First trip from home

Emily left this morning for the first trip from home without parents or grandparents of any of our children. She's heading to Lexington, KY with a group of great kids and a few decent adults to help run a Vacation Bible School for a group of refugee kids there.
I pray she is safe, of course. But mostly I pray she is changed, in ways that cannot occur in our home. She's a terribly sweet kid, and generally willing to love others with open arms. This environment should be a good stretch for her, and an important step in maturing into a servant-child of God.

I love you, my dear little lady.
Her Updates can be found here.

The Unsung

This message is to serve as props for our eldest, who is so easy to get along with, care for, and be around that we 'rents often fail to recognize her value.

She sits next to me now, long and lanky like her father, voluntarily reading her latest Greek mythology library book, in case there are additional historical facts she has previously missed. 

When Dad B told her to get over her fears and hit the math books, she did. When told she was to learn to dive, she swallowed her nerves and dove in, again and again, increasing in elegance all the while. From her earliest moments we have learned together, "Fear on the inside, courage on the outside." She has consistently faced her fears, and is all the stronger for it.

The occasional "Hmph!" vented in emotional frustration are an anticipated expansion of her tween world. As a 2-year-old, Mom B obtained Dr. Dobson's Strong Willed Child, thinking that Em was of that type. Mom B soon realized that Emily is not such a child, evidenced 24 months later by her first sister and definitively proven in the succeeding 30 months with the Queen. In this light, the rents need to be grateful of this child, knowing that she is likely the highlight of now and future Bowling 11-year olds.

This is not a statement of favoritism. The impetus of said post is realizing that the non-squeaky wheel is overshadowed by her louder and more acrimonious siblings. She is asked to handle a task, and we mentally mark it off as 'done', while the speculation is opposite with the siblings, where disobedience (or 'lack of obedience' in the new world order) is assumed until tasks are proven complete.

She is a darling, a pleasure, and a source of immense pride for this writer.

Who Did This?

We have always been honest with Garrett of his beginnings, letting him know even before he understood its implications that he was from China, that we adopted him. And in general, all things considered, he has understood.
When he was four, he asked his mother on a road trip why his little ear (i.e. the side that is missing an ear) is different than his big one. He had recognized and verbalized that he had only one ear. Maggie told him that one day he would get a 2nd big ear to replace his little one.
Well, that day came yesterday, thanks to the good effort of Dr. Jones and his staff.

An extra shout out goes to Dr. Jones for going to the mattresses with the insurance company that had determined the first 2 rounds of review that Garrett receiving hearing on the left side of his head was not considered medically necessary, and was a 'cosmetic' procedure, not to be covered by them. After Dr. Jones climbed the ladder to the state insurance commission, the insurance company's perspective changed.

Garrett became the 3rd Adam, with Dr. Jones removing a portion of his rib to carve an ear and insert it in the side of his head in the first of 4 surgeries to gain his hearing.
G-man has had a few other surgeries, and has always proven completly brave about the process. This time was no different, coupling his natural bravery with an intense excitement over the new ear. However, upon waking up, bandages wrapped over his head, tubes draining various-colored fluids from random body parts, and a covering over his rib, all bets were off. In a drowsy, dry-mouthed manner, upon the entrance of Dr. Jones into the post-op room, Garrett strains with all the drugged-up voice he can muster, "WHO DID THIS!" while holding his rib. Direct and distinct accusation in his voice.

Hoodwinked.

Shanghai'd

Trusting an Untrustworthy Person

I'm not a hawk, and I even think kimchi is almost edible. But why do we continue to trust North Korea?
A shortened recent history:

• 1992 & 1994: Kim says "we'll be nice". 
• 1995: US gives $6B to pay for them being nice. 
• 2002: Kim says "just kidding, we've got an underground nuclear facility". 
• 2003: Invite Russia and China to help broker peace. Really?
• 2005: Kim says "we'll be nice, if you give us some more $"
• 2006: Kim 1st nuclear weapon test.
• 2007: Kim says "we'll disable our nuclear facilities by year end... got any more $"
• 2008: US agrees to take NKorea off its "Axis of Evil" list, if NKorea gives them access to all of the nuclear facilities for inspection (notice, the 2007 deadline was missed).
• 2008: NKorea agrees to give US access to all nuclear facilities for inspection, if the US gives more $.
• 2009: NKorea walks away from talks, tests another nuclear weapon, and then agrees to resume nuclear disarmament talks (apparently, they didn't want to be in the talks while testing the nuclear weapon, as that would be disingenuous)
• 2010: NKorea sinks a SKorea ship, threatens SKorea and US with nuclear war, then asks to resume nuclear disarmament talks
• 2011: NKorea reveals another secret underground nuclear facility which they had been constructing while they've been negotiating.
• 2012 April 14: NKorea attempts to honor the late Kim's 70th birthday and his eternal father's 100th birthday:

The event was appropriate: to celebrate their dead, dishonest and militaristic cult-leader who used his tax base to fund the military while insisting that foreign aid be used to feed the citizens, the cult-followers attempted to launch a long-range rocket to show the world its power and instead watched the rocket fail.

Maybe we can get NKorea to commit to nuclear disarmament talks if we give them some $.

Glass Jaw

Tonight I had the occasion amidst my weekly soccer match of going after a loose ball in front of the goal, whereby I met the other team's striker, my keeper, and my keeper's elbow. Me the elbow were intimately acquainted, and I awoke inside the penalty box 5-10 seconds later. 

I left the field of my own accord and watched the remainder of the game. Two concerns evolved in my mind, one of greater weight than the other. First, I couldn't close my mouth. Second, I would have to share said reality with my wife (I'll let you decide which of the concerns concerned me the most).

An hour of internet [sic] research has encouraged me to join the Waitansee Tribe in the hopes that things are better tomorrow. And seeing as though Maggie is table dancing in Vegas with her girlfriends for the weekend, I'm going to delay the inevitable.