Day 3 with no water

I suppose Jackson, MS, was not prepared for 14 nights of sub-freezing weather. Why do I make such a claim? Because many, many of us residents are about to spend our 3rd day without running water. This is more than a nuisance. Jackson has actually been declared in a state of emergency.

Have you ever considered all the ways and places you use water? Here are some of the major ones that I'm missing it : We can't take a shower; I can't fill up Anastasia's bathtub; I can't fill up Anastasia's humidifier tank; I can't wash my hands after handling raw pork; I can't wash dishes, much less run the dishwasher; I can't brush my teeth like normal; The toilet doesn't flush; I can't wash my face at the end of the day.

Thankfully, because I teach some fitness classes at the Baptist Healthplex, and Philip has become a member, we are able to shower there. I also fill up Anastasia's humidifier tank there and several milk jugs. It's a hassle to have to arrange our shower times either around childcare hours at the Healthplex or entertain Anastasia while we try to get clean.

After this crisis, I do hope that I will appreciate running water whenever I turn on the faucet...unfortunately, that gratefulness will probably only last about 15 minutes.

New Year's bang-bang

Our New Year's bang-bang was not so fun. I had put Anastasia down around 7:30. Philip and I watched 3 episodes of Numb3rs - the last two of Season 3 and the first of Season 4. And if you're a Numb3rs fan, you will understand why we had to immediately watch the next episode. I literally sprang up out of my seat at the end of Season 3 finale!

Anyway, getting back to New Year's itself. Philip and I had gotten to bed just before midnight. Then I woke up to lots of quickly successive loud bangs. Now, folks had been shooting fireworks for the 2-3 hours before midnight and we knew what those were sounding like. These midnight bangs were gunshots. We've heard gunshots here before - that was no surprise.

What made last night's different is that it went on for so long, it woke my sweet baby girl up. I got Anastasia out of bed, but it was still about 10/15 mins before the shots ceased. And when the shots did finally subside, it took me a while to get Anastasia back to bed. :(

So, our New Year wasn't the best. But thankfully, I have wonderful and tremendously helpful parents. Daddy happened to be on his way here when I talked to Mama at 8:30. She offered that they take Anastasia for the weekend to give us a break.

And here's Anastasia's ringing...this was on Christmas Day. But I'll take these bang-bangs over the ones we had last night any day.

Who let the Dawgs out?

Dan Mullen, that's who! Philip and I got to be one of the 55,365 witnesses of yesterday's Mississippi State victory over that "school to the North."

We wanted it more. Our Bulldogs played so well - DePasquale hit that long field goal in the first half, Lee and Relfs were connecting with their receivers, Dixon and Relfs were gaining yards on the ground. Even the defense got in the offensive-spirit and put some point on the board. I was (and am) so proud of my Bulldogs!

The sea of maroon and white was beautiful. Every time the Rebel fans went to chant "Hotty Toddy," cowbells silenced the attempt. Anyone wearing maroon was a friend - there wasn't a stranger in Starkville.

Dan Mullen was a great hire. The Clarion Ledger said that Mullen had a clock put in the locker room counting down to the kickoff of the Egg Bowl. That was almost 10 months ago, in January. That was obviously plenty of time to prepare for our biggest rival. Mississippi State won the bowl game that matters the most in Mississippi!

Yep, that's me with Tyson Lee after the game. Lee has been a wonderful and respectful asset to our team. Our offense will miss him and Dixon.

what is NARAL?

This was my question earlier today when I viewed this YouTube video. Dr. Bernard Nathanson is the last surviving founding member of NARAL, the first pro-abortion organization founded in NYC in the late 1960's. He admits that the group intentionally denied what they knew to be true in order to mislead the American public and the courts. That truth is that an unborn child is indeed an existing human being.

I agree with Dr. Nathanson's current view that an unborn child is indeed that - a child. Philip even pointed this out. That even if you believe that a fetus is not yet a human being - why eliminate something that is about to become a human being?!? What else in this world becomes a walking, talking being with a soul?

I heard Anastasia's heart-beat at 9 weeks. She was pumping blood through her forming body at, if not before, 9 weeks after conception.

Dr. Nathanson goes on to admit that he deeply regrets the 75,000 abortions he is responsible for. Calling legalized abortion "the greatest mistake this nation has ever conceived."

NARAL stands for National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League OR National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws - it's hard to find this information at www.naral.org.

Post Script: Dr. Nathanson has since converted to Catholicism, being baptised in 1996. Read more from him here.

waking up happy

Anastasia usually wakes up in the morning happy! She'll play in her crib until I come get her - or until she gets lonely and lets me and Philip know it.

These pictures are from this morning when I went in to get her.

She is such a delight! Now if only she could teach the rest of us how to wake up that way...

Desitin!

Yep, that's right, this post is about Desitin - to praise this product is more like it. I had been using A&D since my daughter was born. Then she started having diaper rash and I started using more A&D and the diaper rash didn't go away.

I was at the end of a tube of the name brand A&D stuff when I found some Desitin that we had been given in a basket of goodies - well, they were goodies if you had just brought a newborn home. And lo and behold, this white gunk alleviated the redness on sweet Anastasia's bumbum!!

Woo hoo!

Do you want to be healed?

I just finished listening to a sermon delivered by Brian Habig, pastor of Downtown Presbyterian Church in Greenville, SC. The text was John 5:1-18. I tearfully listened to this sermon, titled 'Do You Want To Be Healed?' (listen to it here to figure out at which points I ripped off Brian). Brian spoke about the ‘good life’ – whatever version or variety we concoct the good life to be. My ‘good life’ would combine the material luxuries and toned figures of Desperate Housewives with the number and behavior of children of The Brady Bunch – all in a wheelchair accessible house.

However, the ‘good life’ according to the Triune God doesn’t start with our comfort and prosperity. God defines the Good Life as one where He is known and trusted. There are no promises of physical healing before Jesus comes back. God has provided means for temporal healing and relief – largely available to the modern Western world. Those means are good, but not permanent. Even if we are healed of an illness, injury, or protein mutation in the myelin shaft of the nerves, we will still die and face judgment.

God says we are blessed if we have One who has stood in that judgment for us. Jesus suffered while on earth – his chosen ones will suffer as well. The good life is not one that is free from struggle and strife, but one that knows Jesus will return to destroy death once and for all, to wipe away every tear, and to banish Charcot Marie Tooth.

My husband has had many people pray for his healing. Philip is a wise and godly man who has come up with a counter to these brothers and sisters who are suggesting that he lacks faith. After (the nebulous) they are finished praying for him, Philip prays that they will know what it means to suffer for righteousness’ sake. And which is the bigger blessing? To get up and walk or to fellowship with Jesus in his suffering?

Of course I want a good life for my daughter, too. Philip and I pray for her often. But do I pray that she will never know pain, always be flawless and beautiful, and find a male counterpart to this ideal? Or do I pray that she know Jesus – even in his sufferings and persecutions? That she trust Jesus, even if that calls her to Indonesia, to have CMT, or to cheer against Mississippi State University? Her educational and financial future already keep me up at night. But what should keep me up at night is whether or not she will trust in Jesus as her Lord and Savior.

So what is the good life? It’s living in the covenant promises made and kept by the LORD. Knowing that Jesus took on the covenant curses and gifted me with the covenant blessings. Living in that knowledge is the good life that God has given to me.