From Pickin' Cotton to Pickin' the President

Interesting read showing cotton plantations (aka...slaves communities) pre-Civil War overlayed with how these same areas voted in the 2008 presidential election. Look who has the power now!

Full story here.

America the Beautiful

I Won't Tell You How to Vote

But I can't stop Molly. She's goin' rogue in these last few hours.



Suzanne forwarded a great article this morning from Donald Miller, the best-selling author of "Blue Like Jazz" and "Searching for God Knows What." If you have a few minutes, it's a refreshing read.

Regardless of who you vote for, just GO VOTE!

Tonight, I'm heading over to Mark, Suzanne and Luke's house for a pancake dinner. Growing up in Belton, you were expected to attend two events each year: the Fourth of July parade and the Rotary Club Pancake Supper. I have fond memories of me, Mark and Dad heading to Leon Heights Elementary every election day afternoon and unloading gallons and gallons of whole milk, pancake batter and enough greasy sausage to max out anyone's cholesterol. So to commemorate the pancake dinners of old, we're recreating the Rotary Club Dinner tonight at Pheasant Ridge. Skim milk has taken the place of whole; turkey bacon instead of sausage and the plush confines the James' living room instead of the cafeteria seats. I'm calling it "Pancakes for Pobama." Pictures and commentary from Luke James will follow later tonight.

Fired up, ready to go.

Ron Clark Academy: Part 2

The story and lyrics behind the song. I think we have a few future presidents, CEOs and congressmen/women in that group.

Electoral College Prediction

<p><strong>><a href="http://projects.washingtonpost.com/2008/pick-your-president/">2008 Election Contest: Pick Your President</a></strong> - Predict the winner of the 2008 presidential election.</p>

You can create your own here.

It's Catchy And You Can Dance To It

Boo-rack Obama Wishes You a Happy Halloween

I think everyone knows my political leanings for this election, but in case you don't, here is an artistic expression of my choice. Many thanks to Yes, We Carve for some awesome templates. After three knives, four toothpicks, one potato peeler, a pair of scissors and a screwdriver, I was able to come up with these. My hands feel arthritic, but I think it was worth the effort. Hopefully, Nastia the neighborhood kitten won't destroy it.

LBJ Endorses A President

Video

A Big Ask for Family and Friends

Family Legacy (the organization that puts on Camp Life in Zambia) started a program last year that gives everyone the opportunity to get personally involved in the development and welfare of the orphans we worked with in Zambia.  Part of my responsibility back home in the States is to get my kids sponsored.  I know this is a tough time to ask for a financial commitment, but please consider making a monthly investment of $36 per month to help feed, clothe and educate one of my 13 boys.  The schools in Zambia are less than ideal and surprisingly they are not free.  There is no tax base to support the schools so everyone must pay to receive an education. The money you give goes directly to that boy (or girl) and his family.  It's administered by the local Family Legacy office in Zambia that is staffed by the same camp counselors I worked with this summer.  Only 5 percent of the $36 goes to administrative costs.

Two of my 13 boys have been sponsored.  That means there's 11 ready for your assistance!  Once you set up automatic credit card payment, you'll receive a welcome packet and will be able to write letters to your kid(s) and receive letters back.  Most of the older kids can speak and write English. If not, they'll use the Family Legacy ambassador in their local community to help write the correspondence.

If you have more questions about the program, feel free to contact me at bevo14 at gmail dot com.  I can send you more photos of the specific child you're interested in sponsoring in addition to the notes we took about their family situation and any prayer requests they've mentioned. The photo above shows my boys from this year. I was fortunate enough to have eight of the same boys as the year before.  The names in green need sponsors; the boys in pink are already sponsored.  You can select anyone you want, but I'd like to ask someone consider Dickson.  He suffers from painful headaches and has extremely poor eyesight.  

If you'd rather sponsor girls, Dawn and Betty have more than 20 girls needing a sponsor.  I can put you in touch with them. Just let me know.

To view more details about my boys, please click on the Father's Heart website.  In the Ambassador search page, please type my name in the appropriate fields. You'll see my boys listed on the following pages.

I know many of you may be a bit leery of these sponsorship programs. In all honesty, I was a bit skeptical, too. However, this summer my mind was put at ease.  One day while in the local village, one of my boys named John pointed up the hill to a remote brick structure that looked like a deserted motel.  It was the orphanage where he lived.  John had lived on the streets for two years and one day decided to walk up to the orphanage and see if they would take him. He was 11 at the time.  I asked John how he was able to pay the school costs. He said, "I don't know who pays my tuition; I just know someone takes care of it."  That someone was Father's Heart.

If committing to $36/month seems out of reach right now, please consider tag-teaming with a family member or friend to help out the kids in Zambia. 

Thanks for taking time to learn about this program.