So several months ago, Crystal had a very good idea. Her good idea was for us to attend a Living Proof Live even for her birthday. We all discussed and agreed that it was a very good idea. So Friday afternoon, Crystal, Jennifer, Kristin and I loaded up and drove to New Orleans. And we saw Beth Moore (and her hair) (and her cute clothes).

I had to include this picture of Rebekah watching Beth Moore's Esther study while we were home sick on Thursday.
Now back to LPL in NOLA.

She taught from 1Thessalonians5:11-24

Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else. be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
Do not put out the Spirit's fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

It was great. It was amazing. God is amazing. I loved it.

One thing Beth put before us was the importance of living in a community of faith. It made me think back to my Delta State days and the girls who were my community and how God used them to encourage me and shape me and to teach me about Himself. Our community of faith changes with time and enviroments. I think those girls (JenFin, Joy, Rebecca, Annette, Amberly, Sayward, Hilary...) will always be so important to me. They were the first people who I felt loved me despite myself. I cry to think about it. Sweetness.

And Travis Cottrell lead the worship times, which were awesome too. God is so awesome with the awesome things He does through his servants. I bounce on my toes when music moves me. I bounced so much Friday and Saturday that my calves are about to fall off my body.

Ok, thanks for reading.

And here is a video from LPM blog.

Living Proof Live - New Orleans 2009 from Rich Kalonick on Vimeo.

And I saw BooMama and BigMama from a distance.

They are writing about this event here.

Today's Assignment

It is hard for me to narrow down chores to one least favorite. I have a couple. But my very very least favorite has earned that title because of how often I have to do it.

My least favorite chore is emptying the dishwasher (thanks for passing that one on Mom.)

Emptying the dishwasher is very necessary. I do it begrudgingly at least three times a week.

If I stopped doing it, several things would happen. Our kitchen would begin to smell pretty awful. Our available kitchen counter space would dwindle away bit by bit. We would have to buy paper or plastic dishes which when used would drastically up our grocery bill and the amount of waste our household produces which in the long run may result in the end of the world. Anybody else want to complete the assignment for today?

On another note, tonight was the third session of "Anointed, Transformed and Redeemed" bible study. AND it was awesome. AND I am so blessed to have a God that has chosen me and loves me despite myself and chooses the most awesome ways to show me more of Himself.

And on another note, if any of you are looking for things to add to your prayer list, I would love for you to pray for me and my students as we finish out this school year. We all need a little more patience for each other and a little longer attention spans and a lot more Jesus in our interactions. Ok? Ok, thanks.

Last night was yucky, but today has been better

Long story.

Yesterday, Rebekah was a real fuss pants at lunch.

She tends to be Miss Fuss at lunch on Sunday's since she's missed her morning nap.

After lunch, we brought her home and put her straight to bed.

She slept and slept and slept.

And I'm not one to wake a sleeping baby.

And her long nap gave me plenty of time to catch up with my blog reading.

J.R. got her up after about 3 hours.

He tells me she feels hot.

I feel her, he is right; imagine that.

Her temp was 102.4. Baby girl was H-O-T.

I consult the book and decide its time to go to the doctor.

Problem? Most definitely.

Children's Medical is definitely not open on Sundays after 5.

Lake Serene Clinic isn't either.

We head to the After Hours Clinic.

Never again! BIG BOO on them!

I walk in with hot babe in my arms.

They ask if she is a new patient.

She answers by hosing me with vomit.

They reply with "we aren't taking anymore new patients today".

And I am very proud of myself for

1) Not being super ugly to them and 2) Not crying in front of them.

Momma start praying.

So we head to the emergency room.

BIG YAY for them!!!

We check in. They take us to the little triage room. We go back to the waiting room. Most precious sick babe in the world vomits on me a little more and gets more and more sluggish. Momma texts about everybody she knows to start praying.

Because prayer works.

Crystal brings Mom and babe clean clothes. BIG YAY for Crystal!

They call us back to a real little room.

She is so lethargic. She doesn't really respond to her name.

She doesn't even say "dada" to her Daddy. And she's done that nonstop all week.

She snoozes on and off. She is hot in her Momma's lap. Mom can feel the heat through her blue jeans.

She still looks like her Daddy's mini-me.

The doctor comes in. He says her ears are fine. Her chest is fine.
Since we don't know the source of the fever, we'll do some blood work and give her some fluids.

The nurse comes in. Momma and a nurse hold the babe down.

She cries. Momma cries. Daddy thinks about crying.

She doesn't like the pretty nurses anymore. And she's not so sure about Momma and Daddy.

They didn't save the girl. She is so tired of this.

Momma too.

Daddy too.

Momma's telephone too, it is running out of juice from all the texting.

Still praying. In my head, I know she will be okay, it is probably just a virus.

But also in my head, I know: The Lord gives and he takes away and He is good all the time.

As my dear friend said this morning "It is hard to hold them with an open hand."

She gets a fluid iv. She perks up when she is awake.

She lets her Daddy know she still knows his name.

She tries to tug at her iv tubes.

Doctor comes back. Her white count is up, so she gets an antibiotic iv.

If she keeps getting better, we can go home after the antibiotic.

Praise the Lord, we're ready.

She keeps getting better. We go home. It is late.

She goes straight to sleep. She wakes up with a fever again, but not quite so high.

She gets a midnight cocktail of pedialyte and tylenol. And rocking with Momma helps too.

She wakes and stirs and mini-fusses several times. Momma prays some more and more for the girl to just feel better and for the enemy to just leave us alone. That God has already won these hearts, so just go away.

We wake up late for us, 6:30. She is not a slug anymore.

She is happy and smiling. We missed that smile last night.

She gets a morning cup of pedialyte and her Momma. Just enough to put her to sleep again, but she fought it.

We rock and sing and Momma can't make it through the song without tears.

"One day eyes that are blind will see you clearly

And one day all who deny will finally believe

One day hearts made of stone will break in pieces

And one day chains once unbroken will fall down at your feet

So we wait for that one day come quickly

We want to see your Glory

Every knee falls down before thee

Every tongue offers you praise

With every hand raised Singing Glory To you and unto you only

We'll sing Glory to Your name

One day voices that lie will all be silent

One day all that's divided will be whole again

One day death will retreat and wave it's white flag

One day love will defeat the strongest enemy

So we wait for that one day come quickly

We want to see your Glory

Every knee falls down before thee

Every tongue offers you praise

With every hand rasied

Singing Glory to you and unto you only

We'll sing Glory to your name

We know not the day or the hour

Or the moments in between

But we know the end of the story

When we'll see

We want to see your Glory

Every knee falls down before thee

Every tongue offers you praise

With every hand raised

Singing Glory to you and unto you only

We'll sing Glory to your name"

Because our God IS good all the time.

After a short morning nap, she is up again.

She is hungry and pedialyte isn't hitting the spot.

How about Cheerios?Her eyes question: "Mom, are you sure? Will they hurt this tummy?" Her tummy answers her questions.
Eating them from Momma's hand is not enough. She needs the bowl.
She is so happy to have the bowl, to eat the cheerios 46 at a time, to throw them on the floor, to cock that big toe up...And Momma is so happy her personality is back.

We talked to the pediatrician. She says Rebekah's bloodwork came back fine, to just observe her, and if her fever spikes again to let them know.

The sweet girl is napping now.

Thank you for your concern and prayers and love.

Love, us

Big Thoughts

Sunday is the day we will "dedicate" Rebekah at church. This is awkward to me since I attended churches that practiced "infant baptism" my entire life up until 2006. I've felt really weird about it. Mostly because I'm not super sure why we "dedicate" babies, since I've never ever ever heard it explained before or if I heard it, I wasn't listening. It seems that many churches just do their thing and don't explain why. Explanations are good. They help visitors and new Christians understand what is happening. More than that explanations remind us why we do things so that we don't get stuck just going through the motions and forget what the motions symbolize.

As a child, I was in and out of Episcopal and Presbyterian (P.C.A.) churches never consistently attending either until my highschool years. I missed learning bible stories and verses. I didn't know the church as a community of believers or as family or as a group of people that loved me until I joined a church during college . I wouldn't change anything about my childhood church experiences. It is because of them that I can embrace my faith as my own and not as something my parents pushed on me or something I followed my parents or others into. It is mine. I believe what I believe because I asked God to show me things and He did. Matthew 6:33. James 4:8...It's all true!

Obviously, Episcopal and Presbyterian churches believe in infant baptism. I know why they do it. And I'm beginning to accept why my current church doesn't. I've been puzzled. And when you've been criticized by numerous people for asking "theological" questions before, you sometimes hesitate before asking questions again. I emailed my "most perfect as a FIL can be" FIL and he made me feel that my ideas are on target, so I'm not ashamed or embarassed to share them here (or there, or everywhere) At the end of time, what truly matters is we are all batting for the same team. I know on this earth I cannot know or understand all the ways of God, but I do find contemplating them and learning why different denominations do what they do brings me closer to my God and makes my faith stronger.


To me, dedicating Rebekah is a symbol of our faith and therefore her inclusion(Acts 2:38-39) in the Covenant family (until she is old enough to claim this right for herself through her own profession of faith/baptism. It is us saying "here is our child and we want to raise her in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4), will you as a church make this committment to her and to God with us..." It is us recognizing we can't do it without help. And also recognizing that it would be better for us to tie a millstone around our necks than to cause Rebekah to stumble/sin (Luke17:1-2). It is us, claiming Christ on her behalf with hope that she will later claim Christ for herself.

All that said, please join me in my prayers for our Rebekah's heart, for us as her parents and for all the other people in this big world that will influence her. My prayer for her is that she will be a warrior for our God; that she would always know Him, love Him, serve Him; and that God would include her in and use her for the goodness of His kingdom. My constant prayer for J.R. and myself is that we would set a good example in all we do, that we lean on God and not our own understandings, and that God would guide us as we raise this child of His.