DLmail 1/22/2010 a virus named Gen

In all of my years of hammering on computers, stories of viruses always came from the other guy. About two weeks ago, I became the other guy. Our main computer in the office, the server, the one that allows all the other machines to communicate with each other and the printers/scanner, etc., caught a virus, and it looks like her name is Gen. I would like to give you some advice, be DISCIPLINED when it comes to keeping your spyware/antivirus software up to date. It can happen to you.

It has caused a certain amount of trouble for me, making work a little trickier. It has also squashed my creativity concerning this DLmail. So don't get as crazy excited as you usually do when you read it. Here is what you need to know.

You need to know that Kevin Stewart is Ironman. He showed up at church last Saturday, 5 days out from having double carpal tunnel surgery. He wasn't doing cartwheels or anything, but he was there serving. Like I said, Ironman. Oh, and Kevin, I have your small group stuff. You left it on the counter.

Jeannine taught the week before last. She doesn't teach very often, but when she does she knocks your socks off. What a great teacher she is. She also has led worship for the past couple weeks. What a great teacher she is. :-) j.k.
Kevin Elder taught last week and of course did a fine job. He brought his little helper Ben, who didn't actually help. Rather he hung out with my little helper Josh, who didn't seem to be helping either. But they did manage to play some extreme bago with each other and laugh a lot.

Em and Pam have been doing their usual best. Em even ended up on stage with myself, Kevin and Kevin. Never has the stage looked prettier than with us four guys and a bunch of footballs on it.
Amy (pic not available), our sole surviving rotational leader, came on just the right night. She even brought her little helper Craig, who I caught actually helping, specifically working the room looking for kids that were alone or seemed disconnected. Nice work Mr. Observer. Amy gave the girls that I have led too often this year a much needed womanly presence. Hope they aren't too bummed when they return this week and find me or Tim sitting with them.

So this week, we will continue with the Discipline virtue, doing what you need to do now so you can grow stronger. Memory verse remains 2 Timothy 3:16, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching..." Our Bible story is "Peter states who Jesus is" and is found in Matthew 16:13-17.

MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT...Rick will miss DL on Jan. 30th. Also missing will be Pam. Tim will be here this week, but on the 30th he is scheduled to be gone. You do the math 5 minus three leaves two...Em and Kevin. Needless to say I will be looking for help for them. Jeannine is aware of this perfect storm on the horizon. Pray that we can find some folks willing to serve that weekend.

Deadliest Crop ...or... Ice Road Farmers

I am a fan of the Discovery Channel. Also a fan of the History Channel. So it should be no surprise that I seek out adventure at every opportunity. Risking my life is a daily activity, just like Bear Grylls. (I actually prefer Les Stroud when it comes to surviving).

Despite temperatures that would kill most Floridians, we ventured out to the farm on January 10th to do a little farming (well, kind of just watched Russ's hired hands do it, and watched Russ do the hauling). But, we could have easily DIED! Maybe. But we didn't. What we did do was manage to have fun on a wicked cold Sunday in January, the last day we saw the sun in Illinois in 2010.

Russ has a big farm. Lots of acres, in the thousands. This year, like many others, Russ had to battle the rain. Ideally he likes to have the harvest done in the same year the planting happened. As January 2010 ends, he still has 300+ acres of 2009 corn waiting to be picked. The day we joined him he was working his way down to 700 left. And Russ is such a good guy he does it with a laugh and a joke (and a constant jug of coffee). Even on this day when one of the two combines wouldn't start because of the extreme cold, meaning the work would take twice as long, he was a terrific host.

We had fun on the farm this day. The boys didn't lose any hands or digits. No one fell from the shiny new bin. Hardly any frost bite. No truck or tractor accidentally backed over us. Just a solid good day.

DLmail 1/15/2010 celebrity gossip edition

Drift back with me many years and remember this (pre-Factory) allstar DL team from 2003-2004.

Notice the tall one with the hat. That's Dirk. Not long after this photo was taken he moved to Tampa, FL, then eventually to the Orlando area. This may surprise you to find out that Dirk has no manservant and must do his own grocery shopping. On a cool Monday January 11th, 2010, Dirk drove to the Metrowest Shopping Center near Windemere, FL to buy some food. Look who was next to him in the parking lot! Yessiree, none other than Mrs. Tiger Woods, Elin Nordegren. Dirk said it was hard not to miss her with four body guards and a pack of paparazzi. Here is Dirk's phone camera pic. Click here for some of the paparazzi photos from this same parking lot experience. I had high hopes that I would find paparazzi pics from this moment that would show Dirk in his car next to her, but no such luck.


Celebrity phone camera pic #2. This lovely man in the hospital dress is none other than our own Kevin. No, he isn't dressed up for halloween as Pam. Monday saw him heading in for actual surgery. A double carpal tunnel surgery to be specific. And at such a young age!?! So he is out of commission this week a bit. Most people do them one at a time, but Kevin manned up and did them at the same time. He is healing well but is a little annoyed with his lack of independence (no driving, etc.) You will be glad to know he did shower yesterday. Prayers for Kevin as he continues to heal and begins physical therapy. Need a referral to a therapist? Click here, download, and look on pages 12 & 13 (It's old info, she is now at OSF Peoria, but pretty cool).


Jeannine sent you all an email about this coming weekend services, so I am not going to be redundant. It is possible that this will be slim pickens leader weekend in the Factory with Kevin freshly surgeried and Tim gone to another sporting event with Erika. We might be just Pam, Em and Rick. ****1:30PM****this just in****its Amy's week to serve with us****disaster avoided!

Why? Why not?

In lieu of a DLmail this week, I am posting a video. A video by the way, that is at least as, if not more, exciting than my ordinary writings.