must, must, must read: Radical

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My first thought when I got this book was Can it really be as good as the hype?

Yes. Yes, it can. (Or, dare I say it, even better.)

My biggest concern for David Platt’s Radical is that it will be a hit for a time, and then it will be forgotten. It needs to be a hit because its message is all about rejecting the Americanified so-called gospel and radically embracing the biblical true gospel. It could be forgotten, though, because it would be easy to read it, plan to make changes, and then fail to follow through. How often have I been convicted but then failed to change? *gulp* More times than I’d like to admit. Thank God for grace!

My prayer is that I won’t do that this time. In Platt’s words on page 3:
The first was simple. Was I going to believe Jesus? Was I going to embrace Jesus even though he said radical things that drove the crowds away?
The second question was more challenging. Was I going to obey Jesus? My biggest fear, even now, is that I will hear Jesus’ words and walk away, content to settle for less than radical obedience to him. In other words, my biggest fear is that I will do exactly what most people did when they encountered Jesus in the first century.
This is a challenging book. It’s not a hard read, but it was hard to evaluate my life and the mediocre faith I’ve settled for, particularly in light of the biblical exhortations for something more genuine to the Gospel.

I’ll have some thoughtful nuggets (i.e., excerpts) from Radical in the next few months, but I’ll just end with this: read it. Seriously. It’s one of my top books on the year by far. I’ve seen it on other top lists this year, and I sincerely hope it survives the hype of being the latest Christian book to recommend.

(Plus I just checked the price at Amazon, and it's $5.49 right now!)

Thanks to WaterBrook Multnomah for providing a review copy. They didn't ask or require a positive review. (And, because I had previously purchased another copy that I have misplaced, be expecting a giveaway of it once I find my second copy, because I would LOVE to bless one of y'all with this book!)

reflecting on some goals for the new year

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I like setting goals. I like putting them in writing so I feel accountable to what I've committed to paper. I like it at any time of the year, but I do particularly enjoy doing so at the start of a new year.

This past year has been a good one, but it's been one in which we mostly just survived it. Being intentional? Didn't happen a lot. Making it though the day without having a major breakdown from more than one of us? Barely happened most days, didn't happen on some. I've blogged a year-in-review, how-did-we-do? sort of post at this time of year in the past, but I'm skipping it this year.


Instead of reflecting back, let's just reflect forward, shall we? (And how appropriate is it that the reflections of the trees were so perfectly right on New Year's Eve when I took the picture above? A perfect time for reflections all around!)

Here are our goals for the year...

Bible-reading
  • Complete first half of this two-year plan for reading through the Bible. (For a preface to the plan, go here.) And build in time to reflect on the readings and pray Scripture instead of merely checking off each reading.
  • Memorize Philippians (using the resource described and linked to here and here, though I'm using prettier notebooks I found at Barnes & Noble) and memorize two other verses/passages each month, starting with Isaiah 43:2-3 (joining in with a couple friends on this challenge).
Prayer
  • Use my prayer cards to pray intentionally for different people/groups. (See a future post for more on that!)
  • Finish my prayer picture wall. Once again, I’ll be posting more about this later, but here’s a short explanation: we have a wall with (currently empty) frames on it, and the chair where Lee and I usually sit to pray and read the Bible is next to that wall. We’re adding pictures of people we want to remember to pray for along that wall as a visual reminder during prayer times. 
Ministry
  • Grow in knowledge and experience in ministry to families with children with special needs, and expand what we're doing to be more holistically about families rather than centered solely on the kids.
  • Network with others serving in similar roles, and work on writing projects to explain the whys and hows of this kind of ministry (because very little is out there from a Gospel-driven and -centered perspective, especially about the whys).
  • Encourage others with this blog. It started as a record of our lives, but it's become much more than that. I like that.
Family
  • Take advantage of our monthly date night out. We've worked out a swap with one of our babysitters in which she's getting my old laptop (which was great, but not quite powerful enough for my Photoshoppin' needs) and we're getting babysitting for one date night per month for 2011. Also, be intentional about following through with planned date nights at home instead of getting distracted by things on those nights.
  • In addition to date nights, restart D-Team meetings. (These are meetings that Lee and I have together once every week or two weeks to discuss our family calendar, finances, goals, and parenting concerns. We were pretty consistent with them, but then my thesis ate that consistency whole.)
  • Use Operation World in the evening as part of our dinner-time family devotions, and add more emphasis on the nations in homeschool preschool during the day.
  • Maybe switch to a different resource for Bible readings during our dinner-time family worship (but I’m waiting for it to arrive, so I’m not going to expound upon that just yet).
  • Read a Bible story with the kiddos from one of our Bible storybooks during breakfast. (I mean, seriously, how long does that take? The answer: not long at all! We have plenty of great children's Bible story books, so it won't be hard to do!)
  • Go on one outing a week for me and the kids that doesn’t involve going to church or the gym or someone else’s house. It doesn’t have to be anything more exciting than a trip to a local park or PetSmart (aka “the free zoo”), but we stayed in a rut of far too few fun kid-friendly activities in 2010.
  • Be more purposeful and consistent in homeschooling for preschool (not sure yet what that will look like, but I intentionally began with a laidback schedule this fall because it allowed me to get my feet wet a year before we planned for much structure in our efforts; that "more structure" won't kick in until the coming fall).
  • Participate as a family each month in the downtown Raleigh outreach our church does, providing a meal and sharing hope one Saturday a month.
Giving
  • Keep better track of our giving.
    • We’ve been tithing, but sometimes we play catch-up by giving double one month after accidentally skipping a month. Sure, it averages out in the end, but it’s not done with the attitude of giving the first fruits of our labor to God.
    • We give to missions, parachurch organizations, and other non-profits as well, but we haven’t really been tracking that giving well, and I’m not sure we’ve been as intentional as we’d like with it.
    • Increase our support for missionaries. We have several friends serving in other countries, and we want to add financial support to our current prayer support for them. 
Health
  • Switch primary care physicians. I loved mine but didn’t love the whole practice, and then she left so I’m left with a team of doctors I don’t care for in a practice that I don’t think is run very well. I have a few great recommendations, so there’s no excuse not to change.
  • Be better about going to the dentist and the eye doctor when I should.
  • Swim in the four races that make up the 2011 Triangle Open Water Swim series. They’re only one mile races (with a two-mile option for one) – anyone want to join me? I have one sweet friend who is planning to join me for one race, but I’d love some pre-race accountability from others as well! (And it’s not like I’m asking you to partake in the Tampa marathon swim. Yep, that one is 24 miles and requires a boat to accompany each swimmer. I might have added it to my bucket list. Okay, I don’t have a bucket list, but if I did, that race would be on it.)
  • Keep up the regular gym workouts.
  • Build enough muscle in my knees through weight training to begin running again this summer and run in The Arthritis Foundation’s Jingle Bell Run in December. I think they have a couple options, from one mile to 5K, so I'll let the arthritis in my knees decide which race to do when that time comes around.
  • Aim for 8-10 hours of sleep at least four nights a week, and don’t deviate too far from that on other nights. (Because of my health junk, it’s recommended to get 10 hours each night. I scoffed. But not getting 8-10 hours a night sure hasn’t been working for me, so I’m up for trying it.)
  • Give myself grace on the days when my body is limited.
Home:
  • Finally finish sanding and painting downstairs (from the project we started, um, three years ago).
  • Hang our new mirrors and paint in the master bath and the kids’ bathrooms.
  • Make window coverings for downstairs (made easier by the fabric that was under the tree for me!).
  • Grow our own fruits and veggies again this summer.
  • Use the home gadget-y things I’ve acquired in the past couple years (but have mostly allowed to collect dust): my sewing machine, serger, Cricut (a Christmas present from momma this year – woot!), and DSLR-related goodies.
  • Tackle the third floor project head-on this year: Finalize plans by end of February. Complete estimates by end of March. Start construction in May. (All of this leading toward making space to add to our family through foster care and/or adoption once the two extra bedrooms are up there.)
I know that's a lot listed, but there are 365 days (well, now 363) with which to do it all!

If you'd like to join me in any of this - the Bible reading plan or memorization, the swims or runs, or anything else - let me know! Putting this out on the blog gives some accountability, but there's so much more when someone is doing it alongside (albeit virtually if you're not a local friend!) you.

And I'd love to know what you're planning for the year too!

Scootin' along (post 500!)

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Wow, this is my 500th blog post. Cool beans. (edited to add: Maybe. By my count, it's actually 495. But Blogger's dashboard says 500, so whatev.)

Now to the point of this post: the kids' big present this year. Our sweet girl has been eye-ing (not sure that that's right, but eying looks too weird for me!) the scooters in the neighborhood, and we decided it was time.


Although he isn't quite big enough to warrant one, we knew that our little man would be a bit covetous if he didn't have his own. Enter the three-wheeled version.


Don't you love their little pads, gloves, and helmets?




Our how-did-she-get-so-big? girl is pretty slow (for now!), but she has the hang of it.



Granted, he is still working on it. This is how he rides most of the time.


With a Daddy-powered engine, of course. 


He gives up easily, which we expected. Remember, we got this to ward off jealousy, not because we thought he was 100% ready for one.


We have discovered, though, that the protective gear is handy either way. Each of the scratches on his knee pads? Yep, they came when he was nowhere near the scooter.


He doesn't approve, though, when Daddy tries to ride it. He ran back, told Lee "mine!," and climbed back on.


We're obviously still working on sharing. But, once again, how cute is he in all that gear?


All in all, I'd call this a win. We may have more walks that result in one of us carrying the scooters, but that's why we bought the kind that fold up and why Lee is fashioning a sling-style strap for that purpose.

The only problem is that I think she aged about two or three years when she stepped on her scooter. Doesn't she look so big here?

lately

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Things have been quiet lately.

Here, that is. Life has been anything but!

I could give a long post explaining all the reasons for quiet, but it can be summed up this way: ick. MRSA ick. Virus ick. Antibiotic-induced ick.

Lots o’ ick.

We have had a lot of non-ick stuff, too, so the past few weeks have been one of those difficult yet wonderful seasons in life. Many more posts will be coming that highlight the wonderfulness of it all.

As far as the ick, I’m going to offer some explanation because people keep asking what the deal is with the MRSAness.

MRSA is an antibiotic resistant staph infection. It’s often called a superbug because it doesn’t respond to typically used antibiotics. Certain antibiotics do work, but they’re the stronger ones that usually have more side effects. (Yep, that makes life fun.) MRSA used to be a hospital-based infection, particularly dangerous there when it affects those who are already sick or when it settles into surgical incisions. Nowadays it’s more and more common outside of hospitals, often called “community-acquired MRSA” or CA-MRSA. While the reasons are many for the rise in CA-MRSA, we all can help prevent the spread of it by good hygiene and by saving antibiotics for when they’re truly necessary (for example, don’t ask your doc for them to treat viruses).

The prevalence of CA-MRSA is one reason I get it easily, but the primary reason is that I’m in one of the susceptible groups for it. You know, when you hear about the need for the flu shot or other measures for folks with compromised immune systems? Yep, that’s me. For starters, I have a couple of autoimmune disorders (click “health” on the bar above for more on that), which means that my immune system is like yours – fighting off bad stuff, like viruses – with some extra overachieving attributes that cause it to fight the lining of my joints (that’s what happens in rheumatoid arthritis) and my thyroid gland (that’s what happens in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis). The RA has already eaten away at edges of bones in my wrists, thumbs, and fingers, according to MRIs and x-rays, and we’ll be checking in the spring to see if it has gotten worse this year and if additional bones have eroded. In order to tone down that overachieving response and slow or stop bone damage, I get IV drugs every eight weeks that target the inflammatory response of my immune system. That medication suppresses my immune system, which is usually beneficial for my health – because, remember, my immune system is overactive, so suppressing brings it closer to the level of a normally functioning immune system – but can also make me somewhat more susceptible to infection.

My MRSA infections – now numbering eight in the past two years – have all been localized to the skin. The fatal MRSA cases that make headlines are ones in which the bacteria enters the bloodstream, but – praise God! – I’ve never had that happen. Even though mine haven’t gone full-blown systemic, they still hurt. A lot. Even the words "boil" and "abscess" sound yucky. Three have required incision and drainage, and two would have if my doctors hadn’t been concerned about the scars that would leave on my face.

One of those was the week before Christmas. My face doesn’t usually look like this. (And, yes, I am trying to smile normally. My skin was stretched too tight for anything more than these lopsided attempts.)


Thankfully, the antibiotics did their job. The infection was halted before it entered my bloodstream, before I went septic.

Now, I look like myself again.


Soon, I’ll be feeling like myself too (though we will probably be switching drugs, because I’ve had too many serious infections on this one). Which means – hopefully! – that blogging will resume as usual soon.

Which is a good thing, ‘cause I have lots o’ blog fodder saved up – pictures, reviews, rambling thoughts; all posts that focus on the wonderfulness of the past month instead of the ick. After all, it's much more fun to write about (and read about) more pleasant topics than this one!