BowerStudios.com

For any new parents who are also fans of fantasy, this bit by Tom Smith is brilliant.

A free study on Matthew from padfield.com

My reading plans from youversion.com

For some reason today, I remembered hearing this recording in church a while back. Some research revealed that it was written and given by S. M. Lockridge. I think it is appropriate for today.

Read an interesting book on fatherhood (using kindle on my phone). It has a christian aspect to it, but I think most of the stuff is applicable to anybody. It was super easy to pick up to read for just a few moments at a time because the chapters are short - only 3 or 4 phone sized pages. I imagine the physical book is only 52 pages long.

It has meaningful things about being a dad. Some of it is common sense, but for me there were things that I enjoyed having spelled out, so that I can be more aware of my relationship with my kids.

Book Web page
Kindle Edition / Amazon Link

Additional Stuff
Follow some of this guide for enabling sms/mail actions.

particularly:
sudo apt-get install php-pear php5-imap php5-dev make

I had to do this twice because the first bombed out...
sudo pecl install mailparse

sudo echo 'extension=mailparse.so' > /etc/php5/apache2/conf.d/mailparse.ini

sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart

need to setup a separate domain

Important guide if you're using postfix:
http://status.net/wiki/Postfix

FROM THE README
SMS
StatusNet supports a cheap-and-dirty system for sending update messages
to mobile phones and for receiving updates from the mobile. Instead of
sending through the SMS network itself, which is costly and requires
buy-in from the wireless carriers, it simply piggybacks on the email
gateways that many carriers provide to their customers. So, SMS
configuration is essentially email configuration.

Each user sends to a made-up email address, which they keep a secret.
Incoming email that is "From" the user's SMS email address, and "To"
the users' secret email address on the site's domain, will be
converted to a notice and stored in the DB.

For this to work, there *must* be a domain or sub-domain for which all
(or most) incoming email can pass through the incoming mail filter.

1. Run the SQL script carrier.sql in your StatusNet database. This will
usually work:
mysql -u "statusnetuser" --password="statusnetpassword" statusnet < db/carrier.sql
This will populate your database with a list of wireless carriers
that support email SMS gateways.

2. Make sure the maildaemon.php file is executable:
chmod +x scripts/maildaemon.php
Note that "daemon" is kind of a misnomer here; the script is more
of a filter than a daemon.

2. Edit /etc/aliases on your mail server and add the following line:
*: /path/to/statusnet/scripts/maildaemon.php

3. Run whatever code you need to to update your aliases database. For
many mail servers (Postfix, Exim, Sendmail), this should work:
newaliases
You may need to restart your mail server for the new database to
take effect.

4. Set the following in your config.php file:
$config['mail']['domain'] = 'yourdomain.example.net';
At this point, post-by-email and post-by-SMS-gateway should work. Note
that if your mail server is on a different computer from your email
server, you'll need to have a full installation of StatusNet, a working
config.php, and access to the StatusNet database from the mail server.

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his
commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
Ecclesiastes 12:13

As I was in the shower pondering about the current season and the state of my life right now, I thought of the following question: "What can I do to impress upon my child that Christmas is about Christ?"
I know a lot of people get caught up in the consumerism of Christmas and have a very difficult time taking the time to remember the "reason for the season". Some people further confuse the issue with the legend of Saint Nicholas.

The conclusion I came to is that we will celebrate Christmas as any other Birthday in this house - with a Birthday Cake. We will still put up a Christmas Tree, and all the presents will still go to the kids. I think by specifically having a Birthday Cake on Christmas, and even going so far as to sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus will go along way towards helping our family remember the reason for the season.

Only one problem... just how many candles???

I'm starting this category on my website as a blog to write about topics like Raising Kids and a Relationship with Christ.

Calvary

Jesus of Nazareth, 33, died Friday on Mount Calvary, also known as Golgotha, the place of the skull. Betrayed by the apostle Judas, Jesus was crucified by the Romans, by order of the Ruler Pontius Pilate. The causes of death were crucifixion, extreme exhaustion, severe torture, and loss of blood.

Jesus, a descendant of Abraham, was a member of the house of David. He was the Son of the late Joseph, a carpenter of Nazareth, and Mary, his devoted mother. Jesus was born in a sable in the city of Bethlehem, Judea. He is survived by his mother Mary, his faithful Apostles, numerous disciples, and many other followers.

Jesus was self-educated and spent most of his adult life working as a teacher. Jesus also occasionally worked as a medical doctor and it is reported that he healed many patients. Up until the time of his death, Jesus was teaching and sharing the Good News, healing the sick, touching the lonely, feeding the hungry, and helping the poor.

Jesus was most noted for telling parables about his father's kingdom and performing miracles, such as feeding over 5,000 people with only five loaves of bread and two fish, and healing a man who was born blind. On the day before his death, he held a last supper celebrating the Passover Feast, at which he foretold his death.

The body was quickly buried in a stone grave, which was donated by Joseph of Arimathea, a loyal friend of the family. By order of Pontius Pilate, a boulder was rolled in front of the tomb. Roman soldiers were put on guard.

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that everyone try to live as Jesus did. Donations may be sent to anyone in need.

Found at ilovethelord.com

Also, check out Growing Christians Ministries

And Cypress Wesleyan

Christmas Lights:
Computer Controlled Lights
Great example
Just wow

Christmas Music:
Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Mannheim Steamroller