Hello all! This coming weekend the Rock Valley College Chamber Singers will be taking a trip to Peoria, IL, where we are going to be featured at the annual IMEA State Convention! We are (I'm pretty sure of this) the first two year college to ever have one of it's choirs featured at this convention! We are all excited, and busy preparing.
We will be giving two concerts while in Peoria. One will be at the IMEA Convention and is only open to IMEA members and conference attendees. The other concert that we'll be giving will be held in Washington, IL, and is open to the public. Details on this concert are as follows:
January 31st, 2008
St. Marks Lutheran Church
200 S. Main St
Washington, IL
7:00 pm - no tickets required, freewill offering will be taken
Call (309) 744-2553 for more information!
I'd appreciate your prayers for the trip, and esp that everyone would be in good health. There has been a nasty flu bug going around the area, and the last thing we need is to all be sick!
I will try to post pictures and a recap of the trip next week! So stay tuned!
During this year's presidential race there seems to be a lot of attention put on the religious beliefs of the candidates, as though somehow that alone determines whether or not they're going to be a good leader. While I'll agree that the religious beliefs of our future president are important, I think we should focus on what they stand for, not only what they say they believe.
As you may already know, I support Ron Paul for president in 2008 because of what he stands for, not just because of what he says he believes. For articles by Ron Paul, and information on his views, visit Ron Paul 2008 > Issues.
And, in case you're wondering what his religious convictions are, here's what he has to say on that...
"I have never been one who is comfortable talking about my faith in the political arena. In fact, the pandering that typically occurs in the election season I find to be distasteful. But for those who have asked, I freely confess that Jesus Christ is my personal Savior, and that I seek His guidance in all that I do. I know, as you do, that our freedoms come not from man, but from God. My record of public service reflects my reverence for the Natural Rights with which we have been endowed by a loving Creator."
~Ron Paul
As you may already know, I support Ron Paul for president in 2008 because of what he stands for, not just because of what he says he believes. For articles by Ron Paul, and information on his views, visit Ron Paul 2008 > Issues.
And, in case you're wondering what his religious convictions are, here's what he has to say on that...
"I have never been one who is comfortable talking about my faith in the political arena. In fact, the pandering that typically occurs in the election season I find to be distasteful. But for those who have asked, I freely confess that Jesus Christ is my personal Savior, and that I seek His guidance in all that I do. I know, as you do, that our freedoms come not from man, but from God. My record of public service reflects my reverence for the Natural Rights with which we have been endowed by a loving Creator."
~Ron Paul
Ron Paul on "Christmas in Secular America"
I've been reading a lot of writings by Ron Paul lately. I am continually blown away by how precisely his arguments match what I believe the Bible has set out as a pattern for proper government. His distinctly Christian and biblically based views are something I hope others will catch onto.
Here's an article of his that I read on Christmas in secular America. He makes a number of good points beyond just the topic of Christmas. I hope you enjoy it!
________________________________
I highly recommend that you do, if it were practical I think I would post all of the articles! :) It is indeed good to know that there is Hope For America!
Here's an article of his that I read on Christmas in secular America. He makes a number of good points beyond just the topic of Christmas. I hope you enjoy it!
________________________________
As we celebrate another Yuletide season, it’s hard not to notice that Christmas in America simply doesn’t feel the same anymore. Although an overwhelming majority of Americans celebrate Christmas, and those who don’t celebrate it overwhelmingly accept and respect our nation’s Christmas traditions, a certain shared public sentiment slowly has disappeared. The Christmas spirit, marked by a wonderful feeling of goodwill among men, is in danger of being lost in the ongoing war against religion.
Through perverse court decisions and years of cultural indoctrination, the elitist, secular Left has managed to convince many in our nation that religion must be driven from public view. The justification is always that someone, somewhere, might possibly be offended or feel uncomfortable living in the midst of a largely Christian society, so all must yield to the fragile sensibilities of the few. The ultimate goal of the anti-religious elites is to transform America into a completely secular nation, a nation that is legally and culturally biased against Christianity.
This growing bias explains why many of our wonderful Christmas traditions have been lost. Christmas pageants and plays, including Handel’s Messiah, have been banned from schools and community halls. Nativity scenes have been ordered removed from town squares, and even criticized as offensive when placed on private church lawns. Office Christmas parties have become taboo, replaced by colorless seasonal parties to ensure no employees feel threatened by a “hostile environment.” Even wholly non-religious decorations featuring Santa Claus, snowmen, and the like have been called into question as Christmas symbols that might cause discomfort. Earlier this month, firemen near Chicago reluctantly removed Christmas decorations from their firehouse after a complaint by some embittered busybody. Most noticeably, however, the once commonplace refrain of “Merry Christmas” has been replaced by the vague, ubiquitous “Happy Holidays.” But what holiday? Is Christmas some kind of secret, a word that cannot be uttered in public? Why have we allowed the secularists to intimidate us into downplaying our most cherished and meaningful Christian celebration?
The notion of a rigid separation between church and state has no basis in either the text of the Constitution or the writings of our Founding Fathers. On the contrary, our Founders’ political views were strongly informed by their religious beliefs. Certainly the drafters of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, both replete with references to God, would be aghast at the federal government’s hostility to religion. The establishment clause of the First Amendment was simply intended to forbid the creation of an official state church like the Church of England, not to drive religion out of public life.
The Founding Fathers envisioned a robustly Christian yet religiously tolerant America, with churches serving as vital institutions that would eclipse the state in importance. Throughout our nation’s history, churches have done what no government can ever do, namely teach morality and civility. Moral and civil individuals are largely governed by their own sense of right and wrong, and hence have little need for external government. This is the real reason the collectivist Left hates religion: Churches as institutions compete with the state for the people’s allegiance, and many devout people put their faith in God before their faith in the state. Knowing this, the secularists wage an ongoing war against religion, chipping away bit by bit at our nation’s Christian heritage. Christmas itself may soon be a casualty of that war.
________________________________
For more articles by Ron Paul, and information on his views, visit Ron Paul 2008 > Issues
Back to school with a new job!
A couple weeks ago josh was at DeCrane's Service Center in Harvard, and noticed a 'help wanted' sign. The position that they were looking to have filled was for a receptionist in a shift that EXACTLY matches my school schedule! I applied for the job and got it! So needless to say, I am now working at DeCrane's Service Center doing that which I very much enjoy (talking about cars, talking to people, etc...). This was my first week working there, and it is definitely right up my alley. It takes a bit getting used to how all the paperwork is done, but I thank the Lord for providing the job! I have about five-ten minutes of free time between school and work (all depending on traffic), so I'm running a very tight schedule. I'm leaving for school in the early morning and not getting home till after dinner! Then I get my couple hours of study before bed.
Right now I feel like I could go sit in a corner and sleep! I am SO TIRED!
Well my first week of school and work is almost done! I just have a concert that the Chamber Singers are singing at this evenning, and then I'm off for a nice long four day weekend! :) Thank God for 'holidays'!
Right now I feel like I could go sit in a corner and sleep! I am SO TIRED!
Well my first week of school and work is almost done! I just have a concert that the Chamber Singers are singing at this evenning, and then I'm off for a nice long four day weekend! :) Thank God for 'holidays'!
SCHOOL!
School begins tomorrow, along with my new job! I'm going to be running a jam packed schedule this spring, and you prayers would be GREATLY appreciated!
An excellent parody, on a terrible song :-)
You've GOT to see this!
My bro-in-law put it very well on his blog... Check it out HERE.
Many thanks to the Hill family for showing it to us! I laugh so hard every time! :)
My bro-in-law put it very well on his blog... Check it out HERE.
Many thanks to the Hill family for showing it to us! I laugh so hard every time! :)
My beautiful friend is...
A couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to work with North Country Interiors up in the Milwaukee area, laying flooring and such. There were two job sites that we were working on that day. Jeremy and I were working on a wood floor, while Aaron, Nathan, and Luke were over at the other location doing flooring of various types.
At one point during the day Nathan swung by our location to take my pickup truck. I took special care to make sure that the Veggie Oil system was off, and that the truck was running on Diesel. To make a long story short, Luke ended up having quite a rough time with my truck, which was not running very well. In retrospect, I think somehow the switches for my veg' oil system (which I haven't labeled since I'm usually the only one that drives my truck) got switched, and being that my Veg' Oil tank was empty, the injector pump got fed LOTS of air. For those without mechanical knowledge, this is NOT a good thing for a diesel engine!
After talking with Luke (who was out driving it at the time) I gave him the instructions that I thought he needed in order to keep it running, and get home back to their job site.
It was now about 5:30 or 6:00pm, and Jeremy, Nathan and I were wrapping up the work at their job site. We got everything packed up and ready to go, but still no Luke (that poor guy hates my truck now). We decided that Jeremy and Nathan would head home, and I'd stay back and wait for Luke, who finally did show up. We packed up our tile saw (which is a painful story in itself ;) and headed for home... I threw the truck in gear, gunned it and we were out of there! Well not really, we only made it to the end of the driveway, where it died. :( Luke laughed, and I let him know that my beautiful truck had been mistreated, and just needed it's fuel lines bled to remove the air bubbles. We decided to stop at the first gas station and bleed the lines, however we didn't even make it that far. As we drove out into the dense fog, my truck just kept dying, and finally it wouldn't start back up...
...Oh wait, this story is getting long again, sorry...
So Jeremy and Nathan came to pick Luke up, and called AAA for a tow. After a quick bite to eat, the three of them headed home while I waited in my truck for the tow. It was a marvelous little time I had there :) haha... I sang along to some music, went for a little jog to stay warm, and even took a nap! I was actually quite cozy after the jog, and after what seemed like just a few minutes, I was awoken to the sound of the tow truck! :) We got it loaded up onto the back, and headed for home...
WHAT A RIDE THAT WAS! The guy had only gotten about a one hour nap in two days, and was about ready to un-voluntarily take another! We drove at about 25mph the whole way home. :( I didn't realize how tired he was until we came to a railroad crossing where he stopped for a LONG time. After about ten seconds or so, I asked what we were waiting for... suddenly we started going again. That was one tense ride home! I really didn't know if we'd make it! But, after over two hours, we finally made it home from New Berlin.
But the story doesn't end there, as I took off my jacket, I noticed a letter from the Secretary Of State on my desk. It carried... ...well... ...even more bad, BAD news. :(
Further diagnostics on my truck show that I apparently blew my injector pump. I just praise the Lord that Luke didn't get stranded in it! I'm afraid what he'd have done to my truck without me there! LOL!
So anyway, if there are any philanthropists out there that feel like helping a guy out, I've got a big bill on my hands, and could really use some help! :-)
Oh and to answer the title of this post, my beautiful friend is... ...taking a long rest out in our driveway. :D
At one point during the day Nathan swung by our location to take my pickup truck. I took special care to make sure that the Veggie Oil system was off, and that the truck was running on Diesel. To make a long story short, Luke ended up having quite a rough time with my truck, which was not running very well. In retrospect, I think somehow the switches for my veg' oil system (which I haven't labeled since I'm usually the only one that drives my truck) got switched, and being that my Veg' Oil tank was empty, the injector pump got fed LOTS of air. For those without mechanical knowledge, this is NOT a good thing for a diesel engine!
After talking with Luke (who was out driving it at the time) I gave him the instructions that I thought he needed in order to keep it running, and get home back to their job site.
It was now about 5:30 or 6:00pm, and Jeremy, Nathan and I were wrapping up the work at their job site. We got everything packed up and ready to go, but still no Luke (that poor guy hates my truck now). We decided that Jeremy and Nathan would head home, and I'd stay back and wait for Luke, who finally did show up. We packed up our tile saw (which is a painful story in itself ;) and headed for home... I threw the truck in gear, gunned it and we were out of there! Well not really, we only made it to the end of the driveway, where it died. :( Luke laughed, and I let him know that my beautiful truck had been mistreated, and just needed it's fuel lines bled to remove the air bubbles. We decided to stop at the first gas station and bleed the lines, however we didn't even make it that far. As we drove out into the dense fog, my truck just kept dying, and finally it wouldn't start back up...
...Oh wait, this story is getting long again, sorry...
So Jeremy and Nathan came to pick Luke up, and called AAA for a tow. After a quick bite to eat, the three of them headed home while I waited in my truck for the tow. It was a marvelous little time I had there :) haha... I sang along to some music, went for a little jog to stay warm, and even took a nap! I was actually quite cozy after the jog, and after what seemed like just a few minutes, I was awoken to the sound of the tow truck! :) We got it loaded up onto the back, and headed for home...
WHAT A RIDE THAT WAS! The guy had only gotten about a one hour nap in two days, and was about ready to un-voluntarily take another! We drove at about 25mph the whole way home. :( I didn't realize how tired he was until we came to a railroad crossing where he stopped for a LONG time. After about ten seconds or so, I asked what we were waiting for... suddenly we started going again. That was one tense ride home! I really didn't know if we'd make it! But, after over two hours, we finally made it home from New Berlin.
But the story doesn't end there, as I took off my jacket, I noticed a letter from the Secretary Of State on my desk. It carried... ...well... ...even more bad, BAD news. :(
Further diagnostics on my truck show that I apparently blew my injector pump. I just praise the Lord that Luke didn't get stranded in it! I'm afraid what he'd have done to my truck without me there! LOL!
So anyway, if there are any philanthropists out there that feel like helping a guy out, I've got a big bill on my hands, and could really use some help! :-)
Oh and to answer the title of this post, my beautiful friend is... ...taking a long rest out in our driveway. :D
The Do-It-Yourself Messiah
Wow! So school is out and the holidays are in, and I'm... ? Well, not particularly busy, and yet very busy all at the same time! I think I've gotten so used to busy meaning school, that anything that's not school isn't busy! But indeed much has been going on. Let's see, on the first day of school break, I cleaned my desk! Yeah! Ok, that may not sound like a big deal, but it did take all day! Haha...
I'm not going to fill this post with EVERYTHING I've been doing, just a few highlights. So let's see, first off is the Do-It-Yourself Messiah!
This year the Do-It-Yourself Messiah started at 2:00pm on Saturday, so the typical gathering of Messiah goers that gathered at our house, was much earlier than normal. We were on the train by 10:30am, but unfortunately being as early as it was, I didn't make it out of bed in time... Haha... Just kidding of course! :D Here are some pictures and commentary from the day...
Here we are on the train heading into Chicago!
My bro, Josh, with his fiancée Abbey Hill. I think they were enjoying the evening ;)
Here is the traditional picture of our group on the traditional stair case!
After The Messiah, we all went to Giordano's where we enjoyed a fabulous dinner in our own party room! :)
One of the tables...
Another one of the tables...
The room we reserved, with another one of the tables...
Yet another one of the tables...
And last but not least... The boy's table!
Oh I might add... Tom Del' did come with us that evening, but as you can tell... He was in a very unusual mood. ;) Lol!
Well I was going to post a few more pictures from the evening, but Blogger is getting cranky, so I'm going to call it quits for now. Stay tuned though! I still haven't told you about our Christmas, my truck breaking down, our New Years Eve party, or... Oh yeah, I'm getting ready to head back to school!
I'm not going to fill this post with EVERYTHING I've been doing, just a few highlights. So let's see, first off is the Do-It-Yourself Messiah!
This year the Do-It-Yourself Messiah started at 2:00pm on Saturday, so the typical gathering of Messiah goers that gathered at our house, was much earlier than normal. We were on the train by 10:30am, but unfortunately being as early as it was, I didn't make it out of bed in time... Haha... Just kidding of course! :D Here are some pictures and commentary from the day...
Here we are on the train heading into Chicago!
My bro, Josh, with his fiancée Abbey Hill. I think they were enjoying the evening ;)
Here is the traditional picture of our group on the traditional stair case!
After The Messiah, we all went to Giordano's where we enjoyed a fabulous dinner in our own party room! :)
One of the tables...
Another one of the tables...
The room we reserved, with another one of the tables...
Yet another one of the tables...
And last but not least... The boy's table!
Oh I might add... Tom Del' did come with us that evening, but as you can tell... He was in a very unusual mood. ;) Lol!Well I was going to post a few more pictures from the evening, but Blogger is getting cranky, so I'm going to call it quits for now. Stay tuned though! I still haven't told you about our Christmas, my truck breaking down, our New Years Eve party, or... Oh yeah, I'm getting ready to head back to school!
New post coming soon!
Oh, and if anyone is looking for a really cheap car (like $400), that gets really good gas mileage, let me know! I think I can line up a Saturn SC2 coupe for you.
Stay tuned for a new post soon! In the mean time you can see a slide show from our new years party by visiting Dawn's Journeys!
Oh, and if anyone is looking for a really cheap car (like $400), that gets really good gas mileage, let me know! I think I can line up a Saturn SC2 coupe for you.
Stay tuned for a new post soon! In the mean time you can see a slide show from our new years party by visiting Dawn's Journeys!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)