Literatimommy

Friday, January 18, 2008

An Amazing Faith

Are you familiar with Ethan Powell's blog? He is a one year old who was diagnosed with leukemia when he was two months old. His parents have a dogged faith that God will heal him. I have been reading his blog with worry, dismay and awe. I have wondered, Will God heal baby Ethan? Molly Ann and I have prayed for his parents and for God to heal Ethan completely of leukemia. It has created in me quite a delima. I know that God has the power to do whatever he wants, in this world and beyond. But, it doesn't mean that he will. In fact, sometimes, despite our best prayers, he does not heal, or his hand may not be visible in a situation. However, throughout the ups and downs, his parents have clung to their faith that God has the power to heal their son, and that if many prayer warriors interceede for him, that God will heal him. I am thankful to report that for the first time since his diagnosis, a test showed him today to be free of leukemia cells . However, he has fungus in his lungs due to a weak immune system after his dad donated bone marrow to Ethan, and he underwent a bone marrow transplant so his dad's cells could kill the leukemia. God can do whatever he wants. There is no doubt about it. But God also allows suffering (he suffered more than any human ever has, I am sure, as he watched his son die a slow, tortured death on the cross). I am thankful tonight that Ethan is cancer free, and that God has no doubt intervened at St. Jude's to heal this sweet baby boy, and from what I understand, his parent's only child. Praise God for this miracle. Praise God, the maker of the universe, who is able to immeasureably more than we can every imagine.
Here is the blog if you want to check it out: click on the updates section and say a prayer of thanks and a prayer of healing for Ethan. www.ethanpowell.com I hope your faith is challenged and strengthened, as mine has been.

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Bain Family Christmas 2007


Here are some more pics from our Christmas. Molly Ann was enamored with baby Max. She adores him! They shared lots of kisses and hugs for Christmas. And, Jack grabbed Cody and made him play Reef Rumble with Spongebob on Nick. IT was an excellent, fun Christmas.
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Bain Family Christmas


Here are some pics from our Bain family Christmas, which consisted of little Caesar's, a salad, and some cake from Walmart...if you know my family you know that we all had a blast just like that!

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Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Boticelli

No, this isn't another random world leader post. Botticelli is actually the name of Molly Ann's new pet puppy. This amazing conversation went like this:
Me: What is your new puppy's name, Molly.
Molly: Botticelli
Me: What did you say, I didn't quite get that name.
Molly: Botticelli
Me: Did you say Botticelli?
Molly: Yes, Botticelli
Me: How do you know that name?
Molly: He is the horse in Rapunzel.
Me: Not the book one.
Molly: No, the Barbie Rapunzel
(I got Barbie Rapunzel on sale a couple of months ago. We've watched it maybe 7-10 times. Botticelli is the prince's horse, a small fact I didn't remember, nor did Jack.)
I got online, showed Molly some Botticelli paintings, and now she knows he is a painter. She is amazing, because she is only 2 1/2. She knows a Yeat's poem by heart (Shy One), and she also knows the first stanza of Robert Frost's Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening...I never got around to teaching her the rest because I have to memorize them first. She knows about three to five other poems word for word by heart from school.
Today, we were playing dress up with snow white, and she informed me that I had put her shirt on her mandible. She also knows the Latin names for certain body parts. (mandible, patella, phalanges, cranium and on occasion she can identify but not reproduce the name humerus (your arm)).
I believe that God has really blessed Molly Ann with an amazing mind. To be honest, it is a lot exhausting. Just today at dinner, she spilled her juice twice in a row, smashed her banana in the floor, and spilled her water on the floor. She is very active. And very opinionated. She pretty much bosses me and Jack around all day. We aren't sure what to think of her. Some interesting things she doesn't know, though, yet. She doesn't know her alphabet with good accuracy. She also can't quite count objects up to five, as four is as high as she goes. She talks with great accuracy and vocabulary, when she had an accident in Walmart, she told me she was so frustrated with herself. I am at a loss with what to do with her. I am toying with the idea of placing her in a Montessori school in the fall. I just pray that God helps me raise her to be a good Christian who loves him.
(I totally admit that this post sounds braggy, but seriously, just for posterity's sake, I'd like to record what she is saying at 21/2.)

Thursday, January 03, 2008

Happy Anniversary, Mike!

Tomorrow, Mike and I will celebrate our 11th anniversary. We have actually dated since we were 19 years old! I met him while I was pledging a sorority at ACU (something that I literally cannot believe I did). Anyway, I met him the night before coffees for the guys, while I was trying to talk to and get to know some other Kappas at a party. It makes me laugh so hard, because when my room mate and I got to the party, we went out the balcony and laughed because it was the tamest, most nerdy party we had been too while we were at ACU. When we walked in, someone offered us a diet coke from the cooler... c'mon, a diet coke? Please. But, we agreed to just stay a moment, and then leave and go home. While we were sitting there, I noticed a boy playing cards. I was invited to be the 4th player, even though I had no prior experience playing spades. This very nice boy offered to teach me. He was so encouraging and kind, and he took time to explain everything to me. I couldn't help but notice his blue eyes. We exchanged names, and didn't really talk about pledging at all. He actually ended up leaving before me, and I can honestly say I can still see him standing in the doorway. He was very tall (a plus for me, I am 5'8 and really don't like to date shorter guys). His face was slightly sunburned, and he was wearing a yellow shirt and a baseball cap, jeans and tennis shoes. I still remember his frame filling up the doorway of the apartment. I wondered if I would see him again.
That was Saturday night. On Sunday at lunch before coffees, I ran into him in the bean. I reintroduced myself to him and asked him if he was dressed up for coffees. He confirmed that he was, and said he was considering either Sub-T or Galaxy. I thought Galaxy guys were just pretty boys, so I told him to definitely go Sub-T. (He ended up pledging Galaxy with his friends). But, we began talking and thanks to Galaxy's date requirement for the football games, he very nervously asked me out. Of course, I went, but he didn't get to talk to me. I was pretty much on the sidelines by myself: no other scrappies in sight. I really didn't mind, though. After the game, he took me to the Whataburger on Judge Ely, and I got a diet coke and he got a strawberry milkshake. I found out that he liked Jimmy Buffett, liked to kick back with his friends and play volleyball or cook out fajitas. I also found out he is extremely intelligent: when we met, he had a 4.0 in accounting and finance. I was embarrassed to tell him that my GPA was much less than that. I don't think he cared, which was funny because knowing him now, I know he doesn't judge people on things like that. But, I did. (A theme in our relationship has been that he is much kinder and gentler than I am.) One more thing I found out was that he wasn't in a rush for a relationship. He didn't even hold my hand that night, and it took him over a month to kiss me. After our first date, I went back to Sikes dormitory and told the girls I had met that I would marry Mike. It was either me knowing for sure I could be with him forever, or me being overly dramatic (the more likely option if you know me well).
So, our entire relationship has been laid back like that. I chased him, making myself available at random times at the Business building. I had dated lots of guys, and I thought I was making myself very obvious, but for Mike, he didn't even seem to know that I liked him. Finally, I took him cookies and told him "I LIKE YOU". His response, classic Mike: "I know". He now says he didn't know. Still, I cannot help but be so thankful and smile for those fun times at ACU. I really feel like God was playing cupid with us.
We didn't plan on falling in love and getting married: that wasn't a goal for either of us upon entering ACU. I was planning a career as a freelance journalist, perhaps overseas. He just wanted to hang out with friends, skip church on Wednesday nights, and watch sports on TV. We dated for three years at ACU, and I had decided to travel to Europe. But, before I could go, Mike asked me to marry him over a Strawnilla cajun cone on the coldest night in April at Nelson Park, on the exact bench where we shared our first kiss. We have laughed countless times over the great engagement stories of our friends, and compared them over and over to becoming engaged over a strawnilla cajun cone while we froze our butts off. We decided to get married at a random time, Jan. 4th, because I would have finished my degree and student teaching, and because he could save up money while he worked in Houston. I was very nervous about getting married. Literally, every time we saw his mother while we were engaged, she would tell us over and over what HUGE commitment marriage was and how HARD it is to stay married. (She wasn't a big fan of us getting married, and to be honest, she wasn't a big fan of me, either). Here is a secret, though, for me, it is not staying married that is difficult. Leaving Mike would be the hardest thing I would ever do. (And the stupidest, too). I am so blessed to have spent so many years of my life with such a wonderful, kind man who loves God so much. We have been through so much together, and I am thankful that he is still by my side. Happy Anniversary, Mike!