A lot of life has been lived since my last post. God is faithful to keep life hard enough that we must depend on Him while not overwhelming us. Last Thursday Ben had a minor outpatient surgery to correct a hereditary birth defect. The surgery went quite well. Being parents we were somewhat concerned about the anesthesia as well as the fact that our 1 1/2 year old son was in surgery. However, God graciously granted smooth sailing through this minor stint of rough waters. Little did we know that the surgery was the easy part!
Sunday Bek and I were required to remove the bandages covering the wound. The doctor gave very specific instructions, assuring us that said instructions would aid the bandage removal. While he was right, he forgot to emphasize Ben's protest to such a procedure! I learned a couple of things over the course of that hour.
First of all, for 1 1/2 years old, my son is quite strong! It literally took both of my arms to subdue his arms and legs! I am quite impressed with the fight his little body put up!
Second, and most importantly, I learned a little bit more about how great our God is. Removing those bandages was painful for Ben. Hurting my son was a very difficult thing to do. Bek was actually crying during and after this process. It is a difficult thing to look your infant son in the eyes as you are holding him down so his mother can do something that is painful. While I knew I was hurting him, I knew it was for his good. What I was doing was painful in the moment, but would bring more enjoyment to his life in the future. If I stop at this point in the lesson, we would all recognize the importance; yet the true significance would be lost. The point of the account is that I caused my son pain for his own good. Taking this principle back to its Source provides some eye-opening truths.
Scripture records some interesting accounts of this principle. For instance, Psalm 119:75 clearly states that the Lord afflicts in faithfulness. Some other passages that reiterate God's sovereign control behind all things good or bad are Psalm 119:67, 71; Deuteronomy 32:39; Isaiah 45:7; and Lamentations 3:37-38. While this is encouraging, does it really teach us that God knows what it is like to inflict pain on His own children? I mean we are His creation, but it seems as though we are a bit further from Him than His own Son. As His providence would dictate, there are passages that give some light upon God's feelings towards the suffering of His Son. Take for instance Isaiah 53:4 which teaches us that Christ was 'smitten of God.' Isaiah 53:10 reiterates this point, emphasizing that 'the Lord was pleased to crush Him.' I don't think God was completely joyful while Christ suffered and died. Matthew 27:45-54 describes some of the circumstances surrounding Christ's death. There was darkness. The earth shook and rocks were split. Bodies were raised to life. The veil was torn. It seems as though some of these things were not the result of the Father rejoicing over the Son's death. Even the Son's very death was the penalty for sin; sin which enrages the Father. While Christ's death did please His Father, it seems as though there was some divine grief over this murder of Deity. Yet the Father planned this for His glory and therefore for our good!
As I sat through two sermons on Sunday morning, I wrestled with this question: "Do I love my own son enough to do what is best for Him even though it may hurt him?" I came to the conclusion that I did not. I prayed asking the Lord to help my wife and I do what was best for our son. Praise God that He answers prayer! When we rely on Him, He provides! To His glory, He provided the love necessary to do what was best for our son! This episode in our life is just an example of how God did what was best for His Son. Christ's death and resurrection brought Him the most glory - and the most glory is what is best for His Son! In His providence, Christ's glory brings us life! What a mighty God we serve!
3.21.2007
Signs and Sovereignty of God
Well, I typically don't blog except for Mondays. However, this morning's events have been so exceptional that I will take exception to that guideline for the purpose of bringing glory to God. Anyone thinking this post has to do with 'sign gifts' will be moderately disappointed.
Tomorrow there is a 'Science Fair' at school. As part of the decoration for this event it is my job to hang the 'Science Fair' sign above the stage. I received the request last week and have been mulling the process over in my head for a few days. It is a blue canvass sign about 10-12 feet long and probably 2 feet high. I wanted to suspend it above the stage, displaying its contents for everyone who walked into the gym. I figured I would use the scissor lift to hang some cables and then attach the sign. It seemed simple enough. I figured it would take about an hour. After having charged the lift, I was ready to go!
Well, as soon as I set the lift in motion, some sparks flew out of the battery cabinet and I lost all power on the lift. The problem this poses is almost insurmountable. The points from which I would hang the cables were close to 20 feet above the floor! Now I would have to use a ladder. The ladder I wanted to use only reaches about 17 feet high. I knew this would be a major challenge, but this sign needed to be hung. So, I carried the ladder down to the gym and began work. As I hung the cables, it quickly became evident that they were too long. The sign would have hung too low. I went with the shorter cables. If I had the scissor lift to work off of, they would have been close to perfect. However, using the ladder was going to make this too hard for one man. After trying another variation with the cables, I pretty much gave up that idea. Because I had a prior engagement last night and needed to get home, I decided to come in early and hang the sign with twine. While this is not the most professional way to hang our sign, it seemed like the best option given the circumstances.
As I drove in this morning, my mind volleyed back and forth between prayer and the procedure I was going to apply. As I parked the van, I just stopped and prayed something to the effect of: "Lord, you have shown me in the last 12 hours how incapable and inept I am. Please help me to hang this sign as safely, quickly, and accurately as possible. I cannot do it alone as You proved yesterday. Please help me do it." Having completed my prayer, I went to work. I had a lot of the materials pre-staged so I began by cutting the twine to a length I thought would work. After attaching the twine to the four corners of the sign, I ascended the ladder. After inserting the twine through the eye bolt and pulling the twine to the length I thought was appropriate, I descended the ladder to hand the other side. I figured I would have to move back and forth between these two sides in order to center the banner over the stage. Having stationed the ladder below the second eye bolt, I ascended the ladder, threading the twine through the bolt. At this point I was able to raise the sign to the desired height, hoping that it was centered and level. I tied off the twine and descended the ladder, walking toward center court to check. What happened next was unbelievable, and a true testimony to our Lord.
The sign was almost dead center! The sign was level! There are 10 rivets in the top of the sign. The center of the banner would hang over the half court line. To my amazement the sign was hanging dead center! I mean if it was off, it was only off by less than an inch in either direction! It was so centered that I could not tell if it was off-centered! Not only that, but the sign was level! It looked perfectly level to me! I was awestruck at this! If you have never hung a sign before, you may not realize that there is a bit of an art to it. It is not just as simple as tying some rope to the end of the sign. You have to make sure it is hung so that the sign is flat, level, and centered. Now, this sign does have a wrinkle through it because I could not reach a point high enough to compensate for that. However, it is centered and level!
Now, the point is that God is sovereign over signs and that He answers what seem to be petty prayers! The Lord is concerned with every detail of life, no matter how minute! What seems to be trivial to us, can bring God glory and strengthen our faith! If I can bring such a small request to God and He will answer it, imagine what He will do with requests of a spiritual nature, providing it is in accordance with His will! Ponder for a moment, the glory God receives when we pray consistently and continually! Let your cogitation become a continual prayer throughout the day. Make constant communication with God your way of thinking. After all, He knows our hearts and our thoughts. We may as well think as though we are talking with God; not taking for granted this infinite privilege nor minimizing the prayer itself. Rather, let us pray continually, constantly depending on Christ for all our solutions. God is concerned with anything that brings Him glory. If that is as simple as twine and signs, then we should seek His will in it so that He will receive all of the glory He deserves!
Tomorrow there is a 'Science Fair' at school. As part of the decoration for this event it is my job to hang the 'Science Fair' sign above the stage. I received the request last week and have been mulling the process over in my head for a few days. It is a blue canvass sign about 10-12 feet long and probably 2 feet high. I wanted to suspend it above the stage, displaying its contents for everyone who walked into the gym. I figured I would use the scissor lift to hang some cables and then attach the sign. It seemed simple enough. I figured it would take about an hour. After having charged the lift, I was ready to go!
Well, as soon as I set the lift in motion, some sparks flew out of the battery cabinet and I lost all power on the lift. The problem this poses is almost insurmountable. The points from which I would hang the cables were close to 20 feet above the floor! Now I would have to use a ladder. The ladder I wanted to use only reaches about 17 feet high. I knew this would be a major challenge, but this sign needed to be hung. So, I carried the ladder down to the gym and began work. As I hung the cables, it quickly became evident that they were too long. The sign would have hung too low. I went with the shorter cables. If I had the scissor lift to work off of, they would have been close to perfect. However, using the ladder was going to make this too hard for one man. After trying another variation with the cables, I pretty much gave up that idea. Because I had a prior engagement last night and needed to get home, I decided to come in early and hang the sign with twine. While this is not the most professional way to hang our sign, it seemed like the best option given the circumstances.
As I drove in this morning, my mind volleyed back and forth between prayer and the procedure I was going to apply. As I parked the van, I just stopped and prayed something to the effect of: "Lord, you have shown me in the last 12 hours how incapable and inept I am. Please help me to hang this sign as safely, quickly, and accurately as possible. I cannot do it alone as You proved yesterday. Please help me do it." Having completed my prayer, I went to work. I had a lot of the materials pre-staged so I began by cutting the twine to a length I thought would work. After attaching the twine to the four corners of the sign, I ascended the ladder. After inserting the twine through the eye bolt and pulling the twine to the length I thought was appropriate, I descended the ladder to hand the other side. I figured I would have to move back and forth between these two sides in order to center the banner over the stage. Having stationed the ladder below the second eye bolt, I ascended the ladder, threading the twine through the bolt. At this point I was able to raise the sign to the desired height, hoping that it was centered and level. I tied off the twine and descended the ladder, walking toward center court to check. What happened next was unbelievable, and a true testimony to our Lord.
The sign was almost dead center! The sign was level! There are 10 rivets in the top of the sign. The center of the banner would hang over the half court line. To my amazement the sign was hanging dead center! I mean if it was off, it was only off by less than an inch in either direction! It was so centered that I could not tell if it was off-centered! Not only that, but the sign was level! It looked perfectly level to me! I was awestruck at this! If you have never hung a sign before, you may not realize that there is a bit of an art to it. It is not just as simple as tying some rope to the end of the sign. You have to make sure it is hung so that the sign is flat, level, and centered. Now, this sign does have a wrinkle through it because I could not reach a point high enough to compensate for that. However, it is centered and level!
Now, the point is that God is sovereign over signs and that He answers what seem to be petty prayers! The Lord is concerned with every detail of life, no matter how minute! What seems to be trivial to us, can bring God glory and strengthen our faith! If I can bring such a small request to God and He will answer it, imagine what He will do with requests of a spiritual nature, providing it is in accordance with His will! Ponder for a moment, the glory God receives when we pray consistently and continually! Let your cogitation become a continual prayer throughout the day. Make constant communication with God your way of thinking. After all, He knows our hearts and our thoughts. We may as well think as though we are talking with God; not taking for granted this infinite privilege nor minimizing the prayer itself. Rather, let us pray continually, constantly depending on Christ for all our solutions. God is concerned with anything that brings Him glory. If that is as simple as twine and signs, then we should seek His will in it so that He will receive all of the glory He deserves!
3.19.2007
Complaining and the Sovereignty of God
As I was working last week, I found myself complaining. As I continued to think about my complaining, the Lord reminded me of Philippians 2:14-15 where He commands us through Paul not grumble or dispute. Grumbling means 'an emotional rejection of God's providence.' (Thank you, John MacArthur) So, my complaining was essentially directed toward God's Sovereign plan. According to James 1:2-4 He had provided a trial. During this trial I should have joyfully thanked God for the opportunity to trust Him during something I did not like or want to do. Instead, I complained. Although I was only thinking the complaint to myself, the Lord knows my heart. I am convinced He was grieved at this sin. It is simply another example of unbelief.
As I continued my reading through the Pentateuch last week, the plan took me through Deuteronomy 6. I love this chapter! It is one of the most convicting chapters I have ever read. It scares the fear of God into me! Moses repeats over and over that God's commands and statutes are to be taught from one generation to the next. Moses taught one generation who taught their children, who taught their children, etc. The problem is that the Lord's commands and statutes were not taught as time progressed. Someone did not communicate God's standard, God's exact truth, God's requirement for righteousness.
Maybe you are thinking, "So, what! Christ died for us. It is different now." Well, first, the word of the Lord will never pass away. So, we still must teach God's word. Second, I am responsible to teach my children! I am responsible to teach my children to love the Lord with all their heart! That is pretty scary. If you have ever tried to teach someone anything, you will know that this is not simple. If that were not sufficient to drive me to my knees, I am also responsible to teach my children why they need to teach their children God's word! Therefore, the lives of my grandchildren are on the line. If I do not uphold God's word in my generation, teaching it to my children of the next generation, they will not be able to teach their children to obey God's word.
So what does this have to do with complaining? Well, if I am sinning when no one else is around, not trusting in God's Sovereignty over my work, I will probably do the same when I am at home with my family. I will then be teaching my children to disobey God's word rather than teaching them to obey God's word! I will be teaching them unbelief! The burden this brings is crippling! Regardless of my previous ancestry, my descendants are depending heavily on how I raise and teach my children. God's glory is at stake!
I cannot describe how heavy this burden is. Seriously, it impacts my breathing. Praise God it is heavy enough to drive us to our knees. Let us not resist praying for God's grace in teaching our children and this generation. It is Christ's Great Commission. It is God's command to us. It is for His glory. We need to seek His help to achieve His goals His way. Let us pray as if God's glory depended on it!
As I continued my reading through the Pentateuch last week, the plan took me through Deuteronomy 6. I love this chapter! It is one of the most convicting chapters I have ever read. It scares the fear of God into me! Moses repeats over and over that God's commands and statutes are to be taught from one generation to the next. Moses taught one generation who taught their children, who taught their children, etc. The problem is that the Lord's commands and statutes were not taught as time progressed. Someone did not communicate God's standard, God's exact truth, God's requirement for righteousness.
Maybe you are thinking, "So, what! Christ died for us. It is different now." Well, first, the word of the Lord will never pass away. So, we still must teach God's word. Second, I am responsible to teach my children! I am responsible to teach my children to love the Lord with all their heart! That is pretty scary. If you have ever tried to teach someone anything, you will know that this is not simple. If that were not sufficient to drive me to my knees, I am also responsible to teach my children why they need to teach their children God's word! Therefore, the lives of my grandchildren are on the line. If I do not uphold God's word in my generation, teaching it to my children of the next generation, they will not be able to teach their children to obey God's word.
So what does this have to do with complaining? Well, if I am sinning when no one else is around, not trusting in God's Sovereignty over my work, I will probably do the same when I am at home with my family. I will then be teaching my children to disobey God's word rather than teaching them to obey God's word! I will be teaching them unbelief! The burden this brings is crippling! Regardless of my previous ancestry, my descendants are depending heavily on how I raise and teach my children. God's glory is at stake!
I cannot describe how heavy this burden is. Seriously, it impacts my breathing. Praise God it is heavy enough to drive us to our knees. Let us not resist praying for God's grace in teaching our children and this generation. It is Christ's Great Commission. It is God's command to us. It is for His glory. We need to seek His help to achieve His goals His way. Let us pray as if God's glory depended on it!
3.14.2007
Jealousy & the Sovereignty of God
As I was thinking and praying this morning, I was seeking forgiveness for a recent battle with jealousy. My thoughts began to drift toward a sermon I recently heard from Matthew 8:23-27. The paragraph is pretty straight forward and the pastor had time to talk about Jesus' response to the situation. While being in the midst of a tumultuous storm, Jesus was asleep! His faith in God's Sovereignty was so great that He could sleep through a violent storm! Keep in mind that He was in a fishing boat!
As I was thinking about jealousy, this point in the sermon returned to my mind. It quickly became obvious that in my jealousy during a specific situation, I was not trusting in God's Sovereignty! When I become jealous, coveting what someone else has been given, I am effectually telling The Lord that I do not trust His decision and His providence! I am also saying that I do not appreciate what He has given and that I would rather have what He has deemed appropriate for someone else. My response should always be thanksgiving for how He has blessed others as well as His blessings on my life.
Let us all pray that we will confess our sins to Him in a timely manner, seeking forgiveness for our lack of faith. While I suppose every sin stems from unbelief, this one hit particularly close to home. I am grateful to The Lord for His promise to perfect us until He calls us home!
As I was thinking about jealousy, this point in the sermon returned to my mind. It quickly became obvious that in my jealousy during a specific situation, I was not trusting in God's Sovereignty! When I become jealous, coveting what someone else has been given, I am effectually telling The Lord that I do not trust His decision and His providence! I am also saying that I do not appreciate what He has given and that I would rather have what He has deemed appropriate for someone else. My response should always be thanksgiving for how He has blessed others as well as His blessings on my life.
Let us all pray that we will confess our sins to Him in a timely manner, seeking forgiveness for our lack of faith. While I suppose every sin stems from unbelief, this one hit particularly close to home. I am grateful to The Lord for His promise to perfect us until He calls us home!
3.07.2007
SC07 - Day 1
Well, here we are! After arriving in L.A. yesterday afternoon, we enjoyed perusing the campus of Grace Community Church! We were even able to take a tour of the 'Citadel'! The Citadel is the armed fortress where many of Grace Community's pastors have their offices! It was pretty cool to be behind those walls for the first time. The novelty wore off pretty quick, however. It is only a building! We did see Chris and Izumi Martin! They seem to be loving Christ and doing well. Izumi was trying to convince us of our need for sushi. Chuck bought into that pretty quick! No one else was convinced. I will try it if the opportunity presents itself!
We also saw Adam and Renee Baily! They are doing well and enjoying the Shepherd's Conference from a pastor's perspective. They have been key members of the Shepherd's Conference staff for the last few years. We also saw Nate Busenitz. He is doing well and ensured us that Beth and the kids would be around on Sunday. They must not be fighting the sicknesses we have been fighting!
We had a great trip down. Tuesday morning we enjoyed some awesome worship music by PCD, Chris Tomlin, and an assortment of other artists. I must say, however, that I am looking forward to our first session today! The worship in song is always outstanding, bring much glory to the only One deserving of all praise! I am excited to grow in knowledge and understanding of Christ this week, knowing that my joy in Him will increase to His glory!
We also saw Adam and Renee Baily! They are doing well and enjoying the Shepherd's Conference from a pastor's perspective. They have been key members of the Shepherd's Conference staff for the last few years. We also saw Nate Busenitz. He is doing well and ensured us that Beth and the kids would be around on Sunday. They must not be fighting the sicknesses we have been fighting!
We had a great trip down. Tuesday morning we enjoyed some awesome worship music by PCD, Chris Tomlin, and an assortment of other artists. I must say, however, that I am looking forward to our first session today! The worship in song is always outstanding, bring much glory to the only One deserving of all praise! I am excited to grow in knowledge and understanding of Christ this week, knowing that my joy in Him will increase to His glory!
3.05.2007
Moses, James, and faith
This morning as I was reading in Numbers 11, I found verses 10-35 quite applicable. While this should be no surprise to any Christian, it is always exhilarating to have the Holy Spirit awaken us to His truths! In verse 10 Moses comes to the Lord with some concerns. I read this passage with a whiny and complaining tone. MacArthur seems to believe Moses had a tone of confession. After thinking that over, it makes sense that Moses would come to God that way. He seems frustrated with this stiff-necked people. He seems exhausted and overwhelmed. He probably had a bit of a whiny tone, but not as much as I had implied.
Moses expresses his concern to the Lord. The Righteous One then solves Moses' problem by appointing seventy elders to assist Moses with his work. The Lord promises to supply enough meat to feed the Israelites for a whole month. Moses points out that there are "600,000 on foot." Moses then wavers in his faith. He actually questioned whether or not God could feed the Israelites for one month without slaughtering their livestock. The Lord's response in verse 23 is startling: "Is the Lord's power limited? Now you shall see whether My word will come true for you or not."
The Lord then proceeds to fulfill His promise so that the Israelites ate until the quail came "out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you."
The craving of the Israelites quickly turned to loathing. We also see that their greed or covetousness for meat was sinful and offensive to the Lord. In fact, He began to wipe them out because of it!
As I read the Lord's reply to Moses' doubt in verse 23, my thoughts ran to Job. It really sounds as if the Lord is talking to Job! Moses was delivered out of Egypt by the very hand of God! He talked with God on the mountain. He even saw God's back! God revealed His glory to Moses! Now Moses was doubting the power of God to supply meat for a month? Moses had just finished instituting the Law of God with all its required sacrifices. The Lord required these sacrifices! Would He not provide for the animals to sacrifice? From our point of view Moses' unbelief is ridiculous.
But are we that much different? We pray telling God what an awesome God He is. We speak of His glory and is power and might. We insist that when other people are in trials they must consider it all joy! We remind them of Romans 8:28. We might even pray that God would bring trials to mature us and bring Him glory! Then, when God is faithful and gracious enough to bring the trial, we question Him! We complain! We mope and whine! We waver in unbelief! We ask where is God? We forget about His word and His promises!
James tells us to ask in faith. He is not just talking about not praying. It would take at least another sermon, if not a blog series, to hammer that truth home. James is saying that if, while we are asking, we do not unwaveringly, steadfastly believe that God will answer our prayer, we are double-minded and unstable! A prayer with any unbelief does not bring God the glory due His name! It shows Him that we do not really believe what He says about Himself! It reveals that we do not believe He has accomplished all that He has done! Such a mindset is an offense to God and reveals our weakness! He never needs to prove Himself to us. Our unbelief is merely fruit of our sin. Yet He so graciously continues to love us and intercede for us!
I pray that we would never be found doubting the power of God. Our world berates us with an endless onslaught of deceit. As we take every thought captive and hold it up to the infallible, inerrant, inspired word of God, I pray that we will find confidence in Him and His word!
Moses expresses his concern to the Lord. The Righteous One then solves Moses' problem by appointing seventy elders to assist Moses with his work. The Lord promises to supply enough meat to feed the Israelites for a whole month. Moses points out that there are "600,000 on foot." Moses then wavers in his faith. He actually questioned whether or not God could feed the Israelites for one month without slaughtering their livestock. The Lord's response in verse 23 is startling: "Is the Lord's power limited? Now you shall see whether My word will come true for you or not."
The Lord then proceeds to fulfill His promise so that the Israelites ate until the quail came "out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you."
The craving of the Israelites quickly turned to loathing. We also see that their greed or covetousness for meat was sinful and offensive to the Lord. In fact, He began to wipe them out because of it!
As I read the Lord's reply to Moses' doubt in verse 23, my thoughts ran to Job. It really sounds as if the Lord is talking to Job! Moses was delivered out of Egypt by the very hand of God! He talked with God on the mountain. He even saw God's back! God revealed His glory to Moses! Now Moses was doubting the power of God to supply meat for a month? Moses had just finished instituting the Law of God with all its required sacrifices. The Lord required these sacrifices! Would He not provide for the animals to sacrifice? From our point of view Moses' unbelief is ridiculous.
But are we that much different? We pray telling God what an awesome God He is. We speak of His glory and is power and might. We insist that when other people are in trials they must consider it all joy! We remind them of Romans 8:28. We might even pray that God would bring trials to mature us and bring Him glory! Then, when God is faithful and gracious enough to bring the trial, we question Him! We complain! We mope and whine! We waver in unbelief! We ask where is God? We forget about His word and His promises!
James tells us to ask in faith. He is not just talking about not praying. It would take at least another sermon, if not a blog series, to hammer that truth home. James is saying that if, while we are asking, we do not unwaveringly, steadfastly believe that God will answer our prayer, we are double-minded and unstable! A prayer with any unbelief does not bring God the glory due His name! It shows Him that we do not really believe what He says about Himself! It reveals that we do not believe He has accomplished all that He has done! Such a mindset is an offense to God and reveals our weakness! He never needs to prove Himself to us. Our unbelief is merely fruit of our sin. Yet He so graciously continues to love us and intercede for us!
I pray that we would never be found doubting the power of God. Our world berates us with an endless onslaught of deceit. As we take every thought captive and hold it up to the infallible, inerrant, inspired word of God, I pray that we will find confidence in Him and His word!
A Tale of Two Children
My last post was a tribute to the Lord's care of my family. Since my last post, my children have worked together to produce copious amounts of laughter and joy in my life. It all started last week. Bekah has been diligently teaching Hannah to use the potty. While potty training is essential, it is also quite difficult. Some of the "fruits" of her labor were produced on Friday. Hannah finally went "pooh pooh" in the potty! While this brought much joy to our family, it did not provide the laughter which I am referring to. On with the story!
Friday evening we invited the Bowers' over for dinner. Bek had slaved all day long to prepare a delicious meal. In addition, she was baby-sitting for four neighborhood girls and potty-training. Oh yea, that is all on top of the typical home-manger and motherly duties. Before dinner we were all talking on the couch. Bek sees Hannah run into our room. Hannah was naked because this helps her recognize when she needs to go potty. So Bekah calls out to Hannah, "Hannah, do you need to go pooh pooh?" She responds in some cluster of Hannah-neese that no one understood. So Bekah goes to investigate a bit further. Upon entering the bathroom she notices a brown ball of pooh on the floor. Being a gracious and loving mother, she encourages Hannah and goes about cleaning her up. For some reason I had arisen from the couch and walked toward the front door. Turning around to go assist Bek I saw my wonderful son walking out of the hallway. He had a big grin on his face and was holding something with both hands! Upon further investigation of this brown ball I ascertained that he was in fact holding a large ball of pooh! It was quite a bit larger than the pooh ball Bekah had noticed. I have no idea how Hannah passed that in silence! (ouch!) Instantly I grabbed Ben's hands to hold them apart. I have to admit becoming a bit frazzled at this point, not knowing what I should do! As I am looking down at my son, I noticed some brown spots on his face. Actually, they were around his mouth! I assumed that he had not eaten any chocolate chip cookies in the last ten minutes and decided that he had become somewhat intimate with the big pooh ball. As any fifteen month old boy does when he gets his hand on something, Ben had at least kissed, if not tasted his sister's pooh. While still holding Ben's wrists, the horrors of this thought overran my feeble mind! The panic grew! As the Bowers were laughing hysterically, working off the dessert they would later enjoy, I transported my son to the baby wipes and proceeded to clean him up! Sure enough and true to form, he began kissing the baby wipes too!
As I am sure you can imagine, the whole situation stunk! Normally this would be a story reserved for the men's room, seeing how this whole post went to pot. How ironic that the evening's main course was 'pot roast!' So I lit some candles and we continued with a wonderful evening, successfully wiping away the event from our minds.
Thank you, Lord, for children!
Friday evening we invited the Bowers' over for dinner. Bek had slaved all day long to prepare a delicious meal. In addition, she was baby-sitting for four neighborhood girls and potty-training. Oh yea, that is all on top of the typical home-manger and motherly duties. Before dinner we were all talking on the couch. Bek sees Hannah run into our room. Hannah was naked because this helps her recognize when she needs to go potty. So Bekah calls out to Hannah, "Hannah, do you need to go pooh pooh?" She responds in some cluster of Hannah-neese that no one understood. So Bekah goes to investigate a bit further. Upon entering the bathroom she notices a brown ball of pooh on the floor. Being a gracious and loving mother, she encourages Hannah and goes about cleaning her up. For some reason I had arisen from the couch and walked toward the front door. Turning around to go assist Bek I saw my wonderful son walking out of the hallway. He had a big grin on his face and was holding something with both hands! Upon further investigation of this brown ball I ascertained that he was in fact holding a large ball of pooh! It was quite a bit larger than the pooh ball Bekah had noticed. I have no idea how Hannah passed that in silence! (ouch!) Instantly I grabbed Ben's hands to hold them apart. I have to admit becoming a bit frazzled at this point, not knowing what I should do! As I am looking down at my son, I noticed some brown spots on his face. Actually, they were around his mouth! I assumed that he had not eaten any chocolate chip cookies in the last ten minutes and decided that he had become somewhat intimate with the big pooh ball. As any fifteen month old boy does when he gets his hand on something, Ben had at least kissed, if not tasted his sister's pooh. While still holding Ben's wrists, the horrors of this thought overran my feeble mind! The panic grew! As the Bowers were laughing hysterically, working off the dessert they would later enjoy, I transported my son to the baby wipes and proceeded to clean him up! Sure enough and true to form, he began kissing the baby wipes too!
As I am sure you can imagine, the whole situation stunk! Normally this would be a story reserved for the men's room, seeing how this whole post went to pot. How ironic that the evening's main course was 'pot roast!' So I lit some candles and we continued with a wonderful evening, successfully wiping away the event from our minds.
Thank you, Lord, for children!
3.01.2007
Progress
Well, you can never be too thankful to God for His work in your life. It is again time to express some of that thanks! So, today I would like to give some examples of the progress He has given our family.
Hannah Grace is on the left and Benjamin Martin is on the right. Both photos are taken within minutes of their respective births. Hannah looks much like her great grandma Fader while Ben looks much like his grandma Wentling!
Now we always expect our children to grow up normal. Hannah's life has been pretty normal to date.
I believe this is Hannah's first trip to Idaho. We were telling great grandpa Fader how Hannah was always so serious and didn't responded too much to people. Well, the first day Bek and Hannah were there Hannah was crying because she did not want to take her nap. Great grandpa Fader went in and brought her out to be with everyone. From that point on she was a new Hannah! As you can see, she had a great time with great grandpa!
The Lord has enabled Hannah to grow and mature over the last two and a half years.
As you can see, mama picked out a very nice dress for Hannah's trip home from the hospital. If we would have been pulled over by a law enforcement officer, he would have been very impressed!
Here is my little angel sleeping peacefully with her hands under her cheek! What a cutie!
Within her first year, Hannah and daddy went to see Derek Webb live in concert in the metropolis that is Marysville! As you can see, as long as she has her bottle, Hannah is content!
Here is Hannah Grace at her first birthday party! Boy she loved that cake! Ironically, this is one of her messier moments. She is quite clean to her daddy's delight!
The Lord has blessed us with this little one! She can already count to twenty ten (thirty). She is able to identify her numbers and letters. Also, she is learning to use the potty, though she is quite reluctant at this point.
Thank you, Lord, for Hannah Grace!
Then there is my son, Benjamin! His life started out a wee bit different to say the least!
When he was born, his lungs were underdeveloped. Below you can see his breathing tube and the IVs they inserted into his belly button. OUCH! He was on morphine during most of this. I imagine he was resting pretty well!
We have to thank God for His gracious gift of technology. I am convinced that thirty to fifty years ago Ben would have died. A few hours after his birth he was only getting fifty percent of the oxygen he needed and was not able to eat.
I imagine this is kind of a cool picture! No that is not some kind of revolutionary photo lens on my wife's camera. He needed to be under the blue light because of jaundice. Can you see the cool shades? If I remember correctly, Ben was actually shaking during this time. I think it was in response to coming off of the morphine.
As I pointed out, technology is an amazing gift from God! On the right is Ben somewhere around a week after his birth. All that is left is the feeding tube! He still had not learned to nurse. I think the bottle came first for him.
These picture are actually the first time mommy is able to hold Ben after his birth! Both picture are truly worth 1000 words and are priceless. Somewhere I have a video of that event. I hope to post it someday, after I figure out how to post videos.
Here is a picture of Ben at home!
He is doing great these days! He likes to wrestle and dive off the couch! He loves his sister and his mommy! Most of the ladies at church say he looks like a little man! Maybe I should call him 'mini-me'. Maybe not.
It is difficult to express appropriate thanks to Christ for His gracious gift of life! Nevertheless, this post is a tribute to His power and a shout of praise and thanksgiving for His kindness! It would be wrong of me to end this post without giving proper tribute to the one who actually feels most of the responsibility for raising these two blessings! To my beautiful and wonder wife: Thank you, my love!
Hannah Grace is on the left and Benjamin Martin is on the right. Both photos are taken within minutes of their respective births. Hannah looks much like her great grandma Fader while Ben looks much like his grandma Wentling!Now we always expect our children to grow up normal. Hannah's life has been pretty normal to date.
I believe this is Hannah's first trip to Idaho. We were telling great grandpa Fader how Hannah was always so serious and didn't responded too much to people. Well, the first day Bek and Hannah were there Hannah was crying because she did not want to take her nap. Great grandpa Fader went in and brought her out to be with everyone. From that point on she was a new Hannah! As you can see, she had a great time with great grandpa!The Lord has enabled Hannah to grow and mature over the last two and a half years.
As you can see, mama picked out a very nice dress for Hannah's trip home from the hospital. If we would have been pulled over by a law enforcement officer, he would have been very impressed!
Here is my little angel sleeping peacefully with her hands under her cheek! What a cutie!Within her first year, Hannah and daddy went to see Derek Webb live in concert in the metropolis that is Marysville! As you can see, as long as she has her bottle, Hannah is content!
Here is Hannah Grace at her first birthday party! Boy she loved that cake! Ironically, this is one of her messier moments. She is quite clean to her daddy's delight!The Lord has blessed us with this little one! She can already count to twenty ten (thirty). She is able to identify her numbers and letters. Also, she is learning to use the potty, though she is quite reluctant at this point.
Thank you, Lord, for Hannah Grace!
Then there is my son, Benjamin! His life started out a wee bit different to say the least!
When he was born, his lungs were underdeveloped. Below you can see his breathing tube and the IVs they inserted into his belly button. OUCH! He was on morphine during most of this. I imagine he was resting pretty well!
We have to thank God for His gracious gift of technology. I am convinced that thirty to fifty years ago Ben would have died. A few hours after his birth he was only getting fifty percent of the oxygen he needed and was not able to eat.
I imagine this is kind of a cool picture! No that is not some kind of revolutionary photo lens on my wife's camera. He needed to be under the blue light because of jaundice. Can you see the cool shades? If I remember correctly, Ben was actually shaking during this time. I think it was in response to coming off of the morphine.
As I pointed out, technology is an amazing gift from God! On the right is Ben somewhere around a week after his birth. All that is left is the feeding tube! He still had not learned to nurse. I think the bottle came first for him.
These picture are actually the first time mommy is able to hold Ben after his birth! Both picture are truly worth 1000 words and are priceless. Somewhere I have a video of that event. I hope to post it someday, after I figure out how to post videos.
Here is a picture of Ben at home!
He is doing great these days! He likes to wrestle and dive off the couch! He loves his sister and his mommy! Most of the ladies at church say he looks like a little man! Maybe I should call him 'mini-me'. Maybe not.It is difficult to express appropriate thanks to Christ for His gracious gift of life! Nevertheless, this post is a tribute to His power and a shout of praise and thanksgiving for His kindness! It would be wrong of me to end this post without giving proper tribute to the one who actually feels most of the responsibility for raising these two blessings! To my beautiful and wonder wife: Thank you, my love!
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