Nine Years / Nueve Años / Neun Jahre

Nine years ago at 10:30am, a ceremony began that changed our lives forever.

We were a little younger,

a little thinner,

a little naive-er,

(which was just right, then.)

Now, nine years in,

we love each other a little more,

understand each other a little better,

and have a family that's a little bigger.

We've endured some trials,

but shared many more laughs.

We've changed for the better,

because we have each other,

and a God who will not let us stay the same.

Yes, world, this is my man!

He can eat big sandwiches.

I'll claim him in sickness and health,

joy and sorrow,

plenty and want,

till death does us part.

And I'm sure thankful he feels the same about me!

He is a patient man, folks, a patient man.

Happy Anniversary, dude.

He's a Clever One

I was working on this blanket for a friend.  (Steelers colors, yes, but also of the Penguins and the Pirates; three cheers for a town whose pro sports teams all have the same colors!)

It's knit on the diagonal, so you spend the first half of the blanket increasing a stitch each row, then you decrease one stitch each row on the second half.  You can find the pattern here; it's super easy - if you knit - and a fun baby gift.  (I've never done it with the hood.)

My witty husband was keeping me company as I worked, and came up with a novelty t-shirt idea based on the verse "He must increase; I must decrease." John 3:30, where John the Baptist speaks of Jesus.  Picture it: the name Jesus above an illustration of increasing a stitch in knitting, next to the word I with an illustration of decreasing a stitch, with the Scripture reference below.

So nerdy.

But right up my humor alley.

Anyone want to design it ...

... for the three people that might buy it?

Miscellaneous

Did I mention that it's fall?!

Did I mention that this guy's been getting into trouble?

Did I mention we're glad to have this man in our lives?

Hope your day is bright, by God's grace! Here's a little poem we've been enjoying at our house, in case the weather is not so bright in your neck of the woods.

Weather

Whether the weather be fine

or whether the weather be not.

Whether the weather be cold

or whether the weather be hot.

We'll whether the weather,

whatever the weather,

Whether we like it or not!

My Life is not a Television Drama

Life has been going really well lately, which should be a good thing. Right?

But, now and then, I find myself expecting some terrible thing to happen. Really terrible, such as one of the kids suddenly falling ill and being diagnosed with a terminal illness, Colin dying or losing someone else who is close to me.

It's weird.

I imagine, however, that some of you can relate.

Because like me, you've seen too many television dramas on stations like Lifetime. In the opening scenes life is beautiful: the people are beautiful; the dialog is beautiful; the music is beautiful; dang it, even the weather is beautiful!

Then it happens. An accident or a natural disaster. A disease or a death. The protagonists are thrown into the trials and it gets intense: the people are intense; the dialog is intense; the music is ... well, you get the picture.

Honestly, this is how I've been thinking about my life. In my mind it goes something like this: Things are just going too well. Really, life should be more difficult. Surely something awful will happen soon.

My husband is good to remind me, when I make some pessimistic comment, that God does give us blessings we can enjoy and He's not out to get us. He loves us; Jesus took on the punishment for all sin. I'm thankful for my husband's influence, because certainly, thinking like this reveals a flawed understanding of what it is to be God's child, His sheep, His beloved. For even when life is difficult, I can still trust him for my every breath and need.

In addition to unbelief, such thoughts also reveal how what you put in effects what comes out. My mom used to say (much to my annoyance, because I wanted to be free to enjoy the smut other kids were allowed to see and hear - now, I thank you mom!), Garbage in, garbage out. And Paul exhorts us to think about the good, pure, noble, excellent, praiseworthy things (Phil 4:8).

My life is not a television drama.

My life is under the precious care of God the Father, Son, and Spirit. Yes, surely a tragedy (or more) will come my way in this life - which until now, frankly, has been filled with ease - because we live in a fallen, death-filled world. But as King David said: All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be, Psalm 139:16. Neither the good times nor the bad times take God by surprise. He will see us through.

The main take-away point for me from all of this is to stay connected to God in prayer and through Scripture. If life isn't a television drama, or a tossing of the dice, then I need to get to the Truth to understand God and the world. Peter closes the final chapter of II Peter with these words:

Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.

May you stimulated to wholesome thinking in the coming days, friends!

Life is not a television drama. Praise! the!! Lord!!!

The Thesis Command Center

Last summer, after trying for a long time to find a good place on campus to work, Colin decided to build an office in the corner of our bedroom. We call it his Thesis Command Center. It's super cool and makes me look forward to projects he could do on a future home.

This is the view as you walk into our room;

the wall behind the dresser is the back wall

of the command center.

The other wall and the door.

Shhhhhh!

Graduate student @ work.

A view from the top:

He's smiling because he's almost done!