Good News From Mary April 9, 2009

"Miracle" Baby Survives Off Life Support

A heart transplant between two baby girls in Canada had to be scrapped because of the seemingly miraculous improvement in one of the infants' health.

Kaylee Wallace, 2 months, suffers from a rare condition called Joubert Syndrome, a brain malformation that affects motor functions and the ability to breathe. Knowing their child would soon die, her parents decided to donate her heart to another little girl in need.

But when they took her off life support, reports CBS News correspondent Randall Pinkston, Wallace continued to breathe on her own, despite warnings from doctors that she would not be able to survive without the help of a respirator.

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The Intensity of Christ's Love and the Intentionality of His Death

The love of Christ for us in his dying was as conscious as his suffering was intentional. "By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us" (1 John 3:16). If he was intentional in laying down his life, it was for us. It was love. "When Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end" (John 13:1). Every step on the Calvary road meant, "I love you."

Therefore, to feel the love of Christ in the laying down of his life, it helps to see how utterly intentional it was. Consider these five ways of seeing Christ's intentionality in dying for us.

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For disabled, video games can be a lifesaver

Nissa Ludwig used to be musician and a dancer and a performer. But ever since a progressive metabolic disorder rendered her wheelchair-bound, “Rock Band” is as close as she gets to the stage.

“It’s a place where you don’t lose your social skills,” says Ludwig, a top-ranked bass player in “Rock Band.” “I have the opportunity to be a human being and not be judged by what I look like.”

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As the bird turns: Scientists figuring out flight

For millennia, people have watched the birds and bees and wondered: "How do they do that?" Thanks to high-speed film and some persistent scientists, at least one of the secrets of flight is now revealed. When birds, bats or bugs make a turn, all they have to do is start flapping their wings normally again and they straighten right out.

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Travel essentials you can find at your drugstore

On a recent trip to my local drugstore, I discovered that high-priced travel specialty shops aren't always the best places to find must-pack travel products.

Drugstores offer a wealth of multi-use items that are affordable, practical and carry-on compliant, from toiletries to tasty snacks. Here's my list of the top things you should pack on your travels, plucked from the shelves of a simple drugstore — print this out and bring it on your next shopping excursion.

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Thursday, April 9, 2009 Good News Now Stories

Health care workers urge Obama not to rescind conscience rights

"Dr. John T. Bruchalski would rather close the doors of his highly successful Fairfax, Va., medical practice than violate his conscience if he is forced to offer services that violate the basic tenets of his Catholic faith.

A pro-life obstetrician and gynecologist whose Tepeyac Family Center delivered 629 babies in 2008, Bruchalski is concerned that a Department of Health and Human Services proposal to rescind a conscience protection regulation for health care workers would force him to perform abortions or, at the very least, refer patients to physicians who offer the procedure."

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Making Kosher a Little More Convenient

"BACK when the rules of Orthodox Judaism were set forth — that no work should be done on the Sabbath, from Friday evening until Saturday evening — no thought was given to the number of dirty dishes that would pile up in Howard and Elaine Alt’s kitchen over the weekend.

The Alts, who live in Teaneck, N.J., typically have nine people for Friday night dinner, an elaborate meal that includes homemade chicken soup with matzo balls, and 15 or 16 for lunch on Saturday, when the family digs into roast chicken or beef as well as vegetables. But the Alts never turn on the hot water or even use a sponge during the Sabbath, so the mess at the end can be pretty big."

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Tropical Forest Seed Banks: A Blast From The Past


"Seeds of some tree species in the Panamanian tropical forest can survive for more than 30 years before germinating. That is 10 times longer than most field botanists had believed."

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How Green Is Your Gadget?

"The idea started with organic beer. In recent years Scot Case had noticed an explosion in green advertising claims on everything from electronics to, yes, alcohol. So as vice president of the consulting firm TerraChoice Environmental Marketing, he dispatched researchers to investigate whether company claims were verifiable. The result: Only one of roughly 1,000 products examined in 2007 passed muster. 'How am I, as a consumer, to know what's accurate?' asks Case."

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Easter Blessing Eggs

"Make these colorful Easter Blessing Eggs with your kids as a reminder of God's blessings and his promise of eternal life."

Click here to read how to make these eggs.

Shot of the Day for April 7, 2009

HE IS RISEN!!!

By Flickr Member Jim Vail Photos

Good News From Mary April 8, 2009

Make the Easter Message Come Alive for Your Kids

For 3 ½ years I’ve opened my home to 6 very special girls. I call them my Balcony Girls, and each time we meet, the girls learn a life lesson. In honor of Holy Week, I want to give you a very simple, easy, valuable lesson that you can share with children to help them prepare for Easter! I believe this lesson encompasses the most important lesson that our children will ever learn. It goes like this:

Discuss Love and Betrayal

Your friend, who you’ve known and trusted for years, has betrayed you. You are shocked and cannot believe it has happened. The daggers go deep into your heart and it really hurts. Betrayal separates, divides and causes strife. It’s very painful when a friend betrays you. It hurts even worse when it is someone whom you consider to be a best friend!

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"Brown fat" may help adults lose weight

A sparse form of fat that helps keep newborns warm is more common in adults than previously thought and that discovery that could lead to a new way to lose weight, researchers said on Wednesday.

Once activated by cold temperatures, so-called brown fat burns calories faster than regular fat. It is normally so dormant in adults that there has been debate over how much adults have or whether they have it at all.

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Test 'sheds light on back pain'

A simple technique could help doctors differentiate between patients with different causes of back pain and thus improve treatment, a study suggests.

Researchers writing in PLoS Medicine have devised "bedside" tests which distinguish between neuropathic - nerve damage - and other causes of pain.

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Tapping Business Skills That Already Exist

Entrepreneurial impulses can be stirred to life by the most unexpected influences.

In Donna Young’s case, it was culture shock. Ms. Young grew up on the sparsely populated Andros Island in the Bahamas with 10 siblings and had long pursued a professional career. But after she married Larry Young, an architect, and moved to Epping, N.H., in 2003, she struggled to adjust to New England’s taciturn ways. “I was the only black woman in my work place,” she said. “A lot of the time, I felt I didn’t fit in. I felt I had to be best at everything I did.”

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Making the grade

With the end of the recession nowhere in sight, starting out at an inexpensive community college or state school and transferring to a more prestigious but costlier institution after a year or two takes on new appeal as a way to save thousands of dollars.

But any anticipated savings can evaporate quickly when students make some common and costly transfer mistakes.

"Transferring between schools can be a great way to save money, but you have to do some investigation and preparation to make it work," said Susan Weir, an assistant vice-provost at the University of South Carolina and author of Transitions: A Guide For the Transfer Student.

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Wednesday, April 8,2009 Good News Now Stories

Parents hope others learn from child's death

"For John and Tammy Sand, nothing will replace their young daughter, but the couple is determined the accident that took her life won’t happen to anyone else."

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Cognitive Therapy May Ease Seniors' Anxiety

"Cognitive behavior therapy may help older adults deal with anxiety.

Generalized anxiety disorder is common among seniors. Cognitive behavioral therapy focuses on changing a person's way of thinking in order to change their behavior or emotions."

Click here to read more about this study.


Sports Fan Outreach makes plans for Derby weekend

"Sports Fan Outreach International (SFOI) uses 'Derby weekend' as an opportunity for evangelism. When the FEI World Equestrian Games visit downtown Louisville next year, SFOI hopes to use that opportunity for outreach as well. "

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The Flip Side of Giving

"There’s a saying of Jesus—reportedly more than two thousand years old—that goes like this: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' But in our time, many in our society seem to be ruled by a contradictory principle: 'Receiving is all that matters.'

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Shot of the Day for April 7, 2009

Behold the Beauty of the LORD

By Flickr Member Only By Grace

Good News From Mary April 7, 2009

Three-tiered iTunes pricing due Tuesday

Apple and major music labels are hoping that the launch of three-tier pricing at the iTunes Music Store will boost music sales with a new mix of song-based packages and give consumers more options.

Apple will announce its new three-tier price points at 69 cents, 99 cents and $1.29 on Tuesday, according to several people familiar with its plans. Since opening in 2003 all songs in the iTunes store have been priced at 99 cents.

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Blood sugar can be anyone's problem

The average American consumes more than a pound of refined sugar a week. It sounds unbelievable until you realize that sugar goes by more than 50 names and is an ingredient in virtually all processed foods, from your morning doughnut to the ketchup on your burger.

Eat it (along with excess fat and calories), sit around, and you'll gain weight.

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Affordable Fun on South Florida’s Gold Coast

IN the battle of fish versus pelican, our money was on the fish. Not that the plump, yellow-tailed amberjack was still alive, mind you. The catch was an angler’s reject — not particularly good eating, in other words — but it looked like a decent lunch to the pelican that spotted it along the pier.

The only problem? The bird hadn’t quite figured out how to wrap its mouth around its extra-wide find, resulting in a comical scene. My 10-year-old daughter, Emma, stood firmly in place, capturing it all on the family camera.

Such was the kind of cheap entertainment that abounded during a recent weekend family trip to the beach communities north of Fort Lauderdale and south of Boca Raton along the Gold Coast of South Florida. By most definitions, these oceanside towns — Deerfield Beach, Hillsboro Beach, Pompano Beach and Lauderdale-by-the-Sea — hardly qualify as destinations unto themselves. They are best suited to families (or retirees) who like the lost-in-time way of life they represent.

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Habits can be broken, but not forgotten

Maybe you chew your fingernails when you're nervous. Or scarf down chocolate when you're sad. Or take home a stray kitty whenever you see one, until the SPCA has to come rescue them all and have you arrested for being a hoarder.

Chances are, you have a few habits you wish you didn't have, and quite possibly you've tried (and tried and tried) to break them. Scientists are learning why you may have failed (and failed and failed). In fact, they now know that once you have a habit, you can never really unlearn it.

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When Clean Dishes Means Smuggling Detergent

Lisa Brewer doesn't consider herself a criminal and she really wants to help the environment -- even biking to work -- but she also wants clean dishes.

That's why later this week, the Spokane, Wash., resident plans to cross into Idaho and smuggle back some dishwasher detergent.

She's not alone.

Spokane County has banned the use of most common detergents because of the effect they have on area rivers and lakes. The problem is, the detergents now sold instead just don't seem to do the job.

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