The definition of Jared Barden
Archive for December, 2006
Revenge of the Skunk
Dec 27th
It seems that a skunk has decided to visit our house and displace us for the time being.
It’s funny, since my last post revolved around the story of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus and how there was no room for them at the inn. Well, now there’s no room for me at my “inn.” I don’t by any means want to suggest that my situation is at all similar to the one Mary and Joseph faced, but it has changed my perspective.
Our best guess is that the skunk somehow got under the house. We live in quite an old house, so I’m sure there are lots of areas where a creature could sneak in.
In the last day or so I’ve been reminded of some truths that I’ve always “known” but sometimes take for granted.
1.) Life is not about things. We like to think that we are not materialistic people, but by and large we are. What would your life be if you didn’t have all your possessions?
2.) Being displaced from your home reminds you of the amazing amounts of suffering that victims in places like New Orleans, Mississippi, etc. have gone through. I think sometimes we like to think that we can empathize with these people, but the truth is that we can’t. We can send them our love and our prayers and our money, but it’s impossible to grasp what they’ve gone through. Again, I don’t mean to compare my situation to anything any of these victims have experienced.
3.) Family is important! My Mom and dad have been gracious enough to let us stay with them while we are waiting for the skunk to be “dealt with.” I know people have gone through bad experiences in their families, and I have too, but family is so important. Let your family know that you love them, and if there are problems, see what you can do to patch them up.
More updates as the skunk situation continues.
Away in a Manger
Dec 24th
While I was thinking about the meaning of Christmas this year, I thought back about the manger and how it’s not much different than our own hearts.
It’s interesting that God chose a manger to use as the birthplace for His only Son, Jesus. There was nothing special about that particular manger, I’m sure. Think about it. Animals, straw, most likely animal waste, the smell. I’m sure it wasn’t that pretty of a picture. And then, all of a sudden, it becomes the holiest place in the entire world. Not because of the place or anything it had to offer, but because of Jesus and His incarnation.
It is mind boggling to think that this dirty, smelly, uncomfortable place was chosen as the birthplace for the Savior of mankind. God’s ways are most definitely higher than ours. Back to how the manger relates to our hearts and souls.
Our hearts are dirty, smelly, unkept places if you really stop and think about it. The trend in society is to focus on the overall goodness of man, but left to our own devices, we can be wretched people. We are people in need of a Savior. Our hearts contain that smell. Not they might not smell like a sheep or a donkey in a manger, but they smell nonetheless. Our hearts contain the dirt of sin. They are untidy and unkept, and they need Someone to come and make them clean. Our hearts, like that manger, need to be made pure and holy by an outside force. Nothing that manger could have ever done would have made it like a fancy inn. In the same way, nothing we can do on our own will cleanse and purify our hearts.
It’s funny. There was no room for Mary, Joseph, and Jesus in the inn, “better” places, but there was room for them in a manger – most likely some sort of cave. Our hearts are exactly like that cave, as much as we would like to tell ourselves how good we are, our hearts resemble a dirty cave much more than they do the Hilton.
Take a look into your heart this season and I hope you will realize your need for THE Savior this Christmas.
How Not to Sell a Product
Dec 9th
Today we did some Christmas shopping the Elmira, NY area. The following is my story of how not to sell a product.
As we went to the different stores in the Arnot Mall and Target and Best Buy, we were mostly looking at tech items – TVs, video game systems, etc. It shocked me when I saw how some of the next generation video game systems were displayed.
I first noticed this phenomenon at EB Games. They had a PS 3 and XBOX 360 on display that you could actually play. Quite a concept. They also had the new Nintendo Wii on display. The Wii is unique in its size and its innovative remote that you actually swing when you’re playing tennis or baseball. It offers a unique game playing experience, but I digress.
You would think with such a unique selling point for a next generation system that you would want to give your customers a chance to play the system. This must not be the case, however, as the system sat there in the case, complete with a black screen. There were even instructions on how to play the demo game, but there was no demo game to be played.
Target was even better. There you could play the PS 3, the Wii was on, but it was just showing the same demo video over and over again. When it came to the XBOX 360, that was where the fun started. It actually had an error message on the screen. The bad one. The one where you have to send the system back and hope Microsoft will replace it for you.
Now if you were an employee and saw this, wouldn’t you turn the system off, or replace it with a functioning system? Instead this 360 says, “Hey come drop your $300-400 on me and you too might be fortunate enough to see this error.”
Best Buy was a similar experience. The PS 3 couldn’t be played, and the Wii was once again showing the demo video.
It just seems to me that if you want to be moving these systems, you should let the customer who is probably going to drop $300-700 on one of these things if they are available as much opportunity to interact with the product as possible.
But hey, what do I know?
Redecoration
Dec 6th
I don’t know why, but I get the urge to rearrange all the furniture / entertainment equipment in our living room every once in a while.
Like I said, I can’t quite explain this phenomenon. I guess I just get bored with the arrangement every so often. Danielle would tell you that I don’t always listen to her arrangement suggestions, and I guess this is probably true, but this time I did.
Our living room goes something like this. The Southern-facing part of the room isn’t really a wall. It contains the wood stove, the door to our upstairs, the door to the basement, and a little entrance area to the house. Suffice it to say, not much can be done with this area.
The Northern-facing part of the room contains a wall, and then an entrance to the kitchen.
The Eastern-facing part of the room is just open, and the Western-facing part contains a big glass window and sliding door.
Given the constraints of the room, there aren’t really a lot of options for arranging things, but I can just about guarantee you that I have tried every way possible.
Another problem that I suffer from is having to have the speakers for my entertainment system aligned just so. It really drives me nuts if they aren’t. It probably doesn’t make that big of a difference, but it’s important to me.
I went with a tried and tested layout last night. Entertainment stuff (TV, XBOX 360, movie rack, stereo, etc.) on the Northern wall, with couch in front on the doors leading upstairs and downstairs. This leaves open space to the right of where you’re sitting and makes the room feel more open.
Not quite sure why I wrote this post, but I thought I’d share a little insight into my craziness.