Now I Know How Michelle Obama Felt

Keeping up the trend of posting when I buy new things...

Michelle Obama drew headlines a while back when she said that "for 'the first time' in her adult life, 'she was proud of America.'" Well, now I think I know the sentiment.

We got our new ESV Study Bible in the mail a few days ago. It's basically the normal English Standard Version, but with TONS of footnotes, maps, cross-references, artistic renderings of buildings and cities, short articles on historical backgrounds, etc. It's jam-packed. It would be wrong of me to say there isn't anything evangelical I'm grateful for, but it has to be admitted that sites like purgatorio and LarkNews wouldn't exist if there wasn't buckets of tripe, shysters, canoodlers, and miscreants in the mix.

I'm excited about this too:

Hitchens/Wilson sneak peak from LEVEL4 on Vimeo.

UPDATE: My wife had no idea what the above video was in reference to. Douglas Wilson (Christian pastor and general skylarker) and Christopher Hitchens (latest atheist with a British accent) did an on-line debate hosted by Christianity Today called Is Christianity Good for the World? They ended up writing a book together (not sure if it's just the debate republished or not). To promote the book, they did a number of appearances together over the past week or so. It sounds like they got along really well. This post is in reference to the video.

The Saggy Cowboy

And his faithful dog.

Sippy cup

Who knew the top of a sippy cup could be so hysterical? Boys....

Freebie

I just found this coupon for a free tall latte, cappuccino, espresso, coffee, or tea at Barnes & Noble!

And they say you can't get somethin' for nothin'.

Sunday afternoon

It was cooooold at the park!



Jay is teaching Trey how to play tackle football... great idea, eh?


A great way to end Sunday afternoon...

A little help???

Yes, this is our child stuck in a beer box and eating a cold hot dog for dinner. How did YOU get some time to relax this weekend?

*For you cynics out there, he sat in that box on his own accord. I promise.

This one. NO! THIS one!

Do you like how Jay and I keep fighting over the look of this blog? Every time I get on it looks different. This blue-ness is Jay's. Too much color! Maybe we should have a vote. But I win.

Say What?

It's sentences like this from this weeks JAMA that keep me from reading as much primary medical literature as I ought:

The minimum OR detectable with 80% power in a 2-sided test with an level of .05 was 1.48 for a rare binary covariate of prevalence 1% and reached a minimum of 1.08 for an exposure of prevalence 50%.

Thanks, guys, that's helpful. This is why I stick to a handful of resources and pray to God that they don't sell out (or haven't already sold out) to the man.

Been awhile...

Well, my poor little Mac didn't make it. As much as it hurts ($$$) to replace it, they came out with the new MacBook the day we decided to go for it. I have two shows in the next few weeks, and really need to get to my inventory, which sped up the decision...


So besides that,here are some things have gone on in the last month or so that I haven't posted on...

1) Jay and I took some of the singles small group and went to the Desiring God conference in Minneapolis during the last weekend of September. "The Power of Words and the Wonder of God" was the title of the conference, and the speakers discussed the absolutely amazing significance and impact of words in all aspects of life. It was refreshing, encouraging, and convicting - even more significant than I anticipated. You can watch or listen to the messages here, and I highly recommend it.


There were TONS of free books in our registration packet! Woo hoo!



Bethany met John Piper after the conference!


2) We're doing 'Don't Waste Your Life' for our small group study this year, and it is pretty intense. But so, so good. More on that later, I think.

4)I was tagged! So, Erin, I've never been tagged before, but I'll try my best. I'm supposed to list 7 random things about myself, then tag some other people. Hm. I'm really bad at stuff like this, so feel free to skip the rest.

1. I used to wear colorful, 70's polyester pants and jackets from Goodwill to high school. Yeah, I know - yikes. I think I thought I was being artsy, or indie, or unique, or something. I don't know. What was I thinking? I also wore Dr. Marten boots with my homecoming dress!
2. Going on the high school theme (my reunion is next month, it's on the brain), I will admit that I was on the bowling team. (eep!) Seriously, the chess team is much cooler...
3. My major in college was biology with a minor in psych, and the plan was to go to med school. Ha to that.
   
4. I would love, love to go back to school for counseling, and I think it would be fascinating to integrate counseling with art/music therapy.
5. Speaking of counseling (this list is supposed to be random, right?) I just read a book by Ed Welch called "Running Scared." This was one of the most helpful books I have ever read on dealing with anxiety. If you are a worrier, I highly recommend his book.
   
6. I'm *still* trying to learn to play the guitar. Someday, someday.
   
7. I wish I could draw like my little sister. She is so good at it, and so patient!
   

So this tagging business is going on like crazy, and one can be thinking, "I hope I don't get tagged!" (ahem), and yet get tagged anyway. So I'll tag with no obligation: Angie, Katie, Ashley, and Genese.

One Issue Voting

Here is article by Robert George pretty much sums up why I couldn't fathom voting for Senator Obama.

And here is an article by John Piper explaining why it's OK if people call me names like a "One Issue Voter."