Velvet Elvis Discussion

So my new idea for our family blog is that we have some interesting discussions. I think we are all at an age where we have valuble input but we don't often get to spend time talking about important or not so important things. We miss you all and this is a fun way to "hang out" together. I really want to know what you all think about Velvet Elvis. I am almost done reading it and I don't know what to think about it. He poses more questions than statements which frustrated me. So if you have not read it. I say read it as it is easy and fast to read and then post your comments and lets have a "dialogue" as the famous family therapist Minuchin says.

Steelers Are 2-5, Cowher Looks For Work

But, meanwhile, the Bethel Bulldogs in Bob Keibler's SPL league have won three in a row, and are now tied for first in their division with a 4-4 record!

Dad Updates

Here are some new pictures. One is from the Ark restaurrant where I went with Tricia, Ralph, Trav, and Reba, and pre-natal Zion. Nice time, but the mile high piles of butter balls were really gross! And then, for your additional cullinary pleasure, a Cook Family favorite, the GA Pig! MMMMMMMM!

Hey, don't forget to continue to check out the original Cook Family blog right here! Just because we are not producing new babies, taking trips to New York for fun, and those sorts of things, doesn't mean that we don't have equally interesting things to say and post!

Dad and Sue will be heading up the hill this Thursday to look at a potential new home for MSN, a big 10,000 square feet. Lots of new projects coming in, so we will see what Secon has to offer, and who knows, maybe we will be movin' on up.

Dad had great fun in NJ this past weekend at the Northern New Jersey Chrictian Ministries Conference with Kapp Brown. Both workshops went well. I will be repeating my "Parenting Adult Children" workshop on St. Patrick's Day at the Family Ministry Conference at Lancaster Bible College!

Beth's birthday was a lot of fun tonight. Tim and Abbey made a wonderful meal, with invited guests Cari, Jillian, and Amy! Mom returns Wednesday AM just in time for her birthday with lots of good times planned!

Doug's also new weblog

http://dougcook.blogspot.com/


you should go there now.

Tim's Other Weblog

Due to my millions of thought-provoking classes and experiences this semester I created my own weblog at

www.timothyfreeman.blogspot.com

so, ya'll should go there if you wish to investigate the current state of my life and mind. I have been updating it almost everyday, but don't feel like you need to read it too often. I will probably also post my newspaper articles that I write on there, if you wish to read them.

Here I offer a picture of Doug climbing big stones at the FRD memorial in D.C. :

Great Week

God really blessed me this week with a resolution to out IT problems, and some unexpected fun outings! Tim and I got to go to the Steelers game and sit 6 rows back. Here is a picture of Tim and I at the game, and also one of Ben and the lineman discussing the poor play of the scrubs.
Also here is a picture of Travis and I at the All Star game earlier in the summer.

Steelers Prayer and MSN Answer To Prayer

The Steelers embark on another season a week from Thursday. I wanted to share this picture of the team praying last season as I thought it was a wonderful photo.

We had a lot to be thankful for this weekend as we almost lost all of the data on our computer network. Several days later we are thousands of dollars less in the bank at MSN, but much wiser! We have made some necessary changes to protect us against another fluke. Even though we had two backups, they almost failed as well. Always a good question to ask about anything....what is the backup plan!

N. Charles St.

Spring semester begins tomorrow. This past weekend I was at an InterVarsity retreat for Ministering Across Cultures. It was pretty great, I forgot how nice it is to be in a place with a majority of christians. We learned lots of good things concerning, you guessed it, how to effectively minister across cultures. I started for the first time to actually picture what it will be like when I am in China. I am used to being in situations where I understand things extremely well. At school, usually it is me doing the explaining and teaching...so this will be great. It will be a good humbling change. Because I am sure I will not have a clue what I am doing. But at least now I am prepared for my upcoming ignorance.
During one of our breaks over the weekend a group of us went wandering around the area ostensibly looking for nana's childhood home, but to no avail. Instead I got to take a lot of great pictures with my camera.
peace.

Thom Hickling, Sad To Say Goodbye

Here is a picture of Thom Hickling, who passed away this week, as he was when I spent the most time with him. He was a good friend, music, and business associate, especially throughout the 80s when we first moved to Pittsburgh and started MSN. Always had a good word for everybody, and he always went out of his way to go the extra mile in expressing love, patience, and good will. He was a really funny guy, and always had a different perspective on reality and faith, cutting through all of the mumbo jumbo. I remember the time he and I were talking at lunch over reading Bible stories to kids, and he talked about the way people sanitize the Old Testament. "Take Noah's ark, for example," I remember him saying. " Those animals were not nearly that cute, and I have never heard a preacher or a parent talk about the smell!" He always challenged me to live out my faith in fresh ways. The last time I saw him was a couple of years ago when we had dinner at a local Baltimore resaurant in the city! What a fun evening! We tried to hook up here in the Burgh a few times the last year or two, but my schedule prevented those couple of occasions. What time he did have here after he moved to Baltimore was almost always for his kids. I will always regret that I did not make the last jam session he invited me to, and that we will never get to go that Orioles game this summer at Camden Yards. I don't believe in rock and roll heaven, but, if I did, I know he would be in the band, just because it would be so much fun.