Good Follow-up appt.

I was talking to my sister Abby last night when I realized that I hadn't really made sure I let folks know how my first follow-up appointment went with my surgeon this past week.  I know many people have been praying for me, and I'm very appreciative for those prayers.  The visit went well, and he said that he sees healing occurring which is encouraging.  I just pray that it will continue.  This has been a long, frustrating road, and I'm so looking forward to being free of this.  I return to see Dr. Blankenship in six weeks to see how things are progressing.  I'll try to remember to communicate the results of that visit.  Thank you again, for your prayers.

Revolutionary Parenting

My Mom and Dad gave my sisters and I a book for Christmas entitled Revolutionary Parenting by George Barna. (Click on the title to jump to the Barna site where you can purchase the book.) The subtitle is Want to Raise a Spiritual Champion?  What the Research Shows Really Works.  I just finished reading it today, and I highly recommend it to you Moms and Dads out there.  He's quick to explain that this book is not a step by step plan that he has come up with that will supposedly help your kids become "spiritual champions".  Instead, he has done significant research by conducting national surveys, exploring existing literature thought to be of significance in raising faith Revolutionaries as he calls them, and they did more than 10,000 personal interviews to identify people in their 20s who were leading "transformed" lives (much more than just being religious or active in a church).  Through these 10,000 interviews he sought to discover what happened during their growing up years that led them to become irrepressible followers of Christ.  Then he in got permission to speak to these 20somethings' parents, and he asked the parents what they thought they had done that helped their child grow into a mature follower of Christ.  

I was immediately hooked by this new approach of a parenting book being based truly on research.  I'm going to read it a second time with Stan, and I am very eager to have someone to discuss the chapters with, because it's the kind of book that really makes you eager to analyze yourself as parents and work on some new game plans, so to speak.  You may be intrigued to know that when they surveyed young adults and asked them what they felt the most significant mistakes that America's parents have made, the second highest ranked mistake was not spending enough time with their children.  The failure to provide appropriate discipline was the top-ranked deficiency.  

The back of the book reads like this, "If you're like most parents, you think you're doing an okay job--and you probably believe you're doing better than most.  But if your goal is to raise kids with a life-impacting faith, that may not be good enough."

He has an ability to kind of whack you upside your head and really make you say to yourself, "Yeah, you're right.  If I'm honest I do sometimes think like that." But man, I really want to raise Olivia and Benjamin to be spiritual champions.  His definition of a spiritual champion is: an irrepressable follower of Jesus Christ who accepts the Bible as truth, lives by its principles, and seeks ways to impact the world and continually deepen his/her relationship with God. He goes into greater detail in one passage in the first chapter.  

...they possess a biblical world view that shapes their decision-making process because they accept scriptural principles as true and significant.  As an integral part of that world view, they contend that there are moral absolutes that are relevant to our lives and have dramatic consequences if compromised.  They believed that they have been created by God to serve Him in specific ways; acknowledge the continual spiritual war between God and Satan in which both of those supernatural powers can influence their choices; and believe that our lives should reflect the character of God.  Spiritual champions donate unusually generous amounts of time and money to spiritually driven causes.  They carefully screen the media they ingest and have a deep and intense commitment to their relationship with God and other Christians.  On a daily basis they strive to change the world in small but life-impacting ways, whether it is done through feeding the hungry, counseling the bereaved, encouraging the confused, protecting the environment, or other means.  In the context of current American life, spiritual champions lead a Revolutionary existence.  Their life perspectives are uncommon, their relationships are unique, and their emphasis on the centrality of their faith in God is stunning.  Without a doubt, their lives are the product of unusual but intentional preparation.

Isn't that inspiring???  It is also daunting and challenging--that last line about how spiritual champions are "the product of unusual but intentional preparation"--yeah, that's the hard part.  We've got to figure out, with the Lord's help, what that unusual but intentional preparation looks like within each of our own families.  

Anyway, I've really enjoyed the book, and I hope maybe you'll consider reading it yourself.  Abby, Carrie Beth, I'd love to hear what you're thinking of it if you've had a chance to read it yet.  It is challenging.

Christmas Pics from our visit with the Rogowski clan

Click on this to see the pics.

Christmas Pics from the Adams House

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Momma Told Me To Eat My Grits

Aunt Abby did a great job teaching a rhythm to the kids at Mom and Dad's this Christmas. Here's one moment that got particularly fun.

Giggle Fest

This was a fun moment when we suddenly realized Benjamin would break into giggles every time this cup banged on the table.  Love these kinds of moments!

Blessed and very much so!

We spent Christmas week with my side of the family at Mom and Dad's house.  It was wonderful.  It was a bit loud at times, because there were two babies, one toddler, a 3 1/2 year old and a 5 year old--not to mention the rest of us who are very capable of being noisy ourselves, but it was marvelous! :)  I am so incredibly grateful for my family.  We are not perfect, but we work at loving each other perfectly.  And while I know it is not Thanksgiving.  I feel like I have so much to be thankful for.  Here's my list of reasons why:

They love me inspite of all of my idiosyncrasies:

I wish I weren't so sensitive to noisy, chaotic events.  

I wish I didn't tend to be so blunt sometimes.

I wish I was a little less "driver's seat" and a little more "ride in the back and enjoy the show".

They encourage me: 

How wonderful to receive encouragement about healing, about how I've dealt with the whole "surgery for the 3rd time" thing.  

What a blessing to receive encouragement from my mom and sisters about being a mom that desires to do the best that the Lord can enable me to do.

They challenge me: 

Thanks, Mom, for the shared challenge of reading through the Bible this year together. 

Even on this busy week, my folks still had their time at the YMCA, and Stan still jogged. Thanks for setting the example and challenging us without saying a word.

They inspire me: 

Dad, I so enjoyed your sermon Sunday--I want to allow Jesus' story of love to be reflected through my life. 

And how absolutely inspiring it was to stand on the lawn in the back yard and watch you open the package that had your soon-to-be-published book inside, Dad!  

Abby & Andy, talk about two persons who are living lives that inspire!  We are so proud of you and we are inspired as you serve your Corp.  

Will, if working the Olympics in China this summer isn't inspiring, I don't know what is! I'm so proud of you for achieving that goal and I am always amazed at how much you know and are learning.  Your awesome book of pictures you made for each of us also was inspiring and moving.  

David, what a blessing to hear you've asked Jesus into your heart!  I was inspired by you!

They keep me laughing and laughing and laughing:

Will, I love it when I'm filming the family singing the Doxology before a meal and as I pan over to you, you're giving me the dead-pan-don't-even-try-to-make-me-smile-look. 

Will, I love it when we get you going on regurgitating lines from some old movie; my personal favorite recitation you made this visit came from Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Summer Vacation. Hysterical!  Will I also loved the Apples to Apples game.  You are the master defender.  What is that magical power you wield over the judge?

Thanks Abby for bringing the Catch Phrase game, and Mom, I can't believe you passed on "Baby Got Back"!

They love my husband like a true brother or son: 

Thank you for the many words of encouragement you gave to Stan regarding his music ministry. Thank you for wanting to know about his life and what's going on with him, personally, professionally, spiritually.

They love my kiddos so generously and sincerely: 

CB, you were too kind to let Olivia shop with you at the after-Christmas sales so that we could have a little shopping time ourselves.

Abby, Olivia will never forget "Momma-Told-Me-To-Eat-My-Grits!"  I don't know that she'll be a percussionist if her Daddy has any sway, but if she does, she'd have an excellent role model in you!

I am blessed and very much so!  God is so good, God is so good, God is so good, He's so good to me....Thank you Lord for times of refreshing with the ones we hold so dear.  May I remember I'm blessed to be a blessing.