Swine Flu Outcome

At the very least, perhaps the public will be encouraged to wash their hands as a result of the media frenzy over the swine flu. Imagine the morbidity and mortality that could be saved if everyone actually washed their hands and avoided coughing on each other. I don't know the actual stats but the common cold, ear infections, bronchitis, and pharyngitis, (and obviously regular influenza) are usually viral and spread by person-to-person contact.

Sex, Drugs, and Rock-n-Roll

My wife and I host a small group through our church called "Couples With Toddlers". It has been an incredible blessing in our lives and it's been incredible to see how the other couples/families have grown over the past couple years.

As a way to introduce ourselves, my wife and I shared our testimonies (i.e. how God has worked in our lives) when we first started meeting in early 2007. It was quite a shock to a lot of the couples because my wife has had 2 abortions and I have struggled with pornography. This was not your average small group. We cut right to the heart and skipped past the facades and phoniness and wanting to keep our skeletons in the closet. God has taken our brokenness and pain and worked through it to heal us and make us usable by Him.

The bonding that we have experienced as couples and friends is unbelievable and rooted in knowing that we're all broken and in need of a Savior. There are no perfect people allowed in our church or our small group.

Fast forward to more recently... Our small group has grown so much we had to split once already and are on the verge of splitting again. Since we have so many new couples, we did another round of testimonies recently. You name it, someone in our group has done it. I won't get into details of sharing others' hurts and struggles in this setting but I can tell you we serve an amazing God. It's amazing to me how he has worked in the lives of all the couples in one way or another. Whether they came from a Christian background or the opposite of that. We have broken families and broken religions in our past as well as loving parents and Christian homes and everything in between.

Miss USA

According to Mr. Hilton's blog posted the day following the Miss USA pageant last weekend, Miss CA lost because she didn't offer the politically correct answer to his question about gay marriage. According to Mr. Hilton, that answer should have been something along the lines of the states should be allowed to decide about gay marriage and not the federal government. A neutral answer.

But let's pretend for a minute that she gave an honest answer in favor of gay marriage. Would this also have been considered "half-brained" and incorrect by Mr. Hilton? It would not have been in line with what he posted on his blog any more than the answer she gave.

There were 3 possible answers: opposed to gay marriage, neutral about gay marriage, and in favor of gay marriage. I find it hard to believe she would have lost had she said anything but what she did.

I commend Miss CA for her honest answer.

Crisis Seeds

I heard an advertisement on the radio today for "Crisis Seeds". According to the ad, they can be worth more than gold or silver and even have been worth more than gold or silver in this century. Although I'm not really sure when that was.

If you send away for a kit now, you will receive enough un-genetically enhanced, non-hybrid seeds to plant a "crisis garden" 1 acre in size. Sounds good right?

So where does the acre of land, good soil, water, etc come from to raise this crisis garden? How many people do you know that actually own an acre of soil that you could grow anything on? Now add to that the fact that you're planting these seeds after a "crisis" of some kind...

Really? Crisis seeds? Does anyone actually buy this kind of thing?