The Lost Generation

I really liked this video. It's about 2 minutes long. Well worth the watching.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42E2fAWM6rA

Disgusting

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,488644,00.html

and

http://www.wesleyjsmith.com/blog/2009/02/ap-infant-survives-late-term-abortion.html

Take a good look at that picture in the second link. See if you can identify a "lump of tissue". I see a baby.

Disgusting.

Invincible

Here's a crazy (and true!) story.

Yesterday when I was driving home from work the manifest presence of the Lord entered the car. It was thick and unmistakable. He said only one thing "What do you want?"

God has asked me this one time before. Two years ago I was sitting in my cubicle at work, listening to the bible when the story of blind Bartemaeus began to be read. In the story Bart, as we will call him, hears that Jesus is walking by and begins crying out desperately. "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" He gets so loud and obnoxious that the crowd tries to quiet him down. But Bart will have none of it. "Jesus, Son of David, have MERCY on me." Finally, realizing that Bart will never quite down, the crowd brings him to Jesus. And what does Jesus say? Only one thing.

"What do you want?"

At that moment a cry deep in my soul began to raise itself towards heaven. As Bart in the bible replied "I want to see!", I in my cube replied "I want a real job! I want a REAL JOB!" For five minutes this cry, this desperate prayer, echoed in my soul. Thirty minutes later, literally, a phone call came with a dream job offer at the exact salary level that I needed at a company that I thought had passed me by.

So, now, here I am again. I have a job. And God is in my car asking me "What do you want?" I don't want for anything material. I have learned to be content. Is my life 'perfect'? Hardly. Are there days when I desire possessions? Certainly. But I have learned, in every situation, to be content. (Or at least I am learning.)

"What do you want?"

The question echoed through me. This is not a light question. Do you ask for wisdom? Maybe. That didn't seem to turn out so well for Solomon. Yeah he was smart and rich, but he doesn't seem to have ended very well. Do you ask for money? Do you ask for world peace? Seriously.

"What do you want?"

I have pondered the question for about 24 hours now. I went for a walk tonight and the question was still there, though the echo was fading. I knew I needed to answer before the night was over or the offer would be withdrawn. I prayed. "Lord, what should I ask for?"

Silence.

It seems like a good thing to pray, but was truely my choice and He would not influence my decision. He would respect my free will.

Suddenly, my dull, aching spirit knew. My over-stimulated nerves calmed. I knew the answer. I knew what I wanted.

"I want a heart that is alive. I want a heart that burns with passion for Jesus."

I suddenly knew that if I had this one thing, nothing else would be able to sway me. Not knowledge. Not money. Not power. Nothing. I would be unshakable. I would be invincible.

"I want a heart that is alive. I want a heart that burns with passion for Jesus."

"What do you want?"

What I Really Want

The other day I was sitting the the prayer room at RHOP. I was struggling with the sensation that I was wasting my time; that I would be happier if I was at home doing something useful.

I raised the prayer to God: "Do I really want to be here?"

I heard the familiar whisper of God in my spirit "YOU REARRANGE YOUR SCHEDULE TO BE HERE."

I thought about this for a few minutes. I thought. I do move things around in my schedule to make space to be here. I value my time. Though I struggle with the actual enjoying of the prayer room, I do still come. If I make space in my schedule to be here, I must want to be here. I thought wanting would feel different.

I thought wanting would feel different.

Wanting is a sensation to be sure. But my reason for being in the prayer room. For seeking the presence of God goes deeper than a want. It goes deeper than a strong desire. I enter his presence almost as an instinct.

There is something deep inside me that needs to be in His presence. This drives me, it compels me, to carve out time in my schedule for Him. To meet Him in the prayer room. To talk with Him. To learn about Him. To listen to Him. To know Him.

Wanting does feel different.

I don't want to be here. I need to be here.

Number 5: Week 10

Well, it's been a busy past couple of weeks. I suppose that I ought to actually keep up with the "weekly" posts here on baby development.

This week: 10.

Since the last time that I posted quite a bit has happened. Michelle started cramping and bleeding. Because Michelle had a previously undiagnosed progesterone deficiency she is now receiving injections of progesterone twice a week. Yeowch. Simply put, progesterone keeps a pregnant woman pregnant. If you really want more information than that, you can read about it here. The good news is that these injections have stabilized the bleeding and cramping to the point that they are pretty rare now.

The baby is now known scientifically as a fetus. It is a little over an inch long already. Only 20 more inches to go. Pretty amazing when you think that it will only take a little over 6 months to grow almost two feet. Yikes.

The brain, kidneys, intestines, and liver now starting to function, though (obviously) they'll continue to develop and grow during development. The baby's limbs can now bend. The spinal cord can be seen through translucent skin and nerves are beginning to extend from it.

Keep praying for Michelle that she has the emotional and physical energy to love all of our children during this pregnancy.

Until next week...

Where do we draw the line

Obviously nothing will stop the cultural progressives until the very last trace of the word "no" has been transmorgified into "if you want to" (but only if what you want to do agrees with what they want you to do.)

Number 5: Week 7

What's with the title? Number 5? Well, as I told one friend, number five is alive! Or as I mentioned to another, didn't see that one coming. Or to yet another friend, we're pregnant.

That's right. Number 5. And it's looking like early August (plus or minus the standard two weeks). So I thought it would be cool to do a weekly blog post of the babies development and to let people know how Michelle is doing.

Since most people ask how Michelle is doing, I'll start there. She's doing great. Outside of the typical morning sickness, she's actually feeling pretty good. Considering she spent six months of the last pregnancy on bed rest and didn't have morning sickness, I'm quite happy for the nausea. Actually, I was remembering over the different prengnancies and realized that Michelle really only had morning sickness with the first pregnancy and not really on the rest. And the first prgnancy was the easiest of the four, so we are praying for that. With an almost six year old, a four and a half year old, a three year old and a nine month old, we need as much of Mommy as possible.

The baby, on the other hand, is growing like crazy. After only five weeks of life (pregnancy starts counting after week 2), her hands and feet are beginning to form and she is about half an inch long. Her eyelids are already beginning to form, partially covering her eyes which already have a little bit of color. Her nose is forming and blood vessels are carrying blood just beneath her parchment-like skin.

Her liver is producing the red blood cells because she has no bone marrow to actually do that job yet. Her appendix has already formed as well as her pancreas.

She may still be scientifically known as an embryo, but she has always been a baby human.