The financial markets always surprise me. Because almost all major news is "discounted" in the markets before it happens (translation: bets are placed), when actual news happens like todays rate cut, the market seems to "flip out" if it doesn't match their bets (translation: lot of people were betting the Fed would cut rates by 1/2 % instead of the actual 1/4% they chose). No matter how you slice it, lower rates are good for real estate, so I'm happy. Well, almost. Mortgage rates actually jumped since last week back into the low 6's, apparently because some folks felt it would be better to own stocks than bonds when rates might be falling. Argh.
I'm not going to devote a lot of space to the morbid details of the tragedy we just experienced at New Life Church, but I have to say I was SOO proud of Jeanne Assam the security guard, and her brave action. Larry Bourbonnais also acted fearlessly, and between them saved a lot of lives. I know it sounds weird to have armed guards at church, but in the this day and age, it is the prudent thing to do, and virtually all large public gatherings have them. I for one, am reassured that our church leaders had that foresight. Tomorrow night we have a congregational gathering, and hopefully this will be a time for mourning and healing as well.

This week's service at New Life was something I had share about. Wes Stafford from Compassion International spoke. Compassion is a long time Colorado Springs institution, and we have driven by their offices in the Northgate area for years while the kids were at The Classical Academy and Holly was teaching there. Colorado Springs is somewhat famous for the many ministries that are headquartered here, and Compassion is one of the largest and most established of those. Wes was very effective in communicating through scripture how much Jesus cared about the children, and how important it is that we do the same. His passion for the impoverished children of the world was contagious.
It was humbling to realize how we as a family have missed out on this important ministry opportunity, and we decided that we are going to sponsor a child right away. I think many others made the same decision. We also picked up a copy of his book Too Small to Ignore. The invitation to take advantage of a tour of their facility (they have daily tours at 10 and 2) sounded great as well.
On the way home, we saw a small herd of antelope grazing across the road from Pikes Peak Community College. It was comforting to see them, it had been a while since I had spotted them so close to the church.