T.G.I.F.

Hooray for the weekend! I can't remember being so glad it's Friday in a very long time - my brain is plumb wore out - I'm tired of thinking. So... I must have really exciting plans for the weekend, right? No, and that's precisely the reason I'm so looking forward to it. Of course the Super Bowl is on Sunday, but since the New York Giants aren't playing in it, I really don't care much about who wins (and honestly, I couldn't tell you off the top of my head who is actually playing this year). Other than watching the game on Sunday, our only plan is to go to Saturday Market tomorrow morning. Have a great weekend - see you on the flip side.

"I've been thinking, Hobbes"

"On a weekend?"
"Well, it wasn't on purpose..."

The March for Life

The annual March for Life was held last week in Washington, DC, on the anniversary of the passage of Roe v. Wade. The most powerful speaker was Luke Robinson. His words really resonated with me, an average American mom who longs to see unborn children receive the protection they so deserve. Here is an abbreviated article about the event, including part of what he had to say:

The most well-received speech at the March for Life this year was that of an African American pastor from Frederick, Maryland. Pastor Luke Robinson began noting that the election of the first African American President of the United States was a fulfillment of “part of the Dream” of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Speaking of the inauguration of the “first black President” of the United States, Pastor Robinson explained: “So many African Americans and other folks cried and shouted because the inauguration was part of the deferred dream come true.” But, he added, “we come here to deal with some unfinished business as it relates to the ‘Dream’.”

Then, using Barack Obama’s own rhetoric, Pastor Robinson used the phrase “We need change now more than ever,” which would accentuate the rest of his talk.

“We are calling on the President of Change, President Barack Obama,” he said, “to be an agent of change as it relates to the lives of over one million children who will be slaughtered in this, his first year as President, by a horrible practice called abortion and ‘a woman’s right to choose’.”

The most striking portion of Robinson’s speech came as he begged Obama not to preside over the genocide of African Americans. “We need change, Mr. President, because every day about 4000 babies die by abortion. Every day, Mr. President, people with your ethnic background and my ethnic background die in astounding numbers. Abortion is the number one killer of African Americans in this country.”

“We make up about 12% of the population and about 34% of all abortions are black babies. In the last 36 years over 17 million African American babies have died by abortion alone. We need to change this picture. We need to stop this slaughter of the innocent pre-born.

“Please Mr. President, be that agent of change that can commute the sentence of over 1400 African American children and over 3000 children from other ethnic groups sentenced to die every day in this country by abortion.”

“We need change and we need it now.”

“I pray with so many others,” he said, “that your administration will preside over the end to abortion and to the black genocide in America.”

“At the conclusion of your term in office, may it never be said that you presided over the largest slaughter of innocent children in the history of the country and that African Americans became an ever increasing minority under your hand.”

50 million babies lost...

Today Mark and I had a unique experience. Today is Sanctity of Human Life Sunday, and we decided to drive to Portland to take part in a memorial service for the 50 million tiny, defenseless lives lost to abortion since the passage of Roe v. Wade in 1973. We were part of a crowd at Pioneer Courthouse Square that was estimated at 7,000, who listened to many speakers share about their own experiences with this issue, mourn the precious lives lost, and pray for our nation and its leaders, that they would give the unborn the protection they deserve. There were many protesters at the event as well.I can't help but think about today's memorial service in light of the historic events of this coming week. Our country will welcome its first African-American President. And Mark and I will be praying wholeheartedly for him, that he will be pulled toward seeking God's wisdom in all he does. He has such a heart for the "little guy," and we pray that that feeling would be expanded in his thinking to include the littlest of all, the unborn.

Reflecting on our children...

"Children are not born into the same family as their brothers and sisters because the family shifts with each new arrival."

This quote was in a book I recently read, and it struck me so much that I had to write it down so I could contemplate it further. And as I've reflected on the quote over the last few days, I've decided that I both agree and disagree with it - if that's possible. I disagree because, obviously, each of our children WAS born into the same biological family, with Mark as their father and me as their mother. And they were raised in that same family, by the same two parents who diligently tried to apply the same, consistent child-rearing techniques to each of the children. Having said that, however, I do agree with the quote, in that the family dynamics definitely shift with each new addition, and that must play a part in how the kids "turn out." So I've been thinking about what our family was like as each child joined it.

Sarah: Oh, the wonder of it all. She was the first, and therefore played the part of "guinea pig," and did it quite well. Mark and I were inexperienced and nervous, and couldn't quite believe that, following her birth, the hospital actually allowed us to leave with Sarah in our car. Because she was the only child at that time, she commanded all our attention, which we were only too happy to give her. Once she was sitting up, we would put her high chair between us at meals and just watch her make cute little faces and try to learn to manage a spoon. Everything she did was both new and newsworthy. And at each stage of her growing-up years, she blazed the trail that her siblings followed. She has such a generous nature, such a big heart. She was, and remains, such a joy to OUR hearts.
When Jake was born nearly two years later, we felt like real veteran parents, and SO ready to handle a second child. Lo, and behold, the Lord gave us a son! (Remember, this was the time before routine untrasounds, and we never knew what gender our kids were before their birth.) Yikes - a whole new kind of kid! What were baby boys like? We soon found that Jake was far different from Sarah, and not just because he was all boy. His temperament, his personality - all uniquely his own. He was artistic from the get-go, and always strove for excellence in all he did - and he's still that way.
Several years later, Ben came on the scene. A new learning curve. With two children, Mark and I could each "take one" when we went places as a family. Suddenly there were three... hmmm... an extra... who will take him? :-) Obviously we managed, and I think with Ben's birth we really realized that being a family was about more than numbers, but was about helping each other out, caring for each other, and being a UNIT, regardless of how large that unit was. Ben was always eager to try new things, make things, explore things. And he had such a tender heart toward animals, whether it was our cat, bunny rabbit, or dog.
And then came David. Such an easy baby, just fitting in without fuss or bother. And while each baby born to us was such an amazing blessing from God, we felt extra blessed when Dave turned out to be such a "go with the flow" sort of guy. I think he's still that way today. He had such a way of making us laugh. Everyone wanted to be around David, to hold him, hug him, pull him in the wagon or push him in the stroller. As long as he had his blankie and his thumb, he was good to go. He just loved hanging with the family, and that remains important to him today.
And finally, our Hannah. People have asked us over the years how we knew our family was complete after Hannah's birth, and the only answer we can give is that we just knew. Both Mark and I felt certain peace about it. Hannah was (and still is) such a sweet, kind girl, and our hearts just overflowed with joy when she joined our family. Sarah was so happy to have a sister (Sarah was the first person we called from the hospital with the news that the new baby was a girl). Hannah easily found a place in our family, eager to try to keep up with all the others, and to distinguish herself as a remarkable individual, too.
Psalm 139: 13-14 says, "For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well." We are eternally thankful to God for each of our children, each one knit together by Him, and lovingly placed in our family. Yes, our family grew and changed with each addition, but we wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

Hamster on piano eating popcorn...

You told me not to post it, Hannah, but... I couldn't resist. Enjoy.

Happy New Year 2009

Mark and I wish each of you a very happy 2009. And instead of making resolutions that I will no doubt surely break, I instead pray that the thoughts expressed in the following prayer (commonly attributed to St. Francis of Assisi) might be increasingly true in my life. May you might find hope and inspiration in these words during this new year, too.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
when there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
Grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand,
to be loved as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.