WAS NOAH AFRAID OF THUNDER?

Interesting thought from my quiet time today.  

How did Noah react the next time it rained after the flood?  

In my opinion, he had three options:

1. Despair and dismay that a horrible flood is going to happen again.

2. Belief in God's promise that a flood will never happen again.  This is only a thunderstorm, and there is nothing to fear.

3. Trust God will take care of him no matter how severe the present storm ends up being. 

I never thought about Noah's reaction to a thunderstorm after his experience 

with the horrible flood.  

But isn't that something happens to us all the time in life?  We get through a very difficult situation and finally feel like we are on steady ground again.  We can catch our breath.  God restores and heals us.  

However, because we live in the midst of sinful world, something else comes along that will test our faith. 

Do we remember how faithful God was to us in the past?  Do we trust that God will be faithful to us again?  

Or are we always going to be afraid of the thunder?  

“To me this is like the days of Noah,

    when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth.

So now I have sworn not to be angry with you,

    never to rebuke you again.

10 

Though the mountains be shaken

    and the hills be removed,

yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken

    nor my covenant of peace be removed,”

    says the Lord, who has compassion on you.  

Isaiah 54:9-10

"....the Lord promised to: Noah by an oath, that there would never be a deluge, and that this oath would perpetually remain in force. (Genesis 9:10) But for this, the good man might have trembled, and, at the approach of rain, might have dreaded a similar calamity, if the Lord had not sworn that this should never again happen. In like manner, when afflictions are at hand, we might dread that we should be ruined, if the Lord did not promise that the Church would be safe."   

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

Isaiah 54

  

OBSERVATION OF THE DAY

I don't think revolving doors are the best idea for two little boys with Down syndrome...just saying.  

One walked into one of the glass panels trying to get in, and the other wouldn't get out.

WHY CHURCH?

During our weekend in Minneapolis with Abigail, we attended Hope Community Church.  We heard an excellent message about why we should go to church.  Some great points to think about and ponder.  

Listen to message "What's the Point of Church?"

Message Outline

BURGERS, BIGGER, and BARNS!

The town of Seymour claims to be the birth place of the hamburger.  This past weekend they held their annual Burger Fest.  We heard about this event and decided there is no more fitting festival to take our Jonah to than Burger Fest.  Anyone who knows Jonah knows he LOVES hamburgers!  So we attended the Burger Fest parade on Saturday.  

The boys loved it!  Jonah loved the parade because their were many floats with hamburger themes and there were 3 marching bands (with tubas!)  Ben loved the parade because he collected a ton of candy!  

After the parade, we decided to celebrate the actual eating of a hamburger in air-conditioning at Dairy Queen instead of fighting the crowds at the festival grounds.  A little bit of a cop-out on our part, but the boys were completely happy with it and thought Burger Fest was just happening at DQ :)  

After the parade, we headed up to Minneapolis for a weekend with our oldest daughter.  The boys were so excited to see "Bubba"!  

While Andrew helped Abigail move into her new apartment, the boys and I found a cool playground/pool to spend the afternoon.  

What I noticed as the boys were playing in the water is how big they look.  I think they really had a growth spurt this summer, Jonah especially.  Both boys need new pants for the school year- from size 6 to size 7.  Jonah also went up a shoe size so now both boys are in size 13 1/2 which also takes into account fitting for their orthotics.

FYI:

Ben: 4% for weight for typical developing child, 

11% for height for typical developing child

Ben: 25% weight for Down syndrome, 

75% for height for Down syndrome

Jonah: 6% for weight for typical developing child, 16% for height for Down syndrome

Jonah: 25% for weight for Down syndrome, 

75% for height for Down syndrome.

So the boys are still little compared to their typical developing peers but are a bit tall compared to other kids their age with Down syndrome.  

Interesting because both boys have height in their birth families.  Will be interesting to see how this plays out as they get older.   

Then today we visited the Farm Wisconsin Discovery Center.  What a fun place! Lots of cool interactive exhibits, a bus tour through a working farm, great restaurant and nice playground.  

Made me proud to live in this great state!

FARM WISCONSIN DISCOVERY CENTER- 

great place to visit!

 

This was a tractor driving simulator.  Jonah "harvested" 20 bushels of corn (he drove into the fence quite a bit!), and Ben "harvested" 65 bushels.

In the Birthing Barn, we actually got to see calf being born!  The boys loved watching the little calf try so hard to stand so soon after its birth.

Then the boys won the calf-naming contest!  They entered the name "Polly", and it was chosen as the winner.  Congrats Ben and Jonah!

Lots of fun summer days- eating burgers, getting bigger, and seeing the dairy barns!

It's getting closer...September 3rd!

  

A $10 GIFT

The other night Andrew and Lydia took the 2 boys to Culver's for supper.  

At the restaurant, a woman came up to Andrew and gave him $10 to buy ice cream for the kids.  She explained that she had a son with Down syndrome who passed away a few years ago at the age of 30.  She misses him very much, especially how he use to cuddle by her on the sofa.  

Sometimes, I get anxious about what the future holds for us and our boys.  Puberty scares me, how will they spend their time as young adults once they are finished with school?  Where will they live?  What if something happens to Andrew and I?  These questions and concerns can be very overwhelming if I let myself go there.  

Andrew and I have been responsible and have plans and ideas in place for some of those concerns.  However, the truth is there is much we can't plan for because we can't know how everything is going to work out.  We can only really take one day at a time, and trust that the Lord knows better than us about the future for us and our boys.  

Her words were a gift to us. She reminded me to just love and cherish all our kids each and every day.  

I don't know if our boys will still want to cuddle with me at age 30- I suspect they will, but maybe they will be very independent or even rebellious 30 year olds with Down syndrome- who knows?  

But as this woman reminded me, our boys are a very special gift that has been given to us.  All five of our children are gifts from the Lord.  We should love and care for them as best we can and not let the worries about tomorrow take away the joy from today.

Now, speaking about joy:

We set up a "campground" for the boys in our bushes.  They are having so much fun with their tent, chairs, toy campfire and toy grill.  Aren't they cute?

DRIVER'S LICENSE NUMBER THREE

We now have our 3 older kids driving.

Our Lydia got her driver's license on Tuesday!  

In some ways, it will make our lives easier because she can get herself to school and work instead of us being her taxi.  

However, having a young driver out on the road causes us parents a lot of worry and concern.  The "what if's" can be overwhelming.  

Just one more reason to keep us moms and dad on our knees praying. 

Congrats Lydia!

In 7 years, will these two be the next in our family to get their licenses?

THAT'S A WRAP

Tonight the boys had their last Miracle League baseball game for the summer.

What a great season!  

We noticed 2 changes from the 

last 2 years of playing baseball:

1. Both boys are better hitters.  Ben actually has some power to his hits now!  And, this is really an accomplishment for Jonah considering he changed his batting stance this season.  He now stands face to face with the pitcher- haha.

2. Both boys were really excited for their games each week.  The other 2 years they didn't really get excited until we pulled into the parking lot at the field.  This year, it was something they talked about at home and would look forward to their upcoming game each week. 

Brewers better act quickly- these guys are free agents.  Lots of teams are probably looking at them!