http://mommyearth.blogspot.com/2009/11/tirzah-quotes.html

http://mommyearth.blogspot.com/2009/11/another-visit-with-grandparents-late.html

A few more posts are up at http://mommyearth.blogspot.com/

If you haven't already heard, Liberty Truth was born Friday at 1:45 am. 

More info and some pictures are at my other blog -- mommyearth.blogspot.com

We are enjoying our new little blessing.  Thank you for all your love and prayers.

Throwing this out here for your consideration.  It's a new thing, like a spelling bee except it's concerning Bible knowledge and memory.  The last day to register to host one is the end of this month.  Thoughts?

http://biblebee.org/

"Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You!...
Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path."  Psalm 119:11, 105

Just one baby.  We're fine with that.  There are some exciting things about twins for sure, but I've always thought that I wasn't really cut out for handling two babies at once.  If God had given them to me I was going to have to believe I was wrong, but since there is just one, I may still be right on that.  Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.  We're thankful that all appears to be well with the baby.

Did get more than one picture, though.  I felt really pampered at this ultrasound place.  Big screens to see the images on, lots of pictures, space for the children to play and toys to play with, even a CD and a DVD -- video!  Quite a contrast to the crowded little room I'm used to, and getting just a few pics if more than one.  They didn't even ask that I have a bladder full to capacity for the duration of the show, which definitely contributed to making it a more enjoyable experience for me.  This was also our first experience with 3D -- really amazing, even though at this age the baby looks really scrawny and not "camera-ready."  Still an incredible thing to peek into its little world like that.

I just tried putting one of the pictures on here but my computer problems are apparently getting worse as I can't see the picture I just uploaded.  I can see where it's supposed to be and the title but it's not showing up.  I clicked on it to see if it would show up in my post, but if it's here it's invisible to me.  Craziness.  I hope you can see it somehow, but if not maybe it will work later for both of us?

Good night.

 
"For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb.  I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well."  Psalm 139:13-14

Thank you for the encouraging thoughts and prayers.

This week I'm to hit 12 weeks, which hopefully means I can leave my sickness behind.  I've been feeling so much better today that it's very encouraging, but I've learned that while this usually means things are on the upswing, I can't get my hopes up too soon about complete recovery.  I have to just take it one day at a time.  Nevertheless I'm thankful to have had a day where I feel more normal.  How much more I appreciate health when I've missed it!

Well, the month of October wasn't really great for me.  I spent as much of it as I could in a reclining position and relaxing -- as much as is possible with four children in the house.  That actually might sound kind of nice until you have to do it for a month and feel like you have the flu most of the time.  Oh, and you have about a hundred things you can think of that need to be done, with more accumulating as you neglect them....  I am so thankful for John and Bethany and all their help.  Bethany has been getting some extra lessons in home management.  She's been getting simple meals for her siblings and herself, helping clean, even cooking a bit.  She already knew how to make muffins by herself and did that once.  I also instructed her how to make hard-boiled eggs this weekend and she thought it was fun.   I think she boiled all of the eggs we had, which was over two dozen, and we've eaten most of them (yes, even I have been able to eat them, whereas even the smell might have been an issue for me a couple weeks ago -- this is good progress).  She helps look after the smaller ones, too, with a good deal of bossing though -- typical oldest child (which means there are maybe more arguments amongst siblings than usual, or maybe I just notice them more since it's harder to deal with them than usual.  Ah, I do have some training to do either way!).  Peter and Zion do their best to help also.  They all try -- even little Tirzah likes to help, although her mess-making capabilities still far outweigh her helpfulness.  But she's very good at providing charm and comic relief. 

So I realized at month's end that the only times I left the house in all of October, if I recall correctly, were the day I went to the doctor and the day I went to the midwife.  Exciting, huh?

I set up an appointment with a local doctor because I wanted to go somewhere close since I was feeling so lousy.  I knew I was over 10 weeks along so I should be able to hear the heartbeat, which was a good part of the reason I set up the appointment when I did.  By the time you've been through four complete pregnancies already, prenatal visits are not something you do for the fun of it. 

So after I wrote down, and then explained to the nurse, and then re-explained to the doctor just how many children and previous pregnancies I've had, and all those juicy details, so they could be sure they were entered into their fancy-shmancy computer system, I naturally expected that she'd reward me by listening for the heartbeat.  The doppler was sitting right behind her on the counter, after all.  Instead, she was eager to get on to the next appointment -- a girl who was complaining to her mama on her cell phone that if the doctor didn't get in there soon she was outta there -- and I had to ask hopefully, "Are we going to listen to the heartbeat?"  So we listened. 

She couldn't find the heartbeat.  This of course concerned me. 

Don't worry, it's early, she said.

I've heard it by this time before, I said.  I was still concerned.

Seeing she couldn't comfort me with just a passing dismissal, she got more emphatic.  A lot more.  "Don't worry.  This doesn't mean you're having another miscarriage.  Listen, I'm not *%##  !@&**#$% you....pardon my French."  First time I'd heard a doctor use such unprofessional language.  I was a little shocked on top of my concern by this time.

We ended up listening again, after she'd taken care of cell phone girl, and after she changed the battery in her doppler (and apparently after she'd had a smoke break.  Wondered if she took smoke breaks right before delivering babies, too.).  She listened longer this time, but still nothing.

Could we order an ultrasound? 

Well, it's early.  It's not medically necessary.  Wait a couple weeks and don't worry.  She tried to convince me that I was actually a week earlier than I thought I was.  I knew she was wrong.  Sorry, lady, you lost my business.

I'd never had an experience like that with my doctor before.  I didn't choose to home birth because of disliking my doctors.  I was always fairly pleased overall with the ones I had in Springfield.  So this was disappointing.  But most of all I was concerned about the baby.

I finally called the midwife.  Driving to Kansas was sounding better and better.  She said come in and I'll listen, and if we don't hear it I'll order an ultrasound for you.  That was more like it.

The midwife has a real bed in her office, along with a plant and a cool little rock fountain.  It's comfy and cozy.  There's no fancy-shmancy computer system in sight, and she didn't start with dozens of questions.  She did ask one early on:

So I assume you'd like to listen for the heartbeat first?

Yes! 

She listened for a minute or so, and there it was, thumping along beautifully!

So, you're having a baby! she said.

Yay!  And the whole family got to hear it, too, which wouldn't have been the case at the doctor's, since I went by myself.

Oh, and she agreed with my estimate about how far along I am, not the doctor's. 

I'm very thankful for the midwife, and for being able to hear the heartbeat, especially after that disturbing incident. 


-----------------

I know many of you are thinking about the election, and I am too.  Assuming I'm not having just a terrible-feeling day tomorrow, I plan to drag myself and my little people up to the schoolhouse and vote (John's out of town -- Colorado -- and has already voted absentee).  I've finally decided to vote for the Constitution Party candidate, Chuck Baldwin.  The biggest factors in my decision:

1.  I am pro-life.  So is Baldwin.  More than George Bush, who if I understand correctly has increased funding for abortion through Medicaid, Title X, and Planned Parenthood support.  And Baldwin is definitely more pro-life than McCain.

2.  I believe that there are huge threats to our liberties that are being largely unaddressed or addressed in misguided ways by both major parties of our government.  One of the biggest of these is illegal immigration, an issue which was in people's minds during the Republican primaries, but has fallen by the wayside since McCain became the candidate.  Could it be that this is because he really doesn't intend to do anything about it?  Considering his record, almost certainly. 

Recently I've become aware that the immigration issue is even bigger than I previously thought it was, and one of the biggest problems our nation faces.  In fact, many of the other issues which are hotly debated -- economy, education, health care, national security -- are related very much to this one issue.  If it continues in the way it is going now, it very well could result in the downfall of our nation.  Sound crazy?  We would not be the first nation to be destroyed by ignoring such an issue.  Where am I getting this stuff?  I've been reading Pat Buchanan's book State of Emergency. 

Another major issue which could really affect our liberties is big enough to be numbered by itself:

3.  The economy.  Both major candidates are Keynesians in their economic views.  Don't worry if you don't know what that means.  I don't know much about economics either.  With all this government intervention lately though, I was inspired to pull out our copy of  Seven Men Who Rule the World From the Grave (an interesting book I read a while back).  One of the men is John Maynard Keynes, who came up with Keynesian economics, a short-sighted solution to the economic problems of the Great Depression era.  Think New Deal.  Think bailout.  Think the-government-will-solve-all-our-problems.  Think "We only owe it to ourselves!"  Think -- oh, wait! -- now we owe it to China!

Now think some real truth: "...the borrower is servant to the lender."  Proverbs 22:7b

Do you see where this is going?  Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

The story goes that someone asked Keynes, "Yes, this appears to work in the short term, but what about the long-term consequences?"  Keynes' famous answer was, "In the long-term, we are all dead." 

How comforting.

The author of Seven Men... says that Keynesian economics will likely ultimately lead to world government as nations become more and more dependent on each other economically.  Are we seeing this beginning to happen?  Quite possibly.  Granted, it would likely take a while, but when  candidates talk a lot about improving how other countries view us and very little if any about our national sovereignty, and when I see this kind of economic stuff, it sends up red flags in my mind. 

If you think world government wouldn't be such a big deal, consider that the US is considered by many to be one of the most conservative nations in the world.  Consider how liberal Europe is, or even Canada (whose 'hate crimes' laws concerning homosexuality are already affecting US religious organizations that broadcast into the country).  Consider the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is a very real threat to families and parental rights, and which only the US and Somalia have not ratified.  If you have not heard of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, I suggest you look it up. 



Well, okay.  Enough about that.  It's depressing.  This sort of thing is what happens when we think we can save ourselves, and when we believe lies because they are more fun to listen to than hard truths.  That's why the most important thing anybody can do to influence the world for good is to learn about God's truths and apply them, and help somebody else on the road toward understanding and applying them too.  And that's why this politics stuff, while interesting as well as endlessly frustrating, doesn't matter nearly as much as we tend to think it does at the time. 

So tomorrow, Lord willing, I'm going to vote.  Then I plan sit in front of the TV or computer or both with the children, to watch the election results come in.  And then, being tempted to be either more or less discouraged perhaps, I purpose now to thank God for His goodness, and for His wisdom, and to pray for our nation as before, but perhaps more earnestly than before.   I purpose also to pray for whoever is chosen to be our future president.  Because whoever it is, God will have appointed him.   And I know that God's judgment is always best, even if I can't see how at the time. 

Now this is here to remind me just in case I'm inclined to forget what I've purposed.  It's easy to purpose things and it's maybe just about as easy to forget them, at least if you're me.  Which of course you are not.  Why yes, I do need to get some sleep -- however did you guess?  Anyway, I know I'll be sure to reread this just to make sure I didn't say anything too stupid.   Which means this paragraph might get censored.

"Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities.  For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.... Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor."  Romans 13:1, 7

"The people are right that America has desperate, crying needs. However, Mrs. Palin’s nomination for the Vice Presidency is not answering the cry — it is making it louder.  Looking back over the last year, what’s glaringly obvious is that what America needs is more qualified male leaders.  The real cry of the moment is: Give us men!

Seeing women in leadership does not inspire men to be better leaders.  We believe Sarah Palin’s example will not inspire men to be men — it will inspire them to make way for more Sarah Palins....

So why are we inspired by Sarah Palin?  Because her example puts a stronger fire in us to answer the cry, the way we believe God intended.  We are more inspired than ever to help our father, brothers, husbands and sons to fill the role we are not called to fill.

It has rightly been observed that women have already been elected to the highest position they can hold, and that any “promotion” in the civil sphere would be a step backward.  Their womanly sphere is where this hurting nation needs them most.
So let us resolve to give the world what it really needs, in the way that only women can give it.  We have our work cut out for us.... It will call out every gift and talent within us.  In doing so, we’re not just answering the cry — we’re obeying God, Who holds our first allegiance.

Mrs. Palin, you have inspired us to take stronger action for our God and for our country."

source:  http://visionarydaughters.com/2008/09/why-sarah-palin-inspires-us 

Please note that I don't agree with all the ideas of those who are labeled 'evangelicals' who oppose Sarah Palin, and I don't even agree with everything from the article where I got this quote.  However, I do share many of the same concerns, and I thought this was well put.  

"For Jerusalem stumbled, and Judah is fallen, because their tongue and their doings are against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of His glory.  The look on their countenance witnesses against them, and they declare their sin as Sodom; they do not hide it.  Woe to their soul! For they have brought evil upon themselves.  'Say to the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.  Woe to the wicked!  It shall be ill with him, for the reward of his hands shall be given him.   As for My people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O My people!  Those who lead you cause you to err, and destroy the way of your paths.'  The LORD stands up to plead, and stands to judge the people."  Isaiah 3:8-13

And neither is making a post.  There now, that wasn't so difficult, was it?  If only everything were so easy.

"'Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You.'"  Jeremiah 32:17