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Since Caleb is neglecting his blog, I’ve decided to update you all.  Now that all the framing is finally finished, (Caleb finished it about a week ago! yay!) we’ve moved on to plumbing.  Our contractor friend, has graciously recruited one of his employees to come over and guide Caleb through all the specifics of plumbing.  So, bright and early this morning, Caleb, Joe, Spencer and David were eagerly waiting for el jefe to arrive and start the task at hand.  I thought I would be able to go over and use the toilet by the end of the day….. even though that wasn’t possible, they still got A LOT done today!  I LOVE PRODUCTIVE DAYS!!!!  Our friend will be back Saturday to most likely finish the job, and even mud in our showers!  Also happening on Saturday: ELECTRICITY!!!  Our electrician friend, Terry, is supposed to be coming out and bringing “his guys” and claims that they can finish it all in ONE DAY.  That sounds like a plan to me!  Caleb says I shouldn’t talk about things that are “supposed” to happen, and to just stick to the things that “have” happened just in case those things don’t play out… but I get excited when I hear plans!  Will we have electricity this weekend? We shall see….

Now, on to things I do know about..My growing abdomen.  Our little Ephraim is due to arrive on September 19th, roughly 4 and half weeks from now.  From the time I was about 5, I have dreamt about having babies.  Who would the daddy be?  Would I have a boy or a girl?  How would I handle pregnancy?  Where would we live?  What would my house be like?  What would the nursery look like?  Well…. now I can answer these questions.  I know the daddy; I’m having a boy; I handle pregnancy fairly well; We live in Texas; My house……. is…… unfinished; And the nursery…. well, the nursery is still non existent.  Even though thinking about this makes me a little sad, I stay in good spirits only because my trust is in my God- not in Caleb, not in contractors, not in laborers, or even myself.  I finally understand that I am not in control of my own life, and God knew when He created this life inside of me where we would be in regards to the progress on our house when the baby came.  Caleb and I finally became honest with ourselves and decided that instead of holding out for the house to be finished, we need to prepare for the arrival of our son.  We need to be ready when the time comes.  So, we rearranged our little room we’ve been staying in (Caleb’s sister’s room inside his parents’ house) and have given Ephraim his own corner of the room.

Ephraim's corner

It’s not ideal or even close to what I’ve imagined for my first baby’s arrival into the world, but it’s life.  I’ve chosen to accept it, and accept it with a good attitude.  We’re having a baby!!!!!

I would say that i’m a logical person.  Some say they see the glass half full other the glass half empty but there are those of us who would say, “well technically both are equally true”.  We’re sometimes labeled realist, but i prefer the label: Biblical.

In the Bible what you’ll find is an infinite and unconditionally all-sovereign God.  He’s the creator and He calls the shots.  He knows the end from the beginning and He makes no bones about it.  This for me defines every aspect of my thinking.  If it wasn’t for this reality i don’t believe it would be possible to worship God with all my mind.

I’ve heard it said and more frequently hinted at that to believe or have faith in God we must reject what is logical—this is a lie.

God doesn’t defy logic, He infinitely exceeds it, you can’t reject logic to receive God.

Just to be clear, what i’m saying is that logic and truth go hand in hand. You cant have one without the other.  I make this claim by defining truth as Jesus Christ.  In other words the God (the person and His nature and work) revealed in the Bible is the very definition of truth—it is the standard by which we discern what is good and evil, what is truth and what is a lie.  What is true is logical and what is logical is true.  This isn’t to say that truth is logic, they are the same thing but they describe one another.  That being said, truth can be beyond our comprehension and thereby not appear to us as logical.

When things happen to us that don’t seem logical (i.e. someone we love dies or we’re sold into slavery for no apparent reason), that doesn’t mean they aren’t, it just means we don’t fully understand God’s logic or God’s purpose.  This is not because God defies logic or contradicts logic, rather He infinitely exceeds it.  Do you see the difference?  If something happens and i don’t understand the purpose, i can still trust that God’s the good author, who knows the end from the beginning and i can and should do so logically for this very reason.

Now if things happen that in fact do contradict our logic, this only means our logic isn’t logic at all, it’s really foolish ignorance and we’re on the slippery slope of doubt and almost there.  The remedy for such foolishness is to repent and trust on Christ our treasure.  If you are on this slippery slope, and you find your “logic” being defied by God, there is a recorded prayer from the Bible that you should pray, “I believe, help my unbelief!”.  Amen.

No, i am not talking about pastors and evangelist or any believers for that matter. I’m talking about when evil things happen, when bad stuff happens we are all so quick to rebuke the devil and blame it on a fallen world and for some strange reason we, in those times, suddenly forget that God—the creator God, the One the Holy Scriptures speak of— is sovereign. Meaning nothing can get by Him. That means when evil things happen (i.e. captivity, death, destruction), God is ultimately the one from whom it comes.

I guess that’s my point, sometimes God’s tools aren’t exactly what we’d expect from an all good God—and He is ALL GOOD (cf Is. 10, Amos 3:6, Job 2:10). Does an evil tool taint a good, just God? Can God, who is the standard of good and justice even be tainted?

Suppose maybe we should think about these things next time evil things are going down? Suppose maybe instead of instantly rebuking satan or answering evil with neat and seemingly logical answers like, “well you see the earth is cursed, blah blah blah, darkness and cold and heat and light blah blah blah…”, we should just humbly confess our inadequacies and weakness and repent of our inherent foolishness and trust on the preeminent Christ who is our Source?

I suppose we humans tend to forget that water is wet and fire is hot, and God is God and we are not…

Yesterday we were all sitting around on the porch and Ephraim (just so we are all clear, we pronounce it: *Efrum) was majorly rejoicing in his mommy’s belly.  We have seen him already moving around plenty in there but yesterday he was dancing like crazy.  Ej pulled her shirt up and we could all see him perfectly, so i was thinking, why do we say he is coming and not that he’s already here?  Obviously there is more to come,  i will soon be able to hold him and kiss him, but in reality, he is already here with us!  Reminds me of a similar reality with someone else i know…

So think about this, if Ephraim were to be “born” premature, on July 1st say, that would be his birthday and then next July 1st he would be one year old.  But if he comes on his due date, September 19th, then that is his birthday and he wouldn’t be considered a year old until next September 19th.  But in both cases he has actually existed for the same amount of time!  Don’t you think that is weird?  It sounds like we are counting wrong, like we are hinging something objective on something completely subjective or variable (we do that a lot).  Ephraim is already here and a part of our family!  You may say “well yea but”—and i would say, “get your but out of here!”  If we looked at reality objectively—and we can because Truth objectively exists, He is Messiah—i believe we would see this creation and our creator more properly, or more fully.  Have you ever just stopped to think about how inconsistently we think and reason?  Truth isn’t inconsistent, so why are we?

Before we get on with the house news and pics, we found out what we are having yesterday, and let’s just say Ej has a little Chinese turtle named wang—it’s a boy!  Can’t wait to meet my boy Ephraim Alexander Ripple, yes we know, EAR, we think that’s cool!

Moving right along, here is where we are now; we are probably just a couple or three days (of work) until it shifts completely to our responsibility.  You see, as it stands now, Andrew (the building erector) is still completing his jobs which are yet to include the roof vent and final ridge caps, french doors, second story plywood decking and an awning in the front.

Enjoy some pics…

this will be our front porch

couple days old view from the road

and a couple days old view toward the road

this is from today

prepping for the porch