According to Stanford.edu, “What is protein folding and how is folding linked to disease? Proteins are biology’s workhorses — its “nanomachines.” Before proteins can carry out these important functions, they assemble themselves, or “fold.” The process of protein folding, while critical and fundamental to virtually all of biology, in many ways remains a mystery. Moreover, when proteins do not fold correctly (i.e. ‘misfold’), there can be serious consequences, including many well known diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, Mad Cow (BSE), CJD, ALS, Huntington’s, Parkinson’s disease, and many Cancers and cancer-related syndromes.”

They have develped a computer program that runs on your computer. When you’re not using your computer, the program downloads proteins, studies them, and sends the results back to Stanford. Here’s how to do it:

Windows users, download this! Still stuck with Windows 98 or ME? use this one instead! Linux users, use this program.

Download it to your desktop, or another location where you won’t forget to run it everyday! Run it. Enter 12912 as your team number and linuxChique as your username (if you don’t want to create a new one). Then agree to everything else it asks you. Let it do it’s thing! You’ll be working toward a cure for cancer and other genetic terminal illnesses!

To make this program start automatically when you boot windows, go to Start menu -> [all] Programs -> Startup submenu. Then just make a shortcut from the Folding@Home****.exe file into that menu.

Linux users, just add it to your /etc/rc.d/rc.local!

The longer the program runs, the more good you are doing! You can let it go for days at a time. This program runs on my computer constantly, and I’ve completedly 2 work units already. Thank you for listening, and please let me know if you actually do this!

Here’s my progress so far:

There have been several times when I have been positive of God’s presence and that he was personally speaking to me. On each occasion, it was personally moving but didn’t seem to be of interest to others. Because I thought that, I don’t know if I’ve mentioned any of them to many people, even those close to me. Here are a few:

When I was in middle school, I had a strong personal interest in spiritual things that lead me to take a class that ended in Baptism. I felt God throughout the learning process, but certainly on the day of baptism. I rarely use this as an example, probably because it seems so mainstream. I expect others to yawn and think “of course he thinks he felt God when he was around a bunch of folk leading him towards baptism”. Regardless of whether people think that, for me, it was real. The most important aspect about this first close experience was that I read and talked to lots of people about it but I felt God’s acceptance as I internally dedicated myself to His purposes.

Since then, I have fallen away and come back several times being pre-occupied with my own interests and desires.

I had a similar experience since I met Erin. Again, the timing wasn’t unique, the ground did not shake, and no angels appeared. Nonetheless, I am certain that God was with me. I was talking to God quietly in prayer. In particular, just as before, I dedicated myself to Him, telling him that it was my desire to have His will be done, not mine. At that moment, I could feel is presence throughout me. I was much more aware of his presence than where I was or who was around. For whatever reason, I was brought to tears (from being overwelmed, I assume) and told Erin what happened, but no one else.

God also has interacted with my life. I’m sure there are lots of times that I think of right now but a few come to my mind. First, anyone who knows me knows how much I love Seiko. We were really upset last year when the doctor found the tumor that didn’t look good on her leg. Because of the type of tumor it was, the doc said it wouldn’t go away and that he’d need to take it off. We scheduled surgery for a week later. By the time of the surgery, we had posted it to this blog and did lots of praying on our own. The tumor shrunk into almost nothing and the vet said to leave it alone. It has since then completely disappeared! I was reluctant to proclaim it for fear of sounding crazy, but I am positive that God healed it. Whether it makes me seem crazy or not, I’ll let you think I’m crazy since God gave me more time with Seiko. My last experience that I want to share is just our most recent experience. When Tru got her erythema multiforme that turned her swollen, red, and itchy, we researched it online. We researched it enough to know two things (1) it could be dangerous, even fatal (5-10% chance had it gotten any worse) (2) it takes a long time to heal (3-6 weeks). Thanks to God listening to all of our prayers, she not only got better but healed in just a week!

I mentioned a few specifics. I am convinced that God has worked in our lives in lots of other ways, many that we didn’t even know. I’d guess that sometimes we’d think of His blessings as bad things because we wouldn’t know His reasons. For instance, there may have been opportunities that we missed by having Tru so early. These “opportunities” may have caused us to leave Huntsville, spend money, or do anything that might through us off course from God’s plan. I do not know what God’s use for us is yet, but hopefully that makes sense.

I’m not sure why I was motivated to post this blog entry. I had an overwhelming urge to post this but I don’t know why. I’ve got lots of people and relationships that I pray for. At the moment, I think often of a family member of mine who has recent health concerns. I know he believes in God and I don’t feel like I have anything unique to offer him, but still, I wonder if something with that situation is why I should be posting. I have numerous friends who I pray for. I have some friends who do not claim any sort of faith and I worry about their souls. Others claim to be Christian but they don’t go to church or mention God. I always think about how the Bible says “take the log out of your own eye before pointing out a splinter in someone elses” before I say anything. At a minimum, I welcome anyone to come to church with us, come over for a meal and discuss things, or especially, to point out any splinters that I might have. I don’t know if it is to open a dialog with one of them, to open a dialog with a random visitor that I don’t yet know, or for no reason at all.

I thank God for all of you willing to take the time to check out our “goings on.” I pray for you all and hope that you listen for anything God might say to you. Come over or call and talk about it if you like. If we can do anything, let us know. Give to those less fortunate (www.compassion.com). Also, know that God is in control. He has a plan for your life. Trust in Him, and all will go according to plan… His plan.

Right click on the link and choose “save as.”

Sermon 1: In the Name of Jesus

[ audio | sermon outline ]

Sermon 2: In the Name of Jesus II

[ audio | sermon outline ]

Michael and Erin (and Tru)

Erin