The Pillmans

 Remote work or in person work. That is the question these days. Rather than where work takes place it is the nature of our transactions between coworkers: Are they transactional or relational? Much of work is things we do for our fellow coworkers. It is more enjoyable and we do it better if it is a relational transaction (e.g. like bringing a cake to my friends birthday party) and not transactional (a call with comcast about bills). It's also true that many of our best friends and relationships are the result of circumstances and not choice. Few of us choose our first college roommate or our platoonmates in the military. So the goal of good work culture is to provide the circumstances that create a relationship for our work and coworkers rather than caring about the physical location of the rest of our transactions. Do I care where my friend texts me from to invite me to a birthday party? No. But without some type of shared physical experience together it is hard to have a gre...

Dear friends and family, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! In case you were wondering, here is a little update about our year together.  Early this year, we were vacationing in Daytona Beach, FL. Playing at the ocean with our two children, we enjoyed the sunny and rainy days in the tide. At home, we were moving and building our garden structure, as well as developing a natural playground in the woods. We adventured, by camping in our DIY tiny house, and also camping at Lake Beauty Bible Camp with family. Most enjoyed the swimming and horseback riding. Soon after, we learned a baby girl was on her way and due on March 2nd, 2022! Lucas was changing roles at work and is now a Product Manager at Airborne, while Katie took on teaching roles to help tutor in reading and host a neighborhood Vacation Bible School. Our family was enjoying the Pillman Family Reunion. Playing games and swimming at a neighbor’s pool, it was great to catch up! As Fall began, it was exciting to welcome our F...

Hello family and friends,  We are getting excited about the arrival of the new year 2021, but here is what we have been up to this past year, 2020, in case you were curious...    We had the goal as a family to try and find ways to be twice as helpful this year, but found it extremely difficult under the circumstances. You guessed it, Covid-19, among other things, shook up our lives in more ways than one. Nonetheless, it has been an interesting year, particularly full of family time, rest, and reflection.     However, we have been blessed in different ways than are normally expected: Such as purchasing a new house two months earlier than planned. We were able to move in early summer and secure it even after 15 other offers! Each day we continue to be thankful for God’s provision of more space, being closer to Lucas’ work, and the unexpected things such as a nice view looking out at our deck and backyard. Despite Covid-19 restrictions, we have still been able...

Another pitfall but also an opportunity surrounds the core question of “who is my neighbor” when it comes to how we measure helpfulness. While I write this my daughter is patiently asking for me to play with her doll. I might by helping someone by writing this (That’s the hope. More on this later.) but at the same time I’m not helping my daughter learn and grow. The key then to understanding being more helpful is that it both includes those close to me like my wife and daughter even as we partner together to be more helpful to others. Jesus answered this question with a story: The Good Samaritan.  The answer to the question of who is those in our path of life that need mercy. I think of this sometimes like a pyramid weighted by need and opportunity. At the bottom of the pyramid is my family. I see them often and I’m responsible for much love and mercy as it relates to them. And it is a pleasure for the record. Next are those I already have a commitment to and interact wit...

Many goals are setup around improving ourselves or situation in life. Get a promotion at work, find that soulmate to marry, or even find a gym and get in shape. Yet, I think each one of us is called more to help others and not put ourselves first.   Our family goal this year is to double our helpfulness to others. Worthy and lofty as the goal may first appear, I find several distinct challenges and many possible pitfalls along the journey. Indeed, at this moment I don’t even know how to decide or measure we were twice as helpful in 2020. For example, how do I know what the baseline of helpfulness is? How helpful was I in 2019? It’s unclear. There is no helpfulness score. No number, no metric. So that will be part of the what we will discover this year. Next up, helpful to who, how, and why.

We wish you all a Happy New Year! After looking back on the year 2019, we find there were big changes in our life and much to be grateful. Such as the arrival of our baby girl, Anna Grace Pillman! She was born this January, 2019. As a joyful new member of our family, we rejoice in her excitement to explore the world around her. It is fun to watch her reach milestones, look at books, and repeatedly take all the clothes out of her laundry basket. She also makes a great travel buddy and has accompanied us on many trips this summer. She came with us on a local mission’s trip to Trinity First, a school in Minneapolis, where we assisted with the summer program and cleaning preparations for the upcoming school year. Anna, about six months at the time, was held and enjoyed by many of the kids and mission teammates from our church. Anna has also been busy travelling with me to ESL tutoring at Trinity First twice a week, women’s group, story time, and not to mention on all errands. I ha...