The Link
The Weekly E-Newsletter of Disciples Christian Church
In This Issue
- Updated Prayer Requests
- Congregational Meeting
- Operation Rowlett Reindeer
- From the Beginning to the
Nativity
- BBPS Advisory Meeting
- Give 2 the Troops
- Young at Heart
- Meditations for Advent
- 2009 NTA Leader Event
- Christmas Memorials &
Honorariums
- From The TechnoManor
- Music Notes
Updated Prayer Requests
- JoAnne Jelsen, Gary Boyd’s cousin, diagnosed with terminal
cancer.
- Jan & Ean Sullivan’s daughter-in-law, Jenny, had a miscarriage on Saturday,
December 6.
- Anton Garza, young nephew of Daniel Gonzalez, is hospitalized with an
infection in his feeding button.
They hope to have surgery to correct this soon.
- Malorie Pieper, Agnes Pieper’s granddaughter, graduated from UT Austin on
December 6 with a degree in journalism.
Congratulations!
- Julia Manning’s daughter, Linda Simek, is having leg and cast
problems.
- Oran Nabors was at
The prayer requests in The Link each week are recent
updates. A list of ongoing prayer requests appears in our worship bulletin each
Sunday.
Clark’s Clips
It is a busy and exciting time of year as we go through
Advent in anticipation of Christmas. We
prepare our hearts and minds and souls for the birth of Jesus, and we
experience again a rebirth of wonder within us.
What a miraculous and sacrificial and loving thing God has done for
us! It literally makes us burst into
song!
At least, that is what it has done for our choir! And Sunday, you will get to rejoice with them
and sing with them as they present a cantata in celebration of God’s wondrous
gift. We hope you will go away singing!
On the 21st of December we will have an
all-church brunch, beginning at
God bless you one and all,
Diane
Congregational
Meeting
There will be a congregational
meeting following worship THIS Sunday, December 14. All members should please plan on attending
this important meeting when the 2009 budget and new board will be voted on.
Operation Rowlett Reindeer
FCC Rowlett has a tremendous Christmas Help Program
(Operation: Rowlett Reindeer) that helps families in need that live in the
following eastern suburbs of
Balch Springs,
The church stopped registering families in November because
the donations and money were not there. However, they have been given
several large donations and can now add at least 200 - 300 more children to
their Christmas list. If there are any
members in our congregation or members know of anyone in need, please call FCC
Rowlett.
They will distribute gifts on the 18th and 19th of
December, so they need to get families registered this week or early next week. They give gifts to children birth - high
school and each family gets a food basket to make either a turkey or tamale
Dinner. They also provide wrapping rooms and help, movies and snacks
while they wait, have a Santa Shop and Craft Room for kids, lots of
smiles, hugs and prayers!
From the Beginning to the Nativity
A Medieval Christmas Mystery Play will be presented by The
Stolen Shakespeare Guild on Wednesday, December 17, 2008, 7:30 p.m. in the
Sanctuary of First Christian Church,
972-579-0911 or fccirving@verizon.net Tickets at the door are $10 each.
BBPS Advisory Meeting
There will be a BBPS
Advisory Meeting next Tuesday evening, December 16 at 6:30 pm. Board members should please plan on
attending.
Give 2
the Troops
The Disciples Women’s Ministry is collecting items to send
to our troops through an organization called “Give 2 the Troops”. We have placed a basket in the coffee area
for you to place your items in. There is
also a list of things they request as well as items that they ask us not to
send. The list is also on their web site
give2thetroops.com. Let’s all give to these wonderful defenders
of freedom.
Young at Heart
The December dinner group will meet at Donna and
Meditations for Advent
There are “Daily Meditations for Advent” booklets available
on the Welcome Table in the Atrium as well as on the credenza in the Narthex
for those interested.
2009 NTA Leader Event
“A Movement for
Wholeness in a Fragmented World” is the theme for this year’s Leader Event
which will be held on Saturday, January 31 at Northway Christian Church in
Christmas Memorials & Honorariums
All poinsettia memorials and
honorariums will be donated this year to Adam’s Animals. Donation envelopes are on the Welcome Table
and on the credenza in the narthex through Sunday. Please put envelopes in the offering plate or
take to the DCC office by Sunday, December 14.
There will be a list of all memorials in the December 24 worship
bulletin.
From
The TechnoManor
It’s windy
and cold outside. Guess I’ll curl up
with my old laptop to write my column.
But wait,
my old laptop is falling apart. The
screen is getting dim. The battery won’t
hold a charge. The speakers no longer
tweet.
Hmmm,
maybe it’s time for a replacement.
Last week,
I gave some advice about buying a new desktop or laptop. This week, I have to take my own advice. But I’m looking for something special. I’m looking for a netbook.
You may
have seen this word in the last few months if you’re looking to buy a new
computer. You may also have seen these
tiny computer-like things in the store.
A netbook is very small portable computer
in the $350 - $500 price range.
How small
is small? Well, I’m writing this on my
old Dell laptop. The screen measures 14
inches diagonally (thanks to Lois’ handy tape measure). The keyboard is a comfortable, standard
size. The laptop weighs about 7.5
pounds. A netbook is about the size of a
typical hard cover novel. It weighs
about 2.5 to 3 pounds. The screen
measures 8.9 to 10 inches diagonally.
Why do I
want one? Well, for a few reasons…
- I
take lots of notes at clients’ sites.
I need something lightweight and portable. Lately, I’ve realized that I need
something real portable.
- I’m
tough on laptops. I’ve been known
to balance them on my knee, crawl under desks with them, carry them into
the ceiling, and so on. I want
something that’s cheap to replace because I know I’m going to trash
them. True, $350 or so isn’t
cheap…but it’s cheaper than $1000!
- Computing
is moving to the Web. More and more
things require Internet access, but little else. Witness what you can do with mobile
phones. One way for me to get
experience with this move is to force myself to do work with one of these
stripped down portables. (Besides,
I’m really not a telephone person.)
Each
manufacturer has made some compromises to build something so small and in that
price range. Compromises you may find
unacceptable. Here’s what you can
expect:
- The
screen really is tiny. It’s big
enough to view a Web page…barely.
This can be a bigger strain on your eyes than you realize. It may turn out to be a problem for me.
- The
keyboard size and layouts vary. A
few are reasonably usable. Others
are too small. If you are a
touch-typist, the keyboard may be what turns you off.
- There
is no CD or DVD drive. If you want
to load software, watch a movie, or listen to music, you need to either
connect an external drive, download the file from the Internet, or forget
it. Getting rid of these drives
shaves about a ¼ inch of size and $50 - $100 from the price.
- There
may be no speakers or extremely tiny ones.
This also cuts the cost and size.
If you want to listen to music, you’ll need to plug in some ear
buds.
- The
computer typically runs Microsoft Windows XP or a version of Linux. No Windows Vista (this may actually be a
blessing). If you are technically
savvy, and like being on the edge, using a version of Linux allows you to
forgo the “Microsoft tax” and save another $50.
- Because
these computers are new to the market, we don’t know how well they’re
built. The quality may be the same
as current laptops, or may be worse because of cost and size.
Since I
haven’t plunked down my plastic yet, I don’t have real world experience to
share. If you’re interested in looking
at one, or buying one, following are some resources that may help.
Where
can you see a netbook?
The best
collection of netbooks is at the
I
discovered that the Dell store in the Northpark Mall has closed. So, you won’t find a Dell netbook there,
either.
I spied a
couple of netbooks at Fry’s in
Who
makes these things?
Here’s a
short list of manufacturers and the name of their netbook:
Acer -
Aspire One
Asus -
Eee PC
Dell -
Inspiron Mini 9
HP -
Mini 1000
Lenovo - IdeaPad S10
MSI -
Wind U100
Samsung - NC10
Some Web
references
Following
are a few Web sites with technical and usage reviews on netbooks:
Notebook and Laptop reviews: http://www.notebookreview.com/
SmallNetBuilder: Trying Out Netbooks (2 reviews):
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/30649/85/
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/30643/85/
Paul Thurrott’s SuperSite for
Windows (2 starting points)
http://www.winsupersite.com/mobile/
http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/eeepc.asp
If you’re
like me…and haven’t started your Christmas shopping yet…maybe a netbook is
another gift idea to add to your list.
Gee, I hope my significant other reads my articles!
You know,
I’m seeing icicles form in my Inbox!
Let’s warm up those bits by sending me your technical questions at:
I’ll
answer one each week in The Link. Or, as you well know, I’ll make something up.
Dave
Gillen
Music
Notes
by Laura
Young
The
Chancel Choir will present Benjamin Harlan's cantata, "One Small
Child" on Sunday, December 14th. The musicians and narrators have worked
hard preparing for this, and we hope you are able to attend and be blessed by
the music of "Joy" Sunday.
Upcoming
local concerts:
Plano
Civic Chorus will present selections from John Rutter's "Gloria" and
Daniel Pinkham's "Christmas Cantata" on Saturday, December 13th at 8
p.m. at St. Andrew United Methodist Church (located at
|
Cast of Bronze Handbell Choir CHRISTMAS CONCERTS: Saturday,
December 13 Free
Concert at 2:00 p.m. In
Library Auditorium 801 972-721-2748 Saturday,
December 13 CENTRAL
CHRISTIAN CHURCH Concert:
7:30 p.m. in the
Sanctuary 214-526-7291 |
MUSIC DEPT. SCHEDULE
Sat., Dec.
13th, from 12:30-2:30 -- full rehearsal.
Sun., Dec.
14th 8:30-9:30 a.m. warm-up on Cantata Day!
Wed., Dec.
17th Chancel Choir 6:00-7:30 p.m. (preparing for 12/24)
Handbell
Choir 7:30-8:30 (preparing for 12/21)
Sun., Dec.
21st BELLS ONLY. Set up 8:45 a.m. and
rehearse 9 a.m. - 9:25 a.m. before Sunday School.
Wed., Dec.
24th 7 p.m. Christmas Concert
7:30
Candlelight worship (choir will sing)
Sun., Dec.
28th special music- no choir or bells
Wed., Dec.
31 no rehearsals
Sun., Jan.
4th special music - no choir or bells
Wed., Jan.
7th Chancel Choir resumes at 6:30, Handbell time TBD
Handbell
Choir photo: Immediately following the Dec. 21st worship, all Handbell Choir
members are asked to meet in the chancel for five minutes for a photo. Thank
you!
For more
information on the DCC music programs, or to have upcoming concerts included in
the Link, please contact Laura Young, DCC Music Director. Thank you!
The
In order to follow Jesus and worship God, we will serve our neighbors. We will minister to our fellow Christians. We will live and tell the good news of Jesus
Christ in all we do.
Disciples Christian Church Staff
Diane & Galen Clark, Co-Transitional Pastors
Laura Young, Music Director
Linda Gulick, Preschool Director
Julie Chen, Pianist
Jan Carter, Administrative Assistant
Dave Gillen, Webmaster frenchygrey@gmail.com
Miranda Prince, Nursery Attendant
email: theoffice@dccplano.com
phone: 972-398-2240