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.

Those in FL are jealous

Our white Christmas of 2009 began just a little late, with the snow fall beginning on Christmas day in the mid-afternoon and continuing to fall for the next 48 hours, leaving us with 8 inches on the ground. This post is mostly for friends and family in FL. Envy and jealously are such ugly things, but we understand those of you who don't get snow when you feel such things. Must stink to have swimming as your only outdoor fun activity.

Erin, our snow and cold loving daughter, wasted little time in getting into the snow on Dec. 26th and built herself a sweet fort. It's size will guarantee that it will be around for quite a while. It was built with the temps in the low 20s, just low enough to make her cheeks rosey, but warm enough to be comfy. You Floridians are sure missing out. Do any of you even remember the refreshing sting of single digit temps on your face (we awoke to 2 deg. today)? How about the the below zero wind chills that make you feel alive? Jumping into your screened pool you never use when the water temp is below 80 degrees just doesn't compare. Again I feel sad for you and sense your envy.

I know, mostly because it makes the national news, FL (northern and maybe even central) can and does get a freak snow on occasion (frost and ice don't count as snow). Its those moments that I again feel sad for you. You see, I know your only hills are for entering and exiting highways and/or interstates. I also imagine that the Florida Highway Patrol makes a frowny face everytime they see a transplant or snowbird, desperate for a little non-swimming action, trying to sled down a ramp on a blow up pool toy, and shoo's them away (shoo's is a word isn't it?).

I have been to FL, both sides, up and down, many times. I have seen the South American and Germen men in their thong swimsuits everywhere. Not a pretty sight. Here in Illinois, men like Jon and Troy only wear thongs in the privacy of their own homes, far from my family and camera. When men in Illinois lay on each other on an inner tube (you Floridians might recognize this device, you use it drag thong wearing men sitting on each other with your boats in alligator infested lakes), they bundle up, so as to be modest, safe from harmful UV rays and to not overdose on the refreshing cold air sting. And when they fall off at the end of the ride they happily land (see the smiles) on frozen farm ground, rather than in the jaws of the alligator that recently ate your neighbors Shitzu, Mitsy.

Now, there are similarities to our outdoor activities. We tested the old saying "Its not the size of the dog in the fight, its the size of the fight in the dog" in the video below. Only we raced, rather than fought, using one of your Florida tubes, a big dog (Craig), and a smaller, healthier, seemingly faster dog (Josh) on an actual sled built for the snow. We found, and this video proves it, that the larger size dog wins in sledding. Just like I assume a similarly "bouyant" large dog (S. American/Germen thong wearer) in water might swim faster than a small dog. The similarities end there though. Our large dog stopped in a marginally graceful way (the small dog gets points for his ending), without being torn to pieces by an alligator (or bull shark if you prefer the ocean).

Of course, sometimes the small dogs don't stop soon enough and think they have broken their leg on a frozen mound of earth. The Floridians who have survived shark and alligator bites know what he felt like I suppose.

one of my all time favorites

I am probably going to pass on doing this, mostly because we don't have cliffs around Chillicothe, but partly because it is a little dangerous I suppose. But I sure like to watch these guys. Wait till the summer scenes for this video to really get your attention.

Merry Christmas 2009

In the 18 year history of the Rick and Pam Lingenfelter union, there has been just one Christmas family newsletter. That was 2004. It was a classic though, full of rotten and exciting news, produced on old fashioned paper and mailed via the USPS. How 90's.

From 2005-07 we sent cards that just said "Merry Christmas" and had a pic of our kids. In 2008...nothing. Yet all the while many of our friends and family sent wonderful holiday greetings with lots of details and wonderful photos, even though we hardly reciprocated. For years now we have planned on scheduling that family photo, the professional one that would replace the last one we had taken in 1999. A photo that would actually have Erin in it with us and be appropriate for sending along with a Christmas letter full of info. And each year we have neglected to get around to it.

This season the cards and photos started coming again. Even a newsletter or two. Fear began to settle in that once again the world was finding out how great all these other families are and wouldn't know how fantastic our kids are or how old they have become. So today I decided that I would right this yearly wrong I have done and I would declare to the world through this newsletter just what everyone needs to know about our kids and family. Here you go....

Dear World,

Josh is fantastic and he is 13.

Dear World,

Erin is fantastic and she is 9.

Dear World,

Pam is *fantastic and she is younger than Rick.

*OK, fantastic can be defined in Pam's case as having the ability to battle cancer yet again (recurrance Nov. 08) with grace and strength and beauty while relying on her unwavering faith.

Constant treatments (chemo, radiation and drug) from the beginning of 09 to the end and continuing beyond. It takes three photos to catch you up on Pam (January (ish), May, November).

To get the full story on Pam, check out her blog... http://www.dyintoserveocho.blogspot.com/.

Dear World,

Rick is fantastically overweight, out of shape and old.

Peace to your family from ours.

Rick, Pam, Josh and Erin.

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave is only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."