Sewing time

Since we’ve been home I’ve been trying to get some much needed sewing done for myself and the kids. I started out just working hard to get some things made for Elizabeth. We’d gotten some fabric last fall that had Strawberry Shortcake all over them. I finally got her clothes cut out and sewn up. It is really cool to be able to make Strawberry Shortcake clothes for her since my Mom made clothes for me out of Strawberry Shortcake fabric when I was a little girl! I was able to make two little shirts for Elizabeth along with some cullottes, two shirts and cullottes for one niece and two little rompers for my other niece. They all turned out so cute! Since I sort of expanded my project from two outfits to 6 it took me a little longer to finish. But we’ll give them to the other little girls next week. Now I’m trying to make pajamas for everyone. Esther, my sister, came over the other day and helped me cut out shorts for the boys and I still need to cut out and make some pajamas for Elizabeth. God has provided a bunch of fabric for me to use for this. It’s fun to pull it out and have things to use to make clothes that my kids need.

Couch to 5K

Alright. I have to confess. I've been keeping secrets. Oh, such secrets! You have no IDEA!! Okay, maybe not that melodramatic, but I do have one secret to reveal: I've been running again. Earth shaking, I know, but believe it or not, I have maintained a consistent running regimen for the past eight weeks. You see, Kyle's death really shook us up, and reminded me emphatically that the future is uncertain. Anna was pretty concerned about me, because I've had a fairly sedentary job for a while now, and had managed to get pretty badly out of shape. She was understandably worried about the possibility of me getting older and maybe dying of heart disease or something in my forties. So, she patiently lobbied in favor of this beginner's running program called Couch to 5K. I finally agreed to do it, bought some New Balance running shoes, and got started back in May. It was amazingly easy! I tell you what, I've tried excercising before, and failed to maintain it with consistency because it hurt too much, and I was pretty miserable. I think the problem was mainly ego. I would push too hard and try to progress too fast, and my body would rebel and that would be the end of that. This program is different. It starts off gradual, with timed intervals of jogging and walking. Because they're timed, you get the psychological edge of being able to say to yourself, "I've only got to run for one minute, and then I can walk for a bit." It's measured, with a clearly defined beginning and ending, and that really helps, especially at first. You gradually increase your running times, and decrease your walking times as the weeks progress. The goal of course is to get to the point where, at the end of 9 weeks or thereabouts, you're running 3 miles at a pop, three days a week. It's really pretty cool. I've lost fifteen pounds so far (I'd like to lose another fifteen before it's all said and done), my clothes are fitting better, and I'm feeling great. I've just started Week Four. I know, Week Four, in eight weeks? I had to repeat some weeks because around the end of Week Three, I developed a nasty case of runner's knee. I treated it, and kept at the level I was at, even though it was fairly painful for awhile. I spent week four and five rehabilitating my legs, with lots of ice packs and some special knee strengthening exercises I remembered. Finally, by week six, I was able to progress. I stayed at the Week Three level for another week to simply focus on regaining my stamina, and strengthening my legs, and this week, I have progressed to Week Four. This week, you jump from running a total of 9 minutes, to a total of 16!! It's quite a shock to the system, believe me. I've been making it, although the last five minutes are pretty rough. It's just so cool to be progressing to an actual level of physical fitness. This means, that by the end of the summer, I should be in excellent shape, and moving towards actual performance running. I'll be in great shape by the time we finish deputation, which will greatly enhance mine, and my wife's, stamina, so when we do get to Africa, our bodies will be better able to resist disease and injury. We'll probably still get sick, but this will reduce the duration and severity of the sickness. The neat thing is, the guys have been imitating us, and running "races" out in the back yard. Once I get to a level where they're not totally running circles around me, I'm going to start them on some regular calisthenics to establish some good fitness habits early in life. This way, they'll stay healthy all of their life, and hopefully won't find themselves nursing bum knees and needing to lose weight at 34 like their old man.

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update, 06-28-2006

Hello, again! It's been a restful time for us this month, and a chance to get caught up on things around the house that needed doing. This past week, and the next, I'm filling the pulpit for our pastor, Ken Spilger, while he and the clan are off on vacation, visiting family up in Washington state. I'm preaching a series of four messages on Baptist Distinctives. Last week, we covered B, A, P, and T, meaning, Biblical Authority, the Autonomy of the Local Church, the Priesthood of the Believer, and the Two Ordinances of the Local Church (Believer's Baptism and the Lord's Supper). As you've probably guessed, we'll be finishing up with I, S, T, and S next week, meaning Individual Soul Liberty, a Saved Church (Purity of the Church), the Two Offices of the Local Church (Pastor and Deacon), and Separation of Church and State. I think most of us are at least aware of these things in principle, but it helps to have them articulated, and spelled out in an organized fashion for review. The history of our denomination is important to consider as well. I was able to bring this out, particularly in the points on the autonomy of the local church, and believer's Baptism. There are very good and compelling scriptural reasons for our historic doctrinal stances, and it is those stances in particular that have caused considerable problems for Baptists in the past, as Baptists found themselves in disagreement, and legal conflict with the Episcopal state church that existed in our country before the Revolution. It's all been very interesting and profitable, and I'm looking forward to finishing the series on Sunday. I tell you what, I'm glad I'm saved, and I'm also glad I'm Baptist!

Pray for me as I preach and lead in the services tonight, and on Sunday. I want to feed the sheep, and be able to maintain the church well in lieu of our Pastor's return. Pray that I'll have wisdom and the power of the Holy Spirit as I serve in this capacity.

We have some men in our church that need jobs. Pray that God will supply, and that they'll be able to get jobs they like, with good pay, decent benefits, and reasonable hours that will permit church attendance on Sunday.

That's all for now.

Busy-ness

It hardly seems like it has been an entire month at home! We’d been gone so much in the spring – which was as it should be – that certain things around here had fallen terribly behind. I’d heard a rumor somewhere that I had a dresser in my bedroom. I even remembered seeing it once, a long, long time ago! Gaelin had outgrown two different sizes of clothes and all the clothes were stuck like some sort of weird time warp in his bedroom, leaving no room for the clothes that he needed to wear now. It was the same for Ethan and Elizabeth.

So over the course of the last month I’ve been working hard on getting our bedrooms straightened up. I got our room done first and discovered that we DO have a dresser underneath all that stuff! We pulled furniture out and I cleaned the windows.

Then it was time for Gaelin’s room (I’d already cleaned the room the rest of the kids are sleeping in). I went through everything and sorted it all – all the baby clothes, all the burp clothes, everything – and got it all put away or put in a place where it can be given away. It was quite the walk down memory lane, thinking of times when the older boys had worn the clothes that I got out for Gaelin to wear right now. So now Gaelin has a drawer for his clothes, Elizabeth has a drawer for hers, and Ethan’s drawer contains summer clothes. He’s loving that, since it has been quite hot for the last two or three weeks!Â

We’re hoping to have a garage sale in just a few weeks, as soon as I finish sorting everything in the house. I know it will need to be done again next year as we continue to pare down our belongings in order to move to Africa, and then again the following year before we actually move. So I have a goal that is only a few weeks away. But the next few weeks will be busier than these have been so it will be more challenging!

The kids in the Family Workshop

It’s been a busy couple weeks since I last wrote. We had the Family Workshop at our church. All the kids were able to participate in this. It was SO much fun for them. The kids were each put into different classes. Each of the boys planted a little plant – that I’m now trying to keep alive. They decorated journals and painted t-shirts with their names and their class logos. They’ve been wearing those t-shirts proudly everywhere we will let them, only taking them off for washing now and then when I make them.

The teachers did such a good job. The kids were learning about the 4 soils from Luke and Ethan’s teacher reviewed them with the kids so much that Ethan started blurting them out in the large group times – times when all the kids met together. Part of the draw was that every time a child answered they were given a Starburst candy. So Ethan wanted those candies. He would shoot his little hand into the air and then not wait to be called on but would blurt out the answers. He could list of all the types of soils and what they meant. We were so proud of him! They all learned all the songs and new the verses with a LOT of help. James and John did their activity papers almost completely – with help from their teachers. But the teachers kept telling me how well they could write for only being just barely 5. Guess our school work is paying off!

Another thing they did was to have 4 of the teen guys dress up like Mexican boys and come in and talk with grossly fake latin accents and just be very silly. Our kids got such a kick out of them. Once when they came running in, Ethan laughed and laughed out loud, leaning over and slapping his knee. Another time Elizabeth got so tickled that she just sat there and laughed hysterically the whole time they were in the room. They almost had to take her out! James and John would just giggle and giggle at everything they said.

It’s been neat to see our kids start to participate more in our family Bible reading. They have been giving real answers to questions James asks them about the Bible passages we just read, not just Sunday School answers. It is so fun to watch our little Christians grow!

Well, I’ll try to be a bit better about posting things here from now on!  I guess time just got away from me!