Mountain Musings

Memorial Day Relaxation

The school year's over, as of this afternoon. I finished my last final, in Physiology, and heaved a sigh of relief as I turned in the bubble sheet. No studying to do until August! Now I just have to prepare for my summer research job in the UVA cardiac surgery lab reading various papers and protocols for the procedures I'll be performing.

Wednesday I'll be flying to Atlanta for a week and a half to be with Elizabeth and to enjoy our engagement party and then flying to Denver this weekend to be in a friend's wedding...so a little bit of vacation before the job starts.

So on this Memorial Day, as you remember the lives of the soldiers who have fought and fallen in battle defending your freedom, take time to remember all your future doctors, slaving away in the trenches of medical school, in preparation for the battle to defend your health! :)

~Micah

Encouraging One Another

On a previous post, we wrote about the biblical model of several families gathering in homes as a church to encourage and edify one another. Well, for a while now, we have been praying for the Lord to lead us to other families of like heart and mind in this area. We also desire a family-integrated atmosphere so that the whole family can be together and close relationships between parents and sons and daughters are encouraged in the practice of the church.

We had noted a few Shenandoah Valley families who had posted on Vision Forum's NCFIC site that they had similar desires.  However, we received no replies to inquiries we made to them.  So we continue to pray and watch.

Recently, we saw a posting on the same site for a church of 5 families who are meeting in the area west of Richmond. While this is quite a distance from where we live, we decided to contact Doug, the guy who wrote the post. We had an enjoyable conversation, and it seemed we might have a similar vision and heart.  So we decided - why not? Let's drive out there to visit their meeting one Sunday morning. While we do not see that the distance would allow us to join them on a regular weekly basis, we thought it would be good to have some mutual encouragement.

So, this morning, we jumped in the van, and drove 1 1/2 hours to the Goochland County home of Doug and Carla, where the church was gathering. Some of their children were on the front porch with smiles to greet us, and we met Doug and Carla face to face. They were very gracious and welcomed us. Soon, two other families arrived with their children: Steve and Joanna (along with Steve's visiting mom and dad), and Rob and Ashley. After some introductions and talking, we segued into our meeting.

Since Doug and Carla were hosting, Doug took the role of facilitator.  We prayed for a while, then sang hymns together. Some were from the "Baptist Hymnal." Some were from some Powerpoint slides displayed on a screen (high tech home church here). Very uplifting. I appreciated "What a Friend we Have in Jesus," which encouraged me to persevere in prayer, even when the Lord has a longer timetable for answering than I do.

Then Doug led us through some "quiz" questions he had prepared, which were designed mainly to help the children participate. Again, he had obtained some images of paintings and other graphics that related to the questions and displayed them using Powerpoint as we talked. I bombed on the one question that I attempted to answer ("What is the first city in the Bible that God destroyed?"). I said Babel; correct answer: Sodom. Kids and parents both enjoyed doing that together.

Then we had a time of prayer together, lifting some needs to the Lord and giving him honor and praise for who He is. You can tell when people know the Lord.

When that time came to a close, Doug spoke with us about God's work of regeneration. It was pretty interactive with several of us interjecting/adding ideas. We walked through doctrines and applications of God's calling (external and internal), as well as the work of the Spirit in regenerating us. One emphasis from Doug was that, while we bear responsibility for obeying God in sharing the gospel, God is the one doing all the real work.

We then sang one of my favorite hymns, Charles Wesley's "And Can It Be." I love the words that express how amazed the writer is that God would love him. We prayed again, then adjourned to... the kitchen.

There, we had the Lord's Supper, which this church does by sharing matzo bread and grape juice (kosher!) together. Steve talked first about the nature of the Lord's Supper and why we practice it. Then the dads distributed the matzo to their family members, followed by the grape juice from a common cup for each family. From there, we launched into the meal.

Each family brings food to share, and they try to plan it so the dishes are "low impact" to avoid over-burdening the ladies with elaborate preparation. Today was salad and pizza day - yum! There were also various breads, and Rob and Ashley brought a snow cone maker.  All reports were that the snow cones were a great treat.

While eating, we talked with everyone about our backgrounds, what we're doing, some more discussion on the Bible teaching from earlier, upcoming mission trip for Steve's parents, home schooling, and many more things.  It was SUPER-ENJOYABLE! Several of the kids were outside running and playing.

Our time to leave came suddenly and too soon (we had to get back to help Micah with some stuff and to rescue our dog). Everyone was very friendly and hospitable. We will likely keep in touch with them, perhaps returning to visit some more.

We're thankful for the encouragement it provided us, and hopefully we were able to do the same for them a little bit.

~ Tom

Sunday Sermon in One Sentence

I found this quote on another blog recently and liked it enough to pass it on:

“Whatever weakens your reason, whatever impairs the tenderness of your conscience, whatever obscures your sense of God, whatever increases the authority of your body over your mind, whatever takes away from your relish for spiritual things, that to you is sin, no matter how innocent it is in itself."  Susannah Wesley

~Deb

My Mom is Coming!

Later this morning my mom, her husband D.D., and his dog Lil' Bit arrive for a quickie overnight visit. We always look forward to have Granny come stay with us.

It would have been great to have all the mulching done before she gets here--but, this ol' grey mare--she ain't what she used to be! Hannah and I worked very hard yesterday; but with a flat tire on the haul-around wagon and time spent with the dishwasher repairman, everything didn't get finished.

Today's schedule:

• No yard sales today--too tired to get up early to go.
• Jonathan will do all the weed-eating.
• The girls will do last minute cleaning.
• Sarah will make Earthquake Cake for tonight's dessert.
• Quick trip to Walmart for lunch supplies.
• Tom will finish getting his thoughts together to discuss IRA's, mutual funds, and estate planning stuff with my mom. He's done some research to help her know how to proceed with finances.
• I will re-pot all my houseplants this afternoon while they talk.
• Cookout for dinner: Southwestern Chicken over rice and a salad.
• I meet again tonight with Ben Gay--I've enjoyed his company--but not the reason for his visits. :) 

What happening over at your place?

~Deb

Silo Singing

Have you ever sung in a silo (or ever stood inside a silo, for that matter)? Tonight was our first time experiencing it, and hopefully it won't be our last! Some friends of ours down the road invited us to join them at their farm for an evening of hymn singing--held in one of their empty harveststores. They promised the acoustics would be great! The only trick was getting into the silo by way of a small opening at the side. Just a little awkward, but everyone managed to crawl through none the worse for wear, with hymnbooks and voices ready.

We gathered on folding chairs in a half-circle around the edge of the 25' wide structure. You could just barely see a circle of sky through the hole in the very top. The first song someone called out was "All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name," and with 20 or so people singing at the tops of their voices, the sound was, well, you just had to be there. When the song ended, the echoes that went around the room lasted for several seconds. We sang for about 2 hours with different people choosing some of their favorite hymns. I can't remember them all, but some of the many ones I liked were "Living by Faith," "It is Well with My Soul," and "When We See Christ." Also, a new one for us, "The Music of Heaven," was a good one--our singing to the Lord as redeemed people here on earth is certainly a small glimpse of what it will be like in heaven. It will be even more glorious than singing in a silo!

It was time for our family to leave all too soon, but we needed to get back home to Mom who was keeping company with Mr. Ben-Gay after working in mulch all day. Several others adjourned outside with us--it was a little hard chatting in a big echo-y harveststore! It was good to see and visit briefly with some folks we hadn't seen in awhile. We all enjoyed the evening (Jonathan wished he could have recorded us somehow), and I hope it won't be too long before we do it again!

~Hannah

Investment

When you invest time and money into something--a person, object, or idea--don't you feel a certain amount of possessiveness towards it? I kind of felt like that today when working on an aircraft at my job. For the past couple of days I have been doing the fun job (really, it is quite enjoyable) of making a wire "harness"--a long bundle of wires, in this case with lengths varying from 5' to 14'--and actually wiring it in the plane. After running the wire, I have to put connectors on the ends for equipment to plug into. I had 55 wires to prepare for the connector, and that took me all afternoon to complete.

This morning one of the three planes in my hangar was finished and was taxied out to do a test flight. Thus, all the mechanics working on that plane came back to the aircraft I was on. I immediately thought, "Hey, this is my airplane, people!"  I mean, they didn't even ask! I did feel like it was my airplane since I've labored so much on it. I will definitely feel a large amount of pride when it taxis out of the hangar.

I would also like to thank Mom and Dad, who have invested a lot of time into teaching me how to drive. This week I got my driver's license and drove to work this morning alone! It certainly felt odd with no one in the passenger's seat. I know that they are also proud of me when seeing our car disappear down the driveway--and glad when I return home safely! I appreciate all their hard work!

~Jonathan

Gotta Love That Mulch

We heard the big dump truck chug-a-lugging up the hill. Finally. I placed the order for mulch last week, but evidently so did a lot of other folks.

But...it's here now. No putting off work any longer. Gotta love that fresh mulch smell--six huge scoops of it!

~Deb

Words Fitly Spoken

"A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver." Proverbs 25:11

I received an email from a friend today asking if I'd be interested in a weekly Bible study this summer for fellowship and for sharing what each of us learned from reading the book "Words That Hurt, Words That Heal" by Carole Mayhall (NavPress).

I remember that title from years ago and found it on my bookshelf. So I added it to my re-reading list. Whether or not I'm able to participate in the study, it will be a good book to review.

A few of the chapters include lessons on complaining, bragging, slander and gossip, anger and conflict, discretion, gentleness, and giving and receiving reproof. I can think of many times I didn't do what I'm sure this book will be teaching on each of these subjects. Hmm, which of these do I need to work on the most?

"When a good man speaks, he is worth listening to, but the words of fools are a dime a dozen."  Proverbs 10:20  TLB

"The tongue of the just is like choice silver; the heart of the wicked is of little worth."  Proverbs 10:20  KJV

~Deb

Glimpse of Grace

Jonathan yells out from his room, "Hey, look at this huge rainbow!"  Thud-thud-thud-thud we go bounding to his room (which faces the back yard and the east horizon). Hannah does a graceful dash to retrieve a camera and head outside.

"Wow!" A thunder squall had just passed through, and the sun was now shining on the back side of the cell, producing a large DOUBLE rainbow.  And we could see it end to end.  One end looked like it plopped down in a neighbor's yard across Pleasant View Road. I finally got a clue and ran to get my digital camera, taking some shots from Jonathan's open window, then from the driveway outside.

It wasn't long, though, before the double bow started to fade. Oh well. Thanks to the Lord for a glimpse of enjoyable grace for the evening!

~ Tom

There's Good News and There's...

Today was Micah's orthopedic appointment to take new x-rays and for the doctor to check his progress. He seems to be healing fine, and the doctor released him to start driving again. That's the good news.

He'll need to start physical therapy to gradually get him back to 33% weight bearing in the next 4 weeks. Then continued physical therapy to get him to 66% in another 4 weeks. Hopefully, the doctor can then say he's fit to be 100% without crutches at that point--mid-July.

The doctor also told him to expect another surgery in one year to remove the pins holding his hip together. He will need an MRI to determine how the AVN* situation is progressing, and the pins can't be in at that point. (*The AVN is the medical condition where the blood supply could have been cut off to his hip enough before surgery to possibly mean the need for a hip replacement.)

So, some good news and some not too exciting news.

This week starts final exams, and he will complete his first year of medical school next Monday with his last exam. Yea!!!  Then he flies to Denver to be in his schoolmate's wedding...on crutches.

~Deb