Monday, October 29, 2007

birth and beyond

i have been reading christ plays in ten thousand places by eugene peterson. it is interesting. i feel kind of conflicted reading it b/c i adore his writing style, but sometimes i am thinking, what? it is really hard to explain what i mean, it is not as though he is writing about concepts that are too hard to discern, but rather he is writing about things in a way i have never thought of (hate to leave the "of" dangling, but too lazy to reword the sentence). so, in a sense it is refreshing. in another sense it is like, what? i know there is nothing new under the sun, but there is plenty new to me, i guess. i really enjoyed the beginning part of the chapter "christ plays in creation". peterson is describing how he saw his first live birth (his daughter in law's third baby) and the impact it had on him. these are some of his thoughts that i found compelling.

*"nowhere i have ever been and nothing i have ever done in God's creation rivals what i experienced in that birthing room."

*"i have climbed mountain peaks that gave me views of glaciated mountains in wave after wave of ranges, but none of those breathtaking vistas was comparable to seeing that baby enter the world."

*"Does anyone ever get used to this? i was captured by the wonder of life, the miracle of life, the mystery of life, the glory of life."

*"Birth, any birth, is our primary access to the creation work of God. Jesus' virgin birth provides and maintains the focus that God himself is personally present and totally participant in creation, which is good news indeed."

This is such good stuff. That giving/seeing birth is a moment when God's utmost creative power is experienced most fully in our pre-glory state. The profound retelling of Immanuel that each birth is, not that we give birth to a Godman, but that it calls us back to remember the birth that stands above all births, the gospel of "God with us". The doorway through which God chose to enter our world; to dwell, in flesh, with His people was the earthy, messy, beautiful, glorious process of birth. It is no wonder to me, personally, for I am in love with watching/experiencing the birth of babies. The first birth I ever watched was when I was eighteen. It was crazy and amazing. Since then, I have seen a couple and I love it. I have thought that if I had never married and had a career instead of children, I would like to be a labor and delivery nurse. To see that happen everyday, would be so great. When Whit was born there were 10+ people watching his birth and I loved it. It is such a gift to give.

On other notes, Kirsten and I ran eleven (11) miles yesterday and it was awesome. God blessed us with a great run and we were really excited and not a little sore (still).

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

OLD CHILDREN!

well, the crazy birthday month is past us and i finally got the pictures off of my camera and onto kodak gallery. whit is four years old! i cannot believe it. he likes spiderman and aiden. as you can see.
knox is one. it seems only yesterday that i was praying he would be one. whit constantly pulls his feet out from under him as he walks b/c "now that he walks he isn't my BABY brother anymore". fun times.


norah catherine is three years old. this is my favorite dress and one of my favorite faces she makes. i love her heart. she is supremely rebellious but also amazingly repentant.
i blogged this because i am getting pretty sad about leaving the children to go to santa monica friday. i am so excited but so sad at the same time. i think this mixture of emotion is becoming a theme in our life...

Thursday, October 04, 2007

good times

well, last nite was bittersweet. it was wade's last nite to play music for OU RUF. he has been doing this for over six years now and it is a part of him. laboring with doug in RUF is probably one of the favorite things he has ever done. God has seen it fit for this chapter to close, but it went out with style. we were both overwhelmed by the love and support shown by our friends during this time. blake and kara simonson drove to norman on a wednesday nite to be here for this, as did sam negus. brian hewes showed up (okay he moved back yesterday, but still...) and it felt somewhat reunionish. when blake got up to play with wade and the band, kara and i thought we were in heaven watching them play together again. clint and wade and blake. so fun. of course nicole made me cry. singing be still my soul with the Church didn't help on the crying front. it was just so overwhelmingly beautiful. poor doug, though. he got pretty sick. jessie maynard made an awesome shirt for wade that says, "pray for tuning" and that was just great. several people got together and donated money to get wade a hefty gift card at his favorite restaurant, buffalo wild wings (sick out; i know, right?). doug gave wade some books and some good words. after RUF we went out to coach's for some beer and fellowship. it was a great evening spent with old friends and new. God is good to His people. leaving norman will be so very difficult.

so, things are about to get really crazy.

tomorrow we head out with the spears on a long drive to the young married's retreat at haminha. looking forward to this very much. nervous about leaving knox, i am so attached to that child! he is my baby! not really excited about the game yet, it is pretty much a duel between two losers as far as i am concerned right now. yes, i am spoiled and immature regarding the sooners. sam was reminding me of this last nite, and i am quite sure he is right, but at present i am not looking for growth in this area. ;) it will be fun to do some antiquing and have a nice leisurely (especially after our EIGHT MILE run last sunday nite) run with kirsten and meghan.

monday nite wade will go to dallas and the children and i will meet him there thursday nite. friday morning wade and i will leave for santa monica to attend will canon's wedding. that should be really fun. chewy and steph helped me find the perfect dress for this shindig. i mean, there will be crazy LA people there and i wish i didn't care what they think of me, but unfortunately i really will care. i don't want to hear, "you look great for having three children!" which is what people say. i have to believe their intentions are good, but come on, are you serious? does that sound like a compliment? it is like, you look good for having a large nose. yes it is, don't argue. especially if you haven't had three children. anywho...we will be staying here. with an oceanview room. they are getting married on the beach and it will be my first beach wedding. it will be my first california visit, actually. i am much more a south east girl, but am excited to see california nonetheless. upon returning home, wade will leave the next morning (monday) for michigan for the week.

that is only the first half of the month!