Saturday, March 29

March Madness Continues

History is made !
All four #1 seeds advance to the final 4
UNC will play KU
UCLA will take on Memphis


Who do you think will be the 2008 NCAA champions?

Man Loses His Life Trying To Help

How many of us have been witness to an accident and ran to the aid of those involved? I would say the majority of us wouldn't even give it a second thought. Thinking that someone could be hurt and in need of immediate help. Well yesterday in Marionville MO the outcome for a man trying to help turned deadly and leaves us all waiting for answers. For the full story click on the link below.
http://www.ky3.com/news/local/17089126.html

Tuesday, March 25

A couple of years ago a teenager here in our community was killed when he drove his car at a high rate of speed and lost control. It was a time of great sadness within the community. He played sports, was very outgoing and had lots of friends. There were signs written on the back of cars and trucks bearing his football number along with heartfelt messages. The following day school was basically shut down so that students could speak with counselors and help each other to try and deal with the loss. The funeral home had lines of people waiting to pay their respects to the family. All of his classmates along with their families were there. My family was there as well.



My family was also present at last night's visitation of another teenager who drown during last week's flood. The scene however this time was different. There were no long lines at the funeral home or messages on the back of cars. Just one lone message posted on the sign outside where he worked. The presence of most of his graduating class consisted of a flower arrangement. The grieving process at school was a bulletin that each teacher read at the beginning of class. Counselors were available to speak with students but only a handful even stopped in the halls to talk about it. The only memories for most was how he stayed to himself or for some like my daughter who only knew him as the guy who was picked on or ignored. Students that knew him from the special education class took his passing hard as did his teachers. They knew him best and knew how hard he had worked to overcome his academic struggles and in just a few weeks he would be a member of the graduating class of 2008. He had proven that difficulties can be overcome and even college is within reach. He would have attended college in the fall.

Both of these young men's lives tragically ended too soon. But what bothers me is the value we put on human life. The second young man wasn't popular, he wasn't outgoing and and while most everyone knew him, very few knew him well, so therefore few found it important enough to take the time to pay their respects to his family or to him as a fellow student. Liked or not liked, popular or unpopular he was still part of a team. A team that viewed him not worthy of their time neither during his life or his death.

For those students that were there, "thank you"for being there for his family and for acknowledging him as a fellow-student. You set an example of kindness, compassion, respect and responsibility that may influence others in the future to do the same. To your parents I say thank you, for teaching your children the value of life and how precious it is no matter how great or small it may appear to others.






Sunday, March 16

What A Weekend For Basketball Fans

Basketball fans across the country were glued to their television sets Sunday as the tournament ended and Selection Sunday began.
UNC had their hands full with Clemson for the championship game, and while UNC went on to win the game, the last minute found Hansbrough making two really silly fouls . Something you just don't see from this guy.
Next KU met up with Texas and what a game that was! A. J. Abrams and D.J. Augustin can put the hurt on a team in a hurry. I don't think the South is prepared for the likes of Texas. Both teams played hard with KU finally pulling off the win for the championship. Chalmers and Rush were deadly from the three point line. Awesome game.

The selection committee has spoken and the teams have been chosen. The games will start on Thursday so get your brackets filled out...
You can sign up on MSN and fill out a free bracket and a chance to win some prizes. Just have it filled out before tip-off on Thursday. I've included the link below. Go check it out!

http://msn.foxsports.com/fantasy/collegebasketball/tourney/?MSNHPHCP&GT1=39002

Wednesday, March 5

What Do You Think?

In a 2004 survey conducted by the Department of Agriculture it is estimated that the cost of raising a child through the age of 17 is 184,320 with an annual income of 41,700 to 70,200. This does not take into account college expenses but just the basic needs of a child from birth to age of seventeen. As the result of today's cost of raising children the average size family has declined to approx. 2.6 per household.

There is however a movement in the United States called "The Quiver Full". This movement was started in 1989 when a book by Rick and Jan Hess was written entitled "A Full Quiver: Family Planning and the Lordship of Christ." These couples have decided that it is not up to them how many children to have, instead it is up to God to decide. They base this decision on a passage from Psalms 127: 3,4,5. There are couples with as many as 17 children and while they do not believe in birth control or family planning, the subject goes much deeper than just having a large family. I had no idea that such a movement existed until I had to do a report on it in my Sociology of Religion class last fall and so I decided to add this to the blog because there is so much controversy surrounding this subject. I have listed some sites below for you to check out and then come back and share your thoughts on this.

http://www.quiverfull.com/

http://home.fuse.net/mac47/quiverfaq.html

http://buriedtreasurebooks.com/PrairieMuffinManifesto.php

Sunday, March 2

Another Winter Storm in the Works

Sorry for the delay! Right after I had set up the blog I came down with something. Good to go now though.

Just in time for another big winter storm. The weather this year has been far from normal. One minute your getting out the ice melt and the next minute your under a tornado warning. For those like myself who are fascinated with weather it has certainly not been boring. Will see how this one plays out. We are suppose to get heavy rain tonight and then changing over to sleet and finally snow Monday afternoon and night. While the national weather service has estimated we could get around 7 inches here in Southwest Missouri, one of the models that I looked at had us in the 19 inch range. KY3 mentions that on their web-site as their models indicate a record snow. They are predicting between 6-12 inches along the I-44 corridor.

If you are in the path of this storm let me know when it arrives and whats going on in your area and if you get a picture of hopefully the last winter storm of the year, send that too.

Safe travel to all!!!


update: The morning light brings only a trace of snow here.