This Just In…

We just got back from the first of our weekly checkups with the doc. This is the first “poking and prodding” for those who know the process. Annnddd….whoa! Mere is already almost 3 cm dilated and 90% effaced! Course the doc cautioned us that many people stay like this for the remainder of their term…but then he casually threw out the “I wouldn’t be surprised if you do not make it to your due date” comment. In our minds, this is part of the process of making everything a little bit more real, especiallly the part that even though we have a little over 3 weeks left, we really have NO IDEA when lil’ Luke might decide to make is grande entrance

 

We also visited a principal…uh, I mean pediatrician this week. Her office is only about 5 minutes from our house and she is connected with Baylor hospital, so we were hopeful for a good experience. It wasn’t a horrible experience, but let’s just leave it that her glance was enough to make us sit up straight and keep our mouths shut!

Baby Update

So, Luke is growing!! The pic on the left is at 18 weeks and the one on the right is at 34 weeks…just a little change:) Today we are at week 36, so only 4 more to go! Woooohooooo! We start weekly checkups this Friday. Our bag is packed, car seat set out, and we’ve mapped the route (more or less, anyway).

 

In other baby news, we congratulate Paul and Sarah Maney in the birth of their first child, Jonas!! Check out their blog and pics at Everything Maney.

Guy’s Night

You may remember a previous post concerning this type of event (you can read about it here). For an understanding of the grading system, please refer to John’s post here. This guy’s night is set apart by some new variety, which I believe tops the last…but I’ll let you decide for yourself! The scoring categories will be addressed in reverse order.

Category 3 – Video Games Played
This night introduced a whole new set of games, thanks to the presence of the Wii…oh, not just 1, but TWO Wii systems!! (plus the PS2)
- Mario Kart (the highlight of which was John’s dominance of the rainbow road track)
- Smash Bros.
- Mario Soccer (a royal pummeling was handed out in round one by JP and John. JP provided the scoring and John the…well…rendering inactive of all opponent players during any given offensive attack)
- Madden ‘07
PS2 – Star Wars BattleFront – a continual slaughtering of the enemy

In addition to video games, there were multiple rounds of Foosball throughout the event. As humbly as I can, I must make note that I do not recall losing a game…(hey, it’s not my fault that I own the table…okay, I think I lost 1 game)

Category 2 – Food Consumed
A plus in this category is the main course of meat: hot dogs, bratwurst, and sausage; all grilled to perfection! The minus is the pitiful amount eaten and the addition of turkey chili?? How manly is that, John? There was also cake, sodas (props to Sean for the cream soda), chips, and salsa. I do believe we fell short in this category.

Category 1 – Bedtime
We blew away last guy’s night with this one!! No guys left to go home. The first to fall asleep was around 5 a.m. Two made it all the way through without sleep. The end of the event came around 6 a.m. 4 of the 5 guys are married, which again adds bonus points.

Additional Comments – Bonus
There were 2 newbies in the group and it took them, oh, 1/2 second to join the politically, socially, spiritually, and any other ‘ally’ incorrect comments that go on. Overall, trash talk was decent. Railing on your own teammate was common.

Ahhhh, another successful guy’s night!! I would never call a fellow brother out in public, but we had an MIA, a bro that never showed. What happened chump?!?!

Thanks…for who you are

I was discussing Revelation 4 with some guys yesterday and John had an insightful observation that has been at the forefront of my mind since.

“And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever,” (Rev 4:9)

In this description of worship by the 4 living creatures, who seem to be spiritual beings rather than earthly, they give thanks to God…for what? Are they thanking Him for food…clothing…a car…any number of possessions? Are they thanking Him for life…salvation…heaven? It seems not! Instead, they are thanking Him for who He is. He is HOLY. He is ALMIGHTY. He is ETERNAL. And because of who he is, they give Him thanks!.

So then I have to consider my worship of God. Do I thank Him because of who He is, or only for those things that I get? Of course I am not saying that I should not thank Him for the unending blessings that He pours out on my life…for the house, the cars, the stuff. He is due thanks for all of these things. He is due my thanks for life, for salvation, for the hope of Heaven through the Son Jesus Christ. And yet…do I give thanks to Him because of who He is?! Sadly, this is not the stimulus of my thanks, this is not why I usually think He is due thanks. I most often give Him thanks because of what I get…

Do you thank Him for who He is, or just because of what you get?

Evangelical Manifesto

I’ve been meaning to put a notice up on the blog about the Evangelical Manifesto. If you have not heard about this, I invite you to nose around the website and read the manifesto…even if you do not consider yourself an evangelical (though I suspect most of you who visit this blog are). Anyway, perhaps I will comment some on the manifesto, though I have not finished reading it…something about the end of the semester getting in the way   What is the manifesto? The website states that it is

“an open declaration of who Evangelicals are and what they stand for.”

 It also comments that

“the deepest purpose of the Manifesto is a serious call to reform—an urgent challenge to reaffirm Evangelical identity, to reform Evangelical behavior, to reposition Evangelicals in public life, and so rededicate ourselves to the high calling of being Evangelical followers of Jesus Christ. “

 

Partying with the elderly

Last night we went to a fundraiser gala for North Dallas Shared Ministries…our church is a supporting member body through $$ and volunteers. So the gala was dinner, concert, and comedian with all the money raised going to the ministry. It was a good time, but Mere and I were at least 30 years junior to any person there! Of course the music and entertainment was geared for the majority, but it was still enjoyable. The Fabulous Cat Daddies offered an eclectic variety…country swing, bluegrass, etc. The lead guitarist was pretty amazing…picking his acoustic for solos. They also used a traditional bass…not bass guitar, think orchestra bass. Good stuff!!  The comedian was Dennis Swanberg, a former pastor turned comic. My favorite line….”Now I’m not being all pastoral with you, no, I’m being more like a deacon, you know, tellin’ the truth!”

Here is what I love the most about North Dallas Shared Ministries: it is a partnership between some 46 churches in the North Dallas area, ranging from a Unitarian church, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Catholic, Methodist, Baptist, and I believe one Jewish Synagogue. Is that not awesome?!?!?!?!

So now is the point in the day when I should be productive…so I’m off to appear to do so…Happy Friday!

Shhhhhhh! I’m about to defy you. –Bugs Bunny

Well, the semester is over…the weekend is over…work is here…and I’m tired…:) Alas, I have some catching up to do on the blog. I mean, what would the blogging world do without my witty, inspiring posts?!? (Apparently it does just fine. The blog had some pretty active days in visitation recently…you know, during the time when I didn’t post anything!)

So, let’s get started! You may now refer to Meredith as MASTER TEACHER, or maybe that is just what I have to call her She has been officially commenced with her master’s degree.

Congratulations!!

Great job!

way2go!!

 

coffee??

I love coffee…it definitely serves functional purposes in my life, but more than this, I love the flavors…the aromas…the deliciousness…okay, I’ll move on! I always like new ways of making it at home (I am not a frequenter of the coffee shop simply because of lack of mulah for this lifestyle) and I was introduced to the simplest iced coffee recipe:

step 1: brew fresh coffee
setp 2: mix 1 can sweetened condensed milk with coffee
step 3: chill slightly. pour over the rocks and serve, drink, be satisfied!

use 1 regular can of sweetened condensed milk to 10 cups of brewed coffee…note, this really does make a lot of iced coffee, so you may want to make only half, depending on how many people you are serving.

Simple…Tasty…Coffee

it comes to this…

the final week of class is finishing up…then finals week. my semester is reduced to 1 greek exegetical paper and 1 hebrew exam

wooohoooo!