As Promised...Sorta (Part 2)

This would be the 7th of July. The day that the subfloor was built. We just came by to check on things, and found these guys building the floor. The next day, we did a mad rush to get a tarp over a hold (made for the stairs), because there were some storms coming. Unfortunately, we missed the easement hole, and there was some water in the basement anyway. As you see below, it didn't slow things down.
We showed up at 7:45 am on July 9 for the building. This is a picture of one of our walls that was pre-built and carted over. All four walls, as well as the roof support beams were pre done at the lumber yard.
This was taken an hour after we arrived. At the time we showed up, only the back wall was up, not boarded at all. In just one hour, the other two walls, some support beams for the roof, and the back wall boarded. This set the tone for the whole day. At the end, all that remained was the siding, and the front door.

I hope to have the other disc formated (with pictures saved), and up soon. We now have internet again, so that should not be a big issue. Also, I hope to have newer pictures as well (battery needs to be charged). Stay tuned:)

As Promised...Sorta (Part 1)

To think - back on June 10 of this year, we found this little guy and his litter mates and resuced them. Yes, we believe we have found a couple of them running around:)
Four days later, we have the digging crews in, making a mess. Without these guys though, there would be no basement, or foundation, or house...ya get the picture.
Only a few days beyond that, the floor boards, the dormer, and all the two-bys needed to help build the house showed up. If you look just to the left of the pile of wood in front, you will see the basement wall that went in a couple (literal) days after the basement was dug.
This is a closer look at that basement. This is where the second bathroom is roughed in. And where the washer/dryer will go, and where the furnace is.....
About a week after the basement went in, the boards for the subflooring showed up. That would be what these are for. In Part 2, I will show you more pics. Keep in mind, the first picture that you see here is dated June 10, 2007. In this session of posting, the last picture will be the day the house went up July 9, 2007.

A Quick Update...Pictures To Come

When I last posted on here, we were in the middle of our first "blitz week". Since that time, we have had another such week, and a few more hours accomplished. Also, since the last post, the house itself has gone up, and is nearing completion. Unfortunately, I am at a computer that has no floppy drive, so I can't download pictures taken at the beginning of the building project. Hopefully within a week they WILL be up, as well as some pictures as the house currently stands.
Ok, first thing is first. After our first "blitz week" was done, I think we stood somewhere around the 140 hours completed mark. The house officially went up on July 9, 2007, which was the first day of our second "blitz week". At the end of that week, I think we were around then 290 hour mark, but not sure. In the next post, there will be corrections made. Anyway, the day the house went up was hot, and humid, but great. We arrived at around 7:45 in the morning, and already one wall frame was up. Within an hour of that, the other three frames were up, and the roof bracings were just about up. We wound up being in the news that day, as well as in the paper. As we stated in both mediums, we are extremely greatful to the public, as well as Habitat for Humanity. This has been a great opportunity to learn and grow in many different ways. By the end of the day, all that remained to complete the exterior was the siding and the front door. Since that point and time, it has been wired, it has been plumbed, and it has been insulated. We are currently waiting for the drywalling to be done, which should be on Monday the 13th of August. By that weekend, we should be go for painting (details to be worked out on that), and then the construction guys come back to do woodwork, cabinetry, and siding/entery stairs. At that point, we then get the chance to show off the house to the public via open house, then we get the flooring put in, and then its ready to move in. The target date has shifted somewhat from the first of September, to more like the middle of September (blasted Labor Day weeked/week). This could actually work well though, as our homebuyers class isnt until the 11th of September. Stay tuned for further updates, and keep praying as we REALLY need to get out...we are all down and out due to the mold now.
A note of praise (as if the house isnt enough)...we are down to less then 35 hours to complete to reach 450 hours!!! This means our hours will be met before the house is done. If anyone is around the Albert Lea area, and would like to help me sell tickets for the Habitat playhouse, let me know :):)
Another note of praise. We are looking at finally being able to have a landline again in the next week. This means internet abilities, as well as picture uploads (note above statement). Pray that all goes well. We miss keeping in touch, and I miss keeping yall updated on everything.
I think that just about covers it all. There is more to tell, but not really that much time, as I am downstairs in our friends' basement, while the kids are upstairs reeking havoc. I will be in touch soon!

Rain slows down the work

Things have slowed down a little bit this week. God's timing and the builder's timing was apparently not coordinated. The basement floor should get poured tomorrow or Wednesday. There is still a chance the structure might go up this week, but it is beginning to look like it might be more like July 9 or 10. God is still sovereign.

We broke the 100 hour mark today!! Amy and I are "blitzing" with our sweat equity hours this week. Friends have graciously volunteered to watch Abbi, Mackenzie, and JohnMark during the day this week so we can go out to Austin and help at the humane society as well as the Habitat office. We will also be continuing to work on staining the baseboards and trim on the house.

Thanks to everyone for their prayers and we continue to praise the Lord for His goodness and the fact that He is still totally in control.

No New Pics This Time

Just a quick update.
For those of you who are in the Albert Lea area, you may have noticed that there isnt a framed house as of yet. At first we thought that it would be done on June 22. Then, due to weather, it was shifted to either June 26 or June 27 (Tuesday or Wednesday). Now it is looking like it will either be the end of this week, or potentially July 9 or 10. We will be putting up pictures to show once we have it done. Amy was thinking of chronicaling everywhere that the building permit traveled during the basement construction. This was largely due to the fact that the permit was never in the same place two days in a row. At one point, the permit disappeared and the song "Oh Where Is The Permit?" (sung to...you got it..."Oh Where Is My Hairbrush?") was heard as she looked for the permit. After about ten minutes of searching and no finding, she gave up and took a picture of the newly aquired port-a-potty that showed up at the site. Now the question is, will the weather hold and will the cement make it in time that the house can be framed this week? Stay tuned for further updates. :)
On a similar note but totally different foot, Steve is taking this week off so we can blitz on our hours. As of the post time, we have not only hit, but bypassed the 100 hours mark. Just think, what can be and get done the remainder of the week. Our next week for blitzing is set for July 9-13, minus the 11th. If there are those of you who are around the Albert Lea/Austin area who would be willing to help us out with child care, please let Amy know. Right now the Monday of July 9th is taken care of, but she still needs help with either full or partial days of July 10th, 12th and 13th. This can either be done by posting here on the site (Steve will check it), or by calling either Steve or Amy, or emailing Steve (as we have no way for Amy to check her email).
The kids are all doing well. JohnMark (most recently responding to "Bubba") is not only growing, but responding quite well to the new treatment. For those who have not recently been updated, one of JohnMark's doctors thought it would be nice to check out a potential allergy. Not only is JohnMark lactose intolerant, but it seems he is allergic to a protien in cow's milk. This will show some interesting times ahead as we search out goat's milk, but through God's help, we are sure that it can be found. JohnMark still has some problems with asthma, but the constant mucus isn't there anymore. We will see on Wednesday the 27th of June how much weight this has helped him gain. Be in prayer as we think this may be an answer to prayer with his health, but on the other hand opens the door to a bunch of questions in which way to go and how many more allergies the little guy may have underlying every thing.
Well, this is the last of the post for now. Hopefully later on this week there will be more of an update on both JohnMark and the house. To quote Dr. Crane (President of Pillsbury Baptist Bible College) "Have a great day and a great life". Just for sake of nostalgia:)

Lots of things at the Lot

Well, well!!

Things have been finally coming together with the house. On June 3 we had the ceremonial ground breaking for our new house. It was great and the board members from Habitat for Humanity were pleasantly suprised to see how many people from our church came out to support us. Thank you to all those who came. Pastor Seiler opened in prayer, we had some introductions of the board memebers and Amy, myself and the kids, thanks to all those who are helping, particularly Freeborn Lumber, and then we broke ground. Pastor Seiler then closed in prayer. It was a good afternoon and it really seemed to make it real.

After we turned over the fist shovel of dirt, Pam, the president of Habitat, saw a work in the dirt and showed it to Mackenzie and asked if she wanted a new pet for her new house. Mackenzie gave an enthusiastic "YEAH!", picked it up, and started chasing Abbi and the son of one of our friends.

We have been mowing the grass at the new lot, and last weekend when I was finishing up I accidentally mowed over a nest of baby rabbits. There were 7 or 8, but thankfullly I only hit one, and that one only lost a little fur on its back. It seemed to be fine. We put it back in it's nest hoping that its mother would come and continue to take care of it. Unfortunately, the nest was about 5 feet from where the back of the house would be, so the next day Amy moved the bunnies to an area of thick shrubs and left a trail of the mother's fur to help her find the babies. When we have gone back to look to see if they are ok we can not find any remnants, so we think they are doing just fine. In the worst case, if the mother ignored them and let them die they would not be any worse off than if we had left them to be squished by the machinery.

They started digging the basement yesterday and got it all dug in one day. We found out this morning, however, that there is a slight problem. The city said that the water main came into the property on one corner, and so that's where the utility room is going to go. Unfortunately, the water comes into the basement from the otehr side. They are going to have to dig up part of the street, re-route the water to the correct side of the basement, and then fix the street before they can do much more work. This could cost Habitat up to $2,000 just to have the city tear up and fix the street. They are hoping to get the cost waived. Either way the cost will not have to be paid by use (Praise the Lord!!).

June 22 is building day at this point. They are hoping to have the basement done by then, and when the crew shows up that day they will start working on the actual above-ground structure. At the end of the day they are hoping to have all the walls framed, the windows, doors, and siding in, and the entire roof on! Pray that their time table is still able to happen and that God will grant good weather that day.

The other part of this whole thing is our sweat equity hours. We need to have 450 hours before moving into the house, but up to 150 of those hours can be donated by others working on the house. We are currently at about 60 hours, but I am planning on taking a couple weeks off from work and We are going to do a major blitz. Since babysitting counts for hours as well, we figure at the end of the two weeks we will have at least an additional 240 hours. This should put us over 300, and very close to being able to move in as soon as the hosue is done, since the last 150 can be donated by others as well as counted by us working.

We are currently working on sanding and staining all the wood trim and baseboards. This is no small task, but we are making steady progress. We have been working in the garage of the duplex we are currently renting, but we have also been accumulating some other things for the new house so space is starting to get a little tight. As soon as the structure of the house is done we can move the staining to the new basement. Currently in the garage for the new house we have a chest freezer (donated), canning jars (donated), an old fashioned push mower-the kind without a motor (donated), a dryer ($30), and a dining room table with 4 chairs and 4 leaves ($70). It is big enough for 12 people, but the lady we bought it from said she has gotten 22 around it in the past. WOW! GOD IS SO GOOD!!!! We are still trying to find a washer, dish washer, and hopefully some new furniture. We would like some new living room furniture because we do not know how much mold has gotten into our current things, and they are just falling apart. They were given to us by other friends, thanks Todd and Debbie, and we are probably at least the 3rd family to own them. They are perfect for a dorm room, but not an actual family home.

Of course, a new home wouldn't be complete without a new pet, so we are considering adopting a dog, preferably a bassett hound if I have my way, a while after we move in. Of course, Amy would like a kitty, and we may do that too. We've decided we're done having kids of the two-legged variety, so have to fill the house another way I guess. We have been volunteering with the folks at the Mower County Humane Society in Austin, and they have some wonderful animals there. They will also be able to help us make sure we adopt an animal that will be right for our family and the size of hte house.

There's a lot going on, but please continue to be in prayer as we see what God can do. Sam Telloyan talked about having an Ephesians 3:20 experience on his trip in the Ukraine over the last couple weeks. Amy and I believe this is goign to end up being, as it already has been, our Ephesians 3:20 year.

Prayer requests

• Good and easy progress for the building
• Safety and good weather
• Cooperation from our neighbor (the house had to be moved over 2 feet because he didn't want it so close to his yard)
• Opportunites to get our sweat equity hours completed
• Finances to be able to meet our beginning obligations
• Supplies and appliances not provided by Habitat (furniture, washer, dish washer, etc.)

More Things Happening

WOW!!



A lot of things have been happening lately.

1. Mackenzie had her tonsils and adnoids out. The surgery went well and she is doing great. Praise the LORD!



2. JohnMark wil be having tubes put in his ears this Monday (5/21). The thought is that it will help cut down on the ear infections that he has been having. The doctors think that he is having the ear infections because of the lung problems, which they think are a result of the mold in the house we are in now. Getting out of the house and out of the mold will probably help his lungs, along with all the rest of us, and his ears, but it will still be a few months before we can move.



3. This one is the coolest yet! We have been selected to receive a home from Habitat for Humanity of Freeborn/ Mower County. Not only that, but Freeborn Lumber is donating all the materials and the labor. The house is going to be built entirely by professional builders. Even the plumbing and electical will be done by professionals who are donating their time. The house will be 3 bedrooms and 1 bathroom, but the basement will have the plumbing for another bathroom and an egress window for a fourth bedroom. The lot is on the small side (45 x 132), but it will be plenty big for the house (26 x 80). They are not building us a garage, but they will be giving us a parking pad and grading the alley so we can get into the back yard from the alley. Before we can move in we have to put in 450 hours of "sweat equity," but this will go quickly. Other people can help and donate hours, up to 150, and any time someone is watching the children so we can volunteer it counts for our hours. And that is not part of the 150 so there is no limit. For example, if someone is watching our kids and we are both volunteering, we are earning 3 hours of credit for each hour of actual time. The hours also do not all have to be associated with Habitat for Humanity. When we volunteer at church (nursery, Sunday school, King's Kids, etc) those hours will count. Please pray that we can get our hours done soon. We also need to raise/ earn a considerable amount of money to have on hand before moving. We have to pay our first year of insurance up front along with some other costs. Please pray that God helps us to sacve and find this money. The neatest thing is that we will be on much higher ground than we are now, so no more flooding in the basement, we are one house down and across the street from the playground end of an elementary school, and about 1/2 a block from Albert Lea Lake. It is in a nice, safe part of town. The people with Habitat told us it is likely the nicest part of town they have built in yet. PRAISE BE TO GOD!!

Here is a map showing where the house will be. The exact address is 908 E 9th St. It is just a vacant lot now, but the builders want to get started in the next couple weeks. The house will likely be done by the August 1, but we will not be able to move in until our hours are completed. We will be sure to post picutres as the project continues.

God provides!!

Once again God, through his grace, proved his provision and providence to us! As many of you know, for the last couple years we have driven a 1988 Plymouth Voyager minivan that God provided for us when we needed a van because of expecting JohnMark, but could not afford one. Well, we recently began having problems losing engine power. When going 65-70 mph, if we hit a gust of wind or needed to go up a small hill, the engine would lose power. We could go 70->55 in about 2.2 seconds. The only way to get the van to accelerate was to go very easy on the gas pedal. We had one dealer test drive it and tell us that the transmission was going out, and another person told us that the head gasket might be going. Needless to say, these repairs were not only more than we could afford, they were more than the van was worse, even the though the body was in great condition and it only had 141,000 miles.

We started van shopping in earnest, but were having a lot of trouble with financing. We found a couple nice Ford Windstars we liked, but still had trouble financing them. It seemed as if we had found good vehicles, but God was just saying "not this one." We had been warned by some friends to be very cautious of Ford minvans because of transmission troubles. We asked the dealer about it, and he assured us that by 1999 ,we were looking at a 2000, the troubles were totally taken care of and there was nothing to worry about. On Friday we found a place that would finance us with 20% down. On Saturday we found a good looking van at a price we could afford and the dealer said though he could only give us $100 for our van, he would inflate the sale price by $2,000, and then give us $2,100 for our van. We felt sure that on Monday we could talk to the financier and it would be a go.

By the providence of God, on Sunday, Easter Sunday, I was working and decided to look on the internet to see if I could find some consumer reviews of the Windstar. PRAISE THE LORD! He led me to a site that had 123 reviews by current and past owners of 1999 or 2000 Windstars. Almost every one had had problems. Some owners were on their 3rd and 4th transmission before reaching 100,000 miles. There were barely any good reviews. We finally took the hint and realized that God had a reason behind denying us for financing. Amy suggested I browse the inventories of some dealerships in Albert Lea. We originally were not going to buy in Albert Lea because of the 7% sales tax. I found a 1999 Honda Odyssey with all the power features such as power sliding doors, etc. It did not have any pictures or price, but I figured I'd drive by on my way home from work and take a quick look. I got to the lot, and couodn't find it.

On Monday Amy called about it and a few other vans they had in stock. Apparently the reason I couldn't find the Honda was because it had just come in on Friday as a trade, but needed the bumper painted, so had gone to the body shop. We went in and talked to them about financing. We were able to get approved through a local credit union, and bought the van on Monday. They finished painting it on Tuesday and cleaned it up on Wednesday. Keep in mind, because they do not allow customers in the paining areas, we had not yet actually seen the van. We didn't even know what color it was!

We saw the van on Wednesday, took it for a test drive, since the purchase was conditional on actually liking the van, and took it home. It's great, the payments are low enough, and it only has 109,000 miles, which for a Honda is just a little past the crawling stage. The dealership was even willing to give us $1,000 as a trade in for our van. As always, God is good, and provides for his children when we only but trust him.

Whenever we would note something about the Plymouth that we would change when we replaced it, we always remembered that it was the van God gave us and it met our needs in every way at that time.

Those of you who remember Mr. Zak from Pilly days gone by might remember that the Zak-Pak had a small box that they kept momentos of God's provision to them. Well, when we gave the old van to the dealership I must confess I kept a set of keys for our box to remind us of God's provision for us.

Please remember to thank God for his provision in the big and the small.

A Family Update

Just thought I would post this, as it has been brought to our attention that we need to do some serious updating. If you would like to contact either Steve or Amy, you can reach us at our cell phones. Those numbers are as follows: Steve (507) 402-4530; Amy (507) 402-4529. You can also reach us via email. The best way is via Amy, but please be patient as I dont check my email all that often (due to no operable landlines to run internet). Steve may add his email address at a later post, so be watching:) Anyway, Amy's contact email address is: dapattenclanmamma@yahoo.com .
Update on the kids. Kenzie is now three years old, and is getting rather aggressive in turn. She is learning (bit by bit) that to be verbal gets results. She still clings in many ways, but she is learning that part of being a "big girl" is to not be so clingy. Abbi has become quite the instigator. I think that if God has her to be a lawyer at some point, she will do great. Unfortunately, that leaves me primarily to teach her when to argue and when to NOT argue. This wouldnt be a problem, except that she starts the arguments with Kenzie, and then throws lines from random movies at random times. This usually leads to quite the interesting conversation. We also think that Abbi will take my spot as resident NightOwl when she gets to college. Already she tends to stay up as late as she can, and then wake up as early as possible. The child is pure energy...if only we could have known beforehand, I would have gotten a monthly supply of Ginsing or something to keep up. To look at her now, and see myself only six or seven years ago scares me. To think I once had that much energy...where did it all go? It must have fled between Hudson's Ethics Finals, and numerous other finals, including NTI, and Sign Language. And to think I was only a Secretarial Major....hehehe. JohnMark (or Bubba as he is lovingly called) is growing like a weed. He is primarily in 12 month clothing, at 10 months. I dont care what the charts say, he is above the charts for the kids in this family. Already he is one pound less then Kenzie was at age one and two pounds less then Abbi at the same age. We may actually have a 20 pound child at age one...keep tuned for the update. He is also pulling himself up on things constantly. He is toying with the ability to walk along furniture as well...which is pretty interesting in and of itself. Thank goodness for diaper-cladded "rubber bummys". Bubba is also teething, and as Abbi did, breaks them in pairs, but like Kenzie, has no pain tolerance for it. This is the child that sat through a flu shot and did not flinch...but teeth are totally different. Guess it goes with being a guy..hehehe.
Well, I think that just about does it for now. Life goes on whether or not we want it to. For those of you who are parents, that means going to sleep with sweet little babies, and waking up with energetic kids that drive you six ways to insane within the first hour. For those of you who are not yet parents, that means going to sleep a college/high school student and waking up wandering what God has in store for you next, and where you are going to find out. I sit here on a friends computer, waiting while two of the three get shoes on so we can leave, and the third sleeps intently (until a kitten wakes him). Abbi continually is trying to avoid obeying, while Kenzie is lovingly aiding in her misadventures. To think that one day, this will all change, and they will finally obey, and want to-not just because they have learned to, but because God wants them to-continually amazes me. And whats more, we were once those kids, but through God's continual grace and mercy, we are no longer-even though we are capable of much more disobedience and occationally succomb to the temtation. With this thought I conclude this entry.

A Quick Note from Amy

Just a quick note: I finally put up a new post on the randomthoughtspot. From time to time I will put things on there that are pure randomness for the sake of such. If too much time goes by, then I will notify people of the updates over here.
Speaking of quick updates, JohnMark is recovering very well, He has gone back to smiling, laughing, crawling, giggling, babbling, and letting one and all know "I did it!" whatever "it" is. Just thought I would let yall know, and thank those who came by and read the first post for your prayers over the matter. I know that they helped not only him to heal, but me to stay sane through it all. -AMP

Crazy Life @ Home

Life has gotten hectic as of late. We are still awaiting the repairman to fix land lines (hence the reason there really hasnt been any updates from the family side of things), we have all three kids sick, Steve is going crazy with work, and I am going crazy due to lack of sleep due to the kids.
Let me backtrack a bit. JohnMark has gotten pegged with RSV, Abbi and Kenzie both have doube ear infections as well as bronchitis, and I have (what I think) has amounted to an ear infection given to me by the girls. So far, JohnMark seems to be holding his own, though his blood oxegyn numbers are a little screwy.
All this to say, this entry is short due to being on a friends computer and the fact that JohnMark is going bonkers due to not feeling well and being extrememly tired. Please keep us in prayer. We will update as we can.

Three Men in Life and Death

This is not original with me, but was sent to me in this weekend's Grif.Net. I thought it made a really good point. Anyone interested in subscribing to the Grif.Net, a daily dose of clean humor with sobriety on the weekends, can subscribe by going to www. grif.net.

Did anybody happen to notice this week the picture God painted for us as wewatched the events of the day unfold on every news station around theworld? The portrait of three men's lives shown clearly through the eventsof their deaths. One a wise man, one a foolish man and one a wicked man.These men captured the world's attention by their lives and their deaths. Their funerals spoke volumes about the course of life they had chosen topursue with the few short years God had granted to them.All three men, President Ford, James Brown and Saddam Hussein had choices intheir destiny. Today they have all three stood in front of the God of thisuniverse with those choices unveiled and judged. God allowed us to see threemen yesterday.President Gerald Ford, a man whose faith in God and service to his countrywas eulogized by many speakers during the solemn and dignified ceremonieswhich marked his passing. A man of character and integrity, not perfect butmade righteous by his faith in Jesus Christ. It was in this righteousnesshe lived out his life as a servant to his fellowman and his country. Greatmen and dignitaries attended his funeral, all coming to pay respect andhonor to a man most deserving.James Brown also was eulogized in a funeral ceremony befitting his lifechoices. There was blaring rock music, gyrating bodies, costumes, and greatsensual displays of revelry to portray the contribution this man had giventhrough his life to his fellowman. He lived a life of drugs, alcohol,immorality and rock music. He was heralded the father of Rap music and theinspiration of Michael Jackson's greatness. His funeral with all of itstheatrics was befitting the excess of waste his life portrayed.Then we had the gruesome hanging of Saddam Hussein. His death was as goryas his life. A brutal murderer and dictator hung by his neck and secretedaway in the middle of the night to an unmarked grave. Thousands of Iraqiscelebrated his death for through his life he had brought untold misery anddeath to many. A man so wicked that it seemed the world breathed acollective sigh of relief at the pronouncement of his death.Three men who left their mark on the entire world. All three have now stoodbefore their Creator to answer for the choices they made in their life asyou and I will someday.There is only one choice and Gerald Ford's life exemplifies the nobility ofchoosing to walk in harmony with The Creator through the acceptance of JesusChrist as his Redeemer.James Brown chose to walk in the flesh. His life's work glorified the fleshand his death magnified the flesh.Saddam Hussein chose evil. He was a narcissistic megalomaniac. His lifeglorified evil and his death was gruesome.This all played out in one day. God painted a great picture for mankind tosee. I pray people got His message.

[forwarded from Montana; original source unknown]

Christmas With The Pattens

Here is the pic of the kids. This one is first, as we all know that Christmas pictures are about how cute the kids are, not so much the parents. I am not too sure as to how or why JohnMark has the smile that he has, but I do know it has to do with a sister whose hand was behind him and moving. Just an aside-he is now fully mobile by whatever means he deems neccessary.
Our semi-annual family portrait. This was the nicest of the two, though not neccessarily my favorite of the two. I am thinking of putting the other one up at a future date and having a vote as to which is the cutest. Just to help the imagination, the other picture has Kenzie looking directly at the camera with a look of pure contempt. She in reality was just concentrating, but the look of muder was running through her mind. This one has both girls smiling nicely, but JohnMark isnt too sure.

Well, since we no longer have the internet at our house, my personal updates wont be coming as often. I will try to be getting them up before too much time between important things happen. To those of you who we normally send Christmas cards to, we will be sending them, but they may get there post facto. Better late then never in this case:) Feel free to email and let me know how things are going-AMP

Family Vacation Time

Well everyone, we are off on our annual vacation. We are going to Breezy Point for the annual hideout. We don't do a lot of the cold weather stuff, so we go up with my parents and brother, and sit around the fire, watch movies, eat popcorn, and go soak in the hot tub. YEAH!!

Anyone who is still around the Brainerd area please give us a call. We'd love to catch up with you. We will be there from 12/15-12/22. You can call either myself or Amy.

Steve- (507) 402-4530
Amy- (507) 402-4529

Merry Christmas

Recap of JohnMark's surgery

I must apologize in not getting specifics out about JohnMark's surgery. When he was born he was born with what is known as a hydrocele (pronounced hydro-seal). It is not entirely uncommon. Basically it is excess fluid around the testicles and there is a hole that goes into the abdomen so the fluid can pass back and forth. Obviously, there is a potential for some discomfort if it is not corrected. The hole can also grow larger and result in a full blown hernia. This condition usually heals itself and doctors frequently wait until the boy is around one year old before fixing it surgically. In JohnMark's case his was pretty big adn there is a family history of these things needing to be fixed surgically. There had also been a couple complications with his circumcision healing so the doctor fixed that as well.

A few months ago we knew he had been in serious pain repeatedly and our pediatrician referred us to the urologist here in Albert Lea, but reminded us that the urologist did not specialize in children, so if we didn't like what he said our pediatrician would refer us to a pediactric urologist at Mayo. The urologist at Albert Lea was not at all helpful and said JohnMark was in no pain because hydroceles do not cause pain. I have been told by some men that this is simply not true.
We were set to see the Dr. at Mayo at the end of September, but he had to take medical leave and the appointment had to be rescheduled for October. He saw JohnMark and was quick to admit that it was very likely causing him pain. Since it was causing pain and there was a family history of them not healing on their own and developing into hernias, he offered to fix it sonner than one year of age if we chose to do so. We did, and the surgery was scheduled for this week.
Hence, the reason we were at Mayo on Wednesday.

Jeremy (or Amanda), thanks for the comment. It didn't occur to me that Amy and I had not been publishing the details all along.

Following Him,
Steve, Amy, Abbi, Mackenzie, and JohnMark.

JohnMark's surgery

Well, JohnMark's surgery was a success. He came through it well, though he is a little sore, but the doctor thought everything was taken care of. Thanks to everyone for their prayers and well wishes.
Following Him,
Steve, Amy, Abbi, Mackenzie, and JohnMark

Comments?

To everyone and anyone reading the blog:
Please feel free to leave any thoughts or comments about any of the posts. It would be great to get some feedback and maybe even some lively dialogue started.

Have fun.

A Point to Ponder on the Present Playstation Panic

Before I embark on this post, I should note that to a point this post is done, or overdone as the case may be, with an intentional note of sarcasm.

Does anyone else think that this whole "gotta wait in the freezing cold for three days to spend a month's worth of pay to have a video game" thing is out of control? I mean, I'm really not THAT old, but nobody was at the store three days before it opened to buy Pong, Nintendo or Frogger. They went to the store and bought it once the store was open. What has happened to our culture, and every other culture in the world, that we are so obsessed about giving ourselves carpal tunnel and bad eyesight? Let's get real!!

I was honestly embarrassed when I read the front page of the local newspaper this last week. On the front page was a picture of two guys who had been waiting at Target for two or three days to get a Playstation. As I read the caption of the photo I realized that not only did I know one of these guys, but he was a fellow student from Bible College and used to teach junior high at a Christian school. Is this what we are teaching our youth about leadership, priorities, time management and stewardship?

In Psalm 40 we are exhorted to redeem our time. We know that the Lord's return is imminent and that we are accountable for out use of the time we are given on this earth. Let's redeem the time for God's honor and glory and not waste it away on material things that will pass away.

Youth Activity Ideas

I'm always trying to think of new, and of course bigger and better, youth activities for our youth group at church. At youth activities we generally have 15-25 youth from grades 6-12. Any ideas would be great. Obviously the best ideas will be not only fun, but lend themselves to a Biblical principle or lesson.

Currently I'm thinking about doing something along the lines of Deal or No Deal. Is it just me or is that an AWESOME show!! But since my brain is wired a little different, like there was any question about that, the part of the show that really intrigues me is the mathematics in figuring out what the probability is of the different values and how they decide how much to offer for the case. All activity ideas are welcomed.

Please remember, comments should be about activities; not how my brain is wired :)

Grandparent parents?

I have recently been very confused with the way county human service agencies seem to handle it when parents are not qualified to raise their young children. Can anyone explain this? Parents raise their children, but, for lack of a better term, mess them up. Whether it be through lack of discipline or lack of nurturing, or what have you, the parents raise children who, as adults, are irresponsible, immoral, and sometimes even in trouble with the law. For whatever reason these adult children have such poor parenting skills that they go out and have children of their own, usually out of wedlock, and start raising the children with even less guidance than they have. So what does the county do? Give the children to the grandparents. Does it ever occur to the county that if the parents were incompetent at raising their own children that they may very well be just as incapable of raising their grandchildren? Add to this the fact that most of these grandchildren have a number of years of negative training already under their belts. Why would the county do this when they know they are just going to perpetuate dysfunctional people who will continue to produce dysfunctional families and children? Because it shows the validity of their existence. Am I saying social workers are bad or unnecessary? Absolutely not! For those of you who do not know, my full time employment would not exist if it was not for social workers placing youth with our shelter/group home. This may be for behavioral issues or for safety sake. But over and over I have seen social workers put youth in placement but neglect offering other services that might be helpful such as counseling, therapeutic as opposed to psychiatric, or skills worker who works on social skills, or even basic mentoring.

I work in a field that would definitely be associated with human services, even though I am not a social worker, but this is not the majority opinion of most people in the field. Our society is unwilling to call sin what it is. It is not a bad choice, a small mistake or a speed bump. Scripture refers to our sins as the rags used to wipe sores from leprosy. How's that for a picturesque thought? When we realize that sin is SIN and that we are responsible for our behaviors, we come a long way.

We also need to remember that while parents are not responsible for the individual actions taken and choices made by their children, we can not ignore that Scripture clearly holds anyone in a position of authority responsible for how they lead those under them. Pastors are clearly held accountable for their leadership of the sheep God has entrusted to them (Hebrews 13). By way of principle this would also apply to parents, teacher, youth workers, etc. Too many times I see parents not taking responsibility for themselves, but conversely making their children not only take responsibility for the children's actions, but also holding the youth responsible for the parent's life. This week I had two different young men sit in the office with me and tell me that they believed they were directly responsible for the divorce of their parents. These divorces occurred when these young men were still small children, but their mothers had drummed into them that the problems were their fault. Another youth told me that he held himself responsible for his father's alcoholism even though he had barely seen his father in years!

Without true direction from God's manual on life how do we expect to raise children to be anything other than lost and separated from the love and will of God? Can unsaved youth become moral "good" kids? Of course. There is only one problem here. God doesn't require that our youth are moral or good. He requires that they be holy and sinless. This is the only method of entry into his presence. We must be perfectly holy and sinless either in and of ourselves or by proxy through Christ's full atonement.

We are always perpetuating a system. Is our parenting perpetuating God's system or the worlds? Let's get back to His Word and perpetuate His system.