gory picture retry

Sorry about the pictures. I had trouble getting the last post to post properly, I saw the pictures on there once from my computer but apparently they are not working again. I'll blame it on our pathetic dial up internet. By the way we are hoping to have highspeed by Christmas! There are specials right now on getting set up with Satelite or trying to go through a Rogers tower 7 miles away. We will try the tower first for a free trial period and see if it will work here....if not we'll get set up and share satelitte with our neighbors. Either way I should be joining the 21st century any day now....finally I will get to watch all those little videos attached to blogs and will be able to hear my own music. This won't be helpful with the blog addiction I seem to be developing but at least my phone line won't always be busy!

Here's the picture you've all been waiting for. All together now....EWWWW.

Here he is smoking a candy cane, he didn't let it leave his lips until it was gone. That is a lot of red and green drool by the way. It got him through the xrays that came next though.

Nathanael told me he was going to make ear rings for me out of these. Fingers crossed for Christmas. Just kidding, thats gross people! Aili took them for show and tell this morning though, hopefully they make them home again....gotta make room in the baby book for them.

Update on Silas' arm

This is Silas' pretty new blue cast. After last weeks xrays (we have had to drive to the city each week to get them) they put a face lift on his grubby falling apart gauze wrapped cast. He only needed it for a week because this week it came off.

Sorry to the weak stomachs out there. It was just so wierd looking I told Nathanael , quick get the camera out of my purse! It was both horrifying and fascinating to see the pins that had been hiding under his cast. Getting the cast off was noisy and messy ...and the dr. told him before hand that "its just like mommy's vacuum at home"....he's terrified of the vacuum. Enough said. We came armed with a candy cane though. When Silas saw the pins he was very concerned..to say the least. Can you blame him? I would be horrified to look over and see two pieces of metal sticking out of my arm! It was really gross. They came out pretty quickly. It did hurt him but it didn't seem as bad as I would have imagined. It was all over in seconds.

Here he is with a bandage (there was blood involved) and a candy cane. Notice the grumpy ticked off look on his face...once again can you blame him?

Nathanael grabbed the pins off of the tray on our way out....the dr. just rolled his eyes at him. They make a nice little souvenier of Silas misadventures. We are glad they are over now and that his cast is off. I'm so happy he can now wear his normal clothes and take baths. By the way I have have some sleepers and button up shirts missing the right arm if any one wants them :) He hasn't been using his arm much but it is still bandaged and we weren't home that long before bedtime. I think its still a little tender but I'm hoping he will get used to using it tomorrow. Thankyou to everyone who was praying for him today as we faced the trauma of another drs. visit. He did amazingly well.

The Promise Candle

We started doing advent as a family last year. I wanted to do something a little more meaningful to anticipate Christmas . I found a little book that went along with the movie "The Nativity"...called "looking forward to the Nativity" . It has family devotions and a family activity for each day in December. Its maybe slightly old for them but they seem to be getting something out of it and lighting the candles each Sunday is a highlight for them. Of course they fight over who gets to light them and who blows them out....as if there aren't enough to go around. Last year we watched the movie together on Christmas Eve. I think I'd like to find another book for next year and then rotate every year or so.

The book we read each evening in our family time is going through Gods story of redemption from the beginning until Christs birth...the fulfillment. Last week the candle was called the "promise candle". Advent candles can represent different things depending on what guide or book you are using..or what your want them to represent. Its not a legistic ritual...its a reminder and a way to look forward to Christmas, so next year we might do something different with the candles. Last week we learned about Gods promise to Abraham . That from his lineage would come the Savior, the Messiah. We looked at how throughout history Gods promise held.

Through a sordid human gene pool.
Through disobedience and lack of trust.
Through scandal, murder, adultery and excile,
Through 200 years of slavery....his promise held.
The earthly lineage of Jesus included Jacob the swindler, King David the adulterer, Ruth the foreigner, King Manesseh the murderer and Rahab the prostitute....just to name a few.
It seems most of His lineage were also either idol worshipers or crooks . A handful were men and woman of amazing faith but even those people frequently stumbled.
What was the common bond between all these people? A promise.
Why did God use these people? ( Other than to give us hope that if He can use them ,He can use us too) He certainly didn't have to use these individuals , the Messiah could have come riding a flaming chariot out of the clouds or been dropped on a Kings doorstep. It would have seemed simpler that way. But God had a reason for using imperfect people. He had a plan to use all the blunders and mistakes of His people.
I think one of the reasons He gives us the entire Old Testement with all its shady stories of less than perfect people is that he knows that our lives are often uncertain....and also full of mistakes. We watch the evening news and worry. We watch the economy crash and wonder. We look at our bank account and dispair. We stand by a grave and feel abandoned.
He wants us to know that His promises stand, when the world is full of Chaos, he is calm and his purpose is unshaken.
Famines can't starve it
Earth Quakes can't shake it.
Hurricanes can't dissolve it.
Isrealites bumbling through the dessert for 40 years can't change it.
Death can't destroy it.
A crashing economy can't derail it.
He remains...his promises remain.
"The engineer has not abondoned the train"

"In this world you will have trouble, but be brave! I have defeated the world. " (John 16:33)

This Sunday's candle (the second candle) was the Prophet Candle. So this week we will be reading about the people God chose to be his messengers. The ones who fortold the coming of Christ centuries before his birth. The sometimes unwilling but obedient servants who shed the tears of Christ before He came and who's broken hearts beat along with Gods own heart.

"Oh come, O come Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Isreal,
That mourns in lonely excile here.
Until the son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee , O Isreal!"

Crying for a woman I've never met.

Little Max passed away peacefully in his mothers arms this morning only hours after being born. They were praying and hoping he would be born alive and that they would have some time with him...the were blessed with a couple precious hours.
Babies with Trisomy 18 don't live long....90% die before their first birthday. Some die before birth, some die minutes or hours after. Some little miracle babies live and bring joy to their families for months and years. Their lives are short. But a life that is short is still a life...an eternal soul that now exists. A bundle of personality, character, love, purpose and sense of humor that will always be unique to them...even if those traits weren't realized or discovered here. Max is now in his heavenly fathers arms, he is free of the body that was deemed "incompatible with life" and is living life more fully and perfectly than we can imagine. His parents though broken and grieving the loss of their son believe that someday this tragic loss, this broken body and this mothering process cut short will be restored. They will once again hold little Max in their arms and every tear will be dried.
Until then his mother will bear the physical scars of bringing her baby into the world and the scars that will forever be on her heart by being separated from that baby. His father will be forced to accept that even as the provider and protector of his family he was helpless to do either. That is why I cry for them.

Christmas is the season that we celebrate Gods redemption of mankind. The almighty God, all powerful, present in all time and space, all knowing.....humbled himself to become a human embryo...to grow in a womb...to be born by a peasant woman in a stable. Strong became weak, all powerful became totally dependant. The King of Kings who commands the legions of angels entered the world surounded by farm animals and shepherds. Fully God and fully man....Emmanual "God with us".
He came with a purpose, he came to die....for me. He came to redeem what was taken. He came to romance a lost world back to Himself. He came to pay the price for each of us who would remove Him from the throne and sit ourselves there instead...for that is at its core what sin trully is...treason. What is the price for high treaon against the king of all kings, creator of heaven and earth? Exactly what it should be. BUT, we have a Creator King who , not willing that any should be lost, loved us so much that he came.. willingly into a world of pain, sorrow, hunger , cold and violence. A world we destroyed by sin. A world that welcomed him with "no room in the inn" , a world that wanted to kill him before his first birthday, a world that would rather hide behind "white washed walls" than surrender the corpse hidden within , a world that would despise him, spit on him and nail his hands and feet to a cross. He freely gives grace to those who would kill Him.

He wasn't a martyr, he wasn't merely a prophet, he wasn't just a good teacher....he is God. He could have called down thousands of angels or struck dead the soldiers....but chose the nails instead.

He came to conquer the grave, to defeat death. He did it so that we who place place our trust in Him, instead of ourselves ,will no longer need to fear death. We look forward to the day when we will see the completion of the events set in motion before the earth was formed. Max's parents will one day see their son again. Someday I will know the two children that I didnt have a chance to trully know here on earth. I will see the person Samuel was created to be and I will know my mystery baby as well. The one who I still wonder is a boy or a girl.

"God doesn't give us more than we can handle" that is a cliche that is spouted by well intentioned people every where. I think that any one who has suffered loss in any form knows that this is a lie. We come to the end of ourselves. But at the end of ourselves is where we see him face to face. It is at the end of our selves that we realize we can't fix this thing, we require God size deliverance. When we are trapped between the red sea and an advancing Epyptian army, and dispair threatens to overtake us....we must look to God to make a way through the waves. At the end of ourselves we learn that the castles we have made of sand aren't all that strong after all....but there is a foundation that will not be moved. That is where we learn to lean on Him and allow Him to carry us through the mess.

I am once again praying and crying for a woman I have never met....but we know the same God. A God who is mighty to save, a God who will redeem what was lost, a God who holds our tears in His hands.

Baby Max update

Little Max was born this morning and according to their brief update is doing well and is "fiesty". Keep praying for them....that he would continue to do well and knock the socks off the drs. Ther blog is listed below "miracle max"

Please Pray for little Max

I haven't posted a prayer request for someone on my blog before but right now my heart is with a family who is expecting to deliver their first son tomorrow (Friday Dec 5). Maxson was diagnosed with Trisomy 18 half way through the pregnancy. I have tears in my eyes as I think of all the uncertainties, joy and fear they are experiencing as they anticipate the arrival of their son. Please hold them and little Maxson up in prayer throughout the day tomorrow. Pray for the labor to progress quickly, that Max would tolerate it well and be born alive and strong , pray that they would have plenty of time to love and make some memories with their son. They are hoping they will be able to bring Max home and have him for Christmas. I will be praying for that miracle for them...it does happen but not always. Pray that throughout the days ahead they would feel Gods peace and comfort surrounding them. Thankyou.
Their blog is http://www.ourmiraclemax.blogspot.com/

Calling all homeschooling moms

Ok this isn't the lovely Christmas post I had planned to do next...maybe the next one. Right now I am sitting in my office panicking over the fact that I will be pulling my kids out of school next fall and attempting to school them myself.

Why you ask. Here's the scoop. We will be packing up our camping trailer and driving south to Baja Mexico next fall (oct '09)to stay for about 6 months , give or take. We will be once again working at an orphanage and mission base there as volunteer staff. We were there three years ago....gasp...its been that long?! Roman and Aili were 2 and 4 then so I was more concerned with keeping them alive than actually teaching them anything. This year I will be attempting both....with a 2 and a half year old in tow. Aili will be in 3rd grade and Roman will be in 1st (fingers crossed) . Its not geophysics and rocket science I have to teach them at this age so why am I already feeling totally inadequate and nervous about it?

We have considered the homeschooling option in past years but we have thoroughly enjoyed and apprectiated the public rural school that my kids now attend. There are a total of 30 kids in their whole school. Its an old fashioned country school and they are really thriving and learning with all the benefits of a small school and low student to teacher ratio. We however have always known that we still want to travel and look into missions work, even with our kids, so we have always kept the homeschooling option on the table.

At the orphanage in Mexico there is a small school for the kids living there and the Mexican staff kids but I don't know if they will let the Canadian kids attend or not. I realize I would also have to be homeschooling them to keep them caught up but I would really love to have them somwhat integrated into the language , culture and the local school. It would help with building friendships which is very important to both my little socialites. I'm hoping we can have them involved in a couple of the classes at least and maybe join the kids for recess and special events. I might have to do some phone calling and emailing ahead of time.

I think on a whole this experience will be very good for them. Why sit in a Social studies class and learn about another culture if you can actually go there and experience it? Why study a second language from a desk if you can go and learn one by making friends who don't speak english? It will be an amazing way to teach geography, social studies, spanish and so many other subjects....without even opening a text book. Not to mention all the character building and life lessons they will learn workng and living in an impoverished area and in a new culture. We will be taking book work with us too though. Not sure what books exactly but we are checkng with the school district to see if they can help us out with material for the months they will be out of school.

I'm totally excited for our next big family adventure! And I'm very excited to be once again involved in the amazing and diverse ministries of 'Foundation For His Ministry'. Check out their website
http://www.ffhm.org/
I am even a bit excited to embark on the new adventure of "trailer schooling" my kids...or suv schooling, or sitting under a palm tree schooling, or sitting in an orange orchard schooling.....doesn't sound so bad.

I am excited that this trip will make life long memories for my oldest two. Aili who was 4 last time has foggy memories of the trip and Roman who was two doesnt remember much at all.

Nathanael and I are going down there this Febuary for just a week. It will be the first return trip since we left April '06. We are taking down a group of 17 people from our church to work for a week. It will be great to be back but so far the stress of organizing such a trip has overshadowed the anticipation. And the guilt and fear about leaving my kids behind for the week is making looking forward to it hard. I kind of wish it was our family going this winter but it will be an amazing experience to go with 15 other people who have never gone before. Being able to immerse myself in the work I'm passionate about without just doing mom stuff the whole time will be a nice change for a week.

Sooo....if there is anyone out there in blogworld that has any advice for a newbie homeschooler with cold feet ..it would be welcome. Scheduling, subjects, curriculum, advice....help!