Isaiah Robert's baptism

without guile

Guile ~ insidious cunning in attaining a goal; crafty or artful in deception; duplicity.

Dallas willard says that children are incapable of "managing their face."  They are without guile.

That's a very good thing.  May we be the same.

Little Isaiah Robert is our teacher.  He is without guile.

Scripture references:

Ps. 32:2

Ps. 34:13

Matt 7:15

I Peter 2:1

I Peter 2:22

I Peter 3:10

Rev 14:5

In God we trust ~ in spite of our misgivings

The unthinkable happened when Ryan Wesley Arnold suffered heart failure on the transplant floor of the University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora, Colorado.  The code blue alert sounded throughout the facility early morning on the third day after surgery.  Sunday, August 1, 2010.

The surgery progressed without a blip with on-track recovery following.  The intricate process of transferring 2/3 of Ryan's liver to his brother was going along without a hitch.  Then the unthinkable happened.

Ryan's high school days:  Robert thought the world of Ryan during his tenure with us in youth group, Watertown, SD.  Robert viewed his time with Ryan - shaping and training - as an investment that would pay high dividends.  Ryan was focused and intentional in his young walk with Jesus.  He knew where he was headed and never looked back.

"Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither."  C.S. Lewis

******

Those left behind struggle with swirling questions:  Why pray?  What is the good of leaving a young wife with three boys under age 6?  What sense does this make?  Why pray?

Rock Arnold likes to recount C.S. Lewis' insight that Christians are the most dangerous when they cannot see God in the midst of daunting circumstances; yet they still believe.  They still follow.

Peter the Feisty One said it best in scripture, "(Great honk,) where else do we have to go, Lord?!  Who else has the words of eternal life?"

This is default faith:  The first words out of the mouth of a Christ-follower is "Oh God!  Dear Jesus!"  My first words audibly spoken after the 2:52 am phone call that Ryan was code blue, were not, "God Almighty, you've failed us!  I am finished with following you!"  Or "Buddha save us!"  No, by default, I cried out in trust in the Living Lord who at that very moment was an enigma to me.  I knew that He could stop the heart failure but was not.  Yet I still cried out "God!  No God!"  

Kim0 uses the analogy of marriage and our hand-in-hand walk with the Savior:  Sometimes we do not 'feel' affection and devotion to our spouses but nevertheless, we continue with one another out of sheer commitment.  Commitment, spoken and sealed at the altar of marriage, is the tie that binds.  It is the same with our God-walk; we have given our stories to the Master Storyteller and we do not get to write the ending.  We wonder, we doubt, we shake our fist in anxious sorrow ~ but we go forward hand-in-hand.  It is the covenantal commitment that keeps us.  

The End of the Story is written already and we know that it ends well:  The Lamb wins.  


King David after foregoing food for a number of days while beseeching the Father to save the infant son of Bathsheba, went forward after his child died.  "He will not return to me," David said, "but I will go to him."  David knew that he would be reunited with his son.  


Until then, let us eat and drink and raise our children and grandchildren in the sometimes enigmatic wondrous ways of the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

Elisabeth Elliot's "Difficulties are Proof Contexts:"  http://www.elisabethelliot.org/devotional.html

Back and forth email with Ryan Wesley Arnold

27 July 2010, two days before Ryan's surgery to give his brother, Chad, 2/3 of his liver

Dear Ryan ~ Saturday after a long ride, I peddled over to your place to greet you before your Colorado departure. The lights were on but could not rouse anyone.  I suspect that you were out for a walk together.  This morning I visited with your Mama at home before she and Janelle leave later today for Denver.

A few days ago I remembered a conversation your Mom and I had years ago when you were in high school.  You were such a responsible and focused young man.  One time after you rescued Becky Dearborn from a car situation on some lake back road, your Mother was telling me how much you enjoy rescuing folks. She said that you had always been quick to grab the 4-wheeler to pull a stuck snowmobile out of the lake or answer a dame in distress.  "Help is on the way" seems to be your motto, Ryan, and you respond out of the core of your character.  You seem to be wired to help. "Private Ryan Saving Chad" fits.  

Thank you for becoming the full man God intended when He shaped you from the beginning.  You fulfill His good intentions as a conduit of help for others.  Just like your Daddy, I might add.  

May the Lord be near ~ caren m

Ryan’s response:  

Thanks Caren for your encouraging words. It's great to hear from you again. 

It's at times like this I am reminded of the influences of my past. You and Robert were a huge part of that. I am excited to see what God has in store for my family in the future as well. 

Thanks for your prayers. 

my last email:

Bless you Buddy.  It will sure be good to see you tooling around the neighborhood with your family.  Hurry home!  We miss you already...

You know, Ryan, that Robert thought the world of you.  His confidence in you has not been misplaced.  

Love to all, especially your brave bride ~ care


You did hurry home, Ryan.  And we do miss you

Lessons learned around the lake

50% of the time you buck a head wind.   But keep peddling, the tail wind is comin'

New wheels

Not yet, but as quick as I can put the scratch together.  Corinney and I went down to Sioux River Cyclery in Brookings.  This Bad Girl is as smooth as a baby's boom.  Pumped!

My Gary Fisher has a gazillion miles.  Might be time for a new ride.  I'll keep Gary and hop aboard for old times sake but mostly it'll be here for friends/fam who come to town.  We're always gonna ride when you come to town, don't ya know!

The question that's keeping me up at night:  Which color?  What say you?

the mindset difference between liberals & conservatives

Liberals, as a rule, rely heavily on the intellectual superiority of the ruling class; elites, if you will.  

Conservatives lean into the insightful experience of the man on the street.  

Observing young children offers this lifelong insight:  People figure out what works and does not work through their mistakes and re-adjustments.

Thomas Sowell has this to say: "...no one is smart enough to carry out social engineering, whether in the economy or in other areas where the results may not always be so easily quantifiable. We learn, not from our initial brilliance, but from trial and error adjustments to events as they unfold.

Science tells us that the human brain reaches its maximum potential in early adulthood. Why then are young adults so seldom capable of doing what people with more years of experience can do?

Because experience trumps brilliance.


"Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn."
C. S. Lewis 

http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell072710.php3

It does come back

After years of driving fuddy-duddy automatics, it was easy as fallin' off a log to drive Aaron's green Miata.  Just like riding a bicycle ~ you never forget.

When was I last behind the wheel of a 5-speed?  Our Mazda RX7 and, before that, a 911 Porsche.  Yellow she was.  

Thanx Aaron for trusting me.  Loved it!

staggering Reality

In humankind's quest for drama, we find ourselves manufacturing 'reality.'  The pitiful reality shows are one example of this quest for enigmatic drama. 

Let's talk about Reality so majestically wondrous that the revelation required God the Son coming to earth to reveal that Reality.  Yes, God's creation does long for drama of the God-kind:  the heavens declare His glory, the uncountable starry hosts are named and numbered by God as is each bird that drops and every hair that falls from the collective head of mankind.  The acute attention to detail on behalf of the Father's whole creation is staggering.

Here is a reality so dramatic that it cannot be comprehended this side of Eternity:  Jesus prays for us.  All the live long day - and night - Jesus the Creator, prays for me.  And you.  John 17:9

"Through Jesus all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made."  Given this fact, Jesus and His Father cherish their Masterpiece.  They uniformly hover over us with gentle concern.  Continually.  Nothing escapes the notice of the Triune Godhead.

Lord and Savior ~ Thank you that we never escape your thoughts.  You dwell on us in thought and deed; in prayer.  Make us aware.  We love you so

This is a song we sang at Daron's church in Leesburg.  It is my new hands-raised favorite praise tune:  Overcome by Desperation Band

Lift your hands to the King:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sjYWrpNoCs

'nough said

For some reason, the innocence of this beautiful child makes me cry.

Home again, home again jiggity jig

There is no place like it.  It was so breezy cool on the deck this morning, I thought I was in the Bahamas.  'Twas a welcome respite from the Virginia humidity.
I can wrap my arms around this community and it hugs back.
Glad to be home after a wonderful time with my girls and their beloveds.  Where were you Gee?  We did miss Gabriel, Elissa, Morgan and Isaiah.

This was the view from the plane from O'Hare to Fargo.  Looking like snow capped mountains, the puff marshmallow clouds were even more dramatic than this google image.  I was enraptured and said aloud, "(Wisdom) was there when (God) placed the heavens in place and marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, when He established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep..."  Let us worship the cloud maker.

Anniversary celebration ~ belated

Joy and Nathaniel celebrated three years of Wedded Bliss on June 1st.  There VA Leesburg cycling outing commemorated the occasion, albeit a few days late.

Interesting note: They were able to fit snugly into DAron's cycling gear.  Only Nav could squeeze into Nad's stuff.  (My big toe wouldn't fit...never mind!)  The only thing that didn't fit was Danny Beth's bike.  Joy was a Struggler the whole 25 miles trying to ride her sister's road bike.  The Babe couldn't reach the dat-gum peddles.  She is, after all, 5 inches shorter than the MidBorn.
However, at the end of the grueling trek, Joy pronounced it "The most beautiful bike path I've ever ridden."
The black and white below is the W&OD bike path section called "Cathedral."  The summer smells splash your face as you float through this haven.  Glorious

Union Station, DC

"Your feet don't reach, Mom!" giggled Danny Beth.  "Story of my life," I replied.

DC by night

We booked a monument tour and as luck would have it, boarded the best tour guide's trolly in the place.  Lolleta was her name.  A real treat, she was.

 Iwa Jima monument

Leesburg out and about

German bistro ~ delicious mystery sandwiches - huge - accompanied by David Pepper's band.  The guy on the left played a mean funky looking fiddle/violin.

Aren't sisters the best

 Have mercy!  Aaron has been poring over this sci-fi novel like a man athirst.  Is it scary?  Not sure but his doo is.










D calls this "No buns."  Between the Big Buns and the Zero Buns, my grandBabes should come out about right.   

VA is for lovers ~ mothers, daughters and their beloveds

Some pictures of my July visit with Danielle and Aaron, Joy and Nathaniel.

 

Pic 1 ~ Wine tasting at Casanel's Winery.  We ate our nicpic lunch in the gazeeeb with a bottle of Viognier. 

 

A day in DC at the Smithsonian's:  Favorite installations were Julia Child's kitchen, First Lady's gowns, The Star Spangled Banner honoring Francis Scott Key and a marvelous gallery of Norman Rockwell originals on loan from Steven Spielberg and George Lucas's collections. 

This little doll plopped down beside me during our croissant turkey sandwich lunch in DC.
Glancing to my left, I was startled to see that little Pokie was nearly on my lap.  Is her name really Pokie?  Who knows, but that's what she told me.  Too cute

One can tell a lot about a person by the quotes they have around the house.   
Romans 12:9-12 is handwritten on Danielle's fridge:

Love from the core of who you are.  Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.  Be best friends who love deeply.  Honor one another above yourselves.  Never be lacking in zeal but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Morgan's love for her brother ~ a learned response

This picture of Morgan and Isaiah de-solves me to tears.  Knowing that there is wisdom to be found in "Following the Tears," I conclude this:  Morgan loves her brother because she has been loved.

The thing about Elissa and Gabriel is that they have made the Intentional Decision to devote - thoroughly devote - their attention, time, resources and teaching skills to their children.  Morgan and Isaiah rule but not in the spoiled way.  In the way of children who are cherished.

Spoiled children are shushhhhed and appeased with toys rather than Time.  E and G spend time!  At the SpearFish park, the swim park, Chuck E Cheese, in E's home with crafts and baked goods created by Morgan and often given to her Dad or other loved ones.  The children are never ignored.  No one throws a toy to them to keep them quiet like an annoying pet.  NO!  Morgan Jo and Isaiah Robert are prioritzed with the goal of excellent Character Formation.  Always shaped and taught.  THE RESULT = Morgan cherishes her brother.  She has become the kind of person who loves. 

To say I am impressed, is an understatement.  I did not do as good a job with this.  It is too late to start over with my own children but, never mind, the GrandBabies are here.  Place them Front and Center!