Dating or Engaged Resources

For those of you who are dating {hopefully with the intention of marriage} or are already engaged, you might want to check out these resources from Desiring God.   Both resources are free to download and easily accessible (no membership or anything special required)!!  Can't beat that!  

Preparing for Marriage (an ebook) by John Piper
About the book {from the DG website}:

     At Desiring God, one of our most accessed pages online is a set of questions John Piper put together for couples preparing for marriage (chapter 1 in this eBook). There is some of the typical stuff—like friends and entertainment and lifestyle and children—but many have found that John’s way of putting the question helps get right at some pretty deep stuff.
     And then there’s the questions about theology, worship and devotion, and the roles of husband and wife—questions that far too many couples don’t think to ask. When preparing for marriage, or even in just beginning to consider it, it is of immense help to have the perspective not only of a seasoned husband of over 40 years, but also a seasoned pastor and theologian.

This Momentary Marriage  by John Piper
About the book {from the DG website}:

The chasm between the biblical vision of marriage and the common human conception is—and has always been—gargantuan. Reflecting on over forty years of matrimony, John Piper exalts the biblical meaning of marriage over its emotion, exhorting couples to keep their covenant as a display of Christ’s covenant-keeping love for the church. He aims to lift the church’s low view of marriage to something infinitely greater, namely, a vision of Jesus’s unswerving allegiance to and affection for his bride. This Momentary Marriage unpacks the biblical vision, its unexpected contours, and its weighty implications for married, single, divorced, and remarried alike. Now available in paperback with a freshly redesigned cover, Piper’s book on marriage holds even greater appeal.

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Enoch Live: using the walker

Enoch just figured out how to really use the walker this afternoon.  He isn't convinced yet that walking is more expedient than crawling, but I'm sure he'll get there soon!

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FFF: Putting the Pack N Play to Good Use!

When we bought our pack n play (used at Rhea Lana's), I planned to use it for traveling, mainly.  And indeed, it has been a good investment for that purpose, but lately we've been using it a lot more than expected in our own house!

Right now, the pack n play lives in our guest bathroom.  Might sound like an odd spot {and yes, it does make for a tight squeeze} but it works out perfect for this season of life.  You see, it turns out that with a few toys in the pack n play, Enoch loves hanging out in it!  And, since getting a shower in is one of my biggest challenges in my morning, we've started putting Enoch in the pack n play while I shower during his first awake time.  It works out great because he has some independent play time and I'm not "wasting" his nap time by showering {I mean, nap time is pretty valuable time... right Moms??}.  :)

I also love having it in the bathroom because getting Enoch a bath is now SO much easier!  I used to struggle to get his tub in the big tub and full while holding him on my hip.. or my lap... and it was just never an easy task!  But now I just plop him in the pack n play and we both enjoy the pre-bath time prep.  

In fact, here's a video of him walking around in it {during pre-bath prep} and trying to make a few animal sounds.  Let me preface by saying that the rhinoceros "sniffs" {through his nose} and the puppy "pants" {with his tongue}.  The fish didn't quite make this one but it is basically making a fish face {puckering your lips} and smacking {like a loud kissing sound}.  I apologize about how loud my fish sound is in the video... be prepared!  ;)

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On Choosing Life

our news that Enoch was coming almost 2 years ago

I've considered myself "pro-life" (against abortion) for many years now, but only recently have I truly began to get a good grasp of the deeper and very logical reasons for holding to the pro-life stance.   So, I wanted to link to a few pro-life resources that I have found incredibly helpful lately in thinking through why I choose life.  Some are general while some are linked more tightly to a particular political move.  I'll try to give a brief synopsis of each so that you can read the ones you think might interest you the most.

Why Your Friends Are 'Pro-Choice' (And What to Do About It).  October 31, by Scott Klusendorf.
This post is helpful for contemplating a common mix-up when discussing abortion: mixing up moral claims with preference claims.  For example, Klusendorf gives a strong rebuttal to this common stance:

"I'm against abortion and will never have one. If one of my friends gets pregnant and wants an abortion, I will do everything I can to talk her out of it. But I don't want the government involved in taking away a woman's choice. I guess that's why I'm against abortion and am pro-choice."

If you are unsure how to answer a person with a similar concern, check out his explanation in the post above.

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Pro-Life Resources. August 31, by Kevin DeYoung
Kevin DeYoung recommends two useful books as excellent pro-life resources in this post.  Here is an example of one of the arguments against abortion {quoted from one of the books he recommends}:

Use the acronym SLED. Size: are big people more human than small people? Level of Development: Does self-awareness make us human? Are older children more valuable than infants? Are those with dementia less valuable? Environment: Do your surroundings determine your humanity? How can a journey eight inches down the birth canal change the essential nature of the child? Degree of Dependency: Does viability make us human? Are newborns or those who need dialysis not deserving of human rights? (28)

And I also thought this was a helpful comparison in considering why the fight against abortion is so important:

This is not the time for pro-lifers to slacken in their efforts from fetus fatigue. Between 1973 and 2005 American women procured an estimated 48, 589, 993 abortions. The bloodiest single-day battle in American history was at Antietam in 1862, where 23,000 Americans lost their lives. It was an mind-boggling loss of life. Now imagine another Antietam every five or six days for 32 straight years. That’s how many unborn children died from 1973 to 2005. And they did not die for the abolition of slavery, nor for the preservation of the Union.

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Questions for our Pro-Abortion Friends, Church Leaders, and Politians.  August 29, by Kevin DeYoung
This post has much more of a prose feel, and it is full of thoughtful questions with logic that (seems to) issue forth from the books he recommended in the other post (above).  Here is a sample:

    If the unborn life is human life, what can justify snuffing it out? Would it be right to take the life of your child on his first birthday because he came to you through sad and tragic circumstances? Would you push an 18 month old into traffic because she makes our life difficult? Does a three year-old deserve to die because we think we deserve a choice?
    What do you deserve now? What are your rights as a human person? Did you have those same rights five years ago? What about before you could drive? Or when you used training wheels? Were you less than fully human when you played in the sandbox? When you wore a bib? When you nursed at your mother’s breast? When your dad cut your cord? When you tumbled in that watery mess and kicked against that funny wall? When your heart pounded on the monitor for the first time? When you grew your first fingernails? When you grew your first cells?
    What shall we call the child in the womb? A fetus? A mystery? A mistake? A wedge issue? What if science and Scripture and commonsense would have us call it a person? What if the unborn child, the messy infant, the wobbly toddler, the rambunctious teenager, the college freshman, the blushing bride, the first-time mother, the working woman, the proud grammy, and the demented old friend differ not in kind but only in degree? Where in the progression does our humanity begin and end? Where does life become valuable? When are we worth something? When do human rights become our rights? What if Dr. Seuss was right and a person’s a person no matter how small?
    Why celebrate the right to kill what you once were? Why deny the rights of the little one who is what you are?

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Exceptions for Abortion?  October 26, by Justin Taylor
This is an excellent and thoughtful piece by Taylor which handles the specific incident where Richard Mourdock {running for Senate} stood behind his statement that rape was not a legitimate reason for abortion.  As usual, Taylor pulls together this post with many helpful snippets from others to address Mourdock's statement.  He also addresses where Christians should fall on the issue of whether or not exceptions for abortion should be legally allowed as well as helpful ways to discuss our worldview regarding abortion with others.  It is definitely a helpful piece in more ways than one.

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5 Ways Presidents Affect the Pro-Life Cause.  November 2, by Joe Carter
And if you weren't convinced yet that who is elected as President of the US matters significantly in the fight for the sanctity of every human life, check out what Joe Carter has to say.

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All of these posts (and probably more) can be found on The Gospel Coalition's website:  http://thegospelcoalition.org/

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Mothering Men?

I loved reading this blog post by Kevin DeYoung earlier today!   He did a great job highlighting many of the take-aways from an article that was based on a book called Do Men Mother?  I realize that a blog written about an article that was written about a book seems to be a long chain of communication..  but I just had to share it because I feel it is such an important topic right now.

So let me cut right to the chase...  Here's the jest of the article:  Men are made to be fathers; women are made to be mothers.  Their roles are different AND integral for a child's development.

It may seem pretty simple, but let's be just honest, these types of simple, plain articles are clarifying and relevant in a day and time where the basic institution of marriage is being questioned AND "normal" reproduction is becoming less and less the norm, thanks to reproductive technologies which allow for any number of parenting possibilities {see Al Mohler's article below}.

So, like I was saying, simple findings but very relevant.  From Jenet's article:

But are fathers and mothers really the same? Do mothers “father” and do fathers “mother” in the same way the other would do?
Canadian scholar, Andrea Doucet, has explored this question in her book Do Men Mother? Her extensive research with 118 male primary caregivers, including stay-at-home dads, led her to conclude that fathers do not “mother.” And that’s a good thing. Although mothering and fathering have much in common, there were persistent, critical differences that were important for children’s development.

I also appreciated how Jenet carefully addressed the reality of single parents while insisting that the findings still stand as important and valid.  Here's her take on it:

Arguments for the non-essential father may reflect an effort to accept the reality that many children today grow up without their dads. But surely a more effective and compassionate approach would be to acknowledge the unique contributions of both mothers and fathers in their children’s lives, and then do what we can to ensure that becomes a reality for more children.

Go check out the rest of her article or DeYoung's blog for specific examples of how mothers and fathers differ in their roles.  I found it quite true for Hugh and I {& even a bit humorous at times}.  :)  

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Special thanks to Kevin DeYoung for his blog post and the above photo {which I believe came from the NY Times}.  Post found here: Do Men Mother?
The article he references is by Jenet Erickson and can be found here:  Men Don't Mother
The book she references is by Andrea Doucet and can be found here: Do Men Mother?
An article by Al Mohler on the parenting issues arising from reproductive technologies can be found here: Where Did I Come From? - It's No Longer A Simple Question

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Learning to walk techniques

Enoch has been all about practicing walking lately.  I thought I'd share two videos of his most common training techniques.  ;)

He loves pulling up on the couch and walking from one end to the other and back and forth.. sometimes it seems like he does this to infinity, but in reality he eventually gets bored with it.

One cute thing that recently happened with his couch walking was one evening after Hugh got home, I was sitting at one end of the couch and Hugh was on the floor at the other end, and Enoch got the biggest kick out of walking between us.  He would go to Hugh, engage him, and then turn around and walk to me, engage me, and then turn around and go to Hugh... it was pretty cute!


This video is of Enoch walking while holding onto Hugh's shorts.  Usually we hold his hands and let him walk with us, but last week he pulled up and just grabbed Hugh's shorts and began walking.  Unfortunately, what this video doesn't show {because I edited it out} is that Enoch got distracted by my commentary and let go after a few more steps... leading to a big tumble.  But don't worry, he was just fine after a few tears, and now we guard him with our hands much more carefully, knowing that his balance isn't quite there yet to be able to successfully let go.  :)

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FFF: reading, waving, & vrooming

I feel like Enoch has really been learning so much the past few weeks!  If you remember from last week's FFF post, he is doing pretty good at clapping.  Well, this week he's been honing a few other skills...

Enoch had fun swinging at the park earlier this week

And he loves playing with his shoes!

Reading has always been something Enoch has enjoyed, but these days, he is getting much more independent at reading.  He loves sitting and flipping through pages in all of his books.  It can easily entertain him for at least 30 minutes.  He's pretty confident with board books, but he really wants to master page books now too (the ones with just paper pages).  He has a much harder time getting the pages apart on those though, so he's more prone to getting frustrated when he isn't able to do it like he wants.  :)  Here's an example of him reading in the kitchen.

He has also learned to wave this week!  I'm so glad too, because anytime we go somewhere, people always want to tell him "bye", and I always fell so bad when he doesn't respond... just because he hasn't known how until now!  haha!  It seems that he hasn't quite settled on what kind of wave he will do yet, but for now he prefers full-arm waving and sometimes he will wave by opening and closing his hand.  :)

And lastly, he's beginning to figure out the joy of cars.  He has started making this "bbrrr..." sound when playing with them, and I think he's trying to say "vroom".  I though it was cute enough to mandate a video, so here you go.  (you may need your volume up pretty loud to hear this one well.)

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