Springfield native...

Yes, we the Simpsons fans saw The Movie this afternoon. I thought it was great. Typical Simpsons fare. Mike enjoyed it, but said he'd give it a "B."

We had a very busy--but fun!--day, and were grateful to spend all of it together. Actually, last night, we were both working on our laptops at about 10 p.m. and he looked over at me and said, "Hey, wanna go to a movie?"
Enjoying the fact that neither of us had to work the next morning --and the fact that we won't have many more opportunities to do this in the next decade-plus, I said, "Sure."

Despite the fact that we didn't get home til after 1, and I didn't fall asleep til almost 3, I was shocked that I didn't wake up until almost 10. I usually can't sleep that late these days! Enjoy it now, right?

So anyway, we met friends for a soup, salad, & breadsticks lunch - also lots of fun (one of the friends is pregnant & we go to the same doctor, so we have a lot to talk about!) then... we did round one of baby registering.
Exhausting!
I assumed that since I had a very organized, detailed registry list that I've been working on for a week, that I wouldn't fall prey to the off-the-list stuff. But I kinda did, a little. And Mike & I had already picked out a stroller in a previous visit to the Baby Mecca, but after breaking his foot last week, we decided to pick out something that was a lot more lightweight. And we had serious stroller envy of this other couple from England who were there, because they had this high-tech, teeny tiny stroller... nothing like you'd find here! Even the tiny car seat was very light and compact, yet sturdy and very well-made. You never know... you can find anything online these days, right? Bedtime!

Hope you all had a good day, too!

Justice fulfilled...

The other day, I got wonderful news.





*Nhu, of Remember Nhu (see post "God of Love" or Remember Nhu) is no longer at risk of being re-sold! (If you want the details, email me!) Not only that, but her grandmother, the one who sold her into slavery when she was 12 for $300, recognized the fact that her gods were doing nothing for her, but she saw the love of Christ in Nhu... and Carl... and others, and decided that she wants to have that God in her life, too. The E.D. of Remember Nhu considers that decision as much of a miracle as Nhu being rescued in the first place!

*This is a photo of Cambodian kids, but Nhu is not in it!

Thanks to all of you -- and I know there were many -- who were praying for that specific situation. Please continue to pray for the Remember Nhu organization... as there are still many, many more little girls --and boys-- that need to be rescued. I pray that someday God will use me to help them in "bigger" ways, but for now I am doing what I can.

In our book study of The Good News About Injustice, we've talked about what we can do to help fight injustice... and there are a lot of little things. But it seems as real change... really making a difference costs so much: our resources, our time, our energy, our very lives. Is it worth all of that? Of course. No doubt. But somehow... it's so much easier said than done. So in the meantime... is sending money, helping local kids, volunteering for Remember Nhu, trying to raise awareness, writing to legislators... enough? Not really. But until more doors are opened (and then if I'm brave enough to walk through them)... I guess it has to be?





It's so weird... that one time I'm blogging about serious 'stuff' like this, the next I'm blogging about buying tons of kids books. I guess life is made up of those moments though, huh? The serious and the "lite"...the painful and the happy... the thoughtful and the every-day-ordinary.

May you find joy in both the serious and the every-day-ordinary--and know that there is hope in the most dire circumstances.

working woman

Okay... time for a d-e-e-p breath!

We had an all-day staff meeting this afternoon that reminded me of how incredibly busy this fall is going to be. Seriously... I'll barely have time to have a baby!

Even within the week I'm due, Brennan Manning (LOVE him!) is speaking at chapel twice, Over the Rhine is performing, and there's a Worldview Forum on Immigration (that I've been planning for a year-and-a-half!). That's one week in November... let's not talk about October! Or September for that matter! But October holds Homecoming (HUGE!), a few showers (fun!) and... the biggest of alll.... a Presidential Inauguration.

We had lunch with our new president today. He.is.great! I'm really excited about potential changes that could come...despite all the busy-ness that's happening, it's going to be fun.

Dominic's mom is buying lotsa stuff...

Okay, so I've bought a lot of stuff for Dominic this week.

But, hey, who blames me?

A local school district was selling discarded books from their library... for a quarter each (some were a dime each) and then on the last day they were $2 a bag. I, um, spent $20 on books. Gotta get his library started, and who can beat the price? They were nice books :)

Problem is, I don't have any bookshelves for him yet!

I also found some great stuff at my favorite cheapstuff store: Gabriel Brothers when I went shopping with Carrie & Co. the other night. (Bill kicked all of his women out of the house so he could do yardwork and take a nap!)

Lots of socks and onesies, plus my two favorite buys: a tiny little blue polo shirt and this little striped cap that reads "Mr. Sherriff" on a star. Mike was working very late Friday night, so I went to bed before he got home, but I set the two pieces on his desk. He said that when he saw them... it really sank in--we're having a kid and soon he'll be wearing those tiny little clothes! :)

Today, our church services were outside at a lake. Our small congregation has folks of all ages, but in the past five years or so, there's been an absolute explosion of little boys. And there's only one little girl! So there were quite a few folks rooting for us to have a girl--especially the pastor's wife and the mother of the lone little girl. However, this was not to be.

And it did make me a little nervous today when two of older-little boys (Rachel - one of them was your youngest brother!) emerged from the trees covered from head to toe in thick, dark mud... trying to hug their moms! My friends just laughed--see what you have to look forward to? they all said.

Scary!

Oh, and after today's little outing--despite me sitting in the shade pretty much the whole time--I am a tomato. Yup, bright red nose & arms. When will I ever learn to wear sunscreen?

Help IJM win 100,000!

(For some reason, blogger isn't letting me type titles!)

Anyway - here's a chance to help International Justice Mission - an amazing organization! IJM is in a final round of a competition for $100,000 to support their work, and they need your vote to win! Every day, from July 9 through August 10, they need as many people as possible to go online to www.Rezoom.com/ABETTERWORLD and vote once a day, every day, for the entire month. The winner will be chosen based on the highest number of votes throughout the month-long competition. Just by clicking on a website, your vote can truly help make a better world for the victims of abuse and oppression IJM serves! For more information about the work of International Justice Mission go to www.ijm.org.

And in personal news, I'll try to scan in my newest photos of Dominic tonite :)

Our child cooperated with us this morning... I should say: our son! He is quite an active little fellow, and waved to us and moved around quite a bit.

We've also picked a name that is neither Andrew nor Anthony: Dominic Michael.

We're feeling overwhelmed, but very excited to know more about our baby. Also, he is a "textbook" baby, which means he's developing perfectly healthy & normally.