TODAY news - Feb 6, 2003

Thursday, February 6, 2003 TODAY

Other news

LLUSA to host ÔRestoration 2003Õ

The Loma Linda University student association is sponsoring the first annual “Restoration 2003: From Eden to Eternity,” a special event scheduled to begin on Wednesday, February 19, and continue through Friday, March 7.

Restoration 2003 is a series of meetings created by students for students. Speaker for the series will be Peter Gregory, director of IONA Research Center.

Meetings will be held at noon and in the evenings from Tuesday through Friday as well as selected times during the weekend.

All interested individuals are welcome. For more information on the event, please call the student association office at (909) 558-7258. You may also check the web at <www.ionabible.org/restoration2003> for additional details.

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Michael Card to perform at University Church

Michael Card

After 20 years and 20 albums, 4 million records sold, and 19 number one songs, recording artist Michael Card comes to Loma Linda, with a 17-song live concert under the auspices of the Calimesa Community Concert Series.

The popular Nashville Christian gospel singer will appear in concert Saturday, March 1, 7:30 p.m., at the University Church of Seventh-day Adventists in Loma Linda.

The concert will be co- sponsored by the local concert series, the University Church, and KSGN-FM (89.7). This is the sixth in the 2002–2003 concert season, according to Robert Soderblom, MD, of Yucaipa, director of the Calimesa Concert Series.

“ Scribbling in the Sand” is the theme of the two-hour concert in Mr. Card’s first appearance for the concert series.

The theme follows the title of Michael Card’s latest book released last year and published by Intervarsity Press. He has a CD of the same name that features other respected musical guests such as Steve Green and Phil Nash.

Mr. Card first wanted a career in forestry where he would have little contact with people. But while studying for a master’s at Western Kentucky University, Mr. Card was encouraged by a professor to write songs. Thus started a career which includes hundreds of songs and books interspersed with concerts.

“ Scribbling in the Sand” is derived from the account of Jesus’ confrontation with the Pharisees and the woman taken in adultery. Jesus bent over and wrote in the sand while the Pharisees were antagonizing Him.

In addition to his numerous awards and accolades as a songwriter and recording artist, Mr. Card was nominated for the C.S. Lewis Children’s Book Award for his Sleep Sound in Jesus and was nominated for a Gold Medallion Book Award in 2001 for his most recent book, A Violent Grace.

“ This is a wonderful opportunity for residents of the Inland Empire and the Yucaipa Valley areas to personally meet one of the giants of the Christian gospel scene,” says Dr. Soderblom.

Tickets are currently available at several locations including the Christian ABC Bookstore on Barton Road in Loma Linda, and the Berean Christian Bookstore in Colton.

Tickets are available at $12 for front area reserved seating, $10 for general seating, and $6 open seating in the wings. To receive tickets by mail, send a request with remittance to the following with a stamped self-addressed envelope: Concert Series, P.O. Box 647, Calimesa, California 92320. For further information, call (909) 796-4960.

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Drayson Center’s intramurals program continues to grow, sets records

Gerhard Steudel, director of landscape for LLUMC, is partnering with Drayson Center to create a regulation softball diamond at the southeast corner of the superfield. Thanks to connections with the grounds crew for Edison International Field of Anaheim, home of the Anaheim Angels, the infield will be covered with the same mix used at Edison Field.

A growing number of students, staff, faculty, and community members are becoming involved in the intramurals program at Drayson Center, according to intramurals director Ron Cronk.

“ We’ve expanded many of our intramurals to accommodate more teams,” he says. “But we’re quickly reaching a point of filling up the available time slots in many of the sports because of the facilities.”

Mr. Cronk advises those interested in forming teams for the intramural leagues to sign up early.

“ We’re even constructing a regulation softball field to encourage greater participation in that sport,” Mr. Cronk continues.

The new softball field is slated to be completed in time for spring quarter intramurals. Loma Linda University Medical Center landscape crew members, headed by Gerhard Steudel, director of landscape, Loma Linda University Medical Center, are working hard to construct the field.

Utilizing his working relationship with the grounds crew of Edison International Field of Anaheim, home of the world champion Angels baseball team, Mr. Steudel has secured and will use the same infield mix enjoyed by the Anaheim Angels.

“ Gerhard has taken a personal interest in helping to make our new softball field a reality,” Mr. Cronk informs. “It is truly a team effort.”

In addition to intramural softball leagues, the Drayson Center administration hopes to be able to accommodate outside organizations and events, such as tournaments, church groups, or corporate/business groups.

Men’s and co-ed softball leagues will be organizing soon. Those interested in forming or joining a team may call Ron Cronk or Edwin Jones (contact numbers are included at the end of this article).

“ We added co-ed softball this past fall quarter for the first time,” explains Mr. Cronk. “In the past, we’ve only offered softball leagues during spring quarter.”

Members of the winning women’s volleyball team for fall quarter 2002 pose for a photo shortly after their championship game. Volleyball leagues are now offered both in the fall and winter quarters due to the number of teams wanting to play.

The co-ed leagues have experienced the largest growth. During the current winter quarter, 46 men’s basketball teams are involved in divisions I and II, and the women’s league has eight teams. Co-ed soccer intramurals have reached an all-time record at 14 teams.

Due to phenomenal growth in the volleyball intramurals program, Drayson Center began offering both fall and winter leagues—with men’s, women’s, and co-ed leagues in the fall, and co-ed leagues in the winter. The 2003 winter quarter co-ed volleyball league currently has 10 participating teams.

For the 2003 spring quarter, intramurals venues will include men’s and co-ed softball leagues, a floor hockey league at Gentry Gym, co-ed innertube water polo at Drayson Center pool, a 35 and over men’s basketball league, and a short soccer league which consists of a downsized field and eight players per team.

“ We hope to offer beach volleyball leagues this spring,” Mr. Cronk submits. “The construction of two sand volleyball courts has been approved by the University.”

Mr. Cronk emphasizes the point that intramurals are planned based on current and previous interest shown, and can possibly be modified or expanded, based on a variety of factors. “For instance, if enough teams are interested in starting a women’s league—let’s say, in floor hockey or softball—it would just be a matter of organizing those leagues,” he clarifies.

For information about taking part in the intramurals program, please call (909) 558-1000, option 2, and dial extension 43357 for Ron Cronk or 82268 for Edwin Jones.

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Hummingbird provides life lesson on New Year’s Day

A tree outside the Medical Center houses the hummingbird nest.

For days after Christmas, Rosie Lara, well known for her outstanding service at the information desks, noticed guests and patients peering out of the window just across the way from her perch at the Medical Center’s lobby desk. Without fail, every day she would watch as two, sometimes three people stood staring out the window, periodically pointing at something and breaking their hush with excited smiles and oohs and ahhs of joy. Needless to say, all this attention to the window perked Ms. Lara’s curiosity.

“ I just wondered what everyone was looking at,” recalls Ms. Lara. “I wanted to find out what was causing people to stop there at the window.”

So on New Year’s Day, during the quietness Ms. Lara’s morning shift, she finally had an opportunity to go look for herself. Looking out the window all she could see was a bush. Nothing out of the ordinary, just one of the hybiscas planted near the entrance. But upon closer examination, she found something.

“ It was a little nest, no larger than a child’s teacup,” smiles Ms. Lara. “It was set on a branch, between two twigs going out like so,” she says as she illustrates the branch’s shape on a piece of paper. It looked abandoned and so small, she decided to take the nest home to show her nieces and nephews, who she knew would enjoy seeing such a small nest.

The lull in visitors that New Year’s morning gave Ms. Lara a chance to go outside and procure her prize. She clipped the branch holding the nest near to the main stem of the bush. She tip-toed back away from the bush, barely grasping the branch by the cut-end so as to not disturb the nest. As she was leaving the foliage, she heard a buzzing sound, nothing more than a slight hum. A flit and a quick glimpse later and she recognized what she had done.

“ I was so upset for breaking the nest away from the hummingbird,” Ms. Lara remembers ruefully. “How could I have done such a thing?”

Ms. Lara decided to place the nest back after she realized it wasn’t abandoned. Gingerly she set the cut branch to rest on top of another branch of similar shape. There was nothing else she could do, so she went back to her position at the information desk, hoping the hummingbird would take to its nest again.

“ It suddenly dawned on me as I was sitting there reflecting on the situation that it resembled our relationship with God,” Ms. Lara remarks. “How often do we break away from God’s protective nest of love and compassion? Yet, He never withdraws from us. The hummingbird returned to its resting place, cradled by the second branch. Just as God forever cradles us in His hands, a poignant reminder that God welcomes us back into His grace even if we’ve broken away.

“ I was all alone, and it just hit me at that moment,” Ms. Lara continues. “I was tearing up because it was so simple and beautiful. It was just something I thought I should share.”

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Thursday, February 6, 2003 TODAY