Balloons and Underwear

by Lisa

We took this video of Ian last week and wanted to share it with you all!



Ian is doing really well with potty training! When we're home, he only has one or two little accidents a day, and 5-7 uses of the toilet. He's even doing pretty well at going when we're out and about. Some days, it takes a bit of patience, but he really is learning and we're seeing the end in sight! Already, we're doing a lot less laundry than when we were using diapers full-time (we use cloth diapers). All in all, this potty training thing has been a fairly positive experience!

A Pretty Day in April

I wasn't quite sure what to think yesterday as we drove to the title company to sign all of the paperwork to finish the sale of our house. I found myself spending most of the day in a reflective mood, because the sale of our house symbolized so many things. It would take me way, way too long to write here everything I observed or contemplated, but I thought that I would share a few "quick hitters" from the day.

Something that gets lost in our consumer culture is an understanding of the concepts of stewardship and ownership. In particular, the Christian concept of stewardship of God's resources is often twisted and perverted by capitalistic principles of ownership. This house was never mine; in actuality, it is a physical resource that I had the privilege of managing on God's behalf. In hindsight, I recognize that my responsibility with respect to this house was to maintain and improve it, so that it would be ready for the next person(s) that God wanted to occupy it. When viewed in that light, every time I mowed the lawn, updated the landscaping, or renovated/repaired something in the house, I was actually being a steward, and not an owner. I have a very clear picture of this now that we are renting the house from the buyers. None of my actions will really change over the next 3 months, but they will all be focused towards keeping the home in proper shape for the next occupants. To me, this is a picture of how we should think about our own lives. Our lives are not our own, even though it may look like it. We are stewards of our time, resources, money, and skills, not owners. When we don't use them, or when we misuse them, we do not just harm ourselves, but we defraud those that follow us.

I have to say that I sure felt good being on the "selling" side of the table as opposed to the "buying" side. I had forgotten the sheer weight of what it means to purchase a home. All of the financial responsibilities, coupled with the maintenance that is sure to come, is something we get too used to. From a Christian perspective, we need to be doubly or triply aware of what we are doing when it comes to such a large scale purchase; "ownership" is a two-way street, and a large-scale purchase like a home ends up owning the owner as much as the owner owns the purchase (if not more). This has real implications for our ability to be free to go where God calls us, or to have the energy and time to give to others.

Finally, it was interesting to sit in the same chairs (or at least, the same spot at the table), in the same room, at the same title company, where we signed for our home 5 years ago. A lot of memories came flooding back. This house has been the place where we have celebrated some of the happiest moments of my life: bringing Ian home from the hospital to a house full of grandparents and great grandparents, celebrating Ian's first birthday with a big party on a gorgeous early Spring day, and numerous other dinners and/or parties with family and friends. I also thought about how this house was the site of the most painful loss I've ever known, and how the few moments on Earth that I had with my second son were here.

I could write much more, but I won't...mainly because I need to work on my dissertation.

Cheers.

--Eric

the Potty Train

Since Ian is almost two, we're in the full-throws of potty training! It's actually been kind of fun, believe it or not. We've enjoyed watching him become more independent and aware. And while the many trips to the bathroom during the day get kind of tedious sometimes, we recognize that it's all a means to an end -- his eventual complete independence -- and that's a good thing. Here are some pictures of him enjoying his "potty time."

For help with how to go about this venture, we've taken information from our parents, our friends, and some books, and put it all together in our own way. One of the most helpful sources of information has been Jill M. Lekovic's book, Diaper-Free Before Three, the self-described "healthier way to toilet train and help your child out of diapers sooner." She outlines potty-training as a very gradual and natural process. As a pediatrician and a mother of three, she gives some wonderful tips that have helped us a lot in this whole adventure.

One tip we took from my parents, though, was the idea of a sticker chart, which they used on me when I was being potty-trained. While Lekovic doesn't recommend using actual rewards (besides verbal praise) for using the toilet, we kind of got in a rut with Ian where he just wasn't interested anymore. So I drew up this chart with two of his favorite things: a choo-choo and stickers. He really gets a kick out of putting a sticker on the chart after he's produced something in the toilet -- a little sticker for a "pee" and a bigger sticker for a "poo." It's always a big celebration when he's allowed to run bare-bottomed into the kitchen and attach a sticker to the train track. As you can see, in just the first five days, he really did well on his output! Since then, he's already rounded the corner of his choo-choo track and is well on his way to becoming potty trained. Hallelujah!
If anyone else has any ideas or tips you want to share, we're all ears!

Into the Clear Blue Sky

So I was driving home from the grocery store yesterday with Ian in the back seat. It was a chilly, blustery morning, and I had finished my weekly shopping much earlier than I normally do. As I crossed the overpass above State Road 37, I saw a huddled figure walking over the bridge. Glancing at the person while driving by, I noticed that it was a middle-aged woman. Since there is nothing on that highway for a couple more miles, I decided to stop and see if she needed a ride. Chances were, if she was walking that direction, she was probably going to someplace in my neighborhood and would probably appreciate not having to walk the whole distance in that weather. After inviting her, she got in my car, out of the wind.

Her name was Eileen. She was going to the license branch near my house to take care of a title matter with her RV. Her car broke down a week ago, and she's relatively new to Bloomington and didn't know anyone, which is why she was forced to walk. After guessing that she was a student, I asked what she was studying. As it turns out, she's a Ph.D. student in Human and Family Resources, focusing on miscarriage intervention and therapy. Interesting! I informed her that I recently had a miscarriage, and she began to immediately open up to me and explain why she chose this particular career path. It seems that several different events in her life have served to prepare her to work in this field, not the least of which was her daughter's experiencing a rather horrid miscarriage with very little emotional or physical support. She's also written a short book designed to help women through the loss of a child, whether unborn or not.

Once we got to the license branch, I gave her my phone number so she could call me when she was finished and I could take her back into Bloomington. Because she seemed so independent, I was surprised when she actually did call me about 45 minutes after I got back to the house. So, Ian and I jumped back in the car and picked her up from the license branch. By this time, it was sleeting horribly. I was so glad she didn't have to walk 5-6 miles in that! However, she admitted that the only reason she allowed me to give her a ride again was so she could give me a copy of her book, which she did once we arrived at her house. We parted ways then, after she shared that she felt the universe brought us together so we could participate in "reciprocal assistance." I smiled to myself as I thought, "Yes, the 'Universe,' indeed."

I'm so thankful to God for giving me the opportunity to meet this highly interesting woman. I almost drove right by her, thinking that I had groceries in the car, or that I might be putting my son in "danger" by picking up a strange person on the side of the road, but God spoke as clearly to me as He ever has that I needed to stop. Maybe it was for my benefit. Maybe it was for her encouragement. Maybe it was both.

--Lisa

PS: If you're interested in a copy of her book, email me, and I'll put you in contact with Eileen.

Christ the Lord is risen...He is risen indeed!!!

I love Easter.

I love the whole week leading up to Easter, and the reflection and contemplation that takes place when I stop to think about what Christ went through on this earth. I love the significance of Passover and thinking about Jesus' last supper with his best friends and the sorrowful contemplation of Good Friday with the hope of Sunday morning. I love waking up on Sunday morning with rejoicing. I love the bright colors and flowers and happy music. I love singing "The Hallelujah Chorus" at my church on Sunday; it gives me chills every time. I love making or partaking of a celebration dinner made up of delicious food and time spent with people I love. But most of all, I love the fact that we have a God who not only understands our human experience intimately, but also is truly alive and living.

It's this fact that makes me want to jump for joy when reciting the ancient liturgy: "Christ the Lord is risen....He is risen indeed!!!!"

On the Market

Anyone looking for a new house? Ours is now up for sale. It was kind of a shock today to come home from house hunting up north and see the "for sale" signs in our yard. It's really happening. We're sad and excited all at the same time. We sure have loved living here.

For those of you who are interested, we have a blog for the house with all kinds of pictures and whatnot. Let us know if you see anything quirky, ok?

Assistant Professor of Linguistics

It is official. Today I accepted an offer to become Bethel College's first Assistant Professor of Linguistics, beginning Fall of 2008.

It is a tenure-track position that will involve helping Bethel integrate Linguistics and TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) into their curriculum. We are excited at the opportunity to return to our alma mater, as well as the chance for our children to grow up as Hoosiers and be close to their grandparents.

So, now its on to finishing my dissertation, selling our house, and finding a new place to live...all in the next 6 months!

Ian's First IU Basketball Game

Today I took Ian to his first game in Assembly Hall. Although we lost, it was still one of the most fun IU games I've ever been to because I was able to share it with my son. During the first half, Ian seemed in awe of the place; however, by the second half he was yelling when we were on Defense, and clapping along to the band during timeouts. I took him down to the court after the game, and I had to carry him kicking and screaming out of the arena (he kept pointing to the basketball goals and crying "ba-ba!!!! BA BA!!!!!").
There is a certain joy in conditioning your child.

Real Church

In an article in Relevant Magazine this month, Rob Bell, the pastor of Mars Hill church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, was being interviewed on his thoughts on the church and its role in society. One thing that he said in there that really stuck with me was, "We have these giant services with thousands of people, and I think that public gatherings beyond 10 or 20 people should be questioned." He was talking about what church really is, and was saying that the best example of real church he ever experienced happened in his living room with a relatively small group of people who were gathering around someone who was in trouble. There's a lot of truth to that, and it's refreshing to hear someone who is the leader of a megachurch say it.

In the past month, with everything that Eric and I have been through, we have seen that idea firsthand. We have always loved going to our church here in Bloomington, and while we've always been involved there, we've never really had a chance to experience the true love that is available to the members of the congregation (and beyond)....until now. While we absolutely love our Sunday morning services and classes, real church has happened to us on the phone, in hugs, in messages sent to us, or in time spent with us, not necessarily on Sunday morning in the sanctuary. We've been overwhelmed by the loving response of people around us -- not only from those who attend our church, but also our other Christian friends and family who know us. We hope that someday we'll be able to pour out this kind of comfort and love on someone else who is going through a rough time.

It seems like that's what Paul was talking about in 2 Corinthians 1 when he said, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God" (verses 3-4). We've received such an amazing amount of comfort from God through other people, that maybe someday we can take this tragedy that we've walked through and use it to encourage someone else. Based on our recent experiences, it seems pretty clear that that's one important responsibility of the Church as a body and one major way to live out "real church."

On a Lighter Note...

Most of you have seen this already, but we thought we'd post it up here for those of you who haven't. It was a Christmas gift for my sister and her husband, who, even though they live so far away, are so generous to Ian. Thanks, Sherri and Adam!

Enjoy...


NOTE: YouTube disabled the audio due to authorization issues. So sad....