We have a school that is safe and most of the frustration from out faculty comes from not being able to do as good as they would like, even though they work their tails off.  So I decided to make a list of things I am grateful for, a gratitude list, here goes:

1. The fact God loves me
2. My best friend, my wife Melissa
3. My oldest son Todd Jr.
4. My oldest daughter Taylor Jean
5. My youngest son Trenton Kenneth
6. My youngest Daughter Tori Kay
7. My church
8. My job where I can directly affect and effect lives
9. My brothers, sister and Mom
10. Grandma
11. Golf
12. Coffee
13. My Kindle
14. My house that keeps me warm in winter, cool in summer and is full of love
15. My health

I am convinced the more I live the more life’s success (as defined by each of us) is more about how we view life, are we thankful or resentful.  I do think that gratitude is an attitude, what do you think?

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I found this address he gave in 2005 at Stanford University.  It is well worth the 15 minutes it takes to view it.  I hope you enjoy it and may God bless Steve Jobs.

TEXT BELOW

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I’ve ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That’s it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: “We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?” They said: “Of course.” My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents’ savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn’t see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn’t interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn’t all romantic. I didn’t have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends’ rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn’t have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can’t capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it’s likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn’t know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down – that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple’s current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I’m pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn’t been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn’t even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor’s code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you’d have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I’m fine now.

This was the closest I’ve been to facing death, and I hope it’s the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960′s, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.” It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much
 

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Rock The Desert from Todd Freese on Vimeo.

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Recently Pastor Randy gave us statistics that identified only four percent of those around 18 years of age are attending church. Four percent! Wow! Can you imagine if only four percent of those in your age group were attending church? Well imagine this: you would look to your right, your left, behind you and in front of you and guess what? No one would be there, at least no one in your age bracket.

As it has been said, our faith is only one genearation away from extinction. If we fail to share our faith in a way that relates to and speaks to the next generation, then we will fail to share our Jesus. Today’s youth has grown up in a hugely different world than you and me. They have cell phones, PSP’s, Ipods, Ipads, laptops, Iphones, Xbox and a hundred other different ways to communicate digitially or electronically. If we fail to recognize how to use these methods of communication we will fail to share the most important message they need to hear.

Facebook and Twitter have emerged as the most popular mediums to communicate for the under 30 crowd. Don’t beleive me? Try to phone one of these folks and see if they answer the phone. Facebook or tweet them and the response is almost immediate. I know because I live it each day with my own children, They don’t answer the phone, but they do answer texts.

What are we to do as the church? Should we close our doors and just use Facebook and Twitter to communicate our message? Of course not (however, some have tried just that with some “success”), but we must be sensative to those who are different than us.

Would we be so opposed to adopting the customs of those in other countries we visited for missionary purposes? No, we try to understand their culture, learn their language and be sensative to how they communicate and interact. Why is it any different with this new culture in our midst? Make no mistake the under 30 is a mission field, look around most churches and you will see a huge void of these people. The exceptions are those churches that have made it their mission (no pun intended) to seek and attract this crowd. Music, preaching style, dress and even the buildings have been designed to be palatable to the under 30′s.

I can hear many of you now: we will not change the Gospel to attract people, we have done it this way since Christ came and why should we change now? Well, truth be told, the church has changed little compared to society, but the church has adapted to society. Don’t believe me? You have a printed Bible, instead of hand-written. Many churches have TV and Radio programs (Jesus didn’t use these), most every church has a website and many broadcast their services via their websites. Churches do change, albeit slower than others.

I don’t want to change the message either, but is the message or the way the messsage is conveyed sacred? If I were to give you a cup of water in a styrofoam cup it would be water, would the water change if I were to pour that same water into a glass container? In the same the way, the message God gave to us in Christ changes not whether it is delivered in the pastor wearing a robe or a pair of Wranglers. If we want the church in America to grow and change lives we must be willing to switch containers, as God allows. If we don’t I fear we may go the way of Western Europe.

By the way, if you are reading this on a printed piece of paper in the newsletter then you are way behind many others who have already seen it on the web. Times, they are a changing. I would love to hear your feedback, agree or disagree, via my website: www.toddbfreese.com. Peace.

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Spring is here

However, for my money as a teacher I love the built in breaks that occur during the year, e.g. spring break. This break is great because the weather is turning warmer, the school year is drawing to a close, vacation plans are being made and the days are longer. Both my wife and I teach school, in the same building. In fact, she is only two doors down from me. We love it, but it isn’t for everyone I suspect. Earlier this month we were counting down the days until spring break and here we are.

We elected to drive to Houston, about 480 miles away, and spend some much needed time with her family. Last night we had a great meal at her sisters house and the whole family made it over. It was great, caught up on some old business and learned some new. Today it is over to her mom’s where grandma and grandpa live. Tomorrow we head over to her dads to see their new home and have a cup of tea, or for me coffee.

Breaks are a part of life, built into to who we are. We live much differently than our recent ancestors. They marked time by the seasons and not the second hand of a clock. While travel was tougher for them, the proximity of family presented the opportunity to stay more easily connected to each other. That is an important part of who we are as God’s children: staying connected to him and to each other. For us the breaks, spring break, allow us to do that.

And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention spring break is a great time to get in some golf as well. Make a break if you don’t get one, a date, a picnic, a drive or a special family night. Take advantage of the time you have with your family, because before you know it they will be gone. Happy spring break wherever you are!

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Parent Newsletter

Contents

1. Tools for Parenting Teens
2. Learn Their Lingo
3. Links to Learn From
4. A Little Encouragement…And Humor

1. Tools for Parenting Teens

From http://www.realworldparents.com/starters/

Zoom Out

Let’s help our kids to pull back from the moment right in front of them to think about their big “P” purposes as a follower of Christ—no matter where they go to school, what jobs they hold, or who they…
Read More:
http://www.realworldparents.com/starters/article/zoom_out/

2. Learn Their Lingo

Cow-Mo = Cow-Mo is a subgenre of country music that is a mix of country and emo.

Noted = A reply posted when someone puts a status on facebook, myspace, etc. Sarcastically shows that you care, and are going to write the status down in a notebook, when you really don’t care at all about the status.

3. Links to Learn From

Cortisol directly related to obesity in girls only
http://www.examiner.com/x-6180-Birmingham-Science-News-Examiner~y2010m2d24-Cortisol-directly-related-to-obesity-in-girls-only

Millenials: Confident. Connected. Open to Change.
http://pewsocialtrends.org/pubs/751/millennials-confident-connected-open-to-change

Teacher Tackles Shooter in Littleton School Shooting
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/top/all/6882913.html

4. A Little Encouragement…And Humor

Family: A social unit where the father is concerned with parking space, the children with outer space, and the mother with closet space.
- Evan Esar

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Teens are bombarded with media and the pressure to perform has never been greater. Whether it is in the classroom, the athletic field, the band hall or even the church youth room, teens are more likely to have as much pressure placed on them (or more) than adults today.

Many teens handle the pressure well because of the relationships they have built with adults and friends who share their belief system. Unfortunately many teens do not have these built in systems and fall prey to: violence, drugs, sex, self – loathing and become gang members, drug users, pregnant or even worse, take their own lives.
There is hope in a this world, but the cost is not easy. What is the cost? The cost is too great for some to bear, the cure is time. Time with your teen and others.

Years ago the phrase quality time was introduced into the American lexicon. The meaning was that if you didn’t have a lot of time, the time you did have had to count. Expensive or lavish outings were the cure for the busy parent. Research (official and my own anecdotal) shows this to be untrue. Teens, and for that matter all of us, relish time spent with those we most care about.

If we want to make a difference in the lives of those teens we know we must start with that simple sacrifice of time spent with them. We live in a society that has built walls around ourselves and thereby have isolated ourselves from each other. We must tear down those walls and become vulnerable and transparent to those we love. If we don’t the price is too dear to pay.

I mentioned several websites in my sermon today, here they are?
www.stpaulsyouth.ning.com
www.familyfirstaid.org
www.cdc.gov
www.fatherhood.org
www.savealifemovie.com

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Today we visited a large church, Mid-Cities Community Church,  midway between Odessa and Midland, Texas.  It is a beautiful church, done in old European style.  You enter in through a foyer passing a round statue and sitting area just outside the doors.  You are greeted by several folks (a bit overdone) wishing you a good day in a sincere way.  Oh, the parking lot is well staffed with friendly traffic helpers.  We asked where visitors park and were told, “Wherever you want to”.

We were a few minutes early so visited a sitting area that was full of coffee, juice, donuts and other breakfast items and plenty of people partaking in this bounty.  There was a flat screened television in this room, as well as the foyer, that had news and announcments as well as a countdown as to when the next service was to begin.  I especially liked that part, as it gave an idea of what was next.

As it was Easter the sanctuary was very full.  We had ten people with us and no place where we all could find a place to sit together.  I asked one of the ushers if we could sit in the pew that was roped off, he said they were trying to push people forward since they were going to have a large crowd.  When I told him our number he readily agreed to let us sit in the pew that was roped off in the back.

The music was led by a song leader and orchestra that have to have had at least 25 members.  The music was excellent, but for me it felt more like a performance than a worship experience.  It was a typical evangelical service in many ways as we sang three songs, shook hands with our neighbor next to us and heard a sermon.

The sermon was 25 minutes and was good, but not great.  It being Easter I was surprised there was not more emphasis placed on non-believers than believers.  The message made an assumption we knew why you would want to be a Christian, rather than explaining how and why.  There was an attempt made to show how Christ could change your life with a cardboard sign display at the end.  I have seen this many times before and thought it “tired” but my kids quickly corrected me and told me it was “awesome” and they loved it.

Overall it was enjoyable, but was not a moving experience, or even one that provoked much thought.  It did evoke emotion, which is usually the goal in an evangelical and non-denominational church.  I thought it slightly manipulative toward the end with the use of personal cardboard signs.  We were asked to mimic those that carried large cardboard signs on stage with one side before Christ and the other sign after Christ.  We had miniature signs we were asked to fill out and share with a stranger or friend, awkward I think.

The service lasted 75 minutes.  It was done with excellence and attention to detail.  The use of media was good, not overdone, but certainly used to engage the audience.  If I were grading, I would give it a B plus.  If you are a big church fan you would feel right at home.  However if small churches are your thing, well you might feel a bit lost.

Next week a smaller church, maybe even Lutheran.  Until then, be blessed.

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