In which these are 7 Quick Takes

The 7 items of the week that occured to me but didn't warrant their own blog post.

-1-

I have been working on the next installment (for lack of a better word) in my ongoing dialogue about trusting God in the midst of suffering and pain. It's been a process. I got stalled because I was grappling with it. And then suddenly, something clicked.

Stop in on the weekend (or maybe Monday?) to check it out.

You can read about why I'm doing this at Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

-2-

Today Anne asked me if she could go back and "be two again." When I asked why, she said she wanted to have the fun of turning three again. But this time, she wants a vanilla cake.

-3-

I am not a fan of John Piper.

There. I said it.

Let the stone throwing begin.

I tried. I read his books. It seemed like a lot of people were being blessed by his ministry. But I had question and doubts and just couldn't agree with his focus.

And then I have always struggled with the Myth of John Piper as it seems that most of the Piper-ites are relentless and, to be frank, judgmental and narrow minded. (Ever heard that saying about how a little education can be more dangerous than ignorance?)

But after his comments on the tornadoes that struck the midwest? I think this guy is shooting for the vacancy left by Jerry Falwell.

When things like this happen, I remember why I've stopped calling myself an evangelical Christian. Instead, I say "Follower of Jesus."

I just can't handle the baggage that these guys are heaping up on top of the word Christian.

-4-

Our condo is still up for sale. We adjusted the price. We have showings galore. Which are absolutely exhausting.

I am thinking of making a rule that no one is allowed to come see the house unless they have already written me an offer. I'm tired of trying to keep the house "show room ready".

Thank goodness, I gave up on housekeeping earlier. This is killing me.

-5-

Brian took Anne to their first lacrosse game. It was his first of many Daddy Date Nights. They got a bite to eat and then went to the old 1930s arena in Queen's Park. They watched our local lacrosse team, the Salmonbellies. Neither one of them had ever been to a lacrosse game and despite my repeated insistence that he would LOVE it, he just never got around to going. And sure enough, they both fell madly in love with lacrosse. Anne came home, floating two feet off the ground, wearing a Bellies t-shirt that is 8 sizes too big for her and telling of her plans to be a goalie.

On a side note, there is something grand about screaming GO, BELLIES! Too often we don't like the bellies. We do sit ups to get rid of the bellies. So to unabashedly be pro-belly is a beautiful thing.

-6-

Two very dear friends of ours welcomed their second babies this week. Welcome Kaia Medley and Burke Edward. We love them already.

This is the part that sucks about friends being scattered to and fro across the earth. Can't wait to see them and hug their babies.

-7-

And finally, best for last, Joseph is sleeping. As in, he only was up once the last three nights.

ONCE. ONCE!

He slept from 7 until midnight and then again until 7 in the morning.

I stopped sleeping well when I was about 6 months pregnant with him. This is the first time in nearly 17 months that I have slept longer than 2 hours together.

That boy is a genius.