The Link
The Weekly E-Newsletter of Disciples Christian Church
January 22, 2009
In This Issue
- Updated Prayer Requests
- “I Am America” -- TONIGHT
- Chinese New Year Invitation
- Farewell Reception
- Give 2 the Troops
- Men’s Bible Study
- Disciples Womens’ Ministry
- Sanctuary Flowers
- Relief Nursery of
- Delivery for “Give 2 the
Troops”
- 2009 NTA Leader Event
- Disciples Crossing Workday
- From The TechnoManor
- Music Notes
Updated Prayer Requests
- Gena Hurst’s brother, Brian Humphrey, will have prostrate surgery on
January 29.
- Gena Hurst’s aunt, Linda Roe, is recovering well after
emergency knee replacement surgery.
- Karen Hiett, Mary Carroll’s daughter, is home recovering from
surgery and doing well.
- Jennifer Caughron, Rev. Diane’s granddaughter, will have a liver transplant
soon.
- Julia Manning’s daughter, Linda Simek, is doing well.
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
“So long,
farewell, auf wiedersehn, goodbye” sing the Von Trapp
children in the Sound of Music.
There is a party going on and they want to stay up for the
festivities. Liesl, the eldest, begs
wistfully so that she can get her first taste of champagne. But the baron firmly sends them all off to
bed. I have often mused that we
Christians are often like the Von Trapp children, begging for something(s) that
God is not ready for us to have.
Well it’s
time for the
I echo
Diane’s ideas from last week’s Link.
God is here, and will continue to be here. That takes a lot of trust in faith on the
believer’s part. But we are always
growing (or should be). Remember Paul
fed the Corinthians with the milk of the gospel. As the children of God we will be fed, sustained,
defended, directed, comforted.
So keep on
wanting new experiences in your faith.
Keep asking God. And God will do
what needs to be done for the sake of the Kingdom.
God bless.
GGC
“I Am America” -- TONIGHT
The
Chinese New Year Invitation
First Chinese Christian Church is
inviting everyone at DCC to celebrate the Chinese New Year by serving a meal in
Fellowship Hall following worship on Sunday, January 25.
Farewell Reception
There will be a farewell
reception for Revs. Diane and Galen Clark following worship this coming Sunday,
January 25. This is the last Sunday the
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.
Men’s Bible Study
Calling
all men! Come join us at IHOP (
Disciples Womens’ Ministry
Please mark your calendars for
the next DWM meeting which will take place on Tuesday, February
3 at 6:30 pm in the Atrium. All DCC
women and their guests are invited and encouraged to attend!
Sanctuary Flowers
If you are interested in providing flowers for the
sanctuary during worship on a particular Sunday, please contact Jan in the DCC
office and let her know the date and occasion for which you are ordering. The cost of a bouquet is $40 (pays for the flowers
plus delivery).
Relief Nursery of
The Relief
Nursery is now open! We are able to provide a part-time therapeutic classroom
for toddlers (expanding to 0-5 years when we reach full implementation),
scheduled daytime respite care for children 0-5, a clothes closet, parenting
education and more. These services are available free of charge to families who
have multiple stress factors. We are currently accepting applications for
families wishing to start in January, as well as accepting applications
from prospective volunteers.
WISH
LIST:
new or
gently used child and adult clothing
new or
gently used children's books and toys
diapers
wipes
baby
formula
Monetary
donations are always helpful, and are tax deductible because we are an approved
501(c)3 organization.
For more
information, please call the Relief Nursery office at 972-665-0298, or check
out reliefnurserycc.org on the web, or talk to Laura Young after church. Thank
you!
Delivery for “Give 2 the Troops”
If you
have anything else for “Give 2 the Troops,” please bring it to church by
January 25, 2009. Diane will make the delivery when she goes to
Rev. Diane
Clark
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
Disciples Crossing Workday
Calling all
Disciples! The upcoming
Disciples Crossing Workday will take place on February 28, 2009 from 8 am to 5
pm. You can participate in a number of
ways: pray for the success of the
project, help fund the project, and/or participate in construction, repairs and
clean-up on campus. Remember that love is a verb.
Registration forms are on the Welcome table.
From
The TechnoManor
Well, I'm having trouble teaching my greyhounds to send
email. Seems not having opposable thumbs
is getting in the way. So, I'll have to
try another approach for questions.
I'm writing my article this week on my new netbook. I've talked about netbooks over the last few
weeks (e.g., see the 12/11/2008 issue of The Link). This week I'll talk more about the one I
bought.
I settled on an MSI Wind U100. I purchased the basic model (120 GB hard
drive, 3-cell battery) through amazon.com for $330.00. That included tax and shipping.
Instead of talking techno specs, let me show you a picture.
My U100 weighs about 2 pounds. It is a breeze to stick in my briefcase and
take to customer sites. Positioning it
to use is like opening a book.
I chose the U100 for a few reasons:
- It has a 10 inch screen: bigger than most other netbooks.
- The keyboard was usable (many netbooks make
unacceptable compromises)
- The price was attractive.
- Web reviews were very positive.
Overall, I like the U100.
But it does have some issues:
- The touchpad is, uh, touchy. This seems to be a universally-reported
problem. I downloaded a replacement
driver, allowing me to make some much-needed changes (like turning off the
“tap to click” feature).
- The 3-cell battery is good for a little over 2
hours. I knew this going in. There is a longer, 6-cell battery
costing $90.
- The documentation is paltry. It's sufficient for me, though.
- The Web-based support is very weak. Again, being a techie, I can adjust.
- The speakers are tiny and not great (my wife
claims they sound like chipmunks when she hears them).
Some positive surprises:
l
It
is very quiet and cool. I have to remind
myself it's turned on.
l
The
wireless network connection is solid and dependable.
l
It
is surprisingly fast. The U100 runs
Windows XP. I have been very sparing
with programs. I installed just enough
to make the U100 safe and usable. I'm
impressed at how zippy it feels.
Ok, maybe you're wondering what I installed on it, since
most computers have way too much software gunk.
Here's my short laundry list:
l
Windows
Firewall (comes with Windows), AVG Free (free anti-virus program), and Spybot
(beggarware anti-spyware). These tools
provide basic security protection. They
are sufficient for my needs. They don't
bog down my computer.
l
Open
l
TrueCrypt: Free, open source software allowing you to
encrypt files and folders. I use it to
protect my clients' data in case my netbook is stolen. A thief would only see a single file filled
with gibberish.
l
The
usual Adobe Reader and Flash
l
SyncToy
and Windows Live Sync: Free from
Microsoft, to synchronize files with my desktop computer.
l
Drive
Snapshot: Backs up my hard drive. It's the only piece of software I actually
bought, at 39 Euros.
So, is a netbook for you?
Probably not...yet. I consider my U100 to be on the technological
edge. Computer manufacturers are
learning things from these little wonders like:
making things lighter and smaller, producing fast and quiet and
cool processors, and giving people an inexpensive portable computer. These lessons will make there way into future
laptops.
Anyway, I'm having fun taking my netbook to my clients'
sites. Now, if I can just go for a year
without breaking it!
Got a technical question?
Send me email from your Blackberry, iPhone, or computer at:
I'll answer one each week in The Link.
Dave
Gillen
Music
Notes
by Laura Young
MUSIC NOTES:
The Chancel
Choir is currently meeting in the sanctuary from 6:30-7:30 on Wednesday
evenings
and
9-9:25 a.m. on Sunday mornings to warm up before worship. If your New Year's
resolution was to be more involved in the life of the church, while having a
lot of fun, come and try us out! If you enjoy singing, we can use you! We have set a goal of needing to use all three rows of the
choir loft by the end of 2009!
The
Handbell Choir will resume in February so that we have time to prepare for
Easter music. If you can count to four, distinguish between your right and left
hands, and like to learn and have fun with other people, you possess the basic
qualifications to ring handbells and you are welcome to come try us out! Please
call or email (youngzoo@sbcglobal.net)
Laura Young if you are interested in ringing.
Upcoming
Concerts:
The
Richardson Community Band will present "A Lincoln Tribute" on Sunday,
Feb. 8th at 2 p.m. at the Hill Hall of the
Debbie
Johnson is the Music Director at FCC Plano, and Michele is the
Organist/Pianist. They are terrific together, and well worth hearing. Ty Young will also be playing his cello on at
least one of the pieces in this recital.
If you are
interested in knowing more about joining one of the musical groups at
Disciples, or know of upcoming music and arts events you wish to have 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
Stacie Doss, Nursery Attendant
email: theoffice@dccplano.com
phone: 972-398-2240