Catch Up

A wonderful month filled with family, family, more family, and friends. We took a short afternoon trip with David's parents to see Josh, our brother-in-law (David's side). After planning to see him in concert in early July, I got to see him again briefly as we had a surprise meet in the Dallas airport, flying to different locations. A bonus visit :) Altogether, it was nice to introduce Gideon to Josh and have some time with Gideon's grandparents. He clearly thinks that people who adore him, like grandparents, are great.

Also, I had a great visit with my Aunt V and cousins at a cute little diner out in the country about halfway between my place and theirs. I love family time.

And, I traveled with Gideon to San Antonio to see my parents, sisters, the old Mad-dog, and my niece-dog Penny. Such fun! It was great to have conversations in person with them and to eat my mom's tremendously wonderful food. Even her everyday sandwiches just taste better than mine...topped with avocados, tomatoes, pesto or hummus...yum. We swam the Gideonite around the pool a bit, and as best I could tell, he thought being in the water was pretty much the same as being out of it - he gave very little reaction to indicate his feelings on the experience. We'll give him time to love it. He did, however, seem to REALLY enjoy his aunts and grandparents.

This past week, we have had some great time with friends, and this morning I had a visit from a good friend from highschool and now World Traveler Extraordinaire, Kate, and her mother as they were passing through town. Lovely. We could never have imagined days like to today and experiences like we've had, back when we were sophomores in band practice. I feel both greatly blessed and old :) Sophomore year was a ways back by now.

And, this July we're celebrating the birth of a beautiful little girl to good friends of ours in Georgia! Praise God for another little image bearer.

As for projects...they are still not done. But, I suppose that is just how it is going to be! Now that I'm back and things are settling down, I hope to make progress again.

My curtains STILL aren't done, largely because of both problems with the grommets that required reordering...and now require spray painting (supposedly "gold" grommets arrived, and they are clearly orange. Darn.).

I need curtains upstairs, too, and I need a non standard size. Who knows why the windows aren't a standard height, but they aren't. This has limited my ability to buy a set to hang - at least, until I saw a set on an HGTV do-it-yourself show that proposed a solution. I found a nice blue pair of curtains, on the short side, for cheap cheap cheap. Now at some point I need to whack off the bottom three feet or so and replace them with a matching patterned material... a panel long enough to reach the ground. This should be very easy, but the trick will be getting around to doing it. Until then, I think we'll just hang them and live with curtains "a la highwaters."

Finally, I have found a wonderful book list, published originally by World Magazine and summarized in my church newsletter, from which to read over the coming months. I've been wanting something a bit more substantive than my usual fiction fare, so this list is rather timely. For those wanting to check out the list, I believe it is in this article which costs $5 to view online. (Disclaimer: since I already have a few books to work through, I haven't paid to confirm that is the correct article). Also, I have gotten some additional recommendations from others. First up for me:

The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns, CEO of World Vision. About the application of the gospel to world issues, from what I can tell.
If God is Good: Faith in the Middle of Suffering and Evil by Randy Alcorn
And, The Battle: How the Fight Between Free Enterprise and Big Government Will Shape America's Future by Arthur Brooks.

I recently read Studying, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible by Henrichsen and Jackson. I highly, highly recommend it. It is an easy read with a straightforward approach to studying the Bible. It would be particularly useful to those involved in discipling others, as it is a method that seems easily transmittable.

Ok, that's it! Next time, a few facts and info on the Russian orphancare system.

Global Food Security Act

Ok, short and sweet. I received an email with the following article from World Vision, and I thought it worth sharing. It talks about the starvation taking place in Niger, Africa, AND provides an easy way to advocate with your legislators to co-sponsor the Global Food Security Act. Do something to help fight against hunger today. Check out the article and participate!

Click here to read

To Be Continued

Lately, I haven't exactly been a faithful blogger. Unfortunately, this is going to extend a bit longer. I have decided to just announce that I'm taking July off from blogging...check back in August, if you read. I am working on a few projects at the moment that compete with my blogging time. I need to finish my curtains, and I'm traveling to see family, etc.

Also, this fall I am going to somewhat change the topics about which I write. Now that I have a child, I have found it alters my perception of the world in unexpected ways. One such way is that I feel deeply, DEEPLY grieved about social issues affecting children that I already knew and cared about - like Russian orphanages in which infants have such low levels of relational interaction that they no longer make vocalizations. And child abuse. And lack of food and medical care in many countries. These days I more than care, I am borderline obsessive about them. Since at the moment I'm not going to pick up and head out to work hands on with these issues, instead I am going to research related topics and post condensed issue briefs here.

So, check back. I appreciate that you read!