(Photo by compujeramey)

I expect that after reading the title that my some of you have already stopped reading because you have no idea what I am talking about.  Some of you are in step with me and are interested to learn more about my adventures in Twitter and photos.  Some of you are still clueless and are reading just because you are curious and think that maybe you could learn something.  Congratulations if you are still reading.  If you know what Twitpic and Flickr2Twitter are, you can skip ahead a little bit.  If not, please read on and soak up the social goodness that I will impart to you.

First you must have an idea of what Twitter is.  Twitter is micro-blogging officially.  Short updates about peoples’ lives from people that you choose to follow.  If you are not reading this blog in an RSS reader, you can see on the right column a bird tweeting my latest Twitter update. You can see a whole list of updates from me by going to my Twitter profile page.  Ok, so you have an idea of what Twitter is.

Twitpic is a service that integrates with Twitter and allows you to update your Twitter status with a link to a picture that you took with your phone.  It also works with photos on your computer or webcam.  I like to update Twitter from my mobile phone and it is cool to be able to send those pictures to share with everyone who follows me.

Flickr just introduced the new service Flickr2Twitter.  It works in the same way only my photos get uploaded to my Flickr account where I can tag, organize, and share them further.  The photo goes into  Flickr and then updates my Twitter status with a link to the photo.

I switched to Flickr because it gives me more control over the photos that I upload.  It is a lot easier to view them in Flickr as well.  The downside to Flickr is that you can only upload so much data per month under the free account.  I still have Twitpic active and will occasionally use that service as well, but I think that Flickr is going to win out because of what else I can do  with my photos after I upload them.

What is your favorite photo sharing service for Twitter?

Updated: Changed out the cruddy photo of me for a different pic at Faith’s request.

Here is the video from Courtney and Brent’s Wedding Reception.  Glad that I married into a dancing family.

Simmons Wedding Reception from Chris Walker on Vimeo.

I am feeling a little crazy right now.  It is 6 AM on Saturday morning and I am awake because I want to be.  I don’t have to go anywhere or do anything, I just want more time out of my day.  So I am attempting to hack my sleep pattern to get more sleep and maximize my time to get things done.  I did fall short of my goal on the first day though.  I wanted to go to bed at 10 PM, but it was after 1030 when I was really settling down.  I also wanted to be up and moving at 5 AM, but it was after 5:30 before I really started moving.  But I am still up before the kids and I can prepare for the rest of my day without distraction.  I still feel a little nuts, but I think that this could be a very good thing for me.  Pray for me because I have never been a morning person.

The last month has been a big blur for me.  Beginning with SOS, then my flooded basement, the 4th of July, and an out of town wedding, I feel like I am way behind.  I came home from work yesterday completely exhausted and realized that my grass had not been cut since before the 4th.  Long grass does not agree with my mulching lawn mower.  So despite the fact that my eyes did not want to stay open and my body ached from dancing all night on Saturday, I took the kids outside after dinner and proceeded to cut down my jungle of a yard.  The more that I worked, the easier it was to keep going, but I knew that I was ready to crash.  I felt better about my yard, but I probably could have gone to bed at 8 PM.

I also feel like I am way off of my blogging routine.  I have some cool stuff to share, but have struggled to find time to put it all together.  Right now, I am really just trying to get back into a good routine and get more sleep.  The blogging will follow naturally.  At least I have still had time to tweet.  More cool stuff coming soon.

Last Thursday night, approximately 6 inches of rain fell in 2 hours where I live.  In almost 5 years living in our house, we have never had water leak into the basement, until now.  Friday morning we found our basement ankle deep in water that backed up through the shower drain.  People all over our city had water in their basement from this storm.  I should have taken a picture of our street on garbage day because everyone had furniture and carpet piled high on the street.  Our basement is 3/4ths finished and half of it is carpeted.  Well, it was carpeted.  I spent Sunday and Monday evenings ripping up soaking wet carpeting that was glued to the cement floor.  It was not a lot of fun, but I am glad to be rid of the stinky wetness.  Now my basement floor looks like this.

This is actually the floor after I pulled up the first piece of carpet, but the rest of it is out now.  It was a lot easier on Monday when my brother was able to help me pull it up.  So now the really crappy part of my story is that my home owners insurance covers none of this damage because it came up through a drain pipe.  I have to add a rider to my insurance to cover this specific cause of damage.  Fortunately, our damage was not as bad as most of our neighbors.  We lost the carpet, a few toys, and probably some furniture, but it is all just stuff.  By the grace of God, I moved my computer upstairs about 2 weeks ago.  That would have been really bad.  We will be washing a lot of stuff and I haven’t made it to my Christmas decorations yet.  Hoping that nothing critical is unsaveable.

Now I get to redo my basement and this time, no carpet.  We are going to put down vinyl tile and throw rugs.  everything else is getting stored in plastic bins.  We will have to purchase some new furniture at some point, but that is okay because it gives me an excuse to go to IKEA.

If you were keeping up with this blog last week then you were treated to all kinds of Twitter updates from Summer of Service.  You can go see my updates for each day through the links below.

SOS Day 1
SOS Day 2
SOS Day 3
SOS Day 4
SOS Day 5

It was quite an amazing week for me.  I had the opportunity to give up my day job for 5 days and lead a team of High School guys on a week long journey of loving God and loving people.  SOS stretched me physically, emotionally, and spiritually all week long.  We started off each day with worship before heading out into the city to give away water, build walls for Habitat Houses, throw block parties in poor neighborhoods, and other God inspired outreaches.  One day we sat down with our team and prayed together about where God wanted us to go to help other people.  We were given $80 and a bus that would go anywhere in the area that we wanted to.  We ended up at a community center where we cleaned up trash on their baseball diamond and bought pizza for the staff that was working there.  We met several other people and prayed with them as well.  The most emotional part of the week was a new addition called Be The Difference.  This was an exercise that forced us to take a hard look at ourselves and how we treat other people.  We heard personal stories of pain and hurt that was given by peers and loved ones.  We sat down in small groups and shared our personal experiences of how we had been hurt in our past and how it has shaped us today.  I was reminded that things from 15 years ago still affect how I approach relationships today.  I saw the pain of other people and cried for them because of what they have suffered.  I also cried in thankfulness that I have been fortunate to avoid many painful experiences.  On one evening we through a Luau for 700 people with special needs.  We had food, games, movies, and a dance party complete with decorations and grass skirts.  It was so much fun to celebrate with everyone and just have a lot of fun.

Things that I learned at SOS.

• I became very aware that my boldness and my willingness to take risks has greatly lessened over the years.  I am an extrovert, but I found myself being hesitant to go talk to complete strangers.  It was encouraging to me to see the students jump in without hesitation.
• I am very fortunate to have all that I have.  The problems that I face in my life are small potatoes compared to what other people have to live with for the rest of their lives.
• Even though I might think a comment is insignificant, it could be causing others great hurt.
• I was reminded that God wants good for me, not trouble.
• Jelly donuts have a hard time staying together when fired from a water balloon slingshot.
• People have a hard time believing that something is actually free.

For 1 week, a group of 900 kids and hundreds of volunteers were completely intentional about loving and helping other people.  If we could take that beyond a one week conference, how would this world be different?  If 900 students are different because of their experiences this week, how will they make a difference for the rest of their lives?

Micah 6:8 says,
“He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.”

What about now?

8:04:18 AM: Power was out all night. Hoping I can keep the battery charged to send #summerofservice updates today.

9:21:27 AM: @ragtagmama is at home with no power and 2 inches of water in the basement while I play at #summerofservice all day.

9:29:42 AM: @javelintiger please pray for her…she is almost as wiped as i am

12:12:30 PM: http://twitpic.com/8h18d – #summerofservice – facepainting at the block party.

2:52:44 PM: http://twitpic.com/8hjbm -

4:03:45 PM: Listening to Robbie Reider warm up for tonight. “I love you more than ever.” #summerofservice

7:05:49 PM: http://twitpic.com/8if5h – Robbie Reider rockin #summerofservice

7:13:16 PM: It is baptism time at #summerofservice

9:09:56 AM: Today is a special day at #summerofservice. I cannot tell you about the surprise yet though. Please pray for what is about to go down.

9:14:45 AM: Jelly donuts being launched by a slingshot with radar speed detector #summerofservice

10:58:21 AM: http://twitpic.com/8dho1 – On our way to be the difference.

4:38:11 PM: Done with be the difference. WOW! Now onto the big surprise. #summerofservice

5:28:49 PM: So the big secret is that we are recreating The Prom and throwing a Lual for 500 of our closest friends with special needs. #summerofservice

5:43:36 PM: http://twitpic.com/8errh – My team is running games. #summerofservice

10:31:07 PM: http://twitpic.com/8fl9u – @milthaler in a double grass skirt. #summerofservice

10:32:55 PM: Tonight we threw a huge luau tonight and made a lot of new friends. Today was a day of stretching for me. #summerofservice

7:50:43 AM: Probably no way for me to make it to the SOS LEADERS MEETING ON TIME. too many rd closings in W. Chester. Traffic sucks. #summerofservice

8:11:29 AM: I have now been trying to get to VCC FOR 1 HR. Traffic fail.

8:18:53 AM: It looks like all of the lights on 747 in Beckett ridge are out. Plus Tylersville is closed frm 747 to 75.

8:20:58 AM: lights r back on now that i have wasted 45 min of my morning

8:31:30 AM: Took 1 hr 2 go frm 129 to union center.

9:04:47 AM: It is too early to sing songs with dances and hand movements. #summerofservice

9:17:08 AM: http://twitpic.com/89z82 – The Freak Show Day 2

9:56:40 AM: Kande Wilson is on stage with John and Tanya Key talking about social injustice.

11:38:32 AM: Today my group is doing E2, a holy spirit led outreach. I will update you on where God leads us today. #summerofservice

1:42:11 PM: On the bus headed to Hyde Park area to love on people.

3:05:55 PM: http://twitpic.com/8avae – Pickin up trash.

3:09:13 PM: http://twitpic.com/8avpi – Pickin trash #summerofservice

5:05:26 PM: Retreating to Skyline for some good eats.

6:17:28 PM: http://twitpic.com/8bgvg – Long line at Chipotle. #summerofservice

6:41:41 PM: Jeremy Riddle is playing tonight at #summerofservice

7:05:50 PM: http://twitpic.com/8bm0c – Jeremy Riddle leading worship at #summerofservice

7:22:16 PM: Singing let it rain. My dad’s favorite. LOL!

8:02:17 PM: Beth Gueckenberger is speaking tonight #summerofservice

8:33:30 PM: Experience ->Reflection ->Change ->Action #summerofservice

8:49:19 PM: http://twitpic.com/8bxes – Big prayer time #summerofservice

9:02:40 PM: http://twitpic.com/8bytd – Still praying #summerofservice