Please pray for my good friends

Since our lives are rather boring (but somehow filled to the brim) these days, I'm not going to talk about us. I'd like to use this post to bring to your attention a beautiful family in our neighborhood who could really use your prayers and support.

Jim and Jodi moved to our neighborhood as Jim started seminary full-time in the summer of 2009. They are a beautiful couple and in August of that year had Ellie. Soon after Ellie was born they realized that Ellie had very serious acid reflux. This has caused her much, much pain. Ellie's response to the pain has been to stop eating. At 19 months, she relies on a G Tube (a surgically implanted feeding tube) for the majority of her nutrition. Jim and Jodi have an excellent GI specialist who has been practicing for 20+ years. She says Ellie is the most severe case she has ever had. At one point (before the G tube was put in last summer), Ellie did not gain weight for several months. There are times that, had the LORD not intervened, she would have experienced organ failure because she had such a tiny amount of fat surrounding her organs. Thanks be to Him, He has protected her (to the amazement of her doctors) and used the G Tube to make her a healthy little girl.

All along, Jim and Jodi have prayed that Ellie would eventually wean herself off of the G Tube. They were hoping she would desire to start eating as her acid reflux has gotten less severe (though there are still flare-ups). What they have learned is that it will probably not happen this way. We don't want to put limits on what the LORD can do, but all evidence suggests that in the normal course of things, at this point it will require an intervention for Ellie to wean from the tube. Children who rely on a G tube for feedings don't really learn what hunger is or that eating is essential to answer the hunger pain. Jim and Jodi have found a program in Austria that specializes in weaning children from G tubes. They also have an internet-based support program because they have realized they are some of the only people in the world who specialize in this particular area. The internet-based program has had a 100% success rate in getting children weaned off the tubes. Jim and Jodi have prayerfully considered the program and, with the consultation of some of the specialists in Austria, have decided to go forward with the internet-based support program (and not the inpatient program in Austria).

This is going to be a very trying time for their family. Basically, they are going to have to let Ellie learn what hunger is and show her that eating is the only way to solve the pain, and that it's a good thing. This could potentially be an extremely difficult time emotionally and physically for the whole family.

Please click here to read Jodi's blog to learn more.

Also please pray for their daughter, Charlotte who is 4 months old. She also has severe acid reflux which causes her much pain. So far, she has not responded in the same way as Ellie and continues to eat. But Charlotte also has at least a soy and possibly a dairy sensitivity and so eating can be very, very painful for her. Please pray that she will be healed. And pray that in the meantime the medications she is taking will begin to work more.

Also pray for sleep for the whole family. Ellie has never needed much sleep which is exhausting for Jodi who stays home with the girls. Jim is a full-time seminary student and also works part-time. Neither of the girls have great sleep which really takes its toll on the family. So pray that their family is full of rest, especially once they start this program with Ellie.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and lift up this beautiful family in prayer and support.

No, we haven't died. Yes, I have changed the background of the blog. Yes, I'm going to post soon :)

Thoughts on Advent

For a few weeks now I have been thinking about Advent. It is probably my very favorite time of the year. I thrive on schedules and since I didn't grow up in a church or denomination that is particularly liturgical, I have found great comfort in the rhythm of liturgy and the church calendar in the past few years. I love the longing and anticipation of Advent and Lent. During Advent, we remember a time when the world was groaning for a Savior, the one who had been promised for so many years. During Lent, we wait, knowing that the celebration of the most miraculous event in human history is coming, like a huge burst of sunshine after so many days of dark, gloomy rain.

I had been planning to do a great blog post about Advent. I think most of my life I have mistaken Advent and Christmas for the celebration of Jesus the baby. And it is; Jesus left his throne above to step into a dark and hurting world. He chose to do so as a baby. A helpless baby, probably not unlike the three little boys I have had the privilege of caring for. But Advent and Christmas are so much more than that because Jesus is so much more than that. He started there, but that is not where his power lies. It's easy to think of him as a baby and be happy about the baby Jesus. That's because baby Jesus isn't dangerous. Baby Jesus looks so warm and snuggly there in the manger as opposed to unimaginable pain we see Him suffer on the cross. Baby Jesus isn't dangerous because He doesn't ask us to do things that are dangerous. Baby Jesus doesn't ask us to take up our crosses; the risen Savior does.

Anyway, back to my point. I'd been planning to write about Advent myself. But I had too much to say and not enough time to sit down and say it. So, here are the four points upon which I had planned to expound:

1. Advent is the beginning of the road that ends at Easter.
2. In Advent we remember God's fulfillment of His promises of the past and that He will continue to fulfill his promises. He promised to send a Savior and we can celebrate because that Savior was born a baby in Bethlehem.
3. Advent calls us to examine who Jesus is.
4. Advent puts us in a season of waiting; waiting for Jesus in the immediate--the savior promised to Israel, and reminding us that we are still waiting for Jesus's return.

But I'm not going to because I read someone else's words that are much better than my own. (You can find the original here. I found the section "Advent Themes" to be the most interesting.)

Advent and the Church Year

by Paul Hahn

As another calendar year draws to a close, a new church year is just beginning. The church year is a system that began to be established by bits and pieces in the early centuries after Christ’s death and resurrection, allowing the church to mark time in a redemptive way. The church year keeps the themes of our worship, and thus the themes of our lives, centered in the celebration of the life and work of Jesus. Like the Gospel narratives, the Christian calendar keeps announcing to us the good news about Jesus and his kingdom, week after week, throughout the year. And like the Gospels, the church year calls us to climb into the story of Jesus, to lose ourselves in that story, and so truly to begin to find ourselves.

There are two great cycles within the church year: a Christmas cycle that moves from Advent and Christmas to Epiphany, a season which celebrates the events of Jesus’ early public ministry, concluding with his Transfiguration; and an Easter cycle that moves from Lent, with its focus on Christ’s resolute commitment to go to Jerusalem and the cross, through Holy Week, with Christ’s passion and crucifixion, on into Easter with the joyful celebration of his resurrection, followed by Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit, his Spirit, through whom he gives the church explosive growth throughout the world.

ADVENT THEMES
The season of Advent starts the new church year. Though its beginnings are hidden in the early centuries of church history, we do know that Advent originated as a time of preparation for the celebrations of Christmas and Epiphany (much like Lent is a time of preparation for Easter and Pentecost). Advent means “coming”; it is a four week period in which the church remembers Jesus’ first coming and looks forward to his coming again. Advent reminds us that we live between the times of Christ’s first and second comings and that we must live by faith in Christ and as faithful stewards of the grace he has entrusted to us as we wait for his return. Just as John the Baptist was born to prepare the way for Jesus’ first coming, so we are given to each other in the community of the church to encourage each other and challenge the world around us to prepare for his coming again.

The mood of Advent is that of longing, of expectation, and of waiting. Advent is a time when we yearn for Jesus to come back, to completely make all things new as the returning King. The cry of Advent is the cry of those who have experienced the tyranny of injustice in a world under the curse of sin, and yet who have hope of deliverance from a God who hears the cries of the oppressed and who brings them deliverance.
Of course, as the Old Testament prophets remind us, there is the problem of longing for vindication from an evil world when we are contributors to that evil! And so, as a season of preparation, Advent is a time to repent and believe: to turn away from the false hopes and drives that capture our hearts and define our lives and twist us so much that we end up using and oppressing others, and to turn toward Jesus, who frees us from slavery to our idols in order that we may serve one another in hope and love as we await his return.

ADVENT COLOR
Purple is the traditional Advent color, the color of royalty, the color that reminds us that we live to welcome back again our King upon his return. The purple of Advent is also the color of suffering used during Lent and Holy Week. The church has used this color coordination to connect Jesus’ birth with his cross, his reign as king with his sacrificial crucifixion. This color scheme helps us to remember that as we approach the baby in the manger we must remember the full grown man on the cross, a man who is also fully God, the King who uses the cross as his victory chariot over the forces of death and evil.

ADVENT WREATH AND CANDLES
The Advent wreath is a relatively new tradition, but an increasingly popular one, that prepares us for the celebration of Christmas. The Advent wreath and candles are a great way to pull young children into the season and make it come alive for them.

The circle of the wreath reminds us of God himself, of his eternity and endless mercy. The green of the wreath speaks of the hope that we have in God, the hope of newness, of renewal, of eternal life. The candles associated with the wreath symbolize the light of God coming into the world through the birth of his Son. The four outer candles represent the period of waiting during the four Sundays of Advent, which themselves symbolize the four centuries of waiting between the prophet Malachi and the birth of Christ. The fifth candle, placed in the center of the wreath and lit on Christmas Eve, is the Christ candle, reminding us that all is not preparation; he really did come and he really will come again. The colors of the candles vary with different traditions, but there are usually three purple candles and one pink candle around the wreath, with the white Christ candle in the center, reminding us that Christ is at the center of all things and in him all things hold together. The third candle is traditionally pink, symbolizing our joy at the coming of Christ.

ENTER IN
So Advent is all about entering into the story of the gospel in new and deep ways, remembering Christ’s faithfulness, clinging to his promises, turning from sin, and yearning for his return. Enjoy the season. May Christ come and meet you as you live between the times. Amen.

Dragon Slayer

"I wasn't showing my face because REAL knights, the ones that fighted REAL dragons, looked like that when they were fighting. They put their masks over their eyes when they were fighting dragons. See this (his left hand)? This is a spear. They would like PUNCH and POKE in the dragons when they were fighting dragons. They punched in the big parts of their bodies, not the little parts of their bodies. My shield (his right hand)--real knights put it on their hands when they were fighting dragons. My boots help me so that the dragons don't bite my feet. Those boots make it so that they don't bite my feet because if I wear my other shoes that aren't the boots they would know how to rip down in my shoes and socks and then they would be ruined and then they could bite my feet so that's why I wear my boots."

Yes, he made his own spear and shield out of tape. You'd think we don't buy the boy any toys.

And how could I resist adding a picture of this cutie???

First gifts of Christmas

Last year we started what I hope will be an annual tradition at Christmas: giving each boy a Christmas ornament that represents that year. Last year Nathan got an elephant because they were still his favorite animal and Isaac got a car because he was beginning to show an interest in them.



This year, as I'm sure you guessed already, they got DINOSAURS! Nathan is obsessed with dinosaurs and Isaac loves everything Nathan does. If you can't tell, they even have on dino t-shirts.

Nathan's is a T-Rex, Isaac's is a Stegosaurus, and Toby's is a Triceratops (because he doesn't seem to have any opinions yet). Thank you, World Market, for having dinosaur Christmas ornaments. I definitely wasn't sure I'd find them anywhere!

A couple of random things.

Toby is kind of obsessed with the TV. It's not on much in our house (though more during the fall because Jimmy and I love football), but when it's on he will do whatever necessary to see it.

And lookey here at this totally unwelcome guest. I'm not even 30 yet. Ugh. (Jimmy asks, "So, does stress really make you get gray hair or is that just an old wives' tale?" I don't know the answer.)

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! How about you? This year we hosted for the second time in our lives (and I've still never done the turkey!) and it turned out really well. We had 18 people crammed into our little apartment but it worked fabulously. Our guests of honor were a family of Iraqi refugees that Jimmy has gotten to know over the past several months (unfortunately only two of their four children were able to come). We also had three other families from our neighborhood join us. The four seminary families were in charge of all of the food and someone commented on how it was all done really well. Our Iraqi guests seemed to like most of it--they got a great introduction to American Thanksgiving!

People, this is the way to do mashed potatoes. 10 lbs of potatoes + four sticks of butter + 2 packages of cream cheese + salt & pepper = a heart attack named YUMMY!

My first Thanksgiving with snow.

The tables are set!

Rafik and his amazing turkey.

Everyone loves Toby :)

We're pretty sure a good time was had by all!