Since Samuel did his first wee in the potty, he has done one or two in the right place each day. This Sunday, we were delighted (I think my shouts of joy might well have startled the neighbours) to find he had done a poo in the potty as well. Hooray! It might indeed be smooth sailing for toilet training my last one... but I'm not counting any chickens yet!
Secondly, thanks for your prayers; we think the interview went very well on Sunday afternoon. It may have helped that I was in somewhat of an elated mood from the aforementioned potty incident, but that's neither here nor there. The questions were really good ones, not just light fluff. Stuff like (to Jeff) "Since you have been a member of both the Baptist denomination (tending towards Calvinism) and the Uniting denomination (tending towards Arminianism from it's roots in Methodism) where do you stand on the Calvinist-Arminian spectrum?" And to me, "What do you think about infant baptism versus adult or believer baptism?" We were also asked to identify each other's gifts and our own weaknesses, which would be a valuable question to ask at any time. It was quite rewarding to reflect later upon how close our marriage is that questions like this could be answered without hesitation. The best part of the interview was being told at the end that we will probably know whether Jeff will be offered the position by the end of this week. This is a lot quicker than we were expecting, because the selection committee has the power to make the offer, without having to take it to a meeting of the congregation first, as would happen in a Baptist church.
And finally, I've been trying intermittently to lose weight since I finished feeding Samuel a year ago. Having been pregnant or feeding or both continuously since mid-2002, my body was run down and suffering from my lack of self-control in the matter of diet. With the help of my doctor and a renewed sense of the importance of reaching a healthy weight, I have lost 5kg (11pds) in the last five weeks and about 9cm off my waistline and am feeling very proud of myself. I am determined to keep my efforts up - and the scales down!
It's good to be reminded to thank God for His smaller, everyday mercies, as well as the biggies like salvation. So thank You, God, for these three blessings.
Monday 1 December 2008
A few more bits of good news
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10 comments:
Good news on all counts!
Let's see, where does this congregation place themselves on that same Calvinist-Arminian spectrum? What a comfort that they asked, actually. I've known some churches to make too many assumptions about what even applicants believe.
Good for you to be ready for the baptism question. Will this be a change for you? I vaguely remember debating this topic in my Christian Thought class in college. I grew up in the adult/believer baptism camp (and remain there) and remember being completely suspicious of anything else! I understand much better now the covenant thinking behind infant baptism, but still, that's a pretty hefty question for the wife!
It sounds to me like your Sam is doing far better than my Toby. I'm starting to wonder if we'll ever master pottying. With his third birthday looming in January, he better get the point pretty soon. He knows what to do, just doesn't bother. He thinks it is comical to watch me clean out his soiled clothes, which I find infuriating!
Good job on the weight loss. I need to get busy exercising. I nearly landed in bed with back pain a week ago and I'm sure that I need some strength training.
Sounds like the interview went well! What good news that you'll hear about the results sooner than you thought. I'll keep praying for you there....
Don't know metric (we're a bit backwards here still, huh? LOL!) but I know enough to know you're doing well with your weight. I will try to use your strong start to help me to start. I am 15lbs higher than when I got pregnant with Lucas (he's a year old now) and I'm not eating well. This issue is totally about relying on God for me. I have actually prayed that we wouldn't get pregnant again until I am healthy and a healthy weight again (we aren't 'planning' any more babies but God is the giver of life sooooo...). Let me know how you keep doing so that I can keep praying for you on this topic!
Good news about the potty training! I have only completed that task with ONE (that's right only one) of my four. Our 5.5 yo Rachel still has 2 to 5 accidents every day so we have a dr appt set up for her. Ashton just turned 3 and is scared of it. He only just became able to speak well enough to tell us (speech therapy is going well) so I'm chompin' at the bit and starting to use candy, a MAJOR treat around here. Ahhh, how I long for some days without daipers. :-) But then I will be longing for my babies again, huh?
Glad that I had a moment to try to catch up with you again! Have a blessed day!
Andrea
So glad the interview went well and for all the other blessings. I'm still working on losing baby weight too, but my baby is 6 years old now. : (
Kellie
In answer to your question, Amy, they were pretty happy with Jeff's answer that he tends more towards a Calvinist/reformed perspective, but is not a hyper-Calvinist by any means.
And I am very happy with a church which practices believer baptism. It just makes more sense to me, although I was brought up in a denomination which baptises infants. Even as a non-Christian it never made sense to me to baptise people who weren't in any way able to confess their own faith. They didn't ask about full immersion versus not though, and I'm a lot less bothered by that one. From my perspective it is more important that the people involved realise that water baptism isn't a free ticket to heaven. A lot of people do hold to that perspective, even with regard to believer baptism, to the extent that some people say one can't be saved unless one has actually been baptised with water. Which stretches the relevant verses quite a bit to far, I think.
I am quite shocked by how well our Sam is doing with the potty training. Joshua and Abigail didn't fully get the #2 thing for months and months and months after they were in undies and fully wee trained, sleeping through the night and everything. Abi still isn't completely, to be honest, and she's around 3 1/2, which is pretty much the age Joshua woke up one morning and never pooped in his pants again, just like that!
And according to my computer's converter, 5kg is just a tad over 11 pounds. Hope that puts things into perspective for you, Andrea.
Thanks for all your kind words.
~ Sharon
Ummm.... I thought I'd add that what I meant about not being a hyper-Calvinist is just that we both agree that while God is Sovereign over every thing, both big and small, He still holds us accountable for all of our choices and actions.
So, for example, we cannot say "well, if God has elected that person then He'll sort out their salvation by Himself and I don't need to do anything"... Of course God will sort out their salvation (so to speak) but He will use our words and our actions to do so so we need to be choosing to be evangelistic in attitude towards others every day and every moment.
This can be difficult to understand but we must hold the two points in tension: on the one hand, God has (outside of time, from everlasting to everlasting) omnisciently and omnipotently chosen each and every movement we will ever make; on the other hand, we experience a sense of choice as we go through life (in time, as we know it) and we will be judged for the choices we make. God is not to blame for our sin.
~ Sharon
I've always thought that some of the trouble (with the election/free will tangle) lies in folks trying too hard to grasp what is beyond our ability to grasp! In other words, at some point we have to accept that God is sovereign over our salvation and election (we can't chose Him unless He calls us) and yet, as you say, we are accountable for our choices. Somehow they must both be true and we may never be able to understand how that works, just as the Trinity requires faith.
I agree with you about the baptism. I'm far more uncomfortable with the idea that the act of baptism seals salvation than I am not fully immersing.
Mr. E and I were once dinner guests at a couple's home and found ourselves drawn into a debate about election/free will. We didn't steer the conversation there, but they were pushing it and very defensive about it! I left thinking that the impulse to defend free will to that extent made me wonder if they were truly submitting to God in faith for salvation. In other words, their insistence that we have free will to choose God and that He doesn't determine our choices in any way struck me as a form of "works" theology. God knows their hearts, but in the car on the way home Mr. E. and I said, "It seems like they are relying too much on themselves for salvation."
Yes, Amy, you are right about Arminianism and works theology going hand in hand.
But I almost broke out laughing when you mentioned the "debate" about it all. A year or so after Jeff and I both did that Alpha course, we went through Ephesians with our home group Bible study and Jeff spent about three weeks arguing with the couple that were leading it (after each evening's study). They were extremely gracious and patient with Jeff while he worked through all the verses and finally came to a point where he could agree that yes, that was what the Bible said so it had to be true. And ever since then, he hasn't had a problem with it, and Ephesians 2:8-9 have been some of my most precious verses in the Bible. So please be patient with your friends!
This was one of the most formative times of our early Christian walk as we learnt the absolute importance of having a solid biblical theological foundation for each and every Christian doctrine. I am very, very thankful for the great teaching which that couple provided to us and the rest of the group during their time in Darwin.
Jeff continues to be very much like that: he'll get a bee in his bonnet and worry it until he has completely understood the issue and thoroughly dealt with it. And then he just moves right on.
~ Sharon
PS You can read her blog at Aimee's Anecdotes: http://aimeesanecdotes.blogspot.com/.
~ Sharon
I appreciate you comment about Jeff arguing out this issue with friends. I felt steam-rolled at that dinner and didn't really stop to consider that their argumentative conversation might have reflected that they were wrestling with the Spirit over the issue. I'm not sure if I handled it well, but I recall reading to them from John 6:44, and 65. I'm sure whatever I said wasn't that useful, but at least God can use His Word! (We don't see this couple much anymore, not because of the dinner but because of changing circumstances.)
Hi Sharon
I chuckled when I read this line (before reading the comments):
"Since you have been a member of both the Baptist denomination (tending towards Calvinism)..."
As I distinctly remember Jeff not being particularly Calvinist at all in those initial Bible Studies on Ephesians!!
God is amazing, and it is wonderful to see that He was able to use us in your lives. To be honest, that Bible Study was a God-sent to us too. It was wonderful to meet up with other like-minded Christians who really wanted to understand God's word and grow in relationship with him.
Fabulous news about the job, too!
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