Shame on the Tooth Fairy

Last Wednesday morning, my daughter came out of her room exclaiming, "Mom, the most exciting thing just happened, my tooth came out!" Obviously this is the first tooth she has lost and she has been waiting for it to happen ever since she read a book about it. The next morning, she came out equally dejected, saying, "The Tooth Fairy didn't come." For shame Tooth Fairy, for shame. This is my daughter's first tooth, YOU could have remembered at least that one. I felt so bad for her, but I did tell her the time when the Tooth Fairy forgot to visit me. I also told her that the Tooth Fairy is very busy and just ran out of time. My daughter was so dejected that she talked to her dad about it. Her dad said that maybe something happened to her. After some thought, my daughter said, "Maybe she was in an accident." Thankfully, the Tooth Fairy came the next night and had not been in an accident.

Some interesting facts that I have been pondering since the visit of the Tooth Fairy:

1. That I am a supporter of the Tooth Fairy, however, I am not a supporter of Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. My children still get presents from Santa - I am just not that happy about it.

2. Santa Claus - a man - only has to work one night a year and he gets a lot of credit. The Tooth Fairy - a woman- has to work every night and how does she rate? Do you see the correlation here?

My Birthday Present to Myself

One of my favorite books is Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Sunday night I caught part of the 1996 movie on Masterpiece Theater and it got me all excited about reading it - Again! But alas, I had gotten rid of my copy because it was so worn out. (I got it from a Scholastic book order when I was in Middle School) Monday night, my husband and I were out with friends celebrating his birthday and we stopped into Barnes and Noble. There on a display table was Pride and Prejudice and other Jane Austen books. (It was meant to be!)I have not read any of the other books although I do have a desire to. How could I not buy this book? As soon as we got home and after getting the kids to bed, I started reading it. As the kids played the next day I read it. As the children slept, I read it. I finally finished it Thursday, but about 3:30 am Friday morning, I was wakened by one of the children and after she was back asleep, I couldn't sleep. So I got up and read my favorite parts all over again. Of course after I finished doing that I had to put my own copy of the latest movie in and watch it. What a beautiful story! Good thing that Friday is my husband's day off. Of course, now I have pile of laundry that needs to be done and other tasks that have been put off - but what a pleasure! My husband does not understand my need of this type of pleasure, but I am glad that he puts up with it - probably because it doesn't happen that often.

February 17th Communion Devotion

Every once in awhile the pastor asks me to do the communion devotion in church. To tell you the truth I sort of feel uncomfortable doing it. Can you believe that came from the girl who took Expository Preaching in College and gave a Senior Sermon - memorized? I do love to talk and express my thoughts, so I continue accepting the opportunity to do the devotion. So I posted it for you.

Have you ever been reminded of a memory that you had forgotten about? Maybe a parent, a sibling, a cousin, or a friend asked you if you remembered when you did something and you had completely forgotten the incident. Have you just sat there in wonder, how could you have forgotten that?

A few weeks ago, I was sitting in the rocking chair singing to my youngest right before bedtime. I have a list of songs that I always sing - Away in the Manger, Silent Night, Jesus is the Sweetest Name I Know, His Name is Wonderful, I Love you Lord, Seek ye First, and for whatever reason that night I added Jesus Loves Me.

You probably know the song. Jesus loves me this I know. For the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong. They are weak but He is strong. Yes Jesus loves me. Yes Jesus loves me. Yes Jesus loves me. For the Bible tells me so.

How many times have I sang this song in my life? Millions. How long have I known that the truths in this children’s song were true? Ever since I can remember. Yet that night when I was singing that song to my youngest, I started to cry. I had forgot. My head hadn’t forgotten – I think my soul had forgotten that Jesus loves Rebecca Evans.

Maybe you have forgotten that Jesus loves you. Maybe you think too much about others and their needs that you have slipped in your personal relationship with Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God.

Communion time is a personal time. A time to think on what Christ did for us. Many times, though, after a few seconds in consideration of Christ’s sacrifice, we slip and we think about the people around us or we think about what we are going to do for lunch or something else. Communion time is a discipline.

Today, as you take the juice, remembering that it represents Jesus’ blood that was spilled, and as you take the bread, remembering that it represents Jesus’ body that was broken. Remember John 3:16, 17

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son. That whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.

Do not forget that.

Lets pray, “Father in heaven, I am sorry that I take you and your love for granted. Thank you for the reminder. Help us to discipline our daily lives so that we take time for You. During this communion time help us remember your Son’s sacrifice and Your love.
In Jesus Name
Amen”

Steven Curtis Chapman ::

Faith, Not Facts

I heard this story this morning on KLOVE. I wanted to post it because I think that it is relevant to my post last week.

Published: January 25, 2008 08:16 am

Faith, not 'facts', carries woman forward

By Dan Irwin
NEW CASTLE NEWS (NEW CASTLE, Pa.)

NEW CASTLE, Pa. — Search the Internet, and there are several “80s” that come up in reference to Down syndrome.

Eighty percent of babies with Down syndrome are born to women who are under age 35, the March of Dimes reports.

With recent advancements in clinical treatment, as many as 80 percent of adults with Down syndrome reach age 55, and many live even longer, according to the National Down Syndrome Society.

However, the most prevalent “80” — appearing on multiple sites — is that in America, more than 80 percent of babies diagnosed prenatally with Down syndrome are aborted.

Bobbie McIlwain, though, refused to go along with the crowd. Today, because of her resolve, she and her husband, Jeff, are the parents of healthy 17-month-old twin girls.

During her pregnancy, McIlwain was told that certain test results showed that one of the girls had Down syndrome and that the other likely had a bilateral cleft lip and/or palate.

Despite the fact that she was encouraged to have an abortion, McIlwain and her husband made the decision to continue to carry the twins, then stuck by it.

“I was determined that God had hand picked my babies for me, that these were the ones I was meant to have,” said McIlwain, who, along with her husband, is a member of New Life Baptist Church.

“He must have thought that I was going to be a pretty special mom to give me such a special delivery.”



PRESSURE

Once doctors told McIlwain of their diagnoses regarding her unborn twins, they recommended that she and her husband see a genetic counselor, who would tell them about their options.

“Up until the time of my appointment, I kept asking myself, ‘what options?’ ” McIlwain said. “We found out what they were looking for. Our counselor told us that the best option would be to terminate the pregnancy.”

The counselor, McIlwain said, enumerated all the possible consequences of Down syndrome, as well as some of the chromosomal disorders that babies with cleft palates generally face.

“Then she asked us again that, now that we knew the facts, was it still our decision to carry them?” McIlwain recalled. “Absolutely! It took me six long years (because of various health issues) to become a mother. Do you think I was going to give up the first time something difficult was thrown at me?”

Nonetheless, the McIlwains were encouraged to have an amniocentesis, a test that would determine conclusively if one of the twins Bobbie was carrying had Down syndrome. The results, they were told, might make their decision an easier one to make.

However, the McIlwains also were informed that the risk for miscarriage because of the procedure was 40 percent and, because the twins were fraternal and developing in separate sacks, the test would have to be done twice.

“The outcome of the test was in no way going to influence our decision to carry the twins,” McIlwain said. “I declined it again.

“But by this time, I was getting a little upset with the visit. I felt like it was their choice to make, not mine. Finally, I had enough and told them that if this was what a ‘genetic counseling appointment,’ was, well, I didn’t need counseled on abortion, and I wouldn’t need any of the other appointments.”



PUSHING ON

Apparently, McIlwain is not alone in her feelings.

In a 2005 survey of nearly 3,000 parents of children with Down syndrome, published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, a majority reported that the obstetricians who gave them the diagnosis had focused on the hardships ahead and ignored “the positive potential of people with Down syndrome.”

In response to such reports, U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) has sponsored a bill that would require doctors to offer more thorough medical information about Down, as well as referrals to support networks.

For McIlwain, though, the only help available came from her family and her faith.

“I’m not going to lie,” she said. “My decision to carry the babies was easy, but my daily walk was not. I thought if I had to smile at just one more person and tell them I was fine, I was going to pull my hair out.

“You’ll find that everyone has an opinion, and always wants to tell you what is best for you, and what is best for the world. I would just smile, take my little sip of Jesus from my cup, and just say thank you.”

In the weeks ahead, McIlwain said, doctors continued to stand by their diagnosis of Down syndrome, and the news she got with each appointment continued to be dire.

“Finally, I had to tell myself to stop, that this was not going to be a pity party for me,” she said. “I have to remember, ‘Do not tell God how big your storm is, but tell the storm how big your God is.’

“So from that day forward, I refused to let one thing steal my happiness.”

Thus, she said, she went through the rest of her pregnancy “with the most upbeat nature you could think of.”

And the joy only heightened when, on Aug. 17, 2006, she delivered Emily Grace and Ava Marie by Caesarian section. Though Emily came into the world with a bilateral cleft lip and an incomplete palate, subsequent surgeries have corrected the defect.

“Emily was born at 11:20 a.m., and had no other genetic defects associated with the clefting,” McIlwain said. “None. She was, and still is, beautiful. And Ava Marie was born at 11:23 a.m. — with no signs of Down syndrome. She is perfectly healthy.

“She came out screaming because I really think she had something to say to those doctors.”

Now, nearly a year and a half later, McIlwain’s days are full of the responsibilities of both work — she’s employed at Liberty Mutual — and motherhood. However, she’s also got a deeper faith that helps her deal with it all.

“The tests were wrong, the doctors were wrong, the genetic counselor was wrong,” she said of her pregnancy ordeal, “but my God was right.

“If I let him lead, he would show me the way. And he did.”



Dan Irwin writes for the New Castle (Pa.) News.

Thank you God for showing us that we humans aren't always so smart and right. Thank you God, for showing us this lady with courage and faith in YOU!

A Fairy Tale- or is it?

At bedtime last night, I read the story "The Emperor's New Clothes" to my kids. You probably know the story. Two thieves convince an emperor that they can make clothes out of such fine cloth that only those who are wise and worthy can see the clothes and those who cannot see them are fools. After the clothes were made, the king had a royal procession through the town to show off his new clothes. Everyone was afraid to say that they couldn't see the clothes at the risk of being called a fool. The only one brave enough to say that the emperor had no clothes on was a child. The story took a long time to get through because my 5 year old daughter kept asking why the people didn't catch on that the thieves were lying to them. I kept explaining to her that they were afraid. My daughter couldn't grasp the thought.

On this Super Tuesday, I know there are some trying to feed us a line and we, Americans, are taking it because we don't want to seem foolish. Are these politicians really trying to make America greater or are they just trying to get a vote. Even so, are they also afraid of being called foolish and are they backing an agenda whether they believe in it or not? The election has been on my heart and mind and in my prayers. What should I do? Who should I vote for? For some it is clear, for many others it is not.

It is not clear to me what the best answer is to Iraq, to illegal aliens, to health-care, and a host of other issues. What is clear to me is the one line that the American public is being fed and eating up. The issue that women have the right to choose an abortion and that a fetus is not a living being, therefore it is okay to dispose of it. How foolish is that? In our own vanity, we have fallen into a pit of everyone telling each other that it is okay. When are we going to stop the foolishness?