At times it seems that the knee-jerk liberal reaction to any real or imagined problem is to propose a new mandate, regulation, subsidy or tax. Accordingly, it's refreshing to find folks who appear to be liberals building web sites that take a free-market approach to solving such problems.
Two such sites I've learned of this year are:
Catalog Choice - Save a tree without hugging it: Sick of receiving unwanted catalogs in the mail? Simply plug in your name and address, select the catalogs you don't want anymore, and in some mysterious way this web site will notify the companies sending them to cease and desist from doing so. So far it seems to have worked for the ones I plugged in. (h/t Lynne)
Free Rice - Learn stuff while feeding the hungry: This site tests your vocabulary. For every word you get right, the sponsors will donate 20 grains of rice to the UN World Food Program. In other words, you get to feel good about playing games. I doubt the free rice approach will do anything to drive down high rice prices, but hopefully some of it will get to the folks most in need. Even if it doesn't, at least we can all learn some new big words. (h/t NPR)
Do you know of any other "good liberal sites" you'd recommend? If so, leave a comment.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Together for the Gospel
Smokey and I are enjoying listening to the free audio recordings of the Together for the Gospel conference during our commute to work. I commend them to you.
For those of you who aren't familiar with Together for the Gospel, our pastor, who attended this year's conference, provides a good description on his blog. Here's an excerpt:
For those of you who aren't familiar with Together for the Gospel, our pastor, who attended this year's conference, provides a good description on his blog. Here's an excerpt:
The word “gospel” literally means “good news.” This good news of God’s salvation through faith in Jesus Christ is revealed in Scripture. Sadly however, Satan is constantly working to distort, diminish, and decentralize the power, hope, and riches of the gospel. This is tragically evidenced in many churches where the clear, precise, bold, authoritative, and gracious proclamation of the gospel no longer holds central place in the life of the church. As one saint from the past has said, “the main thing about the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” Well, THE main thing is the gospel, and the church in every age must labor diligently to keep the main thing the main thing!!
To that end, one of the marvelous works God is doing in our day to help us keep the main thing the main thing surrounds a conference known as “Together for the Gospel” (”T4G” for short). This is a bi-annual conference that was first held in April of 2006 in Louisville, Kentucky, and then again this past April 15-17. The purpose and heartbeat of the conference grew out of the deep friendship of four men who share a common passion for the gospel: Dr. Albert Mohler, Dr. Mark Dever, Dr. J. Ligon Duncan, and C.J. Mahaney. Their vision has been to champion the centrality of the gospel, and to encourage friendships among believers, pastors in particular, who share a common passion for the gospel (even though there may be differences in secondary areas of doctrine and understanding). Each of these men spoke at the conference, along with messages from Dr. John Piper, Dr. John MacArthur, Dr. R.C. Sproul, and Pastor Thabiti Anyabwile.
I had the privilege of attending this year’s conference with my son Zach. Additionally from our church, Chuck Meadows, and with his son Ryan and son-in-law Dan attended. We joined about 5500 other people, mostly pastors, who attended the conference. Suffice it to say that the conference was profoundly refreshing and impacting. But rather than trying to describe it all for you, I would encourage you to go to the T4G website at http://www.t4g.org/. There you can learn more about the men who spoke at the conference, see pictures, read the T4G statement of affirmations and denials concerning the gospel, and also listen to and/or download the messages. I was encouraged, convicted, and helped by all of the messages.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
Expensive Gas, Cheap DSL
We filled up the minivan yesterday. $3.75/gallon. $66.50 for just one tank. Ouch.
But at least not everything is expensive these days. For any of you who still haven't made the switch from dial-up to DSL, you might consider AT&T's $10/month plan.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
A Poll for You...
When Eliana was 8 months old, I got tired of waiting for her to consecutively sleep through the night and we called her on it, telling her that she was old enough to sleep through the night and we weren't going to buy any stories she had to tell to the contrary in the wee hours of the morning any longer... Within a few nights, she was sleeping fabulously, and thanks to this, I got a bit of sleep myself before Mikey made his appearance months later.
It seems that our little angel likes us to have to call her bluff. So last week, after several failed attempts at potty training over the last year, we drew another line in the figurative sand for sweet Eliana. We informed her that she was too big for diapers and she couldn't have them anymore. It's been an interesting week, but on the whole, she's moving in the right direction and there is, indeed, grand hope that by the time she turns 26, she will no longer be peeing in her pants.
I have no great stories to share about our child being potty trained in a weekend... It seems that a 3 1/2 year habit doesn't break that easily in a child as determined as Eliana... but the accidents seem to be fewer and we are only putting her in pull-ups at night... (Well, other than for church the other day, but that proved unnecessary... and doesn't add to the story much.)
Which brings us to a bit of a debate between David and I that I bring to you in hopes of you solving! Now David says that I have to provide a balanced review to you without telling you which one of us is on which side, because he is convinced that you would all vote for me if I told you which side I'm on. So, here's my balanced, anonymous version of the debate:
One of us insisted on changing the name/location of our blog once Selah was born, though the other warned that this might be a little unnecessary due to the impending potty-training of Eliana. Now, the other says that Eliana, though not fully potty-trained yet, is technically no longer in diapers, making the label "Diapers for Four" a little deceptive. The first one says that a pull-up at night is the same thing as still being in diapers, so we still have four in diapers.
In presenting this dilemna to some friends, we have discussed future blog names/locations that might lead to a bit more stability and more seldom name changes... A progression of blog names might possibly include future phases in our lives like diapers4ever, diapers4gotten, diapers4grandkids, and diapers4us... Not that our identities are wrapped up in diapers or anything...
So... here's the question for all of you: Do we still have four in diapers, or not?
It seems that our little angel likes us to have to call her bluff. So last week, after several failed attempts at potty training over the last year, we drew another line in the figurative sand for sweet Eliana. We informed her that she was too big for diapers and she couldn't have them anymore. It's been an interesting week, but on the whole, she's moving in the right direction and there is, indeed, grand hope that by the time she turns 26, she will no longer be peeing in her pants.
I have no great stories to share about our child being potty trained in a weekend... It seems that a 3 1/2 year habit doesn't break that easily in a child as determined as Eliana... but the accidents seem to be fewer and we are only putting her in pull-ups at night... (Well, other than for church the other day, but that proved unnecessary... and doesn't add to the story much.)
Which brings us to a bit of a debate between David and I that I bring to you in hopes of you solving! Now David says that I have to provide a balanced review to you without telling you which one of us is on which side, because he is convinced that you would all vote for me if I told you which side I'm on. So, here's my balanced, anonymous version of the debate:
One of us insisted on changing the name/location of our blog once Selah was born, though the other warned that this might be a little unnecessary due to the impending potty-training of Eliana. Now, the other says that Eliana, though not fully potty-trained yet, is technically no longer in diapers, making the label "Diapers for Four" a little deceptive. The first one says that a pull-up at night is the same thing as still being in diapers, so we still have four in diapers.
In presenting this dilemna to some friends, we have discussed future blog names/locations that might lead to a bit more stability and more seldom name changes... A progression of blog names might possibly include future phases in our lives like diapers4ever, diapers4gotten, diapers4grandkids, and diapers4us... Not that our identities are wrapped up in diapers or anything...
So... here's the question for all of you: Do we still have four in diapers, or not?
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
This is great!
Catching up on a little blog-reading this morning...found this great list of how to reduce stress related to "trying to get everything done" on Because I Said So!
1. Delegate - This is where you tell the kids, "You WILL clean up your rooms, vacuum the family room, and set the table, or I will lose it and run away from home, leaving you to eat nothing but Fruit Loops and Kool-Aid fish for the rest of your lives.
2. Say no to non-essential things - "Hey Mom, can you go to the grocery store? There's nothing to eat in the house.""Sure there is! Look in the couch cushions. Those Cheerios can hold you over for at least another week."Or "Hey honey, are you going to do laundry sometime soon? I don't have any clean clothes.""Eh, I've got your old boy scout uniform packed away in the attic. Just pull that out and wear it."
3. Make a list - I find this especially helpful. Make a list of everything you want to get done during the day, then cross off tasks as you complete them. If you do something that isn't on the list, write it down and then cross it off. Trust me, it'll make you feel like you're really accomplishing stuff. Make sure to add all ordinary things like brushing your teeth, going to the bathroom, and drinking a cup of coffee to the list.
4. Baby steps - Break tasks up into smaller chunks that are easier to handle. Like cleaning one room instead of worrying about cleaning the whole house at once. Or like eating just one piece of pizza at a time instead of trying to devour the entire thing at once.
4. Take a deep breath and relax. Remember what's important and things will fall into place. If they don't, just take some time out and escape the stress for a little while by going shopping for bowties at your local mall.
What great advice! I was already able to apply one of these handy tips. While copy/pasting this blog post, my children found and administered enough handsoap to their bodies and clothing for me to write "Bathe children for the next year" on my list and cross it off! (See, Honey -- I've already been VERY productive today! ;)
PS -- Sonia (David's mom) recently took some cute pictures of the kids and emailed them to me, so I'll be posting them as soon as I figure out how to crop myself out of the background!
1. Delegate - This is where you tell the kids, "You WILL clean up your rooms, vacuum the family room, and set the table, or I will lose it and run away from home, leaving you to eat nothing but Fruit Loops and Kool-Aid fish for the rest of your lives.
2. Say no to non-essential things - "Hey Mom, can you go to the grocery store? There's nothing to eat in the house.""Sure there is! Look in the couch cushions. Those Cheerios can hold you over for at least another week."Or "Hey honey, are you going to do laundry sometime soon? I don't have any clean clothes.""Eh, I've got your old boy scout uniform packed away in the attic. Just pull that out and wear it."
3. Make a list - I find this especially helpful. Make a list of everything you want to get done during the day, then cross off tasks as you complete them. If you do something that isn't on the list, write it down and then cross it off. Trust me, it'll make you feel like you're really accomplishing stuff. Make sure to add all ordinary things like brushing your teeth, going to the bathroom, and drinking a cup of coffee to the list.
4. Baby steps - Break tasks up into smaller chunks that are easier to handle. Like cleaning one room instead of worrying about cleaning the whole house at once. Or like eating just one piece of pizza at a time instead of trying to devour the entire thing at once.
4. Take a deep breath and relax. Remember what's important and things will fall into place. If they don't, just take some time out and escape the stress for a little while by going shopping for bowties at your local mall.
What great advice! I was already able to apply one of these handy tips. While copy/pasting this blog post, my children found and administered enough handsoap to their bodies and clothing for me to write "Bathe children for the next year" on my list and cross it off! (See, Honey -- I've already been VERY productive today! ;)
PS -- Sonia (David's mom) recently took some cute pictures of the kids and emailed them to me, so I'll be posting them as soon as I figure out how to crop myself out of the background!
Monday, February 18, 2008
How horrible!!
Okay -- so this post isn't full of pictures of our, admittedly, very adorable children. (Sorry, Nora!) That would require me taking pictures of them, which would probably require me putting non-drooled over clothing on them and snapping quick pictures within the next 30 seconds. After 30 seconds, it is most likely that Mikey's clothing will look exactly like he did before I changed his clothing and Eliana will have already requested Peanut Butter and Jelly and more "nook" (milk) and I will have discovered that the camera batteries are dead and there will be at least one child that needs his/her diaper changed. There! That's my list of excuses for not posting pics this morning...we'll see about later.
---
However, I was rather horrified by a blog post I saw by Al Mohler this morning (please, nobody point out the fact that I had time to read a blog post but not post pics... I have a whole other list of excuses for that one). I had heard of "suicide" websites and thought the whole notion was rather sad and, yeah... sad. But this was rather horrifying:
"One of the most notorious figures on the internet suicide scene is Nagasiva Yronwode, a self-confessed satanist who runs a shop selling occult books and charms in the small Californian town of Forestville, north of San Francisco.
Yronwode, 46, describes himself as the "outreach director" for an extremist cult called the Church of Euthanasia, which advocates suicide as a means of saving the world from the effects of overpopulation."
I'm at a loss for words.
---
However, I was rather horrified by a blog post I saw by Al Mohler this morning (please, nobody point out the fact that I had time to read a blog post but not post pics... I have a whole other list of excuses for that one). I had heard of "suicide" websites and thought the whole notion was rather sad and, yeah... sad. But this was rather horrifying:
"One of the most notorious figures on the internet suicide scene is Nagasiva Yronwode, a self-confessed satanist who runs a shop selling occult books and charms in the small Californian town of Forestville, north of San Francisco.
Yronwode, 46, describes himself as the "outreach director" for an extremist cult called the Church of Euthanasia, which advocates suicide as a means of saving the world from the effects of overpopulation."
I'm at a loss for words.
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