Prepare for some shameless bragging:
Ethan's 6th grade CCS football team played against McCallie today. They played somewhat poorly during the first half, I think because they were intimidated by McCallie's A team (they played the B team last time, these were their bigger, older, better players). They played much, much better the second half, but not enough to win. Ethan, however, had a great game. He sacked the QB, made several good tackles and got to run the ball twice. The first time he ran the ball, he scored a touchdown. The second time he ran from about the 50 yard line to the 3. His dad was very impressed, he was so excited he couldn't stop smiling, and I was so proud I nearly lost my voice yelling for him. You can see pics over at my multiply site (see below for URL).
I have posted pics from the CVPC Fall Family Retreat/Missions Conference over on my multiply site. http://willaibach.multiply.com
FYI, Sydney has strep throat. Just publicizing it so that any of you church folk or others who have been around her this week are aware of it so that if your kids start complaining about a sore throat you will know to have them cultured.
Noah just ran by and said, "Hey Mom! Me and Joseph are trying to catch some spiders so we can put them in our underwear drawer!"
Should I be concerned about their mental well-being?
I love the placement of this song, coming right after "Surrender".
40
I waited patiently for the Lord.
He inclined and heard my cry.
He brought me up out of the pit
Out of the miry clay.
I will sing, sing a new song.
I will sing, sing a new song.
How long to sing this song?
How long to sing this song?
How long, how long, how long
How long to sing this song?
You set my feet upon a rock
And made my footsteps firm.
Many will see, many will see and hear.
I will sing, sing a new song.
I will sing, sing a new song
I will sing, sing a new song.
I will sing, sing a new song
How long to sing this song?
How long to sing this song?
How long to sing this song?
How long to sing this song? .
This morning Paige Benton Brown spoke and she was wonderful! We all agreed that we must purchase a copy of the dvd of her session to take back and show the other women at church. The basic outline was that Jesus, the incredible King of Glory described in Revelation, is the very Jesus who is our friend and Savior, and He is the beginning, the end, and every other moment in between. When we go through hard times, our response should not be to find a new solution, but to go deeper into our knowledge and relationship with Christ. She is a great speaker, interesting and fun to listen to, but above all has great Biblical insight and expresses it well.
There were two other speakers today, Mike Campbell, who spoke this evening and was good, but I was very distracted because I had had my contacts in for way too long and was getting a headache.
The middle speaker's name I do not remember, but I very much appreciated her message. She is a counselor to women and others who have experience various forms of sexual abuse, and she spoke about the incredible mission field that exists in girls and women who are vulnerable to such abuse. I appreciated the fact that she pointed out that we, the WIC of the PCA, spend huge amounts of time studying and discussing and teaching all the various ways to express the importance of women's place/position in the church, which is a vitally important topic, but we don't give equal weight to ministering to women's very real needs. She encouraged us to not just talk about where women should be and what they should do, but to get off our duffs and help them see Jesus.
A good day. But my fondest memory will be of the little incident that took place just before one of the sessions began. You see, there was this chair. . .well, I'll make a long story short by just saying that this chair has a history with Joli and I. And it squeaks when you sit down. Really, really, loudly. So we had been kind of watching it and wondering who would sit in it, and just when we had forgotten about it, Pat Wilson plunks down on it and it squeaked REALLY loudly. Being the childish people that we are, Joli and I proceeded to get a pretty bad case of the giggles. We both had tears pouring down our faces, so she turned to Anna Marr (affectionately known to us as "the General") and says,
"Hey, Anna. Do you have any Kleenex?"
Anna nodded her head yes, reached in her purse, and handed Joli a bag of peanuts.
Let's just say it didn't exactly cure our case of the giggles.
I'm in Atlanta at the PCA Women In the Church Conference. Tonight we enjoyed a sermon on the importance of the church by Ligon Duncan. It was preceded by testimonies of God's grace passed from generation to generation, given by Ligon Duncan's mother, whose name i forget, and by Barbara Juliani, the daughter of Rose Marie Miller, whose testimony is more elaborately shared in the book "Come Back, Barbara".
The highlight of the evening for me, though, was the Indelible Grace concert Joli and I attended. Indelible Grace has done a wonderful job of renewing and updating the tunes of old hymns, while preserving the wonderful lyrics and presenting them afresh to a new generation. I really enjoyed it.
Many thanks to my WONDERFUL husband, who is "stuck" at home with five children, one of whom is running a fever, two of whom clogged the toilet, and another which has to be at a football game at 8 am in the morning. And to top it off, he agreed to take someone else's son to the game because her husband's out of town and she's juggling multiple schedules as well. Pray for him, please. The weekend hasn't started off well for him.
Thanks, babe, for making the sacrifice so I can enjoy the weekend with the girls. I love you.
For those of you who have emailed or called, yes, we heard about Steve Irwin's death this morning in the hotel room before leaving for the lake this morning. I have had a heavy heart all day, not really even knowing how to grieve for someone I've never met, but have such a great fondness for. It's strange to be so affected by the death of a tv celebrity, but those of you who know our family know that The Crocodile Hunter has featured prominently in our family's life for many years now. The show itself has been a favorite, and through the various shows (Croc Hunter, Croc Diaries, Croc Files, etc), because of the nature of a non-fiction show, we have spent a lot of time over the years getting to know the Irwin family. Through the lens of the tv camera, we followed Terri's first pregnancy, and even joined the labor room when she gave birth to Bindi Sue, who is 11 months older than Sydney to the day. Syd's close age and Bindi's physical similarities to Syd has always endeared me to Bindi, it is primarily thinking of her that causes me the most grief. Anyone who has watched many of the shows knows that Bindi Sue was the apple of her daddy's eye. I know he received bad publicity for making a couple of judgement errors, but there is no doubt in my mind that Steve Irwin was a true family man, and he loved his children more than he could express. Bindi was at Steve's side almost every day for the first five years of her life, and even after starting school continued to be a constant presence in his work. She was 8 years old this past July, and I know that her father's death will be a devastating blow to her. I know that Terrie, his wife, and their 2 year old son, Bob, will also be struggling to deal with such a loss. But Bindi is who my heart continually breaks for.
My heart also aches for Wes Mannion, who any good Croc Hunter fan will know has been Steve Irwin's "best mate" since childhood. They have been through thick and thin together, and have been repeatedly instrumental in saving each other's lives and limbs in the adventures they have shared. I am certain this has been a devastating blow for Wes, who doesn't have a wife or children of his own, and whose life has been so much a part of the Irwins.