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2007 Day of Prayer and Fasting

Today is the day the IMB has set asside for IMB Staff to observe the 2007 Day of Prayer and Fasting for International Missions .  They are asking everyone else to set aside the 27th of May (we have some special stuff normally planned for Wednesday so it fits the schedule nicely).

This year, the focus is on the Udmurt people group in Russia.  If you want, the IMB has a site vith videos you can watch (I’d link to them directly; however, it’s a goofy flash site so I can’t).  If you want to watch the videos, I’ve downloaded them and am hosting them directly.  Below are links to each of the videos:

Scratch that idea.  The movies are supposed to be in quicktime format, but I can’t play them.  I tried to open them in VirtualDub (so I could convert them to another format) and that didn’t work either.  I’m going to e-mail the media guys to see if I can get a good copy of the videos.  If I can, I’ll host them here. 

[Update 05-24-2007 07:55:53] I’ve figured out how to rip the DVD and convert the videos so I can upload them to Google Video.  Links to the videos can be found in this post . 

 

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The President or Congress?

I was reading a story on Fox News today when I noticed several polls: one was dealing with President Bush’s approval rating and one was dealing with Congress’ approval rating. The “traditional” media likes to put out there that the country doesn’t like Pres. Bush. But…look at these polls and decide for yourself. Yes, more people dislike Pres. Bush than the congress; however, it is only 5%. 5% is probably well within the margin of error for these polls.

What do you guys think?

[Update 2012-12-25 22:24:54] The poll links had gone stale and I couldn’t be bothered to find them again.  I’ve removed the links as links.  But, here they are for posterity:

Pres Bush Poll:  http://www.realclearpolitics.com/polls/archive/?poll_id=19
Congress Poll: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/polls/archive/?poll_id=18

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Traveling to Thailand

I just wanted to let everyone know that I’m getting ready to go to Thailand. This is taking a step of faith on my part, but I’m trusting God for the funds to go.  As the team gathers for the trip, I’ll blog more about what will happen.

I’m expecting to have internet access while I’m gone.  I plan to keep the blog updated.  One asside, if I can get it here, I’m not planning to eat it while I’m gone.  I want to eat funky stuff.  I plan to take pictures and write about the food I eat while we are gone. 

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Handy Way to Get Screenshots

For my image viewing app, I use IRFanView. But sometimes I use paint. Today, I was trying to take a screenshot with the mouse cursor in the picture. Well, the standard Windoze ALT+PrtScn or CTRL+PrtScn didn’t work (no cursor). It turns out that IRFanView will take screenshots. To use it, simply open the app, go to Options -> Capture/Screenshot, set a few options, then click CTRL+F11 to take your screenshot. It worked like a charm.

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Are Christians in America Persecuted

That was the subject of a recent post by Stacy over at the Persecution Blog.  I hadn’t posted anything in a few weeks, so I thought I could comment on this (I have an opinion on everything).

Before I answered the question, I thought I would define some terms:

  • Christian — one who is “like” Christ.  A follower of Jesus.  I am not using the term Christian to define people who simply “go to church” or who “grew up in church.”
  • Persecution — Excruciating punishment (from Answers.com)

So, do Christians in America undergo Excruciating punishment for their beliefs?  I think if we are honest, we must say the answer is no.

 Look at our brothers and sisters overseas.  Look at the reports on Voice of the Martyrs.  Then come back and tell me we undergo anything like them.  Just to give you a taste of what I’m talking about, here is a video I found on YouTube of VOM founder Richard Wurmbrand talking (and showing if the compression weren’t so bad on YouTube) about his 1st hadn experience of torture:

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Shulpska

When Cyndi and I were in Serbia I wanted to eat “real” Serbia food. I had in my mind that they would have “strange” food (just like Haggis in Scotland). Well, it turned out that much of what they ate was fairly normal to me. But our friends told me that one thing that was excelent was Shulpska (I don’t have a clue how to spell it, but that is how it sounded). I ordered it everywere we ate. Our friends even made it at their house for me.

Well, I made some the other day and thought I should blog about how I made it just in case anyone else wanted to give it a try.

Peel 2 cucumbers
Slice longways into 4 wedges
Cut into slices about 1/4 inch
Cube up 2 tomatoes (make about 1/4 inch cubes)
Cube up about 1/2 an onion (again, 1/4 inch cubes)

Put all of that in a bowl and mix it up.

Take Fetta Cheese and sprinkle this on top of the veggies (2 standard size packages you get in Wal Mart will work. It will turn out better if you can buy imported fetta as it tastes different).

Eat and enjoy!

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Surgery

My boss’ dad is having to have surgery next month. I won’t go into all the details here. Remember him in your prayers. He is a believer.

—————-Email From My Boss—————-
My dad is scheduled for a MRI on 5/19 and surgery on 6/14. The wait is required in order to coordinate the schedules of the 3 surgeons. The wait is hard for my dad. We need to trust that God will have him in the hospital at the exact time that He desires and that God’s purposes will be worked out during this time of waiting for His glory.

————–End Email From My Boss—————

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14 Week Update

Obviously I never got around to posting a 3 month update, but 14 weeks is close enough!

My how our little one has grown 🙂  I don’t have new height/weight stats since we don’t go back for her next check-up until 4 months, but she has outgrown most of her 0-3 month clothes and continues to have chubby little cheeks and legs.  So I think all the healthy growth indicators are present.  She eats very well and has been sleeping through the night consistenly for more than two weeks!  I still wake up every now and then and have to check on her, but I’m slowly getting used to her new sleep routine.  She is awake and alert, and HAPPY,  much of the day.  Lydia talks and laughs (and coos, chortles, gurgles, etc.) with great frequency.  She waves her arms and kicks with excitement.  She also holds her head up very well, when being held and when having tummy time.  Her biggest new thing is reaching out and grasping objects.  She’s been clasping and chewing on her hands, even occasionally singling out her thumb, but on Thursday she was  reaching for the dangling toys on her car seat handle.  And on Friday, she started reaching for the hanging  toys on the bar across her bouncy seat.  She has been grabbing and playing  with the mirrored star in the middle all weekend 🙂 (she already enjoyed her bouncy seat because it plays music and has colored lights that flash across the top of the bar…she’s been watching the show for several weeks now!)  I also added the lap tray to her swing the other day because it has two plastic animals that attach to either side,  She’s not big enough to twist the heads or make them rattle yet, but she stares and reaches.

 It’s amazing to watch her grow and change every day.  Mother’s Day was a wonderful experience and such an awesome reminder of the blessing, privilege, and challenge it is to be a parent.  God teaches us about Himself every day as we let go of our own wants and wishes to meet the needs of each other and of our daughter.  We could never do it alone…it is only through the Lord, His strength and guidance, that we can succeed in marriage and parenthood!! 

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Gameplay 5-13-2007

My parents and sister came over yesterday afternoon. After eating dinner, we played Carcassonne with a new expasion they bought Cyndi and I: Traders and Builders. Let me tell you…that expansion totally changes the game (not in a bad way…it’s just different).

I farmed, like normal. After counting up the normal points and farmer points, I had a 1 point lead over Cyndi. Well, she ended up with an extra 30 points because she had the most of all of the trader tokens! I don’t yet know how this will affect my gameplay, but it certainly adds a new dynamic.

By the way, the new builder piece is cool. You place it just like a normal meeple; however, you have to already have a guy on the thing. The builder allows you a second turn if you add onto the thing with the builder. This is great for those big mega cities you think will never get done.

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Bike Route for 12 May 2007

Wallace and I went out for our normal Saturday ride today.  My dad joined us, so we rode up to his place then on up to Ashland.  We used RABAs ABC route as the basis.  It was pretty good…just short.  I don’t think I could do just that.

This was the longest ride this year for me (46.43).  And this was on top of commuting 4 days and taking a special ride on Friday.