November 2006 Archives
Entering my fourth consecutive day off, I am not looking forward to tomorrow. It has been a wonderful 3 days so far but after this summer/fall's work marathon I could use a few more days to get psyched back up for more toil. Oh well.
Thursday we cleaned up the yard and had much fun playing in the leaves. And we ate a great meal, of course.
On Friday my father, brother, son and I played in a disc golf tournament at a local park. I played terribly (and lost to my father for the *first time ever* in the more than dozen years that we have been playing -- but only by one stroke) but had a great time with my family and meeting other people in the area disc golf club. Then we came home and set up the Christmas tree.
Yesterday we worked around the house. Dad and my brother worked on putting up paneling in my daughter's room (Perri, if you're reading this -- yes, this is the same paneling project that you helped Jamie start last spring -- it's been that kind of year). I (with help from my brother) rearranged our galley-style laundry room including stacking our washer and dryer and adding some shelving. It is much improved. Jamie and Jesse and I went to a craft bazaar at the local mall and enjoyed hanging out. Yesterday evening we had our Stoltzfus Christmas. The kids got a little red wagon from my parents and Jesse and I took them out into the backyard and got a workout pulling them around.
Interspersed throughout the weekend were music and dancing (when Jesse plays his violin, dancing naturally follows), gaming (Rummikub was our favorite this year), and lots of good food and fellowship. A wonderful time, all in all.
So yeah, tomorrow it's back to work. But I still get to enjoy today -- church, lunch, and good-bye's followed by naps and some nice quiet time with just Jamie and the kids tonight. Ahhhh.
This was what we spent our morning doing. It is a beautiful day here for Thanksgiving. My parents, my brother, and my paternal grandma are here to share in our celebration.
[insert obligatory wishes of happiness to you and yours here]
Have a nice day!
During our prayer times we use traditional methods to help the children stay focused, i.e. heads bowed, hands folded, and eyes closed. It takes a lot of coaching to get a 2yo or 3yo to the point where s/he can remain undistracted and the above-outlined "prayer posture" is helpful. But there are speedbumps along the way -- difficulties that are often unforeseen. Like tonight, when upon being instructed to fold his hands, bow his head, and close his eyes, the 3yo rejoined, "But I can't see with my eyes closed."
Yes, well, that's the point. *Sigh.*
Green. Here in Illinois the Greens were the only non-major party choice, so as a protest against both major parties I voted Green. And I voted not to retain any of the incumbent judges here in good old Madison County, litigation center of the world. I was voter number six in my precinct. Two years from now I will do my darndest to be the number one voter in my precinct. If only I hadn't hit that snooze button that last time this morning!
I heard another story on NPR this week about how stem cell research is changing medicine. Of course, as with all the other breakthroughs in stem cell research, this one was accomplished using adult stem cells, not embryonic stem cells. Embryonic stem cells are still just promises and hopes, nothing more.
My personal, radical pro-life anti-birth control take on the matter -- for whatever it's worth -- is that the stem cell debate in this country is a sham. The root of the problem is IV fertilization, and in 5+ years of listening to debates about the issue (since Bush halted US research on embryonic stem cells back in 2001) I have but rarely heard any mention of where these embryos are coming from. Hundreds of thousands of fertilized eggs -- viable human embryos -- sit on ice in this country and around the world -- the "by-products" of IV fertilization. Nobody is creating embryos for the purpose of research. But the ethical debate over what to do with the "leftover" embryos seems to be a non-starter. On the other hand, embryonic stem-cell research is a hot-button issue all over the country. Why is it that we debate about embryonic stem cell research, but not about whether or not we should be creating excess embryos?
I think that too many people either have struggled with infertility or know someone who has, and are not willing to condemn IV fertility treatments out of sympathy and the ethical questions be damned. In my personal circle of acquaintances and friends -- my demographic being young, well-educated, healthy caucasians -- about 1 in 5 couples experience infertility. 1 in 5 -- maybe more -- struggle to conceive or have at least one conception that does not result in a full-term pregnancy. These are otherwise healthy couples who have excellent health care and nutritional intakes. Obviously my evidence is only anecdotal.
This is where my radical pro-life nuttiness comes out. Let me preface this by saying that I grieve strongly with couples who cannot conceive or who experience an unwanted premature termination of pregnancy[0]. As someone who believes without fail that all children are blessings all the time, I *hate* seeing any couple struggle with infertility. So I hope that what I am about to write does not offend. It is not a judgment or a condemnation. Please don't take it as such. I have spent many an hour wrestling in prayer on behalf of my friends who have struggled with infertility.
With all that being said, let me make some observations. With only one exception (as far as I know), every couple I know who has struggled with infertility has used the Pill to prevent conception at some time and for varying lengths of time before they tried to conceive. It's just an observation. Nothing more. It may not mean anything. On the other hand, I don't know of any serious research disproving the hypothesis that chemical contraception increases a couple's risk of infertility. I'd like to see the results of such studies.
Let me connect some dots here. The birth control mindset says that we have control over when we conceive and how often. It is the same mindset that says if we aren't able to conceive, we should use any means available -- no matter the ancillary ethical issues involved -- to allow us to conceive. It is the mindset that says we are in control of our bodies, and we are to determine when we receive blessings and how many. And it is this mindset which is, in my mind, directly responsible for the ethical crisis we face in the existence of hundreds of thousands of human embryos that have no future other than destruction, whether through research or through being thrown in the trash.
Well, that's a big can of worms. I hope that I haven't offended my few remaining readers or lost any good friends over what I've written above. I've written harsher critiques of birth control on this site, but maybe not anything that touches wounds so deep. Again, a thousand pardons if I offend. If you struggle with infertility, please please please understand that in what I have written above I intend no condemnation and I do grieve with you; and if I know you and know that you have experienced infertility then I have without a doubt prayed often for you to be blessed with the children you desire -- even if you have disagreed with me on everything I've ever written about my opinions on birth control. May the peace of Christ be with you.
[0]You may note that I can't abide the term miscarriage and refuse to use it. In my mind it implies a failure on the mother's part which is usually not warranted.
A week ago tonight I attended my first ever World Series game. Unfortunately it was a rainout. The Monday and Tuesday prior to a week ago were both late nights and I did not get to see my kids but for briefly. So. . .I gave away my rain check ticket for the makeup game on Friday. Which, of course, is when the Cardinals clinched the World Series and there was a huge celebration. I didn't even watch the game. So that's my World Series memory.
Last week had many late nights because we actually made some mayonnaise. It's not ready to sell yet, but it does look like mayonnaise and taste like mayonnaise and it is pretty close to acting like mayonnaise. We still have some fine-tuning to do and we're going to keep testing new formulae out on our equipment in the coming weeks. Today I laid off my last contractor. . .a very good feeling, let me tell you. It's nice to have our plant to ourselves. Now it's time to get down to business. Wahoo!
