My name is Matthew Lightner. My wife of five years and I have been working for the last year to become foster parents. We have completed all the classes and now are working on our new house to get it to code. We desided to get into foster care about three years ago after meeting several children that were in need of a home. We instantly thought of the extra room we had and knew this was something we could do. With so many children out there that need help I hope this gets people to open their homes and their hearts.  Hopefully in a few months we can make a difference in a little person’s life for the better!

They say it’s a mile around and I did four loops, so that took care of my daily walk and then some. My sister just rescued two older dogs (6 and 7) from a shelter. They love each other. They’d been cooped up for a while and are in need of exercise. The female especially (7 years old) is a little pudgy. On Sunday, we took them to the park to walk them on their new leashes and collars. They charged out of the car like wild animals, but about 3/4 of the way around the front part of the park, both of them were panting and the female decided to lie down and rest. It started to rain so I took them to a shelter and waited while my sister ran to get the car. It was really coming down by the time we ran across the grass to scramble into the car. When I got home, my shoes and pants looked like I’d been rolling around on the ground. It was a great birthday weekend.

Hi friends, last week I saw a Tamil film called “Nadodigal”. This is the film which tells about all the sides of friendship. If we want to tell the whole story in one line that will be “Friend of my friend is friend of me also”. This is the one line story of this film. The story itself is highly hypothetical, artificial and does not stick in our minds. The way the screenplay is done with artificial humor (which just irritates) and half-hearted song sequences does not do good for the overall film. However character depiction has been good. In particular Kanja Karuppu in his usual ways and all the friends except for Sivakumar do justice to their roles. Director Sivakumar has disappointed as an actor, in my view. The role has been tailor made for him, considering the role in his previous film, but he has nothing much to offer.

Today is a mixed bag, since I have a migraine and my medication is controlling it but not getting rid of it. But on the plus side, this was my day to visit the men’s state prison. About once a month it is my turn to lead the small chapel service there. I always feel fulfilled, as if I have been in the right place at the right time, when I make these visits. The inmates who attend services are usually those who are using their punishment time to better themselves; I find them very thoughtful and therefore fascinating to meet. The service also has a very rich meaning for me as well as for them in this context. Meanwhile, my best friend from years ago is arriving in town tonight and we will get to spend lots of time together later in the weekend. This will be our first visit in several years so I am quite excited.