rocket fuel

I just began reading Heaven, by Randy Alcorn. The first chapters have gone back and forth gripping me and seeming skim-worthy, but overall I think it is going to powerfully sharpen my faith and my joy in Christ- who has secured Heaven for me. And Heaven, as Alcorn labors to clearly explain, is NOT an eternal, (boring) church service....

These quotes stood out boldly for me:

"In AD 125, a Greek names Aristides, wrote to a friend about Christianity, explaining why this "new religion" was so successful: "If any righteous man among the Christians passes from this world, they rejoice and offer thanks to God, and they escort his body with songs and thanksgiving as if he were setting out from one place to another nearby." (p. xviii)

"Philip of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great, commissioned a servant to stand in his presence each day and say, "Philip, you will die." In contrast, France's Louis XIV decreed that the word "death" not be uttered in his presence. Most of us are more like Louis than Philip, denying death and avoiding the thought of it except when it's forced upon us. We live under the fear of death." (p xix)

Alcorn's point is that, as Christians, we shouldn't fear or dread death...not at all. We've bought into an absolute lie of our Enemy if we think that this world is what we live for, or that Heaven might be even the least bit boring. We can get so caught up in our lives here- thinking only of our comforts and pleasures- when really we know that our lives here are like a breath that vanishes in an instant (James 4:14). Why would we not prepare ourselves with a holy passion and attentiveness and action for the eternity to come?

And... in pressing toward eternity, clearly we've got to care about others' eternity too. And why not care not only about the ones that we love, but about the ones that he loves (the world)?

Here's another quote that ties in on this point. It's from John Piper's book "Don't Waste Your Life." This book is excellent. I've enjoyed reading it a few times and just skimmed lots of it again today. Having done so, I feel like my soul just filled up on rocket fuel. Oh that these words would be true of our lives! Much grace was administered to my soul as I read:

"I am deeply moved by the courage and carnage on Iwo Jima. As I read the pages of this histroy, everything in me cries out, "O Lord, don't let me waste my life!" Let me come to the end- whether soon or late- and be able to say to a family, a church, a city, and the unreached peoples of the earth, "For your tomorrow, I gave my body today. Not just for your tomorrow on earthy, but for the countless tomorrows of your ever-increasing gladness in God." The closer I look at the individual soldiers in this World War II history, the more I felt a passion that my life would count, and that I would be able to die well.

As rainy moning wore into afternoon and the fighting bogged down, the Marines continued to take casualties. Often it was the corpsmen [medics] themselves who died as they tried to preserve life. William Hoopes of Chattanooga was crouching beside a medic named Kelly, who put his head above a protective ridge and placed binoculars to his eyes just for an instant- to spot a sniper who was pepperin his area. In that instant the sniper shot him through the Adam's apple. Hoopes, a phamacist's mate himself, struggled frantically to save his friend. "I took my forceps and reached into his neck to grasp the artery and pink it off," Hoopes recalled. "His blood was spurting. He had no speech but his eyes were on me. He knew I was trying to save his life. I tried everything in the world. I couldn't do it. I tried. The blood was so slippery. I couldn't get the artery. I was trying so hard. And all the while he just looked at me. He looked directly into my face. The last thing he did as the blood spurts became less and less was to pat me on the arm as if to say, 'That's all right.' Then he died."*

In this heart-breaking moment I want to be Hoopes and I want to be Kelly. I want to be able to say to suffering and perishing people, "I tried everything in the world... I was trying so hard." And I want to be able to say to those around me when I die, "It's all right. To live is Christ, and to die is gain." (p. 124-125)

(* James Bradley, Flags of Our Fathers,(New York: Bantam, 2000)

Recently, my mother-in-law reminded me of the movie Schindler's list- most particularly the last scene. She described (I hope I get the details right) how the all the prisoners of war who had just been released were coming up to Schindler to thank him for being so instrumental in saving their lives during the war. And he began to weep. He was grieved and heart broken that he had not done more. "I should have sold my house, my car. I could have saved more." We could look and say "well done buddy," but he knew he could have done more. He did much, but not all that he could. I don't want my life to end like that. But it will, apart from major grace of God for which I want to be crying out to come! work mightily in me.

Piper continues... "Oh, that young and old would turn off the television, take a long walk, and dream about feats of courage for a cause ten thousand times more important than American democracy- as precious as that is. If we would dream and if we would pray, would not God answer? Would he withhold from us a life of joyful love and mercy and sacrifice that magnifies Christ and makes people glad in God? I plead with you, as I pray for myself, set your face like flint to join Jesus on the Calvary road. "Let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here was have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come" (Hebrews 13:13-14). When they see our sacrificial love- radiant with joy- will they not say, "Christ is great"? (p 128-9)

Come, Lord Jesus!

She Got It!

The prize at the finish line (once she got everything in the potty) got very, very sweet for this girl. With months of talk and preparation leading up to it, we had quite a load of rewards and promises made by the time that day finally came...

Day One: Skittles

Day Two: Skittles, a dab of lotion and chapstick, and this butterfly wings set

Day Three: Skittles and new shoes (she needed them anyway- I forgot to get a pic)

Day Four: More Skittles, lotion, and chapstick

Day Five: the Grand Finale of Potty School (it's the end of the skittles, and she seemed surprisingly OK with that). Gum- she's been looking forward to this for a long time- plus a trip to this "jump jump bed" (that's what the local words for it mean) and lunch from Kentucky Fried Chicken eaten at the park.

Matt's tutor went with us to the bounce house. I think he had lots of fun and it made the day all the more spectacular for Marian, who seems to have a bit of a crush on this guy!

Isaiah is growing so big so fast. We love this boy so much, just really wish he'd be a little more willing to let me get some pictures of him. I have to sneak them most the time these days!

All in all, we are just so glad and proud for how well Marian has conquered this! Way to go Darling! Thanks too, big bro Isaiah, for being a help and encouragment this week. We love you guys so much!!

Here's one more pic of our sweetheart little guy with the potty princess:

the last hurdle

A friend asked Marian yesterday "what toys do you like to play with at home?"

"Poo poo..."

Our goofy girl is absolutely smitten with, intoxicated by the sound of those two syllables coming off her lips. She's really never touched it (Praise God!) but she just loves talking about it at all the silliest times. She's not allowed to say it at the table, but occasionally she loves to greet people by mentioning it, or, like she did above, she loves to answer questions with it.

Sadly enough, it's still the last great hurdle in Marian's total conquering of the potty.

Her first day of (the second round of) potty training was about what you'd expect. But day two: incredible. She had 2 close calls and about 30 successful trips to the potty. No complete disaster the whole day!

Note- She can hold her bladder for a long time now. But lots of little trips, means lots of skittles. There were a few trips where she just barely managed to squeeze out 3- 4 drops, but she knew we were committed to going all out for the rewards for these few days. Even 3 drops earned her one. For a girl who loves skittles like our darling, she knows it's well worth her time invested for all those ups and downs of the undies.

We're glad she's already moving on to a reward of "chapstick and lotion" (some yummy smelly lotion Grandma left- thanks Grandma!) for most times now.

But this one hurdle. She's pretty deeply opposed to using the potty for #2. This too will be conquered. I hope it won't take "a few more weeks" (like she has said to me several times) but if it does, in the end, it will be worth it!

We are so proud of our potty princess! You can do this, darling!

Yes, we're going local and using a simple pot (bucket) for a potty.

Works like a charm.

He came for us

I've just begun learning about the Classical style of education. So far the gist of what I'm learning and the stuff that seems most applicable for us now is that young kids' strength is in memorization so thoughtful parents need to seize the day! Our kids are fairly bilingual and this is blatantly obvious daily to us.

For several months, Matt and I have been reading scripture aloud to our kids before breakfast and before bedtime. There's another post to be written about this practice in our home. It's been a real joy for us and I do believe it is a blessing (Rev. 1:3) for our kids.

But for now, we've picked a few excellent poems and hymns in addition to that to feed our kids' minds (instead of "irreverent little ditties" like Douglas Wilson talks about) and we're trying to read them and speak them and say them and talk about them and sing them all the time... as often as we can.

This poem has been a sweet one for us and our kids. Thanks Kevin Hartnett for sharing this beautiful poem on your blog.

“He came to free a people,
For ‘Jesus’ was His name;
To bear the sins of many,
The Lord of Love, He came.
He numbered with transgressors;
God’s judgment He withstood.
The splinters of the manger
Foretold a cross of wood.

He came for us, true Son of Man,
He came to pain and strife.
The Promised One, Emmanuel,
He came to bring us life!”

- Kevin Hartnett, (December, 2005)

Here's a few more recent fun shots...

John has one tooth.... you can almost see it there on the bottom. I simply cannot put it in words how sweet and easy and delightful and precious this boy is.

John got this (wildly green and varied shades of green) walker recently. He's taken about 2 weeks to get used to it and now it seems like he's ready to go pro. I think he can circle the house in a matter of seconds and he can get straight down the hall and in on whatever action interests him just like the nimblest boy could do on his own two feet.

Matt's well-constructed bathtub box house has lasted well.... It may be standing for a while yet. We sure hope so!

Matt has always enjoyed Clavin and Hobbes and we've had one book for years now. But for some reason it took Nai Nai (Grandma) coming to lock Isaiah's affections for it. He's deeply committed to this comic now. Thanks Grandma for the 324 times you read it to these guys... and for your sweet mispronunciation of Calvin's Spanish. "Que Pasa Senorita. I am el fugitivo...." even though we all heard "I am el fugito." Rhyme that with "Dorito" and you'll get it just like we all know and love it now. (Sorry Mom. I couldn't bring myself to say it to you when you were with us, but it seemed worth posting about now!)

An unimportant side note... It's cold at our house! The heat is managed by a government schedule here- the date it turns on and off, basically- and this late cold snap has made for a chilly few days for us here. My toes are tingly and John's wearing 4 layers of pjs tonight!

serving our kids

I've really enjoyed a few of Douglas and Nancy Wilson's books lately. Thanks so much S & T for passing them to us for to enjoy.

Since the books aren't mine, I just read straight through without marking them up, though I wish now I would have taken better notes. Still, there are too many excellent bits I could post even if I had marked them into rainbows.

Most all of his writing so far has struck me as super encouraging, although this paragraph has a far more challenging, cautionary tone. Here's just one bit from D. Wilson's book "Standing on the Promises: A Handbook of Biblical Childrearing."

As we bring up our children, we should descend to their level in one sense (humility) in order to lead them to our level (maturity). This is not the same as descending to their level (immaturity) in order to lead them to our level (pride). We must be servants to our children; we must not cater to them. One of the central problems with bringing up children in our day is the contstant temptation to undersestimate their capacities. We teach them profane and irreverent little ditties, not psalms and hymns. We give them moralistic little stories, not biblical doctrine and ethics. We expect them to act as though they have no brains or souls until they have graduated from college. We aim at nothing, and we hit it every time. p 15

(Just to clarify, in plenty of other places, Wilson clearly advocates feeding our kids lots of excellent literature to stir their minds and imaginations. )

Wilson also pointed out the role of shepherd is clearly the leader of the sheep, and also the servant of the sheep. The same goes for parents- clearly the leader and also the servant.

Our big opportunity to serve is coming right up. As my dear friend (who is having back surgery right now- we're praying for you dear Kim!) wrote to me once, "there's nothing more sanctifying than potty training." Just such sanctification starts- again- Friday morning our time.

You might remember that we've already written about this. We started potty training Marian last June because we heard that girls usually start earlier than boys and second children can be earlier.... well, it did not work out quite so at our house.

Marian was, overall, about 2/3 of the time on target with potty business last summer. But, come fall, when we were nonstop on the road visiting friends around the states, we finally had to abandon the whole deal.

I hope so much that this post will serve me as a way of public accountability to Serve my Daughter with Joy in this process. I'd better prepare for things to get messy.... but I'm also so excited for her to really be a big girl now!

Watch for a post of Marian's butterfly wings. They're waiting for her, high up on our hutch, as her reward for when she conquers! (Oh may it be soon, Lord! Give us grace!!)

Happy Birthday my Love

I do adore my husband, but I would have made a less sappy (valentinsy) cake if I could think of it... alas, no powdered sugar, but fresh strawberries, and a heart-shaped cake pan on hand made this the best cake I could come up with.

I realize that some friends could look at this and wonder what on earth I am doing posting a picture of Matt kissing another woman. Well thats exactly what he's doing and this is the only other woman on the planet he'll ever be kissing. Isn't his mom beautiful!?

Anyway, the point is "we love you Daddy" and "we love and miss you Grandma!" Matt's birthday dinner was also Mary's goodbye dinner... we hope she's fast asleep high over the Pacific right now. Thank you again for coming all this way, mom. We had so much fun with you!

Here's a glimpse of Mary's favorite shopping excursion:

We are in the land of terracota warriors. They're everywhere here. Isaiah now calls every Asian style statue a "terracota warrior." On our shopping trip, John could have picked a few up himself...

Happy March

So much to celebrate....

Matt's mom has been with us to bless us with childcare so we can get in extra studies at the beginning of this new season in language. We're so grateful for her. The kids have had a great time with their preschool pro Grandma!

Isaiah turns 4 tomorrow! We got to host a group of friends at our place for church on Sunday so we had cake for him then. We're so grateful for a really neat group to worship and fellowship with on Sunday mornings, and it's so special that our kids have these other English speaking friends to play with.

Matt and I celebrated 6 years together this past weekend. It was a deeply happy day to reflect on the lavish goodness of God to bless us as he has.

And a few more shots of our little two...

(below) This is an odd look for our precious girl, but still somehow, sweet. Marian is quite the goofball usually- an absolute silly when it comes time to dance or sing or boss either of her brothers around.... and unfortunately, she's especially off the walls at meal time. We're working on it manners and listening skills for table time, but I think I still need to prepare myself for a thousand more spills before she figures out how to contain all her energy and excitement. God knows I need to be refined, to be more patient and servant-hearted.

We are so, so very grateful for all these great evidences of the grace Jesus Christ in our lives.

everybody loves this boy

John just moved in with his big bro and sis in anticipation of Grandma's visit.  In Isaiah and Marian's eyes, he can do no wrong.  If only they felt that way about each other!