Things are progressing on the house, we’ve got a verbal agreement but since we’re both in cities other than where our realtors are, the paperwork will take an extra day or so.
Here are some pictures of the girls I took eight days ago now:
(more…)
The Good:
Kate had fun with my family
Lexi travelled well
We enjoyed the hospitality of many kind people in Birmingham and worshipping at Trinity Presbyterian
We made a solid short list of homes and an offer on our #1 (Sims) on Sunday
The Bad: (really, The Annoying)
Our air conditioning compressor (or something related to it) broke around Greenville, South Carolina yesterday
Our #1 home is owned by a Relocation company so we have to wait for the corporate timeline
The Ugly:
Billboards
Heat
Since Christ returned to claim his throne,
Great gifts for me obtaining,
My heart will rest in him alone,
No other rest remaining;
For where my treasure went before,
There all my thoughts will ever soar
To still their deepest yearning.
Oh, grant, dear Lord, this grace to me,
Recalling your ascension,
That I may serve you faithfully,
Adorning your redemption;
And then, when all my days will cease,
Let me depart in joy and peace
In answer to my pleading.
I’m anxious about our trip and was dealing with a migrane and a breastfeeding-related malady yesterday so no great blog content. Maybe I’ll write something tomorrow. Maybe not until we return from our trip. Either way, look forward to posts about books, mothers day cards and more when we return. To tide you over, here’s a little something from the blog of Alex Kirk, current IV staff worker at my alma mater:
Inductive Bible Study is simply a better way to read the Bible. Let me count the ways…. Inductive Bible Study takes the fact that the author wrote a whole book on purpose seriously. What happens in Mark 6 has everything to do with Mark 1-5 and sets up Mark 7; what Paul’s talking about in Romans 8 is only truly understood when we’ve read Romans 1-7 and then is qualified, clarified and developed in Romans 9. We only fully understand an author’s meaning when we allow him or her to tell us their whole story … If I wrote you a letter, I hope you would read all of it … Okay, of course there’s times and places for a good deductive/topical study of Scripture. But honestly, the main reason people like them is because they’re easier. Inductive is a more faithful way to read the Bible (heck, to read ANYTHING) and it’s more work for us as readers. It’s just easier to have Beth Moore or some other Bible study guide guru tell us ahead of time what the passage is going to say so that we don’t have to bother thinking or engaging with it ourselves. (HT: Alex at Piebald Life.)
I am really thankful to InterVarsity for teaching me to love studying scripture inductively as a small group. You can take three simple questions (what does it say? what does it mean? what does it mean to me?), a group of people with diverse backgrounds and spiritual maturity and end up with everyone learning something. I wish I could find a grown-up small group that was a simple inductive bible study!
The Duke-Carolina rivalry is the subject of this hilarious book. If you are a Carolina fan, you are sure to enjoy it. The longer you’ve been a fan and the more time you’ve spent in Chapel Hill, you’ll like it all the more. I giggled constantly while reading. The stories about his mother, a transplanted yankee-turned-Carolina fan, were priceless. I had been trying to be less hateful towards particular former dookies (love the sinner, hate the sin?) such as J. J. Reddick and Wojo, but this book really did not encourage me in that pursuit. If you don’t care about college basketball or obsessions in general, don’t read it unless you are trying to understand a Tar Heel loved one.
I can’t wait ’til next season, by the way!
My sweet sister Janelle came down Saturday and spend the night with us! Kate was delighted to see “Aunt ‘Nay!” and have her love and attention and Janelle became Lexi’s first babysitter (Lexi obligingly slept through the experience.) She also went strawberry picking with us. I had a great time just sitting up and talking with her. I am so thankful for Janelle!
A new house in Leeds just went on the market: Blair.
I was going to turn over a new leaf and write a book post about The Soul of Science, but Mike said he’d post about it when he finished it. I guess I’ll turn over a new leaf with the Will Blythe book! I hope Mike posts about the books he finished lately, too.
I’m loving being a bloglines user. I’ve even got Mike converted. I do still leave a good number of comments and tend to click and read posts on the blog from the feed reader when I have time. I am using my computer time more efficiently, without any real downsides. I’m glad I made the switch!
Lexi (our cute, raspberry-blowing baby who laughs all day long) has pretty severe reflux. She has, in her short life, slept far better upright or at a severe incline than laying down and was confined to the swing and carseat for sleep. With her reflux, she needs to eat very small meals (5 minutes) frequently to maximize the amount that actually stays in her system. She’s growing, but slowly. That means that for her, sleeping an eight hour stretch at this point is just not happening. Which didn’t bother me that much, except for hauling myself out of bed to get her in order to feed her. She’s just started to be able to sleep lying flat, so she’s finally transitioned into our bed. We coslept with Kate, so it’s not new to us, but the comparison of the past week to the past few months is astonishing to me. She’s waking up just as much or more (alas, she’s not only eating, but also dealing with teething pain) but I am feeling so much more well rested. I really am in no hurry for her to *sleep through the night* — her nighttime feedings are the only ones right now she’s not spitting up. But not having to drag myself around the house in the middle of the night is REALLY appreciated.
… or it’s a small (Reformed) world after all!
I am growing increasely fascinated by the list of signatures gathered for the Presbyterians Together document. It’s getting rather bad. I’m checking the list a couple of times a day, and I really don’t know why. I guess it’s the Facebook of the post-college Reformed world (”Who signed on today?” “I don’t know, but did you know that HE signed?”).
There are probably a boat load of great games that can be created out of the list of names. Like, connecting people by six degrees of real contact (e.g., like really worshipped together for an extended period of time, married to so-and-so, who is so-and-so’s relative, etc… I’d be willing to venture that Rick can be connected somehow to most people on that list). I already noticed that there is a father/son-in-law pair on the list. I wonder how many of those or like things are on it. We really need to get the statistic guys from MLB to analyze the list.
Anyhow, enough of this jest. I hear it’s a really good document. I printed it out and its sitting on my desk waiting to be read, perhaps during the 7th grade Latin test tomorrow.
Happy Mother’s Day to all of our mommy-readers. Thank you for being the example of nuture and comfort to your children that reminds them of the comfort of God himself.