The Thursday Blog

Hello and welcome to another episode of The Thursday Blog. You are going to enjoy today’s episode whether you are reading this for the first time or you have printed off every episode every written and insulated your house with it so you can be kept warm with guidance.

I am no builder, but I suggest you also invest in heating as good guidance may warm the heart but it won’t provide the adequate temperature necessary for basic survival.

Now I know today is Friday and this is The Thursday Blog but I have this to say in my defence………………

I am glad we all agree then.

Time for today’s episode:

The Value of a Price

Price is a funny thing especially when it comes to fresh fruit and vegetables. I know the price can drastically change from place to place but that is also true for many other things, but the thing that makes this so strange is that the price of fruit and vegetables can drastically change in the same store in a matter of days. Why is this? Well there are probably many reasons and I am not going to pretend to be a specialist in agricultural produce, but I think in the western world we forgett hat most fruit and vegetables are seasonal and not easily grown when it is not in season.

What do you mean not in season? I WANT IT NOW!!!! (Said by the average 1st world citizen)

That is fine, you can have it now, but you will have to pay for it (Said by the average supermarket/ grocery store)

That is fine, charge it to my credit card (Said by the average 1st world citizen)

Muahahahahahahahahahahahahaha (Said by the average bank who issued the credit card).

So this means where I live we get the privilege of getting such fruits as avocado all year round but the price can range from 75 cents to $5 each depending on the time of year. So the question is: “What is the value of an avocado?”

Well the answer is definitely $5 because I have paid that amount for one before and I really enjoyed it. I remember it as if it was yesterday, just me and my avocado, and a sandwich with just the right amount of cheese. I could hardly wait until I got home so that I could crack it open. It was magical and I treasured that avocado because the price was high so I made sure the value was as well.

But these days they are in season so they are as cheap as 75 cents so I bought three. That means instantly I have saved $12.75 in value as I have gotten $15 in value for only $2.25. I know I have lost those who don’t like maths. But I have gotten so much value and will enjoy it so much. But it didn’t work out like that. All of those 3 avocados were put in the fruit bowl and forgotten about, only to go off and to be chucked a week or so later. I got no value.

If you mentioned the word “banana” to an Australian a few months ago every one of them would start salivating. Why? Because there was a hurricane that killed 75% our bananas, so the ones left were expensive. Usually they are anywhere from $1 – $2.50 a kilo but they got as high as $14 – $18 per kilo. This meant bananas were like gold. If you got a chance to have access to a banana for free say at a function you would run to the table and crash tackle anyone that went near it. Sadly this average fruit is now premiere all because of its price.

Why is it that when we have full access to something we never use it but when it is hard to get we will go the extra mile? My parents are away overseas on a big trip around Europe. It is so hard to call them as I have to call one of 14 different hotels, get transferred to their room and hope they are home, plus call at a strange time for me because of the time difference. Even though this is hard, I have been wanting to call them a lot recently just to talk. But why have I not had the same urges when they are in Australia. I can call them for free when they are at home but instead I wait until it costs a fortune. What is wrong with me???

I have heard so many people during the banana shortage say “I will never take them for granted again” and then after the price comes down they do. I have also heard so many people say when loved ones go away “I will never take them for granted again” only for them to come back and to be forgotten quite quickly.

When it comes to people price should never determine value, but value should determine value. The value of a person is limitless, just something to remember.

Have Fun.

Dan

Hello and welcome to another episode of The Thursday Blog. You are going to enjoy today’s episode whether you are reading this for the first time or you like to post youtube videos of yourself reading each episode in different accents. They are great, you should subscribe to his channel.

Ok, I know I can’t have a title that mentions Justin Bieber and not launch directly into it. So here is today’s episode called:

Much more than Bieber Fever

I watched “Never say Never” the other night and I have not stopped thinking about it.

Yes, you got me. I just love his hair flick.

But there was something that impacted me more than his hair, more than his enormous success in such a short time, and more than his amazing voice or how gifted musician he is (I had no idea he could smash the drums). In fact the thing that impacted me had nothing to do with Justin. Funny when the whole movie was about him.

Let me start by saying this. From a marketing point of view Justin and his team are doing everything right. They have played such an impressive hand with what they had which was a very talented kid. But if you think about it there are many very talented kids out there yet this one has taken over the world. They used youtube to get his name out there, they forced their way onto radio by visiting each radio station in the country to play his song live; and by the time “Baby, Baby, Baby” was released he was an unstoppable force.

Now he is touring and doing some impressive things. Every show they walk around to find people without tickets and give them seats in the first 10 rows. He is getting guest artists to do shows with him from Miley Cyrus, Sean Kingston, Taylor Swift, and Usher etc. Also they have a tradition where he gets a girl up from the audience to serenade her during one of the songs. It simply adds to the hysteria that most of the girls in the audience experience when they see him.

So what impacted me so much that I have haven’t stopped thinking about it since seeing the movie? It was the fans.

I do not understand what happens to people when they get near celebrities. I really can’t work out why there is a natural reaction inside of us when we get in contact with certain people, that things don’t function like they normally do. It is like a survival mode kicks in and all we need is to get a glimpse of that person or we can’t survive. We may not think that but it is definitely the way we act.

You may think that this doesn’t happen to you – you don’t have Bieber fever so you are fine. But what if Steve Jobs walked into the room, or Micheal Jordan, or Barack Obama; even TD Jakes or Brian Houston. Maybe even the CEO of Tupperware if you are into that sort of thing. Sure you might not scream and faint, but if you were at a party and they were there would you spend the whole night thinking about them, looking over to what they are doing? Could you possibly leave for the night without at least saying “Hi”?

Now this surely isn’t a bad thing right? Some people are celebrated for what they do and have fans who love them, so what. I thought the same until I saw this movie. In this movie there were thousands of young girls just totally in love with Justin and were beside themselves. At one point there was a girl who was chosen for his “serenading” song, and afterwards she couldn’t stop crying. She was so emotionally moved that someone that she had wanted so much was with her for a moment, and now he was gone. Her friends received her back to their group with big hugs and they continued to scream and scream out for a man that will not be a part of their lives anymore.

I have a young daughter and I cannot bear the thought of her screaming out for the attention of someone that cannot hear her over the crowd. My Little Princess is more valuable than all the wealth of the world combined and she does not need to scream for anybody.

So are you, so stop screaming and the fever will pass.

Have Fun.

Dan

Hello and Welcome to another episode of The Thursday Blog. You are going to enjoy today’s episode whether you are reading this for the first time or are constantly getting the latest episodes tattooed onto your body. I have heard about you, you really need to stop. No matter how small the font is you will run out of space soon.

I told you these intro’s would get weirder.

Speaking of intro’s did you like that one I did last week? What is that? I didn’t do an intro? But I always do an intro every episode. WHAT IN THE WORLD, I DIDN’T WRITE AN EPISODE??????? Oh dear …

There goes my record.

As stated in my previous episode I was in a crazy crazy season as I got ready for Kidshaper Conference. Not only did I have to write my talk for a 40 minute elective, I also had to write 4 first drafts for our next installment of BIG plus I had to perfect my performance for opening night. That was a task in itself as I had been working on that performance for 6 weeks. Every single move had to be executed perfectly with accompanying silly facial expressions. If you are intrigued about what the performance was, you are going to have to ask one of the delegates because I have trouble explaining. Let’s just say it was an interpretive dance to “Eye of the Tiger” all whilst declaring my brotherly love for Saddleback Church’s Kids Pastor – Steve Adams. (See Photo) That is probably why it took 6 weeks to perfect.

So Kidshaper was absolutely brilliant and the time zoomed by. After I had finished my elective on the Friday I was hanging out with Dave and Nath just chilling. I was reading the 3D book made by Kidshaper and got to my article. At the end of it it said “Dan blogs at www.thethursdayblog.com” and I thought “OH MY GOODNESS I DID NOT WRITE AN EPISODE YESTERDAY!!!!”

Panic set it but there was nothing I could do. I didn’t have any creative juice left in my body after spending it all on the conference, and wouldn’t have a chance sneaking through a blog on Friday and trying to pass it as a Thursday blog (in America). There goes my two and a half year record.

Outrage hit the internet and the emails flooded in.

“Hey Dan. Where was The Thursday blog this week?” – Steve from New England
“Hey Dan. I was looking forward to a blog this week but didn’t get one. Why would you deny me of my basic human right.” – Sally from Blackpool

“Hey Dan. The Thursday Blog is my mid-week guide to life and without it I carelessly stumbled on a series of investments that turned out to pay an extremely high dividend and now I own a series of Starbucks coffee shops that are providing me with enough income to never have to work again. I am aware all of these things seem positive but imagine what could of happened if I had had my usual mid-week guide. I could own Gloria Jeans shops instead.” – Dale from California

“Hey Dan. Thanks for the break last week. I was running out of space on my body to tattoo your blog.” – Crazy Carl, Perth.

It is really funny that after 130 episodes every week without fai,l I simply forgot to do it. Normally I would of been completely gutted, I really would of been really angry with myself but I have realised something. I used to love these kinds of records. It has been 2.5 years of blogs without fail, it is 100 days of exercise, it’s 3 days since I made a really bad joke. Start counting that last one from zero…

If you try hard enough you can make a record out of anything and that is what I did. Why? Because it gave me a sense of achievement and self worth. This is not a good thing. In recent times I have started to let this go. Who honestly cares what I have done for what period of time. I am not defined by what I do or how long I have been doing it for; but rather for who I am.

I want to be loving, I want to be caring, I want to be encouraging, I want to be uplifting, I want to be fun, I want to be someone who imparts hope, faith, value, respect, laughter. I really don’t mind if I am not the guy who never forgets to blog.

Have Fun.

Dan

Hello and Welcome to another episode of The Thursday Blog. You are going to enjoy today’s episode whether you are reading this for the first time or you read it so often that when you order breakfast you ask for “coffee, eggs, bacon, toast, hash brown and the Thursdayblog please”. If the cafe doesn’t know what you are talking about, therefore doesn’t print off a copy of the latest blog to give to you to enjoy with your coffee, you walk out in disgust. This is why most café’s now have it pre-printed.

I hope you are enjoying my new intro’s series. For those of you that have just started reading this blog because it was given to you with your bacon and eggs at a café; you would not know about the tradition of an intro series. From time to time I get stuck on an intro and I create a whole series of them. This will continue up to a point where the intro gets totally out of hand and cannot exist in this realm of reality. This has happened a number of times including the most famous one that took the entire episode just to do the intro. So if you think that pre-printed blogs at café’s is a bit out there, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

Now it is time for today’s episode which is called

Graced for a season

It was only last Wednesday when I had my first clue that I was in an extremely busy season. Even though I knew it was coming for a long time it did sort of jump up on me. It was Wednesday night and I was trying to write a first draft script of the Big Curriculum number 4; and it was taking a lot longer than I had anticipated. I kept working on it and at close to midnight I had finished.
Surely it wouldn’t require that much work as it is only the first draft and we usually go through 25-100 drafts to get to the final script, but this year we have decided to change the format which makes it incredibly awesome for the viewer but incredibly hard for the writer. So averaging 5 hours for the first draft is something I have to get used to.
Now I thought this was a good effort, one I could repeat a number of times over the upcoming months. Unfortunately the season had changed and we really needed these due by the 25th, before we all go to Kidshaper.
Kidshaper!!! I had a performance to create, practice and polish as well as prepare the greatest elective known to man. I still had my family that loves to see me and would appreciate me spending time with them. I also had a close friend that had experienced a tragedy and I wanted to spend a lot of time with him. I should be able to fit it all in, right? Hang on: I HAVEN’T FACTORED IN MY FULL TIME JOB!!!!
Everything on my list was important and normally I would make a wise call to cut things out to make it more manageable but something felt different this time. I feel like this will be a short season and if I go for it, I will be helped.
Yesterday I tried something I haven’t done in a long time. I left for work at 7:45am and returned back from work at 6:15pm. From 6:15pm to 7:30pm I spent time with my family – bathed my Little Princess, got her into bed, ate dinner with my Princess. Then from 7:30pm I wrote, and wrote and wrote and by 4am I had finished the final two drafts of the Summer Series. I then went to bed for 3 hours to wake up at 7am to look after my Little Princess while my Princess went to work for the morning, only to have her come back at 11:45am when I gave them both a kiss and went off to work until 9pm that night.
Isn’t it amazing what you can do when you are graced for a season. I couldn’t dream about being able to what I did (mainly because dreaming involves sleep and I ain’t getting any) but I have been able to do it and it wasn’t that hard. Today at work I have been fine. This is strange because it was only last month when I stayed up to 1am playing games on my phone and the next day I was wrecked. Probably because iphone games don’t have a season.
So if you want a moral and most usually do then it will be this. Sometimes you will have no idea how you got through something that you did, all you know is that you were Graced for the Season.

Have Fun

Dan.

Now you thought last time I had a rock star guest with Yancy but I think I have topped it with Clayton Hurst!!!

The funny thing about Clayton is that even though he is the children and families pastor of Lakewood Church – the biggest Church in America he really is such a down to earth, humble and fun guy. This did not stop me from rigging the test when we played ‘Is Clayton a Rock Star’.

If you want to read Clayton’s blog, you can’t because he doesn’t have one. Hey leave him along. It is not in the constitution that all kidmin must blog!!! He does tweet here and also can be found on cmconnect here. That is where we first met all those years (or months) ago.

Enjoy listening and when you get up to the part about Travis friend eating Vegemite you can see that by clicking here and I have also got the Joel Osteen vs Young Tim Allan pic here.

Hello and Welcome to another episode of The Thursday Blog. You are going to enjoy today’s episode whether you are reading this for the first time or you have used this as a mid-week guide to life for many years and built a global empire specialising but not limited to, lighting products.

So here we are again. Wow, the eye of the tiger just started on my ipod, I feel so pumped.

In the blue corner: weighing in at slightly more pounds than he did before Christmas…….. Dan the Panther Lee-Archer.

Oh, it is now Party Rock Anthem, this could get interesting. I am not going to do another episode influenced by an ipod on shuffle like I have done before; instead I will simply admit that everyday I’m shuffling, and move on towards today’s episode called:

Start by opening your mouth

Have you ever been in a situation where you are forced to simply make something up on the spot? Well that happened to me and to tell you the story we must take the overseas journey to a land called Rwanda.

In the year I can’t remember and can’t be bothered to look up, I journeyed to Rwanda as part of a youth team for the Hope Rwanda project. This was a project started by Mark Zschech (you may have heard of him) and his wife Darlene Zschech (now you know who I am talking about). The project was to give the country 100 days of hope to combat the 100 days of evil that happened only a number of years earlier. Churches from around the world sent people who did everything from building houses to holding youth events (that is what we did). It was awesome but when we went to a youth pastors training conference I was put in a very funny situation.

I was asked to speak for 5 mins at this conference speaking to a number of youth pastors from the area. Normally I perform rather than speak and I was asked to do it just before I got in the car to drive there; but I had 2 hours drive to prepare so I was up for the challenge. I took that whole car trip to prepare my little message and when I felt confident I confirmed what I was doing with the Rwandan youth pastor (yes they have one pastor that is in charge of all youth pastors in all churches – cool hey).

“So as the leader of my group told me, I am speaking for a little bit at the start of this conference then I will pass to you. Is that right?”

“Yes that’s right. You will speak for the first 40 minutes and then I will take over.”

Dan starts spluttering.

“Sorry how long???”

“About 40 minutes, but you can go for 45 -50 if you like. Isn’t that what Danielle (our missions coordinator) told you?”

Dan almost fainting.

“Yes, of course she did”.

About 10 minutes later we arrive (late) and I get rushed into the hall straight onto the stage and introduced to the conference. Sure there was only 30-40 people there but the expectation of the special guest from Australia was tremendous. I didn’t know what to do so I simply started by opening my month. I spoke my prepared five minutes on using creativity to bring youth into our ministry. After about 3 minutes my 5 minutes was done and I was out on my own.

“I want you to think…”

(Pause whilst thinking what am I going to say)

“I want you to really think…”

(Longer pause whilst thinking what am I going to say)

“In fact I want you to close your eyes’’

(Awkwardly long pause whilst thinking what in the world are you doing!!!!!)

“I want you to think …………..”

I was at the end of the road here. I had prepared all I could, I had tried my best and with all the confidence I could muster I had brought myself to here. Then a beautiful thing happened. I thought of something to say.

I learnt something very important that day. Sometimes it doesn’t matter if you don’t know where you are heading just as long as you are moving. I really didn’t know what I was going to say but I did know that I wanted to help these people, and I was willing to do it no matter how hard it was. This can be true in our relationships. We want to connect with people at work but we don’t know what to say. You want to talk and get to know your teenage child but feel like you are in another country. You want to tell your family, friend or neighbour about the miracle of Jesus but you haven’t had enough time to prepare. Sometimes all you need to do is simply start and see what happens. Your desire to help will speak louder than any words you could say.

Have Fun.

Dan

Hello everyone and welcome back to another fantastic episode of The Thursday Blog. You are going to love today’s episode whether you are reading this for the first time or your family have issued a computer ban from Friday to Wednesday as you have a habit of after reading the latest episode of your beloved blog, still sitting there for the rest of the week hitting refresh every few seconds hoping in vain for another episode; much like Mark Zuckerberg at the end of The Social Network.

Today, four years ago, I bawled my eyes out crying as I saw the beautiful sight of my Princess walking down the aisle and choosing me, under her own free will, to be her husband. Each year on our anniversary I sit and try to do something that is close to impossible. I try and describe her beauty and communicate how much I love her. Four years on, this has not changed and ………

The poet is still in love

When I was young, I was a dreamer. Oh you should have seen my dreams. I could run faster than the speed of light, I could jump from building to building, I could entertain thousands if not millions and have the audience in the palm of my hands. Nothing was impossible in my dreams and only the impossible was wished for.

When I was young I dreamt of being rich. Money would be made and multiplied and nothing that was wanted would not be obtained. I could have rooms upon rooms filled with every wish and desire a boy could think of; like magic, everything I touched turned to gold.

I do not have this kind of wealth but I have found something that has made me immensely rich.

When I was young I dreamt of being famous. All would know my name and countless people would adore me. I would be accepted, I would be loved, I would be treasured by people all over the globe.

I do not have this kind of fame but I have found someone whose opinion of me means more than all the others combined.

When I was young I wanted to be successful. I wanted to be the best in the world in a specialised area, so that I could devote my life to a life’s work.

I do not have that kind of success but I have found a greater cause to devote my life’s work to.

Don’t you see my Princess what you have done to me. You have not caused me to forget my dreams but you have enlarged them. All the wealth I could possible think of doesn’t compare to the value you are in my life. All the fame, accolades, and love from the world’s public cannot add up to a fraction of the value I receive from one moment with you. I would place no greater importance in life than to be the Husband, Father and Servant of God that I am called to be.

You have never sought to change me but every minute I spend with you inspires me to grow. You have such a genuine love, one so unique that I have never seen anything quite like it. You love people for who they are not what they can do. You find joy in the most unlikely places – from finding a temporarily lost toy, to earning points on a loyalty card from a shop that you will never visit again. You laugh and my goodness when you laugh the whole of heaven rejoices at the beauty of the sound. And when you lie in my arms, with you eyes closed tight, I am reminded that I am the richest, most loved, successful and blessed man in the world.

I love you my Princess.

Love your Faithful Husband

Daniel Joseph Lee-Archer

It is not everyday you get to host a Radio show with a Rockstar. When it comes to Kidmin and rockstars you don’t get much bigger (she was pregnant but she has lost the weight now) and better than Yancy.

You can check out her here or you can search for her on itunes. She has some awesome music.

This show was so much fun. We play our first ever game with our host called ‘Is Yancy Fancy?’. It was very funny you should check it out.

Have Fun

FMD

This is the first episode of season two where it all changed. Using a secret in technology we were able to produce a high quality show. Season one had so many technology issues but season two fixed all of them and is 1000% better. I would love to relate that to a tv show that got better in season two and went on to have great success but I can’t think of one. It would of been great if I could.

So here is the first episode of Season 2 with my very special guest Sam Luce.

If you don’t know who Sam Luce is I suggest you go here and be like everyone else in kidmin and read his blog. The guy is a genius.

Have Fun

Dan

Hello everyone and welcome back to another fantastic episode of The Thursday Blog. You are going to love today’s episode whether you are reading this for the first time or have just got back from your overseas holiday from the depths of the African jungle 3 weeks early, because when you arrived there you realised they did not have internet access therefore you couldn’t access this blog so you booked the first return flight home.

Well it is late on a Thursday night and I am once again trying to write someone before I fall asleep. I would love to give the allusion that today’s episode is from years of thought, solitude and prayer; but that is definitely not the case. Todays’ episode is straight off the cuff but I am going to tell you a story that I have told lot of people recently, so I have slowly perfected it before it is delivered to you, my wider audience. So rest assured even though this is hastily typed the content has been finely refined. That is enough intro for today’s episode called:

‘Automatic response’

I am trying to learn how to play tennis. I have always liked tennis and have been considered to be ok at it. I can hit the ball back and my serve occasionally goes in no matter how slow it may be. This is the level that myself and a bunch of friends were all at when we got into it 5 years ago. We used to play each week on a tennis court I had access to. We all had various skills but were fairly matched up except for one of our friends who was easily the worst in our group. The funny thing is this really frustrated our friend that he couldn’t play so he set out to learn. 5 years on he is a phenomenal player and can smash every single one of us without trying.

So I decided that I wanted to learn how to play tennis better. I thought the best way would be to work on my weakest part of my game: my serve. It was slow, boring and if the person receiving it was any good they could smash it back without trying. It was like they were playing Wii sports tennis where with just the simple flick of the wrist, the ball flies into the top left corner. So to practice my serves I asked for my birthday present to be a whole bunch of balls and a ball stand. This way I can practice a hundred serves in a session and start to get better. The only problem is, I didn’t have a tennis court.

I don’t know where you are from but in Sydney, tennis courts cost a lot of money to use so I wasn’t going to spend $20 an hour just to practice my serves. Then I had a brain waive, I could use the cricket nets.

For my international friends, cricket is a sport where someone throws a ball at a batsman and they hit it. Similar to baseball except the person throwing the ball can’t bend his arm so they run to the line and “bowl” it overarm. The batter has a flat bat that he hold in his hand with the end touching the ground and he can hit the ball in any direction then start running. See, exactly like baseball……….. except it goes for 5 days.

So a cricket net is a netted rectangle where the bowler and batter can practice. Now here was my brain wave. I measured out how long the box that you serve into is, and I went to the nets and measured out that same distance from the back. Then at that point I tied a rope from one end of the net to the other, at the height of the net. Then I measure how far back the baseline is to stand back on and I have a makeshift court. If I can get the ball over the net, to hit the floor before hitting the back it is a successful serve. All I have to do is measure out the court.

I went to the courts with my tape measure and it was closed and locked up. This was frustrating as I was hoping someone had booked it so it would be unlocked. I returned another day and it was locked again. This was starting to get annoying. It was looking like I had to make a booking and pay $20 just to measure up a tennis court. Then at the peak of my frustration a little voice inside me said “hey child of the eighties, it is called the internet”.

Sure enough there was 40,000 sites containing the information I needed including wikipedia, www.tenniscourtsmeasurements.com, www.servingpracticeinacricketnet.com and www.letstopdanwonderingaroundtenniscourtswithatapemeasure.org

For some random reason my natural reaction was to take matters into my own hand and go measure things myself. But here is the kicker – if the court wasn’t locked I wouldn’t of realised I was doing things the long way. It makes me wonder how many things in life we are dealing with according to our natural reaction, when if we sat back and really thought about it we are choosing the long and harder option.

Something to ponder whilst you

Have Fun.

Dan