There are not many ways to measure or compare different school districts in Oregon. One is test scores, but with unreliable tests and more and more families choosing to opt out, test scores are not fool proof. Another measure is graduation rate, where each district …
Read MoreAdvent Caroling Madness Hall of Fame
Here are all the winners of our voting over the years! 2013 O Come, O Come, Emmanuel The Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles Angels We Have Heard On High Pentatonix (1 seed) Joy to the World Aretha Franklin (1 seed) Original Christmas Song Breath …
Read MoreBest 90’s Christmas Song—Finals
Windham Hill and Adam Sandler watch their valiant, improbable runs come to an end. Celine Dion, the plucky 15 seed with a stunning voice and a boring arrangement, takes on Take 6 in the finals. Get your votes in by 7 pm PST on Christmas …
Read MoreHow to order Finding Hildegard
ebook Amazon ($4.99) is the only option for getting the ebook version of Finding Hildegard. Print version I love supporting local bookstores! Finding Hildegard is available on Ingram Spark, which means you can go to your local bookstore and ask them to order it for …
Read MoreBest 90’s Christmas Song—Round 3
My last minute entry, Take 6’s Hark the Herald Angels Sing, is the highest remaining seed…and it’s a 5! I can’t decide which is the biggest surprise for sure, but it’s probably Windham Hill. My seeds were hugely wrong compared to your voting. Vote fast! …
Read MoreBest 90’s Christmas Song—Round 2
I am not going to lie. I am in shock. All four Amy Grant songs were defeated. Only one Steven Curtis Chapman song advanced. Koskela Family Nostalgia™ is on life support and I’ve checked in with my #1 Amy supporter. Now we are speeding up …
Read MoreNew City Council
Tuesday’s special election for Newberg City Council did not go as I was hoping. This morning I met with Derek Carmon, one of the newly elected councilors, at his request. I am grateful for his time, his desire to meet face to face, his commitment …
Read MoreLittle Communities
(Message given December 18, 2022 at Wayside Friends Church) How do we look honestly at this world, and still find God’s work of hope? If you follow me online during this advent season, you may question whether I am truly looking for hope, because I …
Read MoreBest 90’s Christmas Song—Round 1
Here is our bracket after the play-in round: We had some robust voting numbers—thank you for participating! Now, the top six seeds are in matchups, so you have some new songs to listen to as we vote down from 16 to 8 on our way …
Read MoreBest 90’s Christmas Song—Play-in Round
Whew. We’ve got 26 submissions again (I added one of my own to be able to use the same bracket as last time), lots of Amy Grant, lots of Koskela Family Nostalgia™ backing Steven Curtis Chapman, BIG voices in Whitney, Mariah, and Celine, and quite …
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