Merry Christmas!

“All that Christ did and suffered, from the manger to the tomb, forms one glorious whole, no part of which shall ever become needless or obsolete; no part of which one can ever leave without forsaking the whole.

I am always at the manger, and yet I know that mere incarnation cannot save; always at Gethsemane, and yet I believe that its agony was not the finished work; always at the cross, with my face toward it, and my eye on the crucified One, and yet I am persuaded that the sacrifice there was completed once for all; always looking into the grave, though I rejoice that it is empty, and that ‘He is not here, but is risen’; always resting (with the angel) on the stone that was rolled away, and handling the grave-clothes, and realizing a risen Christ, nay, an ascended and interceding Lord, yet on no pretext whatever leaving any part of my Lord’s life or death behind me, but unceasingly keeping up my connection with Him, as born, living, dying, buried, and rising again, and drawing out from each part some new blessing every day and hour.”

—Horatius Bonar, “Not Faith, But Christ”

"It is impossible that any ill should happen to the man who is beloved of the Lord; the most crushing calamities can only shorten his journey and hasten him to his reward. Ill to him is no ill, but only good in a mysterious form. Losses enrich him, sickness is his medicine, reproach is his honour, death is his gain. No evil in the strict sense of the word can happen to him, for everything is overruled for good. Happy is he who is in such a case. He is secure where others are in peril, he lives where others die." --Charles Haddon Spurgeon

The Bride of Christ

Mercy speaks by Jesus' blood
Hear and sing, ye sons of God
Justice satisfied indeed
Christ has full atonement made


Should the law against her roar
Jesus blood still speaks with power
"All her debts were cast on Me
And she must and shall go free"


-Derek Webb

The future is now

The election is not over in the Russell house.  Jonathan (13y) and Isaac (7y) are each running for President of the Russell Kids.  They have spent the better part of the morning making flyers on the computer (complete w/ pictures and slogans), picking running mates, and making platform speeches.  Their platforms in a nutshell are as follows.

Jay:  More food, less chores!

Ike:  Transformers 24/7!

Abby is complaining that there is no one for which she can vote.  She "doesnt like either one."   I hear ya, babe.

I'd say "may the best man win."  But, around here its more like:  "may the loser not fuss too terribly long."

This counts as creative writing, theatre (oh, there's been some drama!), concept development,  ethics (loosely speaking), government (though, they are both getting dangerously close to "bigger is better"), and cooperation (mostly).  School is over, right Mother?!

The just shall live by faith!

 HAPPY  REFORMATION DAY!

14

talk about your so-called problems, better put them in quotations

April 28/Just arrived home from Iowa to celebrate Paige (Dirk's sister) and Matt's wedding. It was a lovely affair apart from Abigail having a stomach virus the day of the wedding. She, blessedly, quit vomiting 3hrs before the ceremony.
The grandparents gave us a gift of having all of the children's eyes checked at Paige's optometry office. Everyone checks out fine....except David. The optometrist told us to get him to an ophthalmologist ASAP.
Dirk preformed the marriage ceremony at the sweet little chapel on the University of Iowa campus. It was beautiful.

"So we do not lose heart."

April 28/I have found an eye doctor willing to see David immediately. Dr. Holt examined him and then had her partner do the same. They exchange worried glances and told me we need to take him to a retinal specialist. RIGHT NOW.

I take David across town and try not to let on to him that we are all worried. He tells me, "its okay, Mom. I know I cant see out of my left eye. I can still be a missionary w/ just one eye!"
My dad meets us at the retinal specialist. I am relieved b/ this doctor has NO people skills whatsoever. I would be crying my eyes out if my dad wasn't standing there giving me reassuring looks and cracking jokes w/ David.
She puts it bluntly: There is no tumor BUT, David is legally blind in his left eye and there is nothing that can be done.
We go back to Dr. Holt to tell her the news and get David glasses he needs for his right eye. There will be more specialists down the road.


April 29/A few hours after the marathon day of eye doctors, Samuel has started vomiting. Less than 24hrs later, I watch my feverish baby have a full-blown seizure. I give him rescue breathing when he does not on his own. I rush him to the ER where we meet Dirk and Steph. He is still not very responsive. He has another seizure in the presence of the doctor. We stay in the hospital for a few days until he is well enough to return home. The neurologist is fairly certain that they were only febrile seizures.

"Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day."


May 17/Samuel (who has not been totally well since his last hospital stay) is now sick w/ croup. We keep in touch, almost hourly, w/ his Pulmonologist's office. At 5pm, while on the phone w/ the Nurse Practitioner, we all know that it is time. She says to call EMS b/ of his seizures a few weeks ago. After an ambulance ride and too many hours in the ER, the ER doc sends us home (w/out calling our Pulmonologist!) at 4am. "Big mistake" is putting it mildly.

Another BAD day. This time we take him ourselves to another hospital where our doctor has called ahead. He is admitted and we are there for the next 3 days for croup that turned into pneumonia.
The doctors make it VERY clear that Samuel is not going to be able to go on our planned family mission trip to the border on the 30th. I will stay home w/ Sam and Abby.

"For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond comparison,"

June15/Early morning of Father's Day. David and Joshua both wake up w/ fevers. I stay home from church w/ them. Over the next few days, Joshua gets worse. David stays the same.

June17/Joshua can keep no food or water down and his fever is too high. He starts vomiting blood. I take him to the Ped. Urgent Care clinic. They give him fluids and drugs. They don't seem to be concerned about the blood.

June18/Josh is no better and still there is blood. Dirk and I pack him up and take him to the ER. They do blood work and tell us not only is he dehydrated, his red blood cell count is way too low. The doctor admits Josh. Over the next day, they figure out his stomach has a hole from the Motrin I kept giving him for the fever and headache. He is released when fever has gone and he can keep down some food. He is not to have Motrin for a good long while.

"as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen."


June 22/Day after Josh gets home, Sam and Jonathan come down w/ the fever. Sam's rises so fast, we are sure we will end up in the hospital. Dirk is determined NOT to go back. He plays SuperNurse for days and we somehow manage to keep Sam at home.

While Sam is sick, David has is long-awaited appt. w/ the big-wig Ped. retinal specialist. He is guardedly positive and wants David to try Patch Therapy the rest of the summer. He needs a new lenses for the blind eye that is not available in San Antonio. We get the lenses and patches and begin. rough start. I have collected audiobooks and Beth has loaded up his Ipod w/ new music for him. He has the patch on most of his waking hours. He knows this is not a sure-fire cure. His joyful attitude in the midst of affliction has been a testimony to many, including his parents.


"For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal."

2Cor. 4:16-18

The Blessings have been plentiful nonetheless. Stay tuned for those...