Summer 2008

I decided I had quite a few Andrew and Elijah fan club-friendly pictures to add to the blog. They have been busy this summer!

This is Andrew and his good friend Faith. Faith likes to dress him up like "Prince Charming".Andrew is very social and loves his friends. I think loyalty is going to be one of his best qualities.

Andrew has been learning to swim. He is really doing well...

Elijah is even doing well but prefers playing around the pool. He jumps to Micah and me fearlessly; just kind of falling happily into the water. He doesn't jump in unless someone is there to catch him, unlike my sister Amy if I remember correctly!!!

Elijah has been doing the funniest thing. I have been encouraging him to use words (now that he knows a few) to tell me what he wants instead of screaming "No!" or, well, just screaming. Instead, he has started acting out things that happen. For instance, the other evening he fell face first in the grass. I didn't see it happen, but he ran to me with a face full of dirt crying. After I asked him what happened, he laid down face first on the floor in front of me to demonstrate. The other people around me thought he was just hilarious, so he kept acting it out for them. He is quite a character!

Here are my boys with friends at a birthday celebration.

Book Review

Tonight, I finished reading the book Escape by Carolyn Jessop. It was a book Micah thought I would enjoy reading. I don't know if enjoy is the word I would use to describe my experience trying to understand the world of FLDS (the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints). I am however glad to have gained some insight on their beliefs as well as those of similar groups. There are two things that were most impressed upon me after finishing the book.

First of all, if a person doesn't see and know the true word of God, there are many many ways to be deceived. I was astounded at the bizarre doctrine that was neither questioned in the least let alone denied by the women in the group; even when it meant severe physical and emotional abuse for themselves as well as their children. I see how each person, from the earliest age is indoctrinated to not question, but still this fact was shocking even on a every-human, general-revelation level. Man can say anything, but God's words do not change and are consistent and true. Just as Eve was deceived, these women are continually deceived, buying into lies and deception to please their husbands enough so they will be allowed into "heaven".

The second is that even though Carolyn, the writer of the book, successfully escapes her abusive, polygamist lifestyle, she finds herself "not shopping for a new god" in the end. It made me very sad; knowing her vision of God has been severely skewed and leads her to a works based salvation. I would love for her to see the God of the Bible who seeks after her and works salvation in and through the finished work of Jesus Christ. She claims to know freedom, but there is no other lasting freedom than this.

Anytime I am made aware of children being abused, it breaks my heart. It always brings me to my knees, praying for mercy for those who are so small, they cannot defend themselves. It is something I think we all have to push out of out minds to find some level of comfort in the world, but the suffering is real and it happens constantly. This book made me deal with this reality head on; ending up in the same posture as before.

In contrast, I am teaching at Lagrange Baptist Church's VBS next week. I studied Jeremiah 36 and was further encouraged to take seriously God's words. I have also been attending a book study at church using Nancy Leigh DeMoss' Lies Women Believe and the Truth the Set Them Free, additionally instructing me to know the word. I guess assuming this is important is a gigantic understatement!!!

No More Stitches!!!

Rainy, stormy day... on the balcony to get some "outside" time.

Andrew's Head Injury Update, etc.

Andrew has been healing well. He goes to the doc today to have his stitches removed! It is amazing how quickly our bodies repair themselves, with the help of skilled docs through God's gracious general revelation:) Here he is with stitches and hopefully I can post soon with a picture of him with out them!
I had to include a picture of Elijah with his new friend, monkey. While we were on vacation, Micah found this monkey the same size and texture as "bear" and thought Elijah needed it. In fact, he needed it so badly, he squealed his tires to make it into the shopping center before they closed. This is very untypical of my husband!!! Nevertheless, monkey is the newest addition to our family and seems to be just as important as bear at this point!


I also have been doing more painting. I thought I would share my latest piece. I did this one for my mother-in-law. It is relaxing and much like good therapy to carefully and sometimes haphazardly put paint on a blank canvas~