I am fallible

Every date on the calendar is mocking me. I was "sure" this baby would arrive before April. Unless something dramatic happens in the next 24 hours this is looking unlikely.

Here's proof that I am not God. Just in case I thought otherwise.

Ahh, Reagan (sigh)

HT: Hither and Thither

Ready, set, go!

No, I'm not talking about having a baby.

This is a little game I caught Paul playing all by himself one afternoon:

The he would turn around and go back the other way. I thought it was cute.

Just incase you thought you were the only one

Fun to laugh along with someone else on the other side of the country.  I can't relate to any of this (yah, right.)

From Amy's Humble Musings:

You know, the best thing about staying home with your kids (besides being able to cyber stalk The Market Ticker) is that you are with your kids all day long. And the worst thing? I am with my kids all….day….long.

It messes with your mind.


While I am typing during “quiet time” and trying to ignore the background noise, someone is yelling, “McGregor is squirting us with the hose! Mom!!!!”

In between making sure two preschoolers don’t drown, drink bleach, and/or play in the toilet, I’ve finished correcting the following grades: kindergarten, second grade, fourth grade, and complex six grade math fractions of which I am very good with now. Go, me.


And someone is squirting someone with a hose. Clearly, these kids do not know Where The Line Is.


While fantasizing about being young, single, and loving to mingle*, I am sewing the strap on Kid #3’s shoe. It is a perfectly good shoe, and it is wrong to buy new ones if I can just… get… this…OUCH… needle through some thick Chinese canvas.


Lunch was store brand frozen pizza. I offer carrot sticks on the side when it’s the third time in a row we’ve had fake food in a week. Clearly, I am an overachiever. And no, nobody ever takes the carrot sticks.


I bought a package of overpriced organic raw almonds in another burst of “taking care of myself.” Then I turned over the empty box and read the caloric count.


The needle broke, and I am out of options since the staple gun, rope, and duct tape are at the other house. Good thing.


* (I did NOT just say that.)

What Evangelicals Can Learn From Saint Patrick

What Evangelicals Can Learn From Saint Patrick

Patrick carried the Christian mission into the frontiers of the British Isles—confronting a hostile culture and institutionalized heresy along the way. With this the case, the life of Patrick is a testimony to Great Commission fervor, not to the Irish nationalism most often associated with the saint. As a matter of fact, Freeman points out that Patrick’s love for the Irish was an act of obedience to Jesus’ command to love enemies and to pray for persecutors.  Russell Moore

VBAC making a come back

"Despite the enthusiasm surrounding VBAC, surveys have shown that as many as one-third of US hospitals and half of all physicians will not perform it."

Thankful my doc and hospital is enthusiastic.  In fact, he's sure it'll happen before the month is out.  We'll see...

Here's a recent article on the issue:

Vaginal birth after cesarean underused

Reuters Health
Wed Mar 10, 2010

If you're pregnant and have had a cesarean section before, chances are you'll have one again. In at least one-third of US hospitals, a repeat cesarean is the only option, and nine in 10 women end up getting one -- a fact that had experts worried at a national conference this week on vaginal birth after cesarean, or VBAC.

After reviewing earlier studies, the expert panel found that VBAC was about as safe as first-time vaginal childbirth.

Is it clear?

I came across this blog post and thought it was well written.  The author is cautioning Christian women against overstepping the clear instruction of scripture in various areas of application.  Here's my question:  what do we do when we disagree over what is clear?  Read the post and help me out...

First, we have to remember that Scripture is sufficient in its commands. It is sufficient in all it declares good, and it is sufficient in all it declares evil. If someone is pressuring you to conform to a standard that Scripture does not command, I think it’s okay to stop them and say, “I’m feeling that you think your choice is more moral than mine, and I feel pressure to conform to a standard that Scripture doesn’t prescribe.” If you say that lovingly and politely, the response you get back will be telling. They may very well feel that their choice IS more moral, and hopefully you will have opened their eyes to a problem in how they view choices that Scripture does not specifically command. If they are in Christ, they are more likely to realize that they worded their thoughts poorly and will correct themselves to be encouraging without attaching moral superiority to it. I had a friend go on and on about how wonderful breastfeeding had been for her. She stopped herself in the middle and clarified to me a correct view of the gospel and breastfeeding. She didn’t want to NOT be able to share with me, her good friend, the value she saw in breastfeeding. I appreciated her clarification and enjoyed talking with her about it. With the gospel in its proper place, the conversation ended up being HELPFUL to me, a poor breastfeeder, without being CONDEMNING.




Second, those of us who feel defensive need to lay down our swords and examine exactly why we feel defensive. The underlying foundation of a defensive stance is that you feel insecure. Many, many times, we get defensive not because someone is attacking us, but because they hit a point that nailed us in our insecure places. Breastfeeding, homeschooling, home birth, parenting techniques, courting, dating, husbands, work, clothing, organic food, you name it (I actually heard of a women’s retreat in which making your own organic foods was upheld as the morally superior choice for Christian homemakers). Have you personally wrestled with God and His Word to the point you are confident in Him in your choices? If so, you will be secure. You need to know who you are in Christ and what He has called you to be and do in the circumstances you find yourself. This will come from ONE singular place – personal prayer and Bible study. If you rely simply on your peer group to determine your convictions, you will always be constrained by what they think of you. You need a superior authority on which to rely when you are not at peace with other’s social pressure. That superior authority is God and His Word.



God does declare some things morally superior. So don’t interpret my words as a work around for things God has commanded in clear terms. But, WOW, do we Christians name a lot of things as morally superior in a way that Scripture never does. The answer is to know what Scripture says clearly, and submit to those things. For everything else, seek God’s wisdom to make the choices He has for you in your particular circumstances. This will free you from insecurity and defensiveness and equip you to love (and hear) your sister who is convicted differently.

 
 
Read the whole post here.

Idolatry on Sunday Mornings, Pt. 5

Idolatry on Sunday Mornings, Pt. 5

I like this post a lot. I think it hits the nail on the head for our little church and those involved in music there. I'm so thankful for my "flat tenors."

Popcorn

It's on!
Sunday evening - 6pm.
Come by and keep me company while I sit on the couch with my feet up :-)  unless I go into labor, but that's just wishful thinking at this point.

9 months

Can you believe that no one else around here gets excited about my braxton hicks contractions?

Can you believe that these people still want meals prepared, clothes washed, and to be toted around to school and activities?

Don't they know I have a bowling ball sitting on my pelvis (uh, I mean a new life living inside me)?

Poor Paul wants "Up, up!"  But I don't have anywhere to put him.

How is it these people can think of anything besides how sweet the new baby is going to look in the tiny little onesies I've washed and folded neatly into her drawer, how great the soft Pampers swaddlers smell, and how wonderful it is to hold a tiny newborn all curled up on your shoulder?


I'm exaggerating my frustrations here.  Really we're doing fine.  I've just become pretty self-centered.  Bringing a new life into the world is a big deal, something that doesn't happen every day.  Am I wrong to think that the world should revolve around me for the next few weeks?  Well, maybe not the world, but at least my household?  Hopefully I'm not being sinfully self-centered.  It's more like the focus of my priorities right now is preparing for birth and newborn-hood.  Those are big priorities! 

Shout out to the sign holders

So, it turns out that my OB Dr.'s building is also home to an abortionist. It's jarring to think about as I waddle into my appointments. So many mothers walk through the building doors each day -- some eagerly anticipating the arrival of a baby, some hoping to conceive, some seeking specialized care for high-risk pregnancies, some with their babies going to visit their pediatrician, and apparently some seeking abortion.

Lately, there's been a faithful contingent of abortion protesters standing on a corner of the street near the office building holding signs. Now, these protesters are of the mildest kind: female, no pictures of aborted babies, no calling out to passers by, only occasionally offering literature -- if there is such a thing as a non-threatening protester, this is it.

Last week as I walked up to the building I observed a late-middle aged woman change her direction to approach the protesters. I was 50 yards behind, and I walk slow, so I couldn't hear any of the discussion, but the woman was giving the pro-lifers her two cents.  She was angry and definitely felt the sign holders should not be there. 

I wonder if she's had an abortion.  Maybe her anger is a result of her own guilt? 

Well, I made a point to go by the sign holders and thank them.  I'm not sure if their presence causes anyone to change their mind about abortion, but I'm glad they are there.  Even if all they do is prick someone's conscience it's time well spent.  Long live the 1st amendment.