It's amazing what adding a 20 hour/week job can do to one's studies. Since starting work as a truck driver in August, I have had to seriously cut back on my performance expectations for school. This is not as easy as it sounds, especially for the Vagabond. Needless to say, two of my classes went pretty well and my grades should be up to my normal expectations. The other two ... well, let's say that a little humble pie doesn't taste as bad it used to. The main thing is that I have really learned a lot even if my grades won't necessarily reflect it. For next semester, I'll only have classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but we'll also have an additional Vagabond running around ... so we'll see how that goes.
Speaking of our newest addition, the countdown is on and hopefully he/she will be with us in time for Christmas this year. I know my bride would appreciate an early arrival as well. I'm not sure how the other 3 children will react and adapt to a new little sibling, especially the youngest one knowing that she will have to give up the spotlight for a while. Fortunately, all of our kids have proven to be extremely adaptable to the changes we've experienced in the last year and a half, so there's reason to believe that all will go well with them.
I'm beginning to turn my focus on what will be coming after my time at seminary is over. We've always maintained that we would be open to anywhere that God would have us go, but the time has come to begin taking that out of the theoretical realm and begin considering some real possibilities. With the current world and economic conditions, this (practically speaking) is probably not the best time (career-wise) to be going into the ministry. Of course, we haven't been called to this place by a "practical" (humanly speaking) God who is overly concerned about my "career". The fact that we've made it this far given all the obstacles that we have faced is convincing proof (at least to us) that God is in the business of making the impossible look mundane. The Christian comedian Mark Lowry once said that if he could sum up the Christian experience in one word it would be "interesting." He concludes, "If you want a boring life, don't come to Christ. If want an exciting life, come to Christ." For a "funny man" he has a point.
A quick update on the kids: My son is a math geek. He's not doing well in reading, comprehension or spelling, but in math, he's outpaced where I was in the third grade doing some pretty complex math computations in his head. The oldest girl is LOVING school and ballet. She's got a great attitude toward life and is one of the most outwardly generous kids I've ever known. The baby (for now) is a riot. She's learning to climb up and into anything we will allow her to and many things we would rather she not. She loves to spin herself dizzy and be tossed around by her daddy.
We're also looking forward to a visit from my bride's parents later this week. They'll be staying with us for a while which will be a huge help as the new baby comes and it will also allow me to take some time to spend with the kids individually while I'm on break from school. The Spring semester starts in late January! 3 semesters in the books, 3 more to go!
Monday, December 13, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
What the "HELL" is Going On?
If the title has surprised or shocked you, then I want you to know that I'm surprised that you're surprised. Confused? Read on ...
About a week ago as I was driving home from class, a friend of mine and I were having a discussion. The discussion evolved from general politics to the horrors of war to the use of the word "hell." I made the comment that it disturbs me that our culture has so trivialized hell that the word and the reality behind the word has become a joke or a punch line. And I wondered out loud why that is ... how did we get to the point where we could come to speak of the worst possible existence imaginable in such thoughtless, throw-away comments. For someone to say, 'He/She can go to hell for all I care' demonstrates a lot about the speaker. The person making that remark:
I'm not going to go into a history lesson of how the usage of this word has evolved in the common vernacular. But it seems plain to me that our culture has decided that, instead of deal with the reality of hell and the consequences that would have on our moral choices, it would better to make light of it because, after all, if we can joke about it then we can diminish the reality of it (in our minds) to the point where we don't have to be concerned about it. Regardless of whether my above point is correct or not, the truth of the matter is this: hell is real - whether we want to believe it is or not.
Sidebar comment: I am not trying to "scare" anyone into becoming a Christian, religious, or even spiritual. It would be incredibly short-sighted for a person to do that based solely on the fear of going to eternal punishment upon dying. This is a discussion of language and its usage. Likewise, I'm not going to go into the theology of eternal punishment, I don't have the time to be thorough and there are a number of good books on the subject that I could recommend if you're interested.
My point is this, whether you believe in hell or not please recognize the gravity of the concept behind the word. I would argue that if you can flippantly (or even seriously) condemn someone to eternal torment, then there is something wrong with your humanity. I know that there are several words in our language that people shudder to use based on the politically or racially charged baggage that comes with them. I'm not going to argue the merits or demerits of those reactions. But I will argue that hell is infinitely worse that any name you could ascribe to someone, and yet we hardly notice when anyone uses it anymore. Well, I notice it. I heard it just yesterday on a popular talk show program where one woman said of another, "She's going to hell!" If any statement should produce in us a negative reaction, it should be that one. (To be clear, I'm not arguing politics here either ... I don't care who is saying it, the result is the same.)
Stop and think about it, please. Think about what it means. I know that I am guilty of making comments off the cuff that are truly regrettable. But the more I think about this word in particular, the more I am convinced that making such comments conveys more negativity on the one making the comment than the person to whom the comment is directed. Remember there is only One who has the authority to sentence a person to hell, and it's not you and it's not me either.
I've decided to completely remove such statements from my speech, especially my flippant comments. I'm challenging you to do the same and encourage others to follow suit. I also welcome any comments you might have on this.
About a week ago as I was driving home from class, a friend of mine and I were having a discussion. The discussion evolved from general politics to the horrors of war to the use of the word "hell." I made the comment that it disturbs me that our culture has so trivialized hell that the word and the reality behind the word has become a joke or a punch line. And I wondered out loud why that is ... how did we get to the point where we could come to speak of the worst possible existence imaginable in such thoughtless, throw-away comments. For someone to say, 'He/She can go to hell for all I care' demonstrates a lot about the speaker. The person making that remark:
- Has a remarkable amount of ignorance about the reality of hell.
- Has such a cold hearted-ness to them that they would take no pause about sentencing someone to unspeakable horror and torment.
- Has elevated him/herself to the status of God.
I'm not going to go into a history lesson of how the usage of this word has evolved in the common vernacular. But it seems plain to me that our culture has decided that, instead of deal with the reality of hell and the consequences that would have on our moral choices, it would better to make light of it because, after all, if we can joke about it then we can diminish the reality of it (in our minds) to the point where we don't have to be concerned about it. Regardless of whether my above point is correct or not, the truth of the matter is this: hell is real - whether we want to believe it is or not.
Sidebar comment: I am not trying to "scare" anyone into becoming a Christian, religious, or even spiritual. It would be incredibly short-sighted for a person to do that based solely on the fear of going to eternal punishment upon dying. This is a discussion of language and its usage. Likewise, I'm not going to go into the theology of eternal punishment, I don't have the time to be thorough and there are a number of good books on the subject that I could recommend if you're interested.
My point is this, whether you believe in hell or not please recognize the gravity of the concept behind the word. I would argue that if you can flippantly (or even seriously) condemn someone to eternal torment, then there is something wrong with your humanity. I know that there are several words in our language that people shudder to use based on the politically or racially charged baggage that comes with them. I'm not going to argue the merits or demerits of those reactions. But I will argue that hell is infinitely worse that any name you could ascribe to someone, and yet we hardly notice when anyone uses it anymore. Well, I notice it. I heard it just yesterday on a popular talk show program where one woman said of another, "She's going to hell!" If any statement should produce in us a negative reaction, it should be that one. (To be clear, I'm not arguing politics here either ... I don't care who is saying it, the result is the same.)
Stop and think about it, please. Think about what it means. I know that I am guilty of making comments off the cuff that are truly regrettable. But the more I think about this word in particular, the more I am convinced that making such comments conveys more negativity on the one making the comment than the person to whom the comment is directed. Remember there is only One who has the authority to sentence a person to hell, and it's not you and it's not me either.
I've decided to completely remove such statements from my speech, especially my flippant comments. I'm challenging you to do the same and encourage others to follow suit. I also welcome any comments you might have on this.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Many Answers to Prayer
I've been working at my new job for several weeks now and the routine of the job is beginning to settle in. I'm driving a 26 foot delivery truck for a local hospital network. I get the opportunity to work with a couple of neat guys and the folks that work on the evening cleaning crew are a lot of fun to get to know. The main difficulty is adjusting to the hours. I've never really been what you call a "late night owl", but that is what I've had to become since starting this job. On most weeknights, it is rare that I get to bed before 2:00 AM. This had made getting up in the morning a tad challenging. Fortunately, this semester I don't have any classes before 11:00 AM. Next semester I only have classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Even though those two days will be extremely rough, I'm looking forward to it. I wish I could say that my grades have remained consistent during this transition, but that wouldn't be exactly true. When weighing out my family responsibilities, my work for the church, my new job and my school work ... it's a pretty easy decision (intellectually) which one of those four will end up getting the short end of the stick.
Things at church are beginning to pick up as well. I am transitioning out of my role as worship director and moving into a role that involves more teaching and preaching. This month, I began teaching a new adult Sunday school class on outreach and evangelism. I'm also hosting a Sunday evening prayer meeting that includes a short Bible study here at the house. Oh, and I'll be preaching on Sunday October the 10th. Like I said, there is lots going on and I'm really excited about the direction things are going. I've also got another major project that may potentially get off the ground in the coming months, but its really early to tell if it will have any legs yet.
And yes, we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the newest Vagabond in late December! Life is busy to say the least, but that's just how I like it ... regardless of how tired I look or feel, there is something enjoyable about going, "Mach 2 with your hair on fire!" Half the time, I'm not even sure where I'm supposed to be going next, but I'm learning to be okay with that.
Things at church are beginning to pick up as well. I am transitioning out of my role as worship director and moving into a role that involves more teaching and preaching. This month, I began teaching a new adult Sunday school class on outreach and evangelism. I'm also hosting a Sunday evening prayer meeting that includes a short Bible study here at the house. Oh, and I'll be preaching on Sunday October the 10th. Like I said, there is lots going on and I'm really excited about the direction things are going. I've also got another major project that may potentially get off the ground in the coming months, but its really early to tell if it will have any legs yet.
And yes, we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the newest Vagabond in late December! Life is busy to say the least, but that's just how I like it ... regardless of how tired I look or feel, there is something enjoyable about going, "Mach 2 with your hair on fire!" Half the time, I'm not even sure where I'm supposed to be going next, but I'm learning to be okay with that.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
2000 Miles and a Couple of Unwanted Pets
We're now pretty much settled in our new place. It is so nice to be living in house with room to breath and spread out a bit. We've still got a few boxes to sort through and a room to prepare, but the rest of the house is quite livable. This place is such a blessing! Before we moved in, our only reservation was the living creatures we might be sharing a space with. On one of our first visits in the house, we found a dead black snake in one of the glue traps in the basement. So far the only thing we've found in the house that we slightly object to are ... frogs. Within the past month, we've had to remove two small frogs from the house. The first one was on the hood of the stove in the kitchen. The second one the kids just found on the living room floor. We are prepared for this though. To remove the first one, I took an empty Cool Whip bowl and coaxed the frog inside. Since that worked so well, I labelled the bowl "Frog" and my son used it to remove the second one.
Earlier this month, we took a 2,005 mile road trip back to PA. Now try to imagine a road trip of this magnitude with three children under the age of 8, plus a wife who is pregnant! I thought for sure that the trip would do me in before we ever got to our destination, but honestly it wasn't that bad. That said, I don't think I'll be in a hurry to make a trip like that again when baby #4 arrives!
We crammed as much as we could into the trip and found that there were still people we wanted to get together with, but time just wouldn't allow it. Suffice it to say, The Vagabonds without a doubt have the nicest and most generous friends and family ... and that is still probably an understatement! We could never begin to give out enough "Thank-yous" to all the people who made our trip so special. It was a privilege to have so many come and share in the celebration of the baptism of our daughter on Sunday morning. And we had a great time visiting with friends afterwards for lunch ... even with a few surprise guests that we weren't expecting! It was so wonderful to get to relax and visit friends in their homes, and it was a wonderful treat for me to get to play some Texas Hold 'em on Tuesday night!
The latter part of the week was spent visiting family, which was an extremely rushed but necessary part of our trip. It was such a joy to be able to visit with my grandmother and allow her to spend an afternoon with our kids! The trip back was largely uneventful - which is just the way I like it.
Another great blessing has come our way. This next week, I'll begin working at a new part-time job with a local hospital. I'll be driving truck and delivering restocking supplies and linens to one of the main area hospitals off-site facilities. This will only be 20 hours per week, but it will allow me to make as much as my wife does in 33 hours at her current job. This arrangement will also require her to work only on the weekends (more or less) and reduce her hours dramatically ... a great blessing as we look forward to baby #4 coming in December! The other great thing about this position is that, even though I'm only half-time, I'm still eligible for medical/dental/retirement benefits! If that's not enough, I received a call from the HR representative a couple of days ago telling me that they wanted to offer me more money than we had originally agreed to! So, I got raise before I even started working - not bad if you ask me! :)
Earlier this month, we took a 2,005 mile road trip back to PA. Now try to imagine a road trip of this magnitude with three children under the age of 8, plus a wife who is pregnant! I thought for sure that the trip would do me in before we ever got to our destination, but honestly it wasn't that bad. That said, I don't think I'll be in a hurry to make a trip like that again when baby #4 arrives!
We crammed as much as we could into the trip and found that there were still people we wanted to get together with, but time just wouldn't allow it. Suffice it to say, The Vagabonds without a doubt have the nicest and most generous friends and family ... and that is still probably an understatement! We could never begin to give out enough "Thank-yous" to all the people who made our trip so special. It was a privilege to have so many come and share in the celebration of the baptism of our daughter on Sunday morning. And we had a great time visiting with friends afterwards for lunch ... even with a few surprise guests that we weren't expecting! It was so wonderful to get to relax and visit friends in their homes, and it was a wonderful treat for me to get to play some Texas Hold 'em on Tuesday night!
The latter part of the week was spent visiting family, which was an extremely rushed but necessary part of our trip. It was such a joy to be able to visit with my grandmother and allow her to spend an afternoon with our kids! The trip back was largely uneventful - which is just the way I like it.
Another great blessing has come our way. This next week, I'll begin working at a new part-time job with a local hospital. I'll be driving truck and delivering restocking supplies and linens to one of the main area hospitals off-site facilities. This will only be 20 hours per week, but it will allow me to make as much as my wife does in 33 hours at her current job. This arrangement will also require her to work only on the weekends (more or less) and reduce her hours dramatically ... a great blessing as we look forward to baby #4 coming in December! The other great thing about this position is that, even though I'm only half-time, I'm still eligible for medical/dental/retirement benefits! If that's not enough, I received a call from the HR representative a couple of days ago telling me that they wanted to offer me more money than we had originally agreed to! So, I got raise before I even started working - not bad if you ask me! :)
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Another Move and Another ...
This past week/weekend we moved into the manse next door to the church which I've been serving at for the past year or so. It's a 4 bedroom (we've actually made it 5) place, which means a lot more room than we had at the apartment. We'll miss the pool at the apartment complex, but the kids love the extra space both inside and out. We still have a lot of boxes to unpack and there is still a few odds and ends we need to bring over from the apartment, but we're pretty much set at this point. Several families from our church have been and will be providing us meals for a few days and that has been a big help. My in-laws have been here for a couple weeks and have really made this move easy for us and have been a tremendous help. We're looking forward to spending the next two years (at least) here with room for our growing family.
Yes, I said growing family. We found out a little while ago that we are expecting another little Vagabond in December. This came as a bit of a surprise to say the least, but after two days of pure shock, my bride and I are really excited for this new addition to our family. Children a such a blessing and we can't wait to meet our newest member! People keep asking us if we know what causes this, and my reply is always that I know it has something to do with a stork!
This pregnancy has caused us some concern however. Routine (or not so routine - we're not sure) blood work revealed that my bride has a hypo-thyroid condition that is likely Hashimoto's disease. This explains a lot of the otherwise benign symptoms she has been experiencing, and the condition is usually treated successfully with medication. If it weren't for the pregnancy, this condition would have likely gone undiagnosed for some time. We'll keep an eye on this, but hopefully the medication will do the job.
On the academic front, I am halfway through summer Hebrew. Last year, my brain nearly exploded during summer Greek. My first thought was that Hebrew would be much harder than Greek, but it seems so far that the opposite is true. I don't whether the language is actually easier to learn, or if already having been through Greek makes learning another language easier through similar knowledge transfer. Either way, its still a lot of work, but it does seem to be manageable for now.
In a month we'll be heading back east to spend some time with friends and family and have our (then) 10 month old little girl baptized. We are looking forward to the trip immensely! It will be so good to catch up with folks in person rather than through e-mail/Facebook/phone calls. There is something to be said for a real handshake/hug that technology can't duplicate. We so appreciate our friends and family that have been praying and supporting over this past year plus. We only wish that we could spend more time there, but unfortunately we'll have to cram as much as we can into the few days that are available for us to visit. It's going to be an extremely busy week, but I know it will be rejuvenating at the same time.
Needless to say, the Lord has been teaching me a valuable lesson over the past few weeks. And that lesson is this: my concept of God and His control over His plan for our lives is simply not big enough. A year ago, I thought that having a third child while trying to make it through seminary would just be too much. Too much strain on time and finances. But the Lord has faithfully provided exceedingly more than I could have thought possible. Who would have believed that a family like mine could have survived for over a year with me working part-time for a church and my bride working part-time for a retail store? I didn't believe it, but yet somehow in the Lord's providence we're making it. The journey is not over, but the Lord has proven his faithfulness again and again. This entire Venture is beyond logic and rational thinking. But God is bigger than logic and rational thinking. God chooses the foolish things of the world to shame the wise (1 Corinthians 1:27) ... consider me exhibit A that proves that statement true. To make the point, this past week, I was notified that I will be receiving a very nice grant/scholarship that is renewable each year while I'm a student. This grant combined with the financial aid I'm already receiving means that I will NOT have to pay anything toward my tuition out of my own pocket - Praise the Lord! My brain keeps telling me that this Venture is crazy; it's nuts; it doesn't make any sense. But my Lord keeps telling me that I'm right where he wants me to be, and that is enough.
Are you where the Lord wants you to be? Have you asked Him lately?
Yes, I said growing family. We found out a little while ago that we are expecting another little Vagabond in December. This came as a bit of a surprise to say the least, but after two days of pure shock, my bride and I are really excited for this new addition to our family. Children a such a blessing and we can't wait to meet our newest member! People keep asking us if we know what causes this, and my reply is always that I know it has something to do with a stork!
This pregnancy has caused us some concern however. Routine (or not so routine - we're not sure) blood work revealed that my bride has a hypo-thyroid condition that is likely Hashimoto's disease. This explains a lot of the otherwise benign symptoms she has been experiencing, and the condition is usually treated successfully with medication. If it weren't for the pregnancy, this condition would have likely gone undiagnosed for some time. We'll keep an eye on this, but hopefully the medication will do the job.
On the academic front, I am halfway through summer Hebrew. Last year, my brain nearly exploded during summer Greek. My first thought was that Hebrew would be much harder than Greek, but it seems so far that the opposite is true. I don't whether the language is actually easier to learn, or if already having been through Greek makes learning another language easier through similar knowledge transfer. Either way, its still a lot of work, but it does seem to be manageable for now.
In a month we'll be heading back east to spend some time with friends and family and have our (then) 10 month old little girl baptized. We are looking forward to the trip immensely! It will be so good to catch up with folks in person rather than through e-mail/Facebook/phone calls. There is something to be said for a real handshake/hug that technology can't duplicate. We so appreciate our friends and family that have been praying and supporting over this past year plus. We only wish that we could spend more time there, but unfortunately we'll have to cram as much as we can into the few days that are available for us to visit. It's going to be an extremely busy week, but I know it will be rejuvenating at the same time.
Needless to say, the Lord has been teaching me a valuable lesson over the past few weeks. And that lesson is this: my concept of God and His control over His plan for our lives is simply not big enough. A year ago, I thought that having a third child while trying to make it through seminary would just be too much. Too much strain on time and finances. But the Lord has faithfully provided exceedingly more than I could have thought possible. Who would have believed that a family like mine could have survived for over a year with me working part-time for a church and my bride working part-time for a retail store? I didn't believe it, but yet somehow in the Lord's providence we're making it. The journey is not over, but the Lord has proven his faithfulness again and again. This entire Venture is beyond logic and rational thinking. But God is bigger than logic and rational thinking. God chooses the foolish things of the world to shame the wise (1 Corinthians 1:27) ... consider me exhibit A that proves that statement true. To make the point, this past week, I was notified that I will be receiving a very nice grant/scholarship that is renewable each year while I'm a student. This grant combined with the financial aid I'm already receiving means that I will NOT have to pay anything toward my tuition out of my own pocket - Praise the Lord! My brain keeps telling me that this Venture is crazy; it's nuts; it doesn't make any sense. But my Lord keeps telling me that I'm right where he wants me to be, and that is enough.
Are you where the Lord wants you to be? Have you asked Him lately?
Saturday, May 15, 2010
End of the Spring Semester
Sadly, it has been many months since I've gotten myself around to write about our goings-on, but I guess better late than never. As I sit here, I have two finals left to go for the spring semester. Both finals are oral group exams that I will take with two classmates from each class. We'll have roughly 30 minutes to answer three questions as a group. We are given 13-17 questions for each class ahead of time knowing that 3 of those will be selected for us to answer. Everyone in the group receives the same grade ... just like most things in life, this is your typical work by committee. The good news is that by 2:00 PM on Tuesday, the spring semester will be in the books and I'll start gearing up for a summer of Hebrew studies.
Some major news to note is that we have found a much larger and cheaper place to live. Our church has offered to let us move into the manse right next to the church for much less money than we are paying in rent in our current apartment. The house has 4 bedrooms along with 2 full baths plus a half bath. This will give us some much needed space to spread out a bit. It's tough having five people living in a four room apartment. This will also allow the kids to move about more freely without having to worry about disturbing the neighbors below us. The move will occur the first part of July when I have a week off between Hebrew I and II. We have been praying for an improvement in our employment circumstances, but the Lord has provided a way for us to reduce our monthly expenses!
We are also planning a trip back to PA in August to have our newest family member baptized and have a chance to catch up with family and friends back east. We are really looking forward to seeing everyone and catching up what has been more than a year away.
Our move will involve a change in school for the older two kids. I talked to my son as it would affect him more and explained to him the positive and negative aspects of moving to a new school and he indicated that he wanted to move. In fact the school that they will be attending is two building away from the house ... on the existing bus route, the kids would have to walk past the school to get to the bus stop! What also helped was that when my son told his current teacher that he would be moving to a new school, he found out that her mother used to teach at that school and that one of her best friends currently teaches fourth grade there, and that made him happy.
My oldest daughter has been continuing with ballet lessons. She and her class recently had their spring recital and she did an amazing job. She loves to dance and will often begin each morning by turning on the CD player in the living room and dance to whatever music happens to be in there. I never pictured myself as being the father of a dancer, but I have to admit that she really appears to have some talent for dancing ... combine that will the joy she has and I can see her continuing in this for a long time.
My baby now has two teeth showing. She is eating as much as we'll feed her and growing really fast. She crawls and sits up on her own and she has a knack for finding the few places in the living room that we don't want her to go. She remains an extremely happy baby (like her siblings before her) and is a real joy to interact with.
My bride continues working afternoon and evenings part-time. She is applying for other positions, but so far nothing has given us much hope for a change, but we continue to explore several options. Even though the move will lower our monthly expenses, we're still running a sizable monthly shortfall between what we have coming in and what we have to spend each month, and that doesn't account for my tuition and book expenses. The amazing thing is that although the math doesn't compute, somehow the Lord is keeping us afloat for now, but we know that the funds will not last forever at this rate unless our monthly income increases. Yet we also know that the Lord will provide for us in His timing and we rest easy knowing this.
Some major news to note is that we have found a much larger and cheaper place to live. Our church has offered to let us move into the manse right next to the church for much less money than we are paying in rent in our current apartment. The house has 4 bedrooms along with 2 full baths plus a half bath. This will give us some much needed space to spread out a bit. It's tough having five people living in a four room apartment. This will also allow the kids to move about more freely without having to worry about disturbing the neighbors below us. The move will occur the first part of July when I have a week off between Hebrew I and II. We have been praying for an improvement in our employment circumstances, but the Lord has provided a way for us to reduce our monthly expenses!
We are also planning a trip back to PA in August to have our newest family member baptized and have a chance to catch up with family and friends back east. We are really looking forward to seeing everyone and catching up what has been more than a year away.
Our move will involve a change in school for the older two kids. I talked to my son as it would affect him more and explained to him the positive and negative aspects of moving to a new school and he indicated that he wanted to move. In fact the school that they will be attending is two building away from the house ... on the existing bus route, the kids would have to walk past the school to get to the bus stop! What also helped was that when my son told his current teacher that he would be moving to a new school, he found out that her mother used to teach at that school and that one of her best friends currently teaches fourth grade there, and that made him happy.
My oldest daughter has been continuing with ballet lessons. She and her class recently had their spring recital and she did an amazing job. She loves to dance and will often begin each morning by turning on the CD player in the living room and dance to whatever music happens to be in there. I never pictured myself as being the father of a dancer, but I have to admit that she really appears to have some talent for dancing ... combine that will the joy she has and I can see her continuing in this for a long time.
My baby now has two teeth showing. She is eating as much as we'll feed her and growing really fast. She crawls and sits up on her own and she has a knack for finding the few places in the living room that we don't want her to go. She remains an extremely happy baby (like her siblings before her) and is a real joy to interact with.
My bride continues working afternoon and evenings part-time. She is applying for other positions, but so far nothing has given us much hope for a change, but we continue to explore several options. Even though the move will lower our monthly expenses, we're still running a sizable monthly shortfall between what we have coming in and what we have to spend each month, and that doesn't account for my tuition and book expenses. The amazing thing is that although the math doesn't compute, somehow the Lord is keeping us afloat for now, but we know that the funds will not last forever at this rate unless our monthly income increases. Yet we also know that the Lord will provide for us in His timing and we rest easy knowing this.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Gearing Up for the Spring Semester
It's been a busy couple of weeks, with things getting really hectic here in the past several days - just in time for the beginning of the spring semester! Within the last week or so, my bride has been laid up with strep throat, my oldest daughter threw up (blueberries and other assorted fruits) all over me, and someone broke into our apartment storage unit and stole my mountain bike. Of all of that, the vomit incident was by far the worst. I can handle dealing with any other substance that comes out of the human body, but vomit is the one thing in the whole world that really freaks me out ... mostly due to the smell. Before we got married, my bride and I agreed that in our marriage I would handle anything that dealt with blood and she would deal with anything involving vomit ... of course she was working when all of this happened! Fortunately, everyone is feeling much better now and I'm praying that we don't have any more incidents like this for quite a while.
My grades for last semester were pretty good, with my Greek class being the one exception (of course) ... and that would only be considered bad by my standards, so I'm not going to dwell on it. The spring term looks to be a slightly lighter load in work and stress so I'm happy for that! Of course, I have been wrong about such things before - so we'll have to wait and see.
My son continues to do well in school. He does tend to have a problem with his concentration which causes him to miss recess sometimes because he takes too long to finish his work. I'm looking into getting him started in karate with the hopes that he will learn some mental and physical discipline in the process. The problems, of course, are finding the time in our schedule and the money for the lessons.
My (almost) five year old will pick up with her ballet lessons tonight. She is very excited about going. Her birthday is only a few weeks away and she is wanting a "princess" themed birthday party - which my wife (mostly) and I are working on planning. She also knows that at age 5, I will begin reading her the Narnia books by C.S. Lewis and she (as well as my son) is excited to get to hear the stories read. I must say that I look forward to reading them again too ... the great biblical truths that Lewis was able to incorporate in these children's stories are simply a joy to read. It's so easy to get caught up in the emotion of the stories that sometimes the words actually get caught in my throat and I have to pause for a few seconds before I can actually say them. I can still remember when I finished reading The Last Battle with my son and after hearing this remarkable depiction of heaven, I asked my son what he thought and he looked at me with a huge smile and big eyes and said, "Daddy, I want to go there!"
The baby of the family continues to do well. She is growing and growing and growing. She loves to smile, laugh and play (and eat!). She is rolling over and getting stronger each day. With the camcorder we purchased to tape my sermons, we have also been able to get a lot of video of her playing and talking (the older too will probably be jealous of this someday).
My bride is doing great as well, apart from an illness that had her down and out a couple of days last week. She is very patient with me as I'm still learning the ropes on what it takes to be Mr. Mom. Learning Greek looks like child's play compared to stay-at-home parenting! Hopefully I'll be able to bring my grades up in my Applied Fatherhood class this semester!
My grades for last semester were pretty good, with my Greek class being the one exception (of course) ... and that would only be considered bad by my standards, so I'm not going to dwell on it. The spring term looks to be a slightly lighter load in work and stress so I'm happy for that! Of course, I have been wrong about such things before - so we'll have to wait and see.
My son continues to do well in school. He does tend to have a problem with his concentration which causes him to miss recess sometimes because he takes too long to finish his work. I'm looking into getting him started in karate with the hopes that he will learn some mental and physical discipline in the process. The problems, of course, are finding the time in our schedule and the money for the lessons.
My (almost) five year old will pick up with her ballet lessons tonight. She is very excited about going. Her birthday is only a few weeks away and she is wanting a "princess" themed birthday party - which my wife (mostly) and I are working on planning. She also knows that at age 5, I will begin reading her the Narnia books by C.S. Lewis and she (as well as my son) is excited to get to hear the stories read. I must say that I look forward to reading them again too ... the great biblical truths that Lewis was able to incorporate in these children's stories are simply a joy to read. It's so easy to get caught up in the emotion of the stories that sometimes the words actually get caught in my throat and I have to pause for a few seconds before I can actually say them. I can still remember when I finished reading The Last Battle with my son and after hearing this remarkable depiction of heaven, I asked my son what he thought and he looked at me with a huge smile and big eyes and said, "Daddy, I want to go there!"
The baby of the family continues to do well. She is growing and growing and growing. She loves to smile, laugh and play (and eat!). She is rolling over and getting stronger each day. With the camcorder we purchased to tape my sermons, we have also been able to get a lot of video of her playing and talking (the older too will probably be jealous of this someday).
My bride is doing great as well, apart from an illness that had her down and out a couple of days last week. She is very patient with me as I'm still learning the ropes on what it takes to be Mr. Mom. Learning Greek looks like child's play compared to stay-at-home parenting! Hopefully I'll be able to bring my grades up in my Applied Fatherhood class this semester!
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