Kelly and Connie's Place

What footprint will you leave on this earth when you are gone? As I looked at this promotional add for our Story 08 Mission Conference, these thoughts ran through my mind: First I thought of the poem, “Footprints in the Sand”. (I like thinking of God’s footprints appearing beside mine as I walk through life, it’s very comforting.) Then, carbon footprints popped into my mind and that made me think of spiritual footprints vs carbon footprints..

If you goggle “carbon footprint” you can read about; “calculating your carbon footprint,” and “learn how to reduce your carbon footprint”. Here is Wikipedia’s definition: the carbon footprint is a “measure of the impact that human activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of greenhouse gases produced, measured in units of carbon dioxide.”

What about our “spiritual footprint”? Consider this definition: the spiritual footprint is a “measure of the impact that your Christian (witness) activities have on mankind (your neighbor, family, friends and even strangers) in terms of the amount of “fruit” produced in units of lost souls that are saved.”

Can we “calculate” our spiritual footprint? If the above definition holds, we definitely wouldn’t want to “reduce” our spiritual footprint…on the contrary we would want to expand it. That is what Story 08 is all about…expanding our spiritual footprints in this world. Acts 1:8 “…and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

One of my favorite quotes is from Jim Elliot (missionary to Ecuador 1927-1956): “Missionaries are very human folks, just doing what they are asked. Simply a bunch of nobodies trying to exalt Somebody.”

Now, a few words from our Story 08 website:

http://www.story08.com/

Creative, unpredictable, entrepreneurial, unconventional? If those words describe you, you may be well-suited to answer the casting call for a drama that God has been writing for 6,000 years. The risks are high, but the rewards are unlimited. Whatever stage you are at on your life journey, you will come away from Story’08 with tools for making connections with the unreached.

Discover your role in God’s global drama at Story ’08—a mission conference for people who don’t like conferences.

Story’08 is an event that will connect you with the least-reached people on the planet, by giving you a first-hand glimpse of the global needs, joining you with others who share your passions and helping you discover the next step to glorifying God among the nations.

Pray for us, we start this Sunday and go through Wednesday evening with sessions starting at 9:00 am and going to 12:00 pm each day.

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What is the term for the ration between the frequency deviation of an RF carrier wave, and the modulating frequency of its corresponding FM-phone signal?

That’s a sample question that Kelly may have to answer today. I don’t even know if it is an easy question or hard one. It all sounds like Greek to me.

Last week Kelly passed his first level test for getting his Ham Radio license qualifying him at the “Technician” level. Today, he is going for his Level 2 (General) and Level 3 (Amateur Extra) tests. He will pass the Level 2 but he’s not so sure about the 3^rd level, 50-question Extra Class test. It is a whole new area of “digital” radio-electronics with terms, theories and equations using log rhythms and scientific calculators that I can’t even begin to wrap my mind around. (He doesn’t “need” the level 3 license to be a Ham…it’s all in the challenge of “Can I do it?”.) Most of this stuff he has never heard of and with just one week of studying, well, will let you know how he does.

Here’s a picture from yester-year. This was Kelly’s radio setup back when he was still in school.

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What in the world is Kelly doing in this photo? I’ll give you a hint. He is building something and it involves a tuna can and electronics. This is a hobby he picked up when he was 12 years old and it required passing a test to obtain a license. He let his license expire almost 30 years ago and he just recently decided to give it a try again.

The hobby is: Amateur (Ham) Radio operator, and he is building a “TT2”. What is a TT2? “The original TT2 was built in a tuna fish can and used two transistors, hence the name Tuna Tin 2.” It is a little transmitter capable of working clear across the continent.

This is how we are recuperating from eating too much, and enjoying the rest of our Thanksgiving weekend: Kelly is soldering resistors, diodes and other such components onto circuit boards and having fun.

As for me, I am doing 2 of my favorite things, getting a little sun and reading a good book. “Nothing Daunted” by Gloria Repp.

It’s a great biography of Isobel Miller. Written like a novel, it tells of her adventurous life & the challenges of pioneer living that she experienced as a missionary to China in the 1920’s. Hope your Thanksgiving was a good one!

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