Simplifying by Combining

I felt the need to simplify my online existence a little bit, so I am merging all of my blogging to a single location. I will continue to post picture and stuff about the family, but I am going to do it at my other blog. So for all of the family and friends who normally check here for news and photos and such. Follow this link to the new site. I am doing this partly so I don't have to try and keep up with so many things and partly because I really like Wordpress' features and ease of use.

Life in the North

One thing about living in North Dakota is that the weather is predictably cold this time of year. No worries about global warming here; no sirree! We decided to take a trip to Grand Forks today so that the kids could spend all of that Christmas money and we could restock the pantry and such. It was expected to be below zero all day, but we were prepared to dress warmly. I even packed coveralls in case something should happen, which I don't do very often. Amelia wasn't sure if she wanted to deal with the trip today, but I decided we would just get it over with. All in all the trip was uneventful until we started north on Hwy 1. As I was passing a car the light that indicates one of the tires pressure is off came on. I checked the tires a few miles up the road and one of them did indeed look low, but it seemed to be OK. About 30 miles further on the trip, and just a few miles south of town, we heard the unmistakable sound of a tire that wasn't going to go any further. But it's OK, we have a can of Fix-a-flat in the van. The only problem is that Fix-a-flat doesn't respond well to below zero temps apparently. By the time I could screw the nozzle onto the tire valve the can was so cold that I don't think it ever had a chance.
With that option unavailable, I called one of our church deacons who has an air tank and asked if he would be willing to bring it and try to air up the tire so we could hobble into town. Thankfully, he didn't mind a bit and managed to get down to us in about 20 minutes or so. Unfortunately, the air tank only managed to reseat the bead on the tire before it gave out, so we didn't get too far with that. I asked if he would run the family into town to the house while I stayed and changed the tire and also if he would be willing to put the stuff from the back of the van into the back of his truck so I could get at the spare. Amelia didn't want me out there all by myself and he volunteered instead to let her drive his truck into town and stay and help me change the tire. I use the word help here liberally, because he didn't about 85% of the work I think. I was trying to put on the aforementioned coveralls (I had inadvertently picked up Amelia's before we left the house) to get some protection from the wind. By the time I got that done, he had already gotten the jack under the back quarter and jacked the van up part of the way. My main contribution was in getting the spare tire on the ground while he warmed up a bit in the van(did I mention it was really cold? -25 or so wind chill at least). At one point I was reminded of the scene in "Christmas Story" where Ralphie is helping his dad change their tire in the snow and cold. I think we had them beat for temp although we didn't spill the lug nuts. Anyway, we eventually got the whole thing done and he rode into town with me as we could finally laugh about how tough a job that is in this kind of weather.

Thankfulness and Thanksgiving

Just the mention of the word thanksgiving is enough to stir a well of emotions in me. I am not the kind of person who generally thinks of doing those "little things" like writing notes or sending cards or things like that. My wife is the one who has a knack for saying the right thing at the right time or doing the little things that make a big impression. But even I can't help but stop and reflect on all the good things that God has blessed me with when this day rolls around. There are so many who have had an impact on my life, whether in just the last year or for many years before, I am truly blessed in friends and family and those who love me for who I am. I don't think I can even attempt to name everyone that has impacted my life, but I want to give thanks to God for saving me from myself and my selfish sin nature. I am not perfect, but He's still working on me. He has blessed me with a wife who has taught me more about the meaning of selfless and unconditional love than anyone I know. She is amazing and still finds ways to surprise me. I cannot imagine my life without her. She is a fabulous mother to our three kids and they will surely come to realize how blessed they are to have her as they grow older. Those three kids are a blessing that no words can really describe. They are funny and smart and creative and mirrors of our sometime insanity. Despite the frustrations that all parents I am sure feel at times, we are blessed to have three healthy kids who love life and love us as well. I try to remember to cherish even the times that they get on our nerves, for I know that none of it will last forever and the day will come when I will wish for just a minute that I could once more say, "could you please play without yelling?" or some variant of that anyway.

On top of that, there are our families that are far away in Arkansas. We miss them and love them as well. They have helped to make us who we are and have supported us as we have pursued God's will for our lives, even when it took us a thousand miles or more away. In addition to our physical families, there is our spiritual family. The different bodies of believers we have fellowshipped and worshipped with who loved us and gave us support with their prayers and even money as we embarked on the journey to this place in God's service. For all the dearly loved people in those churches, we say thanks again and again.

And we also have family here in the Dakotas. We have had the privilege to serve three churches now in the Dakotas. In that time, we have met many wonderful people who have blessed me and our whole family time and again. There are too many names to mention everyone, but if you have been with us at Westside Baptist or Black Hills Baptist or just around the Black Hills Association, please consider this a thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We love you all dearly and miss being in the hills with the people and family that God has given us there.

We are also, so very thankful for the family of God that we have right here in Langdon. The church family that we have come to know and love here in the last year plus is very precious to us. You have shown us love and caring and patience as a long-time youth pastor tries to learn what it means to pastor and shepherd a church family. I am thankful to other pastors who have given of their time and energy to support me with advice and prayer and resources. I am blessed to be doing what God has called me to do in the place that God has prepared us for for such a time as this. On this day and every day, I say thanks. Blessings to you all and Shalom.

They do refer to it as practicing medicing

As many of you know, I have been sick for a couple of weeks now. We still don't have any complete answers to what is wrong, but I am feeling better. I have been living on Tylenol and Ibuprofen for a couple of weeks now to keep the fever under control so that I can function normally, but it is only suppressing the symptoms. I will see the doctor again tomorrow and probably next week and the week after and we will see what we find out then. In the meantime, please pray for my health and the doctors who are trying to figure out what it is that I have.

Baseball is winding down

T-ball is over and PeeWee is going to be done this week. Jeremiah is so proud of his medal that he has worn it to bed. Jonathan's team has put on quite a show this week. They have won all three of their tournament games so far with two of them being come from behind wins. Monday night they started the final inning down two runs. They scored five to take the lead and then took the field. Since all the players on each team bat in every inning, it is nearly impossible to prevent a team from scoring. I haven't seen it happen at all this summer. But of course, in the bottom of the last inning our kids are getting outs all over the field: at second, third (at least three in a row came there), they got a force out at home on the next to last batter and caught the final ball put in play. End result was a three run lead that held up. The kids were jumping up and down and yelling. In reality the league doesn't care about keeping score, but believe me the kids know the score. They lost to this team early in the season, but the improvement that our kids have shown is amazing. Last night they were able to bat last in both games (it's determined by coin toss) and in the first game they built up such a lead that we didn't need to bat in the bottom of the last inning(time was a factor too since we had another game to play). In the second game it was another come from behind win. We started the bottom of that inning down three runs. The kids had another good inning at the plate. They had scored three runs and had runners on second and third when the last batter came to the plate. He had been having a rough night without a hit to this point in the second game. I don't even remember him getting a hit in the first game. Normally, he is one of our best hitters so he was due. I told him he just needed to make contact and not worry about getting another home run(he has four inside the park home runs already). He made good contact and the two runners scored. He was tagged out at the plate on a close play. The kids were going crazy. As coaches we are so happy for them. I can't believe how much they have learned and improved this summer. I wish we had a video to compare it with. It is fun to watch. We have stumbled onto a lineup that works really well for the kids. Jonathan is hitting in the middle and the extra runners ahead of him on base frequently gives him a chance to get on with a hit, even in the infield. Last night he had a couple of hits that would have been good even without the extra runners. He is really getting better and I think he has a lot of fun as well.

Baseball

Well, we finally got pictures from Jonathan's game tonight. I was the only coach there for our team and we were missing two players. Amelia was able to come and help keep order in the dugout for me. The other team only had 8 players, but we figured the kids would still have fun anyway. I got hit by a batted ball in the bottom of the second and the girl that was pitching to the other team got hit by one in the top of the third. It is pretty ironic, since I haven't seen a single pitcher hit by a ball in a game so far and it happened with both teams within an inning tonight. Anyway, here are the pictures of the pitcher with the rubber arm(at least my arm feels like rubber). How do you get one of those big league cold packs anyway? Also a shot of Jonathan at bat and in the field.
This is Jonathan at the plate.

This is Jonathan at second base in the field.

This is that wild pitcher. There were a couple of old guys in the stands tonight offering a ton of advice on how to pitch better. Needless to say the comments didn't help my arm feel any better. I need to be put on a pitch count or something. :)

Summer?!?

Well, my parents just headed out for more southward climes an hour or so ago. We miss them already. Jonathan went over to the spare room where my mom was staying right after they drove out. He stopped in the doorway and stared in with a mopey look. He put his head down and walked toward the kitchen. I gave him a quick hug as he walked by and let him know that I missed them too. It's usually hard when they leave after a visit, but they were here for two weeks and we all got used to having them around a little more this time. Unfortunately for mom, the weather wasn't too warm. Everything is finally in bloom, but it is more like spring here than summer. Even as I write this it is 56 degrees outside. Yesterday, Jeremiah's game was canceled mostly because of the cold and wind. Then they canceled Jonathan's league for the night and the rain started about the time they would have been on the field. We actually got a pretty good rain last night.
I am going to be starting my first classes toward my master's degree in another week or so, and I am looking forward to it. The rest of the summer will be somewhat quiet until we get to August. Right now, we just have the boys baseball games to worry about. Amelia is recovering well. She is feeling better every day. We are so grateful for all of the help that my parents and her mom were here to give us. They kept an eye on the kids and helped me focus on taking care of Amelia. Last night we fixed chicken fettuccine alfredo for supper as a thank you to the both of them. We had a really good visit with them. The extra room in this house really makes it easy to let everyone have their own space when they need it.
As for the title of this post. I have a feeling it may be hard to talk my parents into coming up here in any months but July or August in the future. : ) I know it isn't officially summer yet, but we are just getting a good dose of spring the last few weeks. I personally wouldn't trade it for anything. We love it here and look forward to seeing what God has in store for us.

Family update

I know that some of you are wondering how Amelia is doing after the surgery last week. I just wanted to give you a quick update to tell you that she is recovering well. She is feeling much better, but we are careful not to let her overdo it. My parents are still here helping out, but they are planning to head out later this week. It has been such a blessing to have them here with us. They have helped in so many ways and I don't think they know just how much we appreciate it. I have told them several times, but words don't completely convey the gratitude we have for them and for Amelia's mom's help as well. She was able to stay in the hospital with Amelia and take care of her when I had to be doing a half-dozen other things all at once.
Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us and for Amelia in particular. Your prayers have been felt and answered. I will try and get a few pictures and some more news up tomorrow(or later today since this is after midnight).

Update

Amelia was able to come home today. She is doing really well after the surgery. Thanks to all who have prayed and sent well wishes our way. God is good. Jonathan's baseball team had their first practice tonight. I am one of the coaches, so I spent the majority of my time hitting balls to a few of the boys to field. My arm is hurting pretty good right now, but I took some ibuprofen so it should get better. We are getting a lot of rain here lately, although not as much as some areas around us.

Crazy times

Well, this is going to be a fun and hectic weekend. We are going to the airport tomorrow to pick up another grandparent and then Allie will have two grandmothers to entertain and play with. She has been putting on quite a show the last couple of days with my parents here. I am not sure who is enjoying this more. The kids, the grandparents or the proud parents who get to revel in the show.
We have the time for Amelia's surgery. She has to be at the hospital early in the morning on Monday so please pray for us. We have to leave the house about 3:30 AM or so because she has to be there at 5:45 AM. Please keep us all in your prayers. The folks will be holding down the home fort here with the kids while we are down there. I will be doing a lot of shuttling back and forth probably(maybe not too much with gas prices where they are). I am preparing a sermon on the Biblical calendar. I have been writing a lot about my studies into Hebrew roots of the Christian faith at my other blog, which I recently migrated to a new address. You can check it out at http://jeofurry.wordpress.com. In the meantime, I will try and keep updates on the surgery and recovery and other family happenings.

Important Dates

It could be because of my newfound fascination with the Hebrew calendar and my new awareness of it. It could just be that we all attach ourselves to certain dates like birthdays and anniversaries and such. Maybe it is because we have a babysitter to watch the kids for a few hours on Saturday. Whatever the reason, I am looking forward to our anniversary this weekend. This will mark 12 years of marriage for Amelia and I. It isn't one of those milestone numbers(except for a baker maybe), but I am amazed at what God has done in our lives in these years. There are a lot of changes on the horizon for us as well. Please continue to pray for us as you think of us and our ministry here in the great Northland.