Meanwhile back in the 'hood...

We're BAAAAACCKK!!

Summer has finally returned and so have the long evenings and the neighbor children.

The helmet might be a good idea tonight.

At last count our offspring hold the majority. The noise-level is beginning to indicate that an early closing time may be in order. Perhaps we should look at buying the "block" to expand our park. Donations anyone?

SummerFest!

Chestnut Street Christian School SummerFest!

June 7 at the Bradford Mall parking lot.

4 years ago we got the idea to start a yearly fundraiser as a way to fund our Christian school operated by our church (Bradford Mennonite Church). It is once again scheduled for the first weekend in June! This event requires lots of work, some work, and then some work in cleaning up. But it's fun!

This year promises to be even more exciting because we have a larger parking lot to work out of and it is located at a high traffic intersection. We also have rented a tent so people have a place to eat the wonderful chicken BBQ.

Here is what we have planned:

• Chicken BBQ by Kev's Best BBQ
• Baked Goods (lots of goodies)
• Sausage sandwiches
• Burgers
• Fries
• Funnel Cakes
• Homemade doughnuts (very good indeed!)
• Drinks (Iced Tea and Lemonade)
• 10 x 12 Storage Shed that will be sold
• Wagon rides
• Pony rides

Barn that will be sold

For more information contact CSCS at 814-362-2809

Faith of a child

Marshmallows!

Every night before the children go to bed we each take a turn praying. Now 2 year olds, well, they struggle to get the concept. This week we began to get things a little more down-pat, we convinced him to pray for a lady from church who was having back trouble. "--icki back hurt?" he would ask then he would jabber away in what sounded like a prayer. Then he would stop and say, "--icki car?" Huh?

No you don't need to pray for her car, just say "Amen."

"--icki car!", he insisted.

"Ok, pray for her car." Whatever works, perhaps her car does need prayer... And so he did, which he followed with a prompt "A-hem"

This continued all week, eventually I got tired of arguing and just left him pray for her back and her car. My wife was a bit more curious than I, and she asked this lady if her car was running fine this week. I am not sure about all the details however there indeed were some car troubles.

Hmm, I think Daddy needs to listen to his children a little closer.

Non-Profits and Money

Some time ago I received a call from a charity telemarketer asking for money. I don't recall the exact charity, however it had the "ring" of a scam. Somewhat out of frustration I asked the fellow, "What percentage of the donation actually gets distributed to the recipients?"

His response: "15%, sir."

Sooo...that would mean that the other 85% goes into the pockets of the telemarketing firm and the "administration" staff of the charity. Wow, that doesn't sound very efficient to me!

This week I received the "Annual Report" from Christian Aid Ministries.

Front Cover

I was again blessed while reviewing the many programs and projects that this organization funds and operates. They do so many things and do it very efficiently, in fact the percentage of expenses used for "administration" purposes is less than 7%. If you include "Gifts in kind" (ie not money) it is less than 3%. This organization handles approximately $96 million per year and keeps their overhead under 10%, that's incredible and responsible.

Here are a few things they do:

• Billboard evangelism
• Wheelchairs
• Disaster relief (cleanup and rebuilding)
• Micro-finance projects
• Literature projects

If you would like more information, check them out here: www.christianaidministries.org

Huh??

AM or PM?

The other night I was attempting to explain to my son why his alarm went off at midnight.

"That's because it was set for midnight", I explained.
"Nuh-uh!"
(sigh)
"Yes, see it is set for 12 AM"
"But that's not midnight!"
(oh we have AM and PM confused)
"Yes 12 AM is midnight and 12 PM is lunchtime" (that is, of course, if you typically eat at noon like a 7 year old might)
"Huh?!??! No Way"
"Yeah-huh, that's the way it is."

Reluctantly he accepted my explanation and we fixed the alarm so that we don't need to hear "Beep, Beep" at midnight (whether that is AM or PM).

Europe is different?

Today I had a case of "deja vu" with a tech support person from the Netherlands. I was helping him (or he was helping me) schedule a task on a customer's computer and we were discussing when we would like the task to run. I wasn't certain if this client left his computer run all night so I suggested that he set it for noon because he may be out of the office but the computer would most likely be running. To my amusement the cursor changed the time to 12:00 AM.

"Uh, how about we set it for noon."
"Yes that would be 12:00 AM"
"Uh, no, that is midnight"
"No that would be 12:00 PM"
"This is funny, I just had this conversation with my 7 year old" (hopefully he wasn't offended)

By now I am starting to second guess myself, so I quickly muted my phone and ask my co-worker, "Hey, noon is 12 PM, correct?"
"Yes"
Whew!

"Yes, we want to set the time to 12 PM"

By now Mr. Netherlands was starting to see the problem, "Over here we use military time, it's so much easier. Midnight is 00 and noon is 12."
"Ha Ha yeah that would be easier", I laughed.
"And you don't use kilometers, kilos, or liters either. That just blows my mind."
(Oh boy) "Yes we are just crazy Americans."
(mute button, mute button, where is that mute button??)

He was a good sport and we successfully setup the scheduled task to run at noon. I never gave it a thought that Europe doesn't use AM and PM. Guess I learned something new today.

~T

A Little Physics Lesson

Bike Ramp??

Saturday evening I heard a clatter of boards on concrete. Hmm, I wonder what that was? I better go investigate.

My son and the neighbor boy had decided to build a bike ramp with some boards they found. In my extensive wisdom and experience (cough, cough), I spotted a slight problem. Shall we call it a fulcrum? Right there about two-thirds of the way up the ramp.

I began to do some calculations, let's see, on Thursday night a neighbor girl fell and hurt her leg and is now hobbling around on crutches and a this particular neighbor boy had gone home crying because the boys had decided to "fight" with sticks and he had gotten "whacked". OK, I better intervene here lest I end up testing my homeowner's liability insurance policy.

I proceeded to point out their engineering mistake and corrected their calculations.

Guess what it worked. So did the slow motion feature of my Moto G

Oops, kind of.

Oh and it worked for other things.

It reminds me of Proverbs 3:5-7:

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight.

Often times I think I know how to do things but it is a disaster waiting to happen. If I stop to ask *how* I should go about something, He always has a good answer.

~T

Caboose

Left to Rust

Well, not entirely, it actually appeared to be in use...not exactly sure for what.

Let a comment below if you know where this caboose is.

No Regrets

Post by Remembering Jared Gehman.

Over the last 2 weeks I have been thinking about a statement made by a father of a young man who just died in a tragic accident.

When he learned Jared had died, Nelson's immediate response was to turn to Dorita and say: "We have no regrets. He was living life to serve the Lord."

What I am referring to is the story of Jared Gehman. This young man met an untimely end during a mission trip in Grenada. How can his Dad say this? Knowing this family I can definitely say this was not a flippant statement this is how they live life.

Having no regrets about life does not "just happen" it begins intentionally in the beginning. You certainly cannot plan the end of your life and I am sure if Jared or his family had any thoughts about the planning of Jared's life they certainly would not have planned it this way.

This week the children found a bird that fell out of its nest and they thought they would feed and care for it. But alas caring for a bird without its mother is not an easy task. Yesterday when I returned home from the office I found an ominous marker beside the lilac bush.

Um, so how do birds and Jared go together? Luke 12:6-7 says, "Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings (pennies), and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows." Jesus is giving a comparison of how important even a little bird is to God but people are way more valuable and so if God gives notice to a little bird then His notice of Jared is so much greater.

What am I trying to point out here? Our lives are extremely important to God and life is not something to be taken for granted, ever. When tragedy hits can I say as Nelson said, "We have no regrets..."?