Sermon on Psalm 23

So I did get to preach for two weeks in a row, after all. I missed leading worship, but it was great fun just to play bass in the band and then deliver a sermon from another Psalm. We intended to make the two weeks in which Nick was gone into a two-part sermon series: one on delight in our calling and another on delight in our circumstances. I chose the much-loved 23 Psalm to preach this week, proclaiming that we can have delight in all circumstances because of our Good Shepherd.

Psalm 23 is the Psalm of David, a former shepherd boy trusting in his own Shepherd and the path He had laid out the house He was building for him. It's also a song of Jesus, the God/Man who trusted in his father and the path He had laid out to His own house and throne. Finally, it is the song of every Christian who trusts our Shepherd King and walks the dark path to the home He is preparing for us.

Perhaps my favorite moment of the day was when a little girl named Chloe showed me her sermon notes. Her summary of a 35-minute sermon was this: "God is the best He will never leave your side not for one minit."

If you care to listen, you can use the player right here:

And He's Off!

My brother, JT, has always been wholeheartedly devoted to that which he wanted to be. Homework? Not so much. Fishing? Yes, please!

For the last few years he has wanted to hike the Appalachian Trail (cool kids call it the AT). In that time he has done some serious research. This includes reading a book, scouring the internet, meeting with a guy who made the hike, recruiting a friend, and buying lots of equipment so light it is measured in ounces. (He assured me that bear repellent and soap were too heavy...)

Yesterday, Sunday, February 19, JT and his friend Bing set off on the grand hike. Basically, they are coming to visit us up north :) He hopes to keep us updated via his blog, appropriately named "Talking it THRU: the diary of a thru hiker." You can keep up with it here! (You can also follow his friend, Bing, here.)

My mom snapped this photo as they walked away. It was a bit of a soggy start!

Sarah Appointments: Neurology

With much anticipation and preparation on Sunday night, we were ready to roll by 9:00 last Monday morning. We were headed to Boston at the pediatrician's recommendation to meet with a pediatric neurologist at Children's Hospital. A doctor friend told us a neurologist would probably look at reflexes and physical responses.

We saw the doctor right on time (1:00, aka, nap time) and she asked a number of questions about Sarah's development and family history. She then did some things that I think meant much more to her than to our eyes, like tickling Sarah's feet, testing her reflexes, and feeling her arms. The doctor then asked us to let Sarah pull herself and cruise around the room at will. Her conclusion was that there isn't really anything holding her back. One new item she noted was that Sarah has "weak tone." This is possibly an inherited trait, so Dave and I were poked and prodded a little as well. It does indeed seem that we may be to blame :)

Our big question, "What is weak tone?" It means that her muscles are "weak" on the scale of loose and tight, not in the same way that we refer to someone strong as "well-toned." Essentially, she will be more flexible and have less endurance, so she might one day be better at gymnastics than soccer. A little research revealed that this is also called hypotonia. I learned a little about it here and invite you to explore the topic as well. It is interesting stuff!

The expert's advice was to go ahead and make an appointment with a physical therapist, thinking that it takes about a month to get an appointment, so we'll have one lined up if she still isn't progressing by then.

Dave and I are pondering all that we have heard from the pediatrician, early intervention assessors, and the neurologist. We plan to talk to some friends with backgrounds in medicine and physical therapy and see if they agree that we should make an appointment right away or if it would be ok to give her a little while longer. The Lord has really answered our prayers in that there appear to be no major physical obstacles!

While the appointment was the highlight of the day, we filled up the rest of our off day with fun activity. On the way into the city we stopped at a big Babies R Us store to enjoy their large selection of all things tiny and fun. After the appointment we walked about a mile to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (cool locals call it the MFA...we aren't that cool yet). Normally this is an expensive endeavor, but with passes from the library we were able to enjoy the rest of the afternoon soaking up some Monet, Picasso, Renoir, Degas, and lots of Copley. We even got to see the portrait of President Washington that was the template for the dollar bill. Very cool! Sarah was a trooper through it all, though she didn't nap until we were cruising down the interstate on the way home. It was an exciting day! Even though we arrived home relatively early, around 6:30, we were all early to bed after a physically and mentally exciting and exhausting day.

Children's hospitals seem to be really fun...Sarah wasn't the only one who thought this contraption was fascinating!

Our favorite Monet.

Sarah's Appointments: Early Intervention

Three of the sweetest ladies you've ever met came out to the house this past Thursday to play with and assess Sarah to see if she qualified for early intervention. The appointment was at 11:30, and I must admit that I was a little afraid that normal lunch and nap time might make for a cranky baby. We filled her up with all her favorite foods around 11:00 and were in the midst of some high energy play when the ladies arrived.

Sarah took right to them, which is a slight change from her normal reticence around strangers. She sat on the floor with Dave behind her as one of the ladies played with her. They built block towers, threw a tennis ball, hid a car under a plastic cup, played with a little toy dog, and read a book, along with many other fun activities. Sarah was super into it and, with the exception of a few distracted moments, had a great time.

Of the other two ladies, one was just observing and scoring. The other was asking us questions and guiding the activities that needed to be done. After about an hour they were done with Sarah and she went straight down for a nap. They asked us a few more questions and scored the result of her assessment. They found that in almost every area she was doing quite well. We were especially encouraged to hear that they were pleased with all aspects of her speech and communication, since she was previously delayed in that area. The walking component was broken into "fine" and "gross" motor skills. While her gross motor skills were low since she isn't walking or standing freely, her fine motor skills were high enough that they outweighed the not walking. Thus, Sarah fell in a normal range and no further Early Intervention plan was recommended.

We were very encouraged by this news! This program has great advantages and resources and we are so glad that it exists. But their inclination was, as everyone suspects, that she is just fearful. And now that she is older and knows more of the consequences of not succeeding with walking, she is probably even more cautious or afraid. They recommended that we not push her to hard, but let her enjoy the practice. They also suggested that we put her in situations with incentive to walk, like a book just out of reach, but close enough that it isn't worth sitting down.

Sarah was amazingly sweet with these women and we are so thankful that, to the best of their knowledge, her legs look strong and joints work well. We continue to pray that she will walk soon, but are so happy to know that she should walk in due time.

Sermon on Psalm 84

Being the kind leader that he is, Nick had cautioned me to have a sermon up my sleeve for the week his baby was born. eventually, an induction was scheduled for the second quarter of the Super Bowl, so I figured I would preach it the next week. I could just have it close to ready- just in case.

It's a good thing, because the little beauty came to join us at 4:17 Sunday Morning. Remembering a few kind waiters who jumped in for me when Sarah was born, I backed off of singing, just led the band from gutiar, polished that sermon, and delivered it a week early.

When researching the Psalm (Psalm 84) earlier that week, I was amazed at the number of subtle references the Sons of Korah made to their father, the ill-famed leader of a rebellion in the wilderness. What I thought was another poem about the Temple was actually the last chapter in a story of redemption from generational sin. And a beautiful one at that!

Here's the Sunday sermon, if you want to listen to it.



God-willing, I'll be preaching another one tomorrow morning on Psalm 23.

Disclaimer- I said "Deuteronomy" in the sermon, but the story I'm referencing encompasses much of the Old Testament, with the majority of it being in Numbers.

27 Week Appointment

On Monday I went to the doctor for a 27 week appointment. Any ardent blog readers may note that my next appointment was supposed to be the week before. You were right! I received a call that morning saying that the doctor was out and rescheduled for this week. While I was waiting to see the doctor (I have always chosen to see the nurse practitioner before now), the waiting room chatter seemed to say that he had run over to the hospital unexpectedly to deliver a baby. They were still able to see me this time and a head nurse was able to quickly check things over.

My blood pressure was normal and my stomach is measuring right on track. The baby's heartbeat was strong and steady. She gave me a delicious orange drink to stick in the fridge in preparation for my glucose test, which I plan to take soon. (The sooner it happens, the sooner it is over!)

Next appointment: Monday, March 5, 11:00 am (maybe this time I will finally get to see the doctor!)

How We Made the Homemade Vanilla, Part 2

After spending late Summer and all Autumn in the closet (minus an occasional shaking), the vanilla vats were ready to come into the light. The beans had diffused well into the vodka, creating a perfect smelling extract

Then the fun began with pouring it into the glass jars we had ordered. 

I had put together a simple label for them, and the hardest part turned out to be printing it on the pre-cut label sheets. After some great misadventure, all turned out well, and we were ready to apply them to the bottles.

All that remained was to tie gift labels to them all and plan the mailing and giving. It was a lot of fun, and we love the way it tastes.

How We Made the Homemade Vanilla, Part 1

We had a lot of fun making our big Christmas present last year, and have heard many renditions of "how'd you do that?" After doing it, we can't believe how simple it was and how good the result is. Definitely a fun craft.

To make it, we started with two ingredients: liquor and vanilla beans.

We ordered the vanilla beans from a supplier on Amazon who sells them by the bag. This was much more economical than buying them at the grocery store (much much more.) There are generally two types of beans: Tahitian, which is supposed to be good for use as a bean, and Madagascar, which is supposed to be better for making extract. Our purchase of the Madagascar bean on the left came with some free Tahitian beans, so we added one in to our batches of 6 Madagascar for good measure.We heard that could make the flavor more complex, just in case we gave one to an undercover vanilla connoisseur.

Most people use distilled vodka, which we stuck with. But we did make just one small batch with bourbon, which we thought a few particular friends and family members would appreciate.

The next step was to cut the beans down the middle and stick them in the bottles.

After a little fun cutting beans, we were left with this:

We shook them well and put them in the closet for the Autumn, taking them out once a week or so to shake them again.

What did it look like after a few months? The best part was the waiting and anticipation, so we're going to make you do it too . . .

Sarah's Newest Trick

We had fun at dinner this week :) Sarah is a such a sponge at this stage and continues to surprise us with all that she notices and remembers.