Zoo and the Crazy JWs

This morning we woke up and decided a trip to the zoo was in order. It is a gorgeous Georgian fall day, and being inside is out of the question. As we walked through the zoo entrance Dave made sure to ask the workers if there was anyone at the zoo with experience delivering a baby. He was assured that I would be well taken care. Good grief!

Miss HC loved seeing the giraffes and the gorillas. She is becoming more bold at the petting zoo and walked around petting all the goats and sheep. The main issue was she tended to pet them on the tail or butt. Fortunately no one felt in a foul mood, so she did not get kicked.

Upon our return home we had another wonderful visit from our favorite Jehovah's Witness. I cannot remember if I have ever mentioned this saga on our blog. Well, it all began about 7 months ago...and as you can see it continues even now. I am not sure exactly what to think about the whole situation. Do they really think that if they continue to come we will one day say...Ya know, you are right, Jesus was not God but an angel...the Trinity is a bunch of BS...there is no hell...and my Bible was translated by a bunch of idiots. I just do not see that happening.

Last time we talked to them, Dave told them (in a nice way) that it was unnecessary for them to visit us again. We had also visibly made them angry as Dave debated them about the Trinity. But, apparently they want to continue to visit. I have stopped answering the door when I know it is them. You might think that is bad, but at some point there is just no point. It is all a debate, and neither of us seems moved.

Anyway, Dave went out to talk to them today and an hour later came back in...they continue to have the same discussion...we point to scripture where Jesus claims to be God, they refute our translation...and go on about how earthly death is punishment enough for our sins, there is no need for a hell.

Since there is apparently no hell in their religion, I do not find any reason to join their side. Even if I am wrong and they are right, I won't be punished, so...alright. Of course, I know that I am right. Not only can I go to the gospels where Jesus regularly claimed his divinity, but also the first chapter of Hebrews speaks to Jesus being God and not an angel. Ah well, I guess the New World translation of the Bible doesn't have the book of Hebrews.

Oops...must run, HC is up from her nap...maybe next time we post it will be about baby Fred...

Washed and Covered

In our community group we have been studying John. Dave and I joined midway through the book, so we missed a lot of the good stuff in the beginning of the gospel, but are enjoying a lot of the good stuff at the end of it.

Last night we spent time discussing the last portion of John 19, which covers the tail end of the crucifixion. I was struck again at how this is truly the culmination of the Christian faith, and the gospel. In my Thursday morning Bible study we are studying Deuteronomy, which has been fabulous and there are many parallels between Deut. and John. I was reminded this morning how the law is helpful for good living, but cannot save, it is powerless to save, but it pointed to Christ and our need for a Savior, someone who could not only live a sinless life, but who could also live a perfectly obedient life. Christ...the second Adam.

In Deut we were talking about the immanence and transcendence of God. As Gwen said, he not only brings home the bacon, he cooks it up too. He begins the works and completes the work.

At the end of John 19 while Christ is on the cross he says "It is finished" and we discussed all the things that were completed with Jesus' death and resurrection...fulfillment of the law, sin sacrifice, all the prophecies about Christ, his earthly ministry, etc. God not only began all of these things, but he brought them to completion in Christ.

One of the other things that Dave brought up, that I found particularly fascinating, was when they pierced Jesus, blood and water flowed from his wound, which is not only scientific, but also symbolic. Scientific in that, Christ was truly dead. Symbolic in that, the blood of his sacrifice covers our sins and the water washes me whiter than snow. Ah...the gospel...salvation...I bring my sinful self and the Lord brings everything else.

Playgroup Meets CG Shower

About a week ago, my sweet friends, Brea and Christy, threw me a wonderful shower. It was unexpected, since this is my second baby...and another girl...what more do I need? But, it was very fun and I was so blessed by the whole evening.

The party was actually how little Fred received her name, when my friend Jess responded to the Evite, something about celebrating little Fredericka Shoba...and the rest is history.

They made yummy lasagne and this salad that was to die for, and finished off the night with some apple streudel. Christy even broke out her china for me...wow!

I received lots of awesome goodies, including diapers...YES...cannot have enough of those...and a couple gift cards that I am enjoying. Angie even got Miss Hadleigh Claire a gift, which was super sweet.

The whole night was funny, because it was a bit of old meets new...and playgroup meets community group...singles meet mommies, and there I was in the middle. I laughed a lot and it was fun to remember memories from long ago.

I also felt very content, which has been a new experience for me. I think my transition back to Atl is finally over. I was happy and felt connected to my wonderful community group, whom I love, and they are so accepting of me. And I felt connected to my playgroup friends as we continue to support each other and watch our babies grow up together. Overall I was blessed, and thankful to be celebrating the birth of little Fred with friends who care about me and who will love and care for little Fred.

11 Days

I technically have 11 days left, that is if you are using the due date the doctors gave me which I do not think is entirely accurate, but that is another story. Trying to guess when a baby is going to make an appearance is a real art. Of course these days you don't have to guess if you do not want to. Scheduling a c-section or an induction seems to be music to most doctors' ears. Yesterday my midwife told me that if I get tired of being prego they will induce me. To me that sounded like death, so I declined. Why would I opt for a procedure that cannot possibly be good for me or the baby? Babies come when they are ready, not when prego women are tired of being prego. I understand there are medical reasons to induce, like when you are two weeks past your date, but goodness, not wanting to be prego anymore is not a very good medical reason.

I am a planner to the max. Goodness have you seen my list of things to get done? Have you seen my labor plan for Hadleigh? Oh yeah, I am a planner, which some people find funny since I am an ENFP. Believe me, life would be simpler, in some ways, if I could just plan what day little Fred will make her appearance. Then I could just say Laura, be at my house at 3am on the 21st, and Kris, be ready for a Hadleigh drop at 9am on the 22nd.

These days we do not have to wait for much, and not many things are beyond our control, so I think it is a good discipline to wait and not be able to plan for my baby. I loved calling the Baumholder Dental Clinic March 6, 2006 to say, "It is time..." I look forward to doing that again, but it is a discipline to wait.

Last night, Dave said that I have been much more calm this time around. I think he is right, but there is a part of me that feels completely anxious. I so do not buy the whole American prego measuring thing. I do not believe it and will never be satisfied that my baby is ok, just because I "grew" a cm in a week. Lame...really lame. We have the best medical technologies in the world and they use a tape measure...just makes no sense to me.

In preparation for Fred coming I have completed my massive top to bottom cleaning. Sara, you would be so proud. Now we are just into the day to day cleaning again. Everything to do with the baby is washed and out, and besides a dumb double stroller, I purchased my last baby item on Sunday.

Now, we continue to wait and hope, that Fred makes her appearance sometime in October.

Pumpkins

We have been enjoying lots of family fun over the weekends. It is so nice to have 3 day weekends with Dave and we have been trying to make the most of our final moments with Hadleigh as an only child.

Saturday we headed north to a farm that sells pumpkins. HC loved wandering around and looking at all the different kinds of pumpkins and picking out her favorite. We also were able to take a hayride around the farm.

Airplanes

Who knew that my little girl would be so into things that move. Trucks, cars, airplanes, buses, fire engines. She is obsessed with them.

A couple weeks ago I caught Hadleigh Claire and Dave looking through a Motor Trend magazine together. She would point out the trucks and cars in the pictures. He was telling her all about the newest car reviews and he even asked her to pick out what kind of car she wanted. She picked a Toyota 4 Runner...wishful! Sorry honey, but the Buick is going to be a way of life for another couple years!

This past Friday we took Hadleigh to a park that is at a local airport. She LOVED just sitting and watching the planes come in and out. She has a specific sound for the airplane and when she hears one while out she will make the sound, and then shoot her arm up into the air (like she is taking off). It is pretty sweet.

19 Months

Wow, how can my baby be 19 months old? I think that I say this every month, but I just cannot believe how big she is getting.

Everyday I seem to be discovering new words she has for things. Dave pointed out that she calls her favorite blanket "Key". She has been a little obsessed with key recently. Key had been only a bedtime/naptime "toy", but the past week Miss Hadleigh Claire has insisted on bringing Key out of bed, and then she leaves him in odd places around the house. The other day she couldn't find him and was getting visibly upset, so I said, "let's find Key" and began to walk around the house (you can literally walk in a circle through the rooms) to find him. I started calling for Key, saying "Blankie, where are you?" And HC followed me into every room saying "Key, key" with the same inflection I was using. So funny. We did finally find Key and she was SO excited.

For the last several months we have been talking to HC about her baby sister. Up until the last couple of weeks I would say she has been completely clueless, thinking baby was my belly button. Now when I say "HC where is the baby?" she will lift up my shirt and point to my belly, not just my belly button. I think that is a good sign. Slowly we are bringing out the baby gear, so that she can have and get over her fascination with all the new toys. The bouncy seat came out yesterday and she kept walking over to it, bouncing it, and saying "baby". I am not sure how she knows that a baby goes in the seat, but I was thrilled.

Last week at my morning Bible study we walked down the nursery hall and saw little Caden sitting in his carseat waiting for Emily to drop off Conner. When HC saw Caden, she yelled "BABY" and started running toward him. When we got down the hall to him, she just kept repeating the word baby. So, she knows what a baby is, and seems excited about it. We will see.

HC is asserting her independence more and more. She wants to walk down the hall to her class, and walk into class by herself. She loves to crawl into the car and into her carseat unassisted (which is super news for me), and she loves to clip herself into the seat. At the church picnic she wanted her own hamburger and ate almost the whole thing unassisted. She is also learning how to drink out of a real cup...that is a little more painful for me. She has mastered the fork and spoon and is now able to eat things without making a HUGE mess. As in, she has mostly stopped using her hands to help get the food in her mouth.

HC is also a very neat and tiddy baby. She likes to wipe her mounth and hands after she eats. At the picnic she enjoyed walking around and putting trash into a chip bag that was sitting on the ground. I gave her a dry washcloth the other day and she started washing herself. She said "eye" and wiped her eyes..."ear" and wiped her ears, "tee" and washed her teeth, etc. Unfortunately, I am still Dada, but one of these days...

She continues to love her books, love her music (and we dance every morning), and LOVE her stuffed animals. At church there is a large stuffed dog and I have heard that she spends most of her time on floor with him. Last week I took a big piece of butcher paper and taped it on our coffee table and we had/have fun coloring on it. So, she apparently likes to color.

Last Friday we went to the Aquarium with Grant and Jess, and their two buddies Jed and Able (who they were keeping for the weekend). Dave took HC on the whale slide. Pictures don't do it justice...she likes slides, but isn't entirely sure about them. You can catch pictures of it on their blog. Her fav animal is still the beluga whales.

I'll post some other pictures soon, but I think that is all for my update. Oh one last thought...yes, she still sleeps 14 hours at night, and a two hour nap...YES! And she isn't peeing and pooping in the toilet as regularly, but will still do it on occassion.

A Couple Anniversaries

On a gorgeous October Atlanta day four years ago, Dave and I were married. Here we all are...Kris, Angie, Sar, Elaine, Erica and Alex...Dave, OB, Dan, Dan and Chris.

This week we also celebrated our first year of living in America this week.

Whew, I feel a bit tired just thinking about it all.

Thinking back, we have been to 24 of the 50 states together, as well as three Canadian Provinces, and 14 European countries. The problem, in my mind, is that in the last year we have not added anything to this list. I think that should be improved upon in the next year.

We have moved only 3 times, that includes one move to Germany, and one move back.

We have one baby, and almost have another.

In any case, life seems a little unbelieveable at times. I think about Germany and wonder if that life really existed. And I am certainly glad that this year of major transitions back to the states is over.

The Lord has blessed us with each other. I love traveling through life with Dave, and will continue to cherish the time we have together. We have also seen the importance of fighting for and guarding our marriage. Sin seeps in and seeks to destroy everything in its path, and our marriage is not immune. His grace alone keeps us together.

Crazy Marty

A couple of years ago Dave and I received "Luther" the movie as a gift. It was fascinating to watch as I realized I knew little about the Reformation. I thought it especially silly for a couple of reasons. 1. I am a product of the Reformation and very thankful to be Protestant. Though I think there are some things to be learned from the Catholic side of things, I am overall glad to be justified by grace alone, through faith alone (Sola Gratia, Sola Fide). 2. I have been a member of a "Reformed" church for almost 10 years. Though some folks things Reformed Theology is just being a Calvinist, I have found that it is really so much more. I rarely even use the word Calvinist, except in an effort to freak folks out...I find it mildly amusing that somehow Calvinist and scary have become synonymous. In any case, a lot of Reformed Theology comes from both Luther and Calvin, but also from folks like John Knox, Frederick III (who commissioned the bishops to write the Heidelberg Catechism), etc.

Moving on, since I knew little about the Reformation, I decided to do some reading. While we were in Germany, we also visited some historic Reformation sites, like Eisenach (where Luther hid and translated the New Testament into German), and Marburg (where Luther and Zwingli parted ways over the significance of Communion). In the last month I picked up Luther's Bondage of the Will. Wow. The beginning is a little rough, but now I am getting to the good stuff, so I am pumped and had a hard time putting it down last night. I just wanted to read Dave the whole thing, but he was in his car world magazine, so I don't think fully appreciated me reading aloud.

The book seems to have been born out of a debate between Erasmus and Luther. Eramus seems to be defending that we have the ability to choose God, while Luther disagrees. So the book completely dogs Erasmus, and for good reason. I was trying to imagine the scene last night and all I could come up with, was the mental picture of Mark Driscoll and John MacArthur going at it. But neither Mac nor Driscoll are anywhere close to being as intelligent and profound as Luther, but it was a funny thought.

So here is my thought from Luther today...there is SO much more good stuff around this, but I can't copy the whole book and put it in here.

I certainly grant that many passages in the Scripture are obscure and hard to elucidate, but that is due, not to the exalted nature of their subject, but to our own linguistic and grammatical ignorance; and it does not in any way prevent our knowing the contents of Scripture. For what solemn truth can the Scriptures still be concealing, now that the seals are broken, the stone rolled away from the door of the tomb, and that greatest of all mysteries brought to light- that Christ, God's Son, became man, that God is Three in One, that Christ suffered for us, and will reign forever? And are not these things known, and sung in our streets? Take Christ from the Scripture-and what more will you find in them?...Thus it is unintelligent, and ungodly too, when you know that the contents of Scripture are as clear as can be, to
pronounce them obscure on account of those few obscure words.

The passage continues with some wonderful thoughts, but you will have to dig on your own to find those. For now, I am enjoying the pleasure of reading the Bible, in which every mystery has been made known to me through Christ and the Spirit.

Free of Commitments

As of 1pm today I am free of commitments and ready for baby Fred to arrive.

OK, I am exaggerating a little, but not completely. The marriage weekend that I have been planning is now over. Everyone lived through the experience, including me and the child care workers. Although the three workers that failed to show up this morning should fear for their very lives! But we all lived and somehow managed to take care of the kiddos, thanks in part to Michelle who is now one of my new best friends. I think she was mostly scarred from the experience of running the nursery this morning, but she gained some serious muscles walking those kiddos up and down the halls. Hopefully she will still want to have children of her own one day.

SO, that is that. I have asked Fred not to make her appearance until after this coming weekend. I would like a week to rest, although this next week looks actually busier than this past week was. But I have confidence that Fred will hold off for a little while. I started washing all her little baby clothes and blankets this afternoon. I think that tonight I am going to finish steaming the kitchen floors, as that is on my master list of things to get done before she arrives.

I am glad to be able to focus on my fam for the next couple of weeks and get ready for this new baby. I want to spend some qt with Miss Hadleigh Claire, as in a couple weeks she will no longer be my only priority.

As a funny side note, our fav babysitter Ruth Anne mentioned that this morning Hadleigh Claire ate her snack and then proceeded to eat everyone else's snack in the toddler room. Yea.

Survivor: China

Well, it is that time of year again...Survivor. I know, I am obsessed. I am even catching up on the seasons of Survivor I missed while living in Germany.

I am so dedicated to Survivor that I am watching it online this season. Our TV has been on the fritz since July, when it was struck by lightning. People on the west coast think it odd that I say this...but I figure all Georgians will understand the meaning.

Anyway, I woke up early this morning, as usual, but instead of my usual routine I went straight for CBS to watch last night's full episode. Tell me, please who else is so dedicated that they would rise at 6am to watch.

My bro has put together a pool for this season, and I picked Erik to go all the way. Dan seems convinced that it is because Erik looks like Ethan (from Survivor III: Kenya). I did like Ethan, but not that much. My motives for picking Erik are completely pure.

1. He is a southern boy.
2. He went to Furman and I know a lot of cool peeps that went to Furman.
3. He isn't the strongest, most loud, leader type that always gets voted out first.
4. He at least has a great shot at making it to the merge...though I thought that about Bobby Jon from Palau...ah well.

So, there you have it. You can check out his blog to see his predictions...interesting. All in all I am happy with how things are going so far in the season. Go Erik!

School

This week I am super thankful for the morning program that little Hadleigh has been attending. Having the break for me has been fabulous. I have been busy with the planning of this mini marriage conference, and then also getting the house ready for Fred's arrival. Having 3 hours I can devote to whatever (one week sleeping) has been a little dream.

As nice as the break has been for me, it has been doubly fun for Hadleigh. From what I can tell she LOVES her class. She does the usual cry-show for me as I drop her off, but this week before I had even gotten out of the classroom door she had stopped. They play and sing and go to the playground. This week our refrigerator is the proud displayer of her first art project. I am so proud! When I pick her up she sings all the way home, so sweet.

I think that I have mentioned this before, but HC is an avid reader. We actually have more books than toys in the house. She has two baskets full of board books, like "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and then we have a small bookcase full of big girl books. She likes her board books, but she LOVES her big girl books. At least two times a day we will read several big girl books. Sometimes she likes me to read them to her and other times she likes to read them herself. This week her favorite is "Oh the Places You'll Go". She pours over the pictures again and again and points out all the things that she knows on each page. After reading in her big girl books for quite a while, she will reluctantly go "play", which usually means pouring over her board books. That is my girl, the reader.

I took the above picture a couple weeks ago when my friend, Jess came for a visit. Hadleigh jumped in her chair and Jess continued to hand her stuffed animals (which she loves almost as much as books). She was completely surrounded by animals and was hugging and kissing each of them. She is so sweet.

On a different note, I think my body is getting a little used to Fred being so low. By the end of the day, wowee, do I ever strut/waddle around, but it is not as bad during the first half of the day. I am relieved. Monday I also made a master To-Do list of all the things that need to get done before she arrives. It has everything from, washing her baby clothes to getting the car seat ready, to organizing the closet in the bathroom. I look forward to knocking out the list and then waiting patiently for her arrival.

A Girl Named Fred

When I was prego with Hadleigh, my friend Jess decided she wanted to guess the name. I promised her that if she guessed correctly I would tell her. She had some decent guesses, Abigail and Madeline, but she was WAY off. This time she hasn't guessed at all, even though last week at community group Dave said he would give anyone $100 if they guessed the name correctly. I guess we are pretty confidant in our selection.

So, through a series of events Jessica publicly proclaimed our little girl's name- Fredericka Shoba. ANd now I have heard there is a song about being in love with a girl named Fred. So it seem fitting that for the last few weeks in utero to call our little girl Fred.

I totally freaked at my doctors visit last week because they said I was 35 weeks. OK, I knew this, but still when someone says it outloud, it is like...HOLY CRAP...this baby is coming soon! I have felt that state of shock for a few days now.

Friday we set-up Hadleigh and Fred's room. At least the furniture is rearranged and the second crib is up. It is hard to get everything to fit in a room...two cribs, changing table, dresser, etc. I think we came up with an arrangement that will do.

Saturday Dave's parents came down for a visit which was SO fun, but I was feeling so tired and uncomfortable. Yesterday I started getting concerned and sat down to think about what I was actually feeling. Then I realized, Fred had dropped! I was able to do a little more research to find out, yes indeed, the things I was feeling lined up with the baby dropping. I can breath better, which is a treat, but yesterday she felt so low I literally thought she is going to drop out of me! I didn't have this kind of pressure with Hadleigh. Right before bed last night, I blew my nose and I decided I better blow my nose lying down because I was sure she was going to come flying out!

So, anyway, dropping doesn't mean much...it could mean we are close, or it could mean we are still 5 weeks away. But I really hope I don't have to be this uncomfortable for the next 5 weeks. I am open to other advice on the dropping thing, because I really can't spend the next several weeks blowing my nose in a horizontal position.

The Buh or the Bye...Buh-Bye

I love this SNL sketch. Fave line is when Helen Hunt says, "I am sorry what part did you not understand the buh or the bye...buh-bye." That is a bit how I have felt this week, like what part of this do you not understand, because to me it is all very simple.

So I think I have mentioned this before, but here's me, hyper-responsible, controlling, first born, rules follower, do I need to say more? I can be flexible, in some rare circumstances, but it does happen occasionally. Like, dare I mention that Hadleigh has been eating peanut butter since she was 10 months old...I know, shocking (for all the non-moms out there, American Pediatrics recommends 18 months old for PB).

There are a lot of wonderful reasons to have rules, spoken and unspoken, and there are lots of good reasons to follow rules. Americans and Brits have the concept of the line down, so when you are in Europe and you fly Ryan Air out of London everyone gets in a nice queue without touching anyone else. You would think that as anal as the Germans are, they would have it down too, but no. When the Germans announce boarding everyone crowds and pushes, really obnoxious for me, a rule follower.

I have a strong sense of right and wrong, black and white (not that it is always correct, but still), so in my jobs I was always fighting against the exceptions that are always around in every job. The crazy missionary who thinks they don't need any cross-cultural training, or the crazy soldier who thinks because of their rank they can take a test whenever they want. Ugh.

When you have a boss, there is always a balance that you strike, and they make you be creative and bend and find solutions, etc. But sometimes it is just still irritating, because in the end, if there is a mess because of the exception, guess who cleans it up?

In any case, there are lots of people out there. Not everyone is like me. Thank goodness there are many gracious, and accommodating people out there. People who want to see everyone included and everyone get a chance, and who can see creative solutions to problems. But I know that sometimes they just don't understand me, and I don't understand them. And sometimes we drive each other crazy.

It is like that tension between truth and love. I need to speak the truth. Someone else wants to just love and never say anything. There is a balance...I need some love and others need some truth.

Did I preface all of this sufficiently?

I was in a situation recently where there was a deadline. To me, a deadline means that I need to do something by a certain date, or not do it at all. 12.01 hits and the carriage turns into a pumpkin. No second chances, just a "better luck next time" pat on the back. But shockingly, to some a deadline is merely an interesting idea and has little to do with reality.

For me, I care about accommodating others, but I don't care enough to change a deadline. I just say, what part of this did you not understand? There is an order to things that makes all of life simpler. BUT sometimes it is more important to care for the person over my precious deadline.
Not today, but sometimes.

I was theologizing about all of this last night with Dave. If I believe God is sovereign, then can I safely say everyone who signed up on time was meant to attend, and those who didn't weren't meant to attend? I think that I can safely say that, though it is not an excuse for me to not care about people. On the other hand, sometimes I feel less than cared for when others are making life hard for me by extending my deadlines. It seems an interesting predicament.

Can You Be Green and Smoke?

Last Saturday Dave and I attended a “green” concert at Piedmont Park with the Allman Brothers and Dave Matthews. It was quite an interesting experience.

Because the concert was "green" there weren't allowing parking anywhere in the vicinity of the park. Dave actually got a parking pass for Colony Square from someone at work, so we drove to Midtown earlier in the day, parked the car and headed to the High Museum to check out the Annie Lebowitz photography exhibit. We then jumped on MARTA and came home. IN addition to the concert there was a Braves game, so we thought MARTA would be swamped by the time we left the concert. So I suppose we are only partially green.

We picked up our babysitter and literally ran to MARTA...oh the sight...and the contractions. We jumped off at Midtown and walked down 10th to the Park, along with a sea of other people who were mostly sober...mostly.

Once in the park we managed to hook up with one of Dave's buddies from work (because his office purchased tickets for everyone) and then slowly pushed our way through the crowds and across other folks blankets to be able to sit with the rest of the office folks. It wasn't the best situation for a 33+ week prego lady. I felt a bit out of place. I was one of the only people sitting down (as we were super close to the stage), and because there were no chairs, only blankets spread out everywhere folks were stumbling over me quite a bit. At one point some chics, who were slightly wasted started yelling at people for daring to walk near the prego lady, and they formed a mini circle around me and made folks walk around. It was actually funny. I thought, at the time, they were folks from Dave's office, but come to find out they were just strangers who had taken up my cause.

Dave enjoyed the concert, though it was hard for me. If I stood I had contractions and if I sat I just couldn't get really comfortable. Did I mention it was at least 92 degrees and humid? We did make it out alive and left about 2 hours into the show. Dave had gotten his fill (well, he would have stayed for the wholet hing if it weren't for me, so I felt a little bad).

The whole "green" concert thing was amusing to me. OK, so the beer cans and cups were biodegradable, but who cares when they are left in piles of trash all over the park. And the cigarette butts...I just kept thinking, you can't care about the environment and smoke. They don't fit together.

A word to the wise. When you are 8 months prego and invited to a concert outside with no chairs and 75,000 people, it might be best to pass it up.

Big Bootie

I had this friend in Baumholder who had this youth group song called Big Bootie. I am not sure how you spell bootie, either, is it boody, or boodie, or booty?

Anyway, my little Miss has one! She is 24 pounds. Ugh! So heavy! And she is 32 inches long. So 50% for weight and 75% for height. It is pretty amazing how all those things can change in just a matter of a couple months. These babies grow in spurts!

She had an emotional breakdown in the doctor's office, which was very plesant for me to try to deal with, thanks a lot HC! But we survived the morning and now she is sleeping it off.

On another fascinating note, Dave's business, McNumb Dental, just paid their (our) first taxes. As we added up everything yesterday and submitted payments, Dave's comment was "it is amazing how easy the government makes it to give them money." It has been a fun 8 weeks for me as I am keeping track of money and reconciling statements and trying to figure out how much tax we owe. Good times.

It Happened

So I had always heard about this happenings to families. Just for the record it had happened to us when we first began hosting the community group at our house. Now we have settled into our Wednesday evening routine and haven't bickered about how to make the spaghetti in about a month.

So, like I said, yesterday was my first experience of a pre-church bicker. We were rushing trying to get to church a bit early so I could drop off something to someone before the first service. I jumped off the bus first with my purse and diaper bag. Dave jumped off second with Hadleigh and the box of stuff. We went to make the exchange, I needed the box and he needed the diaper bag. So...next thing I know Dave is probably trying to tease me about something and I just want the box! Words...and I stormed off, box in hand. Bah!

Then of course, the day went from bad to worse as I dropped off the box and realized someone I thought was going to do something for me, wasn't actually going to do it. Completely overwhelmed I retreated to a bathroom stall and had a good cry. I vented my frustration at the whole situation and finally just admited my own weakness to the Lord.

15 minutes later I emerged, found Dave, had another little cry in front of the whole fellowship, and was feeling a bit better by the time the class started.

Worship was wonderful and what a wonderful time to be able to rest and find comfort in realness of the Lord's forgiveness, and in communion remembering his death has washed me whiter than snow.

Another Townend song:

My heart is filled with thankfulness

To Him who bore my pain

Who plumbed the depths of my disgrace

And gave me life again

Who crushed my curse of sinfulness

And clothed me in His light

And wrote His law of righteousness

With power upon my heart

My heart is filled with thankfulness

To Him who walks beside

Who floods my weaknesses and strengths

And causes fear to fly

Whose every promise is enough

For every step I take

Sustaining me with arms of love

And crowning me with grace

My heart is filled with thankfulness

To Him who reigns above;

Whose wisdom is my perfect peace;

Whose every thought is love.

For every day I have on earth

Is given by then King.

So I will give my life, my all,

To love and follow Him.

18 Months

Today Miss Hadleigh Claire is 18 months old. She seems like such a big girl!

She has definitely gotten the whole walking thing under control and looks like she is about to startg running. Watching her toddle around the house is just hilarious. She loves her shoes and socks (ocks) and insists on wearing them for the entire day.

Her vocabulary seems to expand everyday which is just amazing to me. It seems that she understands me completely and is always demonstrating her new knowledge of words. We enjoy singing the head, shoulders, knees and toes song. She recognizes each part and can find it on her body and on mine. We also regularly read Sandra Boynton's book Horns to Toes and she LOVES pointing to everything, especially her belly button, or her baby, as she calls it. She was actually walking around church last Sunday and showing the people around her belly button. It was hilarious. Her animal sounds have increased too and now she is starting to do a more realistic pig sound.

In teaching her all the animal sounds we always asked "what does a little girl say" and we taught her that a little girl says hi. Last week I had her on my ever shrinking lap, trying to sing to her before bedtime. She was a little upset, and was more in favor of reading a book. After a little struggle she started to cry, and I said, "It isn't time to read a book, little girl" to which she responded with a tearful "hi". It took me a minute to figure out why she had stopped crying and was saying hi, and then I just busted up laughing.

She is still a great sleeper, taking a two hour afternoon nap and then she sleeps from 6pm-8am. The nighttime sleep has been great for me because it allows me time in the morning to get up, get breakfast, shower, check email, read and then get her up and ready. I love my mornings!

Reading is our favorite past time. When we get up for the day or after her nap we spend some time reading from her "big girl" collection of books. Those are the books that have paper pages that can be ripped. She LOVES Wild about Books, and The Little Green Island, as well as some of the Dr. Seuss books and anything Peter Rabbit. At other times of the day we read from her board books. I have two baskets full of books (way more books than toys) and I still feel like I need more because she LOVES to read. She loves the Sandra Boynton books Moo, Baa, LaLaLa and helps recite the book to us, an the she loves all of her peek-a-boo books and anything with animals. The Very Hungry Caterpillar has been another fav.

She is still completely a daddy's girl and obsessed with Dave. She asks for him all day long while he is at work and when he comes in the door she squeals in delight. We haven't been able to get her to understand that I am not Dada. She doesn't really call me anything, but when pressed she will call me Dada. We have been trying to teach her Mama, but she doesn't seem to put the two together. The closest she gest to saying Mama is Mimi, but she doesn't link that name to me, so I don't know. I guess one day she will figure it out.

At church, Hadleigh has just graduated to the Toddler II class. She has done a great job, enjoys the workers and loves to walk into the class by herself, and no crying! She did the same this week at her little morning class. However, she had some trouble in the nursery during my Bible study yesterday. I am hoping it was just a first week thing and not an indication of trouble to come.

We love to dance and love music. Every morning I will put on a CD, she really enjoys Indelible Grace's new CD Beams of Heaven (that is right in this family we dance to hymns). She listens and will rock back and forth and clap and giggle. She really likes it when Dave dances to the hymns. And now as I am typing this I just think, this is a really odd family thing to do. But hye, who made up the rule that you can't learn great truths about God and dance at the same time?

Another interesting development this month has been a couple of fears. She is now afraid of thunder and sirens. Dave is really big on encouraging her to overcome these fears, so he tried to teach her to clap and say "yea they got the bad guy" when she hears a siren. Well, it hasn't caught on, exactly. The other day she heard a siren (we hear sirens many times a day) and got really concerned and started running toward me, wimpering and once she got to my arms she started clapping while still wimpering. I felt like she was saying...ok, I know I am supposed to clap and maybe if I do the sirens will go away. I just laughed. I mentioned this incident to my friend, Kris and she encouraged me to pray with her. Novel idea...pray? Why had that not crossed my mind? I am so unspiritual! So, now we pray instead of clapping.

I think that is the update. I should proably also mention that has been given to some fits recently when she doesn't get her way. Lovely. As well, she is quite possessive of "her" toys or anything she thinks might be hers. These things serve to remind us that she was born with a sin nature...darn original sin. It also makes me aware of my need for Christ to give wisdom to me as we teach her about God. It also reminds me to be in constant prayer that she will grow to be a lover of God, and that she will never know a day without him. That is our prayer for both of our girls. How amazing and gracious it would be for our girl to be able to say that they have always known the Lord.

Miss Hadleigh Claire Goes to School

Yesterday was Miss Hadleigh Claire's first day of "school". We were able to find a local church that has a parents morning out program, so one day a week she will spend the morning with 6 other kiddos playing and ignoring each other. One fun thing is that she in the same class with her buddy, Brennan, John and Brea's little boy.

I dressed her in her $2 outfit from the Children's Place. The top was $1 and the skirt was $1. And she wore her fav shoes from Stride Right, but I won't tell you how much those were...but they have been worth EVERY penny I paid for them.

I thought there might be some hesitation on her part yesterday morning, but she walked right into the class and started to play. Her teachers are super sweet and she even gave them a hug when she walked in and a hug when she left. I packed her lunch like a good mama, and then found out that she only ate her grapes and crackers...not a very good lunch!

She was in great spirits when I picked her up and then took a terrific nap in the afternoon. YEA!

I plan to use my extra time to clean without her underfoot, and also to put my feet up. No swelling yet, but you can never be sure. I figure that once the little one comes it will be especially nice to have some time with just her.

Yesterday I was able to make a run to Publix, and then spent my time cleaning and cooking. Our Community Group had a surprise shower for one of the couples who is getting married. They thought we were just having our usual CG dinner for the first Wednesday of the month. But sneaky us, we invited some of their other friends and had a feast of tapas and a few fun gifts...including an ironing board!

The food was great, everyone from the group pitched and it was a pretty kick butt meal. Matt and Mary Katherine are getting married in just a couple of weeks, so we hoped it was a special blessing to take a moment out with their friends to celebrate and pray for their marriage.

Radical Reformission

Finally I have finished. For the last copule months I have been reading The Radical Reformission...Reaching Out without Selling Out by Mark Driscoll. It was fabulous, and I have nothing but good things to say about it.

For those Intowners, if you pick it up, you will think, yea I heard similar stuff to this for the 6 years that Scot Sherman was our pastor. Basic concept behind the book- as Christians we are called to redeem culture, and the way we redeem culture is by being part of the culture. But we can only redeem culture by staying true to the Bible. If we focus on the culture to the exclusion of the truth of the Bible we become irrelevant, liberal, and universal (Jesus came to save everyone, no one is going to hell, etc). If we focus on the Bible to the exclusion of the culture we become irrelevant, pharasaical, fundamentalists who are more concerned with building a Christian sub-culture where people don't drink and smoke, or hang out with people who do.

He definitely clicks with a side of the emerging church movement, but he is more on what I would call, the conservative side of things, as in not ditching the institution, or preaching etc.

Theologically, a postmodern church addicted to egalitarianism is also marked...by a peculiar commitment to making sure that everyone's voice is equally heard and everyone's input is equally considered, whether or not it is foolish, as if the church were one big internet chat room. Some churches have gone so far as to replace a preaching monologue from a recognized leader to a spiritual dialogue among a group of peers who refuse to acknowledge any leader in authority over them. This makes about as much sense as shooting your doctor and gathering with the other patients in his lobby to speculate about what is wrong with one another and randomly write out prescriptions for one another in the name of equality.

Another reason you might want to read this book, as if what I have given you isn't enough, is that one of the chapters is entitled "The Sin of Light Beer" and it is all about why Christians are allowed to drink. I hate beer, but I liked the chapter, especially because it quote Martin Luther and Calvin who loved their alcohol. All this talk is making me wish that I wasn't prego. 7 more weeks!

Driscoll had so many good things to say that it was a refreshing read. It was also incredibly challenging as I look at my own life and think about how the Lord would call me to be part of reforming the culture in my section of life. Good stuff.

So, now if anyone has a copy of McLaren's book Generous Orthodoxy, let me know. I would just prefer to borrow it.

Labor Day Weekend

I pondered the name of this weekend for about four minutes today. My thoughts went something like this. That is funny, it is Labor Day weekend and we did some heavy labor this weekend. Well, actually, Dave did the labor and I watched. Hmm. I think it is called Labor Day because it should be a day free from labor. Wouldn't it be cool to go into labor on Labor Day?

So, here I am. Wishing to go into labor, though not really. I am still seven weeks away, so it would not be good to go into labor now. But it would be nice in some ways to be done.

Moving on. Here is our weekend in review.

Friday morning all three of us headed out to visit Hadleigh Claire's new school. She was able to meet her teacher, see her room, and meet some of the other "students" as I called them. It seems like a really fun place and HC seemed as if she owned the classroom after being there only 5 minutes. There are lots of puzzles and games and book and fun places to sit and play. She will also be in class with her bud, Brennan. It doesn't get any better than that.

Dave spent the rest of Friday ripping out the shower doors, scraping out mold (from underneath the shower doors) and recalking the bath tub. Since the bathtub was unusable, HC got her first bath in the sink. Now that I think about, I think we bathed her in a sink while we were in Venice last year. So this is her first bath in an American sink.

Saturday my best bud, Kris and I went out to get pedicures. This is a fav activity of mine, and my two fav pedicure partners are Jess and Kris. My toe nails are all pretty, and it was good to catch up with Kris while giggling because the pedicure tickles.

We also had a fun visit from our Baumholder buds, Grant and Jessica. They are now stationed in Columbus, so it is just a short jaunt away. They have their own photography business and so while they were here they took some prego pictures. You can check out their blog and photo site here. Hire them, they are super. Crazy story, when all their household goods were delivered to them in Columbus a couple weeks ago, one of the movers stole all their camera equipment. Insane! Fortunately the insurance covered it and they were able to purchase all new equipment, so it all worked out.

Worship on Sunday was awesome. What a privilege it is to have a senior pastor! God is so faithful to have brought John Tinnin to Intown. But I should probably save my thoughts on this for another post. Especially since I have already committed the cardinal sin of blogging. Giving a detailed description of my weekend. Sorry Jess!

So, now Dave is off at a Labor Day party drinking beer and eating meat. I am having some contractions, so I better go put my feet up. Happy Labor Day!

Unconfessed Sin

I was recently listening to a radio program that was dealing with the topic of unconfessed sin. Specifically, what would happen to a believer who died with unconfessed sin. They did a sort of man on the street interview of folks at a Christian conference, and I found the answers they received very difficult to listen to.

The answers ranged from...that person would go to hell...to...well, only God can answer that, but I would be concerned for their salvation...to...God isn't really as mean as we might think he is, so he probably looks on the heart and that person's actions.

What the heck? I thought, who makes this crap up? I listened, horrified, waiting for someone...anyone to claim Christ's blood as being sufficient to cover all sins, past, present and future. Only one dude went there.

Not only was that disturbing, but I thought it mostly ironic that people thought God looking on our hearts was a good thing. Heavens, my heart is more sinful than even I know, I don't want my heart to be the judge of my eternal destination!

I spent this morning reading through scripture after scripture that points to our justification in Christ as being final and eternal. As believers we are holy. Christ's blood has covered us, and when God looks upon us he sees Christ. It was wonderful to remember that I can be assured of my salvation through Christ.

I thought about listing out the passages that I was in this morning, and I can...Romans 4, 5, 8; Ephesians 1, 2; Colossians 1, 2; Titus 3; Psalm 32, and others.

Of course this afternoon I also went to my favorite past time read- the Heidelberg Catechism- I love this little book! Question 56 asks "What do you believe concerning 'the forgiveness of sins'?" Answer:

I believe that God, because of Christ's atonement, will never hold against me any of my sins nor my sinful nature which I need to struggle against all my life. Rather, in his grace God grants me the righteousness of Christ to free me forever from judgement. Psalm 103.3-4, 10, 12; Micah 7.18-19, II Corinthians 5.18-21; I John 1.7, 2.2; Romans 7.21-25; JOhn 3.17-18 and Romans 8.1-2

I also opened the Westminster Confession and read Chapter 17:

1. Those whom God has accepted in his beloved Son, called to faith and sanctified by his Holy Spirit, can neither totally nor finally sever themselves from God's gracious love. The gift of faith endures to the end of life, eternally saving the believer. Philippians 1.6; II Peter 1.10; John 10.28-29; I John 3.9; I Peter 1.5, 9
2. The saints' endurance of faith does not depend on their decisions, but on the unchangeable character of God's purpose of election. The Father's sustaining grace flows from his free and unchangeable love. II Timothy 2.18-19; Jeremiah 31.3

OK, stop freaking out about this being a license to sin, and just revel in the love, grace and mercy that has been imparted to believers. How beautiful. I am so thankful that I can rest in this certainty and not in the goodness of my own merit and heart.

Jack Bauer...er...Timothy Franklin

I am an Aunt...again! Dan and his wife, Karina, welcomed little Jack into the world last Thursday. He weighed in at 7 lbs. 12 oz. and 19.5 inches long. Jack is affectionately named after Jack Bauer of the TV series 24. Dan thinks it is weird that I bring this fact up a lot...but hey, being names after a character on TV is worthy of a note. Don't worry, his middle name isn't really Bauer, but Timothy, which was a great choice in my opinion. Not that anyone cares about my opinion in naming their child. Twice I have offered my name to be used as a middle name, but Dan and Karina hold to their own ideas about naming. I figured if Jack was named after Jack Bauer, why not have his middle name be Ami. Then we could say Jack was named after the guy from Miami Ink, and his crazy Aunt.

Ah well, I can't complain too much because we certainly don't let anyone weigh in on the naming of our babies. I figure once they are born no one can complain about the name to my face. I was sure that Hadleigh was an odd enough name that we would get comments...but now that is her name and everyone must just whisper behind my back. Mom has given it a valiant try in guessing the name of our next little girl. But she has failed miserably...it is hard to jump into the inner workings of my mind...and don't even think about trying to figure out Dave!

So, there you have it folks. I am now an Aunt to 5 boys. I am counting on Chris and Rubie to produce a neice for me in the next 10 years. Maybe one of these days I will be able to meet my nephews and nieces before they are 2 years old, but as Dave's sister seems to be out of the baby stage (since her oldest just graduated from high school), and my brothers live 3,000 miles away, we'll just be content to meet them whenever that time comes.

One Year Ago

I was going to post a different picture and then I found this one, taken a year ago today. Dave was in the states interviewing and Hadleigh Claire and I stayed in Germany. We sent him this picture to remind him we were thinking about him. She was 5 months old.

It was this week one year ago that we realized we would be moving back to Atlanta, instead of taking a job in crazy Michigan.

Pink Undies and The END

Come on, you know that you have always wanted to wear your mother's pink maternity underwear around your neck!

I am not exactly sure why, but Hadleigh Claire LOVES to find my underwear, clean or dirty, and put it over her head. This pair happened to be clean, so we let her run around for a while like this. It just really makes me laugh. This morning I found her with a pair of Dave's boxers around her neck, so apparently she is just partial to undies, not necessarily womens.

On a slightly different note I have been thinking about a recent topic of teaching at our Sunday fellowship. The last couple weeks were on Thessalonians and the "End Times". The thing about this subject that I find mildly amusing is that there is just a LOT that we can't know. I mean literally we can't know. But apparently there are a lot of folks out there who really want to know.

Now, I am a definitely a person that likes to know things, but I also like to know things that I think are at least somewhat know-able. For example I feel very happy and content in the Reformed camp. There are definitely some Reformed freaks out there, just like all the other freaks, but I still feel that through scripture I am confidant of God's sovereingty in my salvation and sanctification.

However I feel like the whole end times thing is sometimes a joke. I felt very relieved when the teacher basically said "I don't know" through the whole last class. I felt like that was honest and true...We looked at the four major views and pros and cons about each and then were left with our own study to figure out if we want to claim a camp. For me, I don't want to claim a camp, but I like making fun of the different ones.

This morning I heard an advertisement on the radio for the end times...it went something like...Matthew 24 says in the end there will be wars and rumors of war...Iran is threatening to wipe out Israel and Russia is helping Iran...so the end must be near.

I chuckled...who makes this crap up? When in history has there not been wars or rumors of wars? When have there not been natural disasters? Good heavens...

Anyway, I feel very content to just know that I have NO idea how things are going to shake out, but I know that Christ's return is imminent, and however it works out I know that it at least will not be a surprise to the Lord.

Playgroup Implodes

I do not even know if implodes is the right word, but it just sounds so cool so I had to use it!

I have been looking forward to the fall for a million different reasons. The fall is the most wonderful season. My birthday is in the fall. My anniversary is in the fall. My second daughter will be born in the fall. It is a nice feeling to get past the middle of September and to be able to walk outside and not be instantly out of breath because of the heat and humidity. Our first summer back in Hotlanta sure has been one to remember. I swear I cannot be outside unless I am in the pool. Even walking from my door to the car gets me out of breath.

So, besides leaving the humidity behind I have been looking forward to life becoming a bit more scheduled again. This morning I signed up for a morning Bible Studay and I am all excited because there was a new study added at the last minute, and it is a study of Deuteronomy. Yes! Studies that just go through a book (as opposed to studying a book of the Bible) sometimes make me weary. So I am totally pumped about the new study that will start in just a couple weeks.

Last week I was able to register Hadleigh for a morning class one day a week. I am so thrilled about that, and think that it will be helpful once the little one comes especially. In the mean time I am planning on using my first morning free to get my hair cut!

So, about the playgroup...the class that I wanted to sign Hadleigh up for was on the same day as the playgroup. I thought if folks did not mind switching days we could swap and that would work out well for us. I thought I had heard from everyone and all was well with the switch. Alas, I was mistaken.

We will see what happens...I might be able to round-up a couple lost souls who have no group. Or we might jump in and take a quick class before the little one comes. Who knows.

On the Linoleum

So I had mentioned before my insane battle with our linoleum floors. I have a little update and much coveted information for others in the same boat.

Dave found a little steamer on sale and that baby works wonders on the linoleum. It takes some time, but it is easier than scrubbing with cascade!

The other day I picked up an OrangeGlo mop set for the hardwood floors, and that mop is awesome! It has one of those edges that is full of ridges so that it can hold the cloth mop head. You just take off the cloth mop head and rinse out and then put it back on. Super easy. I have found that my favorite Kitchen cleaner...Lysol Antibacterial Kitchen Cleaner (citrus scent) works wonders on the dirt. Spray it on, let it sit for a minute and then use the OrangeGlo mop. Sweet sassy!!! Almost as pretty as when I scrub the floor on my hands and knees.

Bourne Ultimatum

So we went up to Knox this past weekend to visit Dave's fam. I am guessing that will be our last trip up there before the little one comes...insanity!

Saturday night I got a real treat, I went to the movie theatre and we saw the "Bourne Ultimatum". It was a very fun movie, but it was also just a major treat to be at the movies! The last movie I saw in a theatre was the second Pirates of the Caribbean movie, which was almost 1.5 years ago! And the last time I was in an American movie theatre was over 3.5 years ago. Dave has gone to see several movies since we have been back...he doesn't mind going to see a movie by himself...weird.

OK, so here was a weird thing that happened. We went to the concession stand and Dave asked about their combo specials. He ordered 2 medium drinks and a large popcorn and asked for one of the drinks to be water. The lady was like "oh, we can give you the water in a cup". And then I realized that meant we were going to be paying $3.30 for a cup of tap water...so I said I wanted the bottled water, but apparently they can't give bottled water with that combo meal...hmm...that didn't make any sense to me. The bottled water was listed at $3 (ok, I know ridiculous), and the medium drinks were listed at $3.30. What part of this makes sense?

There was one other very confusing conversation surrounding water and finally Dave just ordered a large drink and popcorn and after he drank his coke offered to get me water from the water fountain. I ended up not needing a drink, so it was all well.

17 Months

Miss Hadleigh Claire was 17 months old on Tuesday.

Her major accomplishments include:

walking, which she now does more than crawling

feeding herself, which she is becoming pretty good at

knowing where her belly button, head, eyes and ears are

recognizing and naming anything that moves other than a car...helicopter, planes, trucks...

putting away her toys, sometimes

dropping her morning nap and sleeping 14 hours at night

making new animal noises, recently adding bees, lizards, cats, and horses to her resume

getting stung by a bee and not crying at all

traveling down the CA coast

putting her feet in the Pacific Ocean

having somewhat regular fits when she doesn't get her way

She is a funny, funny girl and we love her more all the time. She is still super loving and will often give kisses on the cheek without any prompting. When we were at the doctor's office yesterday she crawled up in my lap and gave me multiple kisses...she likes it when I keep turning a different cheek to her. It was super sweet.

She LOVES her belly button. She will pick up her shirt and say "baby" which is her word for belloy button. When she finds it with her finger, she pushes her finger inside her BB and then sucks in her gut. I also have taught her the song "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" and she thinks this song is hilarious. She always giggles and grabs her head when I start singing it.

Just this week she has started saying "wow". She makes her mouth into an oval shape when she does it...so hilarious!

Pictures:

HC and Nana Patti with the elephant seals

HC and Dan at Berringer Estate

HC and Emma Stoddard

HC in the pool

The Reformission

I have a new fav person and his name is Mark Driscoll, he wrote the book that I am currently reading, "The Radical Reformission". My first plug is that he is pretty funny, and so as I am reading along I am always giggling about something he has written. My second plug is that his book seems to be entirely about the gospel, and so it is challenging and music to my ears.

The main premise of the book is that the church needs to have three things in focus...gospel, church and culture, or...a love for the Lord, a love for our neighbors, and a love for other believers. You take any of those out of the equation and you get liberalism, fundamentalism, or parachurch.

Another thing I like about it is, it seems to be a call to be relevant to the culture without ditching church.

Here is a quote that I have been pondering these past couple of days.

...reformission requires that Christians and their churches move forward on their knees, continually confessing their addictions to morality and the appearance of godliness, which does not penetrate the heart and transform lives...I learned that God's mission is not to create a team of moral and decent people, but rather to create a movement of holy loving missionaries who are comfortable and truthful around lost sinners and who, in this way, look more like Jesus than most of his pastors do.

Worship

Today again, I was so thankful for our church, Intown. I think that both Dave and I still feel a little bit in awe whenever we attend worship. There are definitely things that I miss about being able to worship at the chapel in Baumholder, but to me one of the greatest blessings about being back is worshiping at Intown.

I know that I have mentioned this before, but Stuart Townend is alive! When I first heard the hymn he wrote, "How Deep the Father's Love" I just assumed that the dude must be dead. But he isn't dead, so that means more good songs to come, hopefully! Amazingly I was first introduced to his song "In Christ Alone" while we were in Germany. It is somewhat ironic because we usually sang "contemporary" songs (aka. songs from the 1980s), but somehow, I think it was Lisa Dykstra's doing that we occassionally sang this song. Thank you, Lisa!

Every night as I put Hadleigh to bed I sing her either "In Christ Alone" or "How Deep the Father's Love". She loves it, and even often times when I sing to her I feel moved to tears as I repeat the words and also pray that the Lord would stir in her heart and that she would one day understand them.

This morning we sang a new song to me, and I think that I need to quickly memorize it so I can add it to my nightly song fest with Hadleigh. I sang it to her tonight, but had to use my bulletin to remember it all. She seemed a little confused that I was singing a different song, but seemed to enjoy it anyway.

Our confession of sin this morning was piercing as well. I just love having a confession of sin and time to reflect on who I am and who God is.

Almighty and most merciful Father, we are thankful that your mercy is higher than the heavens, wider than our wanderings, deeper than all our sins. Forgive our careless attitudes toward your purposes, our refusal to relieve the suffering of others, our envy of those who have more than we have, our obsession with creating a life of constant pleasure, our indifference to the treasures of heaven, our neglect of your wise and gracious law. Help us to change our way of life so that we may desire what is good, love what you love, and do what you command, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

And the Assurance of Pardon was from Colossians 1.13 "For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us in to the kingdom of the Son He loves, in Whom we have reemption, the forgiveness of sins."

Finally, here is song we sang this morning..."The Power of the Cross"...

Oh to see the dawn of the darkest day. Christ on the road to Calvary.

Tried by sinful men, torn and beaten then nailed to a cross of wood.

This the pow'r of the cross. Christ became sin for us.

Took the blame, bore the wrath. We stand forgiven at the cross.

Oh to see the pain written on Your face, bearing the awesome weight of sin.

Ev'ry bitter thought, ev'ry evil deed crowning Your bloodstained brow.

This the pow'r of the cross. Christ became sin for us.
Took the blame, bore the wrath. We stand forgiven at the cross.

Now the daylight flees, How the ground beneath quakes as its Maker bows His head.

Curtain torn in two, dead are raised to life. "Finished!" the vict'ry cry.

This the pow'r of the cross. Christ became sin for us.
Took the blame, bore the wrath. We stand forgiven at the cross.

Oh to see my name written in the wounds, for through Your suff'ring I am free.

Death is crushed to death, life is mine to live won through Your selfless love!

This the pow'r of the cross Son of God slain for us.

What a life, what a cost. We stand forgiven at the cross.

Sometimes It is Just So Clear

A lot of the time life seems like a muddle. We aren't really sure where to go, when to go, how to go, and with whom. Sometimes it just all seems like a big guessing game. It is just amazing that anything gets done!

And then there are those rare occasions in life when all is clear and you see the road in front of you and you begin to walk on it. Of course the road never looks exactly like what it looked like on that first day, but that is another story.

Today I am thankful for the things that are clear. It is clear that we will soon have another little girl to love. It is clear that we are to live in our cute, little, wonderful, green free house. It is clear that we are to host a community group.

The above picture is Hadleigh Claire reading one of her favorite books. Reading is such a wonderful pleasure and I am thankful that Hadleigh enjoys it so much. She loves to read to herself, and she loves us to read to her.

Pile of Wrath

I don't think that I have mentioned it before, but Dave and I started hosting a Community Group, basically Intown's small group Bible study. We are glad to be back in the swing of things like this, and it has been fun to get to know the folks who attend the group.

The only real downfall is that on Wednesday nights I really count on Dave being home from work early to help and sometimes that just doesn't happen. It seems to be harder and harder to get things done with Hadleigh Claire around. It seems that I have to sacrifice one mess for another. For example I folded clothes while she pulled clothes out of Dave's dresser...what do you do...at least she was happy.

So, for the first Wednesday of every month the group skips studying John and we have a potluck dinner and read and discuss an article.

Last night we introduced them to "Pile of Food". This is a McNay tradition, and we had the privilige of introducing Baumholder to "Pile of Food" and now it is Atlanta's turn. Pile of Food is basically maybe what the normal person might call taco salad...but it is with a twist. According to Dave, growing up they would just pull out all the contents of the fridge and cupboards and load whatever they wanted onto their plates. AND they always topped it off with coconut and walnuts. There is no Pile of Food without coconut and walnuts. Also the main foundation is fritos. So last night everyone brought something to pass and we had a fabulous Pile of Food feast! Dave managed even to talk some of the gals into trying it with coconut, and those who did enjoyed it!

OK, so onto the wrath part. Dave picked out an article by John Piper that was called

God’s Deliverance from God Is the Foundation of God’s Deliverance from Satan

How the Cross of Christ Corresponds to and Conquers Satan’s Work

I know that it is a ridiculously long title, which kind of reminds me of how Jonathan Edwards titles things. The article of course was good, and piggybacked on what Matt Christian preached about on Sunday. It reminded me of what one of my little Baumholder friends said once. It was one of the Money girls, either Katie or Rachel. One of the Chaplains was asking them questions about their faith and the Bible before they took their first communion. I think the question was something like "What are you saved from?" And she answered, "God saved us from Himself and saved us for Himself." I thought it was fascinating then and I think it is fascinating now...I am not saved from hell, I am saved from the wrath of God.

It's the Veggie Sticks

The Ultimatum

Hadleigh Claire is most definitely her own little person. She is very sweet and cuddly and loving. She always gives kisses and hugs to us, but she has her own ideas about things. Things like, where she wants to go and what she wants to do. At the beginning of July, at 16 months old she took her first steps (unassisted by fingers or other stable objects). Ever since we have been trying to encourage her to walk from Dave to me, or to who/whatever...but to no avail. She LOVES holding onto things. She will walk for days holding onto my hand, but won't take more than two steps otherwise.

All of this hasn't really concerned me, it is just more of an irritation. As I continue to get bigger it is harder and harder to carry her, or get her from one place to another. Our doctor was totally unconcerned with her lack of walking, and I was grateful that he just let her be and let her get there on her own. But I have still be wondering...when in the world is this going to happen???

While we were in CA Mom and I took her to Stride Rite to get her first (non-hand-me-down) pair of shoes. I remember being little and when my brothers got a new pair of shoes they always thought they would run faster. So, I thought maybe a new pair of walking shoes, especially for Miss HC would encourage her. I was assured by the salesman that the shoe would last a good 3 months, thank goodness! And I wrote of the ridiculous cost of the shoes because I never buy her anything. She only wears Washburn and Carr clothes, along with the wonderful stash we have received from both grandmas. So a splurge purchase of good walking shoes was a reasonable expense.

The shoes seemed to help a little and she has become increasingly interested in walking while holding my hand. Finally, yesterday Hadleigh and I had a little heart to heart. I Just let her know my situation and informed her that she had 3 more months of crawling, but she had to absolutely be walking on her own by the time our little Georgia Peach comes. I cannot carry two babies!

She seemed to understand that as a big sister she is going to have certain responsibilities...namely walking so that mama can carry her little sister.

Wouldn't you know that last night, one week before her 17 month birthday she stood up on her own and took about 10 steps to me while we were in the kitchen. I was astonished. She did it several times in a row and ended the walking spurt with a long trot from the kitchen into the living room to show Dave. We have lift-off!

On the Dental Side of Things

Dave is now in his second week of having his own schedule, and seeing his own patients. We are so thrilled! We have been back from Germany for 10 months now, so it is nice to have more of a feeling of permanency. He worked really hard to find this dental office and we are so thankful for the Lord's provision and timing of it all. I know he loves where he works and he loves being able to do good dentistry with good people.

No More Green

While Hadleigh and I were in California last week, Dave took on a little project. He LOVES working around the house, and even though we are only renting, he enjoys fixing things. Fortunately the landlords also appreciate him fixing things, so it is a good situation.

Dave's project last week was to rip up the green carpet in our living room and dining room. So now, the 30 year old green carpet is gone and we have beautiful hardwoods. They do need a little work, but overall it looks so much better in our house. Dave is going to put in a couple new boards that had termite damage, but overall we are now a hardwood house. It will certainly make cleaning a lot easier! Now if we could just do something about the linoleum.