'll make you smarter.
• speaking of blogs... i wish i blogged more. 
• is anybody going to beat my tar heels this season? will anybody come close?
• speaking of carolina... i'm not usually one to brag, but... the heels went 8-4 this season in football, and well, i called it. here's the proof. 
• i'm headed to the championship game in one fantasy football league, and the semi-finals in the other. nice.
• the killers new cd = awesome. 
• i wish it would snow. since it's supposed to be in the 60's all week, i'm probably out of luck.

big news coming...

... tomorrow.

time off

i've opened up typepad no less than twenty times in the last three or four days intending to post something on this blog. something. anything. the problem is, every time i sit down... i can't seem to articulate anything. 

it's not that i don't want to post. it's not that i don't have anything to say. i really do. i'm being challenged right now like i've never been challenged. seriously. god is stretching me in ways i've never been stretched. 

i'm in a season of learning more about myself. about who i am, and how god made me. what he created me for. what he created me to do. my relationship with god is growing more than it has in quite some time. my dependence on him is stronger than... maybe ever. it's actually pretty incredible. i just can't seem to unpack all of that into words right now. it's frustrating, but it's just where i am.

if you've been following my blog over the last two months, you've probably noticed some changes. i haven't posted all that often, and it isn't really what it used to be. i mean... not that it was ever great, but it was me. these last couple of months haven't really felt like me.

instead of sitting down and forcing blog posts because i feel the need to (for some reason) i'm not going to post anything at all right now. call it a blogging break. call it a hiatus. call it whatever you want. this is only temporary. it could be a week, it could be a month, or it could be more. i'm really not sure.

hopefully you'll stick around in the interim. i will still be twittering, so if you use twitter, follow me there. if you don't use twitter... well, you really should be. all the cool kids are doing it.

you can also subscribe to my rss feed, that way you won't have to keep checking back daily to see that i haven't posted anything. if you subscribe, you'll know the minute something hits this blog again. if you don't... that's okay. just check back in from time to time. i'll be back, i promise.

headed to the atl...

it's wednesday night and i'm getting geared up for catalyst 08. it's entirely possible that i've scheduled more "let's hook up @ catalyst" meetings than there are hours in the day, but that's part of the experience. i can't wait to get down there and dive in tomorrow. 

i wasn't able to make it down today for the pre-conference labs with the rest of the cool kids, so i had to live vicariously through anne jackson's catalyst backstage. which... by the way... if you're not able to make it down to catalyst this year, this is the next best thing. it's an all-inclusive behind the scenes look @ the catalyst conference, complete with interviews w/ the speakers, webcasts, a chat room, and real-time updates from people blogging and twittering from catalyst 08. make sure you check it out.

i'll be getting on the road well before sunrise tomorrow morning so i can beat the traffic and get to the arena before the first session. i'll try to post some thoughts from day one tomorrow night. if you're on twitter, i'll be posting regular updates throughout the conference. follow me on twitter here.

fix it

something in your organization is broken. you should fix it. something in your organization needs to change.you should change it. something in your organization isn't working anymore. you should stop doing it. something in your organization is crippling your ability to grow. break through.

although it might seem like you have numerous problems, often there is a singular source. usually it's just one thing. one big thing. and that one big thing spreads throughout the organization like wildfire and keeps us from realizing our full potential. 

seth godin posted about fixing the one big thing recently. here's what he had to say...

... if momentum or laziness or lack of will (or focus) is the thing holding you back, it's time to get serious. When you remove the one big thing from people's list of objections, your career and organization will take off.

there will always be little things that people object to. more often than not, those little things don't matter much. and most of the time, the little things they object to aren't things that line up with the vision of our organizations anyway. instead of focusing on the small things that matter to the few, we should be focusing our time, energy and resources on the one big thing that matters to the many.

usually, the one big thing is glaringly obvious... we just aren't prepared to make the necessary changes. other times, we might be so involved working in it that we aren't able to see our one big thing. 

if you're uncertain what your one big thing is... ask somebody. listen to others. the consistent feedback you're getting from others is usually a pretty good indication of what the problem really is.

identify your one big problem. then, fix it. like seth said... it just takes commitment, not a miracle.

my life. in words.

 

thanks anne, josh & joe for the creative inspiration.

what do your words say about you? find out here.

theAMP

i'm so excited about the ministry that my friends ryan, josh and joe are launching this fall. it's called theAMP, and it exists to equip the next generation of worship leaders.

you can read more about theAMP here, here and here. theAMP's very first event is happening saturday, september 20th in atlanta, with another on november 8th. registration for both events begins august 1st.

i've got a little inside information on some of the exciting things in store for the first two AMPsaturdays, but i'm keeping it close to the chest. trust me, you'll be blown away. seriously. in the meantime, you'll just have to stay tuned to ryan and josh for more details over the next few weeks. 

to give you a little taste, check out this amazing promo video that joe put together for theAMP.

(if you're in an rss feed, you may need to visit my blog to view)