Big Deal

I am a little overdue in announcing that one of my New Orleans boys was accepted last week to college! He was accepted to Texarkana College, which some of you may think is not a big deal since they accept anyone with a high school education or GED. However, to this family, it is a huge deal. Pop's brother is one of the two boys murdered last year. He has another brother that is currently in jail awaiting trial on various charges due to his participation in a drive by shooting. Neither of his brothers graduated from high school (although the one murdered may have been enrolled in high school at the time of his death). High school graduation is a big deal for the kids at the Center. I cannot wait to attend Pop's high school graduation on May 22^nd. I will be one of the handful of white people (probably all there to see Pop graduate) with a huge smile on my face and probably tears in my eyes. Fortunately, I usually remember to pack the eye make-up for touch-ups before the after graduation pictures. I really cannot wait for him to start college, whether that is at Texarkana College or somewhere else. Pop is one of the reasons that those of us who go to the Center do what we do. You can see the change that God has worked in his life that is a picture of what God's salvation can do for these kids. I am happy for Pop and for his family who are as excited as they can be about him being accepted to college. He will be applying (hopefully) to a few more that are like Texarkana College, but located in Louisiana, so he should be getting a few more acceptance letters. Sometimes I think that children that grow up in families where education is expected do not realize that education is a big deal. Getting into college is a big deal. Especially when graduating from high school is such a big deal. Congratulations Pop!!!

Random Thought #32

Today as I read James chapter 1, I realized that "American Christians" have a problem with being doers of the Word because they cannot be humble hearers of the Word. Many "Christians" do not humble themselves to hear the Word of God when it is preached and taught. Instead they make comments such as the Bible is not relevant to the world that we live in today. How arrogant is it to say that the eternal, sovereign God of the universe could not see what the world would be like today, and could not put principles into His Word that are relevant for us to live by 2000 years after the last pages were written? Not only is this motivated by man's pride, but by man's unwillingness to submit to God who has placed His Word as authority in our lives.

Blog of the Week - Not for Sale

I am recommending the blog Not for Sale this week, in part, because I just finished listening to the audio version of the book. I am still processing book, and I am sure that I will have more to say on the issue. However, I highly recommend reading even the brief blog posts about an issue that so many people in our churches, our country and our world know so little about. I was shocked to hear some of the examples of human slavery that are going on in our world today, especially since we think that we are so educated and so well informed about issues facing us. I highly recommend this blog as a starting point for becoming familiar with the issue, and I will write more on the book by the same name in the near future.

"I Knew Her When ..."

After watching the videos below, I realized that Tione will probably be the first famous person in the future that I will be able to say, "I knew her when she was a baby, three years old, four years old, and eight years old." On Saturday, I was shown these three clips from her appearances on the Ellen show:







I previously posted a clip of her singing the national anthem at a Hornets game here.

On Sunday while in New Orleans, I attend Franklin Avenue Baptist Church where Tione and her family attend. I got really excited when I saw her enter the children's choir. The reason for my excitement? If she was there, I knew that her brother was there as well!!! I had not seen TJ since before Katrina. It probably had been four or five years since I saw him last. That is one of the strange things about New Orleans still. There are children that I have not seen since the hurricane and that I will probably never see again. For everyone in New Orleans, it is almost like these people have died (even though we know that they are still alive) because they are now disconnected from New Orleans. I thought this family would be one of them that I would never see again, although I knew they survived. I did not care that TJ did not remember me. I just had to hug him! I think that this is something that most people do not understand because they have not been through something like Katrina. I do not think that I did a good job of trying to explain it here either!

St. Patrick's Day

I do not do anything to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, and I even chose to miss the St. Patrick's parade in New Orleans that passes just a few blocks from the Center (although it is a fun parade to go to if you can catch it - less crowded than Mardi Gras, so more enjoyable for some). However, I thought I would share this in celebration of the day:

Texarkana Gazette

I made the local newspaper again. It looks like they have corrected their problem with spelling my name because it was spelled right this time! Rumor has it that my picture was in there yesterday as well, but I have not seen that one yet.

Verchaun Guy

Well, he is a talker! He likes to be talked to and to respond. Of course, as much as I like talking, I could humor him! The cutest was when he watched this video of himself, and started talking to it. Too bad I didn't have a second camera to catch that because it was too cute!

Preview of things to come ...

Chicken Empathy Museum

I am not a fan of PETA. While at Baylor, PETA would protest our live bears. This protesting usually involved PETA members irritating the bears in various ways, then filming the bears in an agitated state. Not cool. Of course, this is typical of PETA.

PETA approached Governor Bobby Jindal in Louisiana about converting a Pilgrim's Pride Plant that is going under into a Chicken Empathy Museum. It would be a museum celebrating the supposedly intelligent bird brains and promoting the idea that chickens are not nuggets. Personally, I prefer my chicken to be boneless, skinless breasts, but I am sure PETA would not approve of that either!

The Pet Bee

Last night I was sitting on my couch watching American Idol calmly with the dog running about when two friends came over. One friend had some sort of bug tied on a string that was flying around, and needless to say, I also started flying around the house. Turns out he had a "pet bumblebee." The dog went crazy, I went crazy, he thought it was funny to chase me around, and the bee was thankfully injured. The bee was tied to a string so that it could still fly around but the string also acted as a leash. I kicked the bee out of the house, and later the bee succumbed to its injuries. I think that I will be investing in a fly swatter to deal with any future pet bees. This is what I get for hanging out with college aged boys too much.

My TV

My TV decided to go out on Saturday, which caused quite an internal debate since I do not want to put things on credit. Fortunately Walmart still has old school TVs which cost way less than the more modern flat screens, so I was able to purchase almost the same TV for about what I paid for the TV that went out. Surprisingly, old school TVs that also have the digital component have almost as clear of a picture as HDTVs. The digital cable is much clearer on my new TV than the old one, and hopefully it will last me a while before I upgrade to an HDTV.

My Hairless Dog

I ended up getting Lil T a sweater and the silly dog loved it. I thought it would be a hassle to put on him and that he would pick at it trying to get it off, but he didn't pay it any attention once it was on. It instantly stopped him from shivering, and he wore it all night. Since I was buying him a silly sweater, I felt bad and also bought him his first black bear. At least he looked like a fierce preppy dog when he was shaking the bear!

My First Diaper Cake

We threw a surprise shower for a lady in our office, and I made her diaper cake for the centerpiece. I was surprised at how easy they are to do and it turned out pretty cute.

Her bedding is this:




So we decided to do her baby shower in blues, blacks, and browns. Here is the diaper cake:





It ended up being a very fun gift!

Random Thought #31

I am dreading picking Lil T up from the vet today. He had to be shaved instead of a "puppy cut" grooming, so he is going to be one ugly dog. Plus, since it is chilly in my house, I think it is going to be necessary to put him in a sweater. I never thought I would be the dog owner who puts the dog in clothing. If he would just let me brush him regularly, I would not have to have him shaved once a year!

While I am on the subject of books ...

I have determined to make it a point to find favorite authors and read all of their works. Right now I have a list of authors that I am doing this for and thought I would share in the blog:

1. Jane Austen - I think that I have two books left: Emma and an unfinished novel that was finished by her niece
2. Dumas - I liked the Count of Monte Cristo enough that I want to read the Musketeer trilogy and any other books of his that I can find (in English that is)
3. Mark Twain - I am making good progress through his works. Next on my list is Roughing It, once I finish some more books that I have started in the past year.
4. David McCullough - his non-fiction reads like fiction, which is part of the reason that I enjoy his works so much. I am currently reading (in the stack of unfinished books) John Adams. After that, I have Mornings on Horseback in my stack of books I forgot I bought.

I think it is important to read through different authors and different styles. I think that it makes me a better writer myself. For example, Jane Austen frequently uses adjectives in her descriptions, but Mark Twain believes that adjectives are often unnecessary. Yet both authors fully described a scene so well that you can picture it in your head. You can learn how to tell history in an engaging way by reading McCullough, which I think is helpful for learning how to frame facts and argument in motions/hearings. My current favorite author is Mark Twain, but I actually go back and forth between Twain and Austen. My favorite non-fiction writer, hands down, is McCullough. I am still deciding on my favorite theological writer, but I think that it might be James Montgomery Boice. There are just so many theological writing styles though (and so many purposes).

Bad Habit

I have a really bad habit of starting books, but starting another book before finishing books I have already started. This became abundantly clear two weeks ago when I saw bookmarks in over ten books that I have started but not finished. Since that time, I have finished three books previously started, and am now on to the fourth and fifth (because, as I have confessed before, I need multiple books going at a time to keep from getting bored). Fortunately my reading memory allows me to pick up the books after several weeks (and in the case of some books, months) of not reading and still remember where I am at in the story or structure of the book. Maybe I can clean up the stack of books by my bed in the coming weeks ... or at least add the new books (and books bought in the past but never read because I forgot about them) to my stack and shuffle things around a bit!