Personal Blogging Has Been On Hold

Even though I vowed to blog more regularly in 2010, quite the opposite has happened with my personal blog so far this year. So much is happening in our lives this year and I intended on documenting as much of it as I could.

But so much has been happening in our lives that I have not been able to find (or make) the time to post here. I don't see that changing much in the coming weeks, but you never know. I might just get inspired.

In the meantime, I'll be keeping busy planning some special time for Cherie's 40th birthday, spending some quality time with Miyah while Cherie is visiting her mom and sisters over Mother's Day, going to Guatemala for 11 days, celebrating with Ben & Alex as they get ready to graduate from HS and go off to college, celebrating 20 great years of marriage, leading Lemonade International and keeping the organization's blog updated.

So... in the meantime you can keep up with me on Facebook and/or Twitter. I hope to stay in contact with you there (or in person of course).

Record Crowd - Syracuse University Basketball

I have been following Syracuse University basketball since the days of "Louie & Bouie" (Louis Orr & Roosevelt Bouie) - in 1976 when the pair helped to put the team on the national map (along with legendary coach Jim Boeheim).

Syracuse basketball is something that has been a part of my life as far as I can remember. And because I love basketball (college basketball in particular) it is still a big deal for me to see "my team" doing so well.

I really enjoy watching my favorite teams play... and the 2003 NCAA tournament championship run by the Orange was the biggest highlight of many years of cheering on the team from upstate New York.

After losing some key players from last year's team the expectations were not very high for this year's squad. Very few people, other than Coach Boeheim, knew how good players like Wesley Johnson and Scoop Jardine would be once given the chance to make a significant contribution.

The team has climbed in the Top 25 Rankings throughout the year, and with loses by Kentucky and Kansas yesterday, their huge win over #7 Villanova before an on-campus record crowd of 34,616 last night is predicted to move them to the #1 spot in the polls for the first time in team history (other than following the 2003 Championship game).

March Madness should be fun this year for SU fans!

I know that in the overall scheme of things sports don't carry a lot of weight, but when you grow up as an athlete (a mediocre one at best) and a sports fan it just becomes a part of who you are.

If only the Buffalo Bills could provide some brief moments of success...

Living Between Status Updates

The subtitle of this blog is " processing life, not from segmented parts, but as a whole". It really should read "trying to process life, not from segmented parts, but as a whole".

This is a challenge for me. And my guess is that it is for you too.

With the continual pressure we face from so many external and internal forces, it can be really easy to compartmentalize our lives. And we can tend to evaluate "how we're doing" in each of those compartments" in a way that makes us feel very good about certain aspects of our lives and not so good about others.

I'm not so sure that's healthy.

I knew a guy years ago who would walk up to me (and many others) and simply ask, "How's your spiritual life on a scale of 1 to 10?". The tendency was to respond to that question based on Bible reading, time spent in prayer and meditation, and church attendance.

I am not sure something someone's spiritual life (or life in general for that matter) could even be rated on a 1 to 10 scale. I am not sure it's healthy to rate ourselves in separate areas of our lives on any scale. I think it's best to look at our lives as a whole... and to be honest with God, ourselves and those around us about how we are really doing.

For so many of us, we live in a world where our Facebook and Twitter status project to others what is going on in our lives and how we are doing. I've been asking myself lately, "Does my status on Facebook and Twitter reflect the reality of my life? Do I share "What's on my mind" when I am having a bad day or when I am struggling as openly as I share some of the great things or "newsworthy" things that are going on in my life?"

I think it's important for us to ask ourselves if our status updates reflect what our lives are really like in the time between those updates.

I utilize Facebook and Twitter to communicate things that are going on with our organization, Lemonade International, but I also share what's happening in my personal life. And if you were with me for every moment of my life you would realize that it's not all good stuff. There are struggles, fears, sins, insecurities, mini bouts with depression, and feelings of loneliness that go right along with the joys of life, the milestones, the victories, and the things to celebrate.

I have been realizing (but not necessarily always acting on this realization) that we can unintentionally project to others that life is always going well for us, and I get concerned that this could have a negative effect on others - especially if some of them look to us as leaders of some sort. We can leave people wishing they had our "great lives" instead of their mundane, boring, uneventful, lives that are filled with challenges. Or we can unknowingly encourage them to live vicariously through us (or through the unrealistic picture we paint of our lives).

In this new era of social media, I don't want my life to appear to be a quote book of life's greatest moments or thoughts, but an honest reflection of the reality of life - a whole life honestly lived before God and others. If I can't experience this in a healthy, holistic way I'm not so sure I'll be sticking with Facebook and Twitter over the long haul.

In the meantime, bear with me as I work on this...

Do you feel like your status updates create a realistic picture of what your life is like between those updates?

Miyah in La Limonada

Miyah spent almost a week with Cherie and I in Guatemala last week. It was her first time out of the country since we brought her home from Nepal in May of 2006 - when she was 8 months old.

She loved it!

She was definitely exhausted each day... and thankfully we had some down time in Panajachel (on the shore of beautiful Lake Atitlan) over the weekend before we came home.

This is one of my favorite photos from our time in La Limonada. We celebrated Vitalino's 83rd birthday and Miyah enjoyed some cake with him. We were in his home for about an hour and a half and she didn't want to leave his side. 

Celebrating My Birthday ODW Style...

Hi, my name is Bill and I am 40.

I feel like there needs to be a 12-Step Program for this. I am in the denial phase right now, so I just thought I would put my issues out there.

Seriously... I am feeling really good about turning 40. I'm embracing this passage into my 5th decade of life with a lot of anticipation. I'll share some personal reflections on that coming up in the next few days.

In the meantime I want to celebrate my birthday ODW Style...

ODW stands for One Day's Wages - a new non-profit organization just launched this year by Eugene Cho and his wife, Minhee, from Seatttle, WA - who have been an incredible inspiration to me through their dedication and commitment to the work they are doing.

This risk-taking couple was inspired to start ODW after traveling and seeing for themselves the disparity in the world. They are driven by the belief that we have the capacity to end extreme global poverty.

ODW is an international grassroots movement dedicated to ending extreme global poverty. ODW promotes awareness, invites giving, and supports sustainable relief through partnerships, especially with smaller organizations in developing regions. Our vision is to change global issues ofinjustice affecting millions of people, regardless of race, culture, sex, age, or religion.

ODW inspires people around the world to simply donate one day’s wages, or any amount you wish to invest; and to renew that pledge monthly, quarterly or yearly on their birthdays.

Today, on my 40th birthday, I am giving one day's wages (1/365th or .04% of my income) to help ODW make an impact in the world.

One of the organizations that ODW is in partnership with is Not For Sale - a group that fights sex trafficking in places like Nepal (where my daughter Miyah is from). So, when you give to ODW you are making a huge impact in the world by helping to do vital work - like rescuing young girls from being sold into the commercial sex trade.

You have to check out the amazing work of One Day's Wages.... and consider giving one of your day's wages on your birthday this year!

The Movement of One Day's Wages from One Day's Wages on Vimeo.

Bono's Non-Top Ten... For The Next Ten

Bono has become a regular guest columnist for the NY Times Op-Ed section much to the chagrin of journalists like Sara Libby.

In this column, Ten for the Next Ten, he presents a list of ten things we should be looking ahead to in the coming decade. Somehow he gets away with this after starting the piece pointing out how much we overindulge in top ten lists.

In most of the points in his list he hits home with things that really matter in the world. The most poignant of which I believe is: "People Power and the Upside-Down Pyramid". In this 7th item in Bono's "Non-Top Ten", he points out that the pyramid of power is bring turned upside-down:

"A lot of us have seen or lived the organizational chart of the last century, in which power and influence (whether possessed by church, state or corporation) are concentrated in the uppermost point of the pyramid and pressure is exerted downward. But in this new century, and especially in some parts of the developing world, the pyramid is being inverted. Much has been written about the profits to be made at the bottom of the pyramid; less has been said about the political power there. Increasingly, the masses are sitting at the top, and their weight, via cellphones, the Web and the civil society and democracy these technologies can promote, is being felt by those who have traditionally held power. Today, the weight bears down harder when the few are corrupt or fail to deliver on the promises that earned them authority in the first place."

I believe we will increasingly see this concept prove to be true in the decade we have just entered. I think this is meant to be.

"For he who is least among you all—he is the greatest." - Jesus (Luke 9:48)

What do you think are some of the most important things that need to happen in the world over the next ten years?

2010: Big Year For The Cummings Clan

A few months ago Cherie and I were talking about how Ben and Alex would be graduating high school and going to college in the next year. As we talked about that it hit us that 2010 would include some big milestones for our family... and a lot of them.

All of these milestones are good things, but as we realized how much will be happening I think we began to prepare ourselves for the emotional roller-coaster to come. It all starts in a couple days and just keeps going from there:

January 4: I turn 40 (I'll be blogging more about that this week)

March 13: Ben & Alex turn 18

May 11: Cherie turns 40

June 10: Ben & Alex graduate from high school

Mid-August: Ben & Alex start college

August 25: Cherie & I celebrate 20 years of marriage

September 7: Miyah turns 5

Life will be changing for everyone in our house a lot this year and I think my sister put it best in a comment on my Facebook wall:

"What a year it will be! Shall I send you a supply of kleenex to have on hand?"

Let the roller-coaster ride begin.... and by the grace of God we'll take it one big day at a time!