Molly Update 11.9.10

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1242935299968It's been a long time since I gave an update on Molly, mostly because there has been nothing new. She has been great. That started to change a month ago. 

Over the last month Molly started to experience small, though not insignificant symptoms from Chiari. Read all the old posts on Molly & Chiari. Or check out an initial post from 2007 on what Chiari I Malmformation is.) On Friday she woke with a massive headache that caused her to vomit most of the day. Late Friday that was done, but other symptoms began and were full-on. She easily loses her balance, struggles to finish thoughts (brain fog), gets easily overwhelmed, has significant muscle weakness and some numbness in her arms and legs, and more. It's been consistently bad since Friday.

That's not a long time, and she has dealt with some symptoms from time to time and had them subside. That happened last year. But it hasn't been this bad since before her last brain surgery. We still are hoping and praying for the symptoms to go away, but they are bad enough that contacting Molly's doctor was necessary.

I emailed Molly's doctor, Dr. David Frim, at the University of Chicago Hospital. He responded today and said that it's time to initiate another evaluation. We are waiting for his assistant to respond and, we assume, make an appointment for us at U of C. We don't know anything about what tests that may require (MRI, spinal tap, etc). 

We have prayed for the symptoms/problem to go away, but were talking today about how God's power will be made perfect through her weakness (2 Cor 12). I'm assuming that's why she wanted me to use the above graphic for this post. :)

I'll post more when we have more info. If anyone can pray, please pray for God to be glorified through this, and to be merciful to Molly.

Also, if you can, pray for me as I will be spending a significant amount of time with her as she is losing ability to be out of the house for an extended period of time on her own. We ran errands on Monday and I don't think she could have done it without me there. This is on top of tough times in our church where money is tight and I'm busier than I've ever been. This is going to put significant strain on our family and we need His strength for all of it.

Thanks friends. We appreciate you.

Wholeheartedness - Antidote to Exhaustion

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“The antidote to exhaustion is not rest but wholeheartedness.” David Whyte

Read this very helpful post by Chuck DeGroat on wholeheartedness & integrity: "What's wrong with your pastor?" This post will be helpful for pastors and all Christians. Outstanding.

The quote comes from David Whyte's book, Crossing the Unknown Sea, which is now in my Amazon cart.

Music Monday 11.8.10

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Ipod guy It's a glorious Music Monday at Reformissionary. Let me throw some gems at you.

I highly recommend Derek Webb's new album, Feedback. It "an instrumental electronic album based on the Lord's Prayer." I think you'll like it. It's creative & beautiful.

A discovery from the last couple of months has been Dark Dark Dark. I first heard of them via Daytrotter's free download from last month (also grab September 2009 & March 2009 sessions). Their newest album, Wild Go, is great. I'll soon be downloading all their stuff because of songs I've found from previous albums (Bright Bright Bright | The Snow Magic) like "Wild Goose Chase." Enjoy...

Music Monday 11.1.10

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You can listen to the entire new album by Her Name Is Calla today: The Quiet Lamb. Check it out, buy & download it. This band and this album should be on your radar, especially if you are into post-rock. But check it out no matter what you like. So good.

Brent Thomas loves him some Drew Grow & The Pastor's Wives.

Another new discovery is Hey Marseilles. I'm loving their album, To Travels and Trunks. I think you will too. Check out their Tiny Desk Concert. 

The Tallest Man on Earth: The Wild Hunt is a great album. You should check it out. To convince you, here's "Like the Wheel"...

$5 Albums for November

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Sale tag Another month, another great list of $5 albums from Amazon. Here are certified, high-quality Reformissionary Recommendations...

**Other albums worth mentioning, though they aren't all my cup of tea...

Greatest Hits

Christmas Albums

Parenting: The Appeal

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Frustrated child pic Our kids have been taught to obey us the first time we say something, and they do pretty well. We get a lot of comments from friends and other parents about it, usually with some surprise at how obedient they are. They sometimes assume our kids just happen to have calmer personalities than theirs. That we just got lucky. Truth is, we've been blessed to be around parents who have parented well and taught us by example. You can parent better. You can and should ask your kids to obey the first time you say something.

One thing we've changed as our kids are getting a bit older is an "appeal." Now when we ask for their obedience, they are allowed to ask for an appeal, meaning they can make a request to delay obedience. It's working out really well. It keeps them from being frustrated when they have something they are trying to finish. 

The call to dinner is a perfect example. Usually when the call comes from mom they come running. It's food, after all. But occasionally a kid will yell from the basement, "Mom, can I appeal?" And then they give a reason and mom will ok or not. If you don't do this, I recommend it. It helps kids who have growing responsibilities and who are maturing in wisdom to make arguments for how they can obey without hurting something else they are working on. 

But it doesn't always work out. Last night mom called dinner and Sarah (13) said, "Mom, can I oppose?" Mom, said, "No, you may NOT oppose! But you may appeal." :) 

Do you have any parenting tips to share for kids of similar age? Comment below.

Music Monday 10.25.10

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Have you heard of Mumford & Sons? :) Certainly one of the hottest bands in the world for people who like good music Sign No More is still only $7.99. They are also known for their great live performances, and they played two songs on Jimmy Kimmel last week. Here's "Roll Away Your Stone." Also go watch "The Cave."

Facebook friend, Billy Driver, recommended Hey Marseilles music to me. I knew the name, but couldn't place the music. After watching this video I became a fan. So good. Hey Marseilles album is To Travels & Trunks. You may want to pick it up after watching this. Thanks Billy!

Phriday is for Photos 10.22.10

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This was a favorite playground ride as a kid. It's existed a lot longer than me, and now my kids get to play on it. That's Elijah in the first photo. While you can photoshop blur into a picture, this is just as it was taken. I was riding the other side and my camera was moving at the same speed & direction as E's head while the rest of him wasn't. Pretty cool. The second pic from left to right is Sarah (13 1/2), Daniel (7 1/2), Jack (12) and Elijah (10). See all my photography.

Tim Keller: Redeemer Report Articles

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Keller Study I don't think I've linked to the Redeemer Report newsletter from Tim Keller's church. Here are all of Keller's recent articles.

Music Monday 10.18.10

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I posted last week about a new band discovery, Her Name Is Calla. Their new album, The Quiet Lamb, is out in the U.S. in November. If you can't wait, you can shell out some euros here and get it flown over an ocean. Until then, download The Heritage & Long Grass EP (found here) for free. Outstanding post-rock. I think you'll love it. Here's the shadow puppetry video for "New England." I LOVE this song, and the creepy video is just right (9 1/2 minute story, don't miss it). 

This Tiny Desk Concert with Lower Dens great. Check out their album, Twin-Hand Movement.

Remember This Name: Her Name Is Calla

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I received an email more than 3 weeks ago from the violinist of a band called Her Name Is Calla. Sophie found Reformissionary when searching for Shearwater and thought I would like their sound. My first thought was to get to it someday, just out of courtesy. After all, what are the odds that a band I've never heard of will randomly email me and I'll like their band because they think they sound like an awesome band? Not likely.

Today I was working through my inbox, trying to get to stuff I've forgotten was there. I followed a link and clicked play. WOW! I'm floored. A magical experience. I want you to be floored too. Here's the first song I heard, "Pour Some Oil" (song only, no video). If you are thinking you'll check it out someday...don't wait like I did. This is that day. Trust me.

I have the feeling this won't be the last word from me on Her Name Is Calla.

UPDATE: Download their first "mini" album, The Heritage, and their Long Grass EP free. Over an hour of music. You'll have to click the link and scroll and you'll find links to downloads. Follow them @HerNameIsCalla.

Time With God

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Good news from TheGoodBook.com.

Starting today there's a $1.00 - 48 hour sale on an introduction to daily Bible reading called Time With God. Time With God is a 28 day introduction to their daily Bible reading series called Explore.  

The series is 
  • Reliable; clearly applied Bible teaching covering Old and New Testaments
  • Manageable; a suggested 15 minutes per study with optional cross references for further reading
  • Flexible; dated and numbered readings so you can go at your own pace
  • Incisive; not a 'thought for the day' approach, but clear and careful teaching within the context of the whole of the Bible's revelation
  • Extras; like application, a suggested prayer point and further study make it much more than your average thought for the day.
Each day's reading forces you to open up your Bible and spend that valuable time with the Lord that we need if we are to grow and mature in our relationship with him.
Contributors to Explore and Time With God:

Music Monday 10.11.10

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Sufjan Stevens on his new fantastic album, The Age of Adz, in comparison to his previous masterpiece, Illinoise: "I was getting tired of that self-conscious, rambling psychobabble. I got really sick of myself and my own flawed, epic approach to everything." (via)

Glen Hansard plays "Paper Cup." Everything this guy does is good.

I have my Man Card handy just in case someone calls that into question. But here we go. I've never watched an episode of Glee. I've only ever caught it on TV once, and that was this song. I think it's a remarkable reworking of The Beatles' "I Want To Hold Your Hand." It's a fun, famous pop song made into an emotional dedication. Some of this is sorta hard to watch as, you know, it's a bit cheesy. But I really like what they did to the song.

Driscoll on Humility & Notoriety

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There was a ton of comment here at Reformissionary and around the internet on the Mark Dever, Mark Driscoll & James MacDonald video discussing multi-site & video venues in church planting. You really need to watch that video and check the comments on my earlier post.

A video was posted by Driscoll talking about humility and notoriety, specifically mentioning the previous video and the response of people to it. Here you go...

Music Monday 10.4.10

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If you read my music posts even occasionally you probably know of my love of all things Delta Spirit. Both of their first two albums are outstanding: Ode To Sunshine (2008) | History From Below (2010). They recently appeared on Jools Holland playing one of my favorite songs, "Bushwick Blues."

And here's "9/11" from the same show...

$5 Albums for October

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Here are my long list of favorites from among the 100 $5 albums at Amazon. So many this month. Enjoy!

*10/1/2010 ONLY - Arcade Fire: Funeral for $3.99, Neon Bible is $5.99

*The Social Network soundtrack is $5, don't know for how long - really good

Multi-Site: Dever, MacDonald & Driscoll

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I'm somewhere in the middle on the multi-site debate. I'm much more sympathetic to a local/regional multi-site like Tim Keller. I find video venues problematic. James MacDonald & Mark Driscoll both have multi-sites with some video venues. Mark Dever is the guy who says even multiple services is a problem resulting in multiple congregations. So though he could have many more people and services and locations, he still only has one service. I'm not exactly in any of their camps, though I like each of these guys and most of what they do.

But when these three come together for a conversation I expected it to be very interesting and full of thought-provoking argument. It's not. It's a lot of misunderstanding and misdirection and sometimes almost insulting comments, though no one acts offended and I'm sure they assume the best of each other. 

So many good questions and points need to be discussed and answered, and I'm not sure a single one was in this video. A few thoughts...

There is an assumption that multi-sites become their own congregations after the leader dies and that multi-sites with video are better because they aren't tied to the leader being there and everyone interacting with him. But why can't they be tied to the leader still?

If that leader's face and name wasn't a part of the venue and movement, people wouldn't come in the same numbers. Their "celebrity" brings in the people, which is a part of why it's used. That's why it works. To assume people will stay after that name and face are gone doesn't work to me. I don't know of any church that has been that far in their history to know if that will work or not. But shouldn't we be concerned for these venues since the name and face is so important?

Let me add, celebrities don't stop becoming celebrities when they aren't in the personal presence of someone. Driscoll seems to imply that. In video venues we make our preaching celebrities more like cultural ones...by putting them on TV. I know there's more to it than that, but I'm really surprised that the conversation doesn't go in that direction. I wish Dever would have pushed more there.

One last thing. Where was the theological basis of the discussion. There was a little on church meaning "assembly" at the beginning, but it turned to plans and numbers and stats and a bunch of stuff other than theology and Bible. In that I wonder if Dever is more open to these things than he has been in the past or if a 2 on 1 conversation is just a bad idea unless the 2 are going to be fair in how they argue with the 1. I'd rather not see your ribbing and "fist bumping" approach and see you really engage deeply on issues that are important. I need to hear these men generously argue with each other. I think we all do. I think that's why the conversation and video exist. But I think it failed to produce something worthwhile.

What say you?