Louis's skills at work ...

Prior to every Passover seder, Louis meticulously trims the meat off of legs of lamb before starting the koshering process. The lean lamb is soaked in cold water, which is changed several times a day to get out all the blood. This also takes out the strong lamb taste before we roast it. Thankfully, we didn't know this lamb that we will be eating this week. There have been past Passover seders where we have prepared & eaten a lamb that we have raised. It is difficult to swallow such meat & the personal relationship also reinforces the cost of our sin in our own minds.Ironically, at the same time as Louis is trimming lamb for the seder, we had been intensively caring for one of our ewes & her newborn lamb. We almost lost our ewe who birthed that healthy ram lamb several days ago. She actually had twins, but was unable to birth the second lamb, even with our trying to help to turn it. On the second day, I was walking her a lot & gave her a dose of Penicillin IM & Benamine IM ( a pain med.). By the beginning of the third day, she couldn't stand & wouldn't eat or drink, so the vet came & helped me deliver the dead twin. Whew, what a stench!! We gave the ewe a whopping dose of steroids & a strong antibiotic IM. She drank some water that day & began to eat a little hay the next day. We are giving her antibiotics for four days to counteract the sepsis caused by the dead lamb.

Louis creatively devised this homemade hoist to help the ewe stand today. He used such parts as an old ladder, a sling we use to carry firewood to our fireplace, a bunch of rope & a pulley system. By just turning in a circle, the ewe can lick her salt block, drink water or eat fresh hay. All the while, the lamb can suckle. His little tail has been wiggling all afternoon as he gets frequent drinks from Mom.

No Fooling!

Louis woke me this 1st of April with Jim Elliott's quote. "He is no fool, who gives up what he can not keep, to gain what he can not lose." A great quote to remember for the days ahead.

Evidence of Spring 2009

In past years, we watched for our first lamb all through February & March - one of our evidences of Spring's arrival at our mini-farm. When we fed the sheep, we would check to see if any bags were forming on the ewes. We also noted if one of the ewes separated herself from the flock & failed to come for the meal of hay or oats. Our ram was limping with old age arthritis before we sent him to the cull market in the Fall. He wasn't frisky with the ewes earlier in the Fall, so we assumed we would have no lambs this year. Well, guess again.

During today's morning feeding, the four ewes all came & ate as normal. A skiff of snow still blanketed the ground from the flurries late yesterday, so the chickens stepped gingerly as I let them out of their coop. March came in mildly this year, so we expected these off & on snow storms at the end of the month. You know, "in like a lamb & out like a lion". I left for some shopping in Stevensville & Hamilton. Mom House invited me to share a toasted cheese sandwich lunch, when I stopped for a short visit before leaving Hamilton. Around 1:30 p.m. I turned the Yukon into our driveway gate, noticing that one of the ewes was by herself up along the side of our garage/barn. Upon a second look, I spied our first lamb of the season, who had been born during the three hours I had been gone. Our mare, Beauty, was sniffing up to the ewe out of curiosity. The ewe, in turn, was attempting to shield the lamb from Beauty & so had not totally licked off the lamb yet. I ran to get the ewe some water & checked both her & the lamb. Then I snapped the first photo above.

Interesting & thought-provoking info. about the recent plane crash in Butte

This site was sent to us regarding information that the press is not releasing on the background behind the recent plane crash in the Butte cemetery. God is still sovereign!http:http:http://www.jillstanek.com/archives/2009/03/abortion_chain.html

Completion of several activities makes room for others.

How I have enjoyed teaching Tano & Elli the Hebrew aleph-bet in an expanded style. Yet, tomorrow will conclude our fun classes. Tano & Elli will have completed their basic Hebrew ringbinders, which will enable them to review the aleph-bet, word pictures of numerous Hebrew words, Hebrew nuggets, some beginning vocabulary, etc. as they continue to memorize Psalm 119 with its 8 verses per Hebrew letter. Elli has been following the Iditarod the last couple of weeks & supporting the "Hardcore, #63" team. That's why she's wearing face paint & her homemade "Hardcore" t-shirt in the above photo. She is eating her hamantashen cookie during our Purim session break in the picture above that.

I will facilitate the last session on "Exodus & the Tabernacle" with the Women's Neighborhood Bible Study group on Thursday. However, after a two week Passover/Easter/Spring Break, we will reconvene to discuss "America at the Crossroads", using passages from Ezekiel. Precept Ministries offerred the discussion questions & DVDs for this 10 week discussion group back a month or two ago & we took them up on it. I will be camp nurse for the 8th graders at Camp Utmost the week after we finish this topic.

AWANAS will continue until mid-April & then be over until next school year... just as we finally returned to the remodeled nursery shown above. One of the mother's of a "puggle" painted the mural on the nursery wall.

Spring cleaning, a Passover seder at our home with Beth Tephila, raking & preparing our garden spot, a Women of Faith conference in Spokane, planning towards camp nursing & helping with Vacation Bible School are some of the activities that will fill the time left by the completed activities. Never a dull moment & always the joy of sharing Yeshua & our lives with others. It's an abundant life!

A new blog to check out...

A friend from Colorado, Laura, sent me a sample blog entry from the Thoene's Blog this week. I not only loved the great writing, but the relevance of their entries to this generation. Yes, I went to their site & read many back postings - partly because I have so loved their books. The blog site is found on their web site at http://www.thoenebooks.com I highly recommend their blog to you. It's more than worth the read!

Opportunity for the Holy Spirit to work mightily...

I wrote this to a dear friend & am pasting it from my e-mail to her to share with you:

Today is the funeral for one of Esther's classmates from Valley Christian School. Esther called me Thursday all shook up about Jordan's death. Jordan was fairly popular amongst his peers, but was not a model Christian in his high school days. He recently rededicated his life to Christ & returned home to speak to some of his friends. He had been working in Florida on a pipeline job & was soon to leave for the next job in Georgia. He & a couple friends spent Tuesday evening at Lolo Hot Springs & ran into blizzard conditions & below zero temps. on their drive back. Their car skidded off the road & landed in the river. All three managed to get out of the car, but were soaked. Jordan decided to walk for help while the other two snuggled into a nearby haystack. Jordan died of hypothermia on the way to find help. I am praying that his memorial service will be used by the Ruach to reach some of his classmates. That would have been Jordan's heart's desire. Would you pray with me? The service starts at 11:00 on Monday. Love, Cary

Purim reveals 3 keys to survival

We have just celebrated the festival of Purim based on the events of the book of Esther. This Jewish holiday is celebrated with great mirth, games, feasting, costumes & theatrical performances. However the subject of Purim, (the casting of lots to determine the best date to exterminate a people), is serious. Although this story is ancient, it is true & offers insight for God's people today. It provides at least three keys for survival in the midst of crisis.

. Contend for the well being of our family in Christ - our extended family. At least pray for the persecuted church!

. Stand firm in your personal righteousness. Draw ever closer to God, allowing trials & the Word to prune & purify your character. Take on personal responsibility & godly character.

. Renew your faith in the sovereignty of our unseen God. Proverbs 16:33 tells us, "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD." Our God is ever behind-the-scenes causing His purposes to be fulfilled. He will make sure everything will bring Him glory & also work out for His children's best good in the end.

A question for you: Which Bible-times Queen (other than Esther) proclaimed a fast & for what purpose?

Happy Purim!

Happy Purim!
Purim, the Feast of Esther, is this coming Tuesday. Several of the women from Beth Tephila will be coming to our home to bake hamentaschen cookies that day. (The recipie for hamentaschen is in one of my previous year's blog entries on Purim.) We'll serve the hamentaschen we bake at Beth Tephila this coming Shabbat. We usually dramatize the book of Esther during Purim.



Since the first night of Passover falls on a Wednesday evening this year, we have had trouble finding a facility to use for the large public seder that we usually sponsor. Our congregation voted yesterday to have a small congregational seder at our home the evening of April 8th. We'll return to the public seder in 2010 since it will be a Monday evening that year.



I've had so much fun reviewing my beginning Hebrew the last three weeks. I started teaching Tano & Elli Chidwick the aleph-bet letters & their meanings, etc. for 90 minutes each Wednesday morning. We've been compiling a beginning Hebrew notebook for each of them at the same time. They are very attentive & participate well...even doing homework in between our sessions. We will finish in March. Last week I picked up a "pink-eye" virus from the Lolo Community Church nursery children. I had my eyes checked at the Florence Family Practice Clinic so I could get eye drops for my bloodshot & irritated conjunctiva. An LPN stood me down the hall from an eye chart & asked me to read line 8 on the chart. The line numbers were to the right of the line of block letters I was to read. I rattled the letters off. The LPN looked puzzled & asked me to read off line 9. I could see the letters distinctly & again called them out quickly. The LPN really looked confused now & asked me to point to the line I just read. As I pointed to line 9, all at once I realized that I had read that line & the previous line from right to left, like you do in reading Hebrew. Evidently my brain clicked into its Hebrew gear when it saw the numbers on the right hand side rather than the left as is more usual in English. I burst out laughing & explained to the LPN what I had done. We then continued with reading several of the lines from left to right. My sight was normal. My brain? Now that is another matter.



Our Neighborhood Women's Bible Study has only 3 more sessions before we conclude for this school year on March 26th. How I will miss this group during the rest of Spring & Summer! I may continue to meet with a couple of the women for awhile & study Ezekiel with them. So many Christian leaders are beginning to warn the USA of impending judgment, that I want to stay in the Word in depth all through the year.

Winter walks

Our February has held many sunny, although still cool days. Often on a sunny day, I will call one of my neighbors, MaryLou, to go walking with me. MaryLou, a retired nurse & widow, is also in the Women's Neighborhood Bible Study that I teach. So she often asks me questions about the homework as we walk. Her background is minimally Catholic. We usually are dog-walking, as well. I have Ari, our mid-aged golden retriever, on a leash & MaryLou dog sits a lot, so has a variety of dogs on her leash. In this photo, she was dog-sitting a little dog named Zippy. We walk up & down the steep hills in our area, which act almost like a treadmill for us. The scenery is great & we get our vitamin D for the day.

Strengthening my core...

A year ago I was experiencing enough sciatica on my right side to give me motivation to try something new to help my lower back. I began taking a semi-private pilates class once a week with Kate J. in the blue top below. Pilates slowly increases your flexibility & strengthens your core muscles, which in turn take the stress from your lower back. A year later, I am now without the sciatica, am much more flexible & have started a second pilates class. It is a mat pilates class that the club gives free to the members, but it is much harder than working out on the "reformer" above or the "cadillac" below. The exercises include a lot of stretching, but also include push-ups, pilates sit-ups done very slowly & other exercises that make me break out in a sweat as I do them. As I have continued the semi-private classes, I have been praying for Kate & Elaine, the other student - a fifty year-old, second grade teacher. God has also been impressing on me I Timothy 4:8...bodily exercise profits a little, but is temporal. Exercise in godliness profits for eternity. So I have asked Him to give me exercises in that area as well. It's kind of like asking God for patience, however. Exercises that build the fruit of the Spirit & help me die to my "camel, old nature" also make me break out in a sweat. I leave my comfort zone, yet strengthen my real core...my character that I will live with for eternity.

Those darn cats!

Shadik's latest fieldmouse catch that she proudly carried to our back door.

Shadik, now between 10-11 months old, enjoys basking in the sun on our porch. She still loves nothing more than stalking & jumping on her rival for my affection. Yes, these were both my daughter's cats. However, my being the one who feeds them & pets them & just spends time with them...has done its work. They now consider me "their person". If you look closely at Rachel, the middle-aged cat of 12-13 human years, you can see where bits of her fur have been pulled out by Shadik or herself. When stressed, Rachel reaches around & pulls out bits of her own fur. She leaves these all over the house for me to notice. It bothered me until I recalled that some cats urinate all over the house when they are stressed. I'll take Rachel's bad habit any day over that, especially since her favorite napping place is on the comforter on our bed! We declawed Rachel years ago when she had nearly demolished Esther's bedroom door by using it as a scratching post. She totally ignored the official, carpeted scratching post that we had bought for her. So she is in a handicapped position when Shadik pounces on her. She tries to "psych. out" Shadik with loud hissing & growling, but Shadik figured out months ago that Rachel is fairly defenseless. Louis will not let me take Shadik to be declawed yet. She scratches the furniture, like our piano below, when she misjudges a leap. She has made most of our upholstered furniture her scratching posts, despite the catnip-odor on her official post. Rachel likes that odor more than Shadik & can be found rolling herself around on the post. Louis remembers the blustery day that Shadik was chased up one of our tallest pines by a coyote. We couldn't find her in the dark & windswept rain. We were convinced the coyote must have eaten Esther's kitten. The next day after church, while it was still raining, we finally located her by a tiny mewing coming from the tiptop of the tree. Her claws had to be sore after hanging on to the swaying top for hours and hours. She looked so teeny, being sopping wet. Louis used our longest ladder to get about a third of the way up the tree, his bow-hunting apparatus to winch himself up another third of the way & finally coaxed her down to him from there. After this very long hour of fear for Shadik & himself, he is anxious that no animal finds her outside defenseless. Her small teeth would be overmatched by those of a fox or coyote.

However, Shadik has found worthy prey herself. She has caught numerous fieldmice & now is catching these darling little birds that fly around our horse & sheep water troughs. When they land for a drink, they make themselves vulnerable to Shadik if she is outside. I like her catching the mice, but not the lovely birds. She even caught a hummingbird already! I have such a love-hate relationship with these two cats.

My Shomer/Guardian

The fallen bull pine, viewed from the back of our barn, after Jon, our neighbor, had sawed off the limbs & part of the trunk.


God is my Guardian! Twice this week I have seen how God is constantly watching over me to protect both me & my property. "Shomer" is the Hebrew for guardian & shows up in verses like Psalm 121:3-8. "ADONAI will guard you against all harm; He will guard your life. ADONAI will guard your coming & going from now on & forever."

Our neighbors to the south have a very tall, but very dead, bull pine tree close to our fenceline. We have been afraid for almost two years that it would blow over in one of our strong windstorms. Its location gives it a 50% chance of taking out our electric fencing & about a 20% chance of hitting our garage/barn. This time of year, our horse & sheep hang out around the back of that barn because that is where they are protected from the wind & also where we feed them twice a day. If the tree fell toward the barn, it would most likely fall on one or more of our animals as well. We had mentioned to the neighbors that it would be wise to cut the tree down before it fell of its own accord. That way one could control the direction of its fall. Our neighbors had finally decided to cut it down this Spring. Friday night one of those horrendous windstorms hit our area. It spread pieces of branches & dead pine needles all over our lane & front lawn. It also snapped that tree. God had it fall parallel to our fenceline, where it didn't hit a thing. Jon, our neighbor, was out with his chainsaw yesterday. As he chopped limbs off the tree for firewood & began to also saw up part of the trunk, I told him how thankful we were that God had protected our property. Jon said he had been up on his roof Saturday morning straightening & repositioning his TV antenna. He happened to glance our direction & noticed the tree stump. He couldn't see much else for the rest of the trees in between. He got weak-knees & almost fell from the roof in his dismay that the tree might have damaged our fence, barn or animals. Jon sent up a quick prayer & scrambled down to walk over & get a better look. He was so relieved, that he shared God's wondrous sovereign protection as a praise on Sunday morning.

Yesterday the thought, " I really need to change my oil," kept running through my mind. Have you had an obsessive thought like that? "I really must change my oil today." I can easily push something like that to the back of my mind & agenda. It was one of those sunny, blue sky days that just begged you to come out & soak in some Vit. D. I finally obeyed the urge. Chris, the owner of the Lube station that I frequent about every three months, came to the waiting area about ten minutes after I had surrendered my keys & Yukon. He said the seals on my front axle were leaking & hardly any fluid was left. He advised that I get this repaired quickly, as I could end up losing my ability to steer my car at an inopportune time. Finding out that he could do the repair & that my budget would allow it, I told him to go ahead. His daughter drove me to the athletic club so I could swim my half-mile while he worked on the Yukon. Megan returned to pick me up a couple hours later. Chris guided me over to where the Yukon was still up on the rack. "You are one fortunate woman," he said. "See how the inner parts of both your front tires are worn down to the core, whereas the rest of the tread looks almost new? That clued me in that your seals were the least of your problems. See how the Pitman arm & Idler arm are worn & extremely loose? Have you had any steering problems?" I had not noticed any problems, but could see what he was showing me. Evidently, God has protected me from a sudden cessation of any control of the Yukon via the steering wheel. The obsessive thoughts were His way of drawing my attention to an accident waiting to happen.

Happy 83rd Birthday, Dad!

. My father provided countless wonderful memories by reserving Sunday afternoons just for his family. In good weather we explored backroads, hiked & had picnics. Perhaps my love of the mountains & hiking stems from those days. In bad weather we popped popcorn or made smores over the gas range & sang to the accompaniment of Dad's harmonica. I remember that God's children are His treasure/jewels to this day, because we often sang "When He Cometh" based on Malachi 3:17. "And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him."
In more recent years I have taught a week-end women's retreat on God's children being His gems. Just before Christmas, I did a word study on Strong's #5459 - a Hebrew word transliterated into English as "s'gulah" - so I could include it in the neighborhood Bible Study as we studied Exodus 19:5. "If you listen diligently to My voice & keep My covenant, then you will be to Me a "s'gulah" (treasure) from among all peoples." "S'gulah" is a feminine, passive word from a root word meaning "shut up" or "wealth". It's translated as "jewel, peculiar treasure, special, precious." Eccl. 2:8 uses this word re. the peculiar treasure of kings. Deut. 7:6, 14:2, 26:18&19 speaks of Israel being God's peculiar or special people. I Peter 2:9 uses this same phrasing for believers. The sense of Isaiah 33:5-6 is that even as God is our stability in uncertain & treacherous times, the "fear of the Lord" (Strong's #214 - transliterated "owtsar") is the "treasure house".
Our nation has definitely lost this "fear of the Lord". We, God's children, dare not lose it. It is God's treasure house for His jewels. This is a precious theme & word study. I hope you can get the sense of it from my quick summary here.

. My father sat through a two hour assembly at Montana State University my sophomore year. I had tried to persuade him not to come. It would be agony for him. He had undergone hemorrhoidal surgery only the day before. When I was called from the crowd as the one sophomore woman to receive a special award for grades & other factors, I understood why my father wouldn't stay home. This is only one of a million or so times my father proved his great love for me. Much like my Heavenly Father.

. My father often showed his love through gifts. Yet the gift I remember the most, was the packing material he sent other gifts in on my first Christmas away from home. Understanding my homesickness, he cut off a few of the lower branches of the pine trees in our yard. He packed the more tender & less pokey ends of the limbs in a large box around a couple smaller wrapped gifts. To this day, I can not recall what those other small gifts were. I only remember the wonderful evergreen fragrance that filled my dorm room all through the holidays.

Gifts from AWANAS nursery - hugs & viruses

Ryan, who nearly died as a baby from severe food allergies, just turned two. He loves to copy the "big boys", who are also two. This is Lt. Eric Oberg's son.

Luke ( in the blue) & Alex are a couple of the "big boys", who love to play with their magnetic fishing poles. They are "posing" here.

Luke & Andrew enjoy the 5-minute lesson, coloring, pasting, music & snack in the middle of the AWANAS session. Behind Luke is his newborn sister, Katie.

January gifts have been unlike those in December. My bonding with the youngsters in the AWANAS nursery for two plus hours every Wednesday night, has brought its rewards of spontaneous hugs whenever we meet...in the the parking lot, during the church service when we shake hands with others, etc. Having to catch nasal drips with a kleenex every other sentence as I blog today, attests to the other "gifts" these dear ones pass on. So far it's just a head cold with a bit of diarrhea & stomach cramps that were short term.

New Beginnings in 2009...

Erik made the front page of our local paper, The Missoulian.


Quilt patterns on the snow in our yard.

Now that the holidays are past, I'm back into the weekly schedule of leading the Neighborhood Women's Bible Study, teaching the puggles in the AWANA's nursery, continuing my support of Louis's ministry in Beth Tephila, taking pilates classes to strengthen my core & keep the sciatica away, caring for our mini-farm & paying bills, etc.

The New Year has brought some fresh beginnings:

. One of the sons of our Asst. Pastor, Lt. Erik Oberg, left Tuesday the 6th of January with 120 soldiers of the Montana Army National Guard for a year long tour of duty in Iraq. Erik is the father of three. His youngest son, Ryan, is one of the puggles I teach. Erik is the detachment commander of the 639th Quartermaster Supply with around 50 of those 120 soldiers under his command. He showed his godly leadership at Christmas. He & his wife decorated a small Christmas tree with tags of all the names of the soldiers under him. Each tag also held some minimal facts about that specific soldier. They placed the tree at the back of our church, where folks from our church family could choose a young soldier to "adopt" for the year by taking his tag. In taking a tag, we were pledging to pray daily for that particular soldier. We can also write or even send care packages to that soldier as the Lord moves us. However, it is the prayer commitment that Erik & Sabrina were seeking to share with us. I chose a SPC Andrew A., who is single, 21 years old & from Helena - my hometown from the age of 3 until I was in 9th grade. I have asked the Holy Spirit to help me be faithful in my prayer pledge for Andrew. I plan to pray daily for Erik & the entire detachment, as well. One new responsibility before the Lord for 2009!

. The evening before Erik & his unit left Montana, my beloved Hebrew/Greek teacher, Chuck N., left this life for eternity with the Lord. You saw Julie, Chuck's wife, in one of my October entries about my trip to Spokane. The day after Julie & I ate lunch together at that Spokane diner, she & Chuck drove to Missoula to visit friends at Grizzley Peak - where they had lived several years & where I went for my Hebrew & Greek lessons. Chuck experienced seizure symptoms & spoke gibberish during that drive, so they drove directly to St. Patrick Hospital. Chuck had a grand mal seizure during his diagnostic work-up leading to a shoulder injury. He was diagnosed with four primary glial tumor sites in his brain with a terminal prognosis of weeks to months. Chuck suffered through surgeries, radiation & chemo. treatments and all the symptoms that his condition gave him with the faith of a mature & godly man. Julie has been with him & supporting him 24/7. He told us shortly after his diagnosis was made that his body was the Lord's & whatever the Lord wanted to do with that body was "ok" with him. His & Julie's sterling witness continued during his hospitalizations in Missoula & later in Spokane.

Although gibberish came out more often than not, Chuck was able to say clearly, "The Lord be with you," the day before he left the hospital to be driven back to Spokane. It was our last time to see him in this life. I look forward to reuniting sometime soon.

Chuck's passion for decades, next to his love for the Lord & Julie, was studying the Word in its original languages. He passed that passion on to several of his students. Whenever someone speaks negatively or with gossip, I often mentally compare them to Chuck who frequently replied to such behavior with, "I resemble that". How he surprised me the first time he said that, as I thought at first that he was going to say, "I resent that". It's amazing how Chuck's character was on display through comments like that & through his compassion for others. We will miss him & uphold Julie in prayer. She still has an elderly mother with senile dementia & other health problems to care for. I am praying for my dear friend, Julie, even as I have been since mid-October. I take this responsibility seriously.


. During the current warfare in Gaza & elsewhere in Israel, we have begun to receive "hate" phone calls. Our home phone number is the listed phone number for Beth Tephila in both the phone book & local paper. We count it a privilege to be identified with God & His people.


. Our snow alternated with rain mix has created interesting quilted patterns in the yard & on the roofs. Now the continued rain has created some treacherous ice fields in our driveway & the paths leading to our horse & sheep feeding troughs and to the chickenhouse. The flooding in the Seattle area & tons of snow in Spokane, make us appreciate our ice more than we would normally.

Happy Hanukkah 5769!

Happy Hanukkah 5769 from the Bitterroot Valley of Western Montana!

More Serendipity

Dr. Maddux, the cardiologist that cared for Dad at St. Pats., walked to the waiting room of the Cardiac Cath. Lab. within minutes of Mom & me arriving there. He reported that Dad's 12 lead EKG, blood work & angiogram were totally normal. In fact, my Dad had the injection fraction or cardiac output of a much younger man, with coronary arteries as clean as a whistle. He had not had a heart attack, but perhaps had experienced angina from some other mechanism than plugged arteries. He wanted to admit Dad to the hospital for overnight observation & more diagnostic procedures. We followed Dad to the 4th floor - the very cardiac ward for which I had been the Cardiac Clinical Nurse Specialist for 2-3 years after I moved back to Montana upon retirement from the Army Nurse Corps. Although I have not been back for 8-9 years, several nursing staff throughout the day & into the next recognized me & we were able to chat & catch up on our lives. This familiar setting put me at ease, which in turn caused Mom & Dad to relax.

Dad had an MRI of his chest which revealed only a small calcified spot in one lung, which was unremarkable. Dr. Maddux later told us that over half of all people over the age of 50 had something similar in their lungs...a small foreign body that entered their lung at some point & was isolated by the body layering it with a covering of calcium. A pearl effect? More blood work, physical exams & continuous EKG monitoring showed nothing out of the normal range. Mom, Dad & I were handed a gift of several restful hours to softly talk & pray together.

Before 9:00 p.m. I drove Mom to our home in Florence to spend the night. Our daughter, Esther, arrived just after we left & she had gotten off work at the nursing home. She kept her Grandpa company for awhile. No sooner than she left & the chaplain for St. Pats. stopped to talk with Dad & compare chaplain experiences. God just kept reminding Dad that he was loved & being watched over.

When we returned to the hospital Thursday morning before the doctors' rounds, Dad looked fairly rested & said he felt great. He no longer had to lie flat because of the cardiac cath. site. Soon his IV was also removed & Dr. Maddux came by & said Dad would be discharged before noon. He had found nothing major & thought Dad had experienced an isolated vagal episode. Dad would be referred back to his general practitioner in Hamilton for follow-up. God just kept sending folks by the hospital room door that either I or my parents knew. These visitors would act pleasantly surprised to see us & linger to chat a bit. Most had not come to the hospital to purposefully visit Dad. We guessed that we were placed there to actually encourage several of them. It was a wonderful morning that ended with Dad's discharge around 11:30 a.m. We drove back to Hamilton, renewed a couple prescriptions & got Dad settled into his lounger in the livingroom at home by 1:30 p.m.

Esther called during our drive, asking if I could come back to Missoula & help her finish cleaning the apartment that she had moved out of during our recent minus degree weather. We finished the cleaning & she handed in her keys a couple minutes before she was supposed to do so. Praise God that He even oversaw these details of our lives. I have been full of praise for His constant presence & straightening of our paths this week. I have had the sense that He allowed Dad some physical discomfort to meet the emotional needs of many others.

Touches of Serendipity

My past two days were filled with touches of serendipity - the dip of the serene into the common responsibilities of life. I sometimes call these God's hugs.

Wednesday morning started fairly normal. I had exercised for 2+ miles on the treadmill, which is also my prayer time; showered; fed Ari, our golden retriever & started breakfast. My day was fairly open until the evening, when I watch & teach the Puggles curriculum to four two-year old boys at the AWANAS nursery. At 8:20 a.m. the phone rang. My sister, Esther, was calling at my Mom's request. Mom had just sent Dad to the Marcus Daly Hospital in Hamilton via ambulance. Dad, who turns 83 in January, had sat down to the breakfast table, his eyes rolled back & he collapsed in his chair. Mom caught him before he hit the floor. She then called 911. As the ambulance arrived, Dad was coming to & complaining of chest pressure. I thanked my sister for calling, wrote a quick note to Louis, (who was still sleeping after a late night of work for DirecTV) & headed towards Hamilton in the car. I made it to the E.R. - about 45 miles away - in record time. I even beat my sister, who lives only about 20 miles the other side of Hamilton.

Dad had received two Nitroglycerin tablets under his tongue, but was still having some chest pressure, so the ER staff placed a NTG patch on his chest. He was hooked up to oxygen & the cardiac monitor, which revealed some minimal arrhythmias. An IV was infusing saline & an anticoagulant into his blood... the ER MD was preparing to transfer Dad by ambulance to St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula. The Cardiac Cath. Lab. would be ready when he arrived to do an angiogram & whatever else they deemed necessary. Dad appeared to be at peace although uncomfortable. Touches of serendipity began:

. My father's brother walked into the ER to check on Dad. Robert still listens to the ambulance calls via a scanner, as he has been an EMT for years & years & his daughter manages the ambulance section & emergency dept. at Marcus Daly. He was eating breakfast when he heard the dispatch about picking up a patient at Dad's address. He quickly got on his coat & came to be with Dad.

. The Pastor who picks up Dad's hospital chaplain & hospice chaplain responsibilies when Dad is out of town, just happened to come to visit a hospital patient from his church & heard from the staff that Dad was in the ER. Before Dad left for St. Pats., he was able to turn over his caseload to this Pastor.

. My aunt/uncle from Idaho, had called our home to wish us "Happy Holidays". They had received our Christmas card the day before & just felt impressed to call this morning. They have never called us, but have always written us before. Louis gave them my cell phone number & I received the call just as Dad was being wheeled to the ambulance. I was able to assure Dad that Aunt Jo & Uncle Ralph would be praying for him like the rest of us. Dad was already on three different church prayer chains by now.

. I drove Mom home so we could pack an overnight bag for her & one for Dad, before we drove icy Highway 93 to Missoula & St. Patrick Medical Center. A winter storm was predicted for later in the day & was already dumping snow on Spokane, Wa. - due west of us. God slowed that storm down. It didn't arrive until Thursday night - about 36 hours later than expected & after we were all through with hospitals & back home safely.

My Mom & I always have funny things occur when the two of us are alone together. That happened again when we entered the ER at St. Pats. We asked to see "Alvin House" & said we were his wife & daughter. The ER nurse escorted us through two rooms & spoke to a patient behind some curtains. We heard a man's voice, that didn't sound like Dad, answer her. As she opened the curtains to let us in, we saw a dark, middle-aged man we have never seen before, laying on a stretcher. His eyes got as big as ours probably were. We quickly told the nurse that this was not who we were looking for. She said, "But this is Al Howe; isn't that who you came to see?" She became quite embarrassed as we repeated Dad's name & mentioned that he had been transferred from Marcus Daly Hospital. Because of her obvious embarrassment, Mom & I saved our burst of laughter until we were in the elevator headed for the Cath. Lab. where Dad was almost through with his angiogram.

(More to follow)
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Hanukkah starts this year at sunset on December 21st & concludes at sundown on December 29th. Among Messianic Jewish believers it has been popular to teach that Yeshua was not really born at Christmas time but rather at the Festival of Tabernacles - Sukkot. Some are now supporting that Yeshua may have been born the first day of Hanukkah. In reading the gospels, the reader is struck by the frequent imagery of light clearly associated with Yeshua's birth. (Mt. 2:1-12; Lk.2:1-14; Jn. 1:1-9) The story of His birth appears to be intentionally told against the backdrop of this imagery of light. The prophets use similar imagery in texts that relate to Messiah's coming. (ie. Isa.9:1-7; 60:1-3) In the first century - as today - the most recognizable aspect of the Hanukkah celebration was the kindling of the lights for eight days. In "light" of this, it is striking to read Simeon's response to the circumcision & dedication of Yeshua in the Temple when He was eight days old: "My eyes have seen your salvation...a light for revelation to the Gentiles & the glory of your people Israel." (Lk. 2:30-32) On the eighth day the Hanukkah lights would have been at their fullest & brightest since all eight candles would be lit, providing a most appropriate setting for Simeon's statement!

Luke 1:26-27 is often cited as evidence of a fall birth for Yeshua, when coupled with calculations as to when Zechariah's priestly division was scheduled to minister at the Temple. If it is assumed that this verse refers to the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, the calculations may well be valid. (It is also assumed by the advocates of a Sukkot birth date that the angel's announcement to Zechariah about John's birth & his conception occurred at virtually the same time, which is not necessarily the case.) However, the text of Luke 1:26 does not say "her" sixth month as it does is verse 36. Rather, it says "the" sixth month. In other words, this is a simple calendar reference such as frequently occurs throughout Scripture. When Mary arrived to visit her relative Elizabeth, Mary was pregnant. (vv. 40-44) The onset of her pregnancy apparently coincided with the angel's announcement "in the sixth month". Working from the most commonly used Jewish calendar in the first century- which approximates the one in use today - Yeshua's birth nine months later would have occurred in the third month, the month of Kislev. Hanukkah always begins on the 25th of Kislev.

There is also some interesting prophetic imagery related to this time of year in Haggai. Haggai 2:6-9 describes the Messiah's arrival as the coming of the "desired of all nations" who will "fill God's house (in this context, the second Temple) with glory," a glory such that "the glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house" (the first Temple, which Solomon built). These events are then connected with the events of verses 18-23, which are in turn connected to the day following the laying of the foundation of the second Temple . That event occurred on the 24th day of the ninth month; in other words the Messiah's arrival is connected with the 25th day of the ninth month. Using the calendar current in Haggai's day, the ninth month is Kislev, hence Kislev 25.

Hippolytus was a second century church leader who was also a calendar expert. His testimony - the earliest such testimony regarding Yeshua's birth outside of Scripture - was that December 25 was the commonly accepted date of Yeshua's birth. The simplest transformation of Kislev 25 (the first day of Hanukkah) from the Jewish calendar into the one current today is December 25.

Regardless of any agreement or disagreement over the precise date of Yeshua's birth, let's all celebrate His coming in the reality of Isaiah 60:1. "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord is revealed to you!" Have a Merry Hanukkah & Happy Christmas! ( I borrowed this research & write-up from Rabbi John Fischer, PhD, ThD)