Latest on the Editor

Thanks everyone for praying for Mom. It has been a month now, and she is doing so much better. Last week she had another ultrasound which showed 70% improvement in the blood clot. One part of the clot is still significant and causes pain and problems with a valve, but she's able to get around more and is slowly regaining her strength.

We've heard the baby's heartbeat three times now and all feel relieved and overjoyed. You should have seen Mom bawling for joy the first time we heard it. (Some people say by number twelve it must be all old hat--they are so wrong!)

And we all continue to grow...
"He makes everything in our lives and circumstances subservient to the one great purpose of causing us to grow in grace, and of conforming us, day by day and hour by hour, to the image of Christ. He carries us through a process of transformation, longer or shorter as our peculiar case may require, making actual and experimental the results for which we have trusted."
~Hannah Whitall Smith

The Walking Dead

I was fifteen feet above the ground balancing on a giant log. For the past few days, I've been helping some friends build a log home. In the distance a siren whined and glancing sideways, I saw an ambulance dodging through traffic. Instantly, fear churned my insides as I wondered where that ambulance was rushing. Our mom (as was previously posted) has a blood clot. If anything goes wrong she could die within minutes. I imagined Jordan frantically dialing 911.

Guilt and sorrow welled in me as I realized I didn't even say goodbye to her that morning. Searching further into my memory, I remembered how passive I had been of her existence the night before. I acted like I was the only one still breathing.

Later that day, I was relieved to find out that my imagination was incorrect. But, a question still bugged me, "What if that had been her in the ambulance? What if she had died?"

I realized I should have acted differently, been the servant I'm supposed to be. I realized that we need to not only forget ourselves but to also have a concern for others. We need to live life to the utmost advantage for Jesus.

Granted most of the time, it's not always someone close that we may never see again. Generally, it's the passerby on the street, the person at a job, or the grocer at the checking counter. How do we treat them?

Eventually, everyone will die or pass from our lives. Just as that ambulance sped to save a victim of deterioration, so we need to jump at every oppurtunity to display love and compassion to everyone. Jesus went out of his way every day for the sick, the confused, the disliked, and the ordinary person.

Our greatest concern should be for the walking dead. That is, the ones who walk, talk, and sleep, but are dead spiritually. Those who don't know Jesus are dead. We must concern ourselves with their deadness. Ephesians 2 explains, "As for you, you were dead in your transgressians and sins." There is a dying world. Can we every moment go out of our way and notice the stench of death looming on every street, in every building, or will we stand back, taking no notice of their decay, and let them die? Pray, talk, act; but most of all pray. Like a doctor gives physical life, so Jesus gives spiritual life.

Don't pass up an opportunity to be selfless. You may never get that chance again. Don't be passive. Be active. Active for Christ.

Ronald Reagan

Introducing Isaac: In honor of Presidents' Day (coming up next Monday), our residential wiz on all things political and presidential, writes about one of his favorite presidents.





Ronald Reagan is my favorite president for two reasons. First, he was a man of integrity. Peggy Noonan writes, "Ronald Reagan loved the truth...He thought the truth is the only foundation on which can be built something strong and good and lasting--because only truth endures. Lies die. He thought that in politics and world affairs in his time there had been too many lies for too long, and that they had been uniquely destructive. And so his public career was devoted to countering that destructiveness by speaking the truth, spreading it and repeating it."

On top of all that, he was a great conservative. This combination of conservativism and integrity led to a clarity on the dangers of communism. Peggy Noonan attributes Reagan's success in the battle against communism to his high regard for the truth. She writes, "The great novelist Alexander Solzhenitsyn wrote that it is only when people refuse to lie, with all the courage involved in that refusal, that dictators and dictatorships fall. That was the amazing thing Ronald Reagan did when he looked at the Soviet Union. He refused to lie, and with his words the fall of the ugliest dictatorship of human history began. And nine months after he walked out of the White House, the Berlin Wall crashed to the ground. Though of course it didn't fall. It was pushed."

Peggy Noonan, a special assistant to Ronald Reagan, is a terrific writer. If you want to know more about this great president check out her book, When Character was King: A Story of Ronald Reagan. And, if you're interested in knowing more about the problems with communism, you might enjoy the DVD's Commanding Heights. The Editor and I love watching documentaries, and this one is among the best.

Sledding

A few weeks ago, we had a great time sledding on a beautiful sled run some friends built behind their house. Thanks M family!



3...2...1...Blast Off!







Who needs a hairdryer?







The Happy Turtle







A Crash







A Survivor

Midwife School

For the last seven years, I've wanted to be a midwife. When we lived in England for three months while Dad attended a tropical medicine school, I read straight through one of his textbooks--a very large book about midwifery. In fact, I read it twice and have been fascinated by midwifery ever since.

Last summer I started searching for good midwife schools. Newlife International School of Midwifery (NISM), a school based in the Philippines, particularly stood out. NISM is a Christ-focused school that provides health care to the poor while striving to be a witness for Christ.

I could hardly believe it when I later found out that the director of this school actually grew up in the same town where I live--way out here in the boonies of North Idaho!

So, I was just officially accepted. Wahooo! I'll be leaving sometime during the last week of August of this year, and will be gone for two years, although I'll hopefully be able to come home for a month in between those two years. I'll be sure to post plenty of pictures of the Philippines in about six months...

Update

Please keep praying for Mom. Although she is almost over the most critical stage and is slowly starting to feel better, the leg is still quite painful and the blood clot could still break off. Her leg is no longer swollen, and it only turns purple if she walks for more than a few minutes. She slept well last night for the first time in four nights.

I've been forced to get over my ginormous phobia of shots, injections, and anything to do with needles. I think I can finally give her an injection without blacking out. We hope she will be able to cut down soon to just one injection per day.

Grandma is here and has been a huge help. Also, our church has been wonderful! They have brought meals, driven us to appointments, and offered their complete support. We are truly blessed and are so thankful to have this fellowship. On top of all that, we know there are people praying for us all over the world. Thank you!

GOD IS ALWAYS GOOD. He uses these things to teach us and draw us nearer to Him.

"It is a dreadful truth that the state of having to depend solely on God is what we all dread most...It is good of Him to force us; but dear me, how hard to feel that it is good at the time."
~C.S. Lewis