Following in Eli's Footsteps

Looks like Eden will be following in her Rocker Brother's footsteps. We don't call her Feli for nothing.

haircuts

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Eli and Esther have a new haircut. This was Esther's first haircut. She did great at letting the woman cut her hair.

It might be hope

My father is coming to Ferndale this weekend. In fact, in like 7 hours. This is big. I haven't seen him in 10 years and Megan has only met him at the wedding weekend festivities. This'll be the first time he meets our kids. I'm excited with a sense of anticipation.

It all began with a song. Last month, there was like a two week stretch where every morning I would wake up with the Sara Groves song, "It might be hope" in my head. (This actually happens a lot - I wake up with a song in my head almost every day. That song will usually frame my worship that morning and is a way that God speaks to me.) Every time I listened to the song I was really moved. Like the 10th time this happened I stopped to ask myself - why? The song describes a scene in which you walk into a room, look out the window and see something out there that inspires something in you, and you realize that what was just birthed in you was hope. I realized that, in my mind's eye, I was seeing something out of my "window" that was birthing hope in me. I'm pretty thick, but not that thick, so I asked myself (God?) the question, "what am I seeing out of my window?" And I realized right away that what I was seeing was my father coming up my walkway to my house. Voila!

It might be hope.

Looking for a church

So a few weeks ago, Megan told me a funny story about Eli. They were talking and Eli proudly told Meg that he had become a follower of Jesus when he was one and a half. "Wow, that's great, Eli!" "Yeah," Eli responds. "Well, that's a big decision. What's next?" Eli, thinking only a moment, returns, "I'll have to find a church." Well, son, here's to hoping you find a good church!

Truth in Advertising

Okay, so the new title picture is not actually of a member of the Pool Party. It is my nephew, Lukas Polcaster, and he is fixin' to do one mean cannonball. I think it captures the spirit of the Pool Party well.

Tooth Out

In other exciting news from the home front, Eli's first baby tooth came out yesterday while brushing his teeth. Awesome! The envelope, with tooth, will be going under his pillow tonight!

Three lines on our ultrasound ...

mean that its a girl! That's right. The Pool Party has made a definitive move to the more tender gender. And, yes, our future wedding bills are on the rise.

At our ultrasound appointment we learned that this most recent addition to the Pool Party is a little girl. We were a little surprised, but not overmuch. A good friend had had a strong early impression, that they believed was from God, that it was a girl, and we had paid attention to that. So as much as daddy and son would have liked some more Y chromosome, we're delighted with the news.

In fact, our little girl is healthy and beautiful by all accounts. Normal size and shape and beatings and throbbings of the appropriate organs. Our baby is well.

The other news is that Megan is what they call placenta previa. That's just a fancy Latin way of saying is that the placenta is between the baby and the cervix, aka blocking the exit row. The midwife tells us this is somewhat common early in pregnancy. And she was at pains to tell us that in 80% of cases, it resolves itself. Of course, the fact is, Megan's variety is the "worst" - total blockage, right in the middle of the cervix. So ...

One implication placenta previa is that if it doesn't resolve itself, Megan will need to have a C-section. Which means no alternative birthing center. This would be a disappointment, and it would be a more painful recovery, but c-section patients are required to stay in the hospital longer, so that would be a nice break from the chaos for her!

A second implication is the "lifting ban." The midwife has told her she isn't allowed to carry more than 10 lbs. That means no lifting any of the kids. It means she almost can't carry her purse! This one is a bit more difficult. However, through the use of strategically placed step stools in the van and bedrooms, along with some ingenious rope and pulley systems (kidding), the girls are able to get into their cribs and car seats with minimal effort. If she's negligent in adhering to the ban, the pressure could produce internal bleeding, force bed rest (egads!), or induce early labor. None of those are good. So let's give Megan a hand with those heavy objects.

And then there are several limitations on Megan's other physical activity.

We're excited about our little girl! And we're hopeful to see God work. And even if he doesn't, God is good.

Jesus' Popularity

So Megan and I went to see The Dark Knight this past Saturday night. It was Megan's idea. I thought it was pretty good, though I was a little underwhelmed. I actually thought Batman Begins was darker. Anyway, as I left the movie I got to thinking about how we like our heroes to be complicated. Superman, Spiderman, Batman - all have come to have these complicated sides. A darker side. It makes them seem more human, perhaps, more accessible. We even like this in our Presidents and other leading figures. Not too much, of course, but enough to make them seem not fundamentally different from us.

It makes me wonder about Jesus. Maybe this is why Jesus is unpopular with some people. He isn't particularly complicated. He doesn't ever have a dark side. With Jesus, what you see is what you get. I happen to see this as refreshing. And I think it is what many people long for, even if they hope to bring down their (other) heroes with a more complicated character.

I thought they wanted to keep kids' hands clean?

While on my vacation out West, I had ample opportunity to observe loads of public restrooms. I've continued my observations since that time. Finally, after more than a month of taking notes, I'm ready to ask my question: "I thought they wanted us to keep our kids' hands clean?"

Let me back up. My son loves to wash his hands after he does his business. That's a good thing. The rumors are always that most guys don't, so I'm glad he does. He asks to wash his hands, without solicitation. And here's what I observed, after visiting what must literally be like one hundred public facilities, from here to Idaho. Probably 90% of the sinks in public restrooms were totally accessible by Eli, who is, admittedly, a little short for 5 and a 1/2. He could totally reach the sinks, and loved the automatic ones. But when it came to the soap, and I find this very interesting, I'd say that he could reach (without assistance) no more than 50% of the soap dispensers. Why is that? I find it very odd. He loved the soap. I would try to talk him into washing without soap sometimes, but he would have none of that shortcutting. It was all the way for him.

So, if you, dear reader, happen to work for any organization connected to the lay-out and construction of public restrooms, please consider lowering your hand soaps.

And, I should say, by way of aside, that by the end of our trip, Eli finally learned to put his head all the way under those automatic hand-driers so that his hair would blow everywhere. The discovery brought both of us great joy. We were often late meeting mom at the van because of it.

One of the Best Movie Trailers Ever

Have you seen this movie? The Apple. This is good. In the (paraphrased) words of the "Guilty Pleasures Movie" reviews on Moviefone - this is the best biblical sci-fi musical ever; of course, it is the only biblical sci-fi musical ever. So that makes it the best. And they're right, it is hard to get the songs out of your head.

What I have, I give ...

This morning as I was praying for the church, I felt like the Lord brought to my mind the verse in Acts 3 where Peter tells the crippled man at the Temple gate called Beautiful, "Silver and gold we do not have, but what we have, we give ... in the name of Jesus, get up and walk!" And the man is healed and not only walks, but does a jig of joy.

I got to thinking about that. What do we have to give? Obviously, and I don't say this casually, we've got Jesus. We know Jesus and we have a living relationship with Jesus. We have an expectation that Jesus is on the move and that he wants to act and that if we ask, we can join in with him in his acting. This is big. It is no small thing. We've also got love to give. I'm continually amazed by the love in our church community, even when sometimes other attitudes are also present. We like each other. We love each other. We love people. We've got love to give. Simply loving someone - extending your hand to help someone out, extending your heart to take someone's concerns into it, extending your ears to listen - is a powerful thing. We've got love to give. And there's a third thing. We've got authenticity to give. We're real people. No pretentions. No politics. We're honest-hearted followers of Jesus trying to figure out God, and life with him and how to help the world. That's a deep thing. That is a gift we can give. Trying to be true to ourselves, and true to God, and true to others, and true to what is right. As a church community we can give these things away.

What do you have to give? Have you ever thought about it? You may not have lots of money. Or you might. You may not have lots of experience praying for people, but you're really good at hugging people and helping them know they're loved. You may have no training in preaching, but you're great at telling a story. What do you have to give? I invite you to give away what you have in the name of Jesus and see what Jesus will do.

Redman, we love you, but eat your heart out!

Elijah Pool, on guitar. He's even learned to strike a pose like Redman. And I mean, for real, he looks a lot like Redman, if you've ever seen him up close.