Sweet Moments

I mentioned in my last post that we got together last week for a Thanksgiving dinner. What I didn't mention was that our friend Julie brought some deserts that were tasty and, as you can see below, are fun to look at. We're working on the whole potty training thing these days, and Abbi will definitely hold you to the promise of treats in the event that she is successful in her potty training endeavors. So, when April offered her one of Julie's thanksgiving treats, Abbi just didn't know what to think. I mean, the thing was too pretty to be a treat. After a moment it dawned on her just what this was. As a huge grin broke out across her face she began to sway her hips and dance, singing her own truncated version of "Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you..." It was pretty funny.

She also has developed the habit of blessing herself (and others) after she sneezes. Mostly, she'll just exclaim "Bless You, Abbi." Today in the store, she said to a passerby, "Bless you, kid." Ah, sweet moments.

As Abbi grows, It seems ever increasingly important to parent intentionally. The world is so full of distraction and lies that poison the soul if not kept in check by Truth (or denied access into a person's world totally). During these formative years, it has become plain to me that good books serve a child (and parent) on a number of levels. On one level books teach important lessons about words, sounds, languages , and grammar. On a deeper level, books and the stories therein, teach object lessons in Truth, creativity, and a richer understanding of the world around us. I recently ran into a book called Honey for a Child's Heart. Aside from a discussion of the value of good books, there is a great list of suggested books for kids by age group. Most of the text, as well as those of many other books, can be found on Google Books. This book can be found at:

http://books.google.com/books?id=f9UbcKMkxfcC&lpg=PP1&dq=honey%20for%20a%20child's%20heart&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Mrs. Hunt's blog is available at: http://tumblon.com/honey

Just reading the first few paragraphs of the blog will give you a good preview of what the book is like.

Good Friends, Good Food.

As I plug along during this month of Trauma training, I pretty much have two days in the middle of the week off, having worked most of the weekend. It turns out that people hurt themselves a lot over the weekend, so it winds up being a good time to learn about Trauma. When I'm not hanging out with my girls, I try to sneak in some extracurricular procedural training. I can't really elaborate on that here, though.

Yesterday, April and I cooked our first turkey. We pretty much had no idea what we were doing. But, sticking with my theory that lots of butter (or cheese, but usually not together) makes anything better, I pulled up the skin of the turkey (blunt dissection for you medical types) and put a nice layer of butter between the skin and the meat. Add herbs, cook for a few hours, and presto- a tasty Thanksgiving bird. Living together, almost communally, is wonderful- especially at times like these. During our Thanksgiving meal last night we all packed into our friends' kitchen and ate a thanksgiving feast. The food was delicious, though it was the love between friends, the beauty of the children around us, and the goodness of our Saviour that made the time truly rich.

Most of us present for dinner had just come home from the Global Missions Health Conference. This year's conference was absolutely superb. We learned much and connected with many missionaries and missions organizations with which we needed contact. We came home changed people. I'm not exaggerating. As I mentioned in the last post, I had the chance to sit and listen to John Patrick, who has been very influential in the way I see the world and the problems we currently have in our churches and in society. A brilliant biochemist and pediatrician, he spent much of his career treating malnourished children in Jamaica and Africa. Dr. Patrick is fun to listen to and everything he has to say smacks of a salt and light in a way that is lacking in much of our culture, especially in academia. He has the ability to tear the liberal, post modern world view to shreds and does so with humor and candor. His lectures make you think and even make my head hurt a little. I think in that respect, the American church could stand to have a few headaches. He has a website of his own, which has some excellent MP3s and papers. it can be found at:

www.johnpatrick.ca

additionally, he has a college- which I would have liked to experience myself, had it existed before I entered University. Maybe I'll be able to check out one of his week long courses at some point. This is a little bit prettier of a website than the former website.

http://www.augustinecollege.org

In other news, Abigail is becoming quite the little lady. She's now getting into wearing dress up jewelry and putting on (make believe) make up, as you can see in the video

cool article

Here's a cool article about our Fellowship. I just stumbled upon it. It's an oldie but a goodie!

http://www.cg-ins.com/news/?p=985/

Momma Jo

Well, as usual, it's been awhile since the last post. Abbi, who has in recent months, always referred to herself as "Abbi" has taken to calling herself "Abbi Jo," which was the original idea. We don't really call her Abbi Jo too much, so she just kinda started saying "Abbi Jo, Abbi Jo" on her own last week. It was pretty cute. I guess, she thought the "Jo" part was a good idea, as she occasionally now refers to April as "Momma Jo." No daddy Jo yet.

I finished up a month working on the Burn Unit last month. It was productive, overall. I learned a lot and feel much better about managing burns, wounds, skin grafting, etc. Also, I got to put in some central lines and chest tubes. We're coming along well in enhancing the curriculum and didactics as well.

I've moved on to working with the Trauma team this month. I have had some experience running traumas in emergency rooms in small towns around Kansas, but this is definitely revolutionizing the way I approach trauma. The surgery residents have been great to me and I look forward to the remaining half of the month.

We continue to make preparations for leaving for Zimbabwe in January, as well. My girls headed to Kansas City to see family last Friday, as I worked most of the weekend. They will stay there until I meet up with them tomorrow. At that point, we'll head out to Louisville to the Global Missions Health Conference.

http://www.medicalmissions.com/GMHC/Home.html

It's a life changing conference where most missions organizations with a medical ministry will have a presence. It was there that I first heard my favorite speaker, Dr. John Patrick, talk. I love being in the presence of men and women who have served the Lord on the mission field. Generally, aside from being interesting and full of compassion, they are the kind of people that I just want to be in the presence of- just hoping some of their character and essence will rub off on me. They are some of the neatest people you'll ever meet.

I traveled to K.C. to surprise April and Abigail yesterday after I woke up from working all night Sunday. April's grandparents were in town, staying with her uncle. So, I figured it would be a nice opportunity to see the family. I snuck up on April when I got there, and she was quite surprised to see me! It's always nice when a surprise plan works out!

We had a great visit, catching up with April's family and, of course, loving on my little girl. April and I had a great evening together. Abbi seems to say everything under the sun now, and has moved into a phase where she always has her baby doll or stuffed bear with her. I love my girls more than anything on this earth. I'm so thankful for her family and for the legacy they've given me in their daughter and in my daughter. On the way back home today, I dropped in on my mom in her classroom. It was wonderful, as usual, to see her. I'm blessed more than I could ever ask for, having families on both sides of the family that care so much about April, Abbi, and I. I don't deserve such goodness in my life and I am thankful to God for it.

In other happy news, I we'll be adding to our family in December when my sister, Becca and her fiance get married on New Year's Eve. Becca is a beautiful person and I look forward to getting to know Joe better in the future. I'm very happy for them.

OK, on to the pictures...