Sick of it

Sickness, that is. I recovered last week from a cold that was worse than any cold I've had since probably high school. Despite the cold, rain, and snow of Michigan, it seems to be the sunshine and warmth (and pollution) of California that has done me in. I've gotten sick twice since we've been here, and previous to that I had not been actually really sick in years. So thank you California! I was thankful for antibiotics this last time around that is for sure. It took me over a week to feel 100% again, and would have taken a lot longer if I hadn't had good old xithromax! Maybe it's because I'm a nurse, I'm not sure, but I am comfortable taking excedrin for a headache, or telling a Mom to give her child tylenol for a fever or before a vaccine. To each his own, of course, and certainly in strict moderation when we're talking about children in particular, but I believe things like antibiotics exist because God in His wisdom made brilliant men (and women!) who discover these medicines. (However, lots of childhood illnesses are merely viral and need only to be treated with lots of hugs & kisses)

I think I get upset because in my job I see so many kids who are really, really sick. Cancer, mental illness, HIV, and worse yet are all the kids who have a "syndrome" that we dont' know how to treat or what to even call it, but will certainly end a life much, much too soon. I know that God loves and suffers with each of these children, but it's upsetting when someone (i.e. everyone' s favorite nutty celeb Tom Cruise) makes judgements about using medication to treat serious illnesses when that person has never been anywhere near that kind of suffering.

Sorry, that was a pretty big soap box, and I am by no means against homeopathic treatments or waiting the cold out, and no, I don't think babies and children need lots of pain killers for every sore tooth or vaccine....but I don't think I'm a failure if I take medicine or give medicine to a child.

P.S. I think my friend Serina posted recently about feeling sick and taking medicine, so as a side note let me say my soap box is in response to an annoying conversation I had with a parent recently, and not anything else. Any decision one makes about this topic is going to be the right decision when it is thoughtful and informed...unfortunately many parents I see think every website is truthful and and all doctors are crazy.

Editorial Adjustments

It's late, I'm exhausted, and work has been difficult lately, but I wanted to point out that in my stalling going to bed because I can't sleep when Andy is out late I made some sidebar changes. I now have books I want to read listed to encourage me to actually read them. When they disappear we can all assume I read them. I promise. Scouts honor. Alright...stalling over.

Things I want to do in my life...

I was inspired by Andrea to blog about this topic. I changed it slightly from "what I want to do before I die"...that was a little morbid for me. So, here is my list (not in any particular order):

1. Have children with Andy
(addendum: adopt a child)
2. Watch our kids grow up together
3. Own our own home
4. Fix up that home together (I'd like to buy something older and spend time redoing it)
5. Take Andy on his castle tour of Europe dream trip he talks about
6. Go to Hawaii (with Dan and Andrea cause they're fun)
7. See some people I care about come to know the Lord
8. Own a piano and teach my children to play
9. Have a workable understanding of Spanish
10. Learn american sign language
11. Have a BIG garden, veggies, herbs, and of course lots of flowers
12. Always feel like I'm growing in my relationship with Christ
13. Get a masters degree in something that makes me happy
14. Learn to sew!

I guess that's it, I have to go get ready for church now, but I tag Tricia & Serina to blog about this, it's fun and you can learn a lot about people's dreams.

Free time

In an effort to make better choices on how to use my free time, we recently decided to get rid of our cable. We really only want to watch network stations, which we found out we could get for about 35$ less each month. It's amazing what you can get from companies when you're trying to stop giving them money! Anyway, this means that when I come home from work there are not 15 stations full of junk for me to waste time vegging in front of (i.e. HGTV, lifetime, TLC, etc.). So, I got some great book suggestions and bought 4 new books! I started with John Stott's the Incomparable Christ and thought I'd share a thought about it to help me digest what I'm reading.

Stott has this great section right at the start where he summarizes the focus of each Gospel author. He states that while, yes, the Gospel authors were concientious historians, they were also evangelists and theologians. So, each Gospel has a different focus as it deals with the earthly ministry of Christ.

Matthews focuses on Christ as the fullfillment of prophecy, the law, and Israel. As Stott develops this point and brings up different Scripture references it's fascinating to see how correct that is. And it makes sense in light of Matthew's strong Jewish heritage.

Mark's gospel focuses on Christ the suffering servant. As a Mark manuscript junky I could not agree more. The Cross is the center of Mark's Gospel as he answers the key questions: Who was Jesus, what did he come to do, and what does He ask of us?

That's as far as I've gotten. I got all excited about that and wanted to get it down before I kept reading. I enjoy reading these kinds of books in short, frequent intervals so that I can consider and absorb everything presented.


In conclusion, one thought that has occurred to me recently over and over again comes to me again now after starting Stott's book and it is this:

That I love Scripture. I love that I can say with certainty that it is REAL and it is TRUTH. It has become nearly impossible for me to understand how anyone who has taken a sincere, open-minded, honest look at Jesus and how every word of Scripture points to Him could possibly think otherwise.

check it out!

Hey, I will post something long and interesting soon, but for now check my hubby's blog!! It's great, he's very witty.

Life Goes On

So, I know you've all been waiting with baited breath to hear how things are going out here in sunny SoCal (cool slang term for southern california). In light of that, here it is! We've been living out here for about 4 months now, i can't believe how time has flown. I'll start with Andy.

Andy has finished his first term of school at Gnomon School of Visual Effects and is now enjoying some down time until it all starts again. Only 6 more to go! His projects all turned out really well, and he enjoyed his classes a lot, of course excelling in them all (although I"m sure he'd never admit it!). We aren't sure if he gets some kind of report card or something because my hubby just hates asking questions, but in any case he did well. He spent the rest of his time working on a very time consuming project for the Visual Effects Society (like the Screen Actors Guild, but for VE people). The VES is having an award ceremony this February where they focus on VE stuff in movies, TV, and video games and it's a pretty big deal. (For Example, last year they presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to George Lucas and this year it will go to Brian Singer...I think that's his name anyway). So Andy was part of a very small team of students who put together an intro reel for the award show...it's turning out to be very cool and worth all the headaches. I mean, my poor baby had to wake up as early as 8am some days!! (::teasing::) All in all he seems very happy and excited about what the future will bring.

Now me.

I'm still working the same job at CHLA and really getting to enjoy the kids I work with. Despite some frustrations with co-workers I am happy. I also really feel like God is using those frustrations to work on my ability to be compassionate and humble. There is not a lot of grace amongst co-workers here and I know God is challenging me to be different. Otherwise I fill my time with scrapbooking, Sim playing, and my super cool new toy that turns Andy's road bike into a stationary bike.

Also, we have found a church that we are really excited about. We've been attending new member classes and learning about the specifics in terms of their doctrine and practices. No church is perfect, but I see us finding a home here. Praise God!

Alright, that's enough...I'll post pictures soon.

Reading

Okay, I know I owe everyone a nice long post to update you all, but I have to go to work so that will have to wait a little longer. I'm writing to ask for suggestions on books to read. Whenever I try to pick out my own book it's no good, but when I get suggestions I'm usually really excited about it. So, I'm talking mostly non-fiction here, and would love suggestions of books you've read and enjoyed. Also, specifically, does anyone know a good commentary on the Gospel of John?