The Maxson Homepage on the WWW
I have a free subscripton to Software Development magazine. In May's issue, they have an article talking about hardware "must-haves." One of the things they mention is the OQO. This is a real computer but is the size of a PDA. I tried to link to the article on the Software Development website but it requires a subscription and is TERRIBLY slow. So, I scanned the portion of the article talking about the OQO. To read it, click the thumbnail below.
When I got to work this morning, Randy (my boss) mentioned that Alan wouldn't be in. Alan's grandma had passed away over the weekend. We need to remember Alan and his family in our prayers
This wasn't totally unexpected. Alan had mentioned on Friday that his grandma wasn't doing well; however, I didn't get the impression that it would be this soon at all.
I scanned the certificates the Men of HBC got over the weekend for helping HSM and FFC. To see larger versions of these images, simply click them. If you want to read more about our mission trip to help HSM and FFC, read this blog post.
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I always like to think about situations to see what I can learn from them. Recently, I posted about a modern day miracale. Here are two things I think we can learn from this:
1. God still does miracales. And not just healing miracles either. God made the water flow into that baptistry. God met the needs of those orphans in a miraculous way. If he did it in the past, he can do it again.
2.Sometimes we have to step out in faith first. What would have happened if the people had refused to take some of the little water they had and baptise with it? What would have happened if the widow in the Bible had refused to make the cake? We don't know the answer, but God may want us to take the first step before he meets our needs. God may or may not have made the widow's flour and oil not run out if she hadn't made the cake. God may or may not have met the orphanage's water need if they didn't use some to baptise. But, we do know that if we do what God wants with what we have at the moment, God will provide what we need.
Yesterday, the Men of Highland Baptist Church went to Priceton WV to help out Heaven Sent Ministries. While we were there, Lyle shared many stories with us. Here is one of them:
HSM helps sponsor an orphanage in India. There, they have a baptistry (essentially, just a concrete hole in the ground. You can see a picture of it here. Well, this orphanage needed a well, so they drilled one several years ago. When it was being drilled, the well was cursed by the Hindus in the area. The director then prayed to God and asked Him to provide water in such a way that everyone would know what happened (kind of a modern day Mt. Carmel experience). Well, they reached water after drilling only 150-200 feet! The other wells in the area are 800-900 feet deep. That is exciting, but there is more!
Fast-forward two years. That area is in a drought. Eventually, the pump became exposed and burnt up. While they were waiting on the pump to be repaired, Lyle went over to baptise some people (about 70). They had to go get water and truck it in in barrels. They filled the baptistry, Lyle baptised the people, then left. Several weeks later, Lyle received a call from the director.
To conserve water, the orphans had dipped the baptistry dry and watered plants with it. Well, this concrete hole filled up with water again! They dipped it out once again to water plants. Guess what? It filled up again! And not just a trickle either…water was shooting into the baptistry from the ground. They saw what was going on, cleaned out the baptistry so they could drink the water. Guess what?
Water filled up the baptistry from April to August. The flow of water stopped only when the pump was returned and placed into service once again.
Bear in mind, this wasn't because of rain, or seepage. This place is a desert! God caused that water to flow into that baptistry to provide for the needs of those orphans when their well was inoperable.
Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow!
Sorry for not blogging yesterday. The Men's Ministry from Highland went to Princeton yesterday to work with a ministry called Heaven Sent Ministries and Food for Children. I met Lyle, the founder, about three years ago when I he called and asked me about his website. Here is a brief description about both ministries (from their websites):
HSM:
Heaven Sent Ministries was created in September 1997. Responding to a need to help people experience short-term missions, the nonprofit organization began as a facilitating agency helping to obtain passports, visas, and other paperwork required for traveling to other countries. As the agency grew HSM began leading trips to places like Guatemala, Nicaragua, Africa and India.
Over the years the mission of HSM has developed to include pastor training, church construction, feeding programs and medical missions. People from all over the country have joined under the umbrella of Heaven Sent Ministries to travel abroad.
A domestic side of the ministry called OperationSHARE helps show the love of Christ by donating products and goods to local churches who in turn provide these free of charge to families in need in the local community, city, state, and across the U.S.
The goal of the ministry is simple. Look to see where God is working and join Him.
FFC:
Food For Children is a ministry outreach of Heaven Sent Ministries. The primary purpose of Food For Children is to feed starving children around the world a nutritious balanced meal enabling them to overcome the ravages of malnutrition. The food not only targets the immune system but also stimulates the brain for learning. We buy bulk ingredients directly from the manufacturers and package the nutritional food at our headquarters in Princeton, WV. As we feed the children we are showing the love of God in a tangible way. This opens the door for us to share with them how to come to know Him personally.
Cyndi had our camera, so I didn't get to take any pictures (bummer!), but Lyle took a picture and gave us a certificate. I'll scan it tomorrow and post a copy online for all to see.
We had four guys go, and we had a great time. The trip down took about 5 hours 10 minutes. We stopped at a Tudor's Biscuit World for breakfast. Once we arrived, Lyle and Scott showed us around, and filled us in on what was going on with the ministry. It was exciting!
We ended up and packaged 2376 meals (a total of 396 bags). The cost to HSM was $596 for the raw materials (that is $0.25 per meal. Yes, 25 cents!).
Thanks everyone for going. Thanks Lyle, Scott, and the rest of the HSM/FFC staff for allowing us to come and help them out.
For those of you still stuck on Internet Explorer as a web browser, Firefox is a great alternatative. One of the really cool things about it is tabbed browsing. It is awesome!
Firefox also allows for plugins. Essentially, they are applications that "live" within Firefox. My friend Bill has a list of the plugins he uses most on his blog.
I happen to really like popcorn. My dad loves the stuff. My grandpa makes great popcorn. I won't go into the really good high cholesterol version we used to eat–poped in nothing but bacon grease, lots of butter, and just the right amount of salt. You had to wash your hands when you got done eating that stuff. It was great! But, did you ever wonder why you end up with old maids? Well, some researchers have done a study and claim to have it figured out. You can read the article here. In short,
Unpopped kernels, it turns out, have leaky hulls that prevent the moisture pressure buildup needed for them to pop and lack the optimal hull structure that allows most kernels to explode.
I was surfing today and came across this new pill bottle design. It looks very neat and well organized. Definantly unique. Here is a summary of the features found on the bottle:
(1) Easy I.D.
(2) Code red.
(3) Information hierarchy. (4) Upside down to save paper.
(5) Green is for Grandma.
(6) An info card that’s hard to lose.
(7) Take “daily.”
(8) Clear warnings.
Did you know that May is National Bike Month? Neither did I. So, dig out that bike, take it to your local bike shop for a tune up, and get out there to enjoy a day in the saddle!
