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The 5th grade public school teacher that sat on the couch across from me baffled me with her descriptions of the unruly, chaotic nature of her classroom. She told me of 5th grade boys who routinely call her the "b" word. She spoke to me of her constantly having to ask students not to text or use their hand-held devices during her period of instruction. Worst of all, she relayed to me that when these disciplinary problems are addressed with parents, they often take their kid's side and act as if the teacher is the problem.

"Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies" (Proverbs 31:10).

The Spirit really moved me today as I read Psalm 71, especially verses 17-18:

Apparently a group of seven year old girls are capturing quite a Youtube following. The early shows on the major networks this morning carried the story about the girls' "dance troupe." Even the morning show hosts cringed as they played short segments of the performance. And what do you guess caused the cringing?

"So, when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you. Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood" (Isaiah 1:15).

"But you, son of man . . . open your mouth and eat what I give you . . . eat this scroll and go, speak to the house of Israel . . . then I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey" (Ezek 2:8-3:3).

The American Family Association Journal (www.afajournal.org) recently reported on a research study conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation. They surveyed 8-18 year olds to assess the amount of time they spend with entertainment media (TV, the web, iPods, texting, cells, etc.). The results were staggering, even to this old-fashioned guy who thinks an hour or two a day spent texting, talking on the phone or Facboking is far too much. Drumroll . . .

Chico, California is a quaint city. Nestled about 120 miles north of Sacramento, it is surrounded by miles of orchards, rice fields, plowed fields, and neatly manicured cattle ranches. In the distance, one can see the mountains reaching heavenward between Chico and the Pacific Ocean. Gorgeous. Not at all like Southern CA.

In the regular email updates I receive from Life Institutes, one writer referenced an intraoffice memo sent by a higher up at NPR. The memo urged NPR employees / broadcasters to stop using the term "pro-life" and instead substitute what was labeled more "neutral" language like "abortion rights opponents."

Last night my wife was perusing a Wal-Mart advertorial. If that's not the proper term, then suffice it to say she had the Wal-Mart advertisement newspaper in hand! For reasons that shall surely escape me well into the millenial reign of Christ, I asked that she hand it over. That was a mistake.