My Heart is Happy

I cannot believe how God is moving in my life.  Honestly, I'm not sure I've ever been so happy or grateful for the things He's doing!

Very soon I'll be in Haiti, with a crazy group of teenagers, sweating all over ourselves.  It's going to be phenomenal.  Some of these teens I've just recently met, others I've known for awhile - but I love them all!  I'm SO very excited to see what God works in their hearts and lives!

I'm also developing a love for the Hatian people...  especially their Deaf community.  If you get a chance, check out Kyle Reschke's blog...  I read what God is doing down there, how He's empowering the Deaf community, and I have tears of joy.  He truly DOES take the lonely and set them in families.  He truly DOES care, desperately, for those that society calls the least.  He truly IS far greater than anything any of us could imagine.

Life is so... unpredictable.  Who knew?  8 months ago, my life was fairly status quo.  Today, I've seen my future.  I'm undergoing major heart change and the renewing of my mind.  I'm going to HAITI.  Life is good.

Blog for Serry

Check out Serry's blog on the right... I'll have updates there on what's going on in her (and therefore OUR) life.

Thanks all.

Fall is here... rainy rainy rainy. It's nice, though... I like the rain.

MO for prayer

I found something on Outlook 2007 I HATE yesterday... I schedule interpreters for our office and that means that I use Outlook to track everything. I have my own scheduling calendar, but I put the info in all of our Deaf staff's calendars, including changing the category to an Interpreter(s) Scheduled category. All is fine and good until I come to a series - you now can't change the category of an individual appointment in a series... it's all or nothing, baby. Any tech geeks out there know the way around this? (And no, I can't break up the series'--they aren't my appointments!) I just want them to be YELLOW!

All for now...

Whew!

Life is so darn full these days! This entire week is completely full of meetings at work... including going to Oregon again tomorrow (YES, Kristy, I think of you... we just don't have a lot of time to spare!). I'm taking an interpreting workshop... it's kinda scary. I've gotta take the NIC sometime and I'm nervous--I don't really do community interpreting, so I don't have the kind of practice that many of the interpreters around me do... I'm terrified of failing. (besides the fact that if I fail, work won't reimburse me for the $350 it took to take the stinking test... that I'm taking BECAUSE of work. kinda backwards.)

NAD Co-Sponsors Presidential Candidates Forum: A National Forum on Equality, Opportunity, and Access

NAD Co-Sponsors Presidential Candidates Forum: A National Forum onEquality, Opportunity, and Access

A News Release from the National Association of the Deaf

October 26, 2007
Contact:Anita B. Farb
Director, Communications and Operations
National Association of the Deaf
www.nad.org/contactus

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NAD Co-Sponsors Presidential Candidates Forum:A National Forum on Equality, Opportunity, and Access

Silver Spring, MD - The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) ispleased to co-sponsor, "Presidential Candidates Forum: A National Forumon Equality, Opportunity, and Access" in Manchester, NH on Friday,November 2, 2007 at the Radisson Hotel Ballroom Center of New Hampshire,from 8:30 am to 4:00 pm. Co-sponsorship of this event by the NAD is madepossible through the support of Hands On Video Relay Service (Hands OnVRS), a prominent and growing provider of video relay services andcommunity interpreting for deaf and hard of hearing individuals.

Hands On VRS will live webcast the entire event for free athttp://www.HOVRS.com beginning at 8:30 a.m. EST on November 2. Thewebcast will be captioned and will show a sign language interpreter. Itwill also be available as an archived file on the Hands On VRS web sitefollowing the event and can be downloaded for free.

The forum will feature live appearances by the presidential candidatesand an audience of over 500 New Hampshire voters with disabilities,their families, and their friends. During the forum, each candidate willhave an opportunity to present his or her vision for the future ofnational disability policy and receive questions from the audiencethrough a moderator. Lunchtime keynote addresses from key Democratic andRepublican leadership are also planned.

National leaders from the disability community will also be inattendance, including civil rights advocates Ted Kennedy Jr., TonyCoelho, and Cheryl Sensenbrenner. Deaf community representatives whowill be attending include Cathy Minch, President of the New HampshireAssociation of the Deaf, and Susan Wolf-Downes, Director of NortheastDeaf and Hard of Hearing Services. The NAD encourages affiliates andother organizations to host viewing events in their communities.

Go to download the Webcast Evite (PDF) athttp://www.nad.org/atf/cf/%7BA2A94BC9-2744-4E84-852F-D8C3380D0B12%7D/EVITE_WEBCAST_FINAL.PDF

National Sponsors:
AARP
ADA Watch
ADAPT
American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD)
American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)
Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD)
Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF)
Easter Seals
Epilepsy Foundation
National Association of the Deaf (NAD)
National Coalition on Mental Health Consumer/Survivor Organizations
National Council on Independent Living (NCIL)
National Spinal Cord Injury Association (NSCIA)
New England Chapter of Paralyzed Veterans of America (NEPVA)
Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA)
Self Advocates Becoming Empowered (SABE)
Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Inc. (TDI)
United Cerebral Palsy (UCP)
United Spinal Association
VSA arts

HOSTED BY:
Granite State Independent Living (GSIL)

Co-hosted by:
New Hampshire Developmental Disabilities Council (NH DDC)
New Hampshire Disabilities Rights Center (NH DRC)
New Hampshire Institute on Disability (NH IOD)
New Hampshire Spinal Cord Injury Association
People First of New Hampshire
TASH

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About the NAD

The National Association of the Deaf (NAD), founded in 1880, safeguardsthe civil rights of deaf and hard of hearing Americans. As a nationalfederation of state associations, individual members, and organizationaland corporate affiliates, the advocacy work of the NAD encompasses abroad spectrum of areas including, but not limited to, accessibility,education, employment, healthcare, mental health, rehabilitation,technology, telecommunications, and transportation. The NAD website(http://www.nad.org) has a wealth of advocacy information and resources.

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About Hands On Video Relay Services, Inc. Hands On is a recognized leader in Video Relay Services throughout thecountry. The company is the second largest VRS provider in the nation.Hands On VRS has been serving the needs of the Deaf and Hard of Hearingcommunity since 1992 when it first established Hands On Sign LanguageServices, Inc., a community based sign language services agency. Thecompany is committed to removing communication barriers for Deaf andHard of Hearing individuals while providing quality services they canrely on. Hands On is a linguistically diverse company that employs bothDeaf/Hard of Hearing and hearing employees. More information isavailable at www.hovrs.com