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David and Salvation

On October 12, I was standing in the living room when David came upstairs after he got changed into his play clothes after school. He says to me, “I want to ask Jesus to be my Savior.” It took just a moment to register, but what a joy it was to hear those words come out of his mouth. So we went off to my room together and I asked him many questions about why he wanted to do that and shared verses with him as well.

After all that was said and done, he understood why he needed to be saved and wanted to do it right away. How awesome that was.

As I shared scripture with him, he would reach over and give me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. It was so very precious and special. David prayed and got saved that afternoon.

The next day he asked about baptism, we haven't gotten into that yet though.

Another wonderful thing is that David's best friend is named David (who was born just 2 days before him), talked to his mother that same evening and he too got saved. Neither boy knew of this happening for both David's mom and I gave testimony at church about what took place with our children. Some time on Thursday, Cindy LaVoie told her son David his friend David got saved, too, the other day. His eyes got wide and bright and he just had this great big smile on his face. I also told David what took place with his friend and his reaction was nearly the same. God is awesome!!! Praise Him for the salvation of these little ones.

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Naomi’s First Year

Naomi celebrated her first birthday on Oct. 13. I wanted to do something for her and also for our family and friends to celebrate her first year. Doug showed me (very patiently) how to get the photos entered into our family photo gallery and all of the editing that went along with it. Amazingly, I did it, to my surprise. This is the first set for Naomi there will be a second part as well, but that'll be for another night.

We do love our little girl and am very thankful to God for giving her to us. She is truly a precious and sweet gift from our Heavenly Father (I must also point out that our boys are gifts (just as precious and sweet, but boyishly (lol), as well).

Things that she’s doing now: climbing up onto our loveseat to the top over the loveseat onto the stairs and back over again, but not before letting go and falling down to the cushions laughing. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the camera ready for that one. She’s been taking steps now for about a month on her own…not running yet, which is perfectly fine. 😉

Words she says: I would have to say that her first word was: Isaac (sounding like “Aye-yah”; now it's clearer, but not with the c ending. She also said “Mum,” but that was only a few times. She does say “Mama” and “Dada” now. Other words are “up” and “hi” (from time to time).

She already loves to have her hair done. I give her a container with her barrettes in them, and she plays as I do her hair. Once I’m done, she gets a turn and does mine. She loves the phone, especially being able to play with our cell phone. She enjoys opening it and playing with the buttons and pretending to talk into it. It’s charming. Hmmm, now that I remember that I don't think I had any photos of that either…need to get with it, I know.

The great thing about getting these entered myself is that I can do more now without bugging Doug—so our boys will have a place on in the photo gallery, too. Enjoy the pictures.

Love,
Nichelle

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Skunks Do Not Always Spray When Surprised

[doug]Skunks don’t bother me. Really. I actually find the complex smell of the skunk scent to be pleasant, except when it is exceptionally strong. The other night (or morning, I have no idea of the actual time), Nichelle was conducting a late-night grocery procurement operation, and had the nerve to wake me up to help bring the groceries in.

As I walked down our back steps, I surprised a skunk, who made a fast retreat in the other direction; I was so sleepy I was already three steps away from the skunk before I processed exactly what had happened.

Now, I know it's possible to “tail” a skunk—pick one up by the tail—which will prevent it from spraying. It’s a risky business, especially as I have no idea how to put one down again. Maybe I can get my kids to try it.

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Online [PC/Video] Gaming: An Industry Name Finally “Gets” It

From this article at Reuters:

The new platforms are expected to offset what Florin [Gerhard Florin, Electronic Arts’ head of European publishing] sees as a disappointing early start for online gaming. The prospect of amassing a core of gamers who pay a monthly subscription to battle other global combatants on the Internet has yet to take off.

Florin attributed the slow take-up to a nagging fear that a gamer could be humiliated in challenging an unknown foe.

“We expected millions of people wanting to play the online games and we have found that, no, they don’t. There is a pretty easy reason. If you play tennis and you don’t know your opponent you are careful whether you should play against him. The same is true with online. If you go online you could be slaughtered or cheated,” he said.

Overcoming the social aspect of online gaming, he added, will hold back the market in the short term.

I think this is probably the most frustrating thing in online gaming. It is almost impossible to win (other than when I am playing with a known group of friends), because those who do game online tend to be those who spend far too much time gaming online. So it isn’t that one might be humiliated, it’s that one will be humiliated. Of course, years ago I was beaten at Command and Conquer by an eight-year-old. When one throws in “unsportsmanlike behavior”—everything from player-killers to abusive language—as well as lag time and trouble keeping a connection to many servers, the appeal of single-player games is obvious.

I do like to play against human opponents. My son John is very challenging, especially at WarCraft III, but our skills are near enough that I can beat him when I really work at it. When I play with Isaac and David we either team up against computer-AI-driven opponents or give them one or more computer partners to help balance things out (except in the Jedi Knight series, where David needs no help). Overall, though, it is rare that online gaming is very fulfilling to the average gamer.

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Farewell to Connie Nordahl

I am sorry to learn that Connie Nordahl passed on (as she would have said), on Sunday, September 5, 2004. Connie was the original owner of WordSmith, a transcription and typesetting service in South Weymouth, Massachusetts; as such, she was my first boss in Desktop Publishing. (Eventually, I bought out most of the business, which became WordSmith Digital Document Services.)

Working for Connie was very helpful to my computer career; indeed, working at WordSmith provided many skills and opportunities that became foundational to what I am doing today (Java programming and Web development). When I ever get around to my page to honor “people who have helped me in life,” Connie will have an important place.

A few weeks ago, I started writing an e-mail because I’d read my first book by P.D. James, one of her favorite authors. Unfortunately, I never finished and sent it. I will also miss having someone who always agreed with strict grammatical rules.

A memorial service will be held at the Lutheran House of Prayer in Hingham (916 Main St., Route 228), at 3:00 PM on Saturday, September 18, 2004.