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<\/a>— 1 —<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n REAL public health challenges.<\/strong> Here are 6 diseases that should worry you more than Ebola<\/a>. I’m thankful that I’m current on my vaccines for 3-4 of them (measles, pertussis, and influenza\/pneumonia). I can attest to the scariness of RSV though — Daniel has had it twice (nearly killed him the first time) and had to be vaccinated for it during his first year of life because the fatality risk was so high.<\/p>\n <\/a>— 2 —<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Vote early! Vote often!<\/strong> I just got my absentee ballot in the mail. The gubernatorial race here isn’t even close (Jerry Brown has a 20-point lead over his challenger) and neither of our senators are up for re-election so I think the only tight races are the ones for the various House seats and maybe for some of the propositions? I don’t have access to TV so I haven’t been forced to watch all the political ads.<\/p>\n <\/a>— 3 —<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n An interesting argument.<\/strong> One of Jon’s seminary classmates linked a blog post about how a growing church is a dying church.<\/a> I’m inclined to agree. We get asked frequently in call interviews how we would grow the church and “attract young people” but very rarely is the congregation doing anything themselves to actually make their church a welcoming place. (I’m not talking about doing things like replacing the organ with a rock band and watering down the theology — I’m talking about being actually friendly to outsiders and making people feel like it’s a place where they’d like to belong.)<\/p>\n <\/a>— 4 —<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Cynthia Jeub speaks out.<\/strong> I remember watching Kids by the Dozen on either TLC or the Discovery Channel and seeing the Jeub family<\/a> of Colorado. Apparently, things weren’t so rosy in that household and daughter #3 Cynthia is speaking out<\/a>. I’m watching the blogs on this one to see how this all turns out. I’m saddened to hear what Cynthia is saying because I hate seeing abuse or hearing about it in any form.<\/p>\n <\/a>— 5 —<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n New blog.<\/strong> I’m starting a blog separate from this one that is related to health issues and my journey to develop healthier habits. If you want the URL, email me (jen at grace-filled dot net). <\/p>\n <\/a>— 6 —<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Baseball.<\/strong> The Giants beat the Nationals to advance to the NLCS and the Cardinals did the same to the Dodgers so I now have my two favorite NL teams playing each other. I’m not going to lie — I’d like it if the Giants won this best-of-seven series and went on to win the World Series but I’ll also root for the Cards if they do the same. I think my greatest joy is the Dodgers being knocked out as I’m married to a Dodger fan and I live among them down here in southern California. Maybe I should start wearing all my Giants gear when I leave the house… (Relax, I only have two pieces.)<\/p>\n <\/a>— 7 —<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Prayer request.<\/strong> I would muchly appreciate it if you could lift up some serious prayers for the Lenaburgs as they are dealing with the reality of Courtney’s last days<\/a>. Mary<\/a> (Courtney’s mom) is one of the most amazing people I’ve been blessed to know online and has the same sense of humor that I do (pretty dark given what we both deal with on a daily basis) and I wish I could take the pain from her.<\/p>\n For more Quick Takes, visit Jen at ConversionDiary.Com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" — 1 — REAL public health challenges. Here are 6 diseases that should worry you more than Ebola. I’m thankful that I’m current on my vaccines for 3-4 of them (measles, pertussis, and influenza\/pneumonia). I can attest to the scariness … Continue reading