GroshLink

for the precast basement walls. I had some appointments on F&M campus, more on this later, and missed part of the show, but Theresa took video for me. Family pic in finished basement this evening, more pics here for the interested! -- updated 2:37pm

So I haven't seen VeggieTales on Saturday morning to address whether protests are necessary w/regard to the integrity of the production, also see God references quashed. Anyone have insight on this issue? I tried to find it this morning, but the Ryder Cup (i.e., U.S. vs. Europe in golf for the uninitiated) has preempted morning kids programming.

But I do doubt if Jesus were alive today, he would be doing the same thing as Madonna (see the first piece). It's not surprising to me that it is difficult to articulate the Gospel w/clarity in today's popular culture, it has only been easy for very brief periods of time in isolated geographic regions. The Gospel turns the upside down world right-side up and causes quite a stirr.

My early Saturday morning thought (I really shouldn't be blogging when I'm not all together yet, but here we go) . . .

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One of my dad's favorite authors is Pat McManus who writes on the hilarious misadventures of life in the outdoors. His book, A Fine and Pleasant Misery, describes his ambivalence towards camping. Last night, at 3:40am dad turned to me, smiled, and said, a fine and pleasant misery. Here's why.

We've been wanting to take Hayley and Ellen camping and with the first day of fall upon us and the evenings turning cooler we were feeling a sense of urgency, sort of a now or never. With an eye and a deaf ear on the forecast we pushed forward with our plans. We gobbled down our supper at home (one less hassle in the woods), threw the gear in the back of the pickup and rushed down to the farm where there is a lovely little campsite cleared in the woods. We were particularly rushing to get camp set up before dark and because dad was due to take his parents to church at 6:10pm. Mom, dad, and the girls piled in to the pickup while I went ahead on the bike (no room in the truck). I stopped my bike at the edge of the woods thinking that's where the truck would park too. But I didn't realize that the mighty 4 wheel drive would take on the forest path. So I followed the red bohemoth until it stopped, seemingly foiled by a fallen log across the path. But NO, the engine revved, the beast jostled, and with a might roar, leapt over the log. At the campsite we began pulling gear from the pick up when it was discovered that the mighty roar we had heard was actually to sound of the front tire exploding . . .

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stopped drilling at 125 feet on the first day. Picked-up work this morning. We have 8 gallons a minute at 200 feet. Precast basement walls come on Tuesday, then the I-Beam. Sand mound finished. It even received grass seed today. More pics.

Several episodes of The Avengers were available in the E-town library. If you don't explore, you don't find out. Not bad. "The Avengers is a stylish blend of espionage, fantasy and quasi-science fiction that appeals to Anglophiles who enjoy witty, sentimental, slightly off-beat television, and don't mind terribly dated plots." Sounds familiar, I am a Dr. Who fan of episodes from about the same era :-)

7 lbs, 4 oz

born 1:30am

to Jen & Randy Brandt

"A Great Experience" . . . I believe that referred to holding the newborn (and possibly a quick delivery). Theresa's visiting Jen and Trevor in Lancaster right now. More when she returns, but no picture as she forgot the digital camera and I believe the Brandts have yet to acquire one :-(

Here's a picture of the septic tank going in the ground and the kids walking to the bus stop. Dirt to cover the system coming later this afternoon. Well digger coming on Thursday. Just chatted w/the heat pump person, will be receiving more quotes . . . we're on the schedule. Still having difficulty securring a footer placement survey.

More pictures.

for faculty ministry at Alvernia, Penn State Berks, and Kutztown University with Tim (pioneering undergrad staff in Berks County). It was a great joy to discuss, pray, and consider ways we might engage the whole campus with the Gospel. Pray for

1. next steps in our conversation and particularly how we might develop a model for pioneering whole campus ministry (transforming students and faculty. renewing the campus. developing world changers).

2. Tim to receive the necessary financial support for this significant pioneering effort,

3. discernment in how to follow-up to those with whom we connected today [Student Affairs office at PSU-Berks, Christian Student Fellowship (CSF) at Berks, Nursing Christian Faculty (NCF) faculty advisor at Alvernia, campus ministry staff at Alvernia, local faculty minister at Kutztown]. Note: check out Alvernia's beautiful Sacred Heart Chapel.

By the grace of God, the story will continue in coming months . . .

Tomorrow we'll have the septic tank delivered and then the septic system will have some dirt placed overtop. Check out more pictures.

came on Fox right after the Phillies win. What a win, what a film! Why did I push aside the Phillies and Bob Roberts for all these years :-) IMDB summarizes this film as a [d]ocumentary-style look at the fictional Senatorial campaign of Bob Roberts, an arch-conservative folk singer turned politician. This political satire includes several original songs co-written and performed by writer/director/star Tim Robbins, and cameo appearances by other stars as reporters and news anchors. It's set right here in PA! What beautiful landscape, city-hopping . . . and Broken Dove (a private relief organization) with Alan Rickman at the helm before Hogwarts fame. Incredible! Had to ask my parents to tape the end, as I went to supper. Will finish it in a few days, maybe I'll have some more thoughts to share at that time.

Besides Phil Keagy and John Michael Talbot, I (Tom) don't have any exposure to Jesus Movement artists. I've heard of The Imperials, Larry Norman, 2nd Chapter of Acts (and A Band Called David), Randy Stonehill, and Vigilantes of Love, but lack familiarity. So it was good to hear Paul Clark tonight.

He has a powerful testimony involving coming free from drugs and social rebellion as an 18 year old during the hippie movement by reading a Christian book of his grandmother. From then on, new songs poured forth laying part of the foundation for the Jesus Movement and Contemporary Christian Music (CCM). Tonight, he opened with calling people to be born again, questioning religious talk, warning us of the dangers of the false prophets of our day and the comfortability of gated Christian communites.

Paul spent some time sharing about the Apostle Paul as being a role model and urged us to not let our foundations crumble. His haunting

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I found the below passages of particular interest. I guess I'll post them now and comment on them later. But feel free to get to it before me :-)

1. From part of an early conversation between V and Evey (p.26) which begins the conversion process, "My name is Evey . . . Evey Hammond. I'm nobody special. Not like you." (Evey) "Everybody is special. Everybody. Everybody is a hero, a lover, a food, a villain, everybody. Everybody has their story to tell. Even Evey Hammond. I should very much like to hear Evey Hammond's story." (V) . . .

After Evey's story, picking-up on p.29 w/V's response,"Hush, child, hush. It's over now. You're safe. The past can't hurt you anymore. Not unless you let it. They made you into a victim. Evey. They made you into a statistic. But that's not the real you. That's not who you are inside. You trust me. Evey. And we can wipe it all away. All the pain. All the cruelty. All the bereavement. We can start again. There you see? All gone." . . . And Evey Hammond sobs like the child she is. Sobs because at long last, her nightmare is over . . .

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Picked up V for Vendetta at the Elizabethtown Public Library (by-the-way, we're surrounded by fabulous small town libraries). Now that I've finally finished the graphic novel now I can pick-up the film and decide for myself as to whether it is a faithful adaption.

But since, I'm on the topic, here's some quotes about the artistic process itself which I found of value:

1. There aren't many cheeky, cheery charactors in V FOR VENDETTA either, and its for people who don't switch off the news (David Lloyd, Preface) . . .

2. It's only those exceptional and rare individuals who have brillant ideas delivered to them by the muse, complete and gift wrapped. The rest of us have to work at it. That said, however, there comes a point where, assuming that all of your logic and planning is of a sound variety, the work starts to take off and assumes a vitality of its own. Ideas start to occur almost magnetically as opposted to being the result of a long and grinding intellectual process. This started to happen with V right from the first episode . . .

On the good days, everything goes right and I have the whole script executed from start to finish within four or five hours. On bad days I write the whole script in four or five house, realise that it's useless, tear it up and start again. I repeat this process four or five times until I'm reduced to a blubbering wreck that just slumps in the armchair and whimpers about how it has no talent whatsoever and will never write again. Next day, I'll get up, get the whole thing right the first time and spend the rest of the day walking around reading my favourite bits to my wife, children, or visiting tradesman. (This is why you should never marry an artist or writer. They're bad news to have around the house, believe me.) -- Alan Moore, Behind the Painted Smile, p.273, 275).

Tomorrow, I'll post some quotes from the piece which I find of interest.

a Problem Like Maria?

Little did I know that the Groshes were not the only ones exploring the von Trapp family and how they are portrayed on stage. Apparently, Andrew Lloyd Webber has been orchestrating a live T.V. talent competition to provide BBC viewers the opportunity to influence the next Maria for the November opening in London.

“Maria” has been drawing some six million viewers per installment, even challenging “The X Factor,” a more lowbrow talent show on the main competing channel.

A fascinating development of live, stage(d) art.

Before I head out to Elizabethtown College to meet various key students and administrators at an Activities Fair, here's what you and I have been waiting to see on the home front. Check out more pics here (click on a given picture to see it 'bigger'), hope to give regular picture reports and interviews but have to leave ASAP . . .

with The Sound of Music just the other day at my parent's house. Some of you like myself remember soaking up a high school production (note: Theresa played one of the 'other novices') and/or staying up late to try to reach the film's dramatic end. Others, have seen it on stage or in the movie theatre, such as Theresa's parents. Now Hayley and Ellen have seen the film several times and soon its time to start talking about the real story with them. As I've reviewed some sites to prepare me for this conversation, I found the following of most interest: the Trapp Family Lodge: A Little of Austria . . . A Lot of Vermont, the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration's Movie vs. Reality: The Real Story of the von Trapp Family with lots of government documents, The Royal Australian Navy's The Sound of Torpedoes (FYI: I also come across a pieces w/regard to Georg's specific u-boat action).

I would appreciate other suggestions on resources. As the more I think about it, maybe it would be more helpful to see if one of the von Trapp Family books are in the library, such as The Trapp Family Book. Relatedly, I remember skimming through The Story of the Trapp Family Singers and finding it quite fascinating, might be a good read for a family in a few years . . . to set-up a trip to Vermont :-)

We just closed on 1844 Cloverleaf Rd. Now its time to get the excavator on the property. Hoping to have ground-breaking next week! Check out some of Theresa's thoughts on life in Mt. Joy.

FYI: Been reading The Danger of Raising Nice Kids by Tim Smith: The Parent's Coach. Lots of good material to apply as we enter this new phase of our life. More on it later, as we walk through some of the helpful exercises. For those of you in similar life situations, we'd encourage you to take a look at another helpful InterVarsity Press (IVP) resource.

If you've been wondering why we've stopped posting Eden updates on the blog, it's because we've gone a whole 3 months without seeing a doctor!! But, alas, we're getting back into the groove since our move (ooh, good rhyme).

Eden has recently begun Physical Therapy (PT) and Occupational Therapy(OT) . . .

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in Mount Joy? Now that we've been here for 6 weeks and school has begun, I thought I'd share some random thoughts for anyone who may be interested :)

We live in a rural area in the sense that there's a lot of farmland and not a lot of businesses. But we have neighbors (though we each have about .5 acre of land) and shopping is less than 5 miles away. The closest business is actually about .2 mile up the road

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the television series "Battlestar Galactica" will travel from outer space into cyberspace. The Sci Fi Channel, which broadcasts the series, has created online mini-episodes, the first of which is scheduled to be posted at midnight . . .

It is not obvious how to measure the success of the online segments. Sci Fi executives said they would monitor how often the Webisodes are the subject of online discussions and of course would see how many people tune in to the season premiere.

"Never having done it, you're never really sure what you're going to get out of it," Mr. Engler said. "Obviously if 50 million people watch them in the course of a week, that's a great success." -- taken from Sci Fi Creates "Webisodes" to Lure Viewers to TV

Fascinating. So here's one step toward their success, by my posting and my affirmation that it held one's attention for a short span of time. Check it out. It takes a direct and focused form of writing/filming. As you can tell I'm not boycotting it, hope that doesn't bother any friends who might be part of the Writers Guild of America :(

In late May, for those of us who teach, the summer stretches out like the great expanse of freedom it was in grammar school. Ah, the days on the beach! The books we will read! The adventures we will have . . . we academics do have something few others possess in this postindustrial world: control over our own time. All the surveys point to this as the most common factor in job satisfaction. The jobs in which decisions are made and the pace set by machines provide the least satisfaction, while those, like mine, that foster at least the illusion of control provide the most.

Left to our own devices, we seldom organize our time with 8-to-5 discipline. The pre-industrial world of agricultural and artisan labor was structured by what the historian E. P. Thompson calls "alternate bouts of intense labor and of idleness wherever men were in control of their working lives."

I was recently offered a non-teaching job that would have almost doubled my salary, but which would have required me to report to an office in standard 8-to-5 fashion. I turned it down, and for a moment I felt like the circus worker in the joke: he follows the elephant with a shovel, and when offered another job responds, "What, and give up show business?" -- excerpted from The Summer Next Time (Tom Lutz, author of Doing Nothing: A History of Loafers, Loungers, Slackers and Bums in America).

I [Tom Grosh] must confess that like the author, I am drawn to the flexibility provided by laboring on campus, which makes answering the question of what do you do in a given day or week difficult to answer as the various aspects of my life blend together in a fuzzy manner . . .

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I've set-up an appointment to meet w/Sandra Jamison, Director of Nursing Christian Fellowship's (NCF) Faculty and Graduate Student Ministry, who lives near Messiah College. Thank-you for the encouragement Arlene (retired from the Department of Nursing at Messiah College in Grantham, PA and co-author of InterVarsity Press' Called to Serve)! Looking foward to exploring opportunities for partnership w/nursing faculty in the area.

Please pray for new students to hear about and find their way to the Ephesians Grad Bible Study get-to-know you time on Tuesday, September 6. The study will be facilitated by Jean, my undergrad staff from the days at 'the Grove,' and Don, a Computer Science lecturer at CMU.

Also pray for a good faculty and grad student turnout for GCF's Sept 13 picnic.

Praises: 1. A number of people have been added to the GCF info. list, I see their registrations in my email box. 2. I heard a good report on Sunday's grad picnic coordinated by Bellefield's Young Adult/Grad Ministry and pray.

My mother [Tom] finds Persuasion a good film to regular fall asleep to, what are your thoughts on it after watching it this eveing Theresa?

It's ok. I'd watch it again once I forget what happens, that takes about 3 weeks :-) Well I must go to bed darling.

From Tom: Maybe we'll get more tomorrow, even some on Horatio Hornblower as Mr. Eliot was played by the same actor as . . .

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Finding Your True Calling is not a great quest today, but instead a grindingly slow, morbid reflection on how we're living where we're stuck and hope that we might be found (or the non-reflective busy-ness of those who throw themselves into their vocation or family aren't even on camera) So let's sit back and make it easier by wallowing w/Bob (Bill Murray) and Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) in Lost in Translation?

Here's some thoughts:

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