No Grasp of Your Reality

Well, sooner or later, kids say things like this. They don’t mean it, but it still hurts to hear them say. These were the words that came from Thomas’ mouth on the way home last night.

“What do you mean by “I don’t like daddy”?” I asked. “I don’t like daddy’s work,” he said. “So you do LOVE daddy, but you don’t like the he’s gone?” “Yes, cuz I miss him.” “Well, it’s good that you miss him. Because you LOVE daddy. Daddy loves YOU too.” Thomas cut me off and was almost yelling, “He DOES?” “Yes, and that is why he has to go to work. Do you know what daddy does at work?” “No.” “He does stuff on his computers.” “Does he fix them?” “Sometimes. And when he works on computers or fixes them, he gets money for it. And what does he buy with that money?” “I don’t know!” “Well, he pays for our house and he buys food for us and clothing and toys and flowers for mommy…” “He buys toys?” “Yes! But he has to work to get money. And Daddy misses you, too, when he’s gone, but he loves you so much that he goes to work even though he misses you so that he can have money to take care of you. So do you love daddy?” “Uh-huh”. “Good, because he’s coming home the day after tomorrow.” Thomas started screaming with excitement “Yeah! Daddy’s coming home!”, which made Tabitha scream too, which woke up sleeping Aiden. LOL. Phew. One bomb diffused and a 999,999 more to go. PS: I miss “daddy” too!

Last night I went out with a friend for “coffee” (heh, which turned into a bombay chicken salad, sprite, and a lemonade) who is expecting her third. Afterwards, in the parkinglot, as we were ready to go, she said “I’m a little nervous about having three. How do you do it?” I had been waiting for this question all night. Something on the tip of her tongue, but was just sort of being avoided. “Adjusting to three children is harder than adusting to having two. You have two hands, so in one, you can hold a baby and in the other, you can hold the hand of the other child, or whatever. When you have three, you have more children than hands. When you are tending to one, you can’t have the other two seperated and doing their own quiet thing all the time. It just doesn’t work out that way. You have to deal with two children interacting with each other at the same while dealing with an infant who needs care. You are having a new baby. A new life is being brought into the world. This is a _life changing event_. If you expect for a baby who has been in the security of a womb for nine months to be born and everything to just carry on as normal, you’re going to wear yourself out trying to stay in control of every little detail. You are going to feel like a failure. Instead, you must recognize the gravity of this life-changing event and allow for yourself an adjustment period for this — not backing down on biblical principles, but just applying more grace to your view of yourself and your children… and not seeing every unchecked item on a schedule as a “failure”, but rather something that may need to be modified or omitted to meet your present needs.” She actually repeated it a few times, and gears seemed to be turning, “This is a life changing event, and I need to allow myself an adjustment period.” I said, yes, yourself, but also your children. This is a hard time for them — they will not have the same measure of attention they are used to, and this makes children do things for attention. It is good time to do things to reinforce that they are still special and loved.”

Proverbs 15:31-32 “He whose ear listens to the life-giving reproof Will dwell among the wise. He who neglects discipline despises himself, But he who listens to reproof acquires understanding.”

Just have a moment… was reading Proverbs 15 today and came across this verse. The fact that reproof can be life-giving was a great observation. Many implications of this. Thought I’d write it down, lest I’d forget it during a future reproof.

It takes flying over to England to learn me a new game. The Cross Keys has, in addition to pool and darts, an interesting game of skill called Skittles.

Monday nights is Skittles at the Cross Keys, and about a dozen of the townsfolk come out to play. The game seems to be an interesting combination of bowling and skeeball.

A table is set up with leather barriers on either side, and a lowered pit in the back. On this table, nine pins are arranged in a wide diamond. A line is set up a few feet from the table, and the player has three throws of a round, flat “cheese” (it looks just like a waxed gouda). The player who knocks down the most pins in each round wins that round, and the first to win five rounds takes the game.

On your turn, you always get (at least) five throws. So, if you are skilled (or lucky) enough to get all the pins on the first or second throw, they are all set back up for you.

Shane and I played a few games, and it takes quite a bit of skill and strategy. Where one stands, and where one aims makes all the difference. Old men playing were able to clear the table in a throw or two with regularity.

More info on the game can be found here.

Tune in next time when I explain Cricket, after having watched the five day test between England and New Zealand off and on this week.

Well, I’ve got a little break from work, so I’m writing up a quick journal entry. I arrived safely, and spent a day touring London, exhausted. I couldn’t sleep in the back of the plane amongst the common people, so I watched Lord of the Rings, and ate my TV dinner (”What? No salmon and cucumber appetizers?!?”)

London was very cool. After renting our ugly French Renault, We parked almost underneath parliament, so we were within walking distance of Westminster, Buckingham palace, and Piccadilly (sp?) circus, all of which we visited. We hopped on the subway and spent too much money to get us out to the Tower Bridge, and saw the building where Sir Walter Raleigh spent something like 12 years.

Finally, we hopped in the car and headed towards Cambridgeshire, and a little town called Molesworth. This town is home to a pretty little inn called the Cross Keys. It’s a beautiful, almost stereotypical English pub surrounded by some amazing countryside.

Getting ready to leave… I’ll write more later, as I get a chance. I’ll definitely have an Internet connection at the hotel in Tokyo, so the updates will be more frequent there. I miss everyone at home, and I’ll see you in a few days.

Today was a good day, despite the obvious Tom-vacuum.

As I write this, I think, “how do I measure a good day?” These things certainly are factors:

-Things on my to-do list get accomplished
-The kids behaved and had fun
-Opportunities to glorify god were not missed
-Got to talk to Tom today!

Today we celebrated Tabitha’s 2nd birthday — even though it was actually yesterday. Great Grandma Trudy, The Judges, Steve and Diana, Ben and Liz and all the uncles except Matt (he did come over to our house to bring a new bunny (she LOVES it!) and to wish Tab a happy birthday!) were over. It was quite a party! She was in heaven! Grandma’s cake was _wonderful_. Mary Judge brought her digital camera.. so I will put up the pictures as soon as I get them. Thomas has been given many toys by his Great Grandpa Tom, and Grandma Nancy.. and all of the toys in the house had been BOYS toys. So, today, Tabitha received a number of “girls” toys.

-New bathing suit with a PINK HULA SKIRT — which she was TWIRLING in… “ready, set, GO!”
-Plastic Tea & Dinner settings for 4 (to go with her kitchen set)
-Plastic food and cooking utensils
-A dad, some sibings, and a living room set for her Loving Family Doll House
-A new Carebears toothbrush (hers ended up in the toilet, due to her recent fascinating with flushing and toilet water.. we have literally gone through 2 rolls of toilet this week because of this fascination..)
-Nemo bath bubbles from the Judges
-Bubbles and a ’spill-resistant’ container from STeve and Diana
-A Pooh & Friends beach towel from Grandma
-Pink sunglasses (which look adorable when combined in outfit with the hula skirt)
-A barnyard puzzle (tabitha LOVES puzzles!)

So.. now we have GIRLS toys in the house!! When we got home, she played and played. Awesome.
…..

When I was in the Giant tonight buying Milk, there was a little girl who was singing at the top of her lungs in the kids’ firetruck attached to the shopping cart. As I walked by, her parents were smiling. They looked at me and apologized for her loudness. I said, “She’s adorable! She’s singing because she’s happy! I love to hear children sing!” They asked if I had any, and I said “Yes, three.” They asked if I was going to have more, and I said, “I wouldn’t be opposed to the idea.” Then, the dad said, “Well, the Lord said, “Be fruitful and multiply!” I was like, “yes he did!” And then, went on, “I love being a mom because, as adults, we tend to be jaded. To children, though, life has not become routine, and everything is new and fascinating. If parents are in tune with their children, and take time to share in this experience, it’s like rediscovering the world all over again as adults, and suddenly ‘life’ is alive again… it gives us a new appreciation for life.” The mom said, “That is so true! May the Lord bless you!” It was truly a great moment. What a cute little girl!!

When I was in the Dollar store, our oday when I was in the Dollar Tree (next to the Giant in Coatesville), the young gentleman at the cashier seemed very upset.
I said to him, “are you okay?” and he said, “My wife and I are thinking about divorce. I love her so much, but I don’t know how to make this work.” He recently had left her to live with his mom to” try to sort things out”. He apologized for being upset at work in front of customers and said, “I am so sorry, I just can’t seem to think of anything else.” Even though the store was _packed_ there wasn’t anyone else behind me! So, I said, “It’s good that you can’t stop thinking about it. Your marriage is a priority! Would you ever consider going to marriage counseling?” and he
said he wanted to “but there was no way he could afford it”. I said “My husband is traveling, otherwise, I would have him call you — but there are men at my church who would love to talk to you and help you think through this — and they wouldn’t charge you!” His eyes lit up. He immediately wrote
down his name and phone number and asked if I could please pass it on to someone who could talk to him. So.. I passed it on to Wayne and Rob. Something to pray about!!

Through the experience at the Dollar STore, as well as preparing for our Dads and Daughters Dinner (Got the Dairy Queen to hang a poster for the Dinner in their front window today!!)– on the topic of “Strengthening the Father/Daughter Relationship”, I have just really been pressed with the idea that our world is a HURTING world, trying to make decisions and understand life WITHOUT God. They are trying to make sense out of chaos without the tools of scripture, prayer, and the holy spirit. What hopelessness! We as Christians HAVE these tools. We need to be attentive to unbelievers who are blindly fumbling through issues like marriage and parenting, and let them know that there ARE _concrete_ answers to their problems.. not just what FEELS good, but what is RIGHT. Discussing TOPICS with unbelievers is a GOOD way to bring people in. People need to know that God is a part of every day life, pertinent to modern life, and that Jesus Christ really is the same yesterday, today and forever.. and that his word is just as applicable now than it was at the time of Moses. I pray that God will make me sensitive to the people around me, and just to continue to burden my heart with the desire to share God’s answers with people in love.

Along the lines of topical ministry opportunities, I was considering writing a line of tracts on the 10 commandments.
The first thought that came to mind was taking the Lord’s name in vain. Often, though, if you confront people about this, they say, “well I’m not using God’s name as a BAD word…”, totally missing the point. (Click on the “vain” link for definition.) We are not to throw around God’s name in a careless way. Out of our heart, our mouth speaks! Matthew 12:34 . If you have a deep reverence for God, will you be inclined to be careless with his name? Something to think about. Anyways… being as unbelievers carry around the weight of sin, it may be a good place to start for evangelism — dealing with sins. The 10 commandements would be a good place to start (another example — murder, and murdering someone in your heart). Verse, explanation of sin, root of the sin, showing that it is offensive to God, freedom in Gods forgiveness, and your repentance. It would probably be controversial for those preaching a feel-good, “God will accept you the way you are and you don’t have to change” gospel. It addresses specific sins, shares hope, and gives a “put off” / “put on” example for repentance / behavioral change. Cuts to the heart of the matter saying, “All have sinned” and “sin seperates us from God.” Key is offering hope from the bondage of Sin through Christ.

I did put up 5 American flags in our flag holder today, on our porch. I do not agree with the war in Iraq. I do appreciate the freedom that I have, though, and those who fought that I may have it.

Reminders:
-Finish article for GGG to send to CE&P
-Write article on the primitive stiching lady from ebay for women’s mag/craft/trade magazines
-Write article on using volunteering as part of a homeschooling/educational curriculum (
-Write article on “taking God’s name in vain” for christian mag
-WRite article on “traveling with children” - parenting, family, travel mag.
-Write article on “What does your decorating style say about your relationship” (dominant feminine decor in home.. balancing his&hers in decor, considering your spouse and making him feel at home)
-Send in anecdotes about Thomas to reader’s digest
-Article about using “topics” as an outreach
-Sign up for D&D Dinner, order “prayer request cards”, call florist — try to get free wrist corsages in exchange for advertising, meet with Kelly Caterers at the church to take inventory of dinnerware, letter to church members

Note: “Write what you know” .. need to think of things I “know”… homeschooling, child rearing.. look for mags in these fields.

…..

YES.. okay.. I DID have coffee. I’m not tired and it’s 2 am.
Going to work on the letter to the congregation about the Dinner.

Tom, if you’re reading this, I love you. Hope you’re getting some rest!! CAn’t wait to see you!!!

If anyone else is reading this — I would love to hear your thoughts and comments.

sja

You know, today was a good day.
Tonight, though, just plain sucks.
I hate not having Tom to talk to.

The Judges were here today — they’re great kids! Thomas and Tabitha love having them over. Lots of fun in the pool today. Lots of splashing, screaming, tattling, and more splashing.

Made Tempura for dinner. Quite good, but I burnt three of my fingers in the hot oil. I was putting the battered vegetables in the oil and Thomas crashed into my legs at the very moment. OUCH. They still feel like they’re stinging.

Busy day with doing stuff for the Dads and Daughters Dinner. Lots of emails to radio stations and mutual friends, inviting and announcing.

The news today was flooded with pictures of gay marriages.
Sarin may have been found on an unmarked artilley shell in Iraq, the first finding of a WMD since the war began.
Hurricanes are brewing.
India’s stock market is crashing.
My brother graduated from college yesterday.

Well, busy day tomorrow. Getting the cyst on my arm looked at.

Going to bed.
Obviously, not a boring day. Just don’t have the energy to talk about it. And, did I mention I miss Tom?

PS: Velvet escaped while I was cleaning the cage at midnight. Obviously, the kids don’t know yet. That bunny was FAST! Then, she just sat there and watched me clean out the cage. Kinda funny. I left it open, stocked with fresh water, carrots, grass and rabbit food. Who knows, maybe she’ll stick around the yard and let us pet her now and then.

Well, if you are keeping up with Tom’s journal, you know that he’s away.

When he’s gone, it seems I become this superwoman — able to get things done. My life becomes more organized and driven. Tonight, within two hours, I cleaned the whole back porch and all of the toys hiding in our grassy lawn. We cleaned the pool, moved it and filled it up again. A number of laundry loads were completed, washing machine to dresser drawers.

I do these things, and as I do, I feel like I am somehow stepping outside of myself to get them done. It is almost a sense of duty to help focus on something else besides missing Tom. The work becomes an addiction — a distraction to drown missing him.

A few weeks before he left, we had a long discussion about emotional dependence. Still mulling over this one. Do I depend on Tom for happiness, or am I relying on God for my sense of well-being?

I think it just comes down to really missing Tom. When he walks into a room, everyone gets up to say hello. They all want to hear what he is up to, his latest pursuit — whether it be beer, a game he conquered, a new thing he learned, an opinion on current events. He is so passionate about things.

There is never a moment when he’s here that we’re not thinking about something together. His wealth of knowledge is amazing, and if he doesn’t know or understand something, dammit, he finds out. He really inspires me to think about things, and he sharpens the way that I think about them.

I do pray that he’ll have safe travels, and that he’ll make it back to us in one piece. I am happy that he’s getting this chance to see the world, and thankful that his heart’s still back at home with me and the kids.

I miss him!

Church in the AM. I have nursery. Not my favorite thing in the whole world to watch other people’s kids, but then, I’m sure it’s not other people’s favorite thing to watch _my_ kids, either.

I’ll be leaving tomorrow for England on a business trip for work. The job that we’re doing there seems a lot more “open” than most of my recent work (when I say “open”, read “unstructured”). I’m not really concerned about the success of the trip, but that may be because we have no requirements that I am aware of.

Also, for the first time, I’m there to support someone else’s install, so I’m not really on the hook to get the whole thing working. In this case, the overall responsibility belongs to someone else.

England should be fun, though. For the first time, I’m traveling with a digital camera and a laptop, so keep an eye on this website for pictures. I’ll try to upload them as I get them, so it’ll almost be a real-time journal of my trip. My understanding is that the Internet connectivity where we’ll be in England is going to be spotty, but at least when I’m in Tokyo in June, I’ll be able to upload pictures every evening.

Every time I pack for one of these trips, I always feel like I’m forgetting something. I never have forgotten anything major (although, the last time, I did forget my good shoes), but I’m always worried I’ll forget my wallet, passport, installation documentation, or something that would be difficult to replace. Again, I’m glad that most of this installation is not really my responsibility.

Thomas is going over to a birthday party for the neighbor across the back alley, and I’m working this afternoon on finishing my composter.

Every once in a while, a day goes really well. Children behave for the most part, “to-do’s” are crossed off and we even manage to have fun in the process. Today was one of those days.

To start out, we all slept in! 9AM for me and the kids. Talk about refreshing!

Then, I was able to do *two* pilates balance ball videos (Let me digress for a second and say that I *love* the balance ball. From a purely physical perspective, NOT a spiritual one, I enjoy the level of concentration performing the excercises require. You have to focus your strength on holding positions and moving into new ones. Each excercise combines a stretch with the motion, too, which leaves you feeling limber instead of sore after work outs. Of course, the next day, you KNOW you used muscles you didn’t think exsisted.)

Then, while Tom mowed the back lawn (which, btw, is so lush — thanks to Mike Harnish’s technique of fertilizing the grass before winter), Thomas, Tabitha and I went grocery shopping. We were on the pet aisle today (it is attached to the baby items aisle) and there were paw prints on the signs. Tabitha starting screaming “A CLUE! A CLUE!” in the store. So cute!! She was so amazed to see the paw prints in the context of a grocery store. I bought a salt lick on the pet aisle to attract a rabbit that has been grazing in our back yard.

When we got home, we helped Tom pick up the grass clippings and put them in bags. Tom would like to start a compost bin, complete with worms, to use for our gardens.

While we were picking up grass, Tom spotted a baby rabbit, which had been hopping around the yard while he had been working. Its brown coloring blended PERFECTLY with the roots of the lilac tree, where it was hiding. I was able to catch it!! It screamed for a moment, and then calmed down and snuggled up to me. So cute. The kids loved it. Our neighbors had a party for their daughter’s fist communion today. The party died down, and the remaining guests were neighbors. So, we went over with the rabbit. One of the neighbors –she is a pet store owner — had an extra cage, so we were able to put the bunny in the cage and bring it home with us. Thinking of naming it ‘Velvet’. Velvet is in the cage in our kitchen. I picked up a water bottle and some rabbit food for it tonight.

Tom fried up some Scallop, aspargus, mushroom and yellow squash Tempura with using SunLuck Tempura batter, which you can find in the ethnic food isle. You’ll also need Panko, which is a fine bread crumb mixture. Batter and fry, and dip in a sauce of Mirin ( a sweetend sake), broth, and soy sauce. It is so so good. I love how Tom enjoys making new things, particularly ethnic dishes. He’s a great cook! He even served us with authentic chopsticks and on a set of interlocking stoneware dishes he bought in Japan, and green tea in a teaset he purchased there as well. Very fun meal.

Thomas is spending the night at his grandma’s, to go up to see Great Grandma Trudy first thing in the morning.
Also, I talked to my mom today — she sent me a great mother’s day card with a kid eating brussel sprouts on the cover … because when we were little, she served us a dinner with brussel sprouts, despite our complaining, and when she ate one, almost got sick and felt bad she had made us eat them!! — and came up with an idea for an ad about refinishing outdoor furniture. “Are you planning on serving your neighbors on this? (pic of ragged picnic table) Think outside the House”.

Anyways… yes, I’m rambling.. yes, it was a blissfully wonderful day… yes, I’m quite thankful… and yes, it really is 1AM. Time for some rest. Church in the AM.

Tom, did I tell you I love you today? (Only about 50 times!)

*night*

Barry, our benevolent dictator on the RTDISC list, had written the following on the list, “The doctrine of perseverence is not to be used as some sort of shield or excuse for wrongful associations: “Bad company corrupts good morals” was written to the church… Secondly, both the means and the ends are ordained. If we neglect the means, we cannot be sure of the ends..”

I responsed to him with this….

While I heartily agree with what you write above, it’s my observation that your opinion is in the minority amongst Reformed folk. Either it’s due to bad teaching, or (dare I say it) bad doctrine in the Reformed Confessions, I don’t know, but Rod’s statement is one that I often hear, from lay folks and from pastors in Reformed churches.

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard that the warnings of Hebrews 6 (”it is impossible for those who were once enlightened… ^ if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance”) or Ephesians 6 (”Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”) don’t really apply to me if I’m “truly a Christian”. In the case of Ephesians 6, we were told in a Sunday School class (by an elder) that if we’re truly Christians, the worst the devil can do to us is to cause our Christian life to be less fulfilling. I mean, the confession says that we can’t fall away!

Personally, it’s my current opinion, that while the WCF does a very good job of sorting out the ideas of election, justification, regeneration, perseverance, assurance, etc., it doesn’t do a good job _at all_ at tell us how we apply those terms to ourselves.

Even in the section on assurance, where it makes wonderful statements about how we can know that we’re part of God elect, etc., it prefaces the whole paragraph with the caveat, “Although hypocrites and other unregenerate men may vainly deceive themselves with false hopes and carnal presumptions of being in the favor of God”. Nowhere does it say how I can tell I’m assured and not a hypocrite. And sadly, neither do any of my teachers.

The amazing part is that the lack of application is not found in Scripture… Paul is not afraid of calling his audience “the Saints”, and saying that God “chose us in Him before the foundation of the world”, yet still warning his audience of falling away. In my sacreligous opinion, Paul sounds less Reformed than he ought to.

You may be anticipating my next statement with dread. In the last few weeks, I’ve been reading Norman Shepherd’s “Call of Grace”, and I’m finding a breath of fresh air to the “conventional” Reformed lack of application of God’s grace upon the people of God.

I his book, he writes a criticism of Reformed preaching, “We are told that the results of election and regeneration can be seen in the changed lifestyle of the believer, but then we are also reminded of the danger of misunderstanding and self-deception. We are told that as Christians we are still sinners, and that there is only a small beginning of new obedience in even the best of us. Honest and searching self-examination would appear to yield more reason for doubt than assurance.” YES! THAT’S IT EXACTLY! Over and over, Shepherd nails “stereotypical” Reformed preaching and evangelism.

Shepherd later talks about applying the promises of God (including perseverance) to the congregation.

“Furthermore, since Christ has died only for particular persons (limited atonement), whose identity can never be known with certainty, it is inconsistent with the Reformed faith to say to any specific person what Christ has done for him. This is certainly the case with respect to people outside the church of Christ, but it is also true to a large extent with respect to people inside the church. The pastor hesitates to cultivate a hearty assurance in this or that believer, because he does not know for certain whether that person is one of the elect and this one for whom Christ died. His faith may prove to be temporary and his works hypocritical. To cultivate assurance under those circumstances would lead him away from the cross of Christ.”

While this attitude is the opposite side of the coin from Rod’s statement, both are apparent dangers that I see so often in Reformed churches, and on Reformed lists from Reformed elders and teachers.

Shepherd insists that such an opinion is due to a misunderstanding of the Confessions, and I tend to agree. I have no problem saying that the elect cannot fall away if we’re using Confessional language. I do believe that Saints can fall away if we’re using biblical language. Those ideas aren’t in conflict… it’s just a matter of perspective and definition.

Ok… I’m done rambling… burn me at the stake.

I’ve been digging through the archives of the Reformed Theology Discussion List, and after reading a lot of my old posts, I posted the following to the list.
——————-
In looking through the archives, I’m rather surprised at some of my views from a few years ago. I thought I should write up some caveats a) to clarify my position on a few issues, and b) to show that I actually do change my mind over time.

I wrote, on Aug 26, 2000, “Their [Roman Catholics] ‘morality’ stems from their terror of God, and the fear that if they don’t follow all these man-made rules, they’re going to burn in hell.” I don’t have such a wide paintbrush for Roman Catholics… while I still believe there are RCs who think this way, I think they’re few and far between.

On Aug 27, 2000, I wrote “Even though the Bible allows certain things, if the law of the land says it’s illegal, then I can’t do it (Rom 13).” I no longer believe that breaking the law is immoral, independent of what God’s law says. Going over 55 miles per hour is not a sin. Rosa Parks refusing to move to the back of the bus was not a sin. Downloading music online is not a sin. Romans 13 does teach that we need to submit to our rulers, including to whatever punishment they decide is appropriate punishment, but simply breaking a law on the books is not, in itself, immoral.

I’m still believe that images of Christ are sinful.

I still can’t figure out Edward Hassertt.

On July 12, 2000, I wrote the following in defense of copyrights on media (movies and games), “As a software designer, I think that many products work best when open and freely distributable (OS’s, applications, etc), but would you also advocate the free distribution of DVD movies and commercial games software that can take millions to develop? Where would the incentive be to make multi-million dollar projects like X-Men (woohoo), if there was no potential to get back their back their investment with profit?” Since then, my position has drastically changed (I can’t even believe I wrote that!!!), as I do not believe that intellectual property is beneficial at all to society. Of course, in the last four years since I’ve written that, the MPAA and the RIAA have asserted their God-given right to intellectual property ownership. My position now is essentially the position of the Constitutional authors, who believed that copyrights and patents were an artificial monopoly granted by the Federal Government to encourage inventors and authors… they should last for (at the absolute most), 14 years. And I believe that copyright is something that should need to be applied for, and not simply automatically inferred when some intellectual property is created.

I switched from Eudora on Windows to Mozilla on Gentoo Linux.

I still think Robin Griffins positions on God’s law and the civil magistrate are wrong… but I do like him a lot!

I miss Sherry, Jonathan Barlow, Frank Chin, Dale Courtney, Arie Blok, Berek Smith, Robbin Griffin, Rich Bingham, Raymond Regalado, Kate Scot-Bryson, and Randy Oliver.

I no longer work for Ed Walsh at ReformedBookSales.org (although I have since registered ReformedMedia.org, and I’m trying to figure out the best way to utilize it.)

Still a six-day creationist… though I wasn’t always.

I don’t play Pokemon anymore.

Hmmm… that’s it for now. Bedtime.

Just opened my new bottle of Irish Stout. I’m drinking it and typing at the same time.

I haven’t chilled it, but just pulled it right from the case in the basement. You can definately taste the roasted barley… it’s almost a chocolate taste… or coffee. Not a very hoppy flavor, but there is something there. The carbonation is very good. I poured it into a cup to check the head retention, and it was much better than the porter. The head is very dense (small bubbles), and just looking in the cup, it doesn’t seem to be deteriorating.

Whew… it’s not a light beer. I’m not sure how popular it will be on Memorial Day if it’s sunny and hot. This is more of a sipping brew.

For those of you who care, I updated my Amazon wishlist today.

Early this morning I went out for a run. Our home is on a very steep hill. The streets going vertically are numbered, and the streets horizontally are named. We live in between 10th and 11th Street. If I remember correctly, there are 4 streets up to the top and three alleys. I jog the streets (over about two blocks to 12th), walk the alleys all the way up, and repeat all the way down. I find that this ‘morning run’ is a great tension reducer, and that it’s a good time to think quietly and to pray about things. Who knows, maybe I’ll lose some poundage too.

This morning, someone was walking their dog in front of our house. Right as I was leaving, the dog took a monster dump on our lawn and the lady was mortified that I saw it. She apologized that she only had a little baggie with her. I said, “Nature called. Just get what you can.” C’est la vie.

Aiden screamed till 12:30 a.m. last night. He’s teething and can’t be comforted. My trick? Spiking his bottle with tylenol. Otherwise, he spits it out. You can almost see the two bottom teeth under the gums. He has an always-present drool ring on his shirts and his chewing everything he can get his gums on. Tom and I killed time by playing chess — one of our favorite pasttimes. I will say that he clobbered me, though. (Perhaps the fact that mommy can’t concentrate while her baby is screaming in pain is a valid excuse?)

Last night was the WIC Meeting. It was the first time we met in the evening so that the children were cared for by their fathers while we met. We met at the Braunings, too — which is also a change. Usually we meet here. I must say that the meeting went quite smoothly and without interruption. Christa brought Susannah with her. What a beautiful little girl — red hair, too!! We discussed many things including the Dad’s and Daughter’s Dinner on June 12 (I need to put info about that on the site!) and a Proverbs 31 day on June 17. The Prov. 31 day will be at Battaglias and the devotional is obviously prov 31. Women will be encouraged to bring a sampling of their favorite “easy” dinner dish, along with the recipe to share. They will also share tips on homemaking, organization, and saving money. The pool should be open!!

Today I’m going to try to take a meal to the Sauers. Paula, Ariel and Martha were in a car accident yesterday. They’re ok, but in pain. The van was totalled. The accident actually occured on 13th street, three (vertical) streets over from where we live. I heard the crash and prayed that it wasn’t Tom. It wasn’t. It was our dear friends!! Turns out the lady who hit them was the wife of a coatesville police officers. Completely blew through a stop sign. Crazy, eh?

Yesterday for dinner, I made Penne with diced tomatoes, garlic chicken and mushroom chunks with a cilantro pesto sauce. It was so yummy and EASY to make. Who knows, maybe it’ll be one of my Prov. 31 Day recipes

Today I have three loads of laundry to fold and all of the dishes from last night to wash. Dishes and Laundry are my least favorite chores. Heh. We need a polls section on here — “What are your least favorite household chores?” .

I was reading an article today on hiring help with chores so that you can work at home. The article cited freelance writing, something that I do when I’m not doing housework According to the article, the average woman does 35 hrs of housework a week. No, I’m not griping. Just an interesting thought that one could hire help with housework and have more time with her children and still be able to profit from working from the home. My “home businesses” ? Freelance writing and selling things on ebay (Tom — we need a link to my eBay offerings on here!!).

Well, I need to finish the minutes from last night’s meeting. I can hear Aiden stirring. He’ll be up and screaming soon.

I should note that I am squeezing a soccer ball between my thighs as I write. Trying to strengthen those inner-thigh muscles. YES, it hurts. FEEL the burn.

Also, it is of note that we have a Robin’s nest in the corner rafter of our porch and a very friendly wild rabbit who lives in our yard. They were both out this morning. The flowers we planted (check out the picture section) out front seem to have grown about an inch. We’ve had a lot of rain here these past few days) (Tom, a link to our local weather would be cool, too.)

Check out Colin Judge’s (our friend who is serving with the National Guard in Iraq) Blog. He offers a first-hand perspective on war. Keep him and his family (who lives about 5 mins from here) (Mary, and their sons Clayton and Quinn (who was adopted from China) in your prayers.

Over and out.

Sarah Joy