What I Like to Do When I'm Not Working . . .
Though far from a perfect dad or husband, a big priority for me is my family. Life is full of distractions and even good opportunities can obscure our vision and commitment to what is most important. Success at work is important and attractive, publications bring a kind of immortality, service to important causes such as my local church, and success in my hobbies are also important to me. However, I try not to let those keep me from attending to my most precious relationships with my wife and kids..
I have a lovely wife, Rachel, who, in a moment of weakness, agreed to marry me in 1993. We have a daughter, Alaina, born December 28, 1997. We also have a son, Caleb, born Dec. 23rd 2000. Christmas "Break" is hardly that in our house! Rachel has a Master’s degree in family communication and her thesis was on family rituals. In reading about family rituals she came upon some excellent writing by Stephen Covey on "intentional families." These are families who intentionally create and pass down a strong sense of family and heritage, rather than just hoping that it somehow happens. If you would like to know more about how to do this with your family, my wife has plenty of resources to share...she has written articles and taught a class on it. One of the ways is to create a "family mission statement." It helps the family define who they are and all members should help craft it. Click here to see ours. She is also a freelance writer and public speaker. Here is a link to Rachel's page listing with a prominent women's ministry.
Music also plays an important part in my life. I have been a part of several bands in local churches and enjoy that a lot. My family and I attend Port City Community Church which meets at Roland Grise Middle School. I prefer a more casual dress, contemporary music kind of a church culture and the kids really enjoy all that they have going on for kids. If you've got questions about the "church scene" in Wilmington or other related questions, I'd be happy to chat with you about them. I play keyboards about once a month.
I’m also in a band with several faculty members here at work. We started as a loose collection of guys just trying to survive an on-campus talent show. We enjoyed ourselves so much we decided to keep practicing (I have no idea whether the folks in the audience enjoyed it!). Now we’re The Schoolboys and we play about once a month at area clubs and restaurants and the occasional wedding or private party. I play keyboards and harmonica and sing. I really enjoy blues influenced rock and R & B.
Finally, I also enjoy working on music at home and occasionally create original songs. They usually have to do with my faith and what I’m thinking and feeling at the time. I've also done some love songs for my wife and kids. Hopefully some of them might be the type of songs that other people could relate to. Right now I use it as much to get in touch with where I’m at—kind of like a journal—more than anything I hope to perform. If anyone reading this is a MIDI or Sonar expert, call me ASAP!
Okay, my family, my hobbies, now, what is my escape? HOOP! I love basketball. I enjoy playing point guard and defense. A bounce pass that gets a guy a lay up and has the defense talking to each other is better than scoring myself. Now that I'm not so hyper, I've actually got a jump shot. Don’t even get me started about hoop! But, you should know that I first really started playing the game on the old court behind Graham hall. And that I got to (try and) guard Michael’s little brother Larry Jordan. My Dad played high school ball in Brooklyn NY and even some small-time college ball. He was an old-school shooter (two handed set shot just like on Hoosiers) — and still regrets that they didn’t have the three-point line when he was playing. He’s also pretty sure that Bernard King (NBA legend) broke his Fort Hamilton High School scoring record.
Feel free to drop in and talk more about life and the "big picture" issues that should be a key part of your college experience. I'd like to hear your life story too!