Follow Jesus. Lead the church. Change the world.
We spent a few days of vacation at the Chesapeake Bay last week. The Chesapeake Bay was our third choice of places to go. We had planned to go elsewhere but changed our minds due to the mid-April snowstorm. Our second choice (the Delaware coast) was also a no-go due to coastal flooding warnings. We … Read more
One of the causes we support (see list of causes we support in the sidebar) is Nothing But Nets, an effort in which the United Methodist Church is one of 5 founding partners. I’ve written a couple posts before: here and here. As a follow-up to the event that Joleen spearheaded, Joleen was named an … Read more
We thought you might be interested to know which nations provide the most international adoptions in the US. Swivel.com recently posted a graph showing the top 5 nations. China tops the list, followed by Guatemala, Russia, South Korea, and Ethiopia. Interestingly, China and South Korea have seen declines in recent years but are still popular … Read more
Today is Earth Day 2007 so I’m thinking about the environment, the earth, and our responsibility to be good stewards of it. Conversation is heating up (pun intended) on the topic of global warming. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been releasing reports on global climate change that have been stirring things up. … Read more
It has been about a year and a half since Hurricane Katrina blasted the Gulf Coast causing incredible devastation. And while much of the media interest and coverage has greatly diminished, the recovery efforts continue. There is a team of about 35 people from our district that is working in Mississippi this week. The team’s … Read more
A few weeks ago, we received a letter from the Department of Homeland Security stating that we must present ourselves for fingerprinting. Well, that was interesting! So on our way home from vacation yesterday, we stopped in at the nearest INS (Immigration and Naturalization Services) Application Support Center in York, PA to be fingerprinted. Actually, … Read more
We were on vacation in Maryland when the news broke from Virginia Tech. What a sad and tragic story. Our hearts and our prayers go out to the families of the victims and to all the students of VT. All tragedies have a lasting impact on the way we live. No doubt, there will be … Read more
We enjoy watching movies that are based on true stories. The latest movie we watched is Copying Beethoven, with Ed Harris as Beethoven and Diane Kruger as Anna Holtz (a fictional character). While based on a true story, specifically the life of Ludwig van Beethoven, the movie has largely been fictionalized. We still enjoyed the … Read more
We attended a workshop in our district today on “Organizing for Mission and Ministry.” The 6-hour event was led by Betsey Heavner and Carol Krau, staff persons at the UMC’s General Board of Discipleship. The purpose of the event was to suggest ways that churches might structure themselves more effectively for mission. Churches, especially smaller … Read more
Sometime last year I talked how small we humans are in the universe. That was driven home to me last October on vacation in Nova Scotia, Canada. One of the most incredible sites on our trip was the 24 hours we spent in the tiny fishing village of Peggy’s Cove. Even though it was a … Read more