All By Myself

Wesley is having a ball feeding himself these days. He holds the spoon/fork at the very end with his thumb and index finger and goes to town. This is probably the least possible control he can have over his utensil, but when you try to help him reposition his hold, he is not happy! Lots of food still ends up on his chin and bib, but he's getting better. When he sees us handing him his own spoon to use, his smile and giggle are priceless!

The Ice Storm

I thought I would finally post a few pictures from our crazy ice storm at the end of January. Today marks one month after it hit. These were mostly taken about a week after the big hit when everything was starting to melt (why Wesley isn't bundled up), but I got a few of the pretty icy trees while it was still cold.


Wesley had lots of fun stomping in the snow once it got warmer. He certainly learned what "cold" and "wet" meant! Owen ate LOTS of ice and had a few ice-related injuries from playing with our neighbor's lab. He has finally recovered from his gashes, abrasions and swollen toes. It was ridiculous.

Knowing God's Will for Me

I just emailed a friend about figuring out what God wants us to do in life. I think there are two (complementary) ways to approach knowing God's will. I'll share:

existential (aka "subjective") - It comes down to *confidence* based on some thought, some dream, some godly desire or passion that drives what you do and where you go. I think it overstatement to say such "feelings" are always or even usually the Spirit of Christ; but he's with us and he has a personal influence on us. Maybe his influence comes to our awareness (1) by using our personality & already conscious inclinations, and other times (2) by introducing new or foreign ideas/desires.

inductive (aka "logical") - This is theological work combined with honest, personal reflection. Scripture tells us that God expects _(fill in the blank)_ of me; am I becoming such a person? Am I doing those things "heartily, as unto the Lord" himself? Going through a list of God's revealed expectations for a man in my situation with my responsibilities can establish parameters - "fences, goads, and rewards along God's path for me" - that can show me I probably am OR certainly am not walking down God's path for my life.

If I am inside the revealed parameters ("fences, goads & rewards") God has revealed in Scripture for someone in my situation, then I can assure my restless mind that my Shepherd will not let me wander so far off course as to miss his specific plans for my life. He's too kind to conscience such a thing.

Unfulfilled dreams, desires, passions, directions from others, etc. might be Jesus' voice leading us into a new path, but they should not become barbs and thorns that stick in our hearts to make us suspect that we've missed God's plan for us. Maybe even I made some promise in my past about what I would do or become - a promise that would cause me to hop the fence, kick against the goads, or ignore God's rewards. Jephthah (Judges 11) was not honorable for keeping his foolish vow to the Lord.

Those unfulfilled motivators might be to prepare me to see and pursue future opportunities the Shepherd has planned. If those unfulfilled motivators have me wondering about the past only ("What if I had..."), I might need to let them die, so that I can live and prepare for what's ahead.

Remember, Jesus is kind. He loves us better than and prior to any of our loves. Who can be against us?

What do you (our illustrious 3 readers) think?

Logic and the Economic Crisis

The current downturn (don't read depression yet) in our economy provides a great example of an unfortunate "principle" for human beings: If the right people (or enough people) say the same thing long enough, we will believe it.

Thomas Sowell summarizes how this has transpired:

From television specials to newspaper editorials, the media are pushing the idea that current economic problems were caused by the market and that only the government can rescue us.

What was lacking in the housing market, they say, was government regulation of the market's "greed." That makes great moral melodrama, but it turns the facts upside down.

It was precisely government intervention which turned a thriving industry into a basket case.

Sowell goes on to explain (the whole piece is 2 pages) that government intervention was a primary cause, and government intervention (such as the stimulus) probably will not help the recovery.

I am intending to offer a crash course on basic logic (informal fallacies are the fun part) for my church folk. We'll look at some examples from misguided economic & political ideals.

HT: Matt Perman

Jesus' "Blessings": Examples or Prescriptions?

I'm posting my disappointment about Dallas Willard's take (from The Divine Conspiracy) on Matthew 5:3-16 to help me clarify my own thoughts. And as an aside, I like Willard's book! He attended schools and teaches at a school that wouldn't think twice about me. He's written books about things that I don't understand. I think Willard is correct that the statements in question address "the good life" that occupied philosophers for millennia. From what I've read of his treatment of Matthew 5:17-48, I think I like where he's going in his interpretation there (a transformed life that lives by God's moral law).

Willard challenges the traditional interpretation of the Beatitudes, which thinks Jesus intended for all his followers to "be like that" - that is, to develop their personal character in reflection of all these qualities. He paraphrases Jesus' first statement: "Blessed are the spiritual zeros--the spiritually bankrupt, deprived and deficient, the spiritual beggars, those without a wisp of 'religion'--when the kingdom of the heavens comes upon them" (p. 100). Willard is very concerned that "poor in spirit" not be made into a meritorious condition which is rewarded with the kingdom of the heavens.

The traditional interpretation (which Willard seems to understand) is that "poor in spirit" means any and all persons who recognize their spiritual bankruptcy in relation to God. Since Jesus speaks to his "disciples" (Matthew 5:1-2), that setting qualifies his statement - those who come to him, aware of their desperation before God, will all be the beneficiaries of the kingdom of heaven.

Willard makes the traditional view out to be a cheap way to avoid what he thinks is an "example" or one kind of person to whom the kingdom of heaven is available. He teasingly says, "If they [people generally, considered under the traditional view] are not in a position to be humble-minded, they perhaps can manage to mourn, or be meek, or become persecuted, and then one of the other Beatitudes will, on the interpretation in question, take over to secure their blessedness" (p. 103).

"We would therefore expect anyone who seriously accepted this interpretation to seek to become poor, sad, persecuted, and so on, but very few people actually do this" (p. 104). Willard goes on to say it will not do to suppose that Jesus' statements were meant to be put off until a Millennium in the future when Jesus has returned and established his kingdom on earth. I agree.

I think it makes better sense to say "poor in spirit" has a background in the Old Testament, where the Psalmist(s) call themselves "poor and needy" (Ps. 40:17) and praise the "meek" (Ps. 37:11), etc. On this interpretation, it is not one or another of the Beatitudes that "get you in," but all of them (in a nice progression) describe and commend essential character qualities that Jesus expects of his disciples. In a since, these "blessings" are all required of all followers of Jesus. John Stott wrote a very readable book that brings the traditional interpretation of the Beatitudes (and the whole Sermon on the Mount) to bear on everyday life.

Hawaii

It seems like we've been back from Hawaii for a long time. Well, we have been back for two weeks, but it seems much longer when you factor in five cancelled flights, a destructive ice storm, power outage (times 3) and the camping out at our friends' house for three nights that we faced immediately upon our return. We were blessed to have gotten our power on as soon as we did, but it still kind of strung us out, especially when you add a sick 17-month-old into the mix. Wesley did end up having a double ear infection as a result of his cold, which made him (understandably) a little grumpy at times. He's really been taking it like a champ, just reminding us every now and then about his pain with a cute point toward his head and saying, "eawr." (I'm not sure how to type out ear with the "r" sound being a "w" sound, but you get the point.) More of that experience to come later. We took a few pictures that I'll post sometime.


Hawaii was a fun trip for us. We arrived in Maui late in the afternoon on Friday, and after renting a minivan we headed to the southern end of the island and made it to our fun condo on Wailea Beach. We ate yummy pizza and salad at Mateo's Pizza that evening and then went to the beach for a little while. Lela and I had out suits on under our clothes just in case we couldn't resist getting in, but it was just a little on the chilly side in the evening for me to take the plunge.

The next day was John Mark's birthday! We spent most of this day in the van en route to Haleakala, a volcanic crater that is dormant, but not thought to be forever inactive. It was about a three hour drive on a very windy road going straight up, it seemed. Once we got atop the mountain (10,000 feet above sea level), it was pretty cold and windy, but an interesting view. One sign described the landscape as "lunar." It was cool to see the old lava all around.

When we got back, John Mark, Lela and I went swimming in the ocean for awhile since it was still warm out. No pictures of that, but very fun! We did get to experience a really cool show by a whale while we were on the shore just about to leave. This was our first whale sighting, and a man on the beach even let us borrow his binoculars to watch for a bit. He said that it was the best he had seen all year! Too bad we did not have our camera. That evening we went to a nice restaurant for John Mark's birthday. This picture makes me laugh with Mom's head peeking around. :)

Sunday was another trip of around three hours to Hana which is the very eastern tip of the island. This area is known for its beautiful beaches and crazy road leading to the city. The "Highway to Hana" was the windiest road I have ever experienced by far, but boasted a very amazing view. We traveled through the rain forest for much of the trip and passed some cute little fruit stands tucked away in random spots off the highway. Below is a picture of me with my Mimi by one of the pretty waterfalls along the way.

Every now and then, we got to see some amazing views of the ocean:

Once we arrived in Hana, we ate lunch at a burger and sandwich restaurant then went to the Black Sands Beach. This was an absolutely breathtaking spot. We spent a long time there taking in the strong waves breaking on the shore and getting to watch the occasional mongoose run ahead of us.

This is what Lela did for a lot of the trip:

There was a cool little cave off of the main beach where the water splashed hard against the rock and into the cave. If you look closely, you can see John Mark on his little perch in the cave.

On the way back on the crazy highway, we stopped at one of the fruit stands and Lela bought a coconut which was cracked open for us there, so we got to taste fresh coconut water, which is supposed to be the healthiest thing you can drink thanks to the abundant electrolytes. One of the stand workers said she drank a cup a day to prevent kidney stones. That evening we headed back to the southern part of the island and did some whale watching (which was not all that fruitful), and then had dinner.

Monday was the day that our parents and Mimi let "the kids" have the van, so we headed to Lahaina (west Maui). Lela and I went zip-lining through some gorgeous valleys between mountains while John Mark hung out at a coffee shop. (He didn't want to spend the money to go zip-lining.)

Zip-lining was my favorite part of the trip. We got to do eight lines and the trip included a nice breakfast with some yummy fresh Hawaiian fruit.

Here is Lela doing one of the lines.

This is me looking cool in my helmet. I got called "team Texas-Kentucky" by our guides thanks to my shirt after they discovered my place of residence when we were all becoming acquainted with one another at the beginning of our tour.

There I am!

After that really fun time, the three of us headed to the food court in a mall :) for a quick lunch, and then we were off to go snorkeling. John Mark was also going to sit this one out until we discovered they had a prescription mask that was actually pretty close to his! We didn't have much luck at first (except for Lela finding a $10 bill on the ocean floor), but then we moved to Black Rock where there were lots and lots of really cool fish and ocean life on the rocks. The fish were close enough for us to touch at times, but we refrained of course. Lela bought an underwater camera. Maybe if some of the pictures turned out, they'll be on here later.

We finally peeled ourselves away from the beach knowing that Mom, Dad and Mimi were waiting back at the condo for us so we could all do some more whale watching. That evening we got to see many whales! None were as close as the one we saw off the beach our first day, or one that Lela and I had seen earlier that day as we drove back to our condo from Lahaina (Lela screamed in response to the sight of the HUGE tail coming out of the water that seemed maybe 300 yards away!! Absolutely amazing...), but we watched for over an hour and got to see a pod of at least 5 moving slowly across our view of the ocean. Lela got some cool shots while borrowing a local photographer's telescope lens. Here are a few:

This first one is actually one I took where you can see three dorsal fins breaking the water at once. Click on it so you can see them better!

These people on the boat must have been so excited. You can see one's side fin on the right while his friend is utilizing his blow hole.

Our last night in Maui was nice. After we finally lost view of the whales, we went to this restaurant right on the boat dock called Buzz's Wharf. Everyone got some exotic seafood while Mimi and I shared chicken teriyaki! Ha.

Here's the whole crew:We had a really good time. Thanks, Dad, for taking all of us to Hawaii!

You can see some more cool pictures of Hawaii if you go to Lela's picture site and there are a few more of ours at Laura's.