Linda has safely completed the surgery to decompress her spinal column.  While the compression is down, the next phase will likely be to treat the infection itself via an extensive inpatient antibiotic treatment (multiple weeks) and to begin what rehab they can to see how the damaged tissue and nerves respond.  We appreciate your prayers over what may be an important next number of days.

I will try to continue to update our blog for those who are interested in details.

On the Baby B front, Amy is doing well, though not in labor.  Her exam and appointment today went very well, with all factors continuing to look healthy.  We are simply waiting for her body to do its natural thing and start labor spontaneously.

Thank you all for your prayers on all fronts!

In the mean time, we have been wrapping up some end of year matters like finishing our accounting for 2009 and getting all of the receipts ready for our donors.  Today at 5pm on the nose, they slid smoothly through the mail slot of the Overland Station of the United States Postal Service.  2009 is officially… wrapped up!

Taking a little time to slow down seems to have a way of making you reflect, and as I looked back on what the last year has brought to pass, I could not help but say, honestly, I was surprised.

I was surprised at the way that, even when our plans for financing this ministry didn’t work out, people came out of nowhere and the money we needed was there.

I was surprised at how when we had the floors completely torn out of the remodel house in Kentucky with no flooring contractor in sight, one showed up in the middle of the chaos and saved the day.

I was surprised at how many times we would find ourselves in a parking lot or at a grocery store at just the right time.

I was surprised when I read about a school district in Atlanta that couldn’t send a class on a fieldtrip, and I was blessed when our readers responded to the call for help.

But more than anything, I guess I was simply surprised at how many times I was surprised.  Why?  Well, I guess it is somewhat human nature to doubt.  When your finances are tight, when the fuel tank in your car seems to be getting low, when your job seems to be deadended, whatever it is… have you been surprised when out of the blue, something comes along that you weren’t expecting?  I think that sums up 2009 for me.  It was a complete, unanticipated, enjoyable, amazing, educational, and welcome surprise.  Everywhere I looked, I saw God working in ways that I didn’t expect.  You might even say it was beyond all that we could ask, think, or imagine…

So with that, we take a small break from the road life, just a few months, to welcome our new baby to the family.  When will it be here?  Is it a boy or a girl? The answer, like with many things, only God knows, but that is ok.  We’ve learned to like surprises!

I got my hair good and wet, lathered up nice and thick, and then, without much further thought, opened my eyes and let the foam run right down into them.

Fortunately, the labeling on the bottle was as accurate as could be.  As crazy as it sounds, the shampoo cause no noticable irritation to my eyes.  Satisfied that my hypothesis was now proven however, I began to ponder what I later realized was the real lesson from this little experiment…

Are we, as those who label themselves "Christians", as forthright in our own labeling?  Can others count on us to be as gentle and tender as the One whose name we so proudly bear?  Please, share your thoughts with me!

And, by the way, feel free to try this on your own.  That fresh baby smell alone is worth it.  =)