i read of mice and men this past week. it was an interesting work. as much as you want to dislike george for being so rude to lennie, you also cut him some slack for taking it upon himself to look after such a difficult person. i wish there was more back story about george and lennie however. that was my only real "complaint," per se, not withstanding the obscene amount of gratuitous obscenities. it does leave the reader a bit conflicted however. lennie is loveable, but dangerous; sweet-hearted, yet unstable. the book left me feeling that it ended too soon. i wanted an explanation, a manifesto, some justification, but none was given. steinbeck leaves the reader to work those "why's" out. nicely done mr. steinbeck. now go get some soap for that mouth of yours ya rotten scalliwag!
i've recently decided to start reading all those "classic" books that i hear about. it seems like a good idea. plus, we have library day now on saturdays, so it seems like a natural progression. i've recently read to kill a mockingbird. i think next i'll read the bell jar by sylvia plath. i looked at the classics section at hastings the other day and got really excited. the brothers kamarazov by dostoevsky, david copperfield and the tale of two cities by dickens, anna karenina by tolstoy, pride and prejudice by jane austen, little women by alcott, as i lay dying by faulkner, how to read a book by adler, the well-educated mind by bauer, don quixote by cervantes, the scarlet letter by hawthorne, moby dick by melville, the confessions by augustine, the republic by plato, a doll's house by ibsen, canterbury tales by chaucer, etc...
just writing them has got me excited to read them all. i love that God has made the human experience so accessible to... well humans i guess. not every mind that observes these truths by necessity respects the Maker of them or acknowledges His dominion over all things, but i find it very gracious of God to give any a window into the deeper truths of this word. there is something worth investigating and some are given inquisitive minds, others anxious bodies, some longing hearts, others captivating hope, some utter dissatisfaction, and still to some the grace to put it all together that we may recognize our God, the Maker of it all and give Him thanks for it, the pain, the love, the dissatisfaction, the groaning, the yearning, the pining, the repentance, the acceptance, the grace, the enlightenment. all of these poets are messengers, whether by reluctance or by volition, of His eternal Message. i am excited to listen and learn.
nothing like a good ol' fashioned tractor pull
my parents (tony and jacqi v.v.) called tonight. apparently they were on the home stretch of a long journey which carried them to vermont. why, pray tell, vermont? oh, that's where my dad found an antique tractor, and she is a beaut. he found it on-line. my dad. if you know my dad, you know why that's funny. if you don't, imagine your grandparents finding a toy on the internet and travelling across the country to find it, it's kinda like that.
they took paige and i out to dinner at applebee's, my dad's favorite establishment. he liked my honey bbq buffalo wings. i knew he would, that's why i ordered 20 instead of 10. my mom was rockin' a usa cap. she is awesome. i love my parents. it's been a long time in the making, but we're friends and we're finally restored to the right dynamics of relationship. it feels good. i love my parents. God has used them to bless us routinely. i pray my lil' atticus one day thanks God for us. you can only do what God has asked of you. we can love him, provide for him, correct him, encourage him, and set him free once he's old enough. we can't make him love us though. we can do all the good things parents are asked to do, but only he can choose to love us.
it's a lot like God and us. He loved us before we knew Him, He gave us life, provided us every good thing we've ever known, and yet we're left with the decision to love Him, but He initiated the process, much like paige and i are doing for our lil guy. what an amazing thing love is. what a privilege to be given, what a responsibility to embrace, what a blessing to experience. i love that God set it up that way. it seems more valuable that it cost Him something and it seems more legitimate than the shake n' bake tv evangelists who offer me Jesus at no cost to my life (minus the $19.99 for shipping and handling) love should cost something. if it didn't, it would seem less romantic. i wouldn't want to give my life for something less than love. i know i'd give my life for my wife and my child. God is teaching me about His love for us all in this regard. touche' God, i see where you're going with this. i love you! :)
they took paige and i out to dinner at applebee's, my dad's favorite establishment. he liked my honey bbq buffalo wings. i knew he would, that's why i ordered 20 instead of 10. my mom was rockin' a usa cap. she is awesome. i love my parents. it's been a long time in the making, but we're friends and we're finally restored to the right dynamics of relationship. it feels good. i love my parents. God has used them to bless us routinely. i pray my lil' atticus one day thanks God for us. you can only do what God has asked of you. we can love him, provide for him, correct him, encourage him, and set him free once he's old enough. we can't make him love us though. we can do all the good things parents are asked to do, but only he can choose to love us.
it's a lot like God and us. He loved us before we knew Him, He gave us life, provided us every good thing we've ever known, and yet we're left with the decision to love Him, but He initiated the process, much like paige and i are doing for our lil guy. what an amazing thing love is. what a privilege to be given, what a responsibility to embrace, what a blessing to experience. i love that God set it up that way. it seems more valuable that it cost Him something and it seems more legitimate than the shake n' bake tv evangelists who offer me Jesus at no cost to my life (minus the $19.99 for shipping and handling) love should cost something. if it didn't, it would seem less romantic. i wouldn't want to give my life for something less than love. i know i'd give my life for my wife and my child. God is teaching me about His love for us all in this regard. touche' God, i see where you're going with this. i love you! :)
long time coming
it's been a while since i've updated, so this may be a pretty long post! stuff has been a little hectic around here as i've been settling into the school year...
photos from the last couple weeks (and yes, i'm wearing the same shirt in both...lack of foresight):
work is...well, not really "work," just seemingly long. i'm ready for the little guy to come! i've been having some difficulty figuring out what to do for my quit date, since my insurance is only good to the end of the month in which i'll quit. since they tell me the kid's supposed to get here on november 30, i called the insurance people to see if, saying i go into labor ON the 30th and would therefore still be in the hospital into december, my insurance would cover those days in december. the response i got? "well, i don't know, but i definitely can't guarantee it." lovely.
so i think i've decided to just work up until the baby comes, whenever that is, then use my sick leave, personal days, and emergency days to hopefully stretch my insurance into the following month before officially resigning. i was hoping to have a more stone-written plan for a quit date and bypass the possibility of going into labor while at school, but i just don't think that's going to happen. so...if you could be praying the little bugger comes a smidgen early to avoid any insurance confusion and any past-due-date grumpiness that i would end up taking with me to work, that would be awesome!
the kids are really interested in "the baby in my belly." today a little girl asked when he was going to come out, and before i could answer her, the boy next to her said in the most condescending voice, "on easter. duh." and she got defensive (naturally) and was like, "how do YOU know?!" he replied, "because that's when all babies come. on easter." i think he's getting his magical-animal-leaves-a-surprise-in-your-yard stories mixed up.
in unrelated, todd news, we've started making saturdays our "library" days - and i LOVE it!! we rent movies, and check out books (todd just finished of mice and men today) and magazines. so much fun! and so cheap! i've been checking out home decorating magazines and getting lots and lots of ideas...!
well, i think that's it on my end...i think i need to get todd to update, since mine are pretty much the same story every week: pregnancy, work, random crap.
and for a little flourish at the end: here are some very classy pictures of me playing poker in my pajamas while eating chips ahoy. being as legacy-minded as he is, todd thought he should document for our little guy his in-utero experience. and this pretty much is it in a nutshell.
photos from the last couple weeks (and yes, i'm wearing the same shirt in both...lack of foresight):
it feels like everyday i get a little bigger and my clothes get a little tighter...i'm really wanting to see if i can go the whole 9 months without having to buy maternity pants. shirts, well, that would be highly unlikely (but only since i have a job/go into public, otherwise i could wear my "world's greatest dad" and "spiceworld tour '96" pajama tshirts on alternating days until i go into labor). but we'll see about pants...the belly band is still working its magic, although it's getting pretty dingy since i wear it probably 5 days a week or so... gross.
work is...well, not really "work," just seemingly long. i'm ready for the little guy to come! i've been having some difficulty figuring out what to do for my quit date, since my insurance is only good to the end of the month in which i'll quit. since they tell me the kid's supposed to get here on november 30, i called the insurance people to see if, saying i go into labor ON the 30th and would therefore still be in the hospital into december, my insurance would cover those days in december. the response i got? "well, i don't know, but i definitely can't guarantee it." lovely.
so i think i've decided to just work up until the baby comes, whenever that is, then use my sick leave, personal days, and emergency days to hopefully stretch my insurance into the following month before officially resigning. i was hoping to have a more stone-written plan for a quit date and bypass the possibility of going into labor while at school, but i just don't think that's going to happen. so...if you could be praying the little bugger comes a smidgen early to avoid any insurance confusion and any past-due-date grumpiness that i would end up taking with me to work, that would be awesome!
speaking of work, my job is going pretty well. it's a lot different than last year, but i'm enjoying it. one of the little girls i work with is not autistic, just SO spacey and funny and downright weird! she had been begging her first grade teacher to let her sing a song to her class, so finally mrs. f agreed. so nikki* stood at the front of the class, singing, "i'm a dragon and i looooove myself and i don't wanna be anybody else because i love my spiiiiiiiiiiirrrrrrrrrrriiiiiitt..." i was trying so hard not to laugh, because she was just so sincere....:) then earlier this week she showed up to school with an eyepatch on. not an eye bandage. a full-on pirate patch. she has to wear it for the next six weeks to correct her lazy eye. LOVE IT! too funny.
the kids are really interested in "the baby in my belly." today a little girl asked when he was going to come out, and before i could answer her, the boy next to her said in the most condescending voice, "on easter. duh." and she got defensive (naturally) and was like, "how do YOU know?!" he replied, "because that's when all babies come. on easter." i think he's getting his magical-animal-leaves-a-surprise-in-your-yard stories mixed up.
later today a little girl asked me, "do you know how you get babies?" not sure if she was asking about the whole "sex" part of thing or the whole "labor" part of thing, i didn't really want to answer either way... so i just asked her if SHE knew "how you get babies." "nope," she said, then asked if i wanted to watch her monkey bar routine. um, yes. way more than i want to have to navigate the baby-getting process.
in unrelated, todd news, we've started making saturdays our "library" days - and i LOVE it!! we rent movies, and check out books (todd just finished of mice and men today) and magazines. so much fun! and so cheap! i've been checking out home decorating magazines and getting lots and lots of ideas...!
well, i think that's it on my end...i think i need to get todd to update, since mine are pretty much the same story every week: pregnancy, work, random crap.
and for a little flourish at the end: here are some very classy pictures of me playing poker in my pajamas while eating chips ahoy. being as legacy-minded as he is, todd thought he should document for our little guy his in-utero experience. and this pretty much is it in a nutshell.
TRIATHLON
so, we've entered the third leg of the triathlon known as pregnancy. i could not be more excited. our little guy is coming soon! also, i could not be more afraid that i'm totally not ready for this. our little guy is coming so soon...
thursday was our first day back to school, and all the kids have been full of questions about the baby, since i'm showing now. "are you having a baby?" "is it a boy or a girl?" "when is his birthday?" "what is his name?" "does he wrestle inside your tummy? what does it feel like?"
my favorite was, "you're going to name him atticus? did you think of the name dustin?" to which i replied, "i hadn't thought of that name. when you get married and have a baby, is that what you want to name your baby?" "yeah, dustin. or bill."
nice.
at the end of the day on thursday, sarah* was like, "bye mrs. paiges. have fun having your baby." i was like, "uh, well, he's not coming until like thanksgiving so i'm sure i'll see you before then." she looked really confused. not sure she understands that pregnancy takes a while... last year, the day after she found out i was pregnant, she ran into our room and was like, "mrs. paiges, did your baby come out yet?" kids are too funny.
other than pregnancy-related conversations, school has actually been going pretty well. we're off to a good start, and i think the next couple months will go relatively smoothly. thanks to those of you who have been praying!
todd should (hopefully) be hearing about a job he applied for by thursday, so if you could keep that in your prayers, we'd really appreciate it! i'm not sure if either one of us has written about it yet, but it's a case manager position with the county, so he'd be doing a job related to what he does at mainstream, but with government benefits. plus it's in ames (it's been difficult to find jobs that aren't in des moines), so it really seems like a perfect fit. hopefully we'll hear something by thursday...
oh, on a random note, i took a picture of the inside of our fridge this week because it's looking particularly well-stocked on the dairy group... not sure how we ended up with this much milk, but i'm definitely not complaining.
introducing...
we have decided on a name for our little guy! his name is going to be atticus jacob rhyne van voorst. long name, amazing results.
we picked atticus because we both really like "to kill a mockingbird" and atticus in the book has just such a strong character of justice and the integrity to do the right thing even when it's difficult or incredibly unpopular. it also means "father-like."
we picked jacob for a number of reasons; i LOVE that god so frequently refers to himself as the god of jacob, even though jacob totally didn't do anything to merit how closely god associates himself with jacob (he was a pretty scandalous guy, after all). it just really speaks volumes about god's character, how he's able to adopt in and bless and closely bond with people who are kind of losery. todd and i (and most people, i'd venture) have benefitted immensely from this aspect of god's character. also, jacob is todd's best friend's name as well as a van voorst family name.
finally, todd's middle name is henry, which is also a van voorst family name, and i liked the idea of naming the little guy after todd, but henry just didn't sound right for him...so we rearranged the letters to get rhyne, which we then found out means "little king." todd was really drawn to this because, as he said, we all want our kids to be successful in life in one way or another, but it's a great reminder that no matter what our kid will accomplish or receive in life, he will always be a LITTLE king, never the biggest deal. there is a king who is greater than our guy could ever hope to be, and that's something to put a lot of hope in. we never want our kid to think that he's greater than or doesn't need god.
we picked atticus because we both really like "to kill a mockingbird" and atticus in the book has just such a strong character of justice and the integrity to do the right thing even when it's difficult or incredibly unpopular. it also means "father-like."
we picked jacob for a number of reasons; i LOVE that god so frequently refers to himself as the god of jacob, even though jacob totally didn't do anything to merit how closely god associates himself with jacob (he was a pretty scandalous guy, after all). it just really speaks volumes about god's character, how he's able to adopt in and bless and closely bond with people who are kind of losery. todd and i (and most people, i'd venture) have benefitted immensely from this aspect of god's character. also, jacob is todd's best friend's name as well as a van voorst family name.
finally, todd's middle name is henry, which is also a van voorst family name, and i liked the idea of naming the little guy after todd, but henry just didn't sound right for him...so we rearranged the letters to get rhyne, which we then found out means "little king." todd was really drawn to this because, as he said, we all want our kids to be successful in life in one way or another, but it's a great reminder that no matter what our kid will accomplish or receive in life, he will always be a LITTLE king, never the biggest deal. there is a king who is greater than our guy could ever hope to be, and that's something to put a lot of hope in. we never want our kid to think that he's greater than or doesn't need god.
life updates.
i went shopping today, and seriously, the best shopping day of my life.
first, we went to this AWESOME "architectural salvage" store in des moines called found things - it was basically really nice/kitchy home decorating stuff, a lot of it antique, for really reasonable prices!! we have a junk store across the street from our apartment, but this place was way nicer and way cheaper...PLUS the lady who owned it was from washington, iowa, and knows my grandpa's family. small world. or, small iowa. the store made me itchy to get a house just so i could decorate it...so, when we get a house, i know where i'm going.
then we hit up jordan creek, where i got a pair of jeans and three shirts for 45 bucks. thrifty! it's almost a weird adrenaline rush i get whenever i'm able to get stuff for cheap. also, todd gave me a bath and bodyworks gift card for our anniversary (amongst many, many other things he spoiled me with) and between two coupons and a major sale, i got 2.5 times as much stuff as i should have for the same price...it was pretty much amazing. i love cheap stuff! the only thing i love better than cheap stuff is free stuff. (thanks, laura, for the awesome tip on hitting up walmart for free samples!)
okay, in obviously more important news, TODD AND I HAVE BEEN MARRIED FOR OVER A YEAR!!!!!!!! we're pretty much pros at it now, from what i can tell.
sunday was our actual anniversary, so we opened gifts together before we went to the connection group leaders meeting. or, rather, todd opened GIFT which left me to open GIFTS by myself... it made me feel silly to have only gotten him one thing as i was sitting amongst a huge pile of stuff he got me, but he was really reassuring that he liked the gift i got him and that it was the one thing he really wanted, so that made me feel better.
then on monday, we ate a really nice dinner together, and had some of the cake we had frozen from the wedding - it was actually really good! (there's something kind of weird right at first about eating year-old cake, even if it's been frozen the whole time.)
in all, it was such a fun time getting to celebrate together and think about the last year of being married. to be honest, the thing that struck me most is how much FUN marriage has been. before we got married, i got a lot of advice about how marriage is work and it's not always easy and it's to make you holy not happy, etc. which is all 100% true...but i don't think anyone stressed enough just how much FUN it can be! i love spending time with todd and getting to know him better, and i love learning new things from him and establishing "our" life as opposed to "my" life. i'm just so excited to see how the rest of our life pans out, and i think this has been a great jumping off point because i KNOW that there are going to be some really difficult or even traumatic times up ahead (because, seriously, this is real life, not leave it to beaver) but i'm not worried about them. this year has really given me a sense of security in our relationship.
first, we went to this AWESOME "architectural salvage" store in des moines called found things - it was basically really nice/kitchy home decorating stuff, a lot of it antique, for really reasonable prices!! we have a junk store across the street from our apartment, but this place was way nicer and way cheaper...PLUS the lady who owned it was from washington, iowa, and knows my grandpa's family. small world. or, small iowa. the store made me itchy to get a house just so i could decorate it...so, when we get a house, i know where i'm going.
then we hit up jordan creek, where i got a pair of jeans and three shirts for 45 bucks. thrifty! it's almost a weird adrenaline rush i get whenever i'm able to get stuff for cheap. also, todd gave me a bath and bodyworks gift card for our anniversary (amongst many, many other things he spoiled me with) and between two coupons and a major sale, i got 2.5 times as much stuff as i should have for the same price...it was pretty much amazing. i love cheap stuff! the only thing i love better than cheap stuff is free stuff. (thanks, laura, for the awesome tip on hitting up walmart for free samples!)
okay, in obviously more important news, TODD AND I HAVE BEEN MARRIED FOR OVER A YEAR!!!!!!!! we're pretty much pros at it now, from what i can tell.
sunday was our actual anniversary, so we opened gifts together before we went to the connection group leaders meeting. or, rather, todd opened GIFT which left me to open GIFTS by myself... it made me feel silly to have only gotten him one thing as i was sitting amongst a huge pile of stuff he got me, but he was really reassuring that he liked the gift i got him and that it was the one thing he really wanted, so that made me feel better.
then on monday, we ate a really nice dinner together, and had some of the cake we had frozen from the wedding - it was actually really good! (there's something kind of weird right at first about eating year-old cake, even if it's been frozen the whole time.)
in all, it was such a fun time getting to celebrate together and think about the last year of being married. to be honest, the thing that struck me most is how much FUN marriage has been. before we got married, i got a lot of advice about how marriage is work and it's not always easy and it's to make you holy not happy, etc. which is all 100% true...but i don't think anyone stressed enough just how much FUN it can be! i love spending time with todd and getting to know him better, and i love learning new things from him and establishing "our" life as opposed to "my" life. i'm just so excited to see how the rest of our life pans out, and i think this has been a great jumping off point because i KNOW that there are going to be some really difficult or even traumatic times up ahead (because, seriously, this is real life, not leave it to beaver) but i'm not worried about them. this year has really given me a sense of security in our relationship.
okay, i'll stop mistaking blogger for a conduit for love letters, but really, all i'm saying is that i'm in love with my husband. that's all.
in less mushy, equally husbandy news, todd has put in an application for a job that he's really hoping to get. in the simplest terms, it's basically a promotion from what he's doing now, just at the county level rather than just within his company. so he would be in more of a supervisory capacity, but still working with clients with disabilities. plus, it more than meets our basic salary needs, and in a roundabout way meets our insurance needs, too. plus it's right here in ames so he wouldn't have to drive all the way to des moines, AND (my favorite part) it seems like a pretty standard 9-5 job - no overnights/crazy hours!! so, basically, it sounds like the perfect job for him. we're just waiting to hear whether he'll get an interview...and holding our breath the whole time! if you could be praying that they offer him at least an interview at this point, and then later on offer him the job, we would GREATLY appreciate it.
that's it for a few minutes...this blog is too long already, but we have an exciting announcement that i'll be posting on a hardly-subsequent blog!
wonka update
boring entry, just fyi.
this is how our guest room looked a month or two ago after i cleaned it the first time:
this is how it has looked recently:
this is how it looks after yesterday:
i'm feeling accomplished.
and...we're back.
back to feeling normal. no longer a grump!!!
welp, we're sailing smoothly along through week 25 of being knocked up. holy cow, it's so crazy to think that in like two and a half weeks, i'll be in the third trimester already! not that i mind. i'm ready to meet the kid. if it weren't for all the developmental issues and whatnot, i'd say bring him today. not sure where he'd sleep or what i'd use as makeshift diapers, but those are just minute issues, right? (and, now that i think about it, i think i need a little longer to prepare....yikes.)
our house is feeling more and more cramped, and we don't even have the kid or any of his actual furniture yet. but it's feeling cramped in a good way - people have been so incredibly generous in giving us stuff that we almost don't have room for it all! definitely not a complaint. however, i've just kind of dumped most of it in the guest room, since i don't have any other place for it, and it's kind of looking like some kind of willy wonka storage shed. it's making me a little crazy, so hopefully i can spend some time this afternoon reorganizing.
this weekend we went to todd's parents to celebrate their 31st wedding anniversary and todd's dad's 70th birthday. it was nice - we pretty much just hung out the whole weekend, didn't do too much, which is my kind of weekend!! todd's mom told me about all the funny little things todd's nephew has been up to (he's 19 months now and just a BALL OF ENERGY!!!) and todd's dad told me about his annual adventures rounding up buffalo in nebraska. :) it was actually really interesting! plus, the four hour car ride each way was kind of fun - todd and i typically don't spend that much time sitting and talking. (which is a good thing in and of itself - we'd either get nothing else done, or we'd get super sick of each other if we spent four hours daily just sitting around talking.)
todd's family was super generous and gave us a bunch of baby stuff that had belonged to todd's nephew. first, todd's mom brought down this big sack of clothes and shoes that had belonged to david that he grew out of and there was so much stuff in there! little onesies and bibs and overalls and tiny cowboy boots (which our kid won't ever wear, but were funny anyway) and little hats. it was like christmas. THEN todd's brother showed up with more of david's stuff, apologizing that he didn't bring it all but "this is all would fit in the car." he gave us a play mat, a HUGE box of clothes and coats and shoes, a little walker, a bathtub seat, a highchair that hooks to the table...it was ridiculous. plus, half the clothes still had tags on them or showed absolutely no sign of ever being worn. it was really exciting and so nice of everyone that they were all so generous!!!
so i spent yesterday washing and folding and sorting tons of tiny tiny clothes. seriously, our kid is set until he's like a year old. the 0-3 month clothes alone fill an entire laundry basket. the rest i sorted by size and put away in a box, since we won't be needing those quite so soon.
wow, i know i've been going on and on about this stuff, but i'm just blown away (and really, really humbled) by how giving people have been. it's so exciting to see how many people around us we have that love us and are so generous with what they have. apparently, our little guy is well-loved already, and that's just so exciting!!!
todd and the little bugger played tag last night. the little dude would kick todd, then todd would poke him back and say, "you're it." then a couple seconds later, he'd kick todd again...it went on for quite a few minutes and was so funny! i've started to be able to feel his hands move more, not just his feet. it's so weird to think there's a little guy in there... i want to see him so badly!! i want to see what he looks like and get to hold him and everything. mostly, more than anything, i just want to see how much hair he has and what color it is. i know that sounds really stupid, but that's probably what i'm the most preoccupied with :). todd and i are both hoping to be able to fauxhawk his hair, because seriously, how hilarious would that be? so here's to hoping he's not entirely bald, at least for too long. (my college roommate was entirely bald until she was three. her mom had to tape bows to her head so that people would know she was a girl.)
so, in other news, our anniversary is coming up on sunday! can you even believe it!!!?!?! we've been married for a year already... doesn't even feel real. i'm planning a special meal and i got todd a present, both of which i'll tell more about later, since todd reads these blogs...
anyway, that's pretty much it. i'm going to work on cleaning up the chocolate factory.
not neccesarily
my wife exaggerates. yes, she has been a bit grumpy recently and for the most part it has been unprovoked (although i'm sure i provide ample material at times), but nevertheless, she still has her endearing qualities about her which i love. she has my baby boy growing inside her. my mind still refuses to organize that into a coherent line of thought. i can say it over and over again, but alas, it remains abstract. the naming process is fun, yet daunting as paige mentioned. imagine how much fun it would have been to be adam. naming all those critters so eloquently and presumably perfectly being as how he had not fallen from such great heights. i want to be original, but classic, cool, but refined, unique, but respectable, meaningful, yet aesthetic. it's being a little bit of both that provides such theatre i believe. if it were a matter of mere vanity, we could easily pick a cool or trendy name (www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/). if it were a matter of mere symbolic aesthetic, we could easily find a hebrew name with wicked cool sentiment (and by wicked, i mean "cool," not the musical, the devil, or any other evil concoction) like ariel (lion of God), uriel (light of God), jarah (God is my sweetness) etc... however, ours is a polyblend of the two, no wonder God was opposed to this practice amongst His people!!! it causes confusion! anywho, we'll nail one down and the lil' guy will survive.
in related news, i recently was reminded of Revelation 2:17 and Revelation 3:12 which seem to indicate if our lil' guy loves the LORD with all his soul, mind, heart, and strength he will receive a new name, one prepared for him long before we labored over his earthly one, which is his real name, the name that has always belonged to him, the reborn, the new, the completed in Christ name that will survive all eternity. that is my ultimate prayer for our lil' guy, that he would grow up to know the LORD and be changed by Him and walk with Him all his days, through many dangers, toils, and snares, in delight, joy, and all sweetness. isn't it cool that those of us whom have been called have secret names? i think it's cool. i'm excited to find out what my name is. i will finally know who i am and i will find it in Him, face-to-face, not like in this mirror i currently look. i will see Him and in so doing, will for the first time see me.
my wife is a jewel. she doesn't know it. good thing, i suspect she could get hard to live with if she even remotely bought into the hype. but then again, most of us would. so here's to love that sees beyond the seen's sense of doubt and a love that believes in the loved though they disbelieve themself.
in related news, i recently was reminded of Revelation 2:17 and Revelation 3:12 which seem to indicate if our lil' guy loves the LORD with all his soul, mind, heart, and strength he will receive a new name, one prepared for him long before we labored over his earthly one, which is his real name, the name that has always belonged to him, the reborn, the new, the completed in Christ name that will survive all eternity. that is my ultimate prayer for our lil' guy, that he would grow up to know the LORD and be changed by Him and walk with Him all his days, through many dangers, toils, and snares, in delight, joy, and all sweetness. isn't it cool that those of us whom have been called have secret names? i think it's cool. i'm excited to find out what my name is. i will finally know who i am and i will find it in Him, face-to-face, not like in this mirror i currently look. i will see Him and in so doing, will for the first time see me.
my wife is a jewel. she doesn't know it. good thing, i suspect she could get hard to live with if she even remotely bought into the hype. but then again, most of us would. so here's to love that sees beyond the seen's sense of doubt and a love that believes in the loved though they disbelieve themself.
baby -and all around- blues
bleh...i'm feeling blue. school starts in two weeks from today and i am so not ready. then again, just a few days ago i was in tears because i'm tired of being home all the time. (i maintain the tears were the result of fluctuating pregnancy hormones.) so i guess i can't have it both ways. i am looking forward to having more of a daily routine and a reason to be up and showered before 2 pm. i'm also looking forward to seeing a lot of the people i work with. at the same time, though, i think i just have a bad attitude because i'll have a whole new routine to settle into this year, in a new program with new kids, and i'll only be there for a couple months before the baby comes, so it's kind of like, what's the point?
in baby news, pregnancy hormones have been a-raging and i've been a class A grump. i'm uncomfortable (my stupid restless legs are driving me crazy) and hormonal and my face is getting fat. look out when you see me (if you can get away without me seeing you, i'd definitely recommend you try), and make sure to ask todd in private how he's handling it all. i'm no fun to be around.
we've been trying to pick out a name for the little bugger, but it's so overwhelming! there are billions of names out there and just one little guy. how will we know that we picked the right name, and that there isn't a better one out there that we just never knew of? what if it doesn't fit his personality? what if we are too indecisive and he's born and still doesn't have a name before we leave the hospital and we have to name him "placenta" or "barb" after the lactation nurse or something, just so we can take him home? baby barb van voorst. classy.
this blog is boring. i'm a grump. i'm going to go eat some potatoes.
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