Naptime [audio blog]
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Nathanael’s first audioblog is below! In it, he discusses his upcoming nap time.
Family
In stitches
Another party it over! Thanks to everyone who came and made it great for Nathanael, who is now officially 1. After two Saturdays of parties, one person asked,”So, what are you going to do next week?”
Now I can answer the question.
I’ll be getting my stitches out.
After humbling myself so much as to tell you how I hurt my foot last week, I’m not going to tell you what I did to my finger in the evening after Nathanael’s party. But suffice to say, it’s well cut, and I now have 6 stitches in it. Now, that being said, I really have a lot to be thankful for. First, it was cut in a “good” place, and did a lot less damage than it could have. Second, it’s my left hand, and I’m right-handed. Third, I was able to get the stitches fairly quickly – within about an hour and a half of the accident. Fourth, the pain hasn’t been too bad. Although I must say the pain of the needles meant to “freeze” my finger was really something. And believe it or not (skip to the next paragraph if you’re squeamish), the doctor pushed one of the needles through my finger and right out of my palm. I don’t think he even noticed. But that was quite the feeling!
So, tomorrow I have to go in to get the bandaging changed, and to make sure there’s no infection. And on Saturday the stitches come out.
Now, there is a concern you could pray about. We’re going to be involved in a lot of music in Glendon on the 29th. Two things that are somewhat difficult to do with one less finger include playing the guitar and the piano. So some quick healing is needed, or there’s going to be a new Cottrill a capella group!
Speaking of music, a song has been going through my head the last few days, I thought I’d share it with you. I updated and wrote music for a song originally written by Isaac Watts and Stopford (yes, Stopford) A Brooke. Here’s my version:
Let ev’ry trembling thought be gone!
Awake and run the heavenly race,
And put a cheerful courage on!
It is a rough and thorny road,
And mortal travellers tire and faint;
But they forget our mighty God
Who feeds the strength of ev’ry saint.
(Chorus)
Swift as an eagle cuts the air
We’ll mount aloft toward our home
On wings of love our souls will fly
Not tire until they reach Your throne
This mighty Lord, who’s matchless pow’r
Is ever new and ever young
And still it lasts, while endless years
Their everlasting circles run.
From You the everflowing spring
Our souls shall drink a fresh supply
While those who trust the strength of man
Shall melt away and droop and die.
(Chorus)
Swift as an eagle cuts the air
We’ll mount aloft toward our home
On wings of love our souls will fly
Not tire until they reach Your throne
Painful daze
It’s been a bit of a painful week. It started with something rather silly. Just before Hannah’s party last week, I stepped on the vacuum hose. Yes, I’m man enough to admit it. But I stepped on it in such a way that I actually really hurt my foot. I put ice on it for a few minutes, but soon the party was starting, so I tried to just deal with it for a while.
The next day I had a bad migraine attack, and was in bed most of the day. Monday was ok, although my foot was still sore, but Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were bad migraine days as well. On Thursday, being sick of being sick, I ploughed through a huge amount of work. Today, feeling much better, I continued. But I think my foot has had quite enough. Once again, it’s very sore and hard to walk on. Just in time for the next party?
Anyway, in a sense the foot is the most noticeable but most minor problem. The migraine issue seems to be related to some other problems – little sleep, and sore eyes. I’m just starting to realize how little sleep I’m actually getting. There’s some further treatment that I can try, but – yeah, in this case it keeps coming down to money!
So please pray that I’ll have endurance and wisdom. I’m not discouraged or depressed, but I am at times frustrated. And, of course, tired!
Speaking of migraine, I wrote a new article about the cause of migraine at Relieve-Migraine-Headache.com. So if you’re interested in what the latest research is telling us about the disease, check it out.
Hannah today
In this audio blog, Hannah talks about what she’s been doing today, and lets you in on which birthday gifts she likes the best.
Why children are good at languages
I can see why children are good at learning languages. No, this isn’t going to be a technical blog about the psychology of language (although I’m sure that would be interesting). But I got thinking about this the other day when I heard Hannah singing.
Now, Hannah likes to make up her own songs. I can’t imagine where she got the habit from, but she got it. Sometimes the songs rhyme, sometimes they don’t. Sometimes they make sense, more often they don’t. But the interesting thing is that they sound like other songs. For example, she makes up songs that sound like worship songs. They have the same kinds of phrases, the same kinds of tempo and tune.
This is why children are good at languages (among other reasons). They listen to things as they are, without imposing their expectations on them. When Hannah hears the letter “d” in Spanish, she doesn’t think about what a d ought to sound like, or how that word is like an English word. She just tries to copy it like it sounds. We’re going to continue to learn a lot from her when it comes to Spanish!
Then, on another topic, I got thinking about worship songs again. I realized that I’ve heard a lot of worship songs lately that sound like someone just wrote them to sound like a worship song. They have the same terminology, a catchy tune. Some of these songs are hits. But they don’t really say all that much. They’re all alike, more or less. What happened to that personal passion, that awareness of how God is working in our own lives, in our own church? After all He’s done, all He is, why is it that we can only think of singing,”bless the Lord” or “I worship You”?
Sometimes, just sounding “like” something isn’t enough. It’s great for kids learning a language, but eventually they need to learn to say things that are real. Look at the rich tapestry of emotion and praise in the Psalms. We all need that kind of worship that springs up from our encounters with God, His people, His world and His Word. Let’s engage our brains, engage our passions, and really appreciate the Almighty in reverence and awe. Has He done anything for you today?
Hannah’s vlog – almost
Tomorrow Hannah turns four. Today was her birthday party – it just finished, actually.
Earlier today we were going to try to get Hannah to leave you a video blog, but we had technical difficulties. However, for all practical purposes you can still see it – it’s in the photo gallery. In it Hannah talks about her upcoming party and some of what she did to help.
The party went well, and was lots of fun. We’ll show you a few pictures a little later. Thanks to everyone who came! 😀
Click here to download or view Hannah’s video blog (vlog) (about 2.1MB).