Varcoe Views

What's a trillion?

2009-08-27T09:31:00.000-07:00

I'm convinced most people have no concept of just how much a trillion dollars represents, including those in our government. I was trying to figure out a way to which people might be able to relate, and I came up with the idea of figuring how much distance a trillion dollars would cover if one dollar bills were placed end to end. The following is what I came up with.

A dollar bill measures 6 1/8 inches long. There are 10,344.5 dollars in a mile. One million dollars translates to 96.7 miles. One billion dollars comes to 96,669+ miles. One trillion dollars would extend a whopping 96,669,728 miles. WE'RE TALKING ABOUT DOLLAR BILLS CIRCLING THE EARTH 3866 TIMES!! Our government is projecting a $9 trillion deficit in 10 years. That is absolute madness.
(posted by Ken)

Yard sale findings

2009-06-09T10:27:00.000-07:00

As some of you know, my beloved wife Bev, loves yard sales and I sometimes reluctantly accompany her. I figure if I'm there, I might as well see if there is anything I can use. I usually head for the books since there are some good bargains occasionally. One of my most recent acquisitions was a book titled "MISTAKEN IDENTITY". It's a book about the Taylor University students and staff that were involved in a horrific traffic accident that killed 5 of them. A mistake was made in identifying two of the students who were similar in appearance. One of the two survived although barely. The book tells of the horrors the two families went through, one burying who they thought was their daughter while the other spent weeks beside the hospital bed of who they thought was their daughter. You can imagine the emotions of both families when they realized the truth 5 weeks later.

This was covered extensively by the media at the time. I recall hearing about it but didn't follow the story. I found the book spiritually uplifting after reading how these two families dealt with everything and still praised the Lord through it all. I admit I wiped a tear of two when reading about their experience. If any of you, like me, didn't follow the events at the time it happened, I highly recommend this book.
(Posted by Ken)
week

Book from the past

2009-05-26T14:50:00.000-07:00

I recently received a book that once belonged to my grandfather on my dad's side of the family. It's titled "Miller Manning or, a Story of Cornish Life". The book with it's torn cover and yellowing pages was published in England in 1881. I thought it would be interesting to read since my grandparents came from Cornwall England. I found the language to be very entertaining though a little challenging to read. The book is a biography of a man who was a miller by trade. He was converted to Christianity and became a Methodist and traveled around holding bible meetings in barns and kitchens. Men who did this were called "rounders". These Methodists were looked down on by the established Church of England and often accused of being controlled by Satan. They were told since they had no training in Hebrew and Greek they weren't qualified to present the word of God. Also, they were told the only proper place to worship was in the temples. Walter Manning pointed out that if that were the case Jesus would have been born in a temple instead of a manger. Walter went on to have a fruitful ministry in spite of the opposition.

Part of what made this book interesting to me is because I've heard my grandfather had done some preaching similar to this in England. I would have liked to talk to him about his experiences.

The front of the book has dates written of when my grandparents were born, when they were married, my grandmother's maiden name and when they sailed for the united states. Also, there is a clipping from the newspaper announcing Bev's and my marriage license some 57 years ago. I'm pleased to have had this come into my possession after so many years.

Posted by Ken

Another good read

2009-02-13T07:53:00.000-08:00

Whenever I read an exceptionally good book I like to let others know about it. I just finished reading "Against Medical Advice" by James Paterson & Hal Friedman. It's a true story about Cory Friedman, put in his own words by the authors. Cory has been afflicted since age 5 with Tourette's syndrome and OCD. The book tells of the struggles and trials he and his family went through as a result of his affliction. I had a diffacult time putting the book down. I normally average about two weeks to read a book but this one took 4 days. Not only was it entertaining but it has given me new insight into this affliction.
(Posted by Ken}

Date 'night'

2009-01-14T17:41:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Christmas gift certificates, we had a fun afternoon yesterday. We met friends, Joyce and Maynard, for lunch at a favorite terriyaki place, Tokyo Stop - (thanks, Cath), then saw a fun movie, "Bedtime Stories" (thanks , Katie and Mica). Actually, both gifts were for Ken, but he says they were for him to treat his favorite girl! The movie was really good - imaginative, and funny, we really enjoyed it, and think you all will too - guys and gals, old and young.

During the evening, sipping a cup of hot chocolate with whipped cream, I browsed through the NFL Cookbook (thanks, Amy and Dan) and found some tempting recipes to try. A nice surprise about the book - it benefits food banks! That makes it extra special in my book.

And speaking of giving, please remember Zimbabwe. With incredible suffering, and starvation, Campus Crusade has collected tons of food, and just lacks freight charges to get it to the people there. If you can help -(even $1 feeds a family!)- go online at give.ccci.org
or call: 1-888-278-7233.
Thanks for letting me slip in that commercial, and share my heart.

Snow casualty

2009-01-03T11:40:00.000-08:00

The month of December has given us a record breaking snowfall of over 60". As a result there have been several buildings with flat roofs that have collapsed, including the gym at our church shown above. It collapsed at 4:00 in the morning. We are thankful that it was at a time when no one was there. That evening there would have been a group of kids using the gym. I can't help but think God was in the timing. There could have been serious injuries or even deaths if it had happened when occupied. Services have been suspended temporarily in our building but the Seventh Day Adventest church across the street has kindly allowed us to use their facilities until we are able to be back in ours.

Winter Wonderland

2008-12-20T13:10:00.000-08:00

We finally dug out from our record snowfall, and then again - and again- as we got 30" in two days! Buses, mail, and newspaper delivery stopped, even the mall closed. Cathie couldn't get home -or even out of our driveway- so she spent 2 nights, and was a Godsend as she and Ken put in 3 sessions of snow blowing and shoveling, for 6 hours total the first day, and then 2 or 3 times the next day. I conveniently came down with a cold and was denied the fun.

You have to admit it's beautiful, though, especially today with the sun so bright.

Wishing you all a white Christmas, even if you have to come to Spokane to get it!

Couer d'Alene Lake

2008-11-19T19:22:00.001-08:00

I recently fulfilled a long-time ambition - to drive completely around Couer d'Alene Lake, thanks to Cathie. She had offered both of us a car trip of our choosing, including dinner, as our Mother's and Father's day gifts. Ken's choice was Walla Walla, and I tagged along, as he did on this trip.

It was a gorgeous fall day, and the lake is so beautiful, -much larger than I'd expected, even though we live less than an hour away, and had been to the north shore many times.

One special stop was the small logging town of Harrison, where our close friend, Coral Hanna, grew up, graduating over 60 years ago. When asked what that was like, she had interesting stories to tell. She said they swam every day, near the log booms, until called home for dinner. When their team played other towns, the school bus would take all the kids, along the winding, dirt roads. In icy weather, the bus would often slide off the edge of the road, and all the kids would get off and push it back on the road, and continue on around the lake!

I chose a small Mexican restaurant for our dinner, and later finished it off with Krispy Kreme donuts! A very relaxed day to enjoy each other and God's good work. Thanks, Cath!

A JEALOUS GOD

2008-10-03T10:58:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wondered why jealousy is considered sinful for mankind but not for God. There are many places in the Bible that refer to God being a jealous God. In as much as God has to relate to mankind in a manner that we can understand He uses anthropomorphism's. In other words, he uses phrases such as "the hand of God" etc. that we can relate to. One of the best descriptions of God's jealousy was stated as follows by John Calvin.

"The Lord very frequently addresses us in the character of a husband... As He performs all the offices of a true faithful husband, so He requires love and chastity from us; that is, that we do not prostitute our souls to Satan...As the purer and chaster a husband is, the more grievously he is offended when he sees His wife inclining to a rival; so the Lord, who has betrothed us to Himself in truth, declares that He burns with the hottest jealousy whenever, neglecting the purity of His holy marriage, we defile ourselves with abominable lusts, and especially when the worship of His deity, which ought to have been most carefully kept unimpaired, is transferred to another, or adulterated with some superstition: since in this way we not only violate our plighted troth, but defile the Nepal couch, by giving access to adulterers."

Summer project

2008-09-26T08:37:00.000-07:00

This summer's project which I worked on intermittently between getting Cathie moved and several other projects, was the building of a new entertainment center to accommodate a new TV that wouldn't fit in the old one. This one is a more open style which Bev bemoans the fact, as it will require more dusting. Guess I'll have to pitch in and help some with that.

Cousins

2008-09-21T18:09:00.001-07:00

This past week I had the opportunity to meet one of my cousins that I've never met before. Danny Hughes and his wife were here visiting his 87 year old mother who is my aunt Lil. Danny is the youngest of Lil's three children and lives in South Carolina. The oldest is Ron followed by Janet. Both live on the the west side of the state and are able to visit more frequently. It's just been in the recent year or so that we've gotten re-acquainted with Ron and Janet. We got together with all except Ron for lunch at a local pizza parlor and had a very enjoyable visit. Seated on the left side of the picture is my aunt Lil in front with Cynthia behind and Janet in back. Danny is in front on the right side with me behind. Bev was there but she was the one taking the picture. We were very happy to have this opportunity to get together. My Aunt may soon be moving to the other side of the state to be closer to her family.

Bev's day

2008-07-24T19:08:00.000-07:00

I have to say I've been proud of myself today. I took Barb's vacuum apart (she'd run over a cable to her computer, which wrapped itself around the beater bar and cut off the power), and -even better - I got it put back together! And it runs! Then I reattached the cable (to the right spot even!) and lo and behold, the computer works too! After lunch I used our weed eater (for the first time) and except for a few gouged spots on the lawn, one petunia accidently cut off, and slicing almost through the cord once, I did a pretty good job.
AND THEN, I learned to blog! (Thanks, Ken)
I'd claim this was a typical day in the life of "Super Gram", except that the rest of my week has been decidedly unproductive. You'd think I was retired.

Actually, my favorite day looks more like this:
Two or more great-grandkids on my lap -perfect!

One day mini vacation

2008-07-22T16:33:00.000-07:00

For Father's Day Cathie said she would drive me (and Bev too) to any place I want, for a meal. We thought about it and decided that even though we had seen many parts of the world, there were places in Washington State we haven't seen, such as Walla Walla. We decided to make it a one day mini vacation, taking a route we hadn't traveled before. We stopped to see Palouse Falls, which seems completely out of place, in the middle of the rolling hills of wheat and sage brush country. Upon arriving at Walla Walla, we had a great lunch, and I had a piece of chocolate cake that was something special! Afterwards, we toured some of the historic sites. It was a great Father's Day gift, and one that will be remembered.

Thought for the day

2008-06-12T12:50:00.000-07:00

You can always count on having lots of friends if you win the lottery or own a pickup.

Wrong Varcoes

2008-06-07T09:09:00.000-07:00

Sorry Wagners, we aren't Burt and Verginia. We are Ken and Bev otherwise known as Kendra Walker's grandparents. I understand you went to Western Baptist with Kendra. We enjoyed vewing your blog. You appear to have a very close and loving family and a close relationship with our Lord and saviour. We'll be rembering you all in our prayers. I'm curious about the other Varcoes.

A BETTER WAY TO SPEND TIME

2008-05-31T11:00:00.000-07:00

Thirteen months ago our associate pastor recommended a book called "Infidel" It's a biography written by a Muslim woman who escaped from the Islam religion. She still fears for her life. Unfortunatly she turned against all religion. I (Ken) found reading this book to be a great alternative to watching TV. In the past reading wasn't something I cared to do. Since then I have read 23 books and on my 24th. My reading has consisted of thealogical, political, biographical and some fiction. My favorite reading has been a searies of 9 books by Charles Swindoll, each pertaining to a specific personality in the scriptures. I am now on my 8th book of the series which is on Job. One of my recent books was titled " The Wounded Spirit' by Frank Peretti. He usually writes mystery nivels but this is a book pertaining to his own life. He was born with a deformaty and throughtout his younger life he faced much teasing and bullying. He relates how if he hadn't been a Christian he could have become one of those who took matters in his own hands much as those at Colombine. He points out the failure of the school systems to deal with the byllying and feels that parents arent in touch with their kids to know whats going on in their lives. Much more could be said but this is long enough so I'll bring it to a close.

Fun time for Braxton and Landon

2008-05-25T16:29:00.000-07:00

A contented twosome.

2008-05-25T15:55:00.000-07:00

Great-grandpa and Jadyn

Our new great-grandaughter

2008-05-11T17:23:00.000-07:00

Jadyn Lamb-6 weeks old