Soccer Tournament in SLO & Camera Testing

We've had a ton of fun things going on lately... too much fun time, not enough blog time. So though it's been a while, here are a couple from the past few months:

Carrie's getting pretty good with the camera we got last year. She was taking some pictures at a soccer tournament I played in, and she got this one... I was pretty impressed! Ball in focus, right in the middle of 3 dudes (looking kind of awkard, actually). Nice work!



We spent some time in Shell Beach a few weeks ago. It was a pretty cold spring morning, but worth the trip. This one little bird was ridiculously courageous. He let me get so close to him without budging. So I just kept clickin' and he kept posing. I think he was on to my schemes, though. Once I got my last shot, he flew off and I came about 6 inches from getting pooped on.

Small Things Challenge

Intel is doing a "Small Things Challenge" campaign, where they donate 5 cents to Kiva for each person that clicks a couple times on this website. Go do it yourself.

Visiting good friends

We've been busy lately, but it's been a good busy. This past weekend we were able to connect with some friends we haven't seen in a while and it was so refreshing (although I am blogging now basically to have something to do so I don't fall asleep, we're refreshed in other ways). We were on stint with Josh & Beth and Duv a few years ago so the weekend brought with it a lot of Chinese (language and food) and fun times. We even got to meet Duv's girl Katie who was really fun to get to know. All in all, a good weekend.

We all played a fun and CLOSE game of mini golf. Top moments include hole-in-ones for me and B.Roo and an amazing unexpected birdie to tie the Duvs up by Katie.


The girls. I was soooo tired from my red-eye and you can totally tell from this picture but I thought I'd put it up anyway.

The dudes all wore plaid shorts on Friday. Goofs.

Tim Keller at Google

Author and Minister at Redeemer Presbyterian Church Tim Keller wrote a book titled The Reason for God. I haven't read the book yet, but I've heard some of Keller's sermons and have been challenged and encouraged by his words and perspective. He was invited to speak at the Google headquarters and gave a fabulous but brief talk on some of the main points of his book. Here's the video- I was really glad that I took some time to listen to what he has to say....

Greg Squires - Dominican Republic Trip Part 5

What follows is a summary of some final thoughts on microfinance after going to the Dominican Republic a few weeks ago. It is the last of our part 5 series on our trip...

Overview
One of the main reasons microfinance organizations exist is because capital is not accessible to the world's poor. Banking systems and lending institutions that are common in the developed world are not common in the developing world. Most credit that is available to people carries ridiculous interest rates. The 5/6 rule is one way this plays out - a loan shark gives $5 to someone in the morning, and requires re-payment of $6 by night. Though it doesn't sound ridiculous at first, this works out to 6000% effective annual interest.

3 Key pieces to a MFI
1. Systems/technologies - software to run the program, loan packages, operating procedures
2. People - finding the right people can be a limiting factor for a Christian MFI, if a requirement for employment is a fruitful walk with Jesus. Other 'Christian' MFIs have compromised this by hiring non-Christians to do the work, placing physical needs as a higher priority than the spiritual. This isn't necessarily wrong, but if you are trying to reach people with the Gospel, you have to have people in place who will communicate it. Employing believers is the way to do so. The success of a Christian MFI is very dependent upon the loan advisors' fruitful walk with Jesus. If they are living out their faith and growing in the Lord, there will be spiritual impact of the program. Otherwise, there is only physical transformation.
3. Capital - a large portfolio of funds to be used to give loans

MFI Organizational setup
loan recipient - receives the loan
loan officer/advisor - meets with 45 loan recipients in a bi-monthly bank meeting, conducts training on health, business management, familial issues, etc.... collects repayments from clients, makes sure that the loan is being spent on developing the business and not on frivolous things, can share the Gospel in context of these relationships, this position often filled by a local.
loan supervisor - sometimes a local, sometimes a foreigner, oversees the loan advisers.
branch manager - oversees the branch
country director - leads the country's banking systems and multiple branches.

Microloans
Loan recipients typically receive $50-$500 for spending on their small business. This is typically paid back in 4-6 months. After performing well on their first loan, clients often take a second or third loan. Interest rates on these loans are given at market rate --1-4 percent per month, or 15-40 percent annual interest rate, which is much better than they could get otherwise. The interest is used to run the program, just as a bank would use it to pay its employees and fund the operation.

MFI Repayment Rates
We've often heard that microfinance repayment rates are upwards of 95-99 percent. This number is a group repayment rate. This means that as clients receive loans and cannot pay them back for some reason, the group pays that money back, which is called "social collateral". This high repayment rate is not an individual repayment rate, which is an important distinction to make.

Local Learning
One thing I realized while on this trip is that local entrepreneurs know their business best. The best person to ask about how to sell wheelbarrows in a small rural town of a third world country is the guy who has been doing it for a living for 20 years! He's the expert. He has to think about marketing his products, hiring sales people, hiring laborers to help build the wheelbarrows, etc. I had sort of an "A-ha" moment when I realized that entrepreneurs like these guys face the same business management issues that we do in our businesses. Many of the principles are the same; they are just in a different culture and economy. Also, before receiving a loan, a client goes through 5 sessions to learn about how to run a small business... (simple accounting principles and price calculations, hiring/managing employees, work ethic, etc.)

Google search trends for corned beef and cabbage

In my world of Online Marketing, I'm constantly finding interesting facts about search trends on Google. This little belated St Patrick's day treat comes from my own curiosity... (kind of random, I know) when are searches for corned beef and cabbage the highest? My assumptions were correct! Of course it's every March 17th. See below.
Corned beef:

Cabbage:


My lovely wife cooked some corned beef and cabbage on Monday, and it was delightful. Thanks honey.

Try Google Trends for yourself, and find a trend of your own.

"Type Organism" - image maker for your entertainment

You ever heard of Stumble Upon? Well, I "stumbled" on this fun little waste of time site that will morph your mug into text! So, when you have a minute to spare/waste, take a look.

Talley Vineyards - and a warm Feburary weekend

In the spirit of blogging pictures (which is what we've been prone to of late), here's a few from the weekend. I won't dare begin this blog post with "Well, it's been awhile...", cause that's what we all struggling bloggers say. New content is a tough thing to come by! So, to all my fellow bloggers out there: stay strong, don't give up, and even if it's just a few thoughts from the day, POST it! It's better than nothing. ;-)

My dad came to visit for the weekend. We enjoyed the unseasonably warm weather, visited a few wineries (Talley Vineyards pictured), and took a few pics.






Talley Vineyards has an amazing view. Cilantro fields surrounded by green-ing mountains, just a few miles from Lopez Lake. Talley is well worth a visit.

Beijing Olympics 2008

China is set to host the 2008 Olympics this summer, and everyone is watching. It was pretty interesting to be in China a couple years back and see the emerging of the propaganda. It's quite the hype both inside and out of China, as the world's emerging super-power has its chance to display its prowess or not.

Well, who knows if this Olympics will really make or break China and the future of the globe. It may not be that big of a deal. I personally believe both the US and China can coexist as strong world players beyond 2020. There will be growing pains for China and aging pains for us comfortable Americans, but I don't foresee any drastic changes.



Enough on that rant... don't know where that came from. The point of this post was to pass along a tidbit of Olympics news. From Bill Gates address at the CES Show last week, over 3000 hours of on-demand coverage of this summer's Olympics will be available on msnbc.com and other Microsoft/NBC online affiliates. That's great news. Watch what you want, when you want it. Just how we Americans like it.

That's all for now.

Christmas Week ... in Pictures

"Tour de California" was the song of our Christmas this year. SLO to Stockton to Rocklin to Bakersfield, back to SLO in four days... Some pictures from the weekend (ps - we took 968 pictures, so choosing 8 wasn't easy!)

Click pictures to enlarge...

Mom and family at Brad & Megan's house in Orangevale


All the Gloecklers & Chesneys in Bakersfield


Carrie and our beautiful niece Abigail.


Greg and our beautiful niece Abigail.


Nephew Jacob playing with his Christmas present. Dog licking face.


Here ya go Kurt. We said we'd get you some blog time. Payments can be made out to your lovely sister, Carrie M Squires.


Grandpa's craaaazy dog, Corky. Seriously, the most spaz dog you've ever met.


Christmas is over. Once again, the location for our retired Christmas tree is the big green can. Trimmed down to its nakedness, with a little ball left at the top to preserve an ounce of dignity.

Online Shopping, or Shopping In-Store?

It is the biggest shopping time of the year, so a little dialog about our consumer habits couldn't hurt anyone as we set out to find dozens of gifts, some for us and some for others. Speaking of gifts for us, we've been looking around for a higher-end camera of late, and we've noticed some interesting things about our shopping strategy. Let me explain...

Buy online or buy in store? Shop online, then buy in store? Shop in store, then buy online. You all know what I'm referring to... You walk into a store, looking for some sort of product that you think will be found at that store. You find the item, look at the price, then think, "I bet I could find one of these online for quite a bit cheaper." Then you think, "Well, I would have to pay for shipping... maybe I could find free shipping. It is the holidays, after all." So, you go home, you type in the item number, and BAM! There it is for 20% less than in store, and free shipping! You feel a little bit guilty for "using" the real-live store to touch and feel and browse, but you quickly get over it... Buy now!

On the other hand, sometimes you're shopping online, and you find something you're looking for, weed out what the items you don't want, and then you're about to checkout... "$20 shipping and handling??!!? Who's going to be handling this thing to make it worth $20 to them? Could you please just ship the item and not handle it, and charge me the $5 it actually costs you to ship it? Thank you." And then you think, "Maybe I could find this thing at Target, and not pay the shipping (or the man-handling), and it would save me a little bit.Drive to the store, buy, save.

I know you've experienced these same thoughts. How should online shopping and shopping in-store compliment each other? Is it ethically upstanding to go to, say, a Best Buy, and touch, feel, browse, and ask the really nice techy guy (who drives a GEEK SQUAD VW Bug around town) all kinds of questions about this high-tech device, and THEN is it okay to go home and buy the thing online for a 20% savings? Did I just use their in-store services and not compensate them accordingly? Is that model sustainable?

I know for a fact that shopping in-store will never replace online shopping. There will always be a need for consumers to touch, feel, and browse, and it's a great feeling to have it NOW, and not wait for the UPS guy to bring you your stuff. The overhead costs for big, shiny stores will remain high, and prices in-store will not be able to adequately compete with online discount stores.

For me, it all depends on what I'm buying. I would much rather save a trip to Target (which costs me at least $8 in gas, mind you) and buy some things online which are less expensive and entirely convenient. Point, click, ship! But, for other items that are higher dollar items, and which require more research and time, I'll continue to use my blended strategy - browsing and shopping, both online and in-store.

What are your thoughts?

The Office Update / Writer's Strike Sadness / What to do on Thursday nights now?

Our love for The Office only grows week by week. Steve Carell lives out his most natural acting role ever; we're convinced he doesn't even have to try to "act" to be Michael Scott. We enjoy seeing the Pam-Jim relationship blossom, and after this week, some conflict is arising between the ditsy/annoying Kelly and Pam over their respective boyfriends' ping pong abilities. (Speaking of ping pong, I'm going to put in a request to get a ping pong table in the lunch room at my workplace. That would sure be nice!)


NOW, however, there will be no new episodes until the show's writers end their strike. There's debate over how much revenue the writer's should receive from online content, like ads on nbc.com for streaming online shows, webisodes and deleted scenes. And I don't blame them! They should be paid for their work, but I'm sure there are two sides to the story, only one of which the public has heard.

SO, we may not have plans on Thursday nights at 9:00, the one day a week that we actually watch tv. So maybe we'll find something else to do in the meantime.

John Piper - coming to San Luis Obispo

Since I've written a handful of blog posts on John Piper, his books, and other things that he has taught me, I figured another one wouldn't hurt. I'm writing mainly out of excitement that he'll be coming to San Luis Obispo early next year! Yep, mark your calendars for March 28-29th... he'll be doing a Desiring God Conference in SLO, and rumor has it that it will be in the PAC.

Also, for those of you who are Nor-Cal folk, you may want to see J-Pizzle up in Sacramento this next weekend! More info here

Heaven without Christ?

When you think of Heaven, what do you picture? What are you looking forward to? Another amazing book by Piper, "God is the Gospel", has pointed out something in me, and is something worthy to be shared.

"The critical question for our generation—and for every generation — is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ were not there?"

I've been thinking lately about the abundant pleasures that exist in our world, which can be so luring and enticing when there's nothing better to choose in place of them. Nothing is better than choosing Christ.

Piper's point in this book is that GOD is the treasure of the Gospel. The reason that the Gospel is good news at all is because GOD is the source of it all, and that Christ is exalted above all other things: He's better than pleasure, beauty, comfort, leisure, health, or friendship. He created these things, so He must have authority over them!!

I think it is easy to take the blessings of the Gospel - new life, peace, hope, joy, etc (all great things!) - and forget about WHO they came from, and WHY we ever got to experience these blessings in the first place - that Christ made a way for salvation to break through our rock-solid hearts. When asked, "Could you be satisfied in Heaven, if Christ were not there?", does it make you stop and think for a second? The pointed question - if Heaven would be the same with Christ - unveils how we really feel about the blessings of the Gospel, and where they are in importance for us. I pray that my desire to be with Christ (in His presence, sitting with Him, reigning with Him, worshiping Him) grows more and more as the Day approaches. I also pray that the word "Gospel" points me to Christ and Him being lifted up, and less about me and the blessings we receive.

Today: Peet's

We've already made mention we love Peet's Coffee and Tea. So much so, in fact, we made it a point to grab a latte on the first day of the opening in SLO! Here's a few pictures to document it. We know we're a little crazy or silly (read: wierd) but we're okay with that. It was a darn good latte. Note: the pastries made by SLO Baked. Yummmm.

Which Water Wins?

I (Carrie) have unabashedly become a water snob. I like to drink good water, but I have to admit, I was beginning to think it might be all in my head. Ever since my dearest Kit introduced me to Smart Water, I've been hooked. But it comes at a price. So I wanted to make sure it mattered- that I wasn't being tricked, therefore the Water Contest (I've been planning this for weeks, just ask Ashleigh).

6 contestants. Smart Water, Aquafina, Dasani, Arrowhead, our Brita (recently changed filter), and tap water. Greg and I each preformed the experiment on each other, pouring the waters into 6 identical glasses and asking preference (in order from favorite to least) and then a challenge to guess which water is which.

The results were surprising, helpful, and affirming. Greg and I both prefer Smart Water first, then Dasani (interesting since they are both enriched with "minerals/electrolytes"). We also both noted that Aquafina was a disappointing least favorite (we're pondering malfeasance. could this bottle of Aquafina been corrupted? we've always seemed to like it before...). Greg actually prefers Brita over Arrowhead. I thought Aquafina (again- questionable. another test may be necessary), Brita, and tap water were not worth drinking in comparison to Smart, Dasani and even Arrowhead.

Now I can rest easy. Nevertheless, we'll still continue to drink our Brita water and faithfully replace the filter. Cold water is usually good, no mater how bad it is. And I also will continue buying bottles of Smart Water to hydrate myself at work. However, we'll buy Dasani if Smart Water is unavailable (or not on sale. the stuff is expensive regular price) and we'll definitely think twice about Arrowhead. Hmm... what about Crystal Geyser?

Ridiculously Funny

Our nephew Jacob is going to be a comedian, we think. He doesn't yet know how funny he is, but we all do. Watch this video a few times, and see for yourself. I personally like his dance moves.

Assistant (to the) Manager

Just in case any of you were curious, I (Carrie) have a job! I worked at Gopher Glen Apple Farm when I was in college, and what I thought was just going to be for a few weeks will be through the end of the apple season (December-ish). They've decided to make me Assistant Manager to help them out a bit and I'm liking it a lot so far. I'm still sort of in the process of job hunting since this ends in December, but in the meantime it's a cool answer to prayer! Come out to visit me! I work everyday except Sundays and Wednesdays (usually).

Our Proper Fear of God

I'm currently reading one of Piper's new books "What Jesus Demands from the World". Piper took a several-month sabbatical to study every command of Jesus, and compile them into short 5-6 page chapters describing their implications for us. Great book!

One chapter titled, "Fear Him Who Can Destroy both Soul and Body in Hell" deals with the often confusing "Fear God" command, and he explains it in a different way than I've ever thought of. I've always thought that the best way to describe this fear of God is to say that we must have great reverence for Him, rather than being afraid of Him. It's absolutely true that we must have an awe or reverence of God and His greatness. However, this way of thinking is actually minimizing the wrath of God so that we can understand and feel love and peace from Him more easily. Piper argues that "our peace does not come from our removing the God of wrath from our thinking, but from His removing His wrath from us... There is a real fear of Him that can coexist with sweet peace and trust in Him." Jesus did say, "Fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast in hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!" (Luke 12:5).

I think that in order for me to feel loved by God and not feel afraid of Him, I have modified my thinking of who He is, sort of creating my own acceptable picture of a loving, forgiving, reverence-deserving God. In doing so, I have neglected to grasp His wrath, His power to conquer, His necessary punishment of those who turn their backs on His gifts. It is possible to have a holy, proper fear of God, which has a great effect on us: "It wakens us to our need for help [once we understand the depth and weight and seriousness of our sin] and points us to the all-sufficient Redeemer, Jesus." We can have a true fear of God and His wrath and power and punishment, but we are comforted by the fact that we have been ransomed from it, that we are free from it, that we've been called out of darkness and into His Marvelous Light, which is so freeing, and peace-bringing.

What a great realization! I hope that my (and your) views of God are becoming more correct and true and in line with His Word. Creating our own picture of God is displeasing to Him, as it modifies our actions and thoughts in improper ways. Let us pray for discernment and wisdom and clarity of thought, so that we know the One true God.

Please... your thoughts?

Josh and Beth

We had some visitors in SLO this week, and it was definitely a highlight of our summer thus far. Josh and Beth are two friends from my (Greg's) STINT team last year, and they came to SLO for the first time this week! They are such valuable friends to us, just awesome people that we share lots of interests/memories with. They have just returned from their second year of STINT in East Asia, and they are heading to graduate school in DC to study International Development. Seriously, these guys are going to change the world for Christ! I won't be surprised if one or both of them end up working for the UN or the State Department, making waves for God's Kingdom. We also wouldn't be surprised if we end up working together someday. We love you guys!