Why This and Why Now

I've started a website a dozen times in the last 10 years of my life. I get the whole thing set up on an afternoon when I'm feeling inspired by my own thoughts (or maybe just a day when I don't feel like working very hard), and make a half dozen changes in the first week of operation. Two weeks go by, then three, then four, and then I've lost the ambition to post anything (and lost the address to the page). Another year cycles around, and I repeat my own history. That oft-quoted line about what happens to people when they forget the past ... that's me to a T.

So, why this and why now???

• It may just be that this is one of those days that I don't feel like working very hard.
• It may please my high school journalism teacher and college newspaper advisor to know that they were teaching life skills.
• It may be therapeutic ... God knows (and He does know) that I could use a little therapy in my life.
• It may help my wife, and my pastors, and my friends, and my clients, and my cat understand my thoughts just a little more clearly.
• It may fulfill my 20-year commitment to myself that I would publish something read outside of the state of Iowa (though I could be completely wrong about that).

Or it may just be the start of a beautiful friendship between me and the 21st century version of a blank piece of paper.

If you're taking the time to read this, it's probably because you received an e-mail from me with a link to the page and thought you'd waste at least 30 seconds to find out what this is all about. Depending on who you are, your curiousity may have gotten the best of you, because you know me through a certain facet of my life. Would you like to know what kind of people may be reading this sentence with you right now?

It may be the people I've worshippped with at various times in my life. If you're a member of the Central church of Christ in Cedar Rapids, (and you know who you are, friends), I can assure you that if you check back to the site in the coming days (and even hours), you will read about what you think you might read about. If you know me from my days at the Waterloo church of Christ, you're one of very few people whose e-mail address I was able to dig up, and I haven't seen you for a long time. But I probably remember you fondly. And if you are checking in from New Life Community Church, you're probably going to think I'm a nut. I hope it doesn't prevent you from giving me a chance to become a part of your life.

It may be the special 11 men in my life who have fantasy baseball teams are far inferior to my own. I plan to provide a little fodder for the Iowa Farm League members here, so check back at least once a week.

It may be an old friend (or new friend) whose path I've shared from high school, or college, or a job. That's a pretty diverse group, but many of you are more special to me than I remember to tell you.

It may be that you're my client. I have to tell you that there won't be much specific financial advice given out here, because I don't want to break any of those nasty SEC laws. But from time to time I'm sure the topic of money, insurance, investing, budgeting and the like will come up.

Let's see, who's left ... the average web-wanderer, I suppose. If you found this little spot of cyberspace through whimsical google-ing or some such mechanism, I can't possibly imagine you'd give an eyelash to visit this place again. But you can come back anytime.

I'm going to use the next few posts to highlight the four or five areas of my life that some of you might know something about. Depending on who you are, I'm sure you'll see a side of me you probably didn't know much about before. Here goes nuthin ...