School's wrapping up pretty nicely and I finished teaching my TA class last Friday (their final exam was last night, but we didn't have morning classes all week). That's left me a lot more free time on my hands to do...well, whatever I want. Our TV's been broken a couple weeks now and, though it's frustrating not to be able to watch the Suns crush the Spurs (sorry, had to throw that in) in my own home, it's been a disguised blessing not to have a mindless sinkhole to just fall into every spare minute while I'm home. You'd think I'd have taken advantage of all this free time to be productive in planning evening meals and catching up on housework (as if you can really "catch up"), but no. I've got a new time taker - the Internet. It's amazing what you can find out there. Did you know the IRS employee tax manual has instructions for collecting taxes after a nuclear war? I know you're happy to hear that you'll still be able to contribute to our country's best efforts at mindless spending, in spite of mass destruction...I sure was. And another - McDonald's is the world's largest distributor in toys (though Santa Clara County, CA is working to change that http://articles.latimes.com/2010/apr/27/business/la-fi-happy-meals-20100427). Anyway, I have lots more if you're interested. Or you could find them yourselves when you're bored.
We had small group (Bible study) last night and I LOVE the time spent growing with the other young women in our group. Most are mothers of young children, so I always learn a lot of practical stuff from them. One mother has been reading the book "Lies Women Believe and the Truth that Sets Them Free", which I've had on my "to-read" list (and my bookshelf) for a while now. I pulled it down this morning and read the section on children, surprised at how many of the lies I've bought into. It's a dangerous position to be in when we don't carefully think through the ideas the world throws at us and match them up with the gospel and instructions God has given us, whether the ideas are about children, marriage, or even about God Himself. The thought of being responsible (no, accountable) for the way we instruct our children should drive us to the Bible for our own instructions. And yet, we seek answers on the Internet, crazy humans that we are. Colossians 1:15-23 proclaims the ultimate supremacy of Christ, and we really think some mommy message board is going to give us better guidance?!?
Speaking of mommy message boards, the Internet has it's fair share of them and I confess that my new Internet preoccupation has taken me across a few. There was one forum discussing whether or not you should "stimulate" an unborn baby with books, music, etc to give them a jump start on life. That sounded dumb to me even as I just typed it...a jump start on life just by reading nursery rhymes and playing Mozart. How far ahead will that really put you? Then I also read in my "Your Baby's Development this Week" newsletter that Tobin can possibly hear and recognize my voice now. So for the next 20 weeks (or thereabouts), I have a captive audience. Put that together with the whole "jump start" idea and I started thinking about the words Tobin will hear me say over and over before he's even born. Cali (my pet, in case you missed the post from a couple weeks ago) is just a cat, but she recognizes her name and a few key words (like "treat") just from our repetition of them. Would Tobin also recognize important words from me saying them often enough before he's born? I'm not sure, but that in itself was a conviction. If I want my child to grow up with the understanding of who Jesus is, shouldn't he be hearing that name over and over from me even now? Maybe it makes no real difference to Tobin right now, but it's something for me to be mindful of.
Alright, Tobin's picture is now WAY down on the page, because Mom got a little carried away in her posting. Nothing new about that, for those of you who know much I like to chatter. Have a beautiful weekend!
Love in Christ ~ Valerie & Tobin
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