We’ve been having exceptionally hot weather around here lately – at least for us. High temperatures have been above normal for the past two weeks. In fact, this past Friday and Saturday, we experienced 90-degree weather. This is status quo for other parts of the U.S., of course, but we’re not used to it around here, and I’m looking forward to some cooler weather. Particularly because the air conditioning unit on my side of the building at work isn’t able to keep up with demand, and I really don’t enjoy working in 80-85 degree heat.

We have no air conditioning at home of course, so we’ve had to make use of our two fans to keep cool, as well as the 500-gallon swimming pool we bought recently. That’s enough water that I have to worry about chlorine and all of that business, but it’s been worth it to beat the heat…

Recently Sarah lost two teeth in as many days – here’s a picture of her new smile.

She’s playing on a playground near Lake Padden, where Logos had its annual company picnic this past Saturday. We had a great time eating, playing, and chatting. The girls and I even waded around in the lake a bit – fortunately, we didn’t get Swimmer’s Itch like some of my coworkers and their kids. Of course, nobody realized that the lake was infected, or we wouldn’t have touched it. Live and learn…

As you probably know, I’m a big fan of really spicy food. The best way to “pump up the volume” of my favorite Mexican dish is to add some hot sauce, so I enjoy trying different varieties – the hotter the better.

Julie’s parents recently got back from a trip to Hawaii and were kind enough to bring me a gift pack of tasty hot sauces from Hawaii! There are plenty of mediocre (or worse) hot sauces out there, so I was happy to find that these sauces are really quite good.

All three sauces have scotch bonnet peppers as their main ingredient. I wasn’t really familiar with that pepper, so I was surprised to find out that it is very like the habanero, the hottest pepper you’ll find at a grocery store, and just about the hottest pepper you’ll find anywhere. (In fact, the scotch bonnet and the habanero are the same species; you’ll have to ask my brother-in-law what is required for two different peppers to be the same species.)

Thanks for the great gift! The best thing about really hot sauces is that you can’t use much at a time, so they last a good long time! Frozen chimichangas for lunch aren’t so bad with a good hot sauce…

Speaking of videos, Julie and I have been on a bit of a movie-watching spree – for us, at least. We have an unlimited two-for-one Blockbuster coupon that expires in a few days, our library has a good supply of “real” videos for borrowing, and we've been taking advantage of both. Videos we've seen recently, or will be watching shortly:

• Radio
• Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
• Miracle
• The Lion King 1½ (mostly for the kids)
• Unbreakable
• Seabiscuit
• Cheaper by the Dozen

Now, unlike some people I know (Julie's grandmother and my advisor from Calvin belong to the Sherman St. CRC Film-Discussion Small Group, and I'm sure the discussion is lively), I watch movies mostly for their entertainment value, and I'm easily entertained. We've seen all but the last two in the list above thus far, and I've enjoyed them all. It's a rare movie that makes me want to turn it off, but I'm fairly cautious in my movie selection, so that may have something to do with it...

It's time for the next exciting installment of the Rebecca video saga: “So Big!”

RebeccaSoBig.mpeg (830 KB)

The Worship Planning Committee of my church asked me to read and review a book for them, so I thought I'd post what I wrote here:

High-Tech Worship?, by Quentin J. Schultze, is a short, easy-to-read book on “using presentational technologies wisely.” His premise is that technology is simply a tool that can be used to enhance worship. Technology in worship should not be rejected out of hand, nor should it be simply adopted as it is used in society. Rather, we must adapt technology to fit into an appropriate liturgy, encouraging worship by helping the congregation listen to God and respond to His Word.

Using technology wisely requires much thought, planning, and sacrifice. It is not, and must not be adopted as, a “quick fix” for some problem that the church may have. If technology is used for the wrong reason, or if it is too complex, distracting, or awkward, it can harm the act of worship. Some churches would benefit from less technology as surely as others could use more.

The book has many useful lists that remind us what unintended consequences (and unexpected benefits!) could result from adoption of technologies. For example, presentational technologies are most often used to enhance singing, which can be very positive; however, the author warns against encouraging musical “illiteracy” through the excessive use of simple melodies, and might suggest the projection of music as well as lyrics.

I would encourage anyone involved in worship planning to read and reference this book, especially when changes in the use of technology are being considered.

Our family had a nice Fourth of July weekend. Saturday was a normal day of chores and such, though we did watch a couple of movies – the girls watched the Lion King 1½, and Julie and I watched Miracle, which was a good movie about the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey team. (I’m afraid I was too young to remember anything about the actual game, though the 1984 Summer Olympics certainly put a soft spot in my heart for the Games.)

On Sunday we attended church, had a nice walk/ride/skate with the kids, and watched fireworks on TV that night – the whole family watched A Capitol Fourth, and Julie and I watched the Boston Pops. So, a relatively quiet Independence Day for us, except for the war zone outside our house – fireworks are still legal here in Mount Vernon, so it was a long, loud night. Running fans in the girls’ rooms provided enough white noise to keep them asleep all night, thankfully.

Today was a big day – Sarah finally got to eat “real food” again after her surgery. She’s back to her old self in that regard, often eating more than I do! The girls also started their summer activities today, with their first gymnastics lesson this morning and their first swimming lesson this afternoon. Sarah also practiced piano – she practices every day between lessons. We all went to the park for a late lunch and had a great day.

If you’d like a more visual take on our weekend, be sure to check out our photos, organized and captioned by Julie. Hope you all had a great Fourth of July weekend yourselves. Happy 228th Birthday, America!

The Christian Education Fund of our church pays Mount Vernon Christian School tuition for any of our members that want to participate. The fund has been active for the past three years, and I’ve been on the CEF committee from the beginning. Before that, I was directly involved in the investigation process and the proposal to the congregation. It’s a very interesting fund, and reflects the commitment we have to our “covenant children,” as well as to the value of Christian education.

The cost of the fund totals more per year than the rest of the church budget, so we use a pledge system to ensure that donations will be sufficient for the following year. The continuation of the fund hinges each year on June 1, at which point all of the donations for the ending school year must be paid and pledges for the soon-to-start school year must meet or exceed the projected tuition.

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen this year, and the fund was automatically terminated. All was not lost, however – our pastor led an effort to resurrect the fund. The congregation managed to raise the money that was short on donations, make additional pledges to exceed tuition, and pass a two-thirds vote to start the fund up again.

So, it looks like my time on the CEF committee will continue. The resurrected fund has rules that might make my role as donation-watcher a bit more challenging; we shall see. But it’s a great benefit to our families, myself included, so I am happy to see it return.