Suffering

This past week has been a bit of a blur for us as we have been grieving with a close friend who suddenly lost her husband (31) last Wednesday morning. We are grieving over the loss of a good friend, while our hearts are broken for his precious wife and 3 young children. We long to "do something," while knowing that the best thing we can do is to be faithful in prayer and in friendship day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year.

I have been reading much on the subject of comforting those who are suffering and understanding what they need in their time of tragedy. I found this article on a friend's blog this afternoon. It is well worth reading.

More Things Not to Say to Those Who are Suffering | CCEF

Ammendment:

Here are two more links from a friend's blog.

Grief 101
Grief 102

Sweet Siblings

I decided it was time to get caught up on pictures. So I recently made an appointment to have Benjamin's 4 year, Talia's 3 year, and a sibling picture taken. I finally decided on outfits that (generally) matched for the sibling picture and the separate outfits for Benj & Talia's "alone" pictures. Despite a crazy day Monday (I took Talia in for another ear infection and spent 2 hours with Benjamin waiting for her prescription that evening at the pharmacy) I had everything ready the night before and was feeling pretty prepared.

Tuesday morning Benjamin, due in part to his late night out, slept in until 9:00. He came the the kitchen just after we had started breakfast. As he climbed up in his chair all of a sudden it hit me: I had completely forgotten to give him the haircut he DESPERATELY needed! There was no way I was going to let him have his picture taken looking like an overgrown bush, but there was also no way I was going to let another 2 or 3 months go by without getting these pictures done, which would happen if I canceled this appointment. Therefore, there was only one choice: cut Benjamin's hair before we had to leave the house at 10:45. I sped the kids through breakfast, put Leila down for her morning nap, and started in. Fortunately it was one of my faster haircuts and all went smoothly. We finished with about 20 minutes to spare for getting dressed, finding shoes, putting clips in the girls' hair, and getting everyone in the car.

I had intended to have the older kids do their separate pictures first before we did the sibling shot to give me time to feed Leila and give Leila a chance to observe things for awhile before throwing her into the mix. Unfortunately, when we arrived I realized I had forgotten to adjust my plans for clothing accordingly and they were wearing the outfits for the sibling picture. We decided to just go with it. Leila did NOT like being set on the floor with a big black box in her face...at all. At first she was stoic, then she was grumpy, then she began to just outright wail. We got a couple of shots while she was still stoic, but soon decided to abandon that effort for awhile and go on to Talia.Talia, despite being drugged up on Benedryl, managed to pull out her Talia charm for a couple of beautiful shots full of her happy little personality. Every time we go to this portrait studio she always LOVES to sit in this white rocking chair. As soon as it was our turn to go back she made a bee line for the chair, pulled it out and took up her perch. She did NOT want to leave that chair to sit on the floor with her brother and sister. So when it was her turn we asked the photographer, could she please have her picture taken in her favorite chair. She was so pleased!
This shot just makes her look way too grown up. When did this happen?
Benjamin is always ready to ham it up for the camera. He loves everything to do with going to the picture studio. He was really thrown for a loop, though, when the photographer wanted him to lay on the ground. He just could not take that seriously, for some reason. We got some hilarious shots of him making goofy Benjamin faces.And then he came up with this charmer:
Of course if Talia got a chair then so should Benj. Seth remarked he looked like he should have been smoking a cigar.Finally, we decided to give it one more try with Leila. After sitting in Daddy's lap for awhile she seemed to be in a better mood. Seth thought she might like sitting in the chair better than sitting on the floor. It was hilarious trying to get all three kids to look at the camera, smile, keep their hands down, and stay close enough to each other all at the same time. But the effort yielded some fun results:
I LOVE this shot
This was another fun one, simultaneous kisses. :)
I'm glad to say we really had a good experience. Of course, it never would have worked if Seth hadn't been able to come help me direct this three ring circus. (Thanks, Babe.) I'm glad we made the effort, even if it was quite an effort. :)

Christmas in February?

Why not? I'm just going to claim that when you've spent the last 2 years of your life helping your husband through his dissertation you can do Christmas anytime you want. :)

Talia's 3rd Birthday

Did you know that "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" has 34 letters? Seth does, having created a banner bearing this exclamation for Talia's Mary Poppins themed party.
Movie-inspired party elements included: "sidewalk" chalk art (on poster board laid out on the kitchen floor, Kentucky weather not permitting the decorating of an actual sidewalk), tea-inspired breakfast snacks, and a carousel cake. Talia really got into the spirit of our "Jolly Holiday," accessorizing with her party finest.

And we're back...!

As a few have noticed, posts here have been slim in the last couple of months. The many events and explanations for my absence may be the subject of another post, but if I wait until I have time to "catch up" in order to go forward I may never get back to blogging! So, onward I go....

Next up: Talia's birthday!

A Guide to Resolutions in the New Year

This is not an update, although I hope to post one in the first part of this coming week. But I had to share this thought-provoking article:

Ten Questions to Ask at the Start of a New Year or On Your Birthday

Once, when the people of God had become careless in their relationship with Him, the Lord rebuked them through the prophet Haggai. "Consider your ways!" (Haggai 1:5) he declared, urging them to reflect on some of the things happening to them, and to evaluate their slipshod spirituality in light of what God had told them.

Even those most faithful to God occasionally need to pause and think about the direction of their lives. It's so easy to bump along from one busy week to another without ever stopping to ponder where we're going and where we should be going.

The beginning of a new year is an ideal time to stop, look up, and get our bearings. To that end, here are some questions to ask prayerfully in the presence of God.

1. What's one thing you could do this year to increase your enjoyment of God?

2. What's the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year?

3. What's the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your family life this year?

4. In which spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress this year, and what will you do about it?

5. What is the single biggest time-waster in your life, and what will you do about it this year?

6. What is the most helpful new way you could strengthen your church?

7. For whose salvation will you pray most fervently this year?

8. What's the most important way you will, by God's grace, try to make this year different from last year?

9. What one thing could you do to improve your prayer life this year?

10. What single thing that you plan to do this year will matter most in ten years? In eternity?

In addition to these ten questions, here are twenty-one more to help you "Consider your ways." Think on the entire list at one sitting, or answer one question each day for a month.

11. What's the most important decision you need to make this year?

12. What area of your life most needs simplifying, and what's one way you could simplify in that area?

13. What's the most important need you feel burdened to meet this year?

14. What habit would you most like to establish this year?

15. Who is the person you most want to encourage this year?

16. What is your most important financial goal this year, and what is the most important step you can take toward achieving it?

17. What's the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your work life this year?

18. What's one new way you could be a blessing to your pastor (or to another who ministers to you) this year?

19. What's one thing you could do this year to enrich the spiritual legacy you will leave to your children and grandchildren?

20. What book, in addition to the Bible, do you most want to read this year?

21. What one thing do you most regret about last year, and what will you do about it this year?

22. What single blessing from God do you want to seek most earnestly this year?

23. In what area of your life do you most need growth, and what will you do about it this year?

24. What's the most important trip you want to take this year?

25. What skill do you most want to learn or improve this year?

26. To what need or ministry will you try to give an unprecedented amount this year?

27. What's the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your commute this year?

28. What one biblical doctrine do you most want to understand better this year, and what will you do about it?

29. If those who know you best gave you one piece of advice, what would they say? Would they be right? What will you do about it?

30. What's the most important new item you want to buy this year?

31. In what area of your life do you most need change, and what will you do about it this year?

The value of many of these questions is not in their profundity, but in the simple fact that they bring an issue or commitment into focus. For example, just by articulating which person you most want to encourage this year is more likely to help you remember to encourage that person than if you hadn't considered the question.

If you've found these questions helpful, you might want to put them someplace—in a day planner, PDA, calendar, bulletin board, etc.—where you can review them more frequently than once a year.

So let's evaluate our lives, make plans and goals, and live this new year with biblical diligence, remembering that, "The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage" (Proverbs 21:5). But in all things let's also remember our dependence on our King who said, "Apart from Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5).

Copyright © 2003 Donald S. Whitney.

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A Sample from the Dissertation

It's "Show & Tell" time. I know many of you have been curious about this "dissertation" that has brought so much trial and tribulation into our lives, so I thought I would provide you with a sample of what I've been working on for the last few months. (... Not to mention the fact that I just finished a section and am proud of how it turned out and want to show it off a little.) ;-)

The dissertation is going to have several appendices which will list all of the artifacts that I uncovered in my study and will provide some details about each one. It will also have several pages that display the pictures or drawings of these artifacts that are found in the scholarly publications. So below is a sample from the list of sword and dagger artifacts, along with the page that displays some of the pictures from that list. You can match up numbers B121, B124, B126, and B127 in the list and in the picture. (To match up the rest, you'll have to consult the dissertation when its finished.)


While we're on the topic, please keep praying for us. I need to get this work completed by February 10th, and there is still much work left to be done.