During this time of year its easy to get caught up in all the gifts and shopping, and forget how we blessed we really are here in America. I heard this on the radio tonight and reminded me that in a little over three weeks when I'm in Kentucky nice and warm and comfortable that our soliders will be fighting for us and for our freedom. Please pray and support our troops.
What started as an inside joke with a few of my friends has turned into a full blown band-geekism. It started during popcorn fest parade when after every song I would yell "yeah band", well lets just say it caught on fairly quick. We now have t-shirts that say YEAH BAND!!! Anyways i was watching this on youtube and all I can say is YEAH BAND!!!!!!
For those who didn't hear one of my classmates was killed eariler this month in a car crash. This follows a teacher at my school having a fatal heart attack and dying at the end of September. Tragedy hitting this close to home should cause all of us to take a step back and think about how fragile our life is and how blessed we are to have the hope of salvation in Jesus. Please pray for the Mercaldo and the Renn (teacher) family as they go through these hard times.
VALPARAISO | A 16-year-old Valparaiso girl is dead following a high-speed crash Friday night in Morgan Township.
Kelly Mercaldo was in the back seat of a car traveling north on County Road 450 East, according to the Porter County Sheriff's Department.
The car failed to stop at a stop sign at County Road 500 South, crossed elevated railroad tracks and went airborne before striking a tree, police said. The crash occurred at 11:12 p.m.
Mercaldo and the driver of the 2008 Ford Mustang, Alyssa Brown, 18, of Kouts, were taken to Porter hospital.
Mercaldo, who was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash, was airlifted to Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, Ill., for treatment of head injuries. She died Saturday as a result of her injuries.
Brown was treated and released at Porter hospital, according to a hospital official.
Police said neither alcohol nor drugs was a factor in the crash.
News of the death came as a blow to students and staff at Valparaiso High School, where Mercaldo was a junior and member of the National Honor Society, Key Club and a Peer Tutor.
"It is a very dark day for us," Principal Jim Doane said.
Doane, who has known Mercaldo since she was a sixth-grader at Benjamin Franklin Junior High School, described her as a pleasant student who worked hard and was funny.
"She just always had a cute smile on her face," he said.
The news of the death was announced to students Monday morning, Doane said. Interested students will be excused to attend the visitation and/or funeral, he said, and counselors are available if needed.
Also in the car at the time of the crash was 17-year-old Magen Singlton, of Kouts.
Mercaldo, who is the daughter of Porter County 911 dispatcher Nancy Jenkins and Portage firefighter/paramedic Vic Mercaldo, worked at Jimmy John's restaurant.
Last night after bible study I went and saw the new Batman movie. In the movie the city is looking for a hero to clean up it's city and restore order to what was once a great and thriving city. The only problem is that if the hero didn't fit with the image they had in their minds, they didnt want him to be a hero. It got me thinkin about what we studying about in bible class. How the Jews couldn't see past thier pride and thier mental image of the messiah to acknowledge Jesus for who he really is. Unfortunatly even today we see that people only want the truth if it is thier verison of the truth, which more often then not isn't truth at all. At the end of the movie the Joker realizes that there is good in Gotham. Even with all the bad that is going on in the world we must always realize that there is still good in the world. As long as we are faithful.
