A Quote to Start Things Off

""I'd love to go to Santa Fe at some point, Emmett said, but for the time being, I need to go to New York. The panhandler stopped laughing and adopted a more serious expression. Well. that's life in a nutshell, aint it. Lovin' to go to one place and havin' to go to another. Amor Towles in the Lincoln Highway.

Search Me!

Pictures of Memories I

Pictures of Memories I
Snow kidding! These "kids" now range from 17 to 23

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Don't wait a few days

September is blogger's month at Compassion.  They are pulling out all the stops to have their compassion bloggers talk about a simple way we can help children in poverty.

Starting next week, I will be writing one post each week about Compassion.  I am going to do this, even though I am extremely busy (2 full time jobs and  taking1 class).  I will do this for 2 reasons 1: The ministry of Compassion International is  important to me.  Compassion saves lives by providing needed food , health, and educational opportunities.  They also transform lives by sharing the Gospel of Jesus through word and deed.

2: The Compassion blogger whose blog generates the most sponsorships  in the month of September will go on a 2013   blogging trip (Bloggers go to compassion countries and blog from the field) at Compassion's expense.  I want that to be me.   

Going on a trip like that, is not within our families  financial abilities and probably will not be for some time.   It would be the trip of a lifetime for a ministry that I heartily endorse.
With that said, If you are interested in saving a child's physical life and providing opportunity for spiritual transformation, sponsor a child from Compassion today!!!!!

Don't wait until September.  Don't think  about me and my little dreams.  Think about Sukatra from Bangladesh who has been waiting for 209 days for a sponsor. Think out Wendtoin who is turning 4 today, who lives in an AIDS area of  Burkina Faso.   She also has been waiting 209 days for a sponsor.  Think about the many children that Compassion cannot help until the ones they are helping have sponsors.
Click here to sponsor a child today. You can even sponsor the children I mentioned.   If I didn't convince you today, I will be back next month to try again.

If you are a blogger, interested in participating in blogging month check out this link so you can participate as well.







Bill Nye: Creationism Is Not Appropriate For Children - OPV

I don't believe any of this, but I post it here.  Spider Droid and I are going to make a response video to this soon.
.


Monday, August 20, 2012

Randy Stonehill on Compassion

Our family went to Indiana over the weekend to visit our friends and see the baby they just adopted.  We coordinated the visit so we could see Randy Stonehill, my favorite Christian artist, in concert.  Here he is articulating whypeople should sponsor children with Compassion International.  I will post some of his songs later this week.


Saturday, August 11, 2012

Risk Legacy-the game of champions!

Spider Droid has co-opted a game that I received for Christmas called Risk Legacy. It's much like the Risk game of the olden days, but this game changes every time you play it. You get to name countries, dominate territories permanently, etc. He wants to play it ALL the time. I enjoy playing with him as well, but the girls do NOT enjoy playing it. Amy does not understand how to play it, despite numerous tutorials. So Spider Droid has long wished to invite some of his friends over to really get into the game. Today is that day!
Risk Legacy-the game of champions!

For more six word Saturday, head on over to

Monday, August 6, 2012

What about the other 1010?




This summer our children participated in our local library's summer reading program.  This is always a big deal in our family.  Spider Droid made sure that he was the first one to sign up and also read very diligently and was the first one to finish.  As the summer went on, each of our children finished the program.  When the children finish they receive a free book of their choosing and several prizes from local businesses, like certificates for a free Frostee from Wendy's, and vouchers for free tickets to  a local minor league baseball team.

As you enter the childrens' section of the library you see this sign . . .

This picture was taken a day or two before the program ended, so I would imagine the final count would be pretty similar.

When I saw the sign, I asked myself the question, that serves as the title of this post,

What about the other 1,010?

I mentioned what the finishers got out of participating in the program.  But what did the non finishers get out of it?


Here is what I think . . .

Each child who participated the  program gained something from it.  Those who finished and even those who got 1/2 way stickers (which the poster did not mention) received something tangible.  But I think all participants received intangible rewards (some without even knowing it.)

I wonder how many of those 1,010 children result of entering the program.  I'd imagine the number quite high since only library materials can be used for the program and those materials must be read or listened to off of library grounds.  Now our family checks out 100's if not thousands of books each year.  But for some families, a library book is a special treat.  So if any of the 1,010 children took out a book for the only time all year this summer, that is a wonderful thing.

Since our library lets children from 0 to 12 participate in the summer reading program (there are separated programs for teens, and adults).  Some of the reading that is done over the summer is by parents and older siblings to younger children.  Any of the 1,010 who did not finish or the 632 that did, who were read to as a result of this program experienced something magical.

Another  thing that may have happened with a great number of participants in the program this year,  (regardless of whether they recorded finishing the  program) is they may have discovered a favorite author, book, genre, series, or subject this summer.  Some may have discovered the joy of reading.

Achievement and accomplishment are wonderful things.  I think that so much is achieved and accomplished when children or anyone reads or is read to for enjoyment.  I would say that the 1,642 children who participated, may not have all finished, but each one achieved.

A to Z 2023 Road Trip

#AtoZChallenge 2023 RoadTrip