Yesterday I had the pleasure of visiting with the Fahmers for almost an hour. It is amazing how many people have been touched by Jacob's life these past 25 days. They've been contacted from all over, as far away as Hawaii, with people wishing them well and doing their best to help support them during this time.

I am so inspired by the faith they've exercised throughout this situation. Jason has decided not to work during the time Jacob is here with them, and in doing so has had to rely on God to meet his family's needs. So far his faith hasn't been in vain; they've had a healthy supply of meals streaming through the door daily and none of their bills have gone unpaid.

If you haven't checked out Jacob's blog yet, I encourage you to do so. And if you feel so inclined, do whatever you can to help them along this path.

Chrissy and I are organizing a fundraiser for them on February 16th (yeah I know there's an (e:strip) gathering that night but I figured I would share the details anyway just in case anyone was interested):

Valentine Chocolate Splurge to Benefit Jacob Fahmer
Saturday February 16, 2008 6:30 - 9 pm
Grace Baptist Church
2525 Eggert Road
Tonawanda, NY 14150

A portion of the proceeds will benefit Children's Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Hosted by friends of the Fahmer family

Anyone and everyone is welcome to attend, but if you know ahead of time that you and your family or friends are coming, please let us know. The contact information is below.

We will be serving chocolate as well as many other kinds of desserts, coffeee, teas, etc... If you would like to help in any way please contact Del and Chrissy Reid at: reid.chrissy_AT_gmail.com.

This was my comment on (e:paul,43057) but I wanted to capture it here just for the sake of posterity...

Yeah, Jesus Camp is exposing a tiny fringe of "Christians" which I assure you are NOT the norm. And those kids appear to have been inundated every waking moment since they were born with that funkamentalist mantra, which is a lot different than just taking your kids to Sunday School and praying before meals and bedtime.

I was a youth leader in our church's youth group for nearly seven years and in my experience, most if not all of the kids that were raised in the church eventually reached a point where they had to decide for themselves whether they truly believed what their parents did. Some decided they did and stayed on, continuing to attend. Others didn't and moved on to pursue life outside the church's walls. That's the beauty of Christianity (or at least my "sect") -- it's something you have to sign up for personally (hence why my church practices adult baptism).

Sure Christianity has its share of wackos, but any interest group experiences the same thing. Look at PETA or Greenpeace. The majority of the folks involved are pretty even-keeled but then you have those that behave outside the bounds of society's norm -- and THEY'RE the ones that get the attention.

The Left Behind multimedia monster is also pretty off the wall. Sadly, many Christians don't seem to see it for what it is: a money grab by Tim LaHaye and friends. I mean come on.. Board games? Video games?

It's all pretty embarrassing, to be honest. Since I became a believer 12 years ago, I feel like I've spent more time apologizing for my faith than anything else concerning it.