Dan and Jen’s Blog

Ok, I saw this article last Wednesday when it came out on FoxNews.com and at first I was really amused and dumbstruck.  But then I was completely saddened.  This woman spent two years living on the toilet.  The skin of her behind grew around the seat and they had to remove the toilet seat with a pry bar.  Apparently, she just never wanted to come out and her boyfriend, with whom she lived, provided her with food and water.  What kind of fear/anxiety/depression would cause someone to retreat from not only the world outside their domicile, but also the majority of their domicile itself?  I pray that God would bring someone into her life to share the Gospel, that she would hear and accept salvation through Jesus and his sacrifice, and that God would bring healing to this woman’s life so that she may experience abundant life through Jesus instead of imprisoning herself in a cell that provides her only the basest of her needs.  And I pray that my reaction to stories like this would not be amusement, but rather despair at the state of this lost world and a renewed commitment to share the Gospel.

Yes, I know we’re blog slackers.  We tend to write nothing, then like 5 blogs a day for a week, then nothing again.  I guess you could call us blog camels.  You decide.  We’ve been busy waiting to hear from SBTS regarding Dan’s Ph.D. application, finishing the best pink socks in the world, antiquing with Bob and Lisa, reading great books, and as always, being way too lazy.  Regardless, we are (or Jen is) blogging again.  So enjoy and leave us comments.

I’m sure that most of us who are fans of John Piper have been all too disappointed to find a book like 90 Minutes in Heaven next to his on the shelves of many bookstores. Just the thought of someone mistaking this book, which obviously consists of not a few theological errors, with one of John Piper’s many books of substantial literary and biblical merit has bothered me every time I see these two authors next to each other on the shelves. Recently, while perusing an ad for Family Christian Stores, I noticed a typo that demonstrates this very point. Below, as you can see, the experiences of the book are attributed to “Pastor John Piper.”

This is one of the funniest videos I’ve seen in a long time.  Turn on your speakers and enjoy.  It is WELL worth 2 minutes of your time.

And Dan thinks I overreact sometimes

A female referee was not allowed to officiate a boys’ sporting event at a private Catholic school.  Read the whole thing here.  This is sure to spark a fierce debate and Christians who believe in the inerrancy of the Bible are sure to be demonized.  While this is currently an issue of whether or not this school will get kicked out of the Activities Association, it will become an issue of whether or not private religious institutions have the right to practice what they believe regardless of the larger culture’s opposition.  While this Catholic school has chosen a very peripheral issue to fight over, it certainly foreshadows how other religious institutions will have to battle to safeguard issues more central to the Christian faith.  I don’t know anything about this school and I don’t know how it’s officials will handle it nor how they should because I don’t know everything about the situation, but I do know that Bible-believing Christians are required to live according to the Word of God regardless of the circumstances.  A fiery furnace, a lion’s den, and a stoning all come to mind.  But so does the cross of Jesus and the Gospel of salvation through Him.  Jesus reminds us in the Gospels that the world will hate us because of him.  They will not understand why we do what we do.  There will be earthly consequences for living under the rule of King Jesus.  But we can only have one master.  As Christians, our job isn’t to have the right answer all the time; it’s to know the Scriptures, how they apply to our daily lives, and to speak the truth in love and kindness.

2 Tim 2:16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

I finished knitting my first sock ever on Sunday night. It was very exciting. I still have the other one to do, but it should be easier because, well, now I’ve done one and have that experience. It was very difficult because the yarn is fingering weight, which is very thin, as were the needles. But I’m excited to get the other one finished and have my very own home-knitted socks to wear. Here are some more pictures: whole foot, toe, heel, instep, pattern.

Some dear friends of ours, the Anizors, recently (like 2 weeks ago) had a baby girl named Zoe.  So of course I had to knit her something!  The yarn is a beautiful and super soft pink baby alpaca blend and I really loved working with it.  My favorite part of the mittens is that they don’t have thumbs!     
Hat and mittens
Hat
Mitten
Mitten to scale

Ok, this is amazing.  But here are my questions: How’d it get in there in the first place and how did the doctors not see it in a toddler’s ear?

Because I don’t enjoy vomiting or bloody diarrhea.