A Six Week Old Princess

Someone has said, "A picture is worth a thousand words."

Enough said!

Traveling to Travel

Yesterday was a memorable one. It was filled with sadness, joy, anticipation, suspense and a great deal of fatigue. Do I have your interest yet? Oh yes, and a celebratory (is that even a word) conclusion. Now on to the details.

On Sunday we worshipped together in Windsor Locks and then ate lunch at home. I took Barb to work in the afternoon and she said goodbye to our recent house guest and unofficially adopted daughter Anne Shilpa Reddy Katangur. Anne is from India and has been staying with us the past week while looking for work. Since she hasn't found a job, she is off to the UK to visit family and continue her job search. We have known Anne for over a year now and have come to love her in the Lord. While Anne was with us, Barb gave her some Canadian/American cooking lessons, (in the picture below Barb is teaching her how to make pumpkin pie, one of Anne's favorites). Anne left from Hartford for London on Monday while we were on our adventure.

At 11:45 pm I picked up Barb at the hospital when she got off work and we were off to Montreal, Canada to renew Barb's passport. The passport was not yet expired but we found out China will not issue a visa on a passport with less than 6 months of validity left. Barb's expires in June. When we called, we learned that a mailed renewal takes 4 weeks and we have our tickets to fly to China on April 8th. So it was necessary for us to go in person to a passport office in Canada and the closest one was in Montreal.

I stopped a couple of times for short naps in upstate New York and we arrived at the passport office we had selected in Point Claire at 8:00 am. This office was located in the Fairview Mall just off the trans-Canada highway.

We were pleased that there were only a few people ahead of us and we were anxious to find out how quickly our request could be taken care of and we could be on our way home again. When we were called up Barb explained why we had come and how all of our documents were in order. She had her current passport, the renewal application and the 2 passport pictures. The woman behind the counter explained that this office did not do same day renewals and that Barb's passport photos were unacceptable (she was smiling and her teethe were showing and the photos were not stamped and dated by the photographer). If we wanted to try and get a same day renewal we could go to a busier office nearer central Montreal but we would definitely need proper passport photos which could be taken at a shop in the mall when they opened at 10:00 am. So, it was hurry up and wait for this shop to open at 10:00. Here's Barb sitting in the mall outside the photo shop.

Since Quebec is a french speaking province we were fascinated by all the signs that were in french, including the photo shop where Barb would get her replacement passport photos.
When the shop opened at 10:00 Barb was the first one to get her passport photos taken, others were also waiting, and in 10 minutes they were ready and we were off to the next passport office in Saint Laurent. [For all you ladies, you can imagine what Barb thought about having her picture taken after traveling all night and not getting to put on any make-up since we thought we already had the pictures she would need.] When we arrived there at about 10:30 am, we entered to find a much bigger and MUCH busier office that was full of people waiting to be served. We waited in line for about 15 minutes and were given a number that would determine when we were served. Assignments were given by letter (A-E) and number. Barb was D-848. They were currently serving D-830. We joined the crowd and waited about 45 minutes to be called to a window (for trivia buffs, window 8) and we met our passport officer at 11:30am. She examined Barb's material which was all in order, although Barb apologized profusely for the poor picture quality of her passport photos, and she told us the passport would be ready April 6th. Barb requested the expedited service (an additional $70 fee is added to the $87 passport renewal fee). She also told Barb an affidavit would need to be completed explaining why we needed the expedited service. That was done and our agent requested cell phone numbers for Barb's references since these people would need to be contacted before the passport could be issued. The calls were made and she said all was in order. She said we could come back at 2:00 pm and the passport would be ready. We had lunch at a nearby McDonald's and then napped in the car until 1:45 pm when we returned to the passport office and picked up Barb's new passport.
We left at 2:15 pm, thankful to God for His wonderful provision, and drove the 350 plus miles home, arriving back in Windsor Locks at 8:00 pm. On our way home we called Anne who was at the airport waiting to board her plane for Philadelphia and then London, and said goodbye to our dear friend from India. We were exhausted but oh so thankful to be closer to being able to travel to China to see our son, daughter-in-law and new granddaughter on April 8th. The Lord willing, I will be heading to NYC on Wednesday to get our visas for the trip to China, so don't stop praying yet! I can't wait to tell you about that adventure, I wonder what that will be like.

My Doxology

"Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy!"
Psalm 47:1 (ESV)

As the sun begins to climb into the sky, I am sitting in my living room, praising and thanking God for his many blessings to me and the ones I love.

I thank him for the love that put his own son in my place at Calvary, even though I was still an angry, selfish, rebellious sinner. What amazing love!

I rejoice in the miracles of modern technology which allowed me to share somewhat in the birth of a granddaughter on the other side of the world this week. What a gift!

I am thankful for Sarah Grace's safe arrival in the world and those who provided assistance at her birth. What a precious provision!

I am thankful for a Godly woman who is my son's wife and Sarah's mom and for her parents who brought her up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. God's ways are wonderful!

I am thankful for my son David who has his grandfather's gift of teaching and will need to use it in raising his daughter in the ways of the Lord. Your ways are righteous Lord!

I am thankful for my parents who gave me a Christian home in which to learn about love and forgiveness and the ways of the Lord. God, I have been blessed beyond measure!

I am thankful for a new day and the opportunity to gather with others who know Jesus and sing his praises. What a blessed opportunity!

Oh Lord, I am aware of your presence and your love and your grace but I know I have so much more to learn, teach me your ways, I pray. And receive my worship as I give it to the only one who is worthy.

Amen.

Kidney Stones and Heroines

I grew up in a family of four boys and one girl, who was the youngest. When I married, my wife and I had four sons of our own. I am used to being around boys and their antics. I am a frequent visitor to hospital emergency rooms. I have been there with our oldest Robbie, who had fallen on a school outing and required multiple stitches on his forehead and eyelid. I have been there with my second born, David, when he has broken his wrist (twice). I have been there with my third son, Joshua, when he put his hand through a window and severed an artery and required stitches and fluid to replace his blood loss. I have been there with our youngest son, Shawn, who suffered a major leg laceration at the pool and needed many stitches to close the wound. All the boys have known there share of bumps and bruises and exhaustion as they have trained for and played competitive soccer. I have always been proud of the way they have been strong as they have received the medical care they needed. After yesterday however, I have a new heroine to admire.

The first time I had a kidney stone I had been trying to lose a lot of weight in a short period of time and had done so by running in the heat and humidity of Florida without any hydration. While I lost the weight I was trying to lose, I put a great strain on my kidneys and paid a severe price. When I passed my kidney stone I asked God to take me home....and soon! I felt as though someone was pushing and twisting a large hunting knife into the small of my back and trying to push it all the way through to the front. I vomited, I sweat profusely, I cried out loud, I moaned, I changed colors (at least I turned ghost white), and writhed in pained. I hurt so bad I didn't even want to move to go to the hospital where they might be able to help me. It was horrible! And I have continued to pass a kidney stone about every 6 to 9 months. It is no fun. After yesterday, I'm not going to complain about my kidney stones.

You may be wondering, what happened yesterday? Yesterday, my granddaughter Sarah was born. She was born following her mother's (and my new heroine's) 30 plus hour labor! This ordeal represented Marianne's emergence as the new "tough" guy in our family when it comes time to compare scars and stories about Dean injuries. Marianne now gets to take the lead chair in storytelling folklore at our family gatherings. And the results of her experience, we now have the most wonderful little granddaughter, Sarah Grace Dean. She will join Erin as our gifts from God. Marianne's experience took place in Chang Mai, Thailand and she gets style points for that.

The fact that it lasted over 30 hours makes me marvel are her endurance and tolerance for pain.

When I have my kidney stones, or tell people about them, someone almost always points out that kidney stone pain for a man is the closest thing he will ever have to labor pain. If my daughter-in-law Marianne went through anything like what I have been through, and went through it for over 30 hours, then she is my heroine from this day forward. And the results, well you judge for yourself.

Family Pets

I have been thinking a lot about family pets this week, especially ours. I have been wondering why I put myself through the agony of training those creatures when we get them only to go through agony when they get to the place where we need to say goodbye to them. It really doesn't make much sense to me. But I do it over and over again! We have had Marty, Brandy, Rugby and Rudy.

Our current dog, Rudy, has been a member of the family for over 8 years. He was over a year old when we got him. So that must make him what, 152 in dog years (there is some formula, but I don't have a clue what it is). Recently he has been having some problems and this past weekend they became so severe we expected to find it necessary to end his suffering. Now that is always tough for me to do, and no matter what people say about family pets, its dad's pet when its time to put them down.

So today I had to take our Rudy to the vet and I fully expected to find out he had cancer, or some other very serious condition, that would result in his life coming to an end. Not so! The doctor took an xray and showed me that our dog had dozens of kidney stones that were creating all kinds of difficulty for him, but were not terminal. And you know what comes next! With surgery he could be as good as new! Nine years old new, that is! Now I am about to be unemployed and the last thing I need is a big bill from the dog's doctor. When I asked about the cost, I got that horrible "how could you ask me that, does it even matter" look from the doctor, who then told me it could run from $1,200 to $1,500, depending on what he had to do. I told him I needed to talk with my wife about it and he allowed me to call her. She wasn't home. I tried her cellphone, and it wasn't on. What was I to do?

Well, I have kidney stones and they are painfull! And when I am passing one I often wish I was dead. But I don't want anyone to kill me just because I have the stones. I told the doctor to go ahead with the surgery.

Rudy had the surgery today and is spending tonight at the vets. Tomorrow we will go pick him up and bring him home. It's going to snow tomorrow and I don't know exactly when I will be able to pick him up. But as I was thinking about all the money this was going to cost us at a time when we don't have a lot of money, I remembered a verse from Proverbs. Proverbs 12:10 says,

"whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast," (ESV)

I wonder if paying that kind of money to take care of some kidney stones in my dog qualifys as having regard for my beast?

WARNING: Graphic pictures!

There, I bet I have your attention now! You are probably wondering what a nice guy like me would be doing posting a title like that. If you keep reading you will find out.

We got a call from our daughter-in-law this past Tuesday telling us our son had fallen at a job site and sustained a head injury and was experiencing some memory loss. She said he had been taken to an emergency clinic and they were sending him by ambulance to a hospital in Birmingham. She was waiting for a ride to meet him there. We asked her to call when she got there and let us know how he was doing. Several hours later she called and we got to talk with our son who was still waiting for the doctor to administer some stitches to his head and knee. He said he was sore but anticipating a full recovery. It's now two days later and we have some graphic before and after pictures for those who want to see what his head looked like.

If you don't want to know, don't look. I wonder how many of you will look?

This is what Josh looked like just before they began to work on his stitches. A brick step can do a real job on your forehead. Below is what he looked like after they stitched him up. He ended up with 35 stitches in his forehead and 5 in his knee. Today he was cleared to return to work as soon as he feels up to it. Perhaps with just a little more care being given to going up and down brick steps.

Transitions

"Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you." Genesis 12:1 (ESV)


Someone asked me again yesterday, why didn't I wait until I had another job lined up before I resigned my current pastorate. Good question. It certainly would make sense in this economy. It would certainly be more comforting to my wife and son. It certainly would have allowed me to spend less time wondering where my next job and paycheck were going to come from.

What it would not have done is forced me into the presence of God much like Abram must have been forced into the presence of God when he took a step of faith to follow God's command in the verse above. Abram was forced to look to God for direction when he left his country, people and even his own family home, all to follow God to a place that only God knew. That is walking by faith, not by sight!

In the months since my resignation I have spent a lot of time talking with God about what He wants from me. I still have lots of questions about that. But I have found some answers as well. God has shown me very clearly that one thing He wants is my trust. He has spoken through the book Trusting God by Jerry Bridges. He has spoken through the men who have been studying that book together on Thursday evenings. He has spoken that message through the devotional book I use featuring the writings of AW Tozer (the gift of a good friend three years ago). I have heard God say that He wants me to trust Him to show me what is next even though I wanted to know long ago.

God has shown me that it is as important that I travel this road with Him as that I arrive at the destination. It's as though I want to jump on the highway and quickly travel to my destination but God is saying, take the back roads, so we can talk and I can show you some things. I think I have often missed things along the way, things that God wanted to show me and tell me about.

Much like Peter as he walked to Jesus on the water, there are waves around me that tempt me to take my eyes off of Jesus. My truck is in the shop. Our family pet of eight years is getting older. Our son was recently injured in a work fall. We are expecting a grandchild to be born next month in Thailand. All these issues and many more make me want to say to the LORD, I need to know now where you are taking me.

But then I remember that is not trust. God knows (and knew long ago) about my truck and dog and son and grandchild. But He wants me to trust Him. Trust Him for a job, trust Him for an income, trust Him for shelter, trust Him for transportation and trust Him for my daily bread. If I had not been willing to resign before I knew where I was going, then I would not have been learning these important lessons about the God who loves me enough to direct my steps. I am wondering what else I need to learn as I wait on Him.