Today, Tomorrow and the Rest of My Life

The funny thing about the future is that it hasn't happened yet.  As such, it is very difficult to say exactly what will transpire in my lifetime. Nonetheless I will now make an attempt to nail down what the remainder of my life will consist of. 
    In the last few years two things have emerged as things that I am both good at and enjoy doing; teaching and making web sites. In some form, I imagine I will be doing both of them for a long time. Which one I get paid to do and which one I do for fun has not fully been decided. If I were to make a guess, I'd say that I'll be doing a lot of web development the next few years and some teaching. Probably the older I get those two will switch. Then when I retire I'll do lots of teaching and I may or may not do any web development.
    There are two reasons why I'd like to be doing web development primarily right now, one selfish and the other a little more spiritual. The selfish one is of course money. I will be able to make a lot more money a lot faster making web pages. Before you call me a 'sell out', let me tell you about one of my heroes, John MacMurry. Every couple of months John goes backpacking in New Zealand or Oregon or Germany or wherever and takes a few pictures. He comes home, prints them out with some squares and numbers below and makes a lot of money for it (he makes calendars). Then he uses the rest of his time to be with his family and teach. Sounds like a pretty sweet situation to me. If I can do enough web development to do the other things I really want to do, I'll be a very happy man.
    The other reason for my plan is the burden that God is putting on my heart. I really want to see the web used to glorify God! Churches could be doing so much more to attract new members and foster community with a fairly simple web site. As Imago launches their new site I'll talk more about what this looks like. Secondly, as my Dad said in his comment, missionaries could also be using the web more. I really think that every missionary that is able, should have a blog. They could stay much better connected to their supporters and get connected to each other. Ryan Potter was telling me that in a very small area in Japan there is something like eight Churches. All doing similar things but not connecting very well. That is partly due to denominational issues, but certainly be helped.  Lastly, good teaching could be spread more quickly through the web. This has already started but has a long way to go. I've been pleased to see the number of Churches and organizations that have podcasts, this is a great start.
    In conclusion, I have no idea what I'll be doing next year, much less the rest of my life. I am confident knowing that God has brought me safely thus far, and that he will certainly lead me home.
flexnfx on Mar 12, 2006 4:00pm

Justin -

Where are you working right now or are you self-employed? Web stuff is super coolio fun! I think you have a totally realistic view/grasp of things....like it or not, we all have to make money (and there's nothing wrong with that)...I think things always come down to heart motivation. I'll be honest, 10 years ago I was on the ministry path loving my job(s), but barely getting by financially...then I got married and realized I actually have to be able afford stuff! What I do now, I kinda loathe...support staff for the state, but I make the most of it and it has blessed us with a house and basic necessities plus I have been able to meet alot of people outside the stain glass windows of a church that I would have most likely never have met. God bless bro!

Dave Dyk on Mar 12, 2006 4:00pm

Justin!
Hey--it's been a long time! I ran across your page via the sizable multnomah blogosphere connections... pretty crazy stuff.

I can totally see you doing web development work--churches totally need content management systems. I remeber being a freshman in the dorms and you were about the only person who spent as much time in front of the computer as me!

Congratulations on having Dahlia. I have a son coming in June ("Jonah")... exciting stuff.
I'm working at IBM doing IT consulting stuff...mostly web application architecture & security, working with j2ee app servers and load balancing and that sort of thing. It's a good job, but I'm hoping to come back and take a job at the city of portland again (my old employer) so that I don't have to travel as much.

Anyway, hope all is well, and if you ever need to chat about app servers, give me a call!

--Dave Dyk

flexnfx on Mar 12, 2006 4:00pm

Congrats!!! You are officially a link on my church blog!

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