As 2011 comes to a close I feel compelled to write a Christmas letter, even though most people who read this probably already know everything anyway. So, here goes!
2011 has been an eventful year in the Metcalf house. Our beloved Derek turned 2 in February. It was really hard to believe he was that old, and now we are staring down the barrel at 3!! He was in his first wedding in March when he was one of the ring bearers in his Aunt Jessica's wedding. He did so well, and was the only one who did not cry going down the aisle! Go Derek!!! He has loved being a big brother since May. He loves his baby brother so much. Every night before brother goes to bed Derek has to give him a hug and a kiss and tell him that he loves him. It's adorable! In August he got another opportunity to be a ring bearer in his Aunt Rebekah's wedding. He walked down the aisle so nicely, and made everybody laugh when he was aghast that the flower girl was throwing the flower petals on the floor. he kept saying "no, no! Don't spill the flowers!" Right after the wedding we tackled potty training, and he accomplished that in less than a week. Christmas this year was a blast! He loved opening his gifts, and even loved helping his little brother open his gifts to. He would open them and then go show him what each thing was. Derek speaks in full sentences now, and there are not many things he cannot say. He's growing up before our eyes. We are so proud of how much he has learned in the past year.
On May 27th we were ecstatic to welcome Owen Michael into our family. He was born at about 4:30pm after a 5 hour labor. This was my first natural birth, and it was amazing! I am so proud to have been able to accomplish it. Owen is not the greatest sleeper, but he makes up for it in sparkling personality. He brings a big baby smile into the room whenever he enters. He has cut two teeth in the past month, and is eating solids very well after being exclusively nursed for the first 5 months. He still prefers to nurse over any other form of food, but he is enjoying trying new tastes of fruit and veggies as well. He crawls everywhere, and is into everything! It is so fun watching him grow and develop!
Nathan continues his job as a youth pastor at our local church. We just passed the two year mark at this church in September and things are really amping up there. This past year Nathan went on two ski trips, a Colorado camping trip, a service project trip to Wisconsin, and a few other trips with the youth group. He stays very busy to say the least. He is also a substitute school bus driver for our school district. It's a great chance for him to meet new kids.
I continue my work with the transitional home for women. I have moved from just being a relief staff member to being the relief staff manager. It is a big change so far as I take over the tasks of scheduling and managing the staff. So far so good though. My primary role is still at home with the kiddos. Derek and Owen are the lights of my days! They are a lot of fun. I am doing a lot of pre-preschool things with Derek to prepare him for starting preschool in the fall. Owen and I are the best of friends. Anywhere I am, he has to be too. I love it!
Our cats, Calvin and Piper are doing well too for those curious. They still don't get along very well, but they have established the pecking order and they have calmed down about it a little.
We wish you all the best in the coming year. We rejoice that the Son of God was incarnated as a tiny baby so that he might grow to be the perfect Lamb of God, a sacrifice for our sins that we might be reconciled to God. We thank Jesus for the precious gift of salvation. And we praise God for His perfect plan to send his Son as a baby. Amen! May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all this holiday!!!
Soli Deo Gloria,
The Metcalf family,
Nathan, Sarah, Derek and Owen
Showing posts with label Holidays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holidays. Show all posts
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Sunday, June 19, 2011
For Father's Day
To my Daddy: What can a girl say about the best Daddy God could have given her? There's so much I should tell you. Like how you were a perfect example of the kind of guy I should look for to marry myself. I say perfect because you were not afraid of your imperfections, but you always were diligent about killing the sin in your life even in front of me and Bekah, showing us how we should do it too. I never harbored ill feelings for the things you missed because of your job. After all, what's one or two piano recitals missed when we took the coolest family vacations ever? :) You have taught me so many lessons through the years, I can't possibly name them all. But, I can tell you this, when the situation presents itself, I will suddenly remember very vividly something you said, or did in the same situation that taught me how to handle it. I totally forgive you for choosing Butterfly Kisses as our Father/Daughter dance at my wedding and making me cry so hard there was no recovering my makeup afterwards. :)One of my favorite memories is having Super Soaker fights in the backyard. We battled with the old pump action Super Soaker 50's (The COOLEST water guns on the market at the time) and we always ended up drenched. I wonder how one of those battles would go with the new battery powered automatic water guns nowadays!! Or how you would set up the little tent in the backyard every year for me and Bekah to play in, and you would be a good sport one night a year and agree to camp out with us in it. You very rarely said no to watching me jump on Jack's trampoline, even though I'm sure I asked at some pretty inopportune times. Although I was pretty excited when we were finally able to get a trampoline of our own. I got over hating you for grounding me from the car after I backed it into the garage by accident, then didn't tell you about it for weeks. I still talk about the times you took me on a trip with you. Even though one of those times didn't turn out the way we thought it would. Remember how we ended up in Morristown NJ instead of Manhattan??? Oops! :) However, there is one thing that sticks in my mind most of all. Something you taught me with out even realizing it. It was after Mom and I got into a huge fight. We were hurling insults at each other, and you arrived and broke up the fight. I remember you doling out my punishment for disrespecting her (don't remember what the punishment was, but I was mad about it). I said something along the lines of how it was unfair when she was just as guilty in the fight as I was. You leveled your gaze at me and said "She is my wife and I will protect her, even from you." With out realizing it, you showed me the lengths a man should go for his wife. Fortunately, the Lord gave me a husband who lives up to this. Thank you for showing me what that type of man looks like so I could recognize him when I found him. Most of all, thank you for showing me Jesus. Thank you for your constant witness during the 21 years I lived under your roof. Thank you for the example of parenting you have given me. I love you so much Daddy!!!
To my Husband: How could I have asked for a better father for my children?? God sure knew what he was doing when he gave you to me! Our boys are blessed to call you Daddy. I love watching you wrestle with Derek and lavish Owen with kisses. I jokingly call you the "baby guy" because you are always so great with the little ones, but especially your own. I love the twinkle you get in your eyes when your son(s) are the subject of conversation. And the way you laugh with me when we have parenting mishaps. I love that after two children, your love for me hasn't faded a bit. You hear of dads who are totally disconnected from their wives and children, and I am so thankful that you are willingly engaged in your family. I love that you are always striving to be a better example of Jesus to our children. In this they will see Him. Thank you for getting up with Derek every day, especially now that we have Owen and I am up during the night with him. Thank you for doing the dishes, and helping with the laundry, and helping with the cleaning. Thank you for being patient with me and my messiness, even though I know it sometimes drives you to the brink of insanity. I love you more than you'll ever know.
To my Grandpa: I miss you more than ever now that it's been 12 years since you went to be with Jesus. I wish more than anything that you could have met Derek and Owen. I wish you could have taken them fishing. They would have loved that. I am so incredibly thankful that you are my grandpa. More than anything else I am thankful that you came to know Jesus before it was too late. I know that you are waiting to meet my boys in heaven when we all join you eventually. I can't wait to introduce them to you. In the meantime, they will hear stories about you. Like how you spared a 4 or 5 year old me the trauma of knowing I'd accidentally killed a fish. It swallowed the hook and there was just no way to remove it without killing the fish. You skillfully redirected my attention and disposed of the dead fish before I even knew what had happened. Or how you bravely quit smoking cold turkey because the doctor told you if you wanted more time with your family you had to quit. Or how you used to give me money and tell me not to tell Mom. I love and miss you Grandpa.
To my Pop Pop: I'm so glad you get to know my boys. Derek and Owen are so incredibly blessed to have a great grandfather to get to know. Thanks for always putting us up in your house when we came to visit Rochester. You are a pretty incredible example to me of how to stay young. :) I mean when I was in high school you were still playing tennis at the club all the time! I'm so glad you and Nana are a part of my life, and a part of Derek's life. I can't wait for you guys to meet Owen!!! Thank you for all you have done for me over the years. I love you!!!
To my Husband: How could I have asked for a better father for my children?? God sure knew what he was doing when he gave you to me! Our boys are blessed to call you Daddy. I love watching you wrestle with Derek and lavish Owen with kisses. I jokingly call you the "baby guy" because you are always so great with the little ones, but especially your own. I love the twinkle you get in your eyes when your son(s) are the subject of conversation. And the way you laugh with me when we have parenting mishaps. I love that after two children, your love for me hasn't faded a bit. You hear of dads who are totally disconnected from their wives and children, and I am so thankful that you are willingly engaged in your family. I love that you are always striving to be a better example of Jesus to our children. In this they will see Him. Thank you for getting up with Derek every day, especially now that we have Owen and I am up during the night with him. Thank you for doing the dishes, and helping with the laundry, and helping with the cleaning. Thank you for being patient with me and my messiness, even though I know it sometimes drives you to the brink of insanity. I love you more than you'll ever know.
To my Grandpa: I miss you more than ever now that it's been 12 years since you went to be with Jesus. I wish more than anything that you could have met Derek and Owen. I wish you could have taken them fishing. They would have loved that. I am so incredibly thankful that you are my grandpa. More than anything else I am thankful that you came to know Jesus before it was too late. I know that you are waiting to meet my boys in heaven when we all join you eventually. I can't wait to introduce them to you. In the meantime, they will hear stories about you. Like how you spared a 4 or 5 year old me the trauma of knowing I'd accidentally killed a fish. It swallowed the hook and there was just no way to remove it without killing the fish. You skillfully redirected my attention and disposed of the dead fish before I even knew what had happened. Or how you bravely quit smoking cold turkey because the doctor told you if you wanted more time with your family you had to quit. Or how you used to give me money and tell me not to tell Mom. I love and miss you Grandpa.
To my Pop Pop: I'm so glad you get to know my boys. Derek and Owen are so incredibly blessed to have a great grandfather to get to know. Thanks for always putting us up in your house when we came to visit Rochester. You are a pretty incredible example to me of how to stay young. :) I mean when I was in high school you were still playing tennis at the club all the time! I'm so glad you and Nana are a part of my life, and a part of Derek's life. I can't wait for you guys to meet Owen!!! Thank you for all you have done for me over the years. I love you!!!
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Why My Family Will Celebrate Christmas
I recently was reading a seemingly innocuous post on Christmas tradition by Mark Driscoll on Facebook, and was shocked to discover that there are many Christians who feel very passionately that celebrating Christmas is sinful. Their rationalization is that Christmas is a pagan holiday (Saturnalia) assimilated by the Catholic Church. Now, this is actually true. The timing of the pagan celebration of Saturnalia, and the pagan celebrations for the Winter Solstice were considered by the Church when choosing a date for the Christmas celebration. However, I do not feel that it is sinful to celebrate Christmas. I've listed a few arguments below used by people against Christmas, and why we have chosen to overlook said argument.\
1. It's a pagan holiday assimilated by the Church. We shouldn't celebrate any pagan holidays.
-True. We shouldn't as Christians celebrate Saturnalia, or the Winter Solstice. But that's not what I'm celebrating at Christmas. I don't even know all the ins and outs of Saturnalia, nor do I care. And as far as the Winter Solstice goes... If we never had another Winter Solstice ever again I would be the happiest person in the world. No winter celebrations here. Not for this summer lovin' girl. :) No, I do not celebrate those things. Christmas is a celebration of Jesus' incarnation on this earth. It is a great miracle that God had a plan of salvation in place from the very beginning of time. He knew that Adam and Eve would screw up in the Garden of Eden. He knew before the creation of the earth that He would need a plan of salvation for the humans He was about to create in His image. Jesus was that plan. God sent His Son to earth in human form so that He might live as a man for a time before completing His salvific work by dying on the cross and rising again on the third day (but that's another holiday altogether!). Christmas is when we celebrate Jesus' birth as a human baby. Amazing isn't it that we can take this time every year to specifically remember this sacrifice that Jesus made for us? Philippians 2 tells us of this sacrifice: "who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant,b being born in the likeness of men. 8And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. " (ESV) While we should give thanks for this all year round, it is only fitting that we take time to especially honor what Jesus has done. That brings me to the next argument...
2. We should celebrate Jesus' birth all year.
-Yes, but like I said, it is only fitting that we dedicate our minds for a season to really marvel at what Jesus has done. I mean, we should be thankful for Jesus' death and resurrection year round too, but I don't see anyone arguing against Easter. (Although I say that and there probably are those out there who do.) We can only give God more glory by dwelling on the miracle of the incarnation, and in the end isn't that what life is all about?
3. Jesus wasn't born on the 25th of December!
-Who gives a flying flip? The only reason you know when you were born is because of the careful records kept by this country. You could have been an orphan from some other country and have not a clue when your birthday is. Wouldn't you still want to celebrate one if you could? Besides, I have heard very few people actually argue that Jesus was born in December. That's obviously not the point. The point is we take time in December to celebrate the incarnation. We could do it in June if we wanted, although then you'd probably have the naysayers up in arms about the Summer Solstice. :)
This certainly isn't an exhaustive list of arguments, it's just the ones that I heard most frequently while I was reading. I don't feel the need to defend my decision to celebrate Christmas, but I thought it would make for an interesting blog post!
1. It's a pagan holiday assimilated by the Church. We shouldn't celebrate any pagan holidays.
-True. We shouldn't as Christians celebrate Saturnalia, or the Winter Solstice. But that's not what I'm celebrating at Christmas. I don't even know all the ins and outs of Saturnalia, nor do I care. And as far as the Winter Solstice goes... If we never had another Winter Solstice ever again I would be the happiest person in the world. No winter celebrations here. Not for this summer lovin' girl. :) No, I do not celebrate those things. Christmas is a celebration of Jesus' incarnation on this earth. It is a great miracle that God had a plan of salvation in place from the very beginning of time. He knew that Adam and Eve would screw up in the Garden of Eden. He knew before the creation of the earth that He would need a plan of salvation for the humans He was about to create in His image. Jesus was that plan. God sent His Son to earth in human form so that He might live as a man for a time before completing His salvific work by dying on the cross and rising again on the third day (but that's another holiday altogether!). Christmas is when we celebrate Jesus' birth as a human baby. Amazing isn't it that we can take this time every year to specifically remember this sacrifice that Jesus made for us? Philippians 2 tells us of this sacrifice: "who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant,b being born in the likeness of men. 8And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. " (ESV) While we should give thanks for this all year round, it is only fitting that we take time to especially honor what Jesus has done. That brings me to the next argument...
2. We should celebrate Jesus' birth all year.
-Yes, but like I said, it is only fitting that we dedicate our minds for a season to really marvel at what Jesus has done. I mean, we should be thankful for Jesus' death and resurrection year round too, but I don't see anyone arguing against Easter. (Although I say that and there probably are those out there who do.) We can only give God more glory by dwelling on the miracle of the incarnation, and in the end isn't that what life is all about?
3. Jesus wasn't born on the 25th of December!
-Who gives a flying flip? The only reason you know when you were born is because of the careful records kept by this country. You could have been an orphan from some other country and have not a clue when your birthday is. Wouldn't you still want to celebrate one if you could? Besides, I have heard very few people actually argue that Jesus was born in December. That's obviously not the point. The point is we take time in December to celebrate the incarnation. We could do it in June if we wanted, although then you'd probably have the naysayers up in arms about the Summer Solstice. :)
This certainly isn't an exhaustive list of arguments, it's just the ones that I heard most frequently while I was reading. I don't feel the need to defend my decision to celebrate Christmas, but I thought it would make for an interesting blog post!
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Merry Christmas!
Well all, Christmas is tomorrow and there is much anticipation and excitement around our house. I am pausing from baking and wrapping presents to write this hoping that it will bring some holiday cheer to you all. This year has been a crazy year for us. Last December just before Christmas I was laid off from my job at the hotel. One year ago we were wondering how we were going to make it through the next few months. Then, the Lord provided for us in the form of unemployment. Unemployment made it possible for me to plan to stay at home full time when our little boy was born in February... which of course brings me to the most joyous happening of all this year. On February 4th we welcomed Derek Bruce into our family. Our first baby! We are so happy that he is part of our family! We could not have asked for a better son. He is so easy going and talkative, and smart. He is 10 months old as I write this and he says "mama" to me and "dada" to Nathan. He says "no" (which I wish he didn't! lol) and "buh buh" for bye bye! He is eating table food (although not for full meals) and loves cracker snacks and Cheerios. He loves his sippy cups with the straws and water. He is smiley and happy obedient and tender hearted. He stands by himself, crawls around the house and plays with the cats. He is just all around a fantastic kid. In July we took a vacation to Illinois to see Nathan's family. We met up with our good friends Nick and Patty and Ben and Jena while on the trip and Derek got to meet his "cousins" Natalie and Kadence. Then on the 4th of July we went out to see Nathan's extended family and Derek got to play with his real cousins Caleb and Isaac. I never had any cousins growing up so I am excited that Derek gets to have them. Caleb is two years older than Derek and Isaac is only 4 months older than Derek, so it's really fun to know that he has a cousin the same age as him! We had a lot of fun in Illinois, but we had another issue to deal with at home. Nathan applied for a job as a youth pastor at a church in Kansas, and after applying for many youth pastor jobs and years of looking for one, we finally got a bite! The church called us to come for a visit, and they offered us the position at the end of our visit. That was a huge decision for us. We decided in August to accept the position, and we moved to Kansas at the end of September. We bought a house and moved into it in November. It is so exciting to own our own place! After renting for the last 4 1/2 years we finally have a place to call our own! It's wonderful!
Well, that has been our year in a nutshell. Amidst all the busyness of the season I want to urge you to take time to reflect upon the reason we celebrate Christmas. I am reminded time and time again as I hold Derek in my arms that Jesus was once a baby just like Derek and was held in Mary's arms just like I hold Derek in mine. Having a baby boy has brought home to me what a wondrous thing the incarnation was. How Jesus humbled himself and gave up His place in Heaven to come to earth as a baby. A helpless little baby. It's amazing. Praise God for His glorious redemption plan!!! Amen and Amen! Soli Deo Gloria!!!!!!
Well, that has been our year in a nutshell. Amidst all the busyness of the season I want to urge you to take time to reflect upon the reason we celebrate Christmas. I am reminded time and time again as I hold Derek in my arms that Jesus was once a baby just like Derek and was held in Mary's arms just like I hold Derek in mine. Having a baby boy has brought home to me what a wondrous thing the incarnation was. How Jesus humbled himself and gave up His place in Heaven to come to earth as a baby. A helpless little baby. It's amazing. Praise God for His glorious redemption plan!!! Amen and Amen! Soli Deo Gloria!!!!!!
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Christmas Guest Blog
Hi all! I have gained permission from my good friends Jennifer and Aaron to use this post as a guest post on my page. They are in the middle of a journey to embryo adoption. To those unfamiliar with this term it goes something like this:
When a couple chooses to pursue in-vitro fertilization multiple embryos are created and then a few at a time are implanted into the mother's uterus. For many couples once the procedure has worked and they have gotten the number of children they desired, the remaining embryos are forgotten about. They remain frozen in cryogenics indefinitely, or worse yet, the parents give them over to the clinics where they are often killed in the pursuit of embryonic stem cell research. Embryonic adoption offers another alternative to these forgotten children. The embryos are adopted, and then implanted into the adoptive mother's uterus. She carries the child and gives birth just as if she had concieved naturally. This experience is unique because the adoptive mother gets to experience pregnancy and labor and delivery even though the child is not biologically related to her. This option of embryo adoption is also a less expensive and time consuming route than traditional adoption because, unfortunately, it is seen as a transfer of property rather than the adoption of a child. Anyway, this is the journey that Jennifer and Aaron have found themselves on and I am incredibly excited for them, and about embryonic adoption in general. Their story is a touching one and I will include a link to their blog at the end of this post! Thanks so much Jennifer and Aaron for allowing me to re post this!!!!
Here is a link to Jeenifer and Aaron's blog!
http://www.aaronandjennwilson.blogspot.com
When a couple chooses to pursue in-vitro fertilization multiple embryos are created and then a few at a time are implanted into the mother's uterus. For many couples once the procedure has worked and they have gotten the number of children they desired, the remaining embryos are forgotten about. They remain frozen in cryogenics indefinitely, or worse yet, the parents give them over to the clinics where they are often killed in the pursuit of embryonic stem cell research. Embryonic adoption offers another alternative to these forgotten children. The embryos are adopted, and then implanted into the adoptive mother's uterus. She carries the child and gives birth just as if she had concieved naturally. This experience is unique because the adoptive mother gets to experience pregnancy and labor and delivery even though the child is not biologically related to her. This option of embryo adoption is also a less expensive and time consuming route than traditional adoption because, unfortunately, it is seen as a transfer of property rather than the adoption of a child. Anyway, this is the journey that Jennifer and Aaron have found themselves on and I am incredibly excited for them, and about embryonic adoption in general. Their story is a touching one and I will include a link to their blog at the end of this post! Thanks so much Jennifer and Aaron for allowing me to re post this!!!!
Christmas Thoughts about Embryo Adoption
Well now that Thanksgiving is over, we are officially into the Christmas season. Of course, working in retail I've been experiencing the Christmas season since September. I'm glad that everyone else is now catching up.
I don't make many blog posts, but I wanted to share something that occurred to me a few days ago as I was thinking about Christmas. I was making my hour commute to work and reflecting on all the activity that Christmas brings to retail and the real reason that we as Christians celebrate the holiday. My mind went to a picture of a Willow Tree nativity that we keep on top of our entertainment center year-round. As I'm passing it, I often like to look at the baby Jesus in Mary's arms and remember how God left many of the privileges of Godhood and humbled himself by entering into the form of a baby. I realize that I've always thought of the beginning of the incarnation in that way: that in a moment in time, God left his throne for a manger.
What occurred to me that morning is that the real beginning of the incarnation didn't happen on Christmas. God didn't enter into humanity on Christmas morning as a baby, he entered it nine months earlier as a human embryo. Matthew 1:18 says that before Mary and Joseph came together, she was "found to be with child through the Holy Spirit." Two verses later, God tells Joseph that "what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit." That's Biblical grounds for the existence of life at conception right there, that God equates "what is conceived" to being a child. Doesn't that make the incarnation all the more amazing? Jesus goes from ruling the world in Heaven with his Father and the Holy Spirit and enters into the smallest, most dependent, most microscopic form of human life. I've always known that Jesus has a heart for all unborn children, including those who are frozen as embryos. How much more do I know that now, realizing that the same Saviour who submitted himself to death on a cross for my sake, first submitted himself to a womb.
Even more special to embryo adoption is the fact that this could have been exactly what Mary and Joseph did. Not to get too technical, but we know that Jesus' conception was not of result of Joseph's or any man's sperm. We don't know if the Holy Spirit brought about Jesus' conception by using one of Mary's eggs or if Jesus was conceived as one cell without an egg at all. The latter however, is certainly a possibility and if it true, it means that Mary carried and adopted with Joseph a child who was not biologically related to them. If this happened, then the first embryo adoption happened over 2,000 years ago.
Again, we don't know the specifics of how the Holy Spirit brought about the incarnation, but even if Mary's egg had been used, Joseph adopted a child that his wife carried who was not biologically related to him. Of course, this was a miracle and a unique circumstance, so we can't use it to justify ethically debated forms of reproductive technology that aren't in the realm of embryo adoption. However, we can know for sure that the wonderful truth of the Christmas story includes a couple's commitment to adopt a baby before birth. I know all the more that it is God's desire that all embryo's get a chance at birth. I know this because Jesus was once one.
I don't make many blog posts, but I wanted to share something that occurred to me a few days ago as I was thinking about Christmas. I was making my hour commute to work and reflecting on all the activity that Christmas brings to retail and the real reason that we as Christians celebrate the holiday. My mind went to a picture of a Willow Tree nativity that we keep on top of our entertainment center year-round. As I'm passing it, I often like to look at the baby Jesus in Mary's arms and remember how God left many of the privileges of Godhood and humbled himself by entering into the form of a baby. I realize that I've always thought of the beginning of the incarnation in that way: that in a moment in time, God left his throne for a manger.
What occurred to me that morning is that the real beginning of the incarnation didn't happen on Christmas. God didn't enter into humanity on Christmas morning as a baby, he entered it nine months earlier as a human embryo. Matthew 1:18 says that before Mary and Joseph came together, she was "found to be with child through the Holy Spirit." Two verses later, God tells Joseph that "what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit." That's Biblical grounds for the existence of life at conception right there, that God equates "what is conceived" to being a child. Doesn't that make the incarnation all the more amazing? Jesus goes from ruling the world in Heaven with his Father and the Holy Spirit and enters into the smallest, most dependent, most microscopic form of human life. I've always known that Jesus has a heart for all unborn children, including those who are frozen as embryos. How much more do I know that now, realizing that the same Saviour who submitted himself to death on a cross for my sake, first submitted himself to a womb.
Even more special to embryo adoption is the fact that this could have been exactly what Mary and Joseph did. Not to get too technical, but we know that Jesus' conception was not of result of Joseph's or any man's sperm. We don't know if the Holy Spirit brought about Jesus' conception by using one of Mary's eggs or if Jesus was conceived as one cell without an egg at all. The latter however, is certainly a possibility and if it true, it means that Mary carried and adopted with Joseph a child who was not biologically related to them. If this happened, then the first embryo adoption happened over 2,000 years ago.
Again, we don't know the specifics of how the Holy Spirit brought about the incarnation, but even if Mary's egg had been used, Joseph adopted a child that his wife carried who was not biologically related to him. Of course, this was a miracle and a unique circumstance, so we can't use it to justify ethically debated forms of reproductive technology that aren't in the realm of embryo adoption. However, we can know for sure that the wonderful truth of the Christmas story includes a couple's commitment to adopt a baby before birth. I know all the more that it is God's desire that all embryo's get a chance at birth. I know this because Jesus was once one.
http://www.aaronandjennwilson.blogspot.com
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
The Joy of Giving
With the holidays on us I have been reflecting a lot on giving lately. This morning the thought hit me: How empty life would be without giving!!! Let me explain: on Saturday we went to the little Christian bookstore here in town looking for the Veggie Tales Christmas movie, The Toy that Saved Christmas. I LOVE that movie, and Derek had grown a love for Veggie Tales while visiting my parents last week. Anyway, they didn't have that movie, but they did have the newest one called St. Nicholas. I was apprehensive at first. I wasn't sure how much Santa Claus lore would be in it, and those of you who have read my blog at all know exactly how I feel about Santa Claus! But, I bought it and took it home anyway. I watched it first without Derek, and guess what... I LOVED it!!! Santa was in it, but it was all about the story of St. Nicholas and how the Santa Claus legend got started. It was also about giving. It really is hearwarming. It resonated with me because my love language is giving gifts. That's how I show people I love them. I realized that my life would be pretty sad without giving. Nothing makes me happier than when I'm asked to donate a dollar to childhood cancer research, the Salvation Army, the Red Cross, or the Make A Wish Foundation. (In my opinion there's no excuse for not donating the dollar. I mean come on, they ask you at the check out. You're already spending money. Donate the flipping dollar!) Anyway, as Christmas approaches I want to really focus on giving. There's a song on the Veggie Tales movie: "I can love because God loves me, I can give because He gave. Jesus' love it why I'm smiling, why I'm giving every day." I'm not talking about just giving gifts at Christmas, I'm talking about giving of myself. Giving up things that make me comfortable for the sake of my family. Giving up my nights when needed for the sake of my son. Giving up my "me time" to clean the house for the sake of my husband. When I do these things, I glorify God with my giving. That's what giving is all about. Glorifying God and following His example of humbling Himself to the point of death. So let's all think about how we can give of ourselves this Christmas!!!!
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Repost
In the spirit of the holidays I'm reposting something I wrote back in April explaining my position on holiday issues.
I had a conversation with my best friend recently about holidays and how we were choosing to celebrate them. Since becoming a parent a couple of months ago I have realized that Nathan and I need to be very intentional with our actions and words around a holiday. I mean an important holiday, not like Flag Day or the 4th of July. I'm talking about Christmas, and Easter and Thanksgiving... the important Christian high holidays. Especially Christmas and Easter. Our conversation was about these two particular holidays and how we were going to present them to our children. She had really been thinking about what she was going to tell her son about Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. Should she let him believe in them or not? If not, to what extent should he know about them? She was telling me during the course of the conversation that she and her husband took their son to an Easter egg hunt, and encouraged me to find an Easter egg hunt near us to take Derek to, even if he wasn't old enough to understand really, she thought it would be a fun family activity. When I told her that Nathan and I didn't really want to introduce him to Easter egg hunts or let him participate in them there was a short silence on the other end of the phone before she said "well it's not a sin to take your kid to an Easter egg hunt." She is right. It is not a sin to take your kid to an Easter egg hunt. It is not a sin to let your kid participate in one. But Nathan and I believe very strongly that Easter is the most important holiday in the Christian faith! It is even more important than Christmas because Easter is the day that the Lord Jesus rose again and completed his act of saving us from our sin! Without Easter we would have a dead god just like the rest of the false world religions. Without Easter there would be no propitiation for sin because Jesus would not have been God, but just a man. To detract from the awe and worship we should have in our hearts on this day by going on a silly pointless egg hunt or talking about a stupid rabbit would be wrong! We as believers should only have eyes for the Lord this day! We should have ourselves so fixated on the power of the cross and the resurrection that we don't care about candy eggs and bunnies. I can't stress enough how much I want my home to be rejoicing in the resurrection, and let's be honest, what child is thinking about the empty tomb while on an Easter egg hunt? Derek will not think "Gee, I'm really glad Jesus is risen" while searching for eggs. No, he will be thinking "I want candy!" Any normal child would. Easter is not about "I want candy." Easter is about "The Lord is Risen!" and that is the sound I want to hear in my house. So, no, while I don't feel there is anything inherently wrong in going on an Easter egg hunt in an of itself, I feel that it is wrong to detract from the glory Jesus should be getting on this day.
Now, the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus are a whole other matter entirely. Not only do both of these entities detract from the glory God should be getting on their respective holidays, but I believe there is a measure of sin in allowing your children to believe in them. Here is why... there is not one parent out there who's children believe in Santa who has not lied to them to perpetuate that belief. Whether it's an outright lie, or simply a lie of omission. At first it seems harmless when the kids are little and it does not take much work to allow them to believe in Santa. They go to bed fairly early on Christmas Eve, so mom and dad have plenty of time to get the presents under the tree, and they don't ask a lot of questions. But think about this, every parent who has written a letter to Santa for their young child has lied to them. They have simply not told them the truth, which is the same as a lie. They have perpetuated a deception. As the kids get older, it gets harder and harder to perpetuate the belief. Mom and Dad have to start getting up in the middle of the night to put the presents under the tree, or worse, the older child wants to sleep on the couch hoping to catch a glimpse of Santa, so mom and dad have to sneak around absolutely silently lest they wake the child and shatter their belief. Some older children may even begin to ask questions to which a parent has to outright lie in their answer to perpetuate the belief. Then finally one day, the child really is too old to believe in that stuff so he says to his mom, "Mommy, is Santa real?" "No honey, he's not." "Mommy, is the Easter Bunny real?" "No honey, it's not." "Mommy, is the Tooth Fairy real?" "No honey, she's not." Now that the child's whole belief system has been tragically shattered in one conversation, he asks one more tentative question. "Mommy, is Jesus real?" "Yes, honey, Jesus is real." And he is supposed to take my word for it??? You see, not only has the child's belief system been yanked out from under him, but his trust in me has also been crushed. Not permanently I suppose, but for that point in time, and maybe for some time after he may struggle to believe the Bible stories I tell him, after all I told him a lot of stories about Santa too. For this reason, it's dangerous to perpetuate belief in these non existent entities. It is far better for a child to know the truth from the beginning so there will never be a question of what is true and what isn't. Even if that means that the child will miss out on the "fun" of believing in Santa or the Easter Bunny. (Truth be told, I never believed in those things and I didn't feel that I missed out on anything, except being lied to by my parents, which I wouldn't have wanted anyways!)
These are really just the things we have decided for our family. I'm not going to condemn anyone who decides that Santa and the Easter Bunny are fine for their children to believe in. I am going to challenge them to really think about that decision though in the context of Scripture to see if that is the God glorifying decision, or if they're letting the world influence them.
I had a conversation with my best friend recently about holidays and how we were choosing to celebrate them. Since becoming a parent a couple of months ago I have realized that Nathan and I need to be very intentional with our actions and words around a holiday. I mean an important holiday, not like Flag Day or the 4th of July. I'm talking about Christmas, and Easter and Thanksgiving... the important Christian high holidays. Especially Christmas and Easter. Our conversation was about these two particular holidays and how we were going to present them to our children. She had really been thinking about what she was going to tell her son about Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. Should she let him believe in them or not? If not, to what extent should he know about them? She was telling me during the course of the conversation that she and her husband took their son to an Easter egg hunt, and encouraged me to find an Easter egg hunt near us to take Derek to, even if he wasn't old enough to understand really, she thought it would be a fun family activity. When I told her that Nathan and I didn't really want to introduce him to Easter egg hunts or let him participate in them there was a short silence on the other end of the phone before she said "well it's not a sin to take your kid to an Easter egg hunt." She is right. It is not a sin to take your kid to an Easter egg hunt. It is not a sin to let your kid participate in one. But Nathan and I believe very strongly that Easter is the most important holiday in the Christian faith! It is even more important than Christmas because Easter is the day that the Lord Jesus rose again and completed his act of saving us from our sin! Without Easter we would have a dead god just like the rest of the false world religions. Without Easter there would be no propitiation for sin because Jesus would not have been God, but just a man. To detract from the awe and worship we should have in our hearts on this day by going on a silly pointless egg hunt or talking about a stupid rabbit would be wrong! We as believers should only have eyes for the Lord this day! We should have ourselves so fixated on the power of the cross and the resurrection that we don't care about candy eggs and bunnies. I can't stress enough how much I want my home to be rejoicing in the resurrection, and let's be honest, what child is thinking about the empty tomb while on an Easter egg hunt? Derek will not think "Gee, I'm really glad Jesus is risen" while searching for eggs. No, he will be thinking "I want candy!" Any normal child would. Easter is not about "I want candy." Easter is about "The Lord is Risen!" and that is the sound I want to hear in my house. So, no, while I don't feel there is anything inherently wrong in going on an Easter egg hunt in an of itself, I feel that it is wrong to detract from the glory Jesus should be getting on this day.
Now, the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus are a whole other matter entirely. Not only do both of these entities detract from the glory God should be getting on their respective holidays, but I believe there is a measure of sin in allowing your children to believe in them. Here is why... there is not one parent out there who's children believe in Santa who has not lied to them to perpetuate that belief. Whether it's an outright lie, or simply a lie of omission. At first it seems harmless when the kids are little and it does not take much work to allow them to believe in Santa. They go to bed fairly early on Christmas Eve, so mom and dad have plenty of time to get the presents under the tree, and they don't ask a lot of questions. But think about this, every parent who has written a letter to Santa for their young child has lied to them. They have simply not told them the truth, which is the same as a lie. They have perpetuated a deception. As the kids get older, it gets harder and harder to perpetuate the belief. Mom and Dad have to start getting up in the middle of the night to put the presents under the tree, or worse, the older child wants to sleep on the couch hoping to catch a glimpse of Santa, so mom and dad have to sneak around absolutely silently lest they wake the child and shatter their belief. Some older children may even begin to ask questions to which a parent has to outright lie in their answer to perpetuate the belief. Then finally one day, the child really is too old to believe in that stuff so he says to his mom, "Mommy, is Santa real?" "No honey, he's not." "Mommy, is the Easter Bunny real?" "No honey, it's not." "Mommy, is the Tooth Fairy real?" "No honey, she's not." Now that the child's whole belief system has been tragically shattered in one conversation, he asks one more tentative question. "Mommy, is Jesus real?" "Yes, honey, Jesus is real." And he is supposed to take my word for it??? You see, not only has the child's belief system been yanked out from under him, but his trust in me has also been crushed. Not permanently I suppose, but for that point in time, and maybe for some time after he may struggle to believe the Bible stories I tell him, after all I told him a lot of stories about Santa too. For this reason, it's dangerous to perpetuate belief in these non existent entities. It is far better for a child to know the truth from the beginning so there will never be a question of what is true and what isn't. Even if that means that the child will miss out on the "fun" of believing in Santa or the Easter Bunny. (Truth be told, I never believed in those things and I didn't feel that I missed out on anything, except being lied to by my parents, which I wouldn't have wanted anyways!)
These are really just the things we have decided for our family. I'm not going to condemn anyone who decides that Santa and the Easter Bunny are fine for their children to believe in. I am going to challenge them to really think about that decision though in the context of Scripture to see if that is the God glorifying decision, or if they're letting the world influence them.
Holidays
Once again the holidays are upon us and I am so excited. The past few years, the holidays have felt dull and unexceptional. I think that once you get older Christmas can lose some of the magic if you're not careful. Nathan and I have been incredibly guilty of just cruising through the holidays. That's been partially because of life circumstances. Our first Christmas as a married couple we spent by ourselves with no gifts (or one gift per person) and mainly spent the day dreading working our crazy retail jobs the day after. Three years ago we spent Christmas driving all over the country trying to visit everyone. Insane. Two years ago we both worked high pressure jobs that demanded our full attention. There wasn't a lot of time for holiday reflections. Last year I was VERY pregnant and had been laid off and spent most of the holiday season fighting for my unemployment benefits and sleeping on the couch. We barely got the tree up in time for Christmas. So that brings us to this year. This year will be different. This year the magic is already back. This year we have a child. I am excited beyond words for Derek's first Christmas. I am thrilled that he will be old enough to enjoy Christmas this year. he will have fun ripping paper off of his presents. He will play with the toys he is getting. He will stare at the Christmas tree in wonder. He will watch us build our family traditions this year. We have not placed a lot of emphasis on building our traditions, so this year we feel it is very important to do so. Here are some of the traditions we want to incorporate:
-Reading of the Christmas story and singing of Christmas carols as a family on Christmas Eve (either before or after the Christmas Eve service depending on the time of the service)
-Day after Black Friday decorating (not possible this year because we are not home!)
- Letting Derek put the star on the tree
-Opening each day of the advent calendar
-Saluting Nathan's Jewish heritage with a non-traditional Hanukkah nod
- setting up the nativity set (that we do not have yet!) and explaining the Christmas story to Derek as we do.
There are several traditions that will NOT be part of our holiday too. Things like Santa, and over commercialization have no place in our home. Instead we want our traditions to be Christ centered and family centered. Noel Piper (wife of Pastor John Piper) wrote a book called Treasuring God in Our Traditions that I LOVE and highly recommend to people looking to build family traditions. Anyone interested can find it and other books at this link: http://www.desiringgod.org/Store/Books/ByTopic/All/859_For_Mom/
With all that said, I hope everyone has a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving. I am thankful beyond words for my husband who is patient with me and loves me unconditionally; for my son who is the biggest blessing I've ever received and is responsible for growing me in Christ and stretching me. He is beautiful and I love him with all my heart. And above all, I will never stop being thankful to Jesus Christ for what He accomplished on the cross and in His resurrection.
Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!
-Reading of the Christmas story and singing of Christmas carols as a family on Christmas Eve (either before or after the Christmas Eve service depending on the time of the service)
-Day after Black Friday decorating (not possible this year because we are not home!)
- Letting Derek put the star on the tree
-Opening each day of the advent calendar
-Saluting Nathan's Jewish heritage with a non-traditional Hanukkah nod
- setting up the nativity set (that we do not have yet!) and explaining the Christmas story to Derek as we do.
There are several traditions that will NOT be part of our holiday too. Things like Santa, and over commercialization have no place in our home. Instead we want our traditions to be Christ centered and family centered. Noel Piper (wife of Pastor John Piper) wrote a book called Treasuring God in Our Traditions that I LOVE and highly recommend to people looking to build family traditions. Anyone interested can find it and other books at this link: http://www.desiringgod.org/Store/Books/ByTopic/All/859_For_Mom/
With all that said, I hope everyone has a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving. I am thankful beyond words for my husband who is patient with me and loves me unconditionally; for my son who is the biggest blessing I've ever received and is responsible for growing me in Christ and stretching me. He is beautiful and I love him with all my heart. And above all, I will never stop being thankful to Jesus Christ for what He accomplished on the cross and in His resurrection.
Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!
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