Bloggers Seek to Mix Faith and the Internet
Thursday, October 13, 2005
By Greg Simmons

WASHINGTON — When Johann Gutenberg's printing press began churning out Bibles in the 15th century, the new technology helped usher in a new era of religion in Europe.
Nearly 600 years later, some think that increasingly popular Web logs — the Internet's version of personal journals, pamphleteering and issue forums all wrapped in one — combined with traditional religious beliefs could once again take people on a new, uncharted course.

In what appears to be a first of its kind, a small evangelical Christian college in Southern California on Thursday will open the God Blog Convention, a conference on Christian blogging.

Some who have been following the trend of blogging say the fact that Christians — already a powerful political force — are wading into the world of blogging could mean a major change in the political landscape if their efforts take hold.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,172054,00.html (click here to read entire article)

We had a baby shower today for Mussrat Ayaz. She is the mother of two of my students- they are from Pakistan. We had a great party...played some games, ate good food, met new people, and showered a really sweet woman with cute baby gifts. She is having a boy in the beginning of January. Some of the boys' teachers were there, along with some of my friends from Sunday School class. And of course, Marcela! She was the star of the party because she helped me out so much.

Everyone was very generous. The gifts were precious and Mussrat was overwhelmed with the amount of them! I don't think she was expecting so much.

















She's thrilled about the diapers! They got a great response from the crowd.








This big one is a Jumpster from Marcela. I know I loved that thing when I was young. Or maybe I just enjoyed watching Michael jump in his...

We had lots of great food! I had some help- Starla made spinach dip and Marcela made dip and meatballs. MmMmMm...

We had lots of baby blue balloons to celebrate. On the mantle are various baby products-nail kit, baby's first tooth/gum cleanser, no spill cups, washcloths, etc that we used to play Baby Price in Right. As I presented each item, everyone had to write down how much they thought it cost. Whoever was closest to the real price without going over won a point, and whoever has the most points at the end wins. Melanie and Marcela tied, so we had a tiebreaker: guess the price of one of the gifts (bathtub). Marcela guessed the exact price! It was a fun game.

It was a pretty cake, but when we cut into it, it fell apart and was hard to serve. It tasted great!

November 7, 2005 Bobby Labonte to drive away from Joe Gibbs Racing (click to read entire article)

Former NASCAR champion Bobby Labonte and Joe Gibbs Racing said Monday they will part ways at the end of the season after 11 years together.

Activist Judges say they, not parents, have final say in teaching sex education to our children
Activist Federal Judges Strip Rights From Parents
Dear Lisa,
As shocking as it may seem, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that courts--not parents--have the final authority on when and what to teach children about sex education. In their ruling, the Court determined that parents DO NOT have a fundamental right to control when, where and how their children are taught about sex. Rather, the Court ruled, that right belongs to activist judges. I know you probably aren't believing this, so I have provided a link to an article on the recent ruling written by Kathleen Parker, a columnist for the Orlando Sentinel. Click here to read the column. This is simply another encroachment by activist federal judges to take away the rights of parents and turn those rights over to the judges. These liberal activist judges feel they know better how to raise your children and grandchildren than you do! It is time for parents and grandparents to tell activist judges to back off! Sign the petition. Forward the petition to your friends and family. We will forward the petitions to the U.S. Supreme Court where this case will eventually be decided. Hopefully, by then, Supreme Court nominee Justice Samuel Alito will have been confirmed and this crazy ruling by the Ninth Circuit can be overturned.
Click Here To Sign the Petition to the Supreme Court Now!
Sincerely,
Don
Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and ChairmanAmerican Family Association

Sundays are this marathon trainer's longest running days. Last Sunday he ran 20 miles and today it's down to 14. That's still a lot! I sometimes ride my bike alongside him to keep him company. Don't forget to consider sponsoring him for the January 8th marathon! See previous post-"going to disney again".
I am a proud wife of a very disciplined man.

We are seeing a change in colors around here...subtle and slow, but there is one. The daily temperatures have been fluctuating so much that it's hard to tell it's fall. It was pretty cool for about two weeks and then this week has been very warm. Today it was around 85.
Aaron started getting sick on Wednesday night, and by Friday I had it. Sinus infection- both of us. Makes it a sleepy, stay-at-home weekend.
P.S. Lee Co. won on Friday night! N.C. State did the same yesterday against Florida State...a fun game to watch with neighbors.

Aaron and I are going to the Lee County football game tonight. I think we must be their favorite fans because they all say that before we moved here, Lee Co had never had a winning season (now they are the Region Champs)! Tonight is the first game in the playoffs. We will tailgate with the LCES teachers and their husbands and find Michael and Rebecca when we get to the stadium. Should be fun!
This weekend will be laid back. We are babysitting tomorrow night for the Moody's because they are going to the annual Marine Ball. And of course there are the lesson plans :)

Hunting season has arrived, and so has Aaron. This is great quality hunting gear-the camouflage is so perfect, you can hardly see him! This is what I saw when he came home last Thursday night from hunting with a guy he works with.

My dad is the President of Four One Lima (the name of their plane) Flying Club. He is in it with 4 other guys and they meet every so often to discuss club issues. They take turns using the plane when they need it. Look at his business card!

This past weekend the Flores family (some of them) came to visit! Dad, mom, and Michael flew in on Saturday afternoon and left us on Sunday morning. We ate together (Blackbeard's and Nothing Fancy- we love seafood!), went to Mark's Melon Patch for a hayride tour of the pumpkins, talked about home, and just enjoyed being around family. It was such a blessing for us...it had been getting to that point where we needed some contact from up north. It was especially great to catch up with Michael- the very social, very involved junior at GHS. Thank you for coming...we love you!

Last night was fun for us...our first time on the other end of the trick-or-treating. We gave out a lot of candy and were reminded that sin is upon us even when we are infants- how greedy those kids are! Our neighborhood is full of young couples, so there were quite a few trick-or-treaters. It was a relaxing evening...we baked and ate Halloween cookies and watched "Kicking and Screaming" while we waited for kids. Marcela did a great job dressing her kids up- check this out!

If you dropped a pumpkin in water, would it sink or float?
Click on "Comments" to cast your vote. I'll announce the correct answer later this week.
This was part of one of my lesson plans today :) The kids loved it.
Happy Halloween!

We've had a great time together today. We slept pretty late after having had a long working week, and stayed in the bed until about 2 reading Peace Child together. It was one of those books that's hard to put down until you've heard the whole story. We definitely recommend it! See post below (Oct.14-16). When we finally got up and moving, we went for a drive- pharmacy, lunch...and stopped by Riverfront Park (sometimes called Turtle Park) in dowtown Albany to eat lunch. It is a pretty nice park...good for cheap family fun. We sat on the swing, walked by the river, and got a snow cone. After that we went to another park- Tift park, also in downtown Albany- to play tennis. Aaron beat me big time (6-2, 6-0), but it was still enjoyable. Aaron just finished his run for the day and we've had dinner. Time to dream about tomorrow and all the lesson planning that must still be done!

Yesterday I was able to re-live the Target registery phenomenon. Two of my students (brothers) are from Pakistan, and their mother is having another baby in January. This family has been in the U.S. for about 9 months, and are somewhat isolated because of the culture and language difference. I have planned to have a baby shower for her- to encourage her, to fan the excitement of having a baby, and to share with her this American custom which so far has seemed to be very unfamiliar to her. We are having it November 12 at the Fernandez house. The boys' teachers and some ladies from Sunday School will come. Sooooo, last night I took her to Target to introduce her to our idea of the registery. Her English is very basic but we were able to communicate well enough to have a good time together. I'm not completely sure if she understood what we were doing...basically she held and pointed the scanner while I showed her the things I think she might need. She kept saying, "You choice" (if I have a baby boy in the future, you can look on this registery and see what I'd want!). She is a sweet person- she insisted on taking me to dinner (Burger King) after we finished. The family's story is very fascinating- ask me about it sometime. Getting to know these families is one of my favorite parts about being an ESOL teacher. This is my international mission field.

If you are reading this and feel a desire to be generous, go to www.target.com and find something to send that's on her gift registery! Her name is Mussrat Ayaz.

Aaron and I took a Gulf Coast vacation this weekend. We went to Panama City Beach, FL. It's about a 3 hour drive...not bad. We've both been before- once at different times when we were in college and didn't know each other, and once this summer when Victorious Life Church youth group invited us to be chaperones for their retreat. But this was our first married couple romantic getaway! Lee County Schools are on Fall Break and so it seemed like a great time to go. We left Friday afternoon around 1 and just got back a couple of hours ago. We saw a lot, did a lot, and vacationed a lot, but it wasn't quite enough! That's how vacations work.

Anyway, here are some pictures of where we stayed, and the things we did. See picture captions for more details.

Aaron and I went to Panama City Beach knowing that Michael and Rebecca McNeal were there, and knowing that they were staying in the same resort that we booked. We are vacation crashers on the side.
Michael and Rebecca go to First Baptist of Leesburg and are actually are new Sunday School leaders. Rebecca also teaches at Lee Co. Middle School. We have done several things together in the past few months.
We ended up spending quite some time with them- dinner Friday night, putt-putt, on the beach, dinner Saturday night, go-carting, ice cream, and a tennis rendevous. They are a fun couple to hang out with! We hope they didn't mind sharing their vacation.