Did I mention that you can check me out on facebook as well, at least if you are a member, too. That is the other reason for the switch. WordPress has an application on face book that lets you read my blog or access my blog from facebook.
August 1, 2007
Welcome to WordPress
Hello everyone who knew about my blogger page. This is the new and improved WordPress page. I liked the customizability of the page. And I like that I can use pictures of my cute children to enhance my image. They are very adoreable. Anyway, I hope to get a new post out soon. Perhaps something about our new windows.
I am trying out my new wordpress blog and linking it to facebook
How do you like the new blog format. I like wordpress because there is more customization and the ability to use video and pics right in the blog post. I am having fun setting this up.
July 31 Blogger Post Archive
So I am not that good at keeping up with this thing. I will do better during school when I have a more routine schedule.
Anyway, Erica is doing some better and what a difference it makes to have a doctor who explains things. Even if this new doctor (the Pulmonologist) is wrong, I am confident in her eventually being right. She has options and is not stuck on something that just doesn’t feel right to us, meaning the allergies.
It is amazing what good information can do for you. This whole ride with Erica has been a quest for information. From the first time I asked one of the partners at our family doctor why he thought she was prone to Pneumonia and Bronchitis, to the last medication we have subjected our 5 year old to, we just wanted good information. We finally got some from the pulomonologist. She believes there is a possibility of an aspirated foreign body in the lungs. Now, that is not a great thing (it would mean surgery to remove), but it is not keep your daughter in the house for the rest of her life kinds news. It would mean getting better presumably and getting off many of the 9 medicines she is taking.
The Pulomonologist walked us through her test results one at a time. Explained the normal range and how it differs by age, sex, race and even attention span. She listened to our history and didn’t jump to conclusions. What a great appointment. So now we wait again. On Wednesday we will have a chest CT for Erica. She is not concerned, but that is before she knows she will have an IV. That will be a little scary. Anyway, it should give us the information we need to proceed to make her better which is what we want to do.
Pastor Steve had a great message yesterday about God being with us. He shared from a lot of passages. I have been wrestling with something he has been saying a lot lately though. He keeps telling me, when I am having a bad day, that we cannot understand God (ala Psalm 73). On the other hand, as we have been studying together, he also tells me we have the mind of Christ and can fathom wisdom and knowledge. So I asked him after the service yesterday. Where is the line? What stuff is beyond our grasp, and what stuff can we get by having the mind of Christ?
He didn’t skip a beat (and with his heart condition lately, that’s a good thing). Deuteronomy 29:29 he opened right to it like he was prepared for it. It says that the mysteries of God belong to God, but that what has been revealed belongs to us. In other words, there are somethings about God we will not or cannot understand. But the stuff he has taken the time to share with us through his Word, and further through his presence with us on this earth, that stuff we can fully understand and we should take ownership of it.
So, I am thinking. Jesus is like a good doctor. He shares with us all that we need to know. He was willing to come out of his Heavenly research facililty and talk to us directly. He has good information that leads to life and not to captivity. He does not lord over us what we cannot understand, but reveals to us what we need. And he is always there when we need him.
Which brings up another doctor thought, where does our General Practitioner get off leaving for 5 weeks?!?! God doesn’t do that. Another good analogy falling apart.
Archive Blogger Post July 5
I am posting, but nobody knows…Maybe more people will find out later.
I am at the USATF Youth Nationals in Lisle, IL with Zack Hill. Today he threw 147′4″ (not a PR but the best throw since Conference in late April. So we are very happy. In addition, that throw got him first place. So he got a big medal (it’s all about the hardware).
Victory feels really good. Somehow though victory seems greater when you face greater obstacles. For example, Zack also threw in the hammer and took fourth. But when you tell people that there were only 5 guys, it seems cheaper. Why is it that the harder the competition we face, the more we enjoy the victory?
We can apply that spiritually to our lives as well. In the last little while our church has faced some pretty tremendous hardship. First, our pastor is in Germany for the year on active duty. This leaves us short staffed and without a key leader for our team. Like having your captain on a penalty and trying to kill a power play. In March my wife and I lost our baby boy through a rare birth defect called Limb-body wall syndrome. In May, a Deacon from our church suffered a severe heart attack and died at a church youth fund-raising event. Then another couple lost their twins to an early term infection which ended the pregnancy. This past week, our acting senior pastor (pastor of discipleship) was admitted to the hospital for heart blockage and possible heart attack. He is doing well now, but not before having stints and balloon surgery.
So what do we do with all this, and many more things I haven’t mentioned like a family giving back their foster child to a questionable situation? How do we describe the victory we experience in Christ in the midst of the circumstances? How can you claim to be victorious at all in the midst of such suffering?
The Early church faced all of the same difficulties, in addition to persectution and rejection by their own people in Israel and other regions. Yet, they had a joy that could not be mistaken. “Consider it pure joy by brothers when you face trial of many kinds” (James 1:2-3). So why did they have this assurance?
I think the early church understood what it meant to win. If we define winning in terms of everything going our way, we may struggle when it doesn’t work. It may shake our faith. If we understand that winning means focusing on Christ and staying faithful to Him, then the more we become dependent on our faith, and trust in God, we are winning. In fact the greater the trials we face the more opportunity we have to deepen our need for and dependence on God. When we are victorious against fierce competition, it feels all the greater.
We were very excited about Zack taking 4th in Hammer because it represented a win for Zack. Zack competed in this sport for the first time. He actually managed to do two full turns (that means not just standing throws…some guys can get 4, 8 or even 9 turns before they release). So even though it wasn’t a first place, it was a win for Zack, because it was the best he’s ever done in competition.
So what qualifies as a win to you? Are you waiting for everything to be going your way or are you focusing on a true win of getting closer to Christ, becoming more like him even in His sufferings?
Bsloterbeek’s Weblog
My blogger post from 7-10-07
Well, Erica is having a full blown Asthma flare again.
Our biggest frustration is not fully understanding why she is getting this way. Weknow she has a cold and that is why she is having a flare, but why does she go right to the flare from one little cold bug. That is no way to get through school! She’ll miss so much time.
It can be frustrating to face uncertainty, difficulty, even grief (as we have had our share this year). I am not sure where t ogo with that other than to persevere as God has told us we will have trouble in this world, and to persevere and take heart because he has overcome the world. One can’t help begin to wonder (and we wouldn’t be the first ones) why God is waiting so long to consumate his kingdom here on earth.
According to Scripture, God is not slow in acting like some kind of tech support person who places us all on hold. But God is patient with us, waiting for the time when all those who will believe have placed their hope and trust in Him. I suppose that might be worth waiting for, I am glad he waited long enough for me to get there at least.
If you are presently going through a series of rough times, my heart is with you. More importantly, and we cannot let ourselves forget this, so is God’s. He can be trusted in so far as he gave His son for us. He will return, he will set things right, and it will be at just the right time. In the meantime, allow your trials to drive you closer to God through prayer and studying His Word. There are a lot of folks in Scripture whose circumstances you may just be able to relate to. Try looking over Psalm 30 this week, too. You may just find some encouragement there.
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