| Well I've finally brought myself to update. The snow is all gone, in case anyone not in the near vicinity is wondering just how cold the frozen tundra really is. In fact, haying season is starting. Let me back up to the worldview conference that we all attended the last week of May. Located in Asheville North Carolina this year, the WorldView Super Conference was really quite an event. Let me start with the first day. Wednesday the first session, the introduction, started at 3:00, but all of us guys missed it. You see, we had decided to take advantage of some of the recreational offerings at the resort, which included laser tag. I'd never played before, but I'll have to admit, it's a very enjoyable, adrenaline pumping, strategy intense type of game. Basically it's paintball without the mess, and with a wide variety of different guns and weapons capabilities. I was the sniper the whole time, but to move on with the reason we drove 1100 miles, I'll leave laser tag behind. Our first speaker was Dr Voddie Baucham, speaking on the importance of Biblically sound education in keeping our children grounded in basic Biblical principles as opposed to the widespread embrace of secular humanism that otherwise permeates our society. As a speaker this man is an engaging and dynamic as any I have ever listened to, but certainly doesn't stop there. He consistently uses those gifts to present a specific point so well presented that it seems almost absurd to think about the topic any other way when he finishes. As a brief summary, this session provided a synopsis of the Biblical reasons to homeschool, and the Biblical reasons that a father with a vision for a multigenerational legacy cannot allow the secular humanist state to educate his children. Doug Phillips spoke next on a very similar note, on raising up a generation that will make a difference in our society by living out Biblical truth and being a constant witness by their lives. Voddie followed up with a session entitled "Getting your house in order" speaking to the importance of a godly hierarchy in the home, and many of the issues that prevent such a hierarchy from functioning, or existing at all. Finally, Doug Phillips ended the night with a session on Christian film making, citing many of the technological advances that have made making technically excellent films within the reach of relative amateurs. He then showed a short film that won the film-making contest that he sponsors each year to demonstrate what really can be done on a very limited budget. That first day was the highlight of the whole conference for me, perhaps because I see the issues presented as most relevant to my life, and perhaps partly because I could most closely identify with the speaking styles of the men speaking that night. I won't go through all the other topics presented, but the schedule of events and speakers is still available here. Here's a couple pictures from the trip down.  The smokies really are pretty in their own sort of way, more so from a distance in my opinion. Up close the culture resembles backwoods up-north Wisconsin in a rather extreme way. 
This was our mode of transportation, it's been a while since I drove a big van. It was fun though, out of the 2300 miles driven, I got to man the controls for about 1700. Today there was another event an eighth of a mile down the road that was interesting enough to bear documentation. One of our neighbors was chopping hay, and it seems that one of his drivers drove a truck into the ditch while reaching for a cell phone. That wasn't the problem though, the issue was getting the truck back up through the ditch onto the road. As you can see, it didn't quite work. 
And the recovery effort... 
No one was hurt, and the truck had minimal damage, so I guess little real harm was done. I'm thinking there might be a truck driving position open though.  Till next time, Benjamin |
