Thursday, April 28, 2011
A New Addition
For those who have not heard my sister had her child a week ago today - on Holy Thursday. Madelyn Joy Korney was born at 11:58pm on 4/21/11 at 8lb 15oz and 21" long. She is my first neice and will most certainly be spoiled with cute skirts and girly toys. Here a photo of her and her older brother Jacob. Welcome to our world maddy; we're glad to have you! Enjoy!
Monday, April 25, 2011
Reflection on Easter
Here is a great relection on Easter by musician Matt Maher. He also reflects on all of Holy Week - check it out here - www.mattmahermusic.com
A Grueling 5k
On Saturday April 16, 2011 my sister-in-law (Erin) and I ran our first ever 5k. My wife joined us as well as part of a sibling bonding event you could say. This being my first 5k I didn't know what to expect. Erin called Megan and I about three weeks before and asked if we wanted to do it with her. I saw this as an opportunity to accomplish something I had not yet achieved...even though I hate running. (I guess I don't see the thrill in it. Even after doing it for 2+ weeks, I still don't get it.) So I started "training"; aka I ran a mile and felt like I was going to die. But I kept at it knowing I'd have to run 3.2 of them. After training for two weeks I was able to run 2 miles in about 21 minutes and didn't feel like I might pass out where I stood. Thankfully enough the race came and I'm proud to say we ran it in 35:30. Not the best time but an accomplishment nonetheless. Still what made the race the toughest (as you can see from the pictures) was that it was the "Race to Wrigley". Yup, soak it up Cubs fans because this will probably be the only time you see me in cubbie blue - although I do look pretty good. Regardless of where the race was, we had a blast, ate some phenominals bananas, and had some good family bonding time.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
Desperate for Springtime
I'm almost finished with Witness to Hope - George Weigle's biography of JPII - and as I was reading the other night I noticed this quote from John Paul, when he spoke to the United Nations in NY, which I felt fits with what I just posted about - our desperate need for a new springtime.
"We must not be afraid of the future. We must not be afraid of man. It is no accident that we are here. Each and every human person has been reated in the "image and likeness" on the One who is the origin of all that is. We have within us the capacities for wisdom and virtue. With these gifts, and with the help of God's grace, we can build in the next century and the next millennium a civilization worthy of the human person, a true culture of freedom. We can and we must do so! And in doing so, we shall see that the tears of this century [1900s] have prepared the ground for a new springtime of the human spirit"
Here is to hope! For a new spring!
"We must not be afraid of the future. We must not be afraid of man. It is no accident that we are here. Each and every human person has been reated in the "image and likeness" on the One who is the origin of all that is. We have within us the capacities for wisdom and virtue. With these gifts, and with the help of God's grace, we can build in the next century and the next millennium a civilization worthy of the human person, a true culture of freedom. We can and we must do so! And in doing so, we shall see that the tears of this century [1900s] have prepared the ground for a new springtime of the human spirit"
Here is to hope! For a new spring!
Friday, April 8, 2011
The Handshake & The Family
This post will lack the pictures and videos which have become standard to this blog - in part because Megan has the camera and is away for the weekend, and part because I've had two things on my mind.
The first has to do with the handshake. Now I must say that I've tried writing my thoughts regarding this topic several times and each time I sit down to write I'm not sure how to convey my thoughts, so I've come to the conclusion that I will write and that will be that. At the end of February I went to an International Council of Shopping Centers ("ICSC") Conference in Chicago for work. (The basics: It is a gathering of retailers, developers and municipalities who discuss market trends and try to make 'deals' happen). So I had this opportunity to learn about the private sector as well as public/private partnerships. And in a separate presentation given by several private sector people several key words were said which caught my attention: Strong Language, Penalties, Clawbacks. When the lawyer presented these ideas she referred to the public sector needing to instill these tactics in agreements made with private sector companies. The 'strong language' is what first caught my ear and made me wonder what happened to The Handshake; to making an agreement, putting in the hard work and keeping your word? The presenter continued by saying that penalties and clawbacks must be written into all contracts to not only cover the contractee but inflict damage upon the contractor if ALL terms are not met, regardless of if the job is completed and both parties come out ahead. It made me think about lawyers and law, in development in particular, shows that people don't trust each other; that selfishness runs high when money and development is involved. It saddened me to hear that we need 'strong language' to protect ourselves. What has happened to social, business, personal ethics? What has happened to love; to wanting what is best for not only ourselves but our neighbors too.
My second thought regarding The Family came at the same conference when it was mentioned how much money Chicagoland alone spends each on stuff. $100,000,000,000.00 Yeah that's One Hundred (100) Billion Dollars each year on STUFF! Our expensive lifestyle don't allow us to have a family with just one parent working. To support our homes, TV, iP_ds, cars, video games, dining habits, fancy clothes and every other kind of material item not increasing our love for others. After taking a closer look at our life I've realized Megan and I too could cut back on the frivolities of life and get back to quality time and cheap fun with family. Leave the material things behind and love. That's my simple thought, if we scale our life back to the bare necessities - Faith, Hope, Love - we'll find our lifestyles to be more lavish than they ever could be.
Our society needs to ask, especially in the economic market, what it can do to love, because that is what will hold us all together, not what it can do to isolate friends and family. That's my thought on the topic. Maybe not the most eloquently stated but its been on my mind and is now off.
The first has to do with the handshake. Now I must say that I've tried writing my thoughts regarding this topic several times and each time I sit down to write I'm not sure how to convey my thoughts, so I've come to the conclusion that I will write and that will be that. At the end of February I went to an International Council of Shopping Centers ("ICSC") Conference in Chicago for work. (The basics: It is a gathering of retailers, developers and municipalities who discuss market trends and try to make 'deals' happen). So I had this opportunity to learn about the private sector as well as public/private partnerships. And in a separate presentation given by several private sector people several key words were said which caught my attention: Strong Language, Penalties, Clawbacks. When the lawyer presented these ideas she referred to the public sector needing to instill these tactics in agreements made with private sector companies. The 'strong language' is what first caught my ear and made me wonder what happened to The Handshake; to making an agreement, putting in the hard work and keeping your word? The presenter continued by saying that penalties and clawbacks must be written into all contracts to not only cover the contractee but inflict damage upon the contractor if ALL terms are not met, regardless of if the job is completed and both parties come out ahead. It made me think about lawyers and law, in development in particular, shows that people don't trust each other; that selfishness runs high when money and development is involved. It saddened me to hear that we need 'strong language' to protect ourselves. What has happened to social, business, personal ethics? What has happened to love; to wanting what is best for not only ourselves but our neighbors too.
My second thought regarding The Family came at the same conference when it was mentioned how much money Chicagoland alone spends each on stuff. $100,000,000,000.00 Yeah that's One Hundred (100) Billion Dollars each year on STUFF! Our expensive lifestyle don't allow us to have a family with just one parent working. To support our homes, TV, iP_ds, cars, video games, dining habits, fancy clothes and every other kind of material item not increasing our love for others. After taking a closer look at our life I've realized Megan and I too could cut back on the frivolities of life and get back to quality time and cheap fun with family. Leave the material things behind and love. That's my simple thought, if we scale our life back to the bare necessities - Faith, Hope, Love - we'll find our lifestyles to be more lavish than they ever could be.
Our society needs to ask, especially in the economic market, what it can do to love, because that is what will hold us all together, not what it can do to isolate friends and family. That's my thought on the topic. Maybe not the most eloquently stated but its been on my mind and is now off.
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