Against Nothingness

You don't have to be on this blog long to know that I have two children: Hannah (2) and Ethan (9 months). Cue excuse for cute photos...  You also don't have to be here long to see that I enjoy reading. If you were to put two and two together you might assume, and rightly so, that I read to my children. In so doing I have been exposed to more children's books in the last year than I can remember from my entire life before that time (Despite being a an ESL Kindergarten teacher for two years!).  For the most part, this is great fun. But, if I could, there is one thing I would change: endings.  I find the end of many children's books to be unrealistic. They are toned down in the same way that Disney offers toned down versions of Grimm Brothers fairy tales. So, without further ado, let me present a few children's books as I would end them (and I am only half joking :)  "The Little Engine that Could" This story is famous. 'I think I can, I think I can...

"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." --A. Einstein How many miracles can you spot in these pictures?  "Have you ever said some simple word over and over till it became umeaning, a scrap of unknown tongue, till you seem to be opening and shutting your mouth with a cry like an animal's? So it is with the great world in which we live: it begins familiar: it ends unfamiliar.  When first men began to think and talk and theorize and work the world over and over with phrases and associations, then it was inevitable and fated, as a psychological necessity, that some day a creature should be produced, corresponding to the twentieth pronunciation of the word, a new animal with eyes to see and ears to hear; with an intellect capable of performing a new funciton never before conceived truly; thanking God for his creation.  I tell you religion is in its infancy; dervish and anchor...

Kristina and I sometimes talk about whether or not an occasion is 'blog-worthy.'  More often than not the event is funny, or cute, but doesn't fit with what I blog about. Today's event was different; it fits perfectly.  Not only do I get to blog about my kids, but I also get to blog about encouragement.  Couldn't ask for more! Every night Hannah has a bedtime routine.  In the middle of it is bath time.  Lately, bath time has become much more fun with the addition of Ethan.   ---------------> Hannah thinks that sharing a bath with her brother is the best thing in the world.  On top of that, Hannah has always loved the water.  Ethan, however, flip-flops like a bad politician on the whole bathing issue.  Some days he is ecstatic; kicking and laughing and giggling so hard that he floats around.  Other days he is enraged; screaming so loud that Hannah backs away from him in distress.       ? ...

In our family we pray at every meal.  I grew up doing this and Kristina and I have continued this tradition.  However, I grew up holding hands  to pray, and for whatever reason, we did not continue that part of the tradition... or at least, we didn't used to.  On thanksgiving this year, our family went to visit my parents in Salmon Arm.  We had a great time.  One of the things we did, led by my parents, was to hold hands while we prayed.  Hannah thought this was great.  It took all of a week for her to start watching us at the start of meals, and holding her hands out to us so we could pray, before we had even got to that point yet.  She gets this big smile on her face and just sits there, quietly.   A week after that, Hannah had not only learned a new word, but she knew when to say it: Amen.  With no prompting from us at all, she picked up this word from our prayers and started saying it with us at the right time .  A...

On Sunday morning at 7am we got started. And by we, I mostly mean Kristina. As much as I might say, further on in this post, that some things were difficult, nothing I had to go through is anything like what Kristina went through. I just wanted to say that out front. Anyway, labor began Sunday morning. We headed to the hospital at 1230 and were very happily surprised to find out Kristina was quite far along (especially compared to where she was with Hannah when we went to the hospital). Labor then 'progressed' (got progressively worse and more painful) into the early evening. This is where I say Kristina is crazy. Crazy as in amazing, ridiculous, and unbelievably impressive. She did the whole thing with no painkillers (except a small amount of laughing gas). I think the hardest part, for me, was just seeing her in so much pain and not being able to do anything. I had a huge urge to 'fix' things. I prayed a lot, and probably harder than I ever had before. Any...