The Link
The Weekly E-Newsletter of Disciples Christian Church
February 19, 2009
In This Issue
- Updated Prayer Requests
- Right Naborly
- Young at Heart – TONIGHT!
- Men’s Bible Study
- Thanks from Jan
- The Core Theatre
- Ash Wednesday Worship
- Ministry Opportunities for
Volunteers
- Relief Nursery of
- Disciples Crossing Workday
- From The TechnoManor
- Music Notes
Updated Prayer Requests
- Rev. Diane Clark had successful surgery on Wednesday, February,
18 having both knees replaced. She
is doing well and hopes to come home on Saturday.
- Jennifer Caughron, Rev. Diane’s granddaughter, needs to find a match for a
liver transplant. Her mother, Cathy Bean, will be going to
- Please pray for S.W. Christie who will leave for
The prayer requests in The Link each week are recent
updates. A list of ongoing prayer requests appears in our worship bulletin each
Sunday.
Right Naborly
The Lenten roses are blooming early this year. At least that is what Lois Teed-Gillen told
me. Lenten roses - those are the little
spring flowers that bring cheerful grace to the area just outside the office
door. They are early. Lois ought to know; she is so good about
tending to the church’s flowers and landscaping.
Early.
Lent doesn’t begin for another week.
We’ll mark the Lenten season on February 25 with an Ash Wednesday
Service held here jointly with First Christian Church. I hope you are planning to be here to start
your Lenten journey.
The word Lent
comes from a Latin word meaning spring as
we move into the new life. Many of the spring-time flowers on those
Lenten roses are purple, the color for the season of
Lent. For us as Christians, purple
represents both penitence and royalty.
During this season we are reminded that we are both sinner (penitence) and,
by the grace of Jesus Christ, saint (royalty.)
Spring is a time of growth and new life; Lent is a time for growing into
renewed spiritual life. We might even
start a little early.
Young at Heart – TONIGHT!
Don’t forget that the monthly fellowship
dinner get-together for active seniors takes place tonight at Papayas at
6:30 pm. The restaurant is located
on the northeast corner of Parker and
Men’s Bible Study
Calling
all men! Come join us at IHOP (
Thanks from Jan
Dear DCC congregation,
I
received a card from the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation stating that a
gift was made by Disciples Christian Church in my honor. Last December, Jan Mueller presented me with
a special shirt that her sister-in-law and a group of other women were involved
in creating in order to raise funds for breast cancer research and care. At that time, she told me that DCC had
purchased one of these shirts for me and that the money went to the Komen
foundation. Please know that I consider this such a special and meaningful gesture on the part of
the church.
I am
feeling wonderful, only have to take a tiny (although expensive!) pill each day
and enjoy seeing my hair coming back in!
I look forward to many more years of excellent health and know I have a
blessed life, especially with friends like you.
Love, Jan
The Core Theatre
There is finally a place to find quality entertainment with
a Christian message! James Prince,
the artistic director, has started a Christian-based theatre in the North
Dallas Area called The Core Theatre. They are presenting their first
production "Don't Kick The Turkeys" from February
19th - 22nd, at
Ash Wednesday Worship
Again this year, First Christian Church of
Ministry Opportunities for Volunteers
The Department of Pastoral Care at Children's Medical
Center Dallas would like to extend an invitation to become part of its
Volunteer Ministry program. Children's offers its Pastoral Care
volunteers an opportunity to visit with patients and their families in
non-critical areas of the emergency room, the urgent-care clinic, and day
surgery. These three areas represent the greatest need for chaplain
volunteers to supplement the daily work of our full-time chaplains.
Children’s has one of the busiest pediatric emergency centers in the entire
nation.
You need not be an ordained minister to participate, but
all volunteers must complete a 15-hour training course before they begin
serving as part of the Volunteer Ministry team. In addition, a continuing
education seminar led by senior staff chaplains is held monthly for all
chaplain volunteers.
The next training session is scheduled to begin on April 21
and will continue for four consecutive Tuesday evenings from 6-9 pm, ending May
19. Application packets (including participation requirements for all
hospital volunteers) may be obtained through Volunteer Services at
214-456-6388.
Application deadline for the spring training session is
Friday, March 6. For additional information about Volunteer Ministry, please contact
Children's Pastoral Care Department at (214) 456-2822.
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 need a break and/or an expanded support system. We are currently accepting applications for children in our
classrooms, 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
·
carseats (new, with original
instructions included; convertible infant-to-booster seats give the longest
service and best versatility)
·
diapers
·
wipes
·
baby formula
·
child-sized clothing hangers
- 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!
Disciples Crossing Workday
Calling
all Disciples! The upcoming Disciples Crossing Workday will take place
next Saturday, 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
Last week was “Patch Tuesday” for your Windows PC!
Huh? Wait a minute, Mardi Gras isn't for another week.
Ok, so what am I jabbering about?
Did you happen to see one of these icons in the lower right
on your computer last week?
|
In Windows XP: |
|
In Windows |
|
These appear whenever Microsoft has updates for Microsoft
programs on your computer. They indicate
the updates are being downloaded now, or have finished downloading and will be
installed soon.
I'll talk about what you should do in a few moments. Let me back up and give a bigger picture.
A Bigger Picture
Ok, we all know computer programs have bugs. Some of these bugs are mere annoyances,
others prevent programs from working, and yet another kind actually invite spyware and viruses into your computer. Microsoft does fix most of these bugs, but
faces the problem of how to get the fixes to your computer.
In 1998, Microsoft created a web site, Windows Update, that allowed you to download fixes to Windows. A good idea, but it had issues (like how do
you remember to keep doing this?).
In 2000, Microsoft included a program called Automatic
Updates in its versions of Windows. This
program contacts Microsoft, about once a day, and asks, “got
anything for me?” Automatic Updates runs
behind the scenes. If Microsoft has a
fix for your computer, called an update, the fix is downloaded from
Microsoft and installed in your computer.
It fixes the problem in a Microsoft program (sometimes within Windows
itself), often closing a hole used by spyware and viruses.
Meanwhile, back at Microsoft, it used to be that whenever
someone had a fix for one of Microsoft's programs, they would send it out
anytime during the month. This would
confuse people and wreck havoc with corporate computers, because the computers
would be restarting at unpredictable times.
After a lot of pressure, Microsoft wizened up and said, “Ok,
we'll only send out the fixes once a month.”
They chose the 2nd Tuesday for this to happen. So, starting on the 2nd Tuesday of
every month, when your Windows PC asks Microsoft, “got anything for me?” it will start
receiving those fixes to Microsoft programs.
Within the next 24 – 48 hours, your computer will declare it has all the
fixes and will apply them, usually in the middle of the night. Typically, Windows must then restart to
finish the update process.
This 2nd Tuesday of every month is now known as
“Patch Tuesday” by techies and the popular press.
Ok, so what should you do?
So, what should you do?
Basically, nothing. Leave the driving to Microsoft.
If you leave your computer running all the time (like I
do), when you see one of the above icons in the lower right, expect that your
computer will be restarted during the night.
You should save important files and close open programs before going to
bed. You wouldn’t want a Windows restart
to put the kibosh on that important letter, would you?
If you typically turn off your computer at night, don’t be
surprised if you see a message about installing updates before turning off your
computer. Go ahead and install those
updates. The computer should power
itself off after the updates are installed.
And if you’re curious, these updates from Microsoft are
free. Microsoft is trying to be a good
corporate citizen here.
What happens if you never see the above
icons, your computer never mentions it has updates to Windows, or your
computer never restarts itself during the night? Well, I would be suspicious. Yes, you can turn off the Automatic Updates
feature in Windows, but that’s a bad idea.
You see, one of the ways that your computer is protected
when on the Internet is by fixing buggy programs that Web sites (or
virus-infected email) can take advantage of.
One of the signs that you may have an infected computer is to discover
that Automatic Updates has been turned off.
How do you make sure Automatic Updates is running? Follow these steps:
|
In Windows XP |
In Windows |
|
·
Right mouse click My Computer |
·
Click the Start circle. ·
Type Windows Update in the
Start Search box. ·
Click Windows Update in the ·
Click Change settings in
the left column. |
|
·
Click Properties. ·
Click the Automatic Updates tab. |
·
Verify that the option beneath |
|
·
Make sure Automatic (recommended) |
|
|
|
·
Click OK. |
|
|
|
|
·
Click OK. |
|
What if something goes wrong?
Most of the time, updates are installed, your computer is
restarted, and Windows works normally.
Every once in a while the updates fail, or the patched
version of Windows behaves badly. I
personally haven’t seen this…and there are six computers on our home
network. If it does happen, don’t
panic. You need to run System Restore to
back out the changes. I describe using
System Restore in my September 25, 2008 article. Look for a restore point made at around 3 AM
with a description of something like Software
Distribution Service or Windows
Update.
After you back out the changes, you need to discover what
went wrong. This may involve finding a
computer savvy friend to look over your computer to see what might be causing
the problem.
And on that note, may all your future Patch Tuesdays be
quiet and uneventful!
Let’s see, it’s 5 o’clock. The greyhounds haven’t pestered me for
dinner, yet. Before they do, ya better
send me your technical questions. I can
be reached at
I’ll answer one question each week in The Link. That is, if the
woofs let me!
Dave
Gillen
Music
Notes
by Laura Young
MUSIC NOTES:
The Chancel Choir will meet at 6 p.m. in our loft with
FCC members on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 25th. Worship to follow at 6:30. We will also meet from 9-9:25 a.m. on Sunday
mornings to warm up before worship.
The Handbell Choir has an opening for at least one
new member. 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 Laura Young (youngzoo@sbcglobal.net)
if you are interested in ringing.
UPCOMING CONCERTS:
Wordless Worship: An Offering of Cello Music
Ty
Young, cellist and Vernon Carey, pianist
Sunday, February 22 from 4:00-5:00 p.m.
First Presbyterian Church,
(This is a free, family-friendly concert.)
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
Dr. Charlotte Nabors, Transitional Pastor
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