FROM: Vancouver, Canada
ABOUT ME: I'm hopelessly in love with Jesus (He's drop-dead gorgeous). He's hopelessly in love with me (He thinks I'm 'to die for'). What more is there to say?
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Thursday, May 22, 2008,9:04 PM
QUICK BABIES UPDATE
A quick update on the babies. Zach was doing well and so was Zoe, although she remained in the NICU. It seems that today there has been some concern over both of them for different things. Tachycardia (excessively high heart rate) for Zoe and a problem eating and maintaining body temperature for Zach.
Please, continue to pray for them.
(I notice that I haven't mentioned that I got to go and visit both babies last Friday night. I held Zach for a long time (he fell asleep - I guess he thought I was rather boring), though didn't get to hold Zoe. They are both such precious babies. Pictures soon to come of Auntie and Zachary!)
Please, continue to pray for them.
(I notice that I haven't mentioned that I got to go and visit both babies last Friday night. I held Zach for a long time (he fell asleep - I guess he thought I was rather boring), though didn't get to hold Zoe. They are both such precious babies. Pictures soon to come of Auntie and Zachary!)
Pictures from Grandma and Grandpa's last visit:
Zoe
Zoe
Zach
Zach
Eliana
Eliana
Monday, May 19, 2008,10:58 AM
JOB'S RESPONSE
I have been reading the first chapter of Job this morning. I often use verses from this chapter when leading worship, especially for the song Blessed Be Your Name (Matt Redman), that directly quotes verse 21.
But it was verse 20 that really struck my this morning. It comes just after the incredible immediacy of the destruction of everything Job has and holds dear - his possessions, his livelihood, his servants, and his children. Job's response is what has held my attention this morning, but not the response of the words, "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord (verse 21b)" which I so often use to teach and lead. It is that right after hearing of destruction after destruction, Job's response is this:
"Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshipped." (Job 1:20)
His response was to worship. I can worship in response to God's glory and His great kindness. I can worship in response to His love for me and His character in general. But I know, to my own grief and shame, that I have been missing the mark when it comes to worshipping God as a response to my grievous circumstances. I struggle just to worship through them, but in reading this I am struck by how much I need to learn to worship as a response to them.
I have a long way to go. I understand a little better now why Job was called a righteous man....
(Later in the day....)
Above was the original end of this post. Through the day I've continued to ponder this, and will probably do so for some time. I looked up Matthew Henry's commentary on this portion of Job, and was impacted by a couple of things from his writing on the subject.
...The same who gave hath taken away. See how Job looks above instruments, and keeps his eye upon the First Cause. Afflictions must not divert us from, but quicken us to religion.... [I would use a different word than religion - keep in mind that this is not contemporary writing.]
...All we have is from his gift; we have forfeited it by sin, and ought not to complain if he takes any part from us. Discontent and impatience charge God with folly. Against these Job carefully watched; and so must we, acknowledging that as God has done right....
There is much here to process.
But it was verse 20 that really struck my this morning. It comes just after the incredible immediacy of the destruction of everything Job has and holds dear - his possessions, his livelihood, his servants, and his children. Job's response is what has held my attention this morning, but not the response of the words, "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord (verse 21b)" which I so often use to teach and lead. It is that right after hearing of destruction after destruction, Job's response is this:
"Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshipped." (Job 1:20)
His response was to worship. I can worship in response to God's glory and His great kindness. I can worship in response to His love for me and His character in general. But I know, to my own grief and shame, that I have been missing the mark when it comes to worshipping God as a response to my grievous circumstances. I struggle just to worship through them, but in reading this I am struck by how much I need to learn to worship as a response to them.
I have a long way to go. I understand a little better now why Job was called a righteous man....
(Later in the day....)
Above was the original end of this post. Through the day I've continued to ponder this, and will probably do so for some time. I looked up Matthew Henry's commentary on this portion of Job, and was impacted by a couple of things from his writing on the subject.
...The same who gave hath taken away. See how Job looks above instruments, and keeps his eye upon the First Cause. Afflictions must not divert us from, but quicken us to religion.... [I would use a different word than religion - keep in mind that this is not contemporary writing.]
...All we have is from his gift; we have forfeited it by sin, and ought not to complain if he takes any part from us. Discontent and impatience charge God with folly. Against these Job carefully watched; and so must we, acknowledging that as God has done right....
There is much here to process.
Monday, May 12, 2008,5:34 PM
ZOEY'S MIDDLE NAME
I noticed on some pictures of the babies that Greg posted that Zoey has a middle name now! It is Reese. So my new niece and nephew are:
and
Nice!
(PS - The babies are doing well and Steph is now home. Thanks for your continued prayers. The babies will remain in hospital for a while - I'll update as needed.)
ZACHARY JAMES BAKER
(Zachary means "The Lord remembers" and James means "Supplanter" - it's Greg's middle name)
and
ZOEY REESE BAKER
(Zoey means "Life" and Reese means "Enthusiasm")
Nice!
(PS - The babies are doing well and Steph is now home. Thanks for your continued prayers. The babies will remain in hospital for a while - I'll update as needed.)
Monday, May 05, 2008,7:57 PM
BABIES UPDATE
Here's an update from Greg that was sent yesterday. We went to visit - Steph looks great, and we got to see Zach in his incubator (working on his tan, as Greg puts it). Zoey was in the midst of a 'procedure' so we didn't get to see her, but she did not have surgery yesterday - see the e-mail below.
Good news today..
Zoey didn't need surgery after all. Last night they started seeing traces of meconium (baby poo) in her diaper. It was a bit of a shock to everyone and we aren't exactly sure how it is getting out of her, but it is, and it looks like her 'plumbing' must be hooked up after all. She is so little and so squirmy that it is hard to get a good look at things. She has some tests tomorrow to try and trace the intestines and where they go so we should know more after that. She is getting the best care that Children's Hospital has to offer and the surgeons have also been consulting with specialists in Toronto that are the best in Canada in regards to neo-natal issues like Zoey's. They also hope to remove her breathing tube tonight which will make
things more comfortable for her. She may be able to start on a bit of milk tomorrow.
Zach is doing great. He no longer needs breathing help and was working on his tan under some sort of bright blue light today. He ate his first real meal (5 ml of milk) - through a tube to his stomach (if you can really call that eating..).
Steph's blood pressure is still high, but they hope that it will start to fall in the next couple of days. She is feeling better and just really needs a good night's sleep. Hopefully she can come home this week.
I've attached pics of the two. The nurse got a decent one of Zach before they stuffed him full of tubes and such. We weren't quite as lucky with Zoey, although she has even more stuff sticking out of her now.
greg.
Here are the pictures (check the nurse's hands in both pictures to get a better idea of each baby's actual size):
Zachary James
Zoey (no middle name yet!)
Good news today..
Zoey didn't need surgery after all. Last night they started seeing traces of meconium (baby poo) in her diaper. It was a bit of a shock to everyone and we aren't exactly sure how it is getting out of her, but it is, and it looks like her 'plumbing' must be hooked up after all. She is so little and so squirmy that it is hard to get a good look at things. She has some tests tomorrow to try and trace the intestines and where they go so we should know more after that. She is getting the best care that Children's Hospital has to offer and the surgeons have also been consulting with specialists in Toronto that are the best in Canada in regards to neo-natal issues like Zoey's. They also hope to remove her breathing tube tonight which will make
things more comfortable for her. She may be able to start on a bit of milk tomorrow.
Zach is doing great. He no longer needs breathing help and was working on his tan under some sort of bright blue light today. He ate his first real meal (5 ml of milk) - through a tube to his stomach (if you can really call that eating..).
Steph's blood pressure is still high, but they hope that it will start to fall in the next couple of days. She is feeling better and just really needs a good night's sleep. Hopefully she can come home this week.
I've attached pics of the two. The nurse got a decent one of Zach before they stuffed him full of tubes and such. We weren't quite as lucky with Zoey, although she has even more stuff sticking out of her now.
greg.
Here are the pictures (check the nurse's hands in both pictures to get a better idea of each baby's actual size):
Zachary James
Zoey (no middle name yet!)
Saturday, May 03, 2008,10:17 PM
AUNTIE AGAIN (AND AGAIN)
I am an auntie again! Twice over this time. My brother, Greg, and sister-in-law, Stephanie, had their babies early this morning after Steph being induced - a boy and a girl (of which we were already aware). There have been lots of complications for both Steph and baby girl. Steph has been in hospital for the last two weeks with a fairly serious risk of stroke (high blood pressure and low platelet count), and baby girl has had some very serious growth and development issues.
My apologies for announcing this way, and most especially to those who had no idea! Every time I talk about the babies it seems I find someone that I hadn't told yet that Greg and Steph were expecting again. For those of you who knew and have been praying, thank-you. Please continue.
I am reproducing Greg's e-mail of this evening to update on our girl's condition. Baby names are also below!
Hi everyone,
Zachary James Baker (4 lbs, 5 oz) was born at 6:45 am on Saturday, followed at 7am by his little sister Zoey (middle name still TBD). She weighed in at 2 lbs, 3 oz. Everyone is alive and stable (including mom and dad!).
What feels like a month ago (but was really Thursday evening), Steph's blood pressure spiked way up again and the doctor's decided that we couldn't wait any more and they decided to induce her. Things progressed slowly at first as Steph's body wasn't really ready to deliver (she was 32 weeks), but once things got going early Saturday morning, they moved along pretty fast. We were able to deliver both babies naturally, without an emergency C section. Both Zach and Zoey were immediately whisked away to the Neo-natal ICU to be stabilized and examined.
Zach is doing pretty well. He needs a little bit of help with his breathing right now, but is otherwise pretty healthy. He should start to eat tomorrow and will probably be in the ICU for a month or 2.
Zoey's abnormality in her abdomen is a little bit more serious than originally thought. It looks to involve the bowel as well as the bladder and reproductive organs. She is also missing her anus. Since the bowel/anus are not connected, she will have to have surgery tomorrow (Sunday around 11) to connect her bowel to the outside, so there is somewhere for the waste to go. She cannot eat anything until after the surgery is complete. Surgery on a 2 pound baby is not ideal, but the surgeons expect a good outcome tomorrow. They will decide during surgery whether to try to repair the bladder at the same time, but they may wait and do a second surgery in the coming weeks after she gets a bit bigger. At this time, she is stable and even kicks and moves a bit. She should probably consider redirecting her mail to the hospital, because that will be her home far into the foreseeable future.
Steph's blood pressure is up and down, sometimes too high, sometimes too low. She is still on medication for it and hopefully it stabilizes in the next few days, so that she can come home soon. She is still on medication to prevent a seizure and once she comes off that (hopefully Sunday morning) she may be moved from the delivery area to a regular room upstairs.
And because she is no less special, here's a recent picture of our first "baby" at Maplewood farm! I'm so impressed with her boldness - when I was little a goat tried to eat me at Maplewood farm, and I'm still getting over it. (Apparently not well.....) Eliana called the goats "puppies". But then, I think almost everything is "puppy" these days.
My apologies for announcing this way, and most especially to those who had no idea! Every time I talk about the babies it seems I find someone that I hadn't told yet that Greg and Steph were expecting again. For those of you who knew and have been praying, thank-you. Please continue.
I am reproducing Greg's e-mail of this evening to update on our girl's condition. Baby names are also below!
Hi everyone,
Zachary James Baker (4 lbs, 5 oz) was born at 6:45 am on Saturday, followed at 7am by his little sister Zoey (middle name still TBD). She weighed in at 2 lbs, 3 oz. Everyone is alive and stable (including mom and dad!).
What feels like a month ago (but was really Thursday evening), Steph's blood pressure spiked way up again and the doctor's decided that we couldn't wait any more and they decided to induce her. Things progressed slowly at first as Steph's body wasn't really ready to deliver (she was 32 weeks), but once things got going early Saturday morning, they moved along pretty fast. We were able to deliver both babies naturally, without an emergency C section. Both Zach and Zoey were immediately whisked away to the Neo-natal ICU to be stabilized and examined.
Zach is doing pretty well. He needs a little bit of help with his breathing right now, but is otherwise pretty healthy. He should start to eat tomorrow and will probably be in the ICU for a month or 2.
Zoey's abnormality in her abdomen is a little bit more serious than originally thought. It looks to involve the bowel as well as the bladder and reproductive organs. She is also missing her anus. Since the bowel/anus are not connected, she will have to have surgery tomorrow (Sunday around 11) to connect her bowel to the outside, so there is somewhere for the waste to go. She cannot eat anything until after the surgery is complete. Surgery on a 2 pound baby is not ideal, but the surgeons expect a good outcome tomorrow. They will decide during surgery whether to try to repair the bladder at the same time, but they may wait and do a second surgery in the coming weeks after she gets a bit bigger. At this time, she is stable and even kicks and moves a bit. She should probably consider redirecting her mail to the hospital, because that will be her home far into the foreseeable future.
Steph's blood pressure is up and down, sometimes too high, sometimes too low. She is still on medication for it and hopefully it stabilizes in the next few days, so that she can come home soon. She is still on medication to prevent a seizure and once she comes off that (hopefully Sunday morning) she may be moved from the delivery area to a regular room upstairs.
And because she is no less special, here's a recent picture of our first "baby" at Maplewood farm! I'm so impressed with her boldness - when I was little a goat tried to eat me at Maplewood farm, and I'm still getting over it. (Apparently not well.....) Eliana called the goats "puppies". But then, I think almost everything is "puppy" these days.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008,8:10 PM
NOT VICTIMS
I was chatting with someone this morning about the victim mentality and how so much of our culture is consumed by it. We chatted about how it affects our wholeness in Christ and our effectiveness for the Kingdom.
Even the concept that Satan wages war on us is not an actual representation of the truth. We are war, yes, but we are not defenders, we are conquerors. In fact, we are more than conquerors through Christ.
At some point we agreed that through Christ we are not victims, we are victorious. That phrase struck me - it was both catchy and completely true.
Even the concept that Satan wages war on us is not an actual representation of the truth. We are war, yes, but we are not defenders, we are conquerors. In fact, we are more than conquerors through Christ.
At some point we agreed that through Christ we are not victims, we are victorious. That phrase struck me - it was both catchy and completely true.
We are not victims.
We are victorious.
Amen.
But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through
Him who loved us. (Romans 8:37)
Monday, April 28, 2008,6:44 PM
THE LORD'S ANTHEM
I had a neat revelation this weekend from some song lyrics that hit me a new way. Do you ever get that? Something so familiar, and then it seems that God is literally opening our eyes to see the truth in a new way.
This weekend it was from Chris Tomlin's "Holy is the Lord", and the lyrics are:
Holy is the Lord indeed. The whole earth is certainly filled with His glory.
Let the fullness of the anthem of the Lord rise up.
This weekend it was from Chris Tomlin's "Holy is the Lord", and the lyrics are:
It's rising up all around. It's the anthem of the Lord's renown.
I have always thought of these words in terms of our own voices being lifted up in an anthem that would fill the earth with the Lord's praise and declaration of His renown. The song also sets to music the scripture from Isaiah 6 that says, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!"
The whole earth being filled with God's glory is something cool to think of - His presence, our anthem declaring His glory - the earth should and will be filled! But all of a sudden a new thought occurred to me. The earth is FULL of God's glory, and not just His presence or the fact that we shout or sing of His fame, but actually all the things that he does, too. The things He does for us in our lives also declare the renown of the Lord, and they speak not with words but just facts. Our salvation, everything He has created, the promises and gifts He gives us, the prayers He answers not with words but with practical actions - these things are all an anthem of the Lord's renown.
I wonder if this is something like what Jesus meant when He told the Pharisees that if His followers quieted their own praise, the rocks themselves would cry out. They would not in words, surely, but certainly their very existence screams of the renown of the Lord and His creative powers. My life screams of the Lord's renown and His healing and generosity. Our very physical existence even screams of the Lord's renown and His mercy, grace and love.
Holy is the Lord indeed. The whole earth is certainly filled with His glory.
Let the fullness of the anthem of the Lord rise up.