Miss Becky's Blog

We are Returning to China

Ken and I will return to Nanjing, China by the end of this month to teach another school year, where we were in 2002-03.

Look for more posts to come . . .

An Ode to America

This article was written by Mr. Cornel Nistorescu and published under the title "C"ntarea Americii, meaning "Ode To America") in the Romanian newspaper, after the attack on our nation, Sept. 11th, 2001.

~An Ode toAmerica~

Why are Americans so united? They would not resemble one another even if you painted them all one color! They speak all the languages of the world and form an astonishing mixture of civilizations and religious beliefs. Still, the American tragedy turned three hundred million people into a hand put on the heart.

Nobody rushed to accuse the White House, the army, and the secret services that they are only a bunch of losers. Nobody rushed to empty their bank accounts. Nobody rushed out onto the streets nearby to gape about. The Americans volunteered to donate blood and to give a helping hand.

After the first moments of panic, they raised their flag over the smoking ruins, putting on T-shirts, caps and ties in the colors of the national flag. They placed flags on buildings and cars as if in every place and on every car a government official or the president was passing.

On every occasion, they started singing their traditional song: "God Bless America!" I watched the live broadcast and rerun after rerun for hours listening to the story of the guy who went down one hundred floors with a woman in a wheelchair without knowing who she was, or of the Californian hockey player, who gave his life fighting with the terrorists and prevented the plane from hitting a target that could have killed other hundreds or thousands of people.

How on earth were they able to respond united as one human being?

Imperceptibly, with every word and musical note, the memory of some turned into a modern myth of tragic heroes. And with every phone call, millions and millions of dollars were put in a collection aimed at rewarding not a man or a family, but a spirit, which no money can buy.

What on earth can unite the Americans in such a way? Their land? Their galloping history? Their economic Power? Money? I tried for hours to find an answer, humming songs and murmuring phrases with the risk of sounding commonplace.

I thought things over, but I reached only one conclusion...Only freedom can work such miracles.

by Cornel Nistorescu

3rd Annual SMILEY's FUN RUN - 2008

In honor of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China, the 3rd Annual SMILEY’s FUN RUN will have an “Olympic” theme this year, as we continue to light the “torch” of friendship and love between our American Family and the students of the Special Gao Chun School in Nanjing, China, by supporting the SUNSHINE Project AND encouraging HEALTH and FITNESS! This year's FUN RUN will give participants an opportunity to learn more about the true Olympic spirit of sportmanship and the hard work required to push our bodies to perform well.

The students at the Gao Chun School will set their date and carry out their FUN DAY in China under the direction of the Sunshine Project leaders in Nanjing. We understand that the school has a new playground this year where the FUN RUN will take place.

Members of the Ken and Becky Mitchell Family in America will carry out their FUN RUN in the different locations where they live in America, according to this plan:

* Each participant (adults and youth) chooses which “Olympic” event they will do from the following: Walking /Jogging . . . Running . . . Biking . . . Swimming

* Each participant chooses a goal, how much distance they will walk, run, bike, etc. It can be any number that will be a good challenge for that individual. All who complete their GOAL will receive a Smiley’s Fun Run "medal" just like the "Olympic" winners received!!!

* Each “family group” will plan and carry out their own event on a day that works best for them in the area where they live.

* We (Ken and Becky) will donate $$ to the SUNSHINE PROJECT for every mile completed during each family FUN RUN event as well as for the "total miles" completed by the students at the Gao Chun School.

* After completing your run, walk, bike ride or swim, we encourage all to do something FUN together that you enjoy . . . be creative and share what you do!

* Please complete your FUN RUN by early November and send your report and pictures to Nana/Miss Becky at: missbecky@xmission.com

WATCH for reports of completed FUN RUNS as they come in.

Keep Smiling and "Move It"

2nd ANNUAL SMILEY's FUN RUN -- China Edition

On October 27th, 2007, the same day American friends were participating in SMILEY's FUN RUN, the SUNSHINE Project leaders along with the children and teachers of the Gao Chun Special School, near Nanjing, China were also completing their FUN RUN field day AND earning money for the SUNSHINE Project to support the special school. (Click on Sunshine Project -- Nanjing, China to learn more about the project.)

Note the sign on the fence . . .

Aren't those SMILES great????

Note the long shelve, white t-shirts this year. The project leaders had them done in China to save to costs of shipping them from America! They look great!

After completing the "running" and reaching their goals, everyone was set for FUN playing games and doing races with the "smiley faced" equipment sent from America.

LOVE that SMILE!!!!

Aren't those GREAT SMILES!!!!

Here's more SMILES with two project leaders in the center back. Note the "smiley faced" sticker on some of their shirts!

Here the children's DRUM band perform. It's so AWESOME to see what these deaf children can DO -- Thanks to their great teachers!

Here's the report from Weina Hua, one of the SUNSHINE Project leaders. Weina is in this picture on the back row, on the right of the only lady with blonde hair.

"We have now (come) back from the trip. It's wonderful. You will see from some of Jinghong's photos (above). It's a very fine day (we had rain yesterday). And we had a very suitable tempearture to wear the t-shirt. The kids are so happy to have the awards from American grandparents. They all reached their goals they settled. Many of them have been keeping on running since last year's Fun Run. Many kids have made progress. They are sunshine covered kids growing up healthy and happy."

For your information, Amercian Grandparents agreed to pay $10 to the SUNSHINE Project for every one of the children who reached their running goal -- 96 children did, so $960 will be transferred to the SUNSHINE Project account in Nanjing, China.

A special THANKS to all the Project leaders and supporters in China who helped make this FUN RUN there possible. It is our hope that it will be an ANNUAL event to promote HEALTH and FITNESS as we work together with American Friends to raise funds to support the SUNSHINE Project.

Keep MOVING, Keep RUNNING and most of all Keep SMILING!!

2nd Annual SMILEY's FUN RUN is a Great Success

The 2nd Annual SMILEY's FUN RUN in America was held in Logan, Utah on Saturday, October 27th, 2007 with Ken (Smiley) and Miss Becky's grand children, a niece and nephew and our dog, Pingle.

Our two oldest grandsons, Baylor (11) and McKay (10), help Miss Becky to place "smiley face" balloons" and mile signs at different location in town early that morning! We followed the same route as the year before, but the focus this year was on FUN, so we made stops along the way for FUN activities and snacks!!!

In fact the "RUN" began with FUN at the Golf Course where we all hit golf balls!

Jake (our nephew), Baylor and McKay all like to play golf!

Gavin (4) was the youngest participant in Logan this year . . . he also loves to hit golf balls!!!

It's time to start the RUN . . .

GET READY . . . GET SET . . . GO. . .

Britt (9) and Gavin slow the pace and "walk" . . .

Jack (5), Gwen (7) and Gavin enjoy the autumn leaves along the way.

At the high school field we stopped for a quick, fun soccer (football) game with "smiley faced" balls.

Here's one of the SMILEY's FUN RUN signs pointing the way to go as we walk/jog through the city of Logan, Utah.

It's a BEAUTIFUL fall day in Logan . . . great for the FUN RUN!!!

FUN stop at our favorite Bakery for a snack and a rest!

At the next corner we are met by our youngest daughter and son, Kara and Brady. Kara missed her flight the day before from Boston, so Brady had to go to the airport to get her and they joined us when they got to Logan. (Kara is sort of hidden behind the children -- she is wearing a green hat and glasses.

On we go and it LOTS more fun to "walk" in the leaves AND . . .

even MORE fun to "play" in the leaves!!!

The next FUN stop was at a playground at one of our favorite parks. Here Gavin swings as others

play on the new climbing wall . . .

Gavin gets a ride in the wagon that we pulled for our water bottles, snacks and equipment . . .

On the way back to Ft. Smiley (our home) we stopped at a neighbors garden where I had placed pumpkins

for EACH of the children to select one.

Here we are all back at Ft. Smiley . . .

We had lots of FUN and covered a distance of over four miles!!! But the FUN did not end here. Kara and Brady took the children ice skating while I made preparations for a special Cousins' Halloween Party. The children dressed up in costumes, decorated their pumpkins, played games and took went on a walk in the dark with flashlights!!!

The donations from America totaled $2,000 (about 16,000 RMB) for the SUNSHINE Project. The goals of the project had been met!!!

2nd Annual SMILEY's FUN RUN

Dear Friends,

Since SMILEY's FUN RUN was such a fun, good experience for our family and friends, especially the Chinese children at the Gao Chun Special School, we have decided to make it an ANNUAL event.

The purpose of the FUN RUN will be to have FUN together as we

* Promote good health and fitness for family and friends,

* Raise $$ to support the SUNSHINE Project in Nanjing, China, and

* Put SMILES on the faces of all who participate!!!

It will be held each year in the fall around Ken/Smiley's birthday in honor of the first FUN RUN, where we were able to pull off the most "spectuar suprise" of Ken's life!!!

Our "Top Secret Mission" was accomplished AND our grandchildren loved it. Months ago they started asking what we were going to do to celebrate Pappy's birthday this year? That got Ken and I to thinking and we have been in contact with the Sunshine Project leaders in China to set it all up.

The 2nd ANNUAL SMILEY's FUN RUN will be held on: Saturday, October 27th 2007 in Logan, Utah and at the Gao Chun Special School near Nanjing, China AND anywhere you live, for example our son K.C. will be "running" in Las Vegas and is inviting some young friends to participate as a service project.

The FUN RUN will be 7 miles again here in Logan, or whatever length that would be a good goal for you and yours. Some of our younger grandchildren will "run" a shorter distance, with some stops along the way to do some FUN activities. We post a report of our FUN RUN on my BLOG after October 27th.

We have challenged each of the Chinese children and our grandchildren to set their own GOAL for what they want to accomplish this year and EACH will be rewarded for reaching their GOAL!!

The SUNSHINE Project leaders in China are printing t-shirts for the children there to save shipping costs --- our family will use our shirts from last year. We are sending some "smiley" prizes for each of the children who complete their "walking, jogging, running" goal.

I'll also be posting several articles on health/fitness on my BLOG at: http://www.xmission.com/~kmitch/becky/ that to be used by the Chinese teachers to promote greater knowledge and awareness of the vital role exercise and positive emotions (love, caring, & happiness) play in our health, overall well-being and fitness.

If you live in Logan, you are invited to come "walk/jog/run" with us at 10:00 am on October 27th. If any of you want to do something for your health and "walk/jog/run" where ever you are, we would appreciate knowing and receiving your pictures so we can share with the Chinese children, all those who participated.

We are inviting our grandchildren to make any donation they want to the Sunshine Project, rather than giving Ken or I birthday gifts. AND it has to be money that they have "earned" themself, not just given them by their parents. We want them to learn early to care about others and learn to give!

Donations of any amount to the SUNSHINE Project will be welcome:

In China donations can be sent to:

JIN JIAN (Jane is her English name)

Bank of China in Nanjing, HuNan Road Sub-Branch, PR China

Account number 4447802-0188-052027-3

Jin Jian, is the treasurer of the SUNSHINE Project and if you have any questions please call her at 13851986887.

In America, donation checks can be sent to:

Ken & Becky Mitchell

149 East 700 North

Logan, UT 84321

Phone: 435-752-2466

If you would like to learn more about the SUNSHINE Project, please go to my BLOG and click on the Category "Sunshine Project - Nanjing, China."

Hope you all have had a good summer and are enjoying beautiful fall or autumn weather now. It's very beautiful here in Logan, we are especially enjoying cooler temperatures after a hot, record setting summer.

KEEP MOVING AND SMILING!!!

Much love,

Ken and Becky Mitchell

WITH A SMILE . . .

This song has a very special message. It was written by Neville Peter and performed by Gladys Knight, one of my favorite people!!

WITH A SMILE you can show the world you care -- With a smile you’ll inspire the world to share -- If you show the world a smiling face, It will come back to you. You don’t need to be crying, So good to see you trying WITH A SMILE.

The biggest problems seem so small -- WITH A SMILE you will rise above them all. Oh, it shouldn’t be so hard to display the Love of God. I know that we can do it WITH A SMILE.

Oh a SMILE can turn Grief to laughter. A SMILE can turn Hate to love. It can make a bleeding heart Forget the pain. It can drive the blues away, Turn the night into day. You can do all these things WITH A SMILE.

You can weather any storm -- When it’s cold you’ll be able to stay warm. I’ve got one more thing to say: Don’t let them take Your SMILE away -- ‘Cause what I said is true. All these things a smile can do. You’ll just have to try -- I know you’ll see -- Take it from me

You can do all these things, You can do all these things, You can do all these things WITH A SMILE, WITH A SMILE!!!!

YOU CAN STOP NORMAL AGING

This article, YOU CAN STOP “NORMAL” AGING – by Dr. Henry S. Lodge, shows the importance of EXERCISE & LOVE to the health of individual cells of your body!

Form your body’s point of view, “normal” aging isn’t normal at all. It’s a choice you make by the way you live your life. The other choice is to tell your cells to grow – to build a strong, vibrant body and mind.

Let’s have a look at standard American aging. Barbara D. had a baby when she was 34, gave up exercise and gained 50 pounds. Exhausted and depressed, Barbara thought youth, energy and optimism were all in her rearview mirror. Jon M., 55, had fallen even farther down the slippery slope. He was stuck in the corporate world of stress, long hours and doughnuts. At 255 pounds, he had knees that hurt and a back that ached. He developed high blood pressure and eventually diabetes. Life was looking grim.

Jon and Barbara weren’t getting old; they had let their bodies decay. Most aging is just the dry rot we program into our cells by sedentary living, junk food and stress. Yes, we do have to get old, and ultimately we do have to die. But out bodies are designed to age slowly and remarkably well. Most of what we see and fear is decay, and decay is only one choice. Growth is the other.

After two years of misery, Barbara started exercising and is now in the best shape of her life. She just finished a sprint triathlon and, at 37, feels like she is 20. Jon started eating better and exercising too – slowly at first, but he stuck with it. He has since lost 50 pounds, the pain in his knees and back has disappeared, and his diabetes is gone. Today, Jon is 60 and living his life in the body of a healthy 30-year-old. He will die one day, but he is likely to live like a young man until he gets there.

The hard reality of our biology is that we are built to move. Exercise is the master signaling system that tells our cells to grow instead of fade. When we exercise, that process of growth spreads throughout every cell in our bodies, making us functionally younger. Not a little bit younger – a lot younger. True biological aging is a surprisingly slow and graceful process. You can live out your life in a powerful, healthy body if you are willing to put in the work.

Let’s take a step back to see how exercise works at the cellular level. Your body is made up of trillions of cells that live mostly for a few weeks or months, die and are replaced by new cells in an endless cycle. For example, your taste buds live only a few hours, white blood cells live 10 days, and your muscle cells live about three months. Even your bones dissolve and are replaced, over and over again. A few key stem cells in each organ and your brain cells are the only ones that stick around for the duration. All of your other cells are in a constant state of renewal.

You replace about 1% of your cells every day. That means 1% of your body is brand-new today, and you will get another 1% tomorrow. Think of it as getting a whole new body every three months. It’s not entirely accurate, but it’s pretty close. Viewed that way, you are walking around in a body that is brand-new since Christmas (article appeared in March 2007) new lungs, new liver, new muscles, new skin. Look down at your legs and realize that you are going to have new ones by the Fourth of July. Whether that body is functionally younger or older is a choice you make by how you live.

You choose whether those new cells come in stronger or weaker. You choose whether they grow or decay each day from then on. Your cells don’t care which choice you make. They just follow the directions you send. Exercise, and your cells get stronger; sit down, and they decay.

Men like Jon, who go from sedentary to fit, cut their risk of dying from a heart attack by 75% over five years. Women cut their risk by 80% -- and heart attacks are the largest single killer of women. Both men and women can double their leg strength with three months of exercise, and most of us can double it again in another three months. This is true whether you’re in your 30% or your 90%. It’s not a miracle or a mystery. It’s your biology, and you’re in charge.

The other master signal to our cells—equal and, in some respects, even more important than exercise—is emotion. One of the most fascinating revelations of the last decade is that emotions change our cells through the same molecular pathways as exercise. Anger, stress and loneliness are signals for “starvation” and chronic danger. They “melt” our bodies as surely as sedentary living. Optimism, love and community trigger the process of growth, building our bodies, hearts and minds.

Men who have a heart attack and come home to a family are four times less likely to die of a second heart attack. Women battling heart disease or cancer do better in direct proportion to the number of close friends and relatives they have. Babies in the ICU who are touched more often are more likely to survive. Everywhere you look, you see the role of emotion/love in our biology. Like exercise, it’s a choice.

’s hard to exercise every day. And with our busy lives, it’s even harder to find the time and energy to maintain relationships and build communities. But it’s worth it when you consider the alternative. Go for a walk or a run, and think about it. Deep in our cells, down at the level of molecular genetics, we are wired to exercise and to care. We’re beginning to wake up to that as a nation, but you might not want to wait. You might want to join Barbara, Jon and millions of others and change your life. Start today. Your cells are listening.

Dr. Henry S. Lodge is on the faculty of Columbia Medical School and is co-author of “Younger Next Year”….

GROWING OLD ...

My sister, Sue, sent these quotes to Ken for his SEVENTY Birthday:

Old age isn't so bad when you consider the alternative. -- Maurice Chevalier

You can't help getting older, but you don't have to get old. -- George Burns

Don't worry about middle age: you'll outgrow it. -- Laurence J. Peter

They tell you that you'll lose your mind when you grow older. What they don't tell you is that you won't miss it very much. --Malcolm Cowley

I look forward to being older, when what you look like becomnes less and less an issue and what you are is the point. -- Susan Sarandon

How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are? Satchell Paige

Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.

If you die in the elevator, be sure to push the UP button. -- Sam Levenson

THESE ARE MY FAVORITE . . .

Here is a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished: if you're alive, it isn't. -- Richard Bach

The greatest use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it. -- William James

Wrinkles should merely indicate where the SMILES have been. -- Mark Twain

Ken's Reflections on Life & Death

This is a letter that Ken/Smiley wrote to our family following his heart attack, which he likes to call his "cardiac event" which occurred on May 4, 2006. He talks about a time when our daughter Amy was involved in a car accident and Jason was very seriously injured in a car/motorcycle accident. Our daughter-in-law Missy also is mentioned. She had several medical procedures to correct a heart problem before it was finally corrected. I'm sending this letter so you can see how Ken feels about Life and Death...

My Dear Family,

Thanks to each of you for your love, support and concern the past few days.

In addition to this wonderful family, the support of many friends and medical people was over-whelming! I'm not at all surprised but it's still humbling. I haven't learned how to accept love and support without emotional feelings.

I want to express to you some thoughts I had Sunday night (when he had the heart event), which really were not new but I actually put them into action when this experience arrived.

For many years Becky and I have discussed these type of adversities. Until 1995, actually eleven years ago May 4-5, when Amy and Jason became the first serious adversity we'd faced, Becky and I would warn ourselves that our "smooth sailing" wouldn't last forever. Of course, Jason holds the trophy for the "most serious" trauma we've faced. Nothing else that's crossed our path holds a candle to that sad experience. However, just as in my "cardiac event" it was excellent medical people who performed their "duty" and Jason made a great recovery from a most serious situation.

We held our breath until Missy was correctly patched.

For me personally, I have taken the attitude for many years that I've been allowed far more of the wonderful things of life than I ever expected or deserved and I'm daily grateful to Heavenly Father for allowing me all these things. Which, interpreted means, "I respect that The Lord giveth and The Lord taketh away." If The Lord had taken me Sunday night, so be it. I have no concerns about that. I invite you to consider a similar attitude.

Becky and I both desire that if anyone has to be taken from our family, "Please, Lord, let it be one or both of us." Having said this, I encourage each of you to "look inside" and see if you are "prepared" for a serious adversity. I firmly believe we owe it to ourselves and those around us to "take a stand." I don't expect anyone to follow my/our approach but I don't hesitate to suggest to you that you must face the fact that we have no control over the exit of anyone of us. I respect that as stated above.

It will always be my attitude to "celebrate the life" of one who exits. I will not ask "why?"... I will not be "knocked out" by it... I'm not "copping out"... I firmly believe that I'm accepting "the way it is." I will celebrate that life, old or young, and give thanks to Heavenly Father for the time we spent together.

Of course I/we have no control over this so you might think, "your attitude is simple, it's a way of managing the sadness." I feel my attitude is based on a grateful heart. Nothing more, nothing less. I don't feel helpless... I feel empowered.

My sincere request is that each of us do what we know will allow us a healthy and extended life... there are no secrets about how to do that now... it's a choice. Let's be together on this earth as long as possible... if the exit is earlier, so be it. Celebrate the life.

Sincerely and with love to each,

Dad/Pappy/Ken

****************

From Becky: It was just two months after my mother had passed away that Ken had this "cardiac event". I was in Provo (over two hours away from Logan) taking care of my Father that Sunday. Our son, Jason, took Ken to the hospital and then called me to tell me what was happening. They had to "fly" Ken to Ogden where there were the medical resources to help him -- it was in the middle of the night. I arranged for my brother to take care of my Father and after a prayer with my Dad, I drove as fast as I could to Ogden to be with Ken. Of course, I was praying all the way. My son had assured me that it did not seem too serious, but I was still praying. Then the comforting feeling of my Mother's presence came over me, assuring me that Ken would be alright and that she would look out for him until I could get there -- I also felt her "thanks" for taking care of her husband, my Father. I truly believe that it was God's will that Ken live longer -- there are still things that the Lord wants him to accomplish.

Gun History

Whether you agree or not, it's an interesting lesson in history.

Something to think about...

In 1929, the Soviet Union established gun control. From 1929 to 1953, about 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

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In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915 to 1917, 1.5 million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

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Germany established gun control in 1938 and from 1939 to 1945, a total of 13 million Jews and others who were unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated.

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China established gun control in 1935. From 1948 to 1952, 20 million political dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

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Guatemala established gun control in 1964. From 1964 to 1981, 100,000 Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

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Uganda established gun control in 1970. From 1971 to 1979, 300,000 Christians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

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Cambodia established gun control in 1956. From 1975 to 1977, one million 'educated' people, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

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Defenseless people rounded up and exterminated in the 20th Century because of gun control: 56 million.

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It has now been 12 months since gun owners in Australia were forced by new law to surrender 640,381 personal firearms to be destroyed by their own government, a program costing Australia taxpayers more than $500 million dollars.

The first year results are now in:

Australia-wide, homicides are up 3.2 percent

Australia-wide, assaults are up 8.6 percent.

Australia-wide, armed robberies are up 44 percent

(yes, 44 percent)!

In the state of Victoria alone, homicides with firearms are now up 300 percent. Note, that while the law-abiding citizens turned them in, the criminals did not, and criminals still possess their guns!)

While figures over the previous 25 years showed a steady decrease in armed robbery with firearms, this has changed drastically upward in the past 12 months, since criminals now are guaranteed that their prey is unarmed. There has also been a dramatic increase in break-ins and assaults of the ELDERLY. Australian politicians are at a loss to explain how public safety has decreased, after such monumental effort, and expense was expended in successfully ridding Australian society of guns. The Australian experience and the other historical facts above prove it.

You won't see this data on the American evening news or hear our president, governors or other politicians disseminating this information.

Guns in the hands of honest citizens save lives and property and, yes, gun-control laws affect only the law-abiding citizens.

Take note my fellow Americans.....before it's too late! The next time someone talks in favor of gun control, please remind them of this history lesson.

With guns, we are 'citizens'.

Without them, we are 'subjects'.

Collins: Why this scientist believes in God

By Dr. Francis Collins

Editor's note: Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., is the director of the National Human Genome Research Institute. His most recent book is "The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief."

ROCKVILLE, Maryland (CNN) -- I am a scientist and a believer, and I find no conflict between those worldviews.

As the director of the Human Genome Project, I have led a consortium of scientists to read out the 3.1 billion letters of the human genome, our own DNA instruction book. As a believer, I see DNA, the information molecule of all living things, as God's language, and the elegance and complexity of our own bodies and the rest of nature as a reflection of God's plan.

I did not always embrace these perspectives. As a graduate student in physical chemistry in the 1970s, I was an atheist, finding no reason to postulate the existence of any truths outside of mathematics, physics and chemistry. But then I went to medical school, and encountered life and death issues at the bedsides of my patients. Challenged by one of those patients, who asked "What do you believe, doctor?", I began searching for answers.

I had to admit that the science I loved so much was powerless to answer questions such as "What is the meaning of life?" "Why am I here?" "Why does mathematics work, anyway?" "If the universe had a beginning, who created it?" "Why are the physical constants in the universe so finely tuned to allow the possibility of complex life forms?" "Why do humans have a moral sense?" "What happens after we die?"

I had always assumed that faith was based on purely emotional and irrational arguments, and was astounded to discover, initially in the writings of the Oxford scholar C.S. Lewis and subsequently from many other sources, that one could build a very strong case for the plausibility of the existence of God on purely rational grounds. My earlier atheist's assertion that "I know there is no God" emerged as the least defensible. As the British writer G.K. Chesterton famously remarked, "Atheism is the most daring of all dogmas, for it is the assertion of a universal negative."

But reason alone cannot prove the existence of God. Faith is reason plus revelation, and the revelation part requires one to think with the spirit as well as with the mind. You have to hear the music, not just read the notes on the page. Ultimately, a leap of faith is required.

For me, that leap came in my 27th year, after a search to learn more about God's character led me to the person of Jesus Christ. Here was a person with remarkably strong historical evidence of his life, who made astounding statements about loving your neighbor, and whose claims about being God's son seemed to demand a decision about whether he was deluded or the real thing. After resisting for nearly two years, I found it impossible to go on living in such a state of uncertainty, and I became a follower of Jesus.

So, some have asked, doesn't your brain explode? Can you both pursue an understanding of how life works using the tools of genetics and molecular biology, and worship a creator God? Aren't evolution and faith in God incompatible? Can a scientist believe in miracles like the resurrection?

Actually, I find no conflict here, and neither apparently do the 40 percent of working scientists who claim to be believers. Yes, evolution by descent from a common ancestor is clearly true. If there was any lingering doubt about the evidence from the fossil record, the study of DNA provides the strongest possible proof of our relatedness to all other living things.

But why couldn't this be God's plan for creation? True, this is incompatible with an ultra-literal interpretation of Genesis, but long before Darwin, there were many thoughtful interpreters like St. Augustine, who found it impossible to be exactly sure what the meaning of that amazing creation story was supposed to be. So attaching oneself to such literal interpretations in the face of compelling scientific evidence pointing to the ancient age of Earth and the relatedness of living things by evolution seems neither wise nor necessary for the believer.

I have found there is a wonderful harmony in the complementary truths of science and faith. The God of the Bible is also the God of the genome. God can be found in the cathedral or in the laboratory. By investigating God's majestic and awesome creation, science can actually be a means of worship.

Democracy or Liberty

This article, or we call it a "column" by Walter E. Williams, professor at George Mason University in Washington, D.C. came out on Wednesday, February 28, 2007. It's interesting to see that DEMOCRACY and LIBERTY are not the same thing:

Does democracy really deserve the praise it receives? According to Webster's Dictionary, democracy is defined as "government by the people; especially: rule of the majority." What's so great about majority rule? Let's look at majority rule, as a decision-making tool, and ask how many of our choices we would like settled by what a majority likes.

Would you want the kind of car that you own to be decided through a democratic process, or would you prefer purchasing any car you please? Ask that same question about decisions such as where you live, what clothes you purchase, what food you eat, what entertainment you enjoy and what wines you drink. I'm sure that if anyone suggested that these choices be subject to a democratic process, you'd deem it tyranny.

I'm not alone in seeing democracy as a variant of tyranny. James Madison, the father of our Constitution, said that in a pure democracy, "there is nothing to check the inducement to sacrifice the weaker party or the obnoxious individual." At the 1787 Constitutional Convention, Edmund Randolph said, "...that in tracing these evils to their origin every man had found it in the turbulence and follies of democracy." John Adams said, "Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There was never a democracy yet that did not commit suicide." Chief Justice John Marshall observed, "Between a balanced republic and a democracy, the difference is like that between order and chaos."

Our founders intended for us to have a limited republican form of government where rights precede government and there is rule of law. Citizens, as well as government officials, are accountable to the same laws. Government intervenes in civil society only to protect its citizens against force and fraud but does not intervene in the cases of peaceable, voluntary exchange. By contrast, in a democracy, the majority rules either directly or through its elected representatives. The law is whatever the government deems it to be. Rights may be granted or taken away.

Clearly, we need government, and that means there must be collective decision-making. Alert to the dangers of majority rule, the Constitution's framers inserted several anti-majority rules. In order to amend the Constitution, it requires a two-thirds vote of both Houses, or two-thirds of state legislatures, to propose an amendment, and requires three-fourths of state legislatures for ratification. Election of the president is not done by a majority popular vote but by the Electoral College.

Part of the reason for having two houses of Congress is that it places an obstacle to majority rule. Fifty-one senators can block the wishes of 435 representatives and 49 senators. The Constitution gives the president a veto to thwart the power of 535 members of Congress. It takes two-thirds of both houses of Congress to override the president's veto.

In Federalist Paper No. 10, James Madison wrote, "Measures are too often decided, not according to the rules of justice and the rights of the minor party, but by the superior force of an interested and overbearing majority." That's another way of saying that one of the primary dangers of majority rule is that it confers an aura of legitimacy and respectability on acts that would otherwise be deemed tyrannical. Liberty and democracy are not synonymous and could actually be opposites.

Dr. Williams serves on the faculty of George Mason University as John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics and is the author of More Liberty Means Less Government: Our Founders Knew This Well.

I Love You ....

Love needs to be EXPRESSED, especially in marriage relationships.

From the newspaper this articles comes from Tokyo:

Aging Japanese husbands struggle to breathe life back into their marriages:

Mitsutoshi Fukatsu has been with his wife for three decades, but their lives have grown apart. As a busy stationmaster in central Japan, he has usually come home only to eat, bathe and sleep.

Now with retirement looming, the 56-year-old wants to get to know his wife better. He started calling her by her name, Setsuko, instead of just grunting. And he says he recently learned a new phrase: "I Love You."

Fukatsu is among a small but growing group of men who took part in Japan's second annual "Beloved Wives Day" last week in hopes of salvaging their marriages by doing something different -- paying attention to their wives.

"For about a year now, I've been starting to help out with the housework," Fukatsu said. "I can't stay at my company forever. I have to return home. But right now, I don't feel like I have a place there."

Last year, the Japan Adoring Husbands Association set itself up and designated January 31 as a day for men to return home at the unusually early hour of 8 p.m., look into their wives' eyes and say, "Thank you."

The movement is small--about 230 people posted messages on the group's Web page about this year's event. But it represents quite a change for a generation of Japanese men taught to care about their companies first and their wives a distant second.

Among the forces driving the change are demographics and money. This year, the first postwar baby boomers will reach 60 and retire, meaning an unprecedented number of men will have to abandon their home-away-from-home -- the all-consuming office -- and spend more time with their wives.

Meanwhile, an impending law change gives a housewife a bigger share of her husband's pension, which could trigger a surge in divorces as long-neglected women take the money and run. (Japan's divorce rate is relatively low but the numjer has increased more than 60% from 1985 to 2005. Divorce among those married for more than 20 years has grown the fastest, nearly doubling since 1985, with separation more likely to be initiated by women. That leaves their ex-husbands to face a lonely old age in a country where the average malelifespan is over 78, one of the world's longest.

Sadao Ito, 67, wishes he had been more sensitive to his wife's feelings. She left him seven years ago, just as he was facing retirement from a busy office job in the northern city of Sendai. Even the couple's daughter and two sons blame him for the breakup, Ito said.

"My wife took care of me so well. She made me breakfast every day, and did all the housework. But I never did anything in return," he said. Ito now acts as a volunteer advisor to the Adoring Husbands Association.

"Repent, repent, repent. That what I do every day," Ito said. "My wife didn't take a single family album with her. I realized then that I had driven her away."

Tsumagoi is marketing itself as a romantic destination for married couples. Last year, it invited couples to an event called "Shout Your Love from the Middle of a Cabbage Patch" -- where husbands took turns hollering romantic messages in Tsumagoi's wide open fields. About 100 people came.

That was where the stationmaster finally told his wife, "Aishiteru" (I love you) -- rehearsing it 20 times.

"I had never told Setsuko I love her -- not like that. But now I want to say it more often...It feels nice," he said.

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!!!

Dear Chinese Friends . . .

You all have been in my thoughts as I've prepared to Celebrate the Chinese New Year with my family. Celebrating Chinese New Year (Spring Festival) in China was a very special experience for Ken and I ... we really learned a lot about Chinese culture AND now I love sharing that with our family, especially the grandchildren. In fact some of our grandchildren celebrate the Chinese New Year in their schools.

Each month I send stories and books to my grandchildren that live in other states to read with their parents -- I call it NANA'S BOOK CLUB. This month I sent them the story of how the 12 Years were Named and a calendar so they could figure out what animal they are. I also sent a few Chinese Folk Stories, some "red couplets" for them to color and cut apart and put on their doors, along with other decorations and New Year's Prints AND a small red envelop with a silver dollar and Chinese treat for each of them.

Tomorrow, February 18th, your New Year's Day will be Sunday. We'll have a special Chinese Family dinner, including Jiao zi (which is Ken/Smiley's favorite Chinese food). Our son, Jason and his family who live with us and our youngest son, Brady, will be here with us.

I plan to read some of our Chinese books to the grandchildren and we'll play MahJong with the adults. We may also watch a video I taped from the TV, an excellent documentary entitled: "China From the Inside".

Since Spring Festival is such a special time for Chinese families, I want to share with you some pictures of some of our family members.

This is our son, K.C., his wife Holly and two little girls Savanah (3) and Allie (1).

K.C.'s family lives in Las Vegas, Nevada. Our daughter, Amy and her family lived there for a couple of years, but now live in Arizona. Amy has three boys and they often return to Las Vegas to visit family and friends. The pictures below were than there a couple of weeks ago when Amy's boys went on a hike with K.C.'s family.

Here's Jack (5), Savanah (4) and Gavin (3) -- they really do LOVE each other and are great cousins!!!!

This picture shows the beautiful desert landscape in the Valley of Fire, near Las Vegas, where they were hiking.

Here are all four of the children. Savanah is hugging her little sister Allie, who is 2 years old now and our youngest grandchild.

Allie, the littlest one, gets a ride from her Dad. Gavin (3) was able to walk the whole way!! These are the kinds of things that our family like to do.

I hope you'll have a wonderful HOLIDAY with your family. I would love to hear from you to know how you celebrated the New Year!

Our best wishes for a WONDERFUL and HAPPY New Year to you and your family.

Love,

Miss Becky