Doing My Best

If the 18 teams of the Bundesliga (top German soccer league) have an average of 25 players on roll, that's 450 pro's. Compared to the 6.3 million members of the Deutscher Fussball-Bund, that's 0.007%. Am I in the top 0.007% in my calling? Am I on my way there? Or do I want to spend my life playing Kreisklasse?

Yes! Yes! Yes! BIG News

Source: Logos (probably originally Zondervan)

I know, most of you probably couldn't care less. But to me, this is just about the biggest news that could have happened - as far as Bible study, pastoral service, etc. is concerned. Zondervan has been one of - if not the - hottest publisher in Christian resources recently. One of their highly acclaimed resources is the NIV Application Commentary. They also publish all the Purpose-Driven materials, as far as I know. Until recently, they used their own software, making all their great resources unavailable to Logos users. But as of Monday last week, Zondervan is going to publish resources in Logos format. That's just plain about the best news on the Bible software front that I could have had. Some of the resources I'm looking forward to:

Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary: New Testament
NIV Application Commentary: New Testament
Africa Bible Commentary

There are OT counterparts, too, and plenty of other great stuff - and it'll only get more.

In His Law He Meditates Day and Night

How do we go about "meditating in His law day and night" (Psalm 1:2)? Well, there's a new tool out there that may help. Logos has put up six twitter feeds, where you can have scripture sent to you on various schedules. Sounds interesting - if you use twitter, that is.

Meet the Girl Who Threw the Ball Back

Video of The Girl Who Threw the Ball Back, including talk show appearance

Some thoughts:

1. Great choice. It's a baseball - what's the point in keeping it?
2. So, throwing a baseball away gets you on the talkshow now? We're so decadent.
3. Great response from the dad. Hope I respond that way if I get into a similar situation.

Here's Your Sign

So I tried to microwave some leftover tea on Sunday morning, and I pressed start on the microwave, and it goes something like, "puff," and the clock disappears, and that was it. Obviously, I head to the breaker box (De? Vo?). None of the breakers is messed up, so Ly and I try various ones for a while until we have acertained that the microwave has gone to microwave-heaven. Alarmed, I head to the washing machine, which still contains the load I did last night, which should have been in the dryer. I pull out the dial ... nothing. You see, the microwave and the washing machine were on the same outlet. I plug in a light later that day, which works just fine.

I'm very relieved that new washing machines are only $328 and up, with some fairly respectable ones at $450. At the same time, I'm hoping the machine had a fuse or something that took the hit. We sure liked it - it was perfect for us. I decide I'm going to open it up and see whether I can attempt surgery. Since I'm pretty busy, we spend the week without a washing machine until I finally get to it Friday night.

Inside, there gazoos of wires going every direction, but none look especially bad. I recognize that there's nothing I can do, so I put it back together and try one more time. Nothing.

Then again, maybe there's not supposed to be any water going when the dial is at the end of the washing cycle ("Off").

Balanced Lives

Most people struggle with life balance simply because they haven't paid the price to decide what is really important to them.

Stephen Covey

Word of Wisdom for Those Buying a New Camera (System)

Source: CanonEOS.com

When you're thinking about buying a new camera...

You're not buying a camera. You are buying into a lens system.

Buy your camera for the lenses.

In other words, the lenses are the razor, the camera is the blade.

Why I Want High Speed Rail in Oklahoma

Pity the Bugs

Source: 16 Valvulas. No idea who or what they are. I should have put a real photo here, but I liked this one, and you don't really want to see photos of bugs, do you?

So, none of my children are afraid of bugs. I'd say that's a good thing. Jo was at the living room patio door the other day, trying to catch a moth. When he just couldn't get it, he tried to at least smuch [:slap with the hand with the intent to murder:] it. He didn't succeed in that, either. If his sisters cry, "there's a bug!" he'll come and pick it up and throw it into the trash can. Great job, boy - you're hired! Anyhow, apparently the girls don't mind bugs, either, at least not really small ones. This morning Ch came to me with a little beetle of some kind in her hands, telling me,

It's not dirty or mean, so don't kill it, but it just wants to get some rest.

Yes, ma'am. Shortly thereafter, La had another one like it. Life (our house?) is a zoo.

Texting While Driving