Post Partum

Family Update

I know many of you are wondering how the family is adjusting to a new little one, so I thought I would take a few minutes and send out an update. Esther Faith is making her presence known in the household at all hours of the day and night – as was expected. We are parked at the home of some dear friends who have really helped take care of the two older children during my hospital stay and subsequent recovery from surgery. This has been an incredible blessing to me and has allowed me a little more peace and quiet than I would have had otherwise.

Josiah and Abigail have taken to her quite well. I knew Josiah would have no problem, but I thought jealousy might be an issue with Abigail. Thankfully, this is not the case at all. She wants to hold and admire “Bee-bee Essah” just as much as Josiah does. She seems to be quite pleased with this living baby doll that has come to live with us. I will say, though, that she gets very upset when Esther cries. Josiah was likewise horrified when he saw her umbilical stump (those things do look pretty nasty). I have assured him that it will look just like his belly button in a few days. I think he was relieved.

I am recovering slowly from the c-section, but so far, everything is going well. I was really disappointed to have to have the surgery, but I believe the Lord had a reason for it, even though I don’t know or see what it could possibly be. This means that Paul will have to go to a few meetings without the family just because I will not be able to travel and exert a lot of activity for several weeks, but the Lord knew all that ahead of time also. Please pray that my recovery will be quick and free from complications. Thank you so much for your prayers on our behalf over the last several months.

The trailer is rather in an uproar with baby stuff everywhere. It will take a while to get things sorted out and put in their respective places, and probably some trial and error runs on final resting places of certain items. It is a little crowded and disorganized at the moment, but I hope to remedy that over the next few weeks. In the meantime, pray that I don’t trip over diaper bags and baskets of baby clothes while I am wandering around the trailer in the middle of the night, sleepy and disoriented!

Baby Girl

Our daughter Esther Faith was born at 1:34 pm yesterday. She weighed in at 8 lbs 12 oz and was 20 inches long. Both mother and baby are doing well.

Manner Matters

Family Update

Although we have been working for several years on our son’s table manners, there seems to have been a gap in the flow of instruction somewhere between our mouths and his ears. As a result, our dinner discussions frequently include admonitions about what is considered proper etiquette – mostly directed at our four-year-old son. If you were a fly on the wall in our trailer, you would hear some of the following comments. That is, if Abigail didn’t see you first and begin screaming frantically that there was a bug in the house.

“Chew with your lips together, please.”

“Don’t comb your hair with your fork.”

“Take smaller bites, good grief!”

“Slow down! No one is going to take your food away, unless, of course, you keep eating like that!”

“Chew with your lips together, please.”

“You know, you wouldn’t choke on your drink if you would slow down.”

“Please don’t blow your food OFF of your plate!”

“Do NOT wipe your hands on the chair – use the napkin sitting right in front of you!”

“Don’t wave your fork around in the air. You are going to poke out your sister’s eye!”

“Quit talking and eat!”

“Chew with your lips together, please.”

“Move your cup away from the edge of the table.”

“You know, you wouldn’t drop so much food on the table if your plate was in the same zip code as your mouth.”

“Don’t touch the curtains!”

“Do not stick your fork and spoon in your mouth at the same time!”

“Please only blow on your own food!”

“Chew with your lips together, please”

“Stop roaring at the birds outside – they can’t hear you. You are only disturbing the other diners.” (This at a restaurant)

“Do not talk with food in your mouth!”

As exasperating as it is at times, I will say that he does manage to do some things correctly. Paul was laughing at the table the other day because of the multitude of instruction I was spouting. I turned to him, and, in an effort to relieve myself of the feeling that all I had done was criticize table manners, commented that although I had given Josiah so many reminders, there was one thing I did not have to tell him. “Oh? What’s that?” Paul asked.

“At least he doesn’t have his elbows on the table!”

At this juncture of the conversation, Paul hastily removed his elbows from the table and with a guilty look finished his meal. So much for positive reinforcement. Perhaps one day it will sink in, but for the present, I will have to be content to sound like a broken record.

Hanging Out

Ministry Update

After a couple of weeks without preaching, it was good to be able to preach at the church in which I grew up. The Lord gave us two good services, with my two brothers attending the morning service. Both my brothers claim to be saved, but they are not in church right now. It was a blessing to have them attend. The Lord also gave us a generous love offering from that church to help with the expenses of not being in meetings right now. What a blessing it is to serve Christ!

Family Update

Many of you may have thought that we had fallen off the edge of the world since you hadn’t heard from us in so long, but despite your hopes, we are still here! We haven’t had a lot to write about, so I haven’t taken the time to sit down and narrate our adventures as a family this past month.

Abigail celebrated her second birthday on May 4. We had an awful cake (made so that everyone could partake with no ill results) that nearly made Paul and me sick. The kids were thrilled with it until they tasted it, and then they quickly lost interest. Josiah ate all the icing off of his piece, but no one else bothered to make an effort. There are just some things that cannot be substituted!

Now when we ask Abigail how old she is, she proudly holds up five fingers and says, “Four!” We are still coaching her on the correct answer. She is now out of the nursery and in the 2’s & 3’s class, which she seems to enjoy. She is learning new songs and Bible stories each week, and when she chooses to talk, she can go on and on. Josiah is a great teacher, and is always singing with her. Their best duet numbers as of right now are “Jesus Loves Me” and “I’m in the Lord’s Army!” Usually, Abigail lags behind on the tempo, and ends up being an echo, but it is fun to listen to them sing together.

Josiah will be starting kindergarten in the fall, and he is looking forward to it. He knows all of hi letters, so that job will be easier for me when the time comes. Now all I have to do is teach him the sounds and how they go together. No Problem, HA!

No, we have not had the baby yet. I will go no further on this subject. I have had all kinds of suggestions from drinking castor oil to horseback riding to shoveling mulch. The thought that comes to mind is, “Why make myself more miserable than I already am?” The baby will not come until she is ready anyway! As one well-wisher told me recently, “Keep hanging in there and hanging out there!”

Right now we are just sitting around waiting for the baby to make her appearance. If you are on praying ground, please pray that she comes soon. Boredom has set in, and I can only do so much about it. If I do not go by June 23, they will take her by C-section. This would effectively ground us for the rest of the summer, and we would have to cancel some meetings, which is wholly undesirable for all of us. The last thing I want is another major operation. Do keep this in mind as you pray for our family. Josiah asks every day if the baby will come today. I have to tell him that I don’t know – we will have to wait and see. This is not a satisfactory answer for either of us, but that is the answer I have to give. Abigail is still clueless, I think, even though she knows there is a baby in Mama’s tummy. I don’t think she realizes that the center of attention is going to take a drastic shift in the next week or two. Life is so interesting!

My youngest brother graduates from high school this coming weekend. He was selected to be the valedictorian of his class – we are all very proud of his accomplishments. After graduation, he plans to attend Ambassador Baptist College in pursuit of the one-year Bible certificate. Our family traveled up to Ohio two weekends ago to be a part of his baccalaureate exercises at the church. We put on a mini concert and Paul preached the Sunday evening service. It was really neat to be a part of Micah’s “festivities.”