Shoebox Challenge

So here's my challenge this Christmas season to all my family and friends, pack a Samaritan's Purse Shoebox for every pair of shoes you purchased this year.

If you're not familiar with Samaritan's purse one of the great things it does is Operation Christmas Child. It takes shoeboxes filled with donated items like toys, toothpaste, art supplies, books, etc. and distributes them to the less fortunate around the world for Christmas. They also add a Bible stroybook to each box. You specify the age and sex best suited for the box. Look here for more info: http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/

So that's the challenge, pack those now empty boxes with gifts for a less fortunate child, for me that means 6 boxes. I figure if we're wealthy enough to buy so many shoes we can give a child Christmas and the message of Jesus each time we do. There are drop-off locations almost anywhere and National collection week is November 14th -21st http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/Drop_Off_Locations/.

So will you take the challenge with me?

Renewable Fuel?

Was reading and article about making fuel from waste food like sausage http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/8610666/Companies-turn-to-sewage-taramasalata-and-sausage-rolls-for-power.html. Read one time that in the US about 40% of the food we produce is thrown away, so at least this way scraps go for something. My company (www.hydrodynamics.com) actually has a biodiesel arm (www.advancedbiofuel.net) so this topic is actualy near and dear to me. The throwing away of so much food also just bugs me with so much starvation in places like Africa. I always feel awful when I let leftover or fresh produce spoil. I remember I used to own a diesel car and I sometimes drove it on biodiesel made from chicken fat and my tailpipe smelled like KFC. Now in the article the also talk about making fuel from sewage, that for sure is a waste product, but based on my experience I'm not sure I'd want to be stuck in traffic behind one.

Thanks Mom and Dad

So at church I've been given the honor of interviewing kids for baptism. It's really been an amazing experience, I love it. As faith building as it has been to see these kids so excited about God, I've also seen some things that are hard. When I was being trained for this the thought was maybe 1 in 30 would be difficult, I've done 6 (5 solo and 1 training) and 3 of them have been a little rough for one reason or another. Now I put on my best Doug charm with jokes and fun to lighten the mood, but some were just hard. Two of the three that were rough can at least be partially traced back to parents going through a divorce and the kid being shaken by that. I've also seen the impact it has on kids in my regular UpStreet groups. It just makes me so appreciate my parents. Never once as a child did I ever fear mom and dad not being together. Now I'm sure they had their rough times, but to us they were always a unified loving front. I took it so for granted and now realize how lucky I was. I wish every kid could have that.