Luke eating oatmeal

Here we are again! We've been pretty distracted lately with many things. Kurt has begun a master's in philosophy. Our apartments are being made into condos, so we've been very busy finding a new place to live. We finally settled on a new apartment and move in a week and a half. We've also taken on the job of running/reviving the children's Sunday School program at church. That's involved lots of planning for the summer and fall.

Luke is growing up rapidly. He's gotten tall and thinned out a lot. He says 'hi'. And he's on the verge of running everywhere. Five steps is the most he's managed so far with out falling down.

A week after moving we'll be leaving for Delaware and later in June flying to Kansas for 10 days. We're looking forward to seeing you all!

Before and After

Jo was down for a visit this week, and we took Luke for his first beach experience. We stayed for two and a half hours, and he loved every minute of it! In spite of his face in the picture, he thought the sand was pretty good for eating so we had to discourage that!

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!

We saw the pediatric surgeon today about Luke's belly button. He said that these things normally don't cause any problems. His son has one, and he's thirty and never had it removed. If we had it removed now, they would probably have to put him under for a few minutes, but if he decided to do it when he was older, they might be able to do it with local anesthesia. He said to keep an eye on it for signs of infection or excessive growth, but unless something comes up we can just treat it as a cosmetic issue.

Laundry is a bit of a struggle sometimes. It's about a 3 or 4 minute walk to the laundry room, so we have this handy little cart to get it there without breaking the back. It takes 3 trips, of course, to get it all done. On Saturdays Kurt often does it for me (hooray!), but my other laundry day is Tuesdays when he doesn't get home till later because of his literature class. It is very hard to hold Luke in one arm and pull the laundry with the other. Normally this basket is full. But yesterday there was less laundry than usual, so I had the brilliant idea of letting Luke ride. After I smashed it down, he fit very nicely on top. Of course after delivering the laundry he had the place to himself! When he starts to stand up we could run into problems, but for now, at least when we don't have too much laundry, I'll be able to save time and my arms.

Here are some pictures of Luke from the last month or so. The one with the block is the most recent.

We spent about 2 1/2 weeks in Delaware over Christmas where we had a lot of fun visiting, although we all caught colds (a first for Luke). He loved all the attention from his aunts and uncles and thoroughly enjoyed opening presents.

Since we got back I have been trying to get back into my last class and started going to Ladies' Bible Study on Wednesday mornings where we are studying Ephesians. We are also still going to the young couple's study two Sunday nights a month where we are in Galatians. Kurt will be starting a masters program in philosophy soon. He will be taking it from Whitefield College. He is itching for a new project and looking forward to getting started.

Luke went to the doctor this week. He was 18lbs. 10oz. His eyes are currently ok, and the doctor didn't say anything about them, so he seems fine on that front for now. He has a little red bump on his belly button that may be a remnant of the umbilical cord or a small cyst. We are having it evaluated next week to see if it should be removed or not.

There is nothing to arouse the attention or awaken the feelings, when the only record we have of a man is, that he lived, died, and was buried. But it is otherwise when the times have been the scene of anarchy, civil war, or persecution. Then the calmness and repose of the community is broken up; men are excited and roused by the spirit-stirring events that are passing around them; each must take their side; - it is then that their characters are drawn out and shown in a true light: the weak, the timid and undecided, keep the back ground, while men of courage and daring stand forward in bold relief. (Life of Samuel Rutherford, by Thomas Murray 1827 as found in Lex Rex)

I am so glad that we live in a time of peace and not violence. Though it is those times of violence and threat that men gain glory, I do not want glory. Well, a certain baser part of me does. There is, however, something to be said for being able to show your worth. We can show our worth in the little things, while we are never to be written of or famous. It is in the daily life of the home we do our part before God and family. The people that go to church, do family worship, educate their children, read books that teach the Christian view of the world, laugh together, converse, sing psalms hymns and spiritual songs with one another, it is these people who, when the time of trouble comes, will stand and deliver.