My two sisters (Heidi - 15 & Kristi - 10) and brother (Dietrich - 6) did a performance for us tonight, performing a song that Heidi wrote. They dubbed themselves The Ladybugs (not the Beatles!). Without further ado, I give you New Year Redux by The Ladybugs:
About 8 months ago, I got a call from Paul Emerson, pastor of a large BMA (Biblical Mennonite Alliance) church in Harrisonburg, VA. He is also on the FCM (Fellowship of Concerned Mennonites) board (and the FCM Informer editor), the editor of the Sword and Trumpet, and a leader of the BMA conference. His co-pastor, Linford Berry who goes by the online handle of undershepherd, was a reader of my blog and had suggested me as a replacement for the outgoing writer of the monthly Newslines column in the Sword and Trumpet. I happily accepted.
I should have been posting my columns on my blog earlier, but I haven’t. I’m starting now: Open Document Text (.ODT) 17 KB, Microsoft Word (.DOC) 28 KB, Adobe Acrobat (.PDF) 117 KB, or Web Page (.HTM) 18 KB.
I can’t wait ’til I’m single, then I can write my own Christmas letter.
-15 year old sister Heidi
Note from a webdesigner: You know you’ve been Photoshopping pixel by pixel for too long when blue spots appear in your espresso that you absolutely know are not there in real life. Then you realize you’ve been spending too much time working with photography when your first thought is that to correct the chromatic aberration you are experiencing, you need to use a lens that doesn’t have so wide an angle and simply stitch the photos together digitally.
At SMBI, I did a word study on two Greek words. On each word/verse I looked at the meaning of the Greek word, the usage of the word in secular Greek literature, the usage (if any) in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament), New Testament usage, and then finally the application of the verse and the conclusion. Without further ado, here it is: PDF (653 KB), ODT (333 KB)
I got a 99% on it from Elijah, so hopefully it’s decently interesting reading. (I got a 99% only because I spent waaay too much time on it. Scriptural expository writing is one of my favorite things to do. If I would have spent more time on studying for my test and less time on this word study, my test score might have seen the north side of 80%.)
Disclaimer: I don’t take responsibility for the archaic footnoting system I used. SMBI’s term paper guidelines are woefully outdated without provision for modern media (i.e. Wikipedia, Bible programs, etc) or modern term paper composition methods (i.e. computers). I hope to persuade Cliff, the Administrator, to let me rewrite them to modern standards.
Since no one desired to host the singing on the 26th, we sang at Maxwell Wildlife Game Reserve. A fun time was had by all who enjoyed it.
-Craig Miller, Center Youth News, Plain Talk
November was so mild in Hutchinson that the Canada geese were in a holding pattern.
-Hutchinson News as quoted by Linda Miller, Community News, Plain Talk
You know it’s not America if you see coats, scarves, and ski masks when the temperature dips down to 70.
E. Miller, Bangladesh, Plain Talk
Plain Talk is a community publication published by the Beachy (Amish-Mennonite) community of four churches in the Partridge, KS area. (One of those four churches is an outreach community in Parsons, KS.)
A young lady from my church wrote the following list and left it as a comment:
- Wrapping paper that is really light in color can usually be seen through by pressing the paper tight to the box its wrapped around.
- Certain things have certain shapes. For instance a “Bratz” doll box is a one of a kind shape, and baseball bats or skis are unique shapes too.
- Feeling with your hands. For instance, a box of candy canes, you can feel the space between each cane’s hook.
- Sneak a round. Look in places you wouldn’t normally look. Examples, bathroom, mom and dad’s room, even in your room a present might be hidden.
- Cracks. Sometimes there are cracks in the wrapping paper, or poor folds in the wrapping paper that you can look into and see something.
- Shake. If you shake a present the sounds it makes could give you a clue. If it sounds like broken glass – you’re in trouble. But it back and leave the room.
- Weight. If the box is heavy or light can be a clue.
- Size. If the box is big or small can be a clue. If it as big as a doll house, it might be a doll house.
- Smell. Your present might have a sweet smell if its candy, a new clothing smell, or some other smell that might give you a clue.
- Think. Use your brain and think, putting together all these clues.
Written by Monica Noffsinger, 8 Dec 2006, 3rd grade Nokesville Elementary School
Disclaimer: This blog assumes no liability, explicit or implied, for the possible consequences, acts of God (or delegated authorities), or repercussions of following the above list of methods. (Like angry mobs of gift givers after you have snooped out their gifts!) Void where prohibited. Some assembly required. Batteries not included. Contents may settle during shipment. Use only as directed. No other warranty expressed or implied. Do not use while operating a motor vehicle or heavy equipment. For recreational use only. If condition persists, consult your physician. Employees and their families are not eligible. No purchase necessary. Not responsible for direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages resulting from any defect, error or failure to perform.
Duane Friesen is an acquaintance of mine. He writes a very interesting blog about the life of a city missionary in Philadelphia. Ever since 5th term at SMBI when I went to Waynesboro, VA to work with the urban mission there, I have had an interest in urban missions. For 5th term choir tour, our home base was Tidings of Peace, the conservative Mennonite mission church in York, PA. Then for Urban Evangelism class (which is taught by the pastor of the Tidings of Peace) 1st term this year, we made several forays to York to do door-to-door evangelism. I have met Duane several times over the past year or so, but I only discovered his blog several days ago. I have been poring through his archives and enjoying the glimpse into the life of an urban missionary. The life of an urban worker is not boring!
There is a small internet startup company called PayPerPost which connects companies and individual bloggers. The companies pay the bloggers to post about their company, product, or website. PayPerPost, obviously, then takes a cut. PayPerPost’s CEO has also started a sister website called RockStartUp which he dubs Web 2.0 Reality TV. It has free episodes, or vidcasts, (in a whole multiplicity of formats: low-bandwidth YouTube, high-bandwidth letterboxed 480, and 1080 HD) about the making and the running of the company.
It is truly intriguing to catch a glimpse into the running of one of the famed (or perhaps infamous) tech startups. It is funny how stereotypically PayPerPost’s employees act in the vidcasts. They even have the rainbow colors of brilliant yellow, lime green, and bright cyan for the wall colors. They have the 30″ Apple Cinema displays. They have the meetings with the eager venture capitalists. They have the nerve-racking first tradeshow. They have the champagne shooting all over the office when they move into their new digs. They even have the raunchy Las Vegas clubs. The last part turned me off of this vidcast. I enjoyed everything except the last part of Episode 4 when they went to some nasty, puke-worthy club. If you don’t mind doing some fast-forwarding, this is a very interesting vidcast that provides a very interesting look into the life of a ‘net startup company.
Full Disclosure: This post was sponsored by RockStartUp. I was paid to make this post. However, the opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.
An essential blog that for a long time has unfortunately not been on my blog roll is Kirb’s Musings. Kirby Witmer is a good buddy of mine who writes a great tech blog. The cool thing about it is it’s written by a computer techie (and thus has fairly solid information–I say “fairly” because I must make an exception for some of his pro-Microsoft views!), but is palatable and useful to a general audience of computer users. It doesn’t get into technical esoteric arcana like some tech blogs (including mine at times) are wont to do. Great blog! Highly recommended!
My About page is up:
Hello! My name is Hans Mast.
I have roamed this earth for a total of 18 short years. I am from a family of 5, 6, 7, or 8 depending upon how you are counting. I have two living brothers, two sisters (they’re living too), and two parents (imagine that!). I have one brother, Friederick, who died when he was a week old. My oldest brother is a 17 year old named Benji. He is an awesome photographer and runs an awesome photoblog. My next oldest sibling is Heidi, a 15 year old–she’s the musician and artist of the family. She runs a blog as well and is the family event blogger–you’ll probably find out more about my life on her blog than you will on mine. My next sister is Kristi, a 10 year old. A quite amazing 10 year old she is–one of the recent books she has been reading is the
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (700 pages). My next brother is Dietrich, a 6 year old. He is just plain cool. My dad is Marvin, a businessman (owner of Golden Rule Travel and Communications) and wonderful, wise father who has taught me so much. My mom is Lois, a beautiful, sweet, Godly woman who has impacted my life tremendously.
I am a computer programmer, amateur theologian, and aspiring writer. I love to read, write, think, use computers, discuss, study science (and lots of other things), and play sports (basketball and volleyball are my two favorites, but there are few sports that I don’t enjoy). I am currently attending Sharon Mennonite Bible Institute where I am pursuing a two-year Bible and Theology degree. In April of 2007, I am heading to the Institute for Global Opportunities (IGo) in Chiang Mai, Thailand for eight months. IGo is a basically a missionary training school in which classroom learning will be mixed with practical mission field work while receiving mentoring from veteran missionaries. God has called me (and you! see Matt. 28:18-20; It’s the Great Commission, not the Great Suggestion) to evangelism and I (in consultation with my parents and the Holy Spirit) feel IGo is the best next step in equipping me for that calling. I don’t know where God will lead me into ministry, but I have a feeling because of the skillset and experience he has given me that it will heavily involve technology, writing, and possibly an urban setting.
In 1995 a madman stole a tank from a National Guard armory and went on a rampage through the streets of San Diego. He crushed cars and trucks like matchbook toys and ripped apart full-length RV trailer homes. All was caught on video by a circling police chopper. The man was finally stopped when he got stuck in the median strip of the California Freeway. Several police officers climbed on top of the tank, opened the hatch with a bolt cutters, and shot the man when he refused to surrender.
Amazing!
Here’s a video of two back-to-back extraordinary plays from the 2nd Term SMBI volleyball tournaments:
34 seconds: WMV/3.59 MB or YouTube
I am on SMBI choir tour right now. The other night, we had a program in Blandon, PA. Just before the last song, our director turned to say something to the audience. He saw Lloyd Kauffman sitting in the third row. He stopped mid-sentence and totally lost his train of thought. Lloyd Kauffman is a rather venerable Mennonite choir director.
