It's a Boy

We are proud (and tardy) to announce the birth of our son, John Mark Stefanic. (John Mark is his first name; he doesn't have a middle name)

He was born on Sunday, October 17, 2010 at 7:44 am. He was seven pounds and five ounces and twenty and a half inches long.

Details: my water broke at 2:15 in the morning that Sunday. By an hour later, my contractions were already three minutes apart! So we hopped in the car, and JJ sped the 50 miles to Sioux Falls. What a trip it was! JJ says I was a pain the whole ride--boy was I! I do not recommend long car rides during labor! By the time we got to the hospital, I felt like a watermelon was trying to come out my butt (excuse my graphic descriptions). When we got to the L & D unit and I was examined, I was already at 7 cm! My nurses were great, and JJ's support was huge. I had about two hours of contractions before I was fully dilated, and I started pushing at around six in the morning. Pushing a baby out is like the worst case of hemorrhoids you can possibly imagine...and then some. I now have a different view of Johnny Cash's song "Ring of Fire." Labor hurts!

But, oh! the relief when the baby finally comes out! The last few pushes were so intense, and everyone was cheering me on saying how close I was and to keep going! keep going! And then all of the sudden, you see this little one sliding out. I could see his head when he was born, full of hair and a red, wrinkly face. I was so out of breath and anxious. It seemed so surreal, so unbelievable. All the pain just disappears, and there's this unbelievably precious, real, totally perfect little boy! I got to hold him right away, and our nurse took pictures. It was such an amazing moment. JJ was huddled close to us, tears in our eyes as we spoke our son's name and comforted him as he cried. Thanks be to God!

We are so thankful that everything went so smoothly. We had no complications with the gestational diabetes. Both John Mark and I were cleared before discharge. We had a wonderful hospital stay with great nurses and care. We loved the staff, and everyone was super helpful. It couldn't have been a better experience--unless of course you could skip the whole labor part.

We went home on Tuesday and had a few days to ourselves before family descended and ascended (from Wisconsin and Florida respectively) the following weekend for John Mark's baptism. We were very thankful that so much of our family was able to come: both sets of grandparents, a great-grandparent, uncles, and god-parents. It was very special, and we were so thankful they all got to see John Mark's baptism. What an amazing moment it was to bring our son to God, to watch him receive God's favor and grace. What an amazing picture of our helplessness and God's graciousness. We brought a sleeping child to the fount; he didn't speak a word or do a thing. Yet Christ deigned to unite with him and give him new life. Oh what joy! Daily we pray that God will preserve this little child in his baptismal faith.

and may He preserve us all, as we know and trust He will, according to His good promises in Christ Jesus our lord.

Thank you all for tolerating my delinquency in posting as of late! I have a new picture for you of the belly (at 32 weeks) and lots of news.

I "failed" the blood glucose test and was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. This does not mean that the baby has diabetes, but, rather, that my pancreas isn't able to produce enough insulin for the increased amount of blood sugar produced during pregnancy (3x more than normal!). Plus, pregnancy makes the insulin a woman produces less and less effective the further along in the pregnancy. So, my doctors wanted to treat this very aggressively because it can be damaging for the baby. Both Mom and Baby make their own insulin, but a pregnant mom's blood sugar can cross the placenta and raise the baby's blood sugar levels. This causes the baby to have to produce more insulin, which is not a good thing. Insulin is a growth hormone, so it can cause a baby to grow too fast, leading to complications in birth or necessitating an early induction. The baby can then be very large but still have immature organs. Plus, after birth, if the baby has been producing extra insulin to counteract the Mom's high blood sugar levels, then when born, he or she has too much insulin and can suffer from low blood sugar. All of these complications are easily avoidable by keeping Mom's blood sugar down, either by diet or medication. So, I was directed to the Pregnancy Diabetes clinic and received a ton of information and help. The nurses and nutritionists there helped me come up with meal plans and a new diet. I monitor my blood sugar four times a day, and they monitor me by phone, checking up on all my numbers each week. So far, so good. They, and we, are very pleased with the results of changing my diet. I have a very limited amount of carbs that I get at each meal, but I've found ways to still get in a cookie here and there :) and I've been reassured that once Babykins is born, I can pig out to my heart's content!

So, last week at our doctor's visit, we had another ultrasound to check the baby's growth and make sure he or she wasn't producing extra insulin and growing too fast. They measured his upper body and limbs and were very pleased with the result: Babykins is smack-dab in the fiftieth percentile for weight, a nice 5 pounds 13 oz. My midwife was very pleased with the results of the tests and where the baby is lying. He or she is already head down and dropped very low and is facing my right side. She said he's in the perfect position and everything looks great! We are so thankful!

At the end of the ultrasound, we got to see Babykins in 3-D. It was amazing! He or she was practicing breathing (a very good sign, the doctor said), and we saw him or her sucking and then sticking out his tongue! It was so amazing! The pictures speak for themselves, though.

On Tuesday of next week, I will be considered full-term, which is very exciting! At our last appointment, yesterday, I was found to be 50% effaced and 1 cm dilated. That was exciting, BUT it really doesn't give any indication of how soon (or how late) Babykins will be born, so don't get too excited! It basically just means that my body is doing what it is supposed to do. Babykins has dropped very low, though, and my midwife was surprised how low he is. It's a good thing, because that means he hasn't got too far to go during labor, but it makes for a fair amount of discomfort for me in the process. I've been experiencing a lot of pelvic and groin pain, but I know it's temporary. We have four more weeks until our due date!

Thanks to all for all your prayers and love and support. God's blessings.

Baby Belly Pictures!
here's pictures of me and our little baby at 27, 28, and 29 weeks after conception. I'm feeling big! I have two more months to grow, though, so I'd better get used to it. Things are going well, but I've had a lot of very uncomfortable Braxton Hicks contractions. These are practice contractions, essentially and not "real" labor pains; but I can vouch that they're not comfortable! Babykins is also very active and is keeping me tired. I had a routine blood glucose test two weeks ago, and my sugar levels came back high, so I'm having to re-take the test: fasting for 8-10 hours followed by four blood draws every hour. not fun! hopefully the results will come back fine this time.

We've got the nursery mostly ready. JJ found a glider chair and ottoman for me, and I recovered it in Winnie-the-Pooh material. JJ has put together the crib, and we recently went to a car seat installation workshop and learned how to properly install our car seat. I kind of feel like we're ready!

JJ is getting ready for his work to kick in to high gear. He preaches and leads the service this Sunday while Pastor is on vacation. Confirmation classes start soon, and he will be teaching 5 & 6 graders. Monday is orientation at the college here, and he will be out all day at the LSF booth. After that, his activities will increase, and he'll be busy with students and Bible studies. He's had plenty of time to get well prepared, and he's excited to get busy.

The weather here has been delightful. I pity all my Florida friends. Recently we had a cold-snap with highs (yes, highs) in the low seventies! Mornings are in the fifties or sixties! While I'm enjoying it now, I'm a bit anxious about how quickly fall--and then winter--must be creeping up. I'm not ready for the kind of cold weather this climate is going to dish out--but I've started knitting a scarf. Think that will do the trick?

thanks as always to everyone for their prayers. As we get closer to Babykins' due date, we appreciate them more and more! Pray for baby's health and safety and Mommy's strength. We can't wait to meet our little one and introduce him or her to all of you!

We are feeling settled in and comfortable here in our new home now. We've been busy enjoying visits from grandparents, parents, siblings, and more to come later this month! It is nice showing off "our" new home. My mom was up from FL, and we got the nursery just about ready for the baby. Tons of fun! As she will be able to tell all you Florida folks, the weather here is fantastic! It hasn't really gotten above 90 degrees, I don't think, since we've been here! Of course, that's very hot for the natives, but for us, it's been delightful. Walks around the neighborhood, to downtown, just down the street, or to the dairy bar to try a new flavor of SDSU ice cream have been the norm so far. We've been enjoying church picnics and barbecues, a few thunderstorms, movie nights, fresh homegrown sweet corn, and getting to know new people.

We have had our first appointment with our new doctor/midwife and toured the hospital where we will be having the baby. It is the fanciest hospital I've ever seen in my life! The labor and delivery unit is much like the new birthing centers with jacuzzi tub, birthing ball and stools, and a kitchen, but if the mom needs any interventions like a C-section or something, the surgery rooms are right down the hall. The post-partum unit has a spa service, jacuzzi in every room, a cafe with complimentary meals for mom and dad, and kitchenettes in every sub-unit. Nice! We are now to the every other week appointment schedule, so our next appointment is this week, and I will have a routine glucose test to check my blood sugar levels. The above pictures are me at 26 and 28 weeks respectively. I have 12 more weeks now and am starting to feel big and awkward. It's kind of hard to believe I'm going to be getting a LOT bigger!
Thanks to everyone for their prayers and support. JJ is getting ready for students to arrive and is planning Bible studies and writing sermons for when Pastor is on vacation at the end of August. He's already preached once; his sermon manuscripts are available at the church's website here (his is the July 25th sermon). He is enjoying all he's learning and experiencing, but the pace will pick up for him substantially at the beginning of the school term. He's looking forward to some hard work!
God's blessings to all, until next time.

Well, we have officially moved in, and JJ has been officially installed as vicar. At right is the picture from JJ's installation (and you can see my baby-bump!). With all the help we received from our new congregation, we were moved in quite speedily, and I unpacked the last box this week! JJ has had a nice, smooth transition into working. The college students aren't back from summer break yet, so he's had lots of time to organize his office and shadow his supervisor. Once school starts after Labor Day, he will be much more busy.
Our first two weeks here have been wonderful. Everyone here has been so kind and generous. The church threw us a paper-goods shower for items and food we would need. We've already been to two barbecues and gotten fresh veggies and desserts. We are definitely going to like it here! In fact, it already feels like home. Our "little" house is so nice, and we feel so comfortable and at home. We have walked around the neighborhood and love the area. The campus is just to our north, and the chimes play on the hour for us to hear. There's a dairy bar on campus in the ag. tech. building, which is only a very short walk from our house. They serve ice cream that they make from their dairy cows on campus, and it's some of the best ice cream I've ever had! JJ and my goal for the year is to try every flavor! We've also walked to the movie store, to the park, and to the library (getting my library card was near the top of my to-do list!). Everything is within walking distance! And the weather is so nice that walks any time of day are delightful. It's in the mid eighties with a nice breeze.
We have an appointment with our new midwife for next week. I'm excited and nervous. It's hard changing doctor's mid-stream, as you might say. Before the appointment, we will be touring the women's center at the hospital. I looked at it online before we left St. Louis, and it looks very (very, very) nice. We've gotten a few books at the library about birthing, so we can at least be a little educated before the time comes (when everything you thought you knew goes out the window and you just have to fly by the seat of your pants...). I had wanted to take some birthing classes, but with JJ's schedule, we'll have to see. Babykins is doing well anyway. We had an ultrasound right before we left St. Louis, and baby had all his/her vital organs and requisite number of appendages. We've decided to wait till the baby's born to find out the sex and be surprised. My bump is growing, and Babykins seems to be more active everyday. It feels kind of like popcorn is being popped in my belly right now! JJ is feeling the baby kick and even starting to see my belly bounce with Babykins' movements! We are really enjoying it. JJ set up the crib in the baby's room, but other than that, I'm waiting until my mom comes to visit, so she and I can set up the nursery together. I am currently in the last week of my second trimester, so we're getting closer!
It should definitely be an exciting summer and fall. We have much to be thankful for and excited about. We have a new house, a new congregation, a new job, and a new baby! Thanks be to God! Please continue to keep us in your prayers. We are so blessed and encouraged by your support.

Well, we arrived this Wednesday safely at our new home in South Dakota. We love it already! A number of folks from church came out to help us unload the truck and got it done in no time. Now we're just working on all the boxes. Going from a two bedroom apartment to a two bedroom house doesn't seem like it would be that much different, but boy it is! The house the church has for us is much, much bigger than our apartment was! It will be hard to move away from such nice accommodations next year.

I will write more later and post pictures when I have them. Please e-mail us for our new address, but the USPS will forward anything sent to our seminary address. Our cell phone number is the same. And you can always reach us on Facebook too. We hope to get out some thank-yous and update letters to everyone who has done so much to support us, but it'll be a bit yet before we get to that! Please continue to pray for us. JJ is installed as vicar this Sunday, and Babykins will be going to find a new doctor in the upcoming weeks. We have much to look forward to and much to be thankful for! Thank you for being a part of it with us!

Well, we had a very busy end to our quarter and an equally busy break. My sister-in-law graduated with her M.A., and we were pleased to see her walk. Plus, we got to spend time with our Godson, little Oscar. He has grown, as all these little ones tend to, and is quite the handsome dark-haired young man. We had a wonderful time holding and feeding and playing with him.

After graduation, we headed down to Florida with Mom and Dad for break. We had a wonderful time except for missing Mom. While we were still in St. Louis, her dad went into the hospital and was eventually diagnosed with heart failure. She was up in Michigan attending to him for all but one day of our vacation. We missed her terribly! But we still got to have a good break. We went back to the beach we stayed at on our honeymoon to celebrate our one year anniversary and ate at the little deli we found then. We had several days all to ourselves while Dad was at work to just relax and do absolutely nothing! We also went tubing (the just-drifting-with-the-current kind not the really-fast-behind-a-speedboat kind) and visited friends and went fishing with Dad in our canoe out in the Gulf. The weather was perfect, and we had a wonderfully relaxing week.

The day we returned home to St. Louis, we received the news that my grandfather was taken off the ventilator and died shortly thereafter. We headed up to St. Louis the next day to be with Mom and help her with details. She did an amazing job taking care of her dad and getting all the funeral and burial arrangements done. We were very blessed to have my brother (Pastor) Matt and Tessa with Oscar also make the trip. The funeral was led by my grandfather's pastor at the home where he had been staying. The internment at the cemetery was led by Matt and JJ assisted, followed by military honors by the local VFW post. Both were the highlight and tear-jerkers of the weekend. Grandpa died Thursday, June 3 and was laid to rest on Sunday, June 6. He was 84. He is baptized, and we await with hope the Resurrection of the Dead, when all will be made right and the sadness of what never was will be replaced with the joy of what always should have been.

Now, it's back to the daily grind. JJ is taking one class this summer quarter, The Parables of Our Lord. We have one more weekend trip before being able to settle down and start packing. We leave for South Dakota on July 7th! We are anxiously awaiting it. JJ's ready to get started and excited for the year ahead. Thanks for all the prayers and support we receive from all of you! May God bless you as richly as he has us!

Well, it's been over a week, but I am glad to finally announce that JJ has been placed for vicarage at Mt. Calvary Lutheran church in Brookings, South Dakota. Yes, it's ironic that my brother got sent to SD for his vicarage, and now I'm going there too; but no, it's not the same church he was assigned. Brookings is home to South Dakota State University, so JJ will be doing a lot of campus ministry work as well as some parish duties. The church has acquired a house a half a block from the church in which we will be staying. I'm so excited to have a house for a year! The church looks wonderful, and everyone has been super nice so far. We are very excited to get started. We will be moving up there in early July, and hopefully the weather will still be nice...for a bit. I am nervous about spending a year in a very, very cold place. I am going to need to invest in some cold weather gear, but first I need to figure out what cold weather gear is (in Florida, cold weather gear means a sweater and socks). But I will survive! And either way, I'm looking forward to everything this vicarage year will hold.

Babykins is ten weeks old now. This week we were able to hear the heartbeat again. I don't think that could ever get old! JJ and I are repeatedly reminding each other of the beautiful sound: woosh woosh, woosh woosh, woosh woosh. JJ said it sounded like an ocean! At eight weeks, we were able to get pictures of our little Babykins. With his (or her) arms tucked under the chin, we think our baby looks very pious! We also at that point got to hear the heartbeat for the first time. We both had tears in our eyes and are treasuring our first photos of our baby! Babykins is in good health and size according to the doctor. I am coming closer to the end of my first trimester, and aside from some fatigue, I am feeling very good.

We are now less than a week away from call day. I don't know the exact number of days off the top of my head because we haven't been counting down. There's nothing like hearing your unborn child's heartbeat and counting down each week of your child's life and development to put things in perspective! While we are certainly excited to find out where we will be going, it's out of our hands and out of our control. We are content to wait and see what happens! We are looking forward to the service and all the busyness that will ensue for JJ as the sacristan. He will be singing in the choir for his own service and then helping as a the banner bearer for the evening call service for the fourth year students. He will be very busy this coming week! I think he's thinking more about all the logistics of the services than he is about his placement. That, at least, is what is more pressing right now. His parents will be able to make the trip from Wisconsin for the service, and we are looking forward to that as well. We have a lot to look forward to!

Thank you all for your continued support and prayers. Our Christian family has been and continues to be such a blessing to us. We are continually overwhelmed by your support and love. Thank you!

We are enjoying a blessed Eastertide. The weather has turned beautiful, and all the campus is abloom. Call day is in two weeks, and all the campus is also "abloom" with excitement.
JJ and I have our own excitement. We are blessed by God to have conceived a child and are joyously anticipating our child's birth in late October. We are enjoying each day with our child, learning about his or her growth and development. We've given him or her the nickname Babykins; Babykins is now an inch and a half long! Mom and baby are both doing well. Mommy has been extremely thankful for very little nausea. Fatigue can be dealt with with an afternoon nap, so things are going well. Daddy is a bouncing bubble of joy. He is so excited! He talks to Babykins everyday, and we pray for him or her everyday. It is a blessed experience to be a part of this child's life and growth, and we are thankful to God for this opportunity to be parents. Please add to your prayers our little one. We will certainly keep all of you updated! God's blessing to you all and peace in our Resurrected Lord!

Blessed Holy Week to everyone. We have been keeping very busy, but things are slowing down just in time for some contemplation on our Lord's passion this week. I had been working earlier this month at CPH, which was keeping us doubly busy. JJ was doing a great job of taking care of me when I got home bushed, but that consequently left both of us a bit behind. And our quarter started so quickly that we began a bit behind! Yesterday, Easter break started here on campus after chapel, so we spent the lovely afternoon resting and getting caught up. JJ got all his paperwork from last quarter caught up, and I got the kitchen cleaned up. The weather has turned so lovely this week that we were also able to go for a walk.
In chapel this week we celebrated Holy Week as much as possible, given the shortened school week. On Monday was a chanting of the Passion narrative, Tuesday corporate confession and absolution, and Wednesday a Good Friday service with Holy Communion. This week, since JJ has no responsibilities at his field ed. church, he has jumped at the chance to help an area pastor, Rev. Curtis of Trinity in Worden, IL, with the Passion services, including an Easter vigil Saturday evening. We are both very excited about that. We've never been to one, and it will be a great learning experience for JJ (technically, my mother informed me, I have attended an Easter vigil, when I was three, but I'm not counting that).
I bought my family's traditional brand of egg coloring kit (is there any other brand?) and am "forcing" JJ to color eggs this week, and we may make some cookies too! (It's not that he's the Easter equivalent of a Scrooge, but he doesn't like hard-boiled eggs.) It is such a wonderful time of year. Forget the bunnies and eggs, our Savior has died and risen from the grave for the redemption and restoration of all creation! Now that is something to celebrate! We wish everyone a blessed Pascha.

Well, we had an exciting, action packed break. First we went to Michigan to visit my grandfather. He and my mother had been estranged for over twenty years, so this was only the second time I'd ever visited him. It was a very special time. JJ enjoyed meeting my grandfather, and we both enjoyed making up for lost time. It was too short a visit, but we wanted to get over to JJ's parents house because his dad was having back surgery. The surgery went well, and his dad is recovering quickly. We had a busy time keeping up with him!
We had the opportunity to visit the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the Milwaukee Museum, which was fascinating. There was a replica of the Isaiah scroll and lots of fragments on display, plus lots of historical artifacts. I think the most fascinating thing was looking at some second and third century New Testament fragments. The manuscripts of NT books were written in Koine Greek, using all capital letters, no punctuation, and no spaces between words. We were very excited that with our very limited knowledge of Greek we were able to pick out one conjunction and one preposition! It was very exciting, though, to stand there (not touching the glass, mind you!) inspecting such old, treasured documents and trying to decipher them. Thankfully, people much smarter than me actually translate them! (people like our professors here at Seminary, actually!)

The most exciting event of our break was the birth of our nephew, Oscar Randolph Priem. He was born to my brother Matt and his wife Tessa on March 1st and was baptized this past Sunday, March 7. JJ and I were honored to be the Godparents and squeezed in the quick trip to Kansas City for the baptism. It was a very special event. I, of course, cried through the whole thing. It's hard not to! Right before my eyes, I saw my little nephew cross over from death to life! A little funeral and little birthday all rolled in to one! It was a blessed day and made me all the more thankful to remember my own baptism. Thank you God for calling us into your family and making us clean through this blessed flood!

School's out for...two weeks! We finished the quarter and are very excited. JJ still has one big exegetical paper to finish that's due next week, so he's not totally free yet. Still, it feels good to be on break.
Yesterday, we went to a Jewish Orthodox synagogue for Sabbath services as the last part of JJ's cross-cultural module. And boy was it a different culture! We had to sit on separate sides of the synagogue with a partition separating the men and the women. It was very--check that, impossibly hard to follow what was going on. Thankfully, JJ sat next to someone who willingly explained some things to him. It was impossible for me, though, to really figure out what was going on. There was a lot of chanting in Hebrew, lots of bowing, lots of talking. You wouldn't believe how people just came and went during the service and talked amongst themselves the whole time! Very different from a Lutheran service! There was a Psalm reading and then several prayers were chanted. Some people stood while others sat. If someone ever tells you that Lutheran services are inaccessible to outsiders, ha! Tell them to try going to a synagogue! Anyway, it was a very surreal experience. I'm not sure how educational it really was, since I didn't know what was going on! But it definitely was exposure to a completely different culture, and that was interesting.
This week JJ and I celebrated Fat Tuesday with a dinner of pancakes and funnel cakes. I didn't know this, but JJ told me that it's traditional the day before Lent to have pancakes or doughnuts or other rich foods. This is because the day before Lent started, everyone would use up all their fat and shortening and rich ingredients that they wouldn't be using during Lent. Well, we'll probably still be having rich foods during Lent (praise the lard!), but it was fun nonetheless. In chapel we had a wonderful divine service for the first day of Lent with the imposition of ashes. On Thursday, we used the service of corporate confession and absolution. It's hard to beat divine service one day, and confession and absolution the next! It has been a very edifying Lent so far, but it is hard to believe we are in Lent already.
We wish you all a blessed Lent as we prepare for our Lord's death and resurrection.

Last week of the quarter!
Thank you to everyone for your prayers. We have a busy schedule this week but are looking forward to our break come Friday. We have plans to travel to Michigan to visit my grandfather and then to Wisconsin again to stay with JJ's family. Hopefully the weather will be nice for us!

Great news! the LayBible Institute's Seminar on Man and Woman in Christ led by Dr. Biermann is now available on iTunes. For those of you who already have iTunes, search for the Concordia Seminary store and look in Congregation Resources. This is an excellent seminar that JJ and I took last spring. It discusses in detail the God-given roles for men and woman. I highly recommend it! From iTunes you can also watch/listen to classes on Lutheran doctrine and history; chapel sermons; and seminary workshops, seminars, and symposiums. If you don't have iTunes, you can download it here.
And while I'm plugging something, I'm going to plug my new line of cards. You can buy a book of my encouragement cards here. They're small notes with my original photography, art, and poetry that you can cut out and mail in a regular size envelope.

BUY NOW!

Well, JJ is going to have a busy week this week. Poor guy has been working so hard and not getting much sleep. He has three papers this week, a presentation due today, and a sermon to memorize for Saturday/Sunday services this weekend and a new one to write for class by Friday. He will be very busy! He also has Sasse discussion group, intramurals on Tuesday and Thursday, and vicarage workshop on Wednesday. Oh, and he's doing incense in chapel tomorrow morning. The lad is booked! and by the end of the week, he will be bushed! It's times like this where, I think, it's a bit harder to actually enjoy seminary! Of course, he loves all he's learning, but some times, there's so much to learn all at once that you don't have time to enjoy it; you just have to do it! After this week, the last two weeks of the quarter will be much easier. If he can survive this week, he should be ok!
The weather has been warming up a bit here, which is nice. The fountain in the middle of campus is frozen still, but the sun has been out. JJ is looking forward to "his" soccer field thawing and drying out so that he can get some guys together from spring soccer. The Seminary club team, which he coached this past fall, was the best team the Sem has ever had (or so said Dr. Voelz, who used to be the coach). JJ is hoping to be able to arrange some scrimmages with the team and anyone else that wants to play because they were such a great team and had such a fun time playing with each other. I regret that I was a bad scrapbooker and didn't take a single picture all season! Hopefully, if they play again this spring, I'll get a few pictures.
Our intramurals team is in the playoffs for basketball and resoundingly out of the playoffs for volleyball. We had our last volleyball match on Thursday and quickly and profoundly lost as usually. It's kind of sad because that's the one sport I play! (and the one sport our team's lost at so far...hmmm...I wonder what that says...?) Oh well. I'm not as bothered by it as JJ; I can enjoy myself most of the time even when we don't win!
JJ and I were able to attend the Making Abortion Unthinkable seminar on campus this weekend. It was moderated by Dr. Gibbs, using a curriculum put out by Stand to Reason. The curriculum had five (I think) sessions, which took us through the four steps of the art of pro-life persuasion: Reclaim the meaning of abortion, Simplify the argument, Argue logically and coherently, and Answer the pro-abortion rhetoric.
The first step involves using images carefully and wisely to reclaim the meaning of abortion. Our society is visual, and moral truths are frequently taught via graphic images. For instance, when you think of the holocaust, what image do you think of? What images does the media use when talking about the holocaust? These images are very disturbing, yet they are used to portray the truth about the atrocities that happened. Yet what images do you think of when you hear the word abortion? What images does the media use? They don't use any images of abortions themselves or of aborted babies, rather, of protesters and the like. So, we've lost the meaning of the word abortion in our culture; we hear the word but we don't associate it with what's actually happening. We talked about how to use images appropriately, and then we watched a short video that showed what abortion really is. It was the most horrific thing I have ever seen, and there wasn't a dry eye in the room. Anyone who is unmoved by the facts of abortion needs to see the reality of abortion. I don't think you can be half-hearted about this issue after you've seen pictures of the bodies of aborted babies.
The second step, simplify the argument, taught us to bring all discussion of abortion down to this basic question: "What is the unborn?" That is the heart of the issue. If the unborn is a living human person, than you can't kill it. If it isn't, then there's no reason not to kill it. So we learned lots of techniques to keep the argument on the real, central issue of what the unborn is.
Third, we learned how to argue that the unborn is a child and that abortion is wrong. We learned scientific facts proving that the child is alive from conception (even before, since both the sperm and the egg are both alive), that the child is undeniable human (it has human DNA), and that the child is its own unique individual (its DNA is distinct from its mother's) and a valuable human person (human value cannot be based on size, level of development, environment, or dependability).
Finally, the last step, we discussed common pro-abortion rhetoric and how to answer it.
The workshop lasted most of the day, and we got lots of materials to keep. The workbook will be a great resource as it contains everything in the videos we watched. It was a very informative program that I heartily encourage others to participate in. It was a real eye-opener too. There is so much at stake in this debate; it's literally a life and death issue!
Well, that's all for now. As always, thanks to all who are encouraging us with their support, prayers, time, and love. God's blessings and peace!

Well, we're both feeling a lot better. Because of my heart, I always take a long time to recover from simple viruses or colds, so JJ's had to take care of me this week. He's a sweetie and did a great job! But I seem to be back on my feet for the most part.

Our big news is that we had our vicarage meeting with Dr. Nielsen this week. I think it went well, but it was pretty simple, just answering questions. We don't really have a preference for geography or congregation profile. A good learning experience that will help form JJ as a confessional theologian and caring pastor is our priority. Of course, I did have to mention that I prefer a rural setting and hate cold weather! So Dr. Nielsen joked about sending us to North Dakota or Alaska! eek! I actually had a dream the night before our meeting that we got sent to North Dakota, but I don't think I'm prescient, so I'm not too worried. :) Well, anyway, we won't know were we go until Call Day, which is April 27. The service should be available as a webcast, but I'll let you know when the time gets closer. We are definitely starting to feel the reality of vicarage, as we also had another vicarage workshop to attend this week. Hard to believe that in about half a year, we'll be who knows where!

We were very happy to celebrate our eighth month anniversary this Saturday! Big spenders and romantics that we are, we went on a delightful date to CiCi's all you can eat pizza buffet! It is one of our favorite places even though it's cheap, and we've taken many a date there. The time sure has flown. On the one hand, it seems impossible that we could have been married eight months already! On the other hand, May seems like years ago, and it seems hard to believe I was ever not married! Marriage certainly is a commendable state, and these past eight months have been the best of our lives. What everyone says is true, though. Marriage is a lot of work, and you do learn a lot about yourself. As much as men and women compliment each other, it also sometimes seems impossible that two creatures who function so fundamentally different can possibly coexist peacefully! Communication, for instance, girls and boys seem to speak two different languages.
There's actually a hermeneutical principle to this idea. There are three levels of communication. Level one is simply the word on the page (technically called the signifier) and what concept it evokes in the speaker and listener (called the conceptual signified). So, when I write the signifier (word) CAT, I have a specific animal in my head (the conceptual signified). When you read the signifier CAT, you get a specific concept in your head (the conceptual signified). The signifier is the same for both of us, but the conceptual signified may be different (I may be thinking of my kitty Freckles, but you may be thinking of a wild lion). That is all level one interpretation. Level two involves sentences and figuring out what someone is trying to say. It's the level that we read on most. When I say, "I have a cat," what does that mean? Level three communication involves reading into what was stated or what wasn't stated. So when I say, "You're going out in that?" you can infer a lot from what I'm saying that isn't explicitly stated with my signifiers. An example of this in Biblical scholarship is that using a level three reading, scholars have inferred that the Apostle Luke is a doctor. Nowhere in the text is this stated, but we infer certain things about Like from what he how he writes.
Why is this important? Well, as our professor Dr. Voelz told us, boys tend to communicate on level two, while girls tend to communicate on level three. To prove this, our professor challenged his classes to tell their wives this simple statement: "There's a new employee at the library, and she dresses nicely." The responses his students have collected throughout the years have ranged from an accusatory, "What's that supposed to mean?" all the way to heated arguments that could only be defused by Dr. Voelz himself assuring the wife that her husband had been instructed to make this statement to prove a hermeneutical point!
My point is that this seemingly esoteric information can be extremely helpful in everyday life. It has been for us! For example, a simple comment by my husband about dinner can very easily result in an accusatory, "well, what's that supposed to mean?" from me (usually followed by a confused, "huh?" by JJ). I think we laughed for a full five minutes the first time JJ averted an argument by reminding me of this hermeneutical principle. And now it's our special keyword. All he has to say to me is, "Sarah, you're reading on level three!" or if I'm especially accusatory, a feeble "level two! level two! I only communicate on level two!" It's been pretty funny but also extremely beneficial for us. Amazing how practical theology is!
Even though the technical jargon isn't common knowledge, I know the principle is. I'd be interested in how more seasoned couples deal with this disjunct between men and women and they way they communicate. post a comment and tell me!

well, there's my lengthy thoughts on our eighth month anniversary. I will post more actual news later this week! God's blessings.

Sorry we haven't written in a while, but this has been a trying week for us. We've both been under the weather. I think I had the bubonic plague. We had a few fun days of worshiping the porcelain god in various ways and a fun afternoon with me in the ER for dehydration, but I think we're both on the mend now. Suffice to say, JJ is a lot stronger than I am and is up and around now, while I'm still laid up. As most of you know, my heart/nervous system doesn't handle things like this well, so I'm going to be a little weak and incapacitated for a bit while my body slowly builds back up. We do appreciate your prayers as we both recover, and we pray none of you get this! God's peace.

Yes, it has come to that: I'm wearing a blanket around my waist when I go out. For those of you who don't know or can't guess, I'm from Florida, and it is ridiculously cold out. Today the wind chill is below zero. below zero. How is that even possible? Zero is as low as you can go! It means zero! So I'm cold. Very cold. I want Spring to come. Now.

We were supposed to get between 4 and 6 inches of snow last night and today, but I don't know if we got that much. The Seminary was closed this morning and didn't open until late because of all of the snow. JJ didn't think it was such a big deal: "It's just a little snow." But I can tell it's cold outside because he's actually wearing shoes (and a hoodie!). That means it's very cold out. (In case you didn't know or couldn't guess, JJ is from the "frozen tundra" of Wisconsin and thinks St. Louis "snow storms" are pretty pathetic.) I must say, though, despite being painfully cold all the time, it is very pretty when the snow is fresh. I of course won't be driving in it, playing in it, or even going outside in it, but it's nice to look at from the window while sipping hot tea and wearing my Snuggie (and periodically bathing in body lotion). Did I mention I'm cold?

We are trying to get back in to the swing of things after break. JJ's diving back in to school work and I'm diving back in to housework--quite literally. Our study became a dumping grounds for miscellaneous paperwork and refuse while I was working, and I'm finally making it a project to get it all cleaned out and organized. Mind you, it wasn't just messy from the past two quarters we've lived here. No, it also included all the disorganization and mess that my dear sweet husband had accumulated and upon our marriage packed up and deposited in our "dump." I've determined that his organizational method was pretty much the stuff-everything-into-a-file-or-notebook method, which, while initially convenient, has its downfalls, mainly, that you have no idea where anything is and you have way more than you need. So, all that to say, I've been spending my week in the study filling garbage bags full of unneeded paperwork. To be fair, I had my own share of the mess, most of it scrap-booking and crafting supplies and journals stacked and piled unceremoniously on every surface. Between the two of us, we can make quite a mess. But, I'm happy to say that after half a week of hard labor, I can now see the floor. Seriously, I've made great headway, and I now have all our paperwork from classes organized and neatly stowed in binders by subject. Now we can actually find and use the great resources we've accumulated in our classes. For instance, JJ is currently taking Acts and the Pauline Epistles, which I've already taken. When we began talking about subjective and objective genitives, which neither of us can grasp at the moment, I pulled out my Exegetical Binder, flipped to the section for my Acts and Pauline Epistles class, and paged through my notes to find the pertinent section, and wala! So we're able now to easily refer back to previous classes and handouts and resources we've saved. I hope it will not only be beneficial now while we're in school but also when JJ's in the parish and when we have kids. We've gotten a lot of great stuff and been pretty careful to save a lot of it, and I think it will prove very helpful in the future.

JJ is eventually going to get on this thing to write more of his news. Suffice to say, he's continuing to do well and work hard and enjoy his classes and have no free time whatsoever! We are going to Sunday worship at his cross-cultural church, Chai v' Shalom, now, and that is very interesting. It's a really great opportunity and very enlightening for sure. In fact, we just learned this week that over 60% of Jews are atheists. Isn't that crazy? JJ learned about Jewish apologetics this week, and that was one statistic his pastor supervisor cited. One thing JJ found especially interesting is that the pastor said to use the Hebrew Scriptures when talking with a Jew. Seems odd, since, when talking with a non-Christian Gentile for instance, one would rarely bring out the Bible as supporting evidence since most atheists don't believe the Bible to be true. But the pastor explained that for Jews, their Scriptures are so a part of who they are, such an ingrained part of their culture, that you really can use them in apologetics even with a Jewish atheist. He said the more you bring them back to the Jewish Scriptures, the more it reinforces it for them. It was interesting when JJ told me about that. I hope I'm doing justice to what he said. You can ask him!

As always, God's peace. Thank you all for your prayers and support. (and pray for spring!)