Archive for July, 2004

July 30th, 2004 And, now, introducing….

Mr and Mrs Bloggy Brunone!! You will notice that one of our links to the right has changed slightly. To our delight, our wonderful new sister-in-law, Jamison, has joined Andrew and they are now blogging together. (Jay and I think husbands and wives sharing a blog is oh so cool!!) Welcome, you two!

Oh, and we have been most remiss in not posting wedding pics of the wonderful day yet. We promise to get to it soon. For now, may we just say that we are so thrilled for the happy couple! May God bless them in their life together!

July 27th, 2004 San Antonio

This past weekend, I took Friday off and we drove down to San Antonio sans Nicolas (who enjoyed a couple nights with Grammy and Grandy). There we had the pleasure of witnessing the wedding of Patrick and Aubree Shay. In 1994 when I led the 7th & 8th grade Wednesday night Bible study at TNPC, Patrick was one of my finest pupils, and it has been a tremendous pleasure watching him grow up into a fine young man.

Now, there is much more to this story, particularly regarding the dessert-only reception at which my 3 year old son Jonathan got hyped up on sugar like never before and went to another plane of existence, but I mainly want to post a couple photos from Saturday, so I’ll cut to the chase. Saturday morning found us at SeaWorld, where we spent a fun-filled, hectic, hot day before driving back to Dallas that same day… in the future, we’ll spread things out a bit more! Here’s a couple of my shots that came out well.

July 26th, 2004 Abigail in the Kitchen

Our eldest has learned a very useful skill the past month: how to make her own sandwich. Her favorite way to enjoy lunch these days involves her pulling the stepstool up to the kitchen counter where she concocts one of her peanut butter and jelly creations. The interesting thing though about Abigail’s sandwiches is that she doesn’t stop with mere peanut butter and jelly. Feeling the need for a little something more between her two slices of bread, she experiments each time with a new ingredient. So far, she’s added various types of crackers, potato chips, chinese noodles and marshmallows (at different times, not together in the same sandwich!!). She wanted to try chocolate chips one day, but I thought that was taking it a bit too far.

I am truly enjoying seeing her creativity at work, and those of you like me, with several young children at home will I’m sure concur with my amazement and delight over her being able to prepare her own lunch every once in a while!!

July 25th, 2004 The Summer of My Itch

It would seem in poor taste for me to go missing for some time on the blog front and then return only to post a whiney-sounding entry. Please know I do not wish to give offense by the following, however, I must tell you that among the more pleasant happenings this summer there has been a nagging little issue that just won’t go away. Oh, it fades into the background for a week here and there, but then flames up again in a most frustrating way. Today though, I feel we may have reached a turning point, so I shall recount my little woe to you now that I know there will be perhaps a tinge of hope interlaced with the grumbling.

Very early in June, during our week of VBS, I began noticing a strange amount of bug bites just under my chin. Every morning I woke up to find more of these, and within a couple days, the bites were no longer limited to my chin. My soon-to-be-sis-in-law commented that my bites looked more like a case of hives and soon others indicated to me that I’d best see a medical professional for their opinion.

Well, given the busyness of our week I did not make it to the doctor’s office until a week later, where I was diagnosed with a rather severe case of poison ivy and put on a dose of steroids to deal with it. What a mess I was. And boy, did I itch!! Happily, within a few days there were no new “spots” and in another week things were clearing up pretty well. I figured the steroids did their trick and was quite grateful for modern medecine.

Unfortunately, by a week’s time after this “cure”, I found evidence that the poison ivy was not actually all gone. And each day it got a little worse than the day before. Back to the doctor’s, only this time I went to a dermatologist, thinking a specialist would surely be able to help me. He confirmed the diagnosis, but indicated that my primary physician, who wrote the first steroid prescription, did not give me a strong enough prescription to wipe out the rash. “Oh good,” I thought, “all I need is a higher dose of the pills, maybe even a shot to get things started, and I will be rid of this problem!” After all, we were only two weeks from the huge family wedding of the summer, the arrival of tons of out of town company, and many events to see to and attend. I really did not want to continue dealing with poison ivy.

However, the dermatologist felt that another dose of steroids might prove harmful to me (too many steroids = not good) so better to wait it out (what???) and use some creams and such in the meantime till it clears. This was NOT what I was looking for. But I tried to remember he was the doctor, he went to school for the degree and all, and that I needed to follow his advice.

So I went home and obediently used my creams, and kept itching. Till another week and yes, admittedly, the rash did ease up again. I was hoping this was the last of it. The weekend of the wedding arrived and oh no!! New spots began appearing, again. As I complain about this, please know that I realize my little affliction is quite minor compared to the physical ills so many in this world suffer. And yet I admit I was growing weary of itching. And treatments that didn’t seem to work.

So, last week after the wedding was over (but while my grandmother was still in town to help watch the kids for me - Thanks Grandma!!) I went back to the dermatologist with my newest spots, seeking help and yes, drugs!! He was, I’m sorry to say, less than helpful, and actually tried to send me away again with no medicine for my plight. I wanted to cry, but instead I begged him to please try one more dose of the steroids because I felt at this point the rash just wasn’t going away, and was dubious that the creams were going to do any lasting good. He finally agreed to write a prescription, but then told me to stay out of my yard for the rest of the summer and let my husband do all the gardening while I attended to the inside chores. Helpful.

While his bedside manner and overall doctoring left me wanting, his rather insensitive comment did motivate me to try and locate what might be causing this outbreak. We’d already checked our plant beds for the wicked poison ivy but had never found any. Now we asked others to look as well, hoping someone might have some experience with the actual plant, or perhaps another form of poisonous vegetation which would help us. Today, my friends, that someone appeared, and we are very grateful he did.

The hero of our story??? David C. Good friend and veteran poison ivy hunter and sufferer. And he, upon my request, looked over our front yard, and found the evil little vine, growing happily in one of our plant beds where I had ignorantly mulched just a few weeks before. In fact, I’d carefully mulched AROUND the vine, giving it an optimum environment to grow and thrive (and yes, keep aflicting me)!! HAHAHA!!

David’s discovery of the actual plant has given me hope. Because until now we really weren’t certain where I was getting this poison ivy from, or even if it was poison ivy. Now that I know what is causing my itch, I shall wisely stay far away. This afternoon my husband went out armed with massive amounts of weed killer and obliterated the poison ivy, as well as everything in and around that nasty vine, hopefully eradicating the cause of my sufferings. He has promised to continue to fight the good fight again my plant foe, in hopes of preserving me from future itchings. And he has requested that I wait until next season to replant that particular bed with English Ivy (which was my master plan, folks), just to see that the danger has passed. So I guess a project has been lifted from my task list, at least for the time being.

After five days on this newest round of prednisone, I am still itching a lot more than I’d like. But I think things are calming down. I do hope perhaps the discovery today means that ultimately we’re seeing the end of the poison ivy for this summer. But I’ll do my best to be a bit more frequent with my blogging from here on out, so at least I can keep you all informed. Thanks for reading!!

July 12th, 2004 Lord’s Prayer, Part 2

In an earlier entry, I offered some provisional thoughts regarding the Lord’s Prayer and its parallels with redemptive history. Now, I believe Jesus’ prayer is rich in references to the Lord’s work throughout history, but I was specifically intrigued by the somewhat chronological correlation of the first three clauses of the prayer. It went something like this:

Our Father: Israel called out of slavery and identified as God’s son (Exodus 4:22-23 [+/-]Exodus 4:22-23 [22]Then you shall say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says the LORD, Israel is my firstborn son, [23]and I say to you, "Let my son go that he may serve me." If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.'" (ESV)
)

Kingdom Come: The tabernacle built according to the heavenly pattern that God should dwell among His people. Think too of John 1 [+/-]John 1 [1:1]In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2]He was in the beginning with God. [3]All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. [4]In him was life, and the life was the light of men. [5]The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. [6]There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. [7]He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. [8]He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. [9]The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. [10]He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. [11]He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. [12]But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, [13]who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. [14]And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. [15](John bore witness about him, and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.'") [16]And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. [17]For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. [18]No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known. [19]And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" [20]He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ." [21]And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" And he answered, "No." [22]So they said to him, "Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?" [23]He said, "I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way of the Lord,' as the prophet Isaiah said." [24](Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) [25]They asked him, "Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?" [26]John answered them, "I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, [27]even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie." [28]These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing. [29]The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! [30]This is he of whom I said, 'After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.' [31]I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel." [32]And John bore witness: "I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. [33]I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' [34]And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God." [35]The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, [36]and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God!" [37]The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. [38]Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, "What are you seeking?" And they said to him, "Rabbi" (which means Teacher), "where are you staying?" [39]He said to them, "Come and you will see." So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. [40]One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. [41]He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which means Christ). [42]He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "So you are Simon the son of John? You shall be called Cephas" (which means Peter). [43]The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, "Follow me." [44]Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. [45]Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." [46]Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." [47]Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!" [48]Nathanael said to him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you." [49]Nathanael answered him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" [50]Jesus answered him, "Because I said to you, 'I saw you under the fig tree,' do you believe? You will see greater things than these." [51]And he said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man." (ESV)
in which Jesus is described as tabernacling among us. Whoever has seen the son has seen the Father. That sort of thing. Puts a heavy incarnational emphasis on this aspect of the prayer.

Daily Bread: The giving of manna and basic provision (i.e. their clothes did not wear out).

Here are some provisional thoughts on how this pattern might continue.

Forgive Us: I am more and more inclined to think Leviticus forms the parallel with its introduction of the sacrificial system and the associated atonement.

Deliver Us: Here I see a broad parallel with the book of Numbers and its repetitive cycle of testing, judgment, and deliverance.

Thine Is the Kingdom: The entrance into the land fits here, starting at the end of Numbers and carrying forward into Joshua. Of course, as we learn in Judges and I Samuel, the Israelites ultimately reject God as their king. But their very rejection implies the starting point was in fact the establishment of God’s as king in their midst.

July 11th, 2004 Family Picture

Here’s a recent photo of the family, for those of you interested. Can you figure out the date of the photo from that which adorns our dog, Sid?

July 9th, 2004 The Spirit as a dove

In Jesus’ baptism by John, the Spirit descends on Jesus as a dove (Matthew 3:13-17 [+/-]Matthew 3:13-17 [13]Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. [14]John would have prevented him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" [15]But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he consented. [16]And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; [17]and behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." (ESV)
). Why a dove?

In the past, I’ve correlated the description of Jesus’ baptism with the description of Noah’s ark (Genesis 7-8 [+/-]Genesis 7-8 [7:1]Then the LORD said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. [2]Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate, [3]and seven pairs of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth. [4]For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground." [5]And Noah did all that the LORD had commanded him. [6]Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth. [7]And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood. [8]Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground, [9]two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah. [10]And after seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth. [11]In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. [12]And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights. [13]On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark, [14]they and every beast, according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, according to its kind, and every bird, according to its kind, every winged creature. [15]They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. [16]And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the LORD shut him in. [17]The flood continued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. [18]The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters. [19]And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered. [20]The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep. [21]And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind. [22]Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died. [23]He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark. [24]And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days. [8:1]But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided. [2]The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, [3]and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end of 150 days the waters had abated, [4]and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. [5]And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen. [6]At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made [7]and sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. [8]Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground. [9]But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him. [10]He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. [11]And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. [12]Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore. [13]In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry. [14]In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth had dried out. [15]Then God said to Noah, [16]"Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with you. [17]Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh--birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth-- that they may swarm on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth." [18]So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him. [19]Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by families from the ark. [20]Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. [21]And when the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, the LORD said in his heart, "I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. [22]While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease." (ESV)
), with the rough picture being the Spirit hovering over the waters (which also ties into Genesis 1 [+/-]Genesis 1 [1:1]In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. [2]The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. [3]And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. [4]And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. [5]God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. [6]And God said, "Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters." [7]And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. [8]And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day. [9]And God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear." And it was so. [10]God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. [11]And God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth." And it was so. [12]The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. [13]And there was evening and there was morning, the third day. [14]And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, [15]and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth." And it was so. [16]And God made the two great lights--the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night--and the stars. [17]And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, [18]to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. [19]And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day. [20]And God said, "Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens." [21]So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. [22]And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth." [23]And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day. [24]And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds--livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds." And it was so. [25]And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. [26]Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." [27]So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. [28]And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth." [29]And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. [30]And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." And it was so. [31]And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. (ESV)
). These are instances of a new creation theme, and the apostle Peter confirms the theme in the Noah account (2 Peter 3:5-7 [+/-]2 Peter 3:5-7 [5]For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, [6]and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. [7]But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. (ESV)
).

Today, as I was reading the account of the baptism, it suddenly hit me that the dove fit perfectly and confirmed the correlation between the Noah story and Jesus baptism, putting Jesus in the place of the new heavens and new earth. As the waters receded, Noah sent out a raven, and it returned. Then he sent out a dove, and it returned. He sent the dove again, and it brought back an olive leaf. He sent the dove out a third time, and it did not return. One can picture the new earth breaking through the water and the dove alighting on it.

Jesus “went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him.” The dove found purchase, for the waters had receded from the new creation.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:17 [+/-]2 Corinthians 5:17 [17]Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (ESV)
)