Welcome -- Cedar Rapids Lay Formation (year 1)

First and foremost I would like to revoke my wonderful wife's "Introvert" status. Since I was 'outed' at the Lay Formation session this past weekend, I thought I would write a quick intro and welcome to anyone reading for the first time.

I started this blog last fall with the idea of ...... well, ok, just because. I have been writing a technical blog in my field for a little over 4 years now and enjoy writing. I have also written a white paper on data center site selection -- if you ever have trouble getting to sleep at night. My hope was to make this blog a place to somewhat quickly review my thoughts on each class session and share with the world my journey through Lay Formation. Finding time to write is usually the toughest part - and now that others from class are reading, I will try to catch up.

Pope Benedict has spoken on technology and social media and embracing the positive impact that new communication tools can have. I think this just further motivates me to continue this blog and share with a global community my conviction, spirituality and faith journey. Pope Benedict also has a Facebook page and channel on YouTube (very nice to have videos aggregated here). There is also a wealth of information on the official web site for the Vatican -- http://www.vatican.va/phome_en.htm

But how can they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach? And how can people preach unless they are sent? (Romans 10: 13-15)

A few final notes for understanding a blog and the way I have this formatted. Think of it as one big journal -- chronological from oldest on the bottom, to most recent entries on the top. I typically write late at night, so please forgive that I may not have completely full brain capacity at the time. If you see something underlined or in a different color, it is a link out to another site; I frequently link to other sources I have found on the net. You are welcome to comment on any blog post -- although it will take a few hours to be put on the site, as I must review them in order to keep the spammers at bay.

Enjoy!