Look out world.

I don't think this needs any explanation.

Baths and Butterfly Lunchions

This is Ian after one of his evening baths (his most favorite part of the day!), "reading" his favorite book. And he loves his birthday suit. After all, what are those stupid clothes and diapers for anyway? He's also decided he doesn't enjoy being towel dried, but would rather air dry while speed-crawling around the house, laughing all the way. When we're particularly tired or feeling quite lenient, we let him have his fun. And, lo and behold, it becomes fun for us, too.




And here is one of my new friends. He comes to the flower bed at the base of our deck every day to sample the sweetness of my butterfly-inticing flowers. I was able to capture him on camera this afternoon while he ate and drank to his heart's content. It was really a joy to watch. I hope he comes back tomorrow for another buffet meal.

Teaching in the IEP

This afternoon is my first day back in the Intensive English Program after taking a break for one session while Eric was teaching his Intro to Linguistics course. This session, I'll be teaching three courses: basic level grammar, basic level communication, and level three communication. Each session is seven weeks and there are six sessions throughout the year: two in the spring semester, two in the summer, and two in the fall, and we're just beginning Summer II. The IEP somewhat follows the general schedule of IU's collegiate calendar, but with these divisions in the middle of semesters. So it looks like my life from now on will be measured by seven-week sessions! Pretty much every session will be different, especially for me since I'm a "newbie" in the department and get the classes that the more experienced teachers don't want. So my schedule will most likely change from session to session, which is kind of nice for me because it will provide me with a wide range of experiences and levels. Hooray for boosting the resume'!

At any rate, I'm excited about the upcoming session, as well as the next year or so as I get my feet wet in institutional teaching. I'll be phasing out my tutoring students, which basically means that as some of them leave at the end of the summer to return to their native countries, I won't be replacing them with new students like I usually do. Eventually, my main focus will be my teaching in the IEP, which will provide me with more time to spend at home (which means less time for Ian at the babysitter's!).

It's amazing how God has worked this all out. The way things have fallen into place with my career is certainly not because of my brilliant planning. Sure, I've worked hard, but God surely deserves the credit for working things out so beautifully and in just the manner that our family needed. Thanks, Lord!

"Hep"

Today, the world lost a great man...but heaven gained one. Indiana's head football coach, Terry Hoeppner, passed away this morning due to complications from a brain tumor that was discovered a year and a half ago. While we don't know Hep very well personally (we only met him once, briefly), we feel the loss. He was an energetic, tough-nosed, yet compassionate man who led IU football for a mere two seasons. He had the ability to breathe hope and fire into a lifeless program, creating excitement that had not been felt in some time. As far as we know, he was also a follower of Christ, and that conviction showed through in his actions. It is encouraging to know that he is no longer feeling pain. However, his family, friends, and players, as well as the IU community, are experiencing hurt due to his passing. Our prayers go out to them, especially to his wife Jane, who will surely miss him. The two of them were a great team and their unity was obvious. We are thankful to have "brushed elbows" with this man while he was alive, and hope that the legacy he started here at IU will continue in the future.

Friday night musings

Not much has been going on lately. I'm rounding the last lap as far as teaching is concerned...it's hard to believe that Summer Session I is almost over. Once school is done I'm taking a much needed break for a week or two. Since returning to work about a month after Ian was born, I haven't really taken any kind of break. Even when I've been traveling or seeing other people, work/school has occupied much of my time and thoughts. Come June 14th, I'm putting an "Out to lunch" message on my e-mail, and I'm not turning on my computer for a week (of course, I may turn on my wife's computer...hard to go "cold turkey" on the internet).

Looking to the future it is hard to believe that I'm getting ready to start the final leg of my formal education. Come July, I am going to start building the last of the infrastructure that I will need in order to write my dissertation. If all goes well, I should have all of my data collected by the end of December, and I can spend January - April primarily writing up the final portions of my thesis. I'm aiming to defend my dissertation late next Spring, and walk for graduation in May. Being the sentimental sap that I am, I have begun to allow myself to start reflecting on the winding academic journey that has led me to where I am today. The further I have progressed in my education, the more I have come to realize that my acheivements are not mine alone. Who I am today, both personally and academically, is a direct consequence of dozens of people who have poured some aspect of their lives into mine. Most anything that we accomplish is not really due to ourselves; the real doers are those who make us into the kinds of persons who can accomplish things. So, as I enter this "year of fruition", I recognize that it is not about me.

1987-2007

In the next week or so I'll be saying good-bye to the S-10, which has been an Oglesbee family workhorse for 20 years. For me, the S-10 is more than just a truck...it is one of the last physical objects I have that is directly connected to growing up. I don't see a rusting, moderately dangerous, underpowered compact truck, I see my dad picking me up from elementary school in order to take me to piano lessons. On those days, he usually had a small thermos of milk and a couple of mom's chocolate chip cookies ready and waiting for me. We would listen to NPR on the AM radio that came with the truck. I distinctly remember listening to some sportscasters discussing the new football term that had been coined for the region between the goal line and the 20 yard line (i.e. "red zone").

I also think of how dad would hitch the boat to the truck, and as a family we would head over to lake Waubee and go sailing (Rob and I would ride in back). Later on, when Rob got his license, I remember the contract he had to sign with dad in order to use the truck. Rob succeeded in filling every bit of cubic of the cab with a speaker or amplifier. Given what I've learned in my Ph.D. minor, I'm shocked that neither of us show any signs of hearing loss. I have to say that one of the bass tapes (yes that's right, tapes) Rob used to play always made me feel like I had to poo.

Later, when it became my turn to learn to drive the truck (it's a manual), the one memory that stands out is killing the engine roughly 6 times in rapid succession on a county road at a stop sign. Dad just sat calmly in the seat next to me, waiting for me to figure out what the problem was. Eventually, I got the truck moving, and when I went to make the shift into 2nd, I discovered what my problem had been. I had been trying to start the truck in 3rd gear (it was a 4-speed transmission), and had succeeded...the burnt clutch smell testified to my persistence. Although the truck only has 83,000 miles on it, I believe it has gone through 3 clutches.

Some of my favorite memories are from college, when Lisa would sit in the middle of the bench seat and fall asleep when we would be driving back from Nappanee or Ft. Wayne. One of the worst things that ever happened to couples was the mass adoption of bucket seats.

Some might think that it is silly of me to be so attached to a physical thing, especially something which is likely to give you tetanus if you're not careful while washing it. However, more than being a vehicle, the truck is a symbol. Among other things, it is a symbol of fun family times, growing up, and helping others. Symbols are important. Symbols help define us. The Christian faith is jam packed with physical items that serve as powerful symbols (i.e. the Elements in Communion). It's okay to treasure the symbols, as long as we don't let that stand in the way of letting them go when the time is right. For me, that time has come.

Although it is hard to let the truck go, I'm happy to say that she is not headed to a scrap heap (for now). The S-10 is being fixed up and is going to a guy from our church who is just a little bit older than me. He has had a difficult life, and has spent the last year in a program at a local rescue mission that has helped him turn his life around. He owns virtually nothing, and some people from our church are helping me to fix up the truck to give to him. People are donating money to pay for plates and insurance, so that this young man from our church will get a working vehicle to start out with.

So, I bid my S-10 a fond farewell. She has been a good truck, and I will miss her.

Whatever you do...

"So whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." (Colossians 3:17)

This verse stood out to me this morning in my brief quiet time before Ian woke up. It comes at the end of a chapter where Paul is lining out "rules" for holy living. He has some good suggestions, actually: Focus your thoughts on Christ and heavenly things. Get rid of sinful acts. Don't let your emotions control you. Stop always wanting more and more. Banish bitterness, hate, and lies from your life. "Clothe" yourself with mercy and compassion. Be patient. Forgive. Let peace infiltrate your heart. And finally, whatever you do, do it for God, with thankfulness.

It all sounds so simple, doesn't it? Do this, don't do that. But it's more difficult to flesh out in the day to day kind of stuff. What does it really look like? We were discussing in our small group this past weekend how to glorify God in the mundane, every day occurrences. How do I glorify God when I'm stressed out? When I'm sick? When I'm frustrated? When I've got so much on my plate that I can hardly think straight? I know I tend to think sometimes in those moments, "External forces are caving in upon me...it's just not possible to glorify God right now." But Paul says, "whatever you do." In everything. In every situation. In every word and every action.

Romanian Lettuce

Sometimes I forget that I live in a place where people know food. This past weekend we went up to South Bend/Mishawaka in order to celebrate our 6th anniversary, as well as reconnect with some friends. Anyhow, while we were at a restaurant, one of our friends asked the restaurant owner (who happened to have stopped by our table) whether one of the salads was made with Romaine or Iceberg lettuce. The owner responded saying, "Romanian lettuce? Nope. The lettuce is American." At first I thought the owner was making a joke, then I realized, he wasn't. My friend asked a couple more times about the lettuce, thinking that he was just being coy. What was funny was that you could tell that the owner had no idea why my friend cared so much about where the lettuce came from...

Our anniversary was quite nice. We washed/waxed our car and went to a small Italian restaurant in Mishawaka with some other friends. It is cliche, but time does move along so quickly. Here's us after six years of marriage...

One other funny story. I'm currently teaching an introduction to Linguistics course at IU, and yesterday one of my students said something that made me realize the age/experience distance between me and them. At one point, we were discussing the syntactic properties of the sentence "Jack and Jill ran up the bill", when I happened to mention that one of my former roommates routinely had a $150-$200 phone bill from talking to his girlfriend at another school. One of my students raised her hand and asked, "Didn't your roommate have a cell phone?" A second student immediately chimed in, "What year were you in school anyway?" It's amazing what has changed in just 8 years.

For all of you wives/moms out there

Yesterday, I was able to attend our church's "Mom's REST stop" for the first time. A group of moms, mostly in their 20's and 30's, get together every other week at the church with free childcare provided by older women in the church and do various things like crafts, Bible studies, and prayer time. Yesterday they had a guest speaker, a lady who was in her 40's and a mother of 3, the last of which was a "surprise" and is a little over a year old. I had met her several times before in-between services when she and I both used to give our little ones a midmorning snack. My impression of her was that she was one of those "granola", ultra-feminist types, and that really is how she carries herself. However, she spoke about how to be a Biblical woman, mostly focusing on our roles as wives, and I was impressed and encouraged by her talk, and filled with respect over the way she presented a Biblical view of how a woman should act that is completely anti-cultural. I'll highlight just a couple of things that really struck me.

First, she mentioned that she believes that women have a special place in God's heart (though we're saved with the same grace as men), and cited several verses that supported her opinion, one of which was Isaiah 40:11, "Like a shepherd He will tend his flock, In His arm He will gather the lambs and carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes." That whole chapter is my favorite portion of scripture, but I had never thought about that last line before. God especially singles out mothers and "gently leads" them! How encouraging!

Secondly, she talked about Ephesians 5:22-33 where it mentions how a woman should submit to and respect her husband. Not a very popular passage in this day and age, she pointed out. But she gave some very encouraging, practical tips on how to live that out:

* find some way(s) to praise your husband every single day and let him know how you admire him
* don't try to "fix" him by correcting his attitudes and behavior; that's God's job, not yours
* don't criticize him; that's also not your job, but Satan's
* ask him for advice whenever you can, even if you don't feel like you need it; his opinion and wisdom will certainly help you, and he will feel needed by you (which he is!)

She gave an example from her own life to illustrate some of these things: her husband loves books, so much so that he has over 3,500 books in their 1000sq.ft. house. They don't have enough bookshelves (or room for more shelves), so he stacks the books on the floor. They also have a 15-month-old daughter -- you can imagine the combination! Whenever her husband gets upset about his books being messed with and she feels the urge to scream, "You're being selfish and crazy!", she prays for forgiveness and the grace to respect her husband, regardless of his faults, and resolves to try to discipline her daughter better so that she doesn't mess with her daddy's books. I found that striking because it seems to me like she's got every right in the world to be upset at him, but instead of criticizing him herself, she lets God do the work through her respectful and kind actions. And she said the result when she does this kind of thing is that her husband realizes on his own that he's being selfish and wants to do better.

This kind of attitude goes along perfectly with what God says in 1 Peter 3:1-7, "Wives in the same way [as being obedient to Christ], be submissive to your husbands, so that...they may be one over without words by the behavior of their wives when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. Your beauty should not come [merely] from outward adornment...Instead it should be that of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight..."

I was impressed by the fact that this strong, independent, self-sufficient woman would be saying these things! I figured if she can do it, maybe I can be a better Biblical woman for my own husband. I certainly pray that God will help me with that.

Back in the USA

Well, thanks to all of you who were praying for me while I was in Honduras with my father-in-law! God's blessings were rich upon me, and I really felt the love and support of those of you who were at home. It was an amazing week of encouragement -- something I never expected. I guess I kind of expected it to be a "testing" experience, or at least an "eye-opening" experience, and in some ways it was. But the feeling I'll always have of last week is one of support and comfort. I was blown away by the overwhelming amount of love I received from my teammates and even from the Honduran people. I expected to be the one doling out the love, and instead I was the receiver for the most part. Believe me, that was not my plan! But God had other things to teach me: things like how to receive love and how to rely on the help of other people. My personality doesn't lend itself well to these things, and I think I needed a little bit of a wake-up call. Praise God for it.

Now, for you less touchy-feely people, I'll try to give a brief summary of the week's events.

Nate and I arrived in Tegucigalpa (a.k.a., Teguc) on Saturday afternoon, where we met most of the rest of our group. The group was comprised of two main parts: one part from Illinois and one from Michigan. Nate and I were just along for the ride in our own little group. However, by the end of the week, the geographical lines between the groups blurred, and everyone seemed to have always known each other. I guess that's how it is on these types of trips. Anyway, Saturday was spent in orientation and getting to know one another. We were able to enjoy for the first time the splendor and beauty of the view from the mission house's balcony, which is located on a mountain to the north of the city.

On Sunday, we attended a Spanish-speaking mega-church in Teguc, after which we took a drive over the northeast mountains to an area called Valley of the Angels, where we ate a lovely meal and did a little bit of sovenier shopping. There was a TV at the restaurant, so I was able to catch some pre-game Super Bowl highlights. (Yay COLTS!)

On Monday and Tuesday, we had our first medical brigade at a church in the west part of the city. It went fairly well. I think we were able to help some people who really needed it. The brigades were organized into sections: general medical, dental, optometry, physical therapy, pharmacy, children's, and evangelism. Everything seemed to flow quite nicely. World Gospel Outreach (WGO), the ministry we were down there to support, does a really good job of organizing everything.

On Wednesday, we had a "break" and were able to tour the other parts of WGO's ministry. We went first to the top of a mountain on the east side of the city, Rancho Ebenezer, their alternative to an orphanage, where they house abandoned children with married couples, usually 4-6 children per household. In this kind of setup, the children are able to receive real love and care from a real family setting, while also getting a first-rate education through the school at the ranch. It's WGO's way of enhancing the Honduran culture from the bottom up -- by teaching people real values, integrity, and what it means to be part of a family. Once children become 18 and are no longer under the legal guardianship of the ministry, they have the option to become part of the Bridge house, which is the second place we visited. The Bridge house is located in the middle of Teguc, and is run by one set of house parents who help the young adults adjust to living on their own. I was very impressed with the skills that were being practiced at the Bridge house: cooking, cleaning, managing a budget, maintaining good grades, and showing spiritual and emotional improvement. It seemed like a good "bridge" from the ranch to the real world, and I think the ministry has the chance to produce some of the country's future leaders. Before returning home to the mission house, we went up the mountain a little higher to the future mission house site, where WGO hopes to begin building sometime in the next year or so. The view from that site is almost as breathtaking as the current mission house's view, and in some ways, more. It looks like a good place to put down roots and establish the ministry even more strongly.

On Thursday and Friday, we continued our medical brigade, this time at a different church on the east side of the city. Everything went well, and once again, I think we helped many people who needed it. The joy of giving someone some glasses and helping them to see better than they had in a long time (or in some cases, ever), was wonderful, indeed. We had about 350 people go through our optometry station, and about 1600 came through the whole brigade! I really enjoyed that part of the trip.

On Saturday, we packed up our things, said goodbye to the friends we made, and boarded the plane back to the US. It was sad to leave the people we'd grown so close to, but it was also nice to know that we were returning to our homes and families where we belong. I praise God for the many blessings He bestowed upon us while we were away. I had the pleasure of receiving the "Honduran welcome," as it is affectionately known, which is really just a nasty bug that upsets your stomach in a variety of ways. However, it only lasted two days, and during those two days, I was able to experience the love and care from many people in ways that I did not expect. Praise God for His loving family of believers!