By the Blue Light

Spurgeon on Winter and Suffering

2009-12-01T11:24:00.000-08:00

I am reposting something Lauren Chandler posted on her blog this morning – it is particularly relevant for them as they struggle through this difficult news of Matt’s tumor, discovered when he had a seizure and fell in his home on Thanksgiving day.

But it is relevant for all of us as we struggle through various seasons of pain, loss, frustration. Sometimes it is a death in our extended or close family. Perhaps it is frustration with a job search or with career growth. Or other issues.

This was encouraging to me, and I hope will be to you at all. Spurgeon seems to be saying that God uses these winter seasons not only to kill off disease or germs in our own life (to further refine and grow us in a later season), that God is sovereign and not out of control, but also that God is a present and living presence that we can count on as we go through difficult times and seasons.

Morning + Evening by C.H. Spurgeon--December 1, Morning:

"Thou hast made summer and winter."
--Psalm 74:17

My soul begin this wintry month with thy God. The cold snows and the piercing winds all remind thee that He keeps His covenant with day and night, and tend to assure thee that He will also keep that glorious covenant which He has made with thee in the person of Christ Jesus. He who is true to His Word in the revolutions of the seasons of this poor sin-polluted world, will not prove unfaithful in His dealings with His own well-beloved Son.

Winter in the soul is by no means a comfortable season, and if it be upon thee just now it will be very painful to thee: but there is this comfort, namely, that the Lord makes it. He sends the sharp blasts of adversity to nip the buds of expectation: He scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes over the once verdant meadows of our joy: He casteth forth His ice like morsels freezing the streams of our delight. He does it all, He is the great Winter King, and rules in the realms of frost, and therefore thou canst not murmur. Losses, crosses, heaviness, sickness, poverty, and a thousand other ills, are of the Lord's sending, and come to us with wise design. Frosts kill noxious insects, and put a bound to raging diseases; they break up the clods, and sweeten the soul. O that such good results would always follow our winters of affliction!

How we prize the fire just now! how pleasant is its cheerful glow! Let us in the same manner prize our Lord, who is the constant source of warmth and comfort in every time of trouble. Let us draw nigh to Him, and in Him find joy and peace in believing. Let us wrap ourselves in the warm garments of His promises, and go forth to labours which befit the season, for it were ill to be as the sluggard who will not plough by reason of the cold; for he shall beg in summer and have nothing.

Fascinating Marriage quote

2009-11-24T16:11:00.000-08:00

From Piper's Blog:

Here's an unusual wake up call about the wonders of marriage.

To complain that I could only be married once was like complaining that I had only been born once. It was incommensurate with the terrible excitement of which one was talking. It showed not an exaggerated sensibility to sex but a curious insensibility to it. A man is a fool who complains that he cannot enter Eden by five gates at once. Polygamy is a lack of the realization of sex; it's like a man plucking five pears in mere absence of mind. (G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy, 103)

Noel Piper on Adoption

2009-11-12T16:49:00.000-08:00

As I have said before, Kelly and I have a developing heart for adoption. We don’t know exactly when (although it will certainly be several years before we even start the process) or from where (we have a heart for Asia), but we feel like it’s a burden God has given us.

Somehow I stumbled on Noel Piper’s blog (she is pastor John Piper’s wife) and she has been documenting their adoption story in honor of Orphan Sunday, which apparently was 11/8. You can read her story from start to finish starting here, but I wanted to show you a letter she wrote to John when they were considering adoption. She had a very strong heart for it, and he was in consideration phase. She was trusting the final decision to him. I found this really interesting, and got a real chuckle out of the last set of points (“Being radical and taking risks”)! I also love how she calls him "Johnny".

You can find the original blog here:

-------------------

Johnny writes papers when he wants to explain his view or make a point. So during the days we were deciding whether to adopt, I tried to speak to him in his own language. I wrote what I hoped would be a persuasive paper.

Johnny,

I want to assure you that, in no way, do I think our ministry will be crippled if we go on as we are. It is rich. But I do believe that by adopting a daugher, God will add richness and depth and understanding and credibility in many areas of our personal and public lives.

Random Thoughts

In general, I expect that having 1 child at home will seem very easy after all our years of 1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, etc.
Having a young aunt here will be extra fun for the grandchildren that will start to visit, maybe before many years.
Having a child again at this stage in our life will keep us from moving as quickly into older stages. It will shove us back a generation.

Pro-Life Ministry

The very act of adopting is a renewal and revitalization of our efforts against abortion and for life -- in a very new and powerful way.
Adopting would add tremendous credibility, and confirm our seriousness in the effort for life.
A person who is as vocal and visible as you about life will be very visible as a supporter of mothers, as a protector of children who would otherwise be unwanted and perhaps in danger, as living out the implications and responsibilities that follow in the wake of stopping an abortion.
You have a powerful voice. Even if your writing/speaking isn’t directly about Life and adoption, it will be there, because what’s happening in your life IS there in your writing. And you will be an influence to many for the good of children who need homes.

Racial Reconciliation

Our efforts toward racial reconciliation would have tangible credibility.
We would have personal experience with family-level racial diversity.
We would open ourselves to personal experience of how an African-American person and a mixed-race family is treated differently from the way to which we are accustomed.

Biblical Masculinity and Femininity

You will gain new understanding and clarity when your Biblical understanding is applied to the life of a daughter. I expect you to have strong confirmation of what you’ve understood and taught all along.
It will be a good thing for your promotion of these Biblical truths to actually experience and learn how to raise a girl to be a godly woman in a society that expects something else.
Maybe there are practicalities that you haven’t even thought of, that you would see when raising a daughter, and these things would expand your understanding and teaching.
Your speaking and writing and persuasion in this area will have new credibility, when you have a daughter.

Evangelism and Missions

To add another child to our family becomes the most personal kind of evangelism toward adding members to the Kingdom.
And considering our attitude toward missions, it may also be mission recruitment for the sake of the Kingdom!

Your Writing and Speaking Ministry

Your public ministry will be deeper and richer because we know that everything God puts into our lives comes through into your writing and speaking as a clearer, more pointed explanation of God and his ways.
We know there are angles of God’s face and aspects of his personality to be discovered in new situations he puts us into. We will experience more of God as we live with a daughter. And that deeper experience of God will make your public ministry so much richer.
For instance, if we adopted a child, and raised her, we would understand God’s adoption in a much fuller way -- what it means to adopt a person who is not part of your family and make that person fully a partaker and inheritor of your own life and family.

Being Radical and Taking Risks

I think it would not be fair to quote yourself to you to try to make a point. But I must say that very often over the years you have made statements about taking risks and trusting God and doing unexpected and radical things -- and I often hear those statements in the light of the radical thing I want to do, and therefore want you to do with me.
To adopt -- at our age and when it would certainly not be expected of us and when it is not financially easy and when it might make other ministries more difficult -- would be more than a token. It would say that you are serious about radical faith.

Hosea and Gomer

2009-10-13T17:01:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful picture of God’s grace to us, each of, before Christ, as we harlot ourselves out to other passions and loves than the love for our Jesus who made us. Our creator, friend, hope. He runs after us and is faithful to us no matter.

I love you Jesus.

Hosea 1:2,3
Hosea 2:13-16
Hosea 3:1,2

Hosea – Andrew Peterson

Every time I lay in the bed beside you
Hosea, Hosea
I hear the sound of the streets of the city
My belly growls like a hungry wolf
And I let it prowl till my belly’s full
Hosea, my heart is a stone

Please believe me when I say I’m sorry
Hosea, Hosea
You loveable, gullible man
I tell you that my love is true
Till it fades away like a morning dew
Hosea, leave me alone

Here I am in the Valley of Trouble
Just look at the bed that I’ve made
Badlands as far as I can see
There’s no one here but me, Hosea

I stumbled and fell in the road on the way home
Hosea, Hosea
I lay in the brick street like a stray dog
You came to me like a silver moon
With the saddest smile I ever knew
Hosea carried me home again, home again

You called me out to the Valley of Trouble
Just to look at the mess that I’ve made
A barren place where nothing can grow
One look and my stone heart crumbled
It was a valley as green as jade
I swear it was the color of hope
You turned a stone into a rose, Hosea

I sang and I danced like I did as a young girl
Hosea, Hosea
I am a slave and a harlot no more
You washed me clean like a summer rain
And you set me free with that ball and chain
Hosea, I threw away the key
I’ll never leave

Learning about Mormonism

2009-10-07T13:15:00.000-07:00

Having spent my high-school years growing up in the Seattle area, I became pretty familiar with Mormons, or members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, as they call themselves. The Mormon church is a fascinating cult religion and I feel like God has given me a missional heart towards this people group, perhaps rooted in a visit to the Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City, UT when I was in college and on a ski trip in Utah.

Now that we live in the Seattle area again, I realize how ever-present Mormonism is here (being so close to the core Mormon states of Utah, Arizona, Idaho, etc.). We have a large Mormon temple which I pass every day on my way to and from work, as well as a large “ward” or community church type place, only a mile or so from our house.

I’m not sure how I came across it, but a year or so ago I began to follow a blog called Mormon Coffee, which is managed by a man named Aaron Shafovaloff, who is called to bring Jesus to Mormons and lives in Salt Lake City. The blog is an amazing resource for learning about the Mormon church, and has led me to do other research and reading, including finishing “Under the Banner of Heaven” a few months ago.

As I have brought many of these things I’ve learned home to share with Kelly, she has encouraged me to share them on my blog. So, while you can learn much more from the Mormon Coffee site (as well as watch Evangelical Christians (including many ex-Mormons) and LDS-defenders discuss the topics), I’ll pop some of the interesting ones on my blog here too.

For example:

Mormons say of Joseph Smith (founder and prophet): "Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it..." (Doctrine and Covenants 135:3)

And yet you could fill volumes of books (and it’s been done) on the inconsistencies of this man, for example:

He was a polygamist, having upwards of 49 wives, including many young women who he coerced into marrying him at threat of eternal condemnation to hell (the threat extended to these girls’ extended families as well).

o Smith claimed to be a prophet, claiming to receive revelations from God. This is how he received the Book of Mormon, etc.

o One thing he prophesied (as did the prophet who came after him, Brigham Young): that the moon was inhabited by people that lived to the age of ~1,000, and that thye dressed in the Quaker style. :) (Source: http://www.challengemin.org/moon.html)

o Accordingly, even his mother acknowledged his huge imagination, noting that he made up fascinating stories (that sound a lot like the Book of Mormon) long before he “discovered” the BoM: “During our evening conversations, Joseph would occasionally give us some of the most amusing recitals that could be imagined. He would describe the ancient inhabitants of this continent, their dress, mode of travelling, and their animals upon which they rode; their cities, their buildings, with every particular; their mode of warfare; and also their religious worship. This he would do with as much ease, seemingly, as if he had spent his whole life with them." (History of Joseph Smith by his Mother, 1954 edition, p. 83)

o Prior to “discovering” the BoM, Joseph Smith was arrested and found guilty of scamming people by claiming to be able to use a magical stone to divine hidden treasure:

§ "Prisoner [Joseph Smith] brought before Court March 20, 1826. Prisoner examined: says that he .... had a certain stone which he had occasionally looked at to determine where hidden treasures in the bowels of the earth were; that he professed to tell in this manner where gold mines were a distance under ground .... he had occasionally been in the habit of looking through this stone to find lost property for three years, but of late had pretty much given it up on account of its injuring his health, especially his eyes making them sore;...

§ "And therefore the Court find[s] the Defendant guilty. Costs: Warrant, 19c. Complaint upon oath, 25½c. Seven witnesses, 87½ c. Recognisances, 25c. Mittimus, 19c. Recognisances of witnesses, 75c. Suboena, 18c -$2.68." (Frazer's Magazine, February, 1873, pp. 229-30)

o In 1835, Joseph Smith rounded up some Egyptian “plates” and translated them into the Book of Abraham, which is now considered part of Mormon scripture. He did this long before serious Egyptian language study, which was fully developed when one of the plates was discovered by the Mormon Church in 1967. The plates were analyzed by professors who could translate the language, and found them to have nothing to do with Abraham, rather were common funeral directions connected to a random buried Egyptian. So, Joseph Smith, who claimed to be able to translate these plates (the Book of Mormon was supposedly also in Reformed Egyptian when he translated it), had fabricated this lie.

Mormons believe that if you live a righteous life, you can become a God or Goddess (or God’s wife, it seems). This is why they believe in eternal marriage. Mormon men and women are married “eternally” (despite what Jesus says about this in Matthew 22:30 or Mark 12:25), populating the spirit world with spirit children, who are then “birthed” into the physical world by Godly Mormons.

o A religion that says 1) marry lots of women and 2) populate the world by having lots of sex – now this is certainly a religion invented by a man, right!

Mormons are not Christians. They are not “little Christs” who worship Him. As example, in the early ‘80s Mormon students at BYU were meeting in the dorms praying “for a special relationship with Jesus.” A famous Mormon leader named Bruce McConkie spoke to them in a sermon on campus and said, clearly:

o “Some ("holier-than- thou" students) begin to pray directly to Christ because of some special friendship they feel has been developed. In this conception a current and unwise book, which advocates gaining a special relationship with Jesus, contains this sentence - quote: "Because the Saviour is our mediator, our prayers go through Christ to the Father, and the Father answers our prayers through his son. " Unquote. This is plain sectarian nonsense. Our prayers are addressed to the Father, and to him only. They do not go through Christ...You have never heard the First Presidency or the Twelve...advocate this excessive zeal that calls for gaining a so called special and personal relationship with Christ...never, never at any time have they taught or endorsed the inordinate and intemperate zeal that encourages endless, sometimes day-long prayers, in order to gain a personal relationship with the Saviour...I wonder if it is not part of Lucifer's system to make people feel they are special friends of Jesus when in fact they are not following the normal and usual pattern of worship found in the true Church." (Bruce McConkie, Speech at BYU on March 2 1982).

o In the same speech, he said “We worship the Father and him only and no one else. We do not worship the Son and we do not worship the Holy Ghost.”

Why is there confusion about whether Mormons are Christians? They do not worship Him.

Anyway, I hope you find some of these interesting and thought-provoking. I will share more as I come across them and am learning myself. At the end of the day, I don’t hope to have this knowledge end with me. I am hoping it will spring into a deeper heart for share the Gospel of Jesus with Mormons who don’t know the true Jesus.

Good Eats Southern Style

2009-10-01T16:37:00.000-07:00

We just got home from Charlotte and the beach. It was an amazing trip. Very relaxing, very nice to detach from work and regular life. And we had lots of help with the kids which was really fun and refreshing. At the same time, I got to spend a ton of time with the kids, which I really really enjoyed. And good time with Kelly too. And great time with family and friends in the Southeast. Thanks Andy and Leta for all that you did to make our trip special!

I might blog on some other aspects of the trip later, but one highlight for me was the food. Here’s where we ate while in Charlotte, on the way down to the beach, and in the Charleston/Wild Dunes area:

Chick-fil-a – I ate here four times (!), including once for breakfast. Chick-fil-a really cannot be beat. It is the best fast food around bar none. The girls are big fans of the nuggets here and Kelly is a big fan of the lemon pie. I am a big fan of everything on the menu and I always prove it when I walk in.
Starbucks – old faithful. 'Nuf said.
Caribou – Kelly likes Caribou and we only went because the Starbucks down the street was closed for a late night remodel. Caribou is a little bit “theme-y” for my taste, but not terrible.
Deejai Thai – this was a new place that I tried with my good friend Jay Mink. Great food, atmosphere and very reasonably priced. Bye Bye Thai Taste.
Manzetti’s – used to love this place when I lived in Charlotte, but literally have not been there since I lived there eight years ago. It was really nice to be back. Mama Manzetti’s Chicken is amazing and the bruschetta was great too. It will be even nicer once they ban smoking in restaurants in Charlotte (“Hello! Get with the program!”) as this place has a big bar and lots of smokers in it.
Taipei South – another old faithful. Enjoyed my usual, Sesame Chicken with wings and a Diet Coke, while catching up with my good friend Robbi.
Thai Orchid – No one else wanted to eat this with me, so I nearly gorged myself on an entire order of Mee Crob and Panang Curry. Amazing amazing place – best Thai food I have ever had anywhere. Especially that Mee Crob.

Hank’s Seafood – During the Charleston portion of our trip, we had dinner at this very nice restaurant with Tyler and Court (and Salem and Jake). It probably was too nice a place for the babies, although Kel and I didn’t really love our meals either. I had shrimp and grits and she had broiled something or other. I think they were trying to be too high-brow.
Sullivan’s on Sullivan’s Island – While at Wild Dunes, we hauled the whole family down to beautiful Sullivan’s Island to eat at perennial favorite Sullivan’s. I had my all too yummy favorite there, shrimp over a fried grit cake over country ham. Side order of fried Okra. I resisted the french fries this time and had a baked potato instead. We had an amazing load of hush puppies to start us out though (accompanied by honey butter), and the real highlight: fried green tomatoes. Amazing! The lowlight was that I could count seven tiny shrimp on top of my grit cake. Seemed light. I mean people, I am in shrimp country here, load me up! And yes that is a lot of use of the word fried for one meal sitting. Welcome to the South and the Low Country. Seriously, do you ever watch Paula Dean do her thing?
Coconut Joe’s – Kelly and I had a fun little date night down on the beach at Coconut Joe’s. We both had more hush puppies (although these were actually coconut fritters) and shrimp po’ boys. Yum. It was nice to get back to this place because I can remember eating there with so many different friends, including Andrew and Amy, Nick and Jessi and Josh and Katie (you guys remember that?), as well as Tyler and Court. Lots of good memories. The lowlight of this dinner was the 45-year old biker dude who kept making out with his girlfriend/wife right next to us, including lots of lip-smacking noises. Made me want to toss up my dinner before I even finished it.

So, yes, now I really have to get back to my running schedule because that is a fat-filled eating schedule, huh? Ugh. But it was tasty and I would do it again (and will next year!).

The Bachelor Life

2009-09-14T18:54:00.000-07:00

When people at the office heard that Kelly and the kids were going on vacation a few days ahead of me, the excitement was palpable. Bachelor weekend! Everyone seemed very happy for me.

And yes, there are advantages to being at home sans family. There is no milk to get ready for the morning’s demands, nobody waking up in the middle of the night crying, no little people knocking on our door at 7am, no tiptoeing through my own bedroom because Kelly’s been asleep for an hour by the time I pick myself up off the couch, finish chores and get up to bed.

But this time has confirmed what I already knew, I am called to be a husband and a daddy. My life just isn’t complete without them. The house is quiet like it must be when we leave on vacation, except I’m in it. I feel a little like I got left behind. The girls’ bedroom looks like they just got up and came into our room, blankets strewn across the bottom of their beds. There are toys and bouncy seats downstairs in the kitchen and family room, but nobody to play in them. It’s odd, you clean up a room and it’s still clean an hour later. The kitchen stays tidy aside from my collection of Coke Zero cans and a much smaller than usual row of dishes. The shoes in the front hall are all neatly organized, not dropped here and there when a little lady decided to stop clomping through the kitchen in Mommy’s high heels. The house feels lonely and so do I.

The upside to the weekend without responsibility was getting to get away to Vesper Peak with Shawn, Ryan and Steve. Glorious weather, a very very cold dip in a snow-melt lake, a good solid hike and scramble up to the summit of Vesper, and then a night near the top talking about the stars, creation, food, humor, and life. And best of all good time with good buddies. I wouldn’t have traded that weekend away for anything, but it would have been a joy to return home to my gorgeous wife and my beautiful children. I look forward to seeing their sweet faces and to saying goodbye to what others call this bachelor life.

Chick-fil-A

2009-09-03T12:14:00.001-07:00

One of my favorite things (among many others) about going back to Charlotte is returning to the land of Chick-fil-a. Nuggets, Chick-fil-a sandwiches, those little nuggets buried in a sweet biscuit for breakfast. Caffeine Free Diet Coke. OK, I know we have that here too, but it tastes so good in that styrofoam cup! And waffle fries and polynesian sauce! Yes! I am excited.

No lie, I ate at Chick-fil-a 5 times last time I was in Charlotte - over a 8-9 day period.

Yes, I am excited.

Little man

2009-08-28T12:51:00.000-07:00

I didn’t know that I would fall so in love with my son. I have always had a heart for daughters and knew that I would love them if I got to have them. But I didn’t know how big my heart would be for him! He is such a charming and sweet little person though. So full of life and smiles and joy. He teaches me so much about the kind of spirit to aspire to in life. Just as there is a special bond between a daddy and his daughters, there is a different but equally special bond between a daddy and his son. Some days I pray over him that we would be like me in some ways, and often I pray that he would not struggle with sin in ways that I have. But all days I pray peace and love and joy in Jesus over him. I love my little man.

Enjoy these lyrics from one of my favorite artists, Pierce Pettis:

LITTLE MAN
Pierce Pettis, ©1990 Let's Have Lunch Music (ASCAP)

Little man he smiles at me
He ain't got no hair
He ain't got no teeth
But he is beautiful indeed
He is my little man

Little man he cries at night
He don't know no wrong
He don't know no right
And the dark is full of serpent bites
Oh watch out, little man

I can't always catch you when you fall
As you grow you'll see I'm not that tall
Just the one who loves you most of all
Oh, little man
You're always gonna be my little man

Little man sleeping in a ball
Who's the fairest of them all
I'll leave the light on in the hall

(Chorus)

Little man he smiles at me
He ain't got no hair
He ain't got no teeth
But he is beautiful indeed
He is my little man

Cowan Family Update 8-26-09

2009-08-26T15:26:00.000-07:00

Thought some of you would appreciate a little Cowan family update. Between vacations, a very busy few months at work for me, and fun activities like Josh and Mandy’s wedding coming around the corner (and all the family in town), it's been really really busy.

We did have a fairly chill last weekend, though, and I thought I’d give you a look into our lives and share some of the weekend’s happenings. Things with the girls are particularly interesting right now as they have so much to say about everything, and are growing up right before our eyes. And sweet little man seems to love them so much and can hardly be in a room without cranking his head to find out where they are so that he can follow them around. I think it’s why he’s been crawling/inching his way around so much lately: he wants to get where they are!

We took the whole family to Starbucks on Saturday morning, which was so fun. The girls split a doughnut as they are wont to do. Kelly and I had breakfast sandwiches. It was a nice and relaxing time, but apparently we were quite a spectacle as people just stared and stared at us while in the long line. A man even came up to us when he was leaving and said he really enjoyed watching our sweet family. It actually wasn't creepy, even though he said he recognized me (he turned out to be a fellow Mars Hillian).

When we got home, and before naps, I brought the girls outside while I worked on cleaning the van and getting carseats rearranged (long story). The hilarious thing was that K & G climbed right up into the front seats and spent over an hour there pulling nobs, twisting buttons, yanking turn signals, etc. K was at the steering wheel and she kept saying “Tuwn it on”. I would say no. She would “why?” (her new favorite answer to every comment). I would say because we’re not going anywhere. She would respond “I want to dwive” or “I want to dwive Nanni’s house”. G had lots to say about it too.

Then the kids took naps and we got them up to go to the Aquarium. It was a gorgeous and perfect day for the aquarium. As soon as we got there, the highlight for the girls was seeing a diver in the giant fish tank. I asked G many times later that day what she saw at the aquarium and every time she said “man”, “oughta” (otter), and “feesh” (fish). Strangely, the man was the highlight of the trip to see the fishes.

We celebrated Josh’s bday that evening at the lakehouse. K had a funny moment when 5 or 6 of us were standing around listening to my brother tell a story. She started trying to repeat the whole story and everyone stopped to listen. She continued for a minute, then lost her train of thought (her words couldn’t keep up with her brain on the topic, I think). She finally turned around and buried her face in my legs because she was so embarrassed to have not been able to finish her sentence. It was so sweet and rare for my little outgoing girl.

That night we read the Bible as we do every night. I am certainly not shoving it down their throats. They DEMAND the Bible. “Wead a Bible” they yell when we go into their room for the night. They are quickly becoming masters of the text, believe it or not. Tonight, when we got to the creation story and I talked about Jesus creating the heavens and the earth, and then cracked the first page of the story of Adam and Eve and the Fall, K immediately said “eat a apple, get out.” and was referring to Adam and Eve eating the apple and God expelling them from the garden. They remember every little tidbit. Sometimes they mix it up though (later we were getting to the Gospel sections and K said “Dedus (Jesus) eat a apple.” Uh, no). The highlight of the Bible reading was that they love the section on Jesus’ death and resurrection. After we read through it G kept saying “Dedus died, now awive.” And K would say “Dedus died, uh uh now come back, awive.” I love their little minds learning about Jesus, however immaturely right now.

While we’re talking about Jesus, it reminds me that while we were on vacation at Banks Lake, I was struck by another understanding that K had. I was out on the back deck with them looking out over the beautiful lake and high cliff walls and setting sun. I was telling K how God created all of this. Then I picked G up and explained the same thing. Then I said to K, who made all of this? She said “Dedus made uh all”. I had not prompted her to say this, but I often intentionally use God’s name and Jesus’ name interchangeably. It stunned me that she has noticed this and was using them this way.

The next day was busy too – church, a quick bite of lunch with friends, naps, and then some errand-running. The girls very much enjoyed sharing a cinnamon pretzel at Auntie Anne’s (although they wanted a lot of helping cleaning off their sugary hands). Then we finished the evening with dinner and bedtime.

This night, we were reading about Jesus’ triumphal entry to shouts of Hosanna. I opened to this page and asked them what the people said when Jesus came to town and they both raised one arm and said “hosanna!” They have learned that because when we get to this part, I always sing the chorus of Hillsong’s “Hosanna” and raise one arm in praise. We finished reading, and they yelled “Yeah Dedus!” as they do most nights when we finish reading the Bible. And then there was much, MUCH talking about how “Dedus died uh cwoss ah ah now awive” as we got them to bed and sleeping.

What amazes me most about them is that their little hearts and minds are just sponges. They soak up anything that is nearby. I am thankful to Jesus and the Holy Spirit that they have helped them to have an interest in the Gospel texts.

This weekend we have Josh’s wedding and soon thereafter we’ll be in Charlotte and Charleston for our very exciting Fall trip to visit family and friends!

Rainier Summit Part 2

2009-08-18T11:30:00.000-07:00

The ride to Paradise was uneventful, except that it was one of the free weekends in Mt. Rainier National Park so we avoided the entrance fee – nice. Overnight parking required a half a mile walk down the hill from the Paradise Inn. We registered with the park service rangers and were able to reserve a night at Camp Muir and a night at Ingraham Flats. We were feeling thankful about this as sometimes getting reservations of your choice is hard (especially during busy good weather periods).

At roughly 6,000 feet with the mountain behind me

After praying for safety and a healthy return to our wives and families, we departed from Paradise at about 10:30am. I was carrying almost 50 pounds, including my climbing gear (harness/etc., picket, ice axe, helmet, crampons), sleeping bag/pads, stove, water, food for 3 days, extra clothes for colder (higher) temps, etc. It was a beautiful day expected to hit the mid-80s. From our starting point at 5,400 feet to 7,200 feet (Pebble Creek), there was very little snow on the ground and tons of people. The crowds started to thin out as we continued our ascent, and we hit snow just above 7,200 feet. The Muir snowfield was in good shape as we headed up – we arrived at Camp Muir (10,100 feet) at about 3pm. Views of Mt. Adams, Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens, all to our south, were gorgeous. Ben and I found a good spot to drop our stuff, set up camp and spent the next couple of hours melting snow to boil water for the night’s and next day’s use.

Camp Muir at 10,100 feet and our home for the first night

Another view of Muir and the public shelter up on the hill

Our tent home for the night - notice the climbing route in the snow behind it

And here's a better view of the start of the route, across the Cowlitz Glacier and onto the gray rocks of the Cathedral Gap. From there it's a left turn and on up to Ingraham Flats

A view up to Cadaver Gap (from Muir) and in-between the two rock ribs: the Disappointment Cleaver

After all of the time I have spent outdoors, I am finally learning how to manage my food consumption to keep my body well-fueled and to keep a climb energized. Mostly, I bring foods that I like to eat, as nerves and altitude both contribute to a general lack of interest in eating. It’s pretty easy to burn 700-1,000 calories in an hour of steady climbing, so over our 4,700 foot climb from Paradise (parking lot) to Camp Muir, we easily burned 3-4,000 calories. This is why I dropped about 4-6 pounds over the 3-day climb. For this climb, I brought sour gummy worms, Milky Way and Snickers Candy Bars, a trail mix with M&M’s, two McDonald’s breakfast burritos with mild salsa, a freeze-dried and very yummy lasagna meal, three cans of Starbucks Doubleshot (one before each climb segment), two bottles of Ensure Plus (great meal replacement calories I used to charge up my system after the harder climb sections) and a bunch of Kool-aid mini-packets to add to my Nalgene bottles to get sugar back into my system.

Partly because we were tired from the climb up to Muir, and partly because we both have busy home lives (Ben has a three-week old newborn at home and I have my three two and unders), we were in the tent by about 6pm to catch some z’s. I slept pretty fitfully, as I always do in a tent on a mountain, and mostly laid there from 12-2 as parties around us prepared and left for their summit bids (many folks, including the guided Rainier Mountaineering Inc. groups, leave from Muir rather than the higher Ingraham Flats camp). We were up and going again by about 6am, in part because there were a bunch of alpine “bee-flies” buzzing the tent and getting us up early. I call them “bee-flies” because they are annoying and persistent like flies, but they look a lot like bees. Who knows what they actually are.

At any rate, they woke us up and kept us up with their buzzing. We got up and broke down the tent and camp and packed up to leave for Ingraham Flats. We were entering the first part of the climb that is on a glacier, so we put on the harnesses and roped up, put on the helmets (rock-fall danger is an issue) and traded the trecking poles for ice axes. We left Muir and spent the next hour (give or take) crossing the Cowlitz Glacier and heading up a steep rocky slope called Cathedral Gap. Once you are standing on top of the Gap, you get a great view of Mt. Tahoma (which is 11,100 feet tall and is the black and rocky protrusion on the East side of Mt. Rainier) and on down the Ingraham Glacier, which is very broken up and full of building-sized ice blocks and gaping bottomless crevasses this time of year. Keeping all of this on your right, we crept up the ridge and trudged up to Ingraham Flats at roughly 11,000 feet on the Southeast slopes of Mt. Rainier. We found a good spot for camp and setup for a long day of waiting for our summit bid. We kept ourselves busy by melting more snow and boiling water, prepping our gear, and laying in the tent.

My climbing partner and friend Ben when we arrived at Ingraham Flats. The Ingraham Glacier is behind him (the summit is hidden behind the false summit seen in this pic)

Here I am before we set up camp (with the Disappointment Cleaver rock rib behind me - we would be climbing this "spine" of rock in another 12 hours' time)

A clear view of the Ingraham Glacier (notice the climbers coming down from the Disappointment Cleaver)

The Disappointment Cleaver rock rib annotated with red loosely marking the route over snow, ice and rock

The view to the north/north-east from Ingraham Flats - notice the massive ice blocks on the left side of the frame

From our camp at Ingraham Flats - looking at Mt. Tahoma, an 11,150 foot subsidiary peak of Mt. Rainier's

Even though I had hauled the lightweight “Practicing the Presence of God” book up to 11,000 feet, I had exactly zero interest in the book. I was feeling very low energy, maybe because of the previous day’s work, maybe because of the altitude. It was hot in the tent, but I spent most of the afternoon in there trying to catch some sleep and listening to Pierce Pettis on the iPod. Even though I had only been gone from home for about 36 hours now, I was missing Kelly, K, G and S. Pierce’s “Neutral Ground”, one of Kelly’s and my favorite songs, made me miss her, and then “My Little Girl” came on. Such an emotional song for me as it’s about a Daddy trying to protect his little girl’s heart as she grows up.

Kelly knows how much I miss my family when I’m gone (this trip was the longest I think I’d ever been gone from them), so she sent me up with a picture of the family, which I wanted to take to the summit like a sponsor’s flag, and a picture of K&G. Kelly wrote the most amazing note on the back of the family picture which was a constant encouragement. She said: “Jason, I’m so excited for you! You CAN do this!! If you lose your strength, pray that God Himself would be your refuge and strength, your very present help in trouble. I love you no matter what and miss you so much! We all love you and are praying for your safe return. Love, Kel.” I even shared the note with Ben to encourage him.

Knowing we were getting up at around 11pm to depart at midnight, we got ready to go to bed at around 6pm. I had been messing with my phone on the way up – it never seems to work on the mountain although I hear stories of people using them to call 911 to alert Rangers in emergencies. So I knew some phones worked. Anyway, I was messing with settings to try to expand the phone beyond 3G to its other more comprehensive settings. I had shut it off earlier when it wasn’t picking anything up. Around 6:30pm on Monday eve before our summit bid, I turned it on and apparently turning it off and back on reset it to the new more comprehensive range. It was picking up some newly received texts from Kelly, my Dad and Shawn Stinson. And a sweet voicemail from Kelly. And – oh joy! – my work email. Since I was on vacation (although not a very relaxing one!), I ignored the work email and texted back Kelly, my Dad and Shawn. My Dad had written a nice text telling me he loved me and that he and my Mom were praying for safety. Ben was able to call his wife and check in on her and his newborn son. I called Kelly and in classic Kelly fashion was unable to reach her on either the home phone, her cell phone, or even her Mom’s phone. I shot her a couple of texts and voicemails, though, and was able to tell her I loved her and that we were leaving for the summit in only four to five hours. It was so great to hear her voice even on her voicemail. I did get this text from her before we left for the summit, though, which was encouraging: “I am so mad i missed your call!! I am so proud of you! I wish you knew how many times we have prayed for you. Tonight G asked me to pray for you!”

We went to bed and got some nervous “wake every 20 minutes” sleep. It seemed windy outside, but wasn’t too bad when we got up at 11pm. It was very dark outside as the moon was just a sliver in the night sky. We were thrilled to see a cloud-free and incredibly star-filled sky. Some groups around us (there were probably three or four other occupied tents at our camp) were stirring, and Ben and I got moving fast. We were hoping to be the first ones on the route, but only just ahead of another rope team of two (to increase our margin of safety and theirs). Although I had been nervous during the day before, and during the sleeping hours ahead of departure, now that we were up and moving, I was all business and not worried much anymore. Just ready to climb and be on a part of the route I’d never been on. I was carrying my regular pack, but it was much lighter, with some food, about three liters of water, a down coat as an emergency bivy, a picket and the usual ten essentials (first aid, firestarter, etc.). I was actually wearing a lot of my other gear (crampons, helmet, headlamp, rope, harness, ice axe).

We flipped on the headlamps to light the route ahead of us; We prayed and asked Jesus for safety and wisdom. Ben led our little rope team and we were on our way. First ones off. No one would pass us and we would have the mountain eerily to ourselves. We climbed straight up several hundred feet and cut hard right after getting around a large and deep crevasse. We had to step over a couple of deep but not wide (maybe 9-12 inches) crevasses, then headed down towards the Disappointment Cleaver rock section. Ben had told me this was possibly the crux part of the climb. 1,200 to 1,500 feet of rock and steep snow slopes depositing you on the top of the Cleaver.

We stepped off of the glacier and onto this steep and huge “rib” of rock (the Cleaver) that stands like a giant nose on the side of Mt. Rainier. We searched with our headlamps to find the wands (small flags) marking the route on the rock, and we steadily climbed up. Back and forth through the rocks, sometimes using one hand and one ice axe. The rock loomed above us even darker than the moonless sky – those were the places where the night sky was not peppered with stars. A huge crash of rocks fell behind us as we made our way up the rock and I prayed silently for the two men behind us, that they were safe and not close to the heavy rockfall. Routefinding was difficult, but our headlamps would occasionally reflect the wands the National Park Service rangers and commercial guides had left to mark the way. After 20-30 minutes of making our way through the rocks, we were able to find the exposed switchbacks up the side of the Cleaver. Roughly thirty more minutes later and we had come to the top of the Cleaver, where the slope lessened (if only temporarily). It was about 1:30 in the morning and we were coming to “the ladder”.

The ladder had become a bit infamous in my mind. The day before several guys coming down from the summit had said, “watch out for the 2x8 over the three foot wide bottomless crevasse. That was enough to make me nervous. Although one guys said he had simply jumped it, which made me less nervous (if it was jumpable then the plank crossing couldn’t be too bad). Then others who came down said not to worry, it was now a 4 foot crevasse, but that the rangers had put down a ladder with two 2x8’s on it. Good, no worries. When we arrived at the ladder, it became clear where it was going to be, because the whole section of the route was very broken up. Huge house-sized blocks of ice all around and a couple of deep but not wide crevasses to step over. Then ninety degrees to the right and an 8-foot ladder laid down over a three and a half to four foot wide gaping crevasse. I didn’t look down on my first trip over it (knowing there would be another on the way back). You could almost feel the depth through the blackness though. I kept the rope taut as Ben crossed and he for me. It was just baby steps as the sharp points of our crampons grasped the wood planks. Then a left turn and across a snow bridge that was preserving the route across another large crevasse brother to the one we had just crossed.

The ladder and the snowbridge, both crossing large "bottomless" crevasses

A closer look as we approached (actually these were taken on the way down so we had already crossed over)

A close-up looking down into the crevasse (wish I had leaned out a little further so you could see the blackness down below) - notice the marks left by crampon points of crossing climbers

This is the view of the ice-fall to our left as we are crossing the ladder - these are house-sized chunks of ice so it's a pretty intimidating jumble of glacier

Close-ups of some of the ice-fall around us

After crossing over the ladder and the snowbridge (visible in the bottom-right corner), the route traversed across the mountain to avoid some large ice-fall sections (including one that had already collapsed over the route) - you can see the bootpack in the picture outlining the route the Rangers have suggested

Then the route opened up. A long flat section across the side of the mountain over to the shoulder of the Emmons Glacier. There was a fair amount of exposure below us, but the climbing was easy, the weather pleasant and wind light. At one point I realized the route was crossing over a large ice block that had a long fall on the right and a deep crevasse on the left. Pretty crazy. Sort of a two foot wide tightrope walk with a backpack, heavy boots and gear on. But my ice axe had plenty of purchase on the left to keep me secure and connected to the mountain.

After continuing out towards the Emmons glacier on this long traverse, the route finally traversed left and we began a long series of switchbacks. 20 minutes of climbing South and then a right turn and 20 minutes of climbing North. Back and forth. Back and forth. My eyes focused on keeping the rope in front of me out of the way of my crampons, taking step after step to keep the distance between me and Ben steady so that the rope wouldn’t bunch up if I got going too fast, or didn’t go too taut and pull on him. I had plenty of cardiovascular strength in the tank, but was feeling hungry (I had only had a small Starbucks doubleshot when we left camp) and a little low energy. Ben and I stopped a couple of times to drink some water and I hit a small tube of Clif Bar energy goo.

This is not my pic, but one I found online illustrating the view from the top of the Disappointment Cleaver

Also not my pic - does a good job of showing the traverse across the side of the mountain once leaving the Cleaver

One more (also not my pic) illustrating the route's wandering to avoid large crevasses - this was very similar to our day on the mountain

Not my pic, but illustrates well the exposure as well as the route's meandering around large ice blocks that are a routine part of this heavily glaciated peak

Somewhere around 2:30-3:00am, we were at roughly 13,000 feet. I added a layer of gloves and put my beanie hat on underneath my helmet. We were making good progress fast and the guys who left 5 minutes behind us were now nowhere to be seen. It was like we had the upper reaches of Mt. Rainier all to ourselves. Pretty amazing feeling. I was still trying to manage my food intake and was popping bites of a candy bar, but was still feeling low-energy. Ben kept me on my toes though as we kept a pretty relentless pace and did not stop to rest more than 30 second “catch your breath” rest-stops. 1,411 feet to go.

Once we got to about 13,500 feet at about 3:30am, I realized that I was looking at the altimeter way too much and was only discouraging myself. Rather than looking and thinking “whoa, we’re already at 13,300?”, I was looking and thinking “what? we’re only at 13,100?”. I decided to start counting my steps and counted about 250 steps per 100 feet of vertical. So, that gave me a number to shoot for every 100 feet and made the time pass. Finally, out of the slowly lightening sky I could see rock formations up above us that I thought might be the crater rim. I knew we were at around 13,800, so only another 600 vertical feet to go, maybe half an hour or so. I could do that no problem. What seemed like only five or so minutes later, we stepped over the crater rim at 14,100 feet. I was actually shocked because I was expecting and bracing for a longer climb. I had been told that once you crested the crater rim it was a FLAT walk to the true summit, which would have meant we were basically done going up once we crested the crater rim. I quickly realized that the true summit was not only on the other side of the very large crater (maybe the size of two football fields in diameter?), but also another 300 vertical feet up. This was very demoralizing. We were now walking very slowly and still needing to stop every five minutes to rest and catch our breath. There were some small crevasses even on the summit that we stepped over, and a large open “snow-cave” on one side. Just before the summit, we stepped off of the snow and onto some rock that was covered in delicately wind-shaped ice. Ben stepped on the ice and the intricately-connected ice snapped like a frozen rope making a sharp whipping noise that startled me (given that on glaciated peaks I am highly paranoid about crevasse falls).

Not my pic (it was dark when I was there!), but this is what the inside of the summit crater looks like

One more that is not my pic, but illustrates the path through the crater (the other side is the "low" side, pic is taken from the high side, although the pic makes it look more gradual than it felt!)

But it was just a noise and we continued on up to the true summit of Mt. Rainier at 14,411 feet at 4:51am on July 21st, 2009, four days after my 34th birthday, having left camp at 12:20am (GPS said it had taken four hours and twenty-seven minutes). It was a very exciting moment for me and the fulfillment of a decade-long dream and long pursuit of climbing and mountaineering skills and outdoor experience-building. The summit (called Columbia Crest) was pretty large (maybe 50 feet in diameter?) and you could see “the other two” summits of Mt. Rainier, including the slightly lower Liberty Cap (14,112 feet) and the crater rim (called Point Success, 14,158 feet), that we had just crossed over. Although the wind was not strong, it was still cold on top, especially because the sun was not out yet. The sun was just coming up over the horizon and the sky was a mix of black and orange. We could see what was probably the town of Puyallup to our Northwest, and we snapped some pictures as the sun slowly began to rise. It was an amazing feeling to have the summit to ourselves – not another soul in sight.

Me on the summit with my family photo

Self-portrait of the climbing partners (alone on the summit)

The sun rising over Puyallup and Seattle (not visible); if you look carefully you can see the curve of the earth on the horizon

After ten to fifteen minutes on the summit, we returned back down to the crater and tried to call our wives (even though it was 5:15am). Cell phone reception was not great and we were cold so we got going again. We crossed over the crater lip and headed back down. Maybe fifteen minutes from the crater lip, we ran into the party of two other climbers headed up. We stopped and said Hi and wished them well, continuing down. Over the next hour or so, we moved off the route a number of times to let other parties pass (on their way up), including five to six guided parties of three. As the sun rose and we continued to come back down, it got very very hot. We began to delayer and tried to keep up with our water intake needs. It was actually really amazing to see the difficult and crevasse-ridden terrain we had ascended earlier that morning. Huge portions of the mountain were covered in house-sized chunks of ice and the route crossed around and occasionally below these massive features.

Sometime around 6:30-7:00am we got back to the snowbridge and ladder crevasse crossing just above the Disappointment Cleaver. It was pretty wild to see it in the daylight and to carefully look over the lip of the large crevasse into the deep deep opening. We continued down onto the Cleaver and made quick work of the switchbacks and back onto the rock section. We were anxious to get out of the dangerous higher sections that are prone to melting and shifting (not to mention rockfall) in the hot sun. After some quick routefinding, we quickly but gingerly made our way down the rock section and back onto the glacier, climbing up and around a very large (maybe a hundred yards long and twenty feet wide?) crevasse that we had passed in the night climb up, hopped a few small ones and then made a long straight downward slog back to camp. We arrived at camp at roughly 8:30am, pretty tired, but motivated to pack up and get down. I was thrilled to get to call Kelly and report the good news – knowing that she has been my biggest supporter for my climbing goals. We broke down camp, threw it all on our backs, roped up again for the final section of rock and glacier, and descended back to Camp Muir. We were there by around 11am and spent about an hour there boiling water to drink and recuperating a bit. We left Muir at about 12:30 and were back down to Pebble Creek (the bottom of the Muir snowfield) at about 1:30pm after making quick work of the snowfield (dropping 3,000 vertical feet in an hour by doing standing slides and by careening down as fast as we could make ourselves go). The sun was hot and we were tired, so it was a real highlight to take my shirt off and put it, my hat and my head in the icy glacier-melt water of Pebble Creek.

An hour and a half later (including a missed turn on the trail that took us out of our way) we were back at Paradise among the hundreds of tourists there to visit the mountain. It was a gorgeous day, and hot, and we had been on the move for fifteen hours now, and we rejoiced to reach every climber’s goal: the flip-flops in the back seat of the car that you trade for your big old climbing boots. Success! We also made quick work of a couple of Cokes from the Visitor’s center and headed back home to our wives, children and loved ones.

It was very exciting for me to finally get to the top of Mt. Rainier. It was exciting not only to summit, but to do it in a small independent party of two. It was amazing to have the weather we had. It was incredible to have the upper mountain to ourselves and a quiet summit. It was very fulfilling to know that months and months of running and training had paid off on summit day. In my pre-climb training, I had achieved my personal running goal of being able to run five consecutive eight-minute miles and it made the physical/cardiovascular part of summit day very manageable. There was more in the tank when I got to the top and more in the tank when I got back to the car (I ended up feeling good enough to go home and go swimming in Lake Sammamish with the kids, and stayed up until midnight that night with Kelly (up 24 straight hours, including 15 at a very high level of output)).

Additionally, it was a day of great thanks for me. I was thankful for great weather (including light wind on summit day), particularly great weather that coincided with a trip we had planned for Kelly’s Mom Leta to come out and help her with the kids while I was gone. I was thankful for Leta coming all the way out to Seattle to help Kelly and keep her company (how amazing is that!). I was thankful that I had finished up a big presentation at work the Friday before my trip and didn’t have to worry about work. I was thankful that my climbing partner Ben had been able to go, even though he and his wife had just had their first baby several weeks before. I was thankful that my phone had worked at Ingraham Flats (to be able to call Kelly and to have the ability to call 911 and reach park rangers if necessary). I was thankful that the two guys camping near us at Ingraham Flats wanted to leave at a similar time in order to have more safety margin (they could help us if needed and we could help them). I was thankful that Camp Muir was available on the first night and Ingraham Flats on the second night (sometimes they fill up). I was also thankful to have the vacation time to get to do a three day Sunday to Tuesday climb that made it more manageable and fun (and it also meant I was able to spend Saturday with Kelly, K, G and S, making the days away from them more bearable (especially since two of them would have been work days anyway)). I was also thankful for my climbing partner Ben’s rope leadership and company on the climb.

And I was particularly thankful for two people: Jesus for his encouragement and strength throughout both this climb and the years of climbing building up to this one. And for the safety net He put around us to get us safely up and back home.

And I am especially thankful to Kelly for all of her love and encouragement to me over the years to go chase and reach my outdoor adventure / climbing dreams. Kelly has worked quite a few Saturdays when I might have been home helping her with the kids, instead sacrificing to let me go do training hikes and summits and summit attempts. So I am very very thankful to her, which is why I wanted my summit picture to include her and my family.

To wrap up, let me say this: on my way down the mountain, I remember plotting, as I do on almost every climb, how to go about selling my mountaineering gear. Climbing, for me, is an incredible chance to get outdoors and worship not the creation, but the Creator. The vastness of a place like Mt. Rainier is readily felt when you go through the experience of climbing it. And that vastness reflects the incredible height and breadth and grandeur of all of the attributes of God. But in addition to that beauty, climbing is about suffering and you have to love to endure to be successful, even in little ways, at it. And inevitably that suffering gets to me and I wonder why I do it and plot ways to stop doing it. Then.... I get back to the car and I drink a huge carbonated and high-sugar beverage, and I take off those blasted boots, and lean back in my seat, and start talking and dreaming about the next climb, the next route, the next mountain. It’s a crazy and addictive sport and I am an addict.

So, until the next climb, thanks for reading my account!

The route as tracked by my GPS (starting at Ingraham Flats and going to the summit and back down again)

Loui Giglio Twitter Press Conference

2009-08-18T10:39:00.001-07:00

This is pretty funny - I got a kick out of the zoom-in around 3:30.

Rainier Summit Part 1

2009-07-23T16:44:00.000-07:00

OK, so bear with me on the length of this as this about as much a personal climbing journal for myself as much as it is a blog post:

I like to believe that I am a persistent person and am pretty good at setting goals and running after them. There are areas of my life that bear this out (and perhaps some that don’t). Despite spending three and a half years or so in the Seattle area – The Mecca of Outdoors living with close city access – I began to get interested in the outdoors only after graduating from Northwestern and moving to North Carolina. I had heard a little bit about whitewater kayaking and wanted to learn how to do it. I signed up for a weekend class and walked out after the first hour – I was convinced that I could learn from a friend or two a lot faster than the slow pace of the class allowed. My friend Paul Peters was kind enough to spend a lot of time teaching me how to roll and how to navigate a river, and despite dislocating my shoulder on my very first river run (not to mention many other times on many other runs), I progressed quickly through Class 1-4 rivers (Green, Nantahala, Ocoee, Pigeon, Little, Nolichucky, New, New Dries, Pigeon Dries, Laurel, French Broad, among others) to successfully running – numerous times – my “goal” river, the mighty Upper Gauley in West Virginia, which has five class V rapids, within 18 months of starting out paddling. I was single and pretty fancy-free, so I paddled a lot, even going to rivers by myself to find new people to boat with, even paddling when I didn’t want to some weekends just because I knew it would be good experience and would help me achieve my Gauley goal.

Around the same time, about 10 years ago when I lived in Charlotte, I decided that I wanted to climb Mt. Rainier. I read articles about Mt. Rainier. I looked at pictures and devoured mountaineering books like “Into Thin Air.” The experience itself sounded miserable, but seemed to be the ultimate test of one’s mettle. Strangely given how unlikely it would have been for me to actually climb it anytime soon, I spent $200+ on a pair of goretex bib climbing pants (only to learn later that no one wore bibs on big peaks in the Cascades (too hot and not “layerable”)). I bought a pair of uber-stiff climbing boots and wore them around little hikes in NC. I was passionate about Mt. Rainier.

When Kelly and I got married and moved to Berkeley so that I could go to business school, I met a few friends who were interested in doing some really basic mountaineering climbs, and we trained for and planned to do Mt. Shasta in Northern CA. Life got busy and weather never quite worked out, so we didn’t end up doing it. But I was still really passionate about mountains and Mt. Rainier.

When we moved to Seattle, I had finally landed in mountain paradise. We have all of the largest and most heavily glaciated peaks in the lower 48 states within about a three hour drive of Seattle. This is mountaineering Mecca. One of the largest and most famous climbing clubs in the United States is here (the Seattle Mountaineers), and the city is home to many of the most famous US mountaineers, including Ed Viesturs (the only American to climb all 14 8000 meter peaks without supplemental oxygen), Jim Whittaker (first American to climb Everest), and others, most of whom learned their trade climbing the lower 48’s most complex big peak, Mt. Rainier. All of this activity revolves around the Cascade range, which is in our backyard, and 14,411 foot Mt. Rainier.

A year after moving to Seattle, in July of 2004, I climbed Mt. Adams (12,276 feet) with some friends from work. It was a totally non-technical climb (no glacier on the route we did), but required crampons and ice axe. It was a great climb and I was hooked. The next summer, I attempted Mt. Baker with a friend, but we went late season (September) and turned around at around 7,500 feet due to heavy crevasse danger and few people on the route (and only two of us climbing together, one of us (me) very unqualified to assist in a crevasse fall!).

So, I was climbing, but I didn’t have many skills. I didn’t have glacier travel experience, rope or knot experience, or self-arrest or crevasse-danger experience. And to top it off, I really wanted to climb Rainier as part of an independent climb, not guided. I tend to be a very independent person (Kelly would say that is an understatement) and wanted to get up Rainier and other peaks as part of a self-supported team, not a large guided “company” team.

So, during the winter and spring of 2006, I took a 9-month “basic” climbing class with the Seattle Mountaineers to learn glacier travel, crevasse, self-arrest, scrambling, rock-climbing, rope, knot, etc. experience. The class was A LOT of work and time commitment and I really appreciated Kelly’s patience and determination (with me being gone a lot) to help me learn good skills. We had to summit three peaks (two glacier climbs and one rock climb) in order to graduate. I climbed Mt. Baker (10,781 feet), Mt. Ruth (7,115 feet), Icy Peak (7,073 feet) and Ingalls Peak (7,662 feet) in order to finish. I was interested in Mt. Rainier that summer, but it just never worked out.

Summer of 2007, K and G were born. I was training for and hoping to climb Rainier, but 5 months of up every three hours for an hour was really not working for getting in shape for a big climb. After sort of bonking on an attempt on beautiful Vesper Peak (6,214 feet) (which I have since climbed) I decided Rainier wasn’t going anywhere and that it would have to wait.

Summer of 2008, I was trying to get things planned with my friends Ben, Mark and Jim, a great group of guys (3 brothers) who I trust and who love Jesus and with whom I share similar climbing qualifications and general interests. Really a great group of guys. We tried Rainier three times during the summer of 2008. We got up to Ingraham Flats at 11,100 feet over Memorial Day weekend, but had to come down due to heavy snow and winds. It rained on us July 4th weekend and we were too soaked to continue on up into harsher conditions – we turned around at ~8,500 feet. We had one more weekend planned (during perfect weather conditions), but sadly the brothers’ granddad died and we had to bail on the trip. We did climb Mt. Hood (11,239) that summer though, which was a wonderful climb (we drove to Portland from Seattle on a Friday night, crashed at Jim’s house for three hours of rest, arrived at the mountain at midnight, left for the summit, summitted at 7am and came right back down).

So, now we are in 2009! We had the vacation days scheduled, Kelly’s Mom had agreed to come out to help Kelly with the kids and to keep her company, everything was set. We had a big group planning to go, and slowly they trickled off... and finally it was down to just two people, me and Ben. I was concerned about doing a glacier climb with only two people on a rope. But after talking with Ben and a few others with more experience, we decided to go for it... and the weather was looking really really perfect....

Written before Baby S was born

2009-06-30T16:15:00.000-07:00

I am sitting here at my desk working today. Listening to a little shuffle play on my iPod. Shania Twain came on. From This Moment. Made me think of that first dance of ours at our wedding almost eight years ago. My sweet love where have the years gone? I know you so much better today. You know me so much better. My good points, and so many more rough edges. Jesus is alive in us though, darling, setting fire to our sin and selfishness, refining us in that blaze and white hot heat. Some days it seems like I can look at you today and see the change from yesterday.

And as you labor around the house carrying the son who dwells within you, little girls clinging to your every step, full of life and love for you, you continue to impress my heart. Your momma gift is so strong in you. When they were born, I used to feel the need to take charge in the way I do so often. The leader and micromanager in me. But now I just marvel at your confidence, wisdom and poise. If there are questions about how to take care of them, what noodle to feed them, what clothes to put on them, it’s from me to you, not the other way around. I lead our family and set strategy and drive direction and guide theology, but you are our tactical and operational expert on our daughters and our home. You are what I call our practical theologian. You live it out in front of them and guide them ever so gently. Thank you for owning that role darling.

And as I think of you in my minds eye, at home blessing them and me today, I sit here at work laboring for you and for our family. My mission in life – with respect to my work – is clear to me, to be a leader and cultural influencer in the secular world. But I work in large part to bless you, to support you, to provide a home for our family. Even more important than my work is the legacy we are building. To raise children in Jesus, to track so deep and fast and heavy that the wake of our legacy will ripple out behind us for generations and generations. And that ultimately that wake would be not for our glory, but God’s.

Sweetness, thank you for our life and the vast and meaningful ways that you contribute to it and grow it with me. I love you.

Cowan Family Upate

2009-06-23T16:41:00.000-07:00

It’s been a long time since I’ve had much time for blogging. My list of priorities goes something like this 1) Jesus, 2) Kelly, 3) K, G and S, 4) Starbucks, 5) Mars Hill/ministry, 6) friends/community, 7) blogging. Blogging probably isn’t even number 7, but point is it’s sort of somewhere towards the bottom of the list. Although, truth be told, I also use my blogging as a form of ministry, so I guess it really is more of a number 5. But even number 5 has taken a hit lately as we have been overwhelmed by the depth of life change that came with increasing our children count by 50%.

Things are great at home although very very busy. It is not easy job to manage two very active two year olds and a nearly 3 month old who is quite a handful. He is a busy busy baby who likes to eat and who likes to be close. He is happiest when he’s being held, second happiest when you’re right in front of him talking and cooing with him, and pretty much unhappy when you’re not within six feet of him. He is a relational baby! Taking care of this brood is manageable when you have three adults, pretty hectic when it’s two of you, and all out mayhem when it’s just Kelly. Sometimes when I take care of them by myself for 30 minutes, I actually wonder with every part of my being how Kelly does it all day. She is such a hard worker. But if you’re a praying person please pray for strength, energy and encouragement for my sweet Kelly.

Their have been quite a few fun events lately, and I’ll include just a few snippets. One highlight has been all of the talking from the little ladies. K in particular is a real jabberbox. G understands everything, and is getting to be quite a parrot, but she’s quite a bit more reserved, so doesn’t offer much up unless you really ask for it. It is very common now to be driving home, Kelly and I in the front seats, S and G in the middle seats, and K in the way back. The van will get quiet and all of a sudden K will yell (literally): “Hey Daddy!” It is actually awesome.

A few snippets of life:

• Kelly was nursing S in our play room with the girls one afternoon. While she was sitting there, the girls decided they wanted to leave the room, so they got up together, G opened the play room door (she is better at that than K), they both walked through and G closed it behind them. Not a word. Just left K in there by herself to go explore the house.
• Later, the girls came back in. They have these three Pottery Barn Kids chairs that Nonni and Poppi got them for their birthdays. Each has their name embroidered on them. Kelly was sitting in K’s chair and K walked up and said “my chair.” She was right, which was kind of funny, so Kelly just moved. What a precocious little girl.
• One day a month or so ago we heard G’s door open upstairs during what was supposed to be a nap. I went up and found G wandering around the upstairs. Apparently she can now climb out of her pack and play (especially when it is next to her big girl bed and she can use that as a landing zone). A few days later I put her in her crib and told her to show me how she gets out. She obliged immediately by pulling herself up on the front rails and throwing her right leg up on the side rails (our little gymnast, it was like she was on a pommel horse). Pop, she was over.
• A couple weeks ago I took K, G and S to Target by myself. It was nearly bedtime, so it was sort of a suicide mission, but we were there nonetheless. I was pulling K and G in a big red Target basket and was pushing S with my other hand in his stroller. I had taken a pair of their shoes back and was finding a replacement, and then went to another part of the store. When I got to the other section, I saw not only the shoes I had picked up for the girls, but also a pair of purple “jellies” in the basket. I assumed they had fallen in and headed back to the shoes section to take them back. As I put them back on the shelf, K went hysterical. Apparently she had seen them on the way through the section, grabbed them and put them in the cart (she’s a smart cookie: she knows the things that go in the cart go home with us). Funny thing is they were the right size. Well, sadly for her, we did not buy them, but thankfully Mimi sent them each a pair a week or so later, so all is well.
• Now that G is climbing out of her crib, and because we’d like to get K out of the nursery and into their new big-girl-room (with G), so that we can paint it blue and get S into the nursery, we are transitioning the girls to sleeping in their big-girl-beds, which are in the same room in what used to be our office. Man, trying to convince them to stay in beds that they can get out of at night is a real chore. It is a matter of training that takes incredible patience and persistence on the part of Mom and Dad. I usually just get a chair and sit right outside their room with a book and am usually there at least an hour:
• The first couple of nights we tried it, G got out of bed repeatedly. I mean like 10-12 times. One of the first nights, she managed to get herself tired enough to fall asleep in bed, but the second (and maybe third) night, she fell asleep on the floor of the room after I locked it from the outside because she had been venturing out of the room to explore the upstairs so frequently. One night she fell asleep on a pile of 30 wipes that she had pulled out of a wipes container. Sweet thing is such an endless explorer! I was hoping by locking the door that she would get back in bed and go to sleep, but that didn't work. She just found things in the room to explore in the pitch black (like the sound machine, who's volume button she turned up and down and up and down...)
• In the last few nights, I threw caution to the wind and decided this was hard enough as it is, might as well go whole hog. So we added K into the mix. Oh, painful. Now, like the toddlers who love each other that they are, they talk back and forth incessantly. Sometimes for an hour or longer. Often with hops out of bed to visit the other one in her bed. K will sometimes throw her lamby on the ground and cry for it - sweet G will hop out of bed to get it for her, then scramble to get back in bed before I catch her out of bed. The will often sit up in bed and look at each other and say back and forth “hi”, “hi”, “hi”, “hi” and giggle and laugh. I came in a couple of nights ago to tell them to be quiet and to go to bed, and as I was leaving the room K said “happy birday Daddy”. Don’t know where that came from because it wasn’t my birthday, but it was hilarious.

Anyway, those are the adventures at the Cowan house. I’m sure there will be many more to come and I will keep you all in the loop.

Grace

2009-06-18T09:45:00.001-07:00

This is a cool picture of grace - and I'm glad to see that a Christian man would bring this to life.

Piper response to Obama on Abortion

2009-05-13T12:52:00.001-07:00

Dear Freeman Family

2009-05-12T14:53:00.000-07:00

It was with great sadness that I read this morning about your having lost sweet Kayleigh. Sadness for your lost time with her, for the lost future. And yet, I also rejoice in the hope for her future and for the great expanse of time that you will spend with her after this life. Our lives are just a blink in light of eternity (Psalm 39:5 - You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man's life is but a breath). What a joy that as Christians we can rejoice in that future when we know Jesus!

Thank you Freemans for the ways that you have brought glory to Jesus through this difficult circumstance. Your faith has been an encouragement to us all. Thank you Kayleigh for being a means by which the Gospel could go out to the nations. Many people live much longer lives with much less impact.

Thank you Jesus for your victory over death. We long for heaven that we would know our new bodies, our new life with you Jesus, and for perfect relationship with each other and with you.

1 Corinthians 15: 20But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.... 25For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26The last enemy to be destroyed is death.... 36How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body.... 42So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being"[e]; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. 48As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we[f] bear the likeness of the man from heaven. 50I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." 55"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" 56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Help the Kayleigh Freeman family

2009-04-27T16:54:00.000-07:00

Friends, please read this post and see if God doesn't tug at your heart (He did mine). This family, part of the global body of Christ, is hurting and needs help. They are likely, unless God does a miracle, going to lose their Kayleigh baby. Let's help them out even if it means a small sacrifice on our part.

Moi Jesus

2009-04-24T15:52:00.000-07:00

I am a Daddy who really wants to be an effective communicator of the Gospel and a kind and gentle pastor to both my wife and my daughters. I do this (sometimes well, sometimes not so well) through a number of pretty organic means with K and G (and now S). I sit down and pull each of them onto my knees in the mornings, we touch forehead to forehead and I pray for each individually – out loud. At night, when it’s bedtime, after we’ve brushed teeth and changed diapers and the whole lot, I spend a little bit of time with each individually, then will turn the lights off and pray for her (out loud) and then will sing a few worship songs. And then, later on in the evening after they’ve been asleep a few hours and I’m on my way to bed, I always return – every night – to pray over them, to pray that God would soften their little hearts towards Him, that the Gospel and their need for it would begin to take root, that they would respect their Mommy and Daddy as their authority and learn to know Jesus as their authority. And I pray that the Holy Spirit would minister to their souls at night and begin to make Himself known to them – that His voice would be a regular and effective communicator and lover of their sweet but ultimately depraved and very God-needy souls. And I pray that they would come to hear and know and recognize that voice, and come to know Jesus at a young age, and finish strong at an old age. I also pray that their lives would be lived for His Glory.

Although they are young, it has been a really incredible joy in my life lately to begin to see some sweet – albeit humble – fruit from this ministry: lately, as I put little G to bed, I have been singing Amazing Grace and Hillsong’s Hosanna. Much to my joy and surprise, G has begun singing with me. She mostly sings “Hosassa”, but what’s amazing to me is that she always sings. She doesn’t say it, she raises her sweet little voice and sings. It is a heartbreaking gift for a Daddy. Every time she does it I am hoping Kelly will come to the door and hear it.

And we had a cool moment last night too. After diapers and before teeth, I got down our rhyme Bible that the Sinnetts gave us. As usual, I paraphrase even the paraphrased rhymes because even those are not short enough for the 2 year old toddler span of attention. But we flipped to the New Testament tonight and looked at the Gospels. I try to show them Jesus in the Old Testament too, but it was easy tonight as we read through the Gospels and looked at all of the drawings of Jesus and the disciples and the man being lowered through the roof and Jesus calming the storm on the Sea of Galilee.

Anyway, it was time for bed, so I wrapped things up and put the Bible back up on its shelf. K immediately looked at me with a desperate face and said “Moi Jesus! Moi Jesus!” And tears streamed down her face. Now, what can any God-fearing Jesus-loving Daddy do besides get the Bible back down. So, we had some more Jesus. It was more sweet time with them. And when we wrapped it up again, of course there were more “Moi Jesus” yelps and possibly even a small tantrum (demonstrating her heart’s need for Moi Jesus!), but regardless it was nice to see my daughters so interested in the Savior Kelly and I love and whom we hope they will come to know and love.

The girls turn two tomorrow. I can’t believe it. We are very thankful to Jesus for their sweet lives. Thank you Jesus for your grace to us.

The Meaning of Marriage

2009-04-15T14:20:00.001-07:00

I just saw that John Piper has a new book coming out. I am excited. I love John Piper. His book is about marriage, its great value, its temporary nature (in that we will not enjoy it in heaven), its role in our lives and in our ministry to non-Christians.

I know very very very very very very very few Christians who understand and hold a covenantal view of marriage, that marriage is primarily about demonstrating the Gospel, that Jesus marries us, His bride, and stays with us no matter how devastatingly bad, cruel and sinful we are to Him, and that as Christians we are called to live out marriage in the same way (just as God asked Hosea to stay married to his whoring wife, to demonstrate the Gospel). Secondarily, marriage is about our sanctification, that we would be more like Jesus. As our Pastor Mark says it, "the purpose of marriage is not to make you happy, but to make you holy."

John Piper says it even better than I can describe it all: "Most foundationally, marriage is the doing of God. And ultimately, marriage is the display of God. It displays the covenant-keeping love between Christ and his people to the world in a way that no other event or institution does. Marriage, therefore, is not mainly about being in love. It’s mainly about telling the truth with our lives. And staying married is not about staying in love. It is about keeping covenant and putting the glory of Christ’s covenant-keeping love on display.

"If you are married, this is why,” says Piper. “If you hope to be, this should be your dream.”

Our Birth Story and Name Explanation

2009-03-31T20:35:00.000-07:00

Kelly called me Friday morning at work and said, “what could be one of the worst things to happen to us right now?” A laundry list of troubles popped into my mind, and Kelly told me that Kanah had been throwing up all morning. We prayed, right then and there, that we wouldn’t all get it going into our last weekend before the new baby, when we had lined up so many important things: getting the house cleaned and ready for the new baby, Kelly’s Mom arriving late Friday for a brief trip to see the new baby, spending some good time with the girls to help them prepare for their new brother. And our timelines were tight. Kelly’s Mom was only here a short time. I had been working like a dog to get my schedule coordinated at work (with a new job) so that I could take a week off, and we needed the c-section to be as early in the week as possible in order for me to maximize that time at home. And then we had a photographer coming to take pictures of the big day.

So, Kanah, was sick for about 24 hours. When her symptoms mostly subsided by Saturday morning, we breathed a collective sigh of relief. No one else had come down with anything yet. Alas, it was not the end. I was clicking off the lights late Saturday night and doing my nightly check on the girls before bed and heard Grace vomiting. I went into her room and found her in a pool of it. I got her up, changed all of her clothes and sleep-sack, changed her sheets and put down a towel in case it happened again. Lights off. More. New clothes, new sleep sack, more laundry, and finally bed for me. The sickness started only hours later for me. Unbelievable gut-wrenching stuff that left me absolutely floored for about 24 straight hours, and I’m still struggling with it now 48 hours after the first 24. Kelly started about 8 hours after I did, but had eaten lighter in anticipation of it, so wasn’t dealing with as much vomiting, mostly just exhaustion and a few other symptoms.

We called the doctor repeatedly to see if we needed to cancel. Would they be able to do the surgery? What if I couldn’t go because I couldn’t stand up? Would I be able to hold my son? Would Kelly’s Mom get this and not be able to hold the baby after flying out here to be here for only 5 days? We canceled with the photographer. None of us felt like being in photos and we didn’t want to risk her getting her three kids sick.

We went to bed very early Sunday night after being in bed all day Sunday, not sure what Monday morning and our scheduled 9am c-section would look like. After a fitful night, we were feeling a little better than on Sunday. I really believe it was just the grace of God because my symptoms still aren’t totally gone. He just gave us strength where there was none. An extra bit of grace. We arrived at the hospital at 7am. Surgery was pushed back from 9am to 10am, then to 11am, then to 12:30pm, then back to 11:30am. The extra time was good for me because every extra minute was healing. But it was bad for Kelly because she hadn’t eaten at all since Saturday night, then wasn’t allowed to have food or even water for 8 hours prior to her surgery, which then became 9 hours and then 12 hours…

We finally made it to the operating room at noon and our sweet son Salem Chandler Cowan was born at 12:20pm. He weighs 8 pounds 4 ounces and is 20 inches tall. He has a lot of black hair (like his Daddy) and he is handsome and sweet. We are very in love. We are so thankful for our expert surgeon and OB Heather Moore who did an amazing job. She was really happy with how Kelly looked inside and with how the surgery went. I got to watch every minute of the surgery and document with camera and video. I am most proud of Kelly who endured a lot of vomiting and sickness during the surgery and afterwards. I think it was really hard on her body to go through that after having the stomach flu. She was a warrior in that operating room just as she has been in carrying our son for 9 months. And just as
she was with our girls. Pregnancy and childbirth is a crazy crazy thing. My friend AJ used to say that it didn’t seem to matter, the curse always got the woman somehow. Either she’d have a brutal pregnancy and an easy delivery, or an easy pregnancy and brutal delivery. But either way the curse got her. And man it got Kelly.

Kelly and I are really excited about our son’s name. We have wanted to name a baby Salem for a long time, but we wanted to only use it for a boy. And the girls’ middle names are Kelly’s Mom’s maiden name (Brittain) and my Mom’s (Hutton), so it was a natural fit to use Kelly’s maiden name for him, as a way to honor her Dad’s family, and also because it’s a great boy’s name: Chandler. Salem is a Biblical name that appears three times in Scripture: Genesis 14, Psalm 76 and Hebrews 7. Salem is a derivative of the Hebrew word Shalem meaning to be complete, sound, or perfect, whole, full. Another derivative is Shalom, meaning peace. One last derivative, Shulam, means to be fully paid. Kelly and I really believe in naming our children in the Biblical manner, that our children would be defined by their names. And we hope Salem will be defined by the idea that his life is paid in full by the blood of Jesus, and that he can live in the fullness and peace of God by that sanctifying work of His Savior, who we hope and pray that Salem will come to know.

So, that’s our story. It’s been quite a five days. Kelly’s Mom has been super gracious to watch the girls faithfully during this time, when we actually didn’t have any energy or strength to do it. And God has been good to give us strength to get through this. Thank you Jesus for the birth of our son and for his sweet life. We give it over to you in trust and faith and love.

Twouble with Twitters

2009-03-26T10:24:00.001-07:00

Uh, what.... Chick-fil-a in Washington

2009-03-20T14:34:00.000-07:00

Kelly and I were stunned to learn this week that there is a Chick-fil-a in Washington state. It only opened in September, and is on Western Washington's campus in Bellingham (so it's about an hour and fifteen minutes away), but this is kind of a watershed realization for us because we are Chick-fil-a fanatics and we only get to eat it when we're back in NC.

We are going to have to budget more time for our drives to Whistler now that we know this. How exciting! And maybe it means they will be expanding elsewhere in the state!

Yeehaw.

Embryonic Stem Cells and Obama Part 2

2009-03-10T12:38:00.001-07:00

Well, as predicted, President Obama kept his promise to put to death Bush’s prohibition on the use of federal dollars (tax dollars) for the exploitation of embryonic stem cell lines for research purposes. One of the things I found most egregious about the pomp with which he and the Obamatons did so was their language claiming that they were merely aiming to shield science from politics. And by politics, they mean morality. They mean, we want to protect science from morals. And that in itself is preposterous, as science should be a slave to our laws and policies and morality and what we as a people believe about God and ethics and morals, not above it. God help us if our science ever supercedes our morals. What Obama and the Obamatons really mean is, in this case, we want to free up this issue from the “burden” of the moral problem and implications.

As Harold Varmus, the co-chair of Obama's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, said it, “this is consistent with the president's determination to use sound scientific practice, responsible practice of science and evidence, instead of dogma in developing federal policy.” You can insert the word morality or religion or faith above where dogma is. Dogma is a nice way of saying it, if that’s possible.

Net net, this means the federal government will be spending your and my tax dollars on research on embryonic stem cells, stem cells derived from the inner cell mass of an early stage embryo (fertilized human egg) known as a blastocyst. The order doesn’t even mean that this research is now legal (it always has been), it just means that the government will now fund it. So, when a company can’t find private capital to fund its research, it can now go to the government. Sounds familiar, huh? After all, the government is funding all sorts of things that private enterprise won’t fund these days.

Now, CHECK THIS OUT, as Wesley Smith pointed out on his blog yesterday, there is more to this story. Obama also rescinded Executive Order 13435 of June 20, 2007, which was a Bush-instituted order requiring that the federal government fund alternative methods as well, many of which have proven to be very hopeful, but without the ethical and moral implications (use of adult stem cell lines, for example; learn more about this here and here).

So, effectively, Obama said yes to federal funding for embryonic stem cell research and no to federal funding for alternative stem cell research. It’s really a sharp stick in the eye to anyone who thinks that an embryo becomes a baby. And you would think that would be all of us since there is such a thing as logic, but apparently it’s not all of us.

And even more than this, the reality is that Obama is helping the American public perceive embryos as meat, mere fodder, for the research machine, rather than the building blocks, the root source of humanity, the beginning of life, HUMAN LIFE.

Let me tell you people, I am not an alarmist, and I am not a conspiracy theorist, but it is a sad and scary thing when your government is OK doing research on people. Not just OK, but actually funding it.

Just because you say it’s not a person doesn’t mean it’s not a person. It’s not a you say tomato, I say tomahto kind of thing. It’s a where we came from thing. You and I are adults who were once teenagers who were once toddlers who were once fetuses who were once embryos who were once embryonic stem cells.

And the truth is that a blastocyst becomes a human, an image bearer of God. In a culture where we push for respect for every part of our world, for our environment, for our pets, for our animal life, shouldn't we also show as much respect (or more really!) as possible for our own human race?