Wasting Time

"The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time."
Bertrand Russell

The perfect thought for today...

Chocolates

Sylvia sent this beautiful box of fine chocolates to me all the way from DeBrand in Fort Wayne, IN.
What a sweet surprise!

Hug Your Pastor's Wife.

Pastor appreciation month has come and gone (it's October if you aren't aware that there is even such a thing) but really we should show our pastors how much we appreciate them at all times. However, don't forget that wife of his! She has a very unique calling.

Blessed are those who show concern for all those in the congregation, for they are the pastors' wives,

Blessed are those who must sample all food prepared for all church functions and not make ugly faces regardless of how it tastes, for they are the pastors' wives.

Blessed are those who must smile at all equally so they will not be called names by the hypocrites, for they are the pastors' wives.

Blessed are those who hear all the gossip but must not offend anyone, for they are the pastors' wives.

As funny and TRUE as the above statements are, at times those are the "easy parts" of being married to a pastor. Someone sent them to me in an email yesterday and I got to thinking that I would drop this suggestion to pray for the woman that shares her husband and life with your congregation. Her vocation can be lonely and difficult at times.

A Tribute.

This one goes out to my dear brother Scot (yes, James you're dear too!). I don't think it needs any explanation does it? Skinned knees, paten leather shoes?! There's a little Scotty in her I guess. Should I be worried?

Sorry, to those of you who weren't living with my family during the years of 1988-1989, this will mean nothing.

Bye Bye Apple.

Sadly it may be a while before I will be able to post any photos of life and babies up here. After a 4 year relationship with my Apple MacBook it's time to bid farewell (and good riddance!). We are currently in the process of selling my laptop and getting a new one. So it's been off limits and will hopefully be shipping far far away to someone else by the weekend. Maybe I can figure something out with my temporary computer but until we have a replacement all my super fans out there will have to be satisfied with words and maybe some stolen pictures from the web. I know, not as nice as our babies.
Plus I'm missing all my shows!

Annunciation Day

From a sermon Martin Luther preached on this day and something I was glad to come across.

It almost seems as though God is at enmity with the world. Present conditions are so shameful all around us in the world, as God allows murderous mobs and rabble, so much violence and so much misfortune to prevail, so that we might think God is only Lord and God of the angels and that he has forgotten about mankind.

But here in our text (Luke 1:26ff) we see that he befriends us humans like no other creatures, in the very closest possible relationship, and in turn, we humans have a closer relationship with God than any other creature. Sun and moon are not as close to us as is God, for he comes to us in our own flesh and blood. God not only rules over us, not only lives in us, but personally became a human being.

This is the grace we celebrate today, thanking God that he has cleansed our sinful conception and birth through his holy conception and birth, and removed the curse from us and blessed us. (HP III:292,293)

Lenten Reflection

For vainly doth our human wisdom ponder-
Thy woes, They mercy, still transcend our wonder.
Oh, how should I do aught that could delight Thee!
Can I requite Thee?

Yet unrequited, Lord, I would not leave Thee;
I will renounce whate'er doth vex or grieve Thee
And quench with thoughts of Thee and prayers most lowly
All fires unholy.

But since my strength will nevermore suffice me
To crucify desires that still entice me,
To all good deeds O let Thy Spirit win me
And reign within me!

O Dearest Jesus, What Law Hast Thou Broken vs 9-11

Did Phil Write This?

Article here:
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/rural_nebraskan_not_sure_he_could?utm_source=onion_rss_daily

Why Elvis?

Love him or not, I think we can all agree, Elvis should never have recorded this one.

Overalls Friday

On Wednesday Lily picked out what she wanted to wear...her too small now swimsuit. It was only in the 40s outside so I thought as long as she didn't want to go swimming we were ok. But we really warmed up on Friday so I declared it Overalls Without Shirts Day...just for the girls, no one else.

Sermon on Homosexuality

Actually Posted by Phil

No, it's not my sermon, but one that was preached at an Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) congregation in a neighboring town. A couple has started coming to my church because of the ELCA's recent decision to allow practicing homosexuals to be pastors. Their pastor preached this sermon and they gave me a copy of it, since they were bothered by it. I thought it was interesting how this ELCA pastor made his arguments. I have excerpted his sermon and provided a critique. Here is a taste:

But what if, somewhere in the turbulence of puberty, the child discovers that he or she is gay or lesbian? Do we send them away? Maybe it is as simple as: Do your believe or do you not believe in Jesus Christ?

• What if a child discovers he likes to get drunk, steal, and kill others’ pets? Shall we send him away? No, we tell him he cannot do those sins and must stop. He is not forgiven as long as he continues in those sins.
  
  
• All sin can be forgiven, but by accepting sin and willfully living in sin, that one drives out the Holy Spirit and faith. The Holy God does not abide with those who consciously chose to sin (I Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:21). “We died to sin: how can we live in it any longer?” (Romans 6:2) To wallow in sin and call it good is to nullify Christ’s sacrifice for sin.

• Faith is not a generic feeling or statement of God’s existence, but a confidence in God’s mercy—that we are forgiven because of Christ for our sin. Those who sin and refuse to call it sin, by definition, do not believe in Christ for the forgiveness of sin.

Download the whole file Here

Today we had.....

Blueberry pancakes....

Cavities filled, yuk, and......



SNOW!!!!

Music.

I've really enjoyed some of the children's music I've been coming across. Lily likes it too.

Little Sack of Sugar - Elizabeth Mitchell

I love this song by Elizabeth Mitchell (a little cannibalistic but cute). She and Lisa Loeb have a cute album called Catch the Moon.

Our family photo site!

Phil doesn't like it when I put too many pictures "of the same thing" on the blog but sometimes it's too hard to pick just a few to show off. So i've created a website that will be all photos all the time! And for the grandparents, you should be able to download or order what you'd like to have since I can keep them at a higher resolution there.

Here it is, hope you all enjoy!

http://thehalefamilyphotos.shutterfly.com/

Blog Title.

Phil's dad Neil made the comment while he was visiting that he finally understood what "A Bundle of Myrrh" was referring to after he made a visit to the John G. Neihardt Center here in town. Well I figured I owed a little explanation to the rest of my faithful followers who also may have wondered.

I first heard "a bundle of myrrh" when I watched a biography on John G. Neihardt at the museum here in Bancroft during the summer of 2007 while visiting Phil and praying he would ask me to marry him. A Bundle of Myrrh was the title of one of Niehardt's books, a book of "romantic" poetry which he published in 1907. I thought that was a very interesting and lovely phrase. I became further interested after hearing that this book of poetry was picked up in Paris by a young American woman who so liked what she read that she began to correspond with Neihardt through letters and within a year they were married never having met until shortly before their wedding. The title and their story stayed with me for certain "sentimental reasons".

When I got home and looked up "a bundle of myrrh" I found that it is originally from Song of Solomon in the Bible. From chapter 1 verse 13 "My beloved is unto me as a bundle of myrrh" I'll spare you the rest. I was intrigued by the comparison of one's "beloved" to myrrh. I had only known of myrrh as a burial spice, not very flattering I thought. I turned to wikipedia for some answers. I discovered that myrrh was once a very valuable material, "worth it's weight in gold". It was used in burials and in perfumes but also had a list of other uses I found to be much more fitting when referring to a beloved; as a healing salve, an antiseptic, an anointing oil.

The phrase became much more meaningful to me once I learned more about it. This in conjunction with Neihardt's poetry and the tie to Bancroft made A Bundle of Myrrh the perfect title of the blog I wanted to start so everyone at home could keep up with me and my beloved once we were married and living so so far away.

Gross.

You know it's time to sweep the floor when you find Lily putting crumbs from supper last night down into the nipple of Clara's pacifier. At least it's keeping her quiet.

Roll Tide Roll.

Cousin Rachel answers the call! Or my whining about not having any Bama gear.

That's Bama, as in Ala-Bama. Not Bama as in O-Bama. I just wanted to clear that up for any of you wondering as Phil did.


Rachel, Clara liked her shirt, she just makes this face a lot when she's sitting this close to her sister.

Twins! Aren't they sweet?

Batty.

Look what we found in the church! A wounded bat! Yuk! It was squeaking in that batty high pitch squeak bats have, but it recorded on my camera like a purring sound. Very interesting.



Phil took it outside to kill it. He had to use the foot on one of our benches to do this. I ran. Gross.

Beer Festival!

Phil's beer will be one of the "local beers" featured in the Bancroft Beer Festival on August 1. He is also the guest speaker for the evening and was interviewed by the Norfolk Daily News. You can read the article here:

http://www.norfolkdailynews.com/main.asp?SectionID=3&SubSectionID=104&ArticleID=17654&TM=37902.79

From the John G. Neihardt Center's website:

Besides being a renowned writer and Nebraska's "Poet Laureate in Perpetuity," John G. Neihardt loved good beer. On August 1st that love will come full circle in the first annual "Bancroft Neihardt Beer Festival," a specialty beer-tasting fund-raiser sponsored by the Neihardt Foundation.

The fest will be held at the Country Pub, 409 Main Street in Bancroft on Saturday, August 1st from 7 to 9 PM. More than 20 brews provided by area distributors and brew pubs will be available for sampling, along with appetizers, a demonstration of home brewing, and a silent auction of specialty items. "We'll be serving up a healthy helping of good cheer for a good cause," said Event Coordinator Paul Hammel.

Tickets are $20 and $25. Purchasing a $25 in advance includes a beautifully etched glass Neihardt mug. Proceeds benefit the Neihardt Foundation's programs and projects of the Neihardt State Historical Site, which requires additional private funding to operate.

Tickets are available through the Neihardt Site and at several businesses in the Bancroft area.

So join the fun, enjoy some of the finest new beers on the market, and help a good cause.

What is this?

*UPDATE: Thanks for your thoughts Ann! I took both girls to the doctor this morning, he said this could be a viral infection, I don't think he called it roseola, but he said something I missed and the rash is just one of the last symptoms of this virus, so perhaps that's it. Lily sailed through it without us knowing she had anything until now, but it looks like poor Clara has picked it up too and she's miserable with a fever (100.4) and on a antibiotic. Hopefully both girls should be rid of this by the end of the week.