A minor

Aidan, Missionary, Abbot, and Bishop of Lindisfarne (651)

"O loving God, who called your servant Aidan from the peace of a Cloister to re-establish the Christian mission in northern England, and gave him the gifts of gentleness, simplicity, and strength: Grant that we, following his example, may use what you have given us for the relief of human need, and may persevere in commending the saving Gospel of our Redeemer Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever." Amen.

Happy 19th, Part II

Jon's sister is only two days younger than my sister so we do double b-day duty this week. That's right, it is time for another rousing round of everyone's favorite ditty. Join in, you all know how it goes...
Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Jordan, happy birthday to you.
Enjoy your day, Jordy!

To enthusiastically echo B.J., check out Jeff Steel's new blog, as well as the Steel family news blog! Jeff is the former pastor of John Knox Presbyterian Church in Ruston, LA. He is currently a PhD student at the University of Durham, England, and a fast-track ordinand in the Church of England.

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Callie, happy birthday to you. And many moooore...
Wow, can I sing or what? Have a great day, sweetie.

For Future Reference

1. The Feminization of the Church (Note Podles quote about psychological profile.)

2. Interesting Statistics

3. "Best-Selling Author a Spirit-Filled Vicar Who Casts Out Demons"
+ an interview with the author
+ photos of churches in his area

Synopsis of Latest Rentals

Kill Bill Volume 2: Excellent. Uma rocks. I like how Tarantino said Vol 1 was introducing you to the world and Vol 2 was introducing the characters. Cool. I hear Vol 3 might make a go in the next 10 or 15 years. That one is already marked as a winner.
Taking Lives: Predictable in a "twist" kind of way but Ethan Hawke saves it with his oh so good looks. The suspense was there at times but it never achieved a true thriller. Did I mention Ethan is hot stuff?
Ned Kelly: I wasn't able to get into it and thought it was just a vehicle to showcase Heath Ledger and Orlando Bloom for all the teenyboppers. But after watching the DVD's special feature about the real Kelly gang, I felt more interested in the whole thing. Maybe I should see it again (and not make my grocery lists during important scenes).
13 Going on 30: Cute. I wasn't expecting much which made me enjoy it more. Jennifer Garner has some major dimples going on. I never really noticed until this movie. Crazy.
Bubba Ho-tep: It's in the player now...we'll see if the Evil Dead can deliver.

I'm soooo obsessed with this. You can access the last 2 weeks worth of puzzles for free. Yep, my nerd-o-meter is going way up.

'Not sure yet exactly what to think of the new Blogger Navbar. Getting it configured properly in my template was tougher than it should have been - until I read the note to add style="margin-top:40px;" to my topmost table tag. (I ended up going down to 35px, whatever that means, because I was getting a white line below the Navbar, but it all worked out.) The Navbar definitely beats the banner ads, which I should have removed long ago. The Search feature and the Blogger and Next Blog buttons all seem like good additions.

Capezza in the House

Last night, I drove to Jackson to pick up Rick, who's staying with us until he can get into his house. (For those of you who don't know, Rick is going to be teaching English at ULM. Rachel and her brother Isaiah are due to arrive in the moving truck later this week.) When we got into Monroe, we dropped in on Rick's old roommate Thomas and crashed his & Emily's party that included Remy & Bethany, Courtney & Lisa, Troy Bart & Jen, and Christin, among others. Nothing like a little reunion right off the bat.

The Old Switcheroo

Callie has moved her blog from here to here. But never fear, she has retained all her oddity - including (but not limited to) irrational love for old British men.

The Bishop's Centre for Ministry, Shreveport

I was pleased to read Bishop MacPherson's August 2004 message about the finalization of the new Bishop's Centre for Ministry in Shreveport (in the former facilities of Cranmer House, which moved to Houston). I was especially excited to learn of "the tentative plans at this time for the Centre to serve as an extension site for selected class offerings in agreement with the Episcopal seminary, Nashotah House." Now, maybe - just maybe - it will be possible for folks like me to pursue studies at Nashotah without having to move to Wisconsin for 3+ years. Even if, say, two years at Nashotah were still required, that would be better than three or four - and it might even be enough to keep me a married man! (Hollie has no interest in visiting Wisconsin, much less living there.)

Sleeping On The Job

Wouldn't the world be a better place if we ALL had scheduled naps in the afternoon? Kinda like kindergarten but for grown-ups (minus the folding sleeping mats...although those just might catch on. You could toss one of those babies in the trunk and take it to the office. Convenient, no?). Refreshing naps* are exactly what our hectic lives have been demanding. Count me in.

*Side effects include increased productivity and general good will toward men.

In case you didn't already know...

Baby powder (especially large quantities, like, say, an entire bottle) is not easy to clean up off the floor. It gets stuck in all the tiniest crevices of the linoleum, not to mention the tiniest crevices of your nostrils. Your children may argue that it looks cool floating through the air. However, it is not so cool when Mom finds it and has to do cleanup. Also, I'd recommend not pouring huge bottles of cleaning liquid all over the carpet. It makes for a soggy mess and then you've got the whole "Mom cleaning up" thing again. If any of this sounds like firsthand experience to you, well, let's just say it's been an eventful morning in the Amos household. And boy, do we have clean floors.

My sister, Callie, is in a production of Tolkien's Farmer Giles of Ham. It sounds like it will be a good show. If you're in the Monroe area, you should make a point to be there. There are two showings (Friday night and Saturday afternoon) and all ticket proceeds go to Geneva Academy.