Reverend Mystery Shopper

Still no Karissa on the scene.

I've brought Heather home from work permanently now, and will be full-time mystery shopping (Think of it as a job in marketing and consumer relations) until I am called by a congregation that can afford to care for my family's earthly needs.

I had a lipid panel done on June 2, and every single number was terrible.

And this afternoon, after I inquired of Emmet why he had been carefully collecting all of the seeds off of his Bic Mac's bun, he informed me that he plans to plant a hamburger tree.

That's all the news for now!

Evil Government Conspiracies

The arrogance of our human institutions never ceases to amaze.

I am, of course, writing of Daylight Savings Time.

In our never-ending pursuit of godliness in every aspect of our and our children's lives, we have renewed our commitment to seek and rise from our nests early. There's just one problem with that. The government of our nation has enacted legislation to change time. The hubris of it is startling.

But the result of it is bridling. My four year old daughter advised me, as she cheerfully and obediently lay in her toddler bed at 8:00 this evening, that it was not yet night-night time. I could only respond that the sun is up later than usual, and she asked me if God was holding it up.

Of course He is, dear. The sun couldn't stay in the sky for a moment if God didn't hold it up. It's true you know. The day of a miraculous Hebrew victory under Joshua some 5800 years ago was not unique in God's holding up the sun. It was just a reminder that He's always holding it up.

That thought led directly to this post. God holds up the sun. God dictates time. And yet our government legislates time. And legislates it in a way that makes it harder to get up at 5:30 (or 3!), or go to bed at 8:30.

Speaking of which, it's now 8:30.

Goodnight!

P.S. Still no baby yet

In the Heat of the Day

Wow. I was singing the weather's praise a few days ago, but man what a difference those days made. On the way home from town today, with the heat radiating off of the black pavement, the thermometer on the van (which isn't sun-affected by the way) said 99. At home, it was a closer-to-reasonable (not "more" reasonable, since neither are "any" reasonable at all) 94.

Either temp might as well have been 194. Air is on. We're hiding inside.

And Karissa isn't here.

That's right; pity Heather. I do.

Quick Update On Heather

She managed to hold out another day. Last night, she was talking to a friend who delivered her last child at 42 weeks. How does a July 10 delivery date sound to everyone? As you can imagine, Heather was not a fan of that scheduling.

The Dangers of Television

You would never leave your child alone in a public place, talking to a stranger; would you?

Then why would you sit them down in front of the television without personally watching with them?

Even "safe" programs, such as animal/nature programs can be dangerous. I'm not even talking about environmenta-nut stuff either. It's easy to redirect that later: "We don't take care of the earth because it is 'good' to us; we take care fo the earth because God gave it to us for our good and gave us the job of making sure things are used well."

Sadly, there are even more dangerous things in these shows. This morning, the children and I were watching a show while I desperately tried to find my inner-schoolteacher in the bottom of a cup of coffee, when a demonic attack upon my children's souls came flying over the airwaves. The show listed a few amazing animals and then proceeded to ask, "Do you know who else is an amazing animal? You! That's right, you're an animal too."

Every child wants to get every question right. It's built into them. That's why catechism is such a fantastic tool. Well, here was this morning's safe/nature/animal television catechism: "Do you know who else is an amazing animal? You! That's right, you're an animal too."

Well, thankfully, I was taking my own advice at the moment, and we turned off the television and talked about how different we are from everything else, because we were made in the image of God. And we used the actual children's catechism to highlight an immense difference between animals and toddlers: "Do you have a soul as well as a body? Yes, I have a soul that can never die." And then I explained that the reason why we must never be mean or even feel hateful toward other people is that they are in the image of God, and being mean to them is like being mean to God's picture, which is very disrespectful to Him.

Crisis averted. Maybe. Just imagine if they get that stuff all day, every day in public school. Don't expect children in that situation to just accept your corrective and think "oh yeah--that entire other worldview in which I am continually immersed is wrong, and my wise, noble, righteous parents are right."

But this is a post about public television, not public school. That other is a topic for another time when I'm feeling more feisty. For now, let's just leave it at this:

Be even more careful about what your kids watch on T.V., and always watch with them, o.k.?

Emmet's Favorite Lullabies

Years from now, when again I read this, if I ever read it again, I may be interested to remember that at age 3 Emmet had two favorite lullabies.

By name, they are the "Emmet Song" and the "Worship Song."

The former is different each time it is sung--basically, take any melodious lullaby, and fill it with Emmet's name and references to sleeping well, getting up to pee in the potty instead of the bed, and having lots of energy to love and obey God and to learn in school and play the next day.

The "Worship Song" is simply Psalm 128, straight out of the psalter. And Emmet loves it--even prefers it to the Emmet Song some nights.

So, James Hakim of the future, if you happen to read this again, remember, sir, that you are and have been for a very long time a very blessed man. Your three year old son likes to fall asleep to the singing of Psalms. Is God's mercy to you not overwhelming? His generosity beyond comprehending? And considering how very little you deserve any of this, consider the immeasurable depths of His grace.

Goodnight!

More Contractions

For the third time, Karissa has Heather in frequent, regular contractions. This time, however, we're not even talking about going to the hospital. Which probably means this is it... it's baby time! Isn't it? ...

Mississippi Heat?

This has been the best meteorological year of my (no longer short) life in Mississippi. In a year, I will have lived in Mississippi half as long as I lived in Michigan. I'm glad of that in almost every way, except the weather. I just can't take the heat, which brings me to the real topic of this post: global warming.

We have barely used the air conditioning at all this year. I'm thankful for that. If energy prices go any higher, I may have to go back to selling the plasma from my own veins--yes, that's right paying for gasoline with blood, and I don't mean the Iraq War either. There have been years in which we began running the air in April and still had to do so, sporadically, around Christmas. This isn't one of those years. I'm pretty sure that the coolest April that we have had since moving here in '98 was followed by the coolest May during the same period.

Which brings me to today, the 4th of June. It's late morning, and the thermometer outside the back window still says 70. If you thought that said "ninety," you're either reading too quickly and filling in the blanks from your experience, or you need to pay a visit to the nearest Lens Crafters.

If this is climate change, I like it. How exactly can we make it permanent? Gas prices are high, so I'm not going to purchase a school bus anytime soon (give me a couple years before the size of my family requires it); but, in order to do my part in making climate change permanent could some auto maker please fill this request: I need an 80mpg vehicle that seats 7 comfortably and produces as much smog as mechanically possible in the process. Thanks!