We had one more graduation party for my niece last night, this time for her high school friends. Other than the sticky, mugginess of the night, we enjoyed burgers with a lake view at a local park. My parents left yesterday, and other family members leave today. That means today marks the official beginning of my seven-pages-a-day writing on the dissertation. Feel free to pray for me!

In other news I keep hearing about the forthcoming "Common English Bible." It's a new translation by the largest number of biblical scholars and church leaders in words that 21st-century readers use daily, balancing academics with understandability, and proven through extensive field-testing (feedback from hundreds of readers). I already have a copy of the New Testament, and I like it. It’s the only Bible to include National Geographic maps and to extensively use contractions where the text warrants an engaging conversational style (not used in divine or poetic discourse). As dictionaryists (is that a word?) add nine thousand new words and meaning revisions yearly to the English lexicon, we continue to need new translations. The Common English Bible is rendered the way we naturally talk--for now. And it demonstrates sensitivity to the underlying gender intended in the original text.

I keep hearing that Egypt is getting away with more crackdowns on their Christian populations. Remember our brothers and sisters in that part of the world.

Wanna read my Tapestry blog entry titled "Women's History: Give Credit Where It's Due"? Go here.

If you are not currently a "fan" of my Aspire2 page on Facebook, head on over and leave a comment. It'll make you eligible to win a free copy of my latest, Sumatra with the Seven Churches.

Looking for a how-to on publishing your own e-book? Check out this post.