Here are some pics from Ann and I taking Madison Ann into see her mom in the hospital this evening...
The Dr. came by while we were there. Heather is very low on blood and they are going to give her 3 units tonight. She has a really bad infection in her pelvic area, they are not sure where. She will have surgery tomorrow if all is going according to plans. The Dr. told her and Paul they would have 3 very long days after surgery, those will be the critical hours.. since she has so much infection in her, but they truly need to get it out along with whatever is causing the problems.... they are very concerned and welcome your prayers.. The Dr. was trying to find folks to assist him tonight. It is very serious, and needs to be dealt with quickly, before it spreads into other areas. She was very excited... and told me several times that "Aunt Freda" called her... She was so excited about her Aunt Freda calling... Thanks Aunt Freda.... YOU MADE HER DAY!!!!!
She mentioned Jon called and several others and that she was too sick to talk very long... and she was very sorry...
Anyway.. Mrs. Moffat's baby girl (Heather) is feeling tough, it's gonna get tougher, and she needs your prayers..... for her and the doctor and their family to get through these tough times ahead.
Jon thanks for all the web help... Phil was going to take pics of the last night of his pottery class tonight... Randi and Kaitlyn went with her mom to Falls Creek tonight... Andrew spent day in Ponca City with Paul's brother Chris and his wife and their daughter in the Water Park there.. he was super excited...!!!
The folks in the pics are Roy and Joan Blankinship, Heather's wonderful in laws. They are very dear friends too... and have been good friends of ours for a long time. They farm, and Roy has devoted his life to law enforcement, retiring from the Stillwater Police Dept and is now a Dep. Sheriff for Payne County. Joan has spent her life in the health field, being a nurse, she has seen it all around the hospital, so she helps out bunches.... and knows the ropes too, which is wonderful.
All I know for know.. Enjoy the day.. S
Thursday, July 14, 2005
Well, here we go again... haha.. lots of money in raising wheat, so we are adding acres to Grandma Moffat's wheat program. She is worried she is going to starve to death and we want to help see to it that she does not. Thought you might enjoy seeing this ground being turned this afternoon. Ken Judge is leasing it. We have added 60 acres to his 110 that he is leasing, so he now has a bit more to raise. They are thinking of stopping the wheat land and just running cattle... and this may happen to all of us... Anyway, this is the patch west of our home.. the tractor is headed west towards the highway along Mehan Road, 68th, Street. If you look real close you can see the diesel smoke bellowing out of the exhaust, and the dirt rising up behind the 30' offset disk. It has two drivers in it. One is Ken and Lesile's older son, opening up the field, then he will leave and go to working cattle, while the 11 year old son stays and finishes up the field. Have a great day... think what it cost per minute to operate this machine .... haha.. diesel along... 500 gallon's every 7 to 8 hours... times 2.37 a gallon... hummmmmm whew....
Can You Love Your Neighbor If You Hate Yourself?
Can You Love Your Neighbor If You Hate Yourself?
The ability to love ourselves is the foundation of loving others and God.
By Brennan Manning
Excerpted from 'The Importance of Being Foolish' with permission from HarperSanFrancisco.
Two curious phenomena dapple Christian life in America today. The first is our tendency to criticize more than compliment. Listen in on conversations in coffee shops, living rooms, and churches. Pay attention to the pundits and the newsmakers. We tend not only to begrudge the value of others but to appear downright sad when a person is praised. Many hypercritical Christians quickly deny the presence of any value anywhere and overemphasize the dark and ugly aspects of a person, situation, or institution at the expense of their noble and valuable facets. They delight in exposing the flaws and imperfections of others and glory in the absence of goodness. Senator William Fulbright of Arkansas once commented on this insidious tendency in the news media: "That Puritan self-righteousness which is never far below the surface of American life has broken through the frail barriers of civility and restraint, and the press has been in the vanguard of the new aggressiveness."
The target may be the national government, the local police force, or the coffee shop waitress. It matters little. The focus is on the limits of reality, on what a person or institution is not. Shortcomings and character defects are cause for celebration because they allow us to feel superior and even noble. On the day of my ordination my father said to me, "Remember that it's impossible to overestimate the worth of anyone." His words fly in the face of our tendency to underestimate the worth of everyone.
The second phenomenon is not unrelated to the first. It is what might be called the preponderance of the negative self-esteem. Self-esteem consists of how we see ourselves reflected in the eyes of others. This in turn conditions our perception of the world and our interaction with the community. As Christians, those of us with negative self-esteem see ourselves as basically unlovable. We negate our own worth, are haunted by feelings of inadequacy and inferiority, and close ourselves off from the value of others because they threaten our existence. The exaltation of another is experienced as a personal attack. When a colleague is appreciated, we become upset and irritable, belittle their motives as vainglorious, and decry the perniciousness of personality cults. We say to ourselves in effect: "I am a clod, a wrong person; I'm in the way, nobody cares." In group gatherings we feel like intruders. We sigh, "Nobody loves me."
Negative self-esteem would not be so damaging except for the fact that we interact with others in terms consistent with our own self-image. We select from reality only those aspects that confirm our own dim view of ourselves. We single out the dimension of a situation that points to rejection. In a simple conversation with someone close to us, their lack of enthusiasm confirms what we already suspect: "I am a bore." On the street we pass a person whom we value. He ignores us. That night when we go to bed we ignore the pleasant, even beautiful experiences of the day and instead go to sleep dwelling on the one incident that enhanced our negative self-portrait. Consequently, every such encounter becomes a total proof or disproof of our entire being. Every incident becomes a blanket condemnation of self and a reaffirmation of worthlessness.
In order to love our neighbors as ourselves we must come to recognize our intrinsic worth and dignity and to love ourselves in the wholesome, appreciative way that Jesus commanded when he said, "Love your neighbor as yourself." The tendency to continually berate ourselves for real or imaginary failures, to belittle ourselves and underestimate our worth, to dwell exclusively on our dishonesty, self-centeredness, and lack of personal discipline, is the influence of our negative self-esteem. Reinforced by the critical feedback of our peers and the reproofs and humiliations of our community, we seem radically incapable of accepting, forgiving, or loving ourselves. In his opening address at the regional charismatic conference in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Father Francis McNutt touched an exposed nerve when he said, "If Jesus Christ has forgiven you all your sins and washed you in his own blood, what right do you have not to forgive yourself?
The ability to love oneself is the root and foundation of our ability to love others and to love God. I can tolerate in others only what I can accept in myself. Van Kaam writes, "Gentleness toward my fragile precious self as called forth uniquely by God constitutes the core of gentleness with others and with the manifold created appearances of the Divine in my surroundings. It is also a main condition for my presence to God."
Ironically, our self-loathing too often leads us to damage the self-esteem of others. Andrew Greeley writes:
God's mission in the world and his mission in his relationship with the individual believer is essentially a mission of overcoming self-hatred. For self-hatred is a barrier to love. We hate other people not because we love ourselves too much but because we are not able to love ourselves enough. We fear and distrust them because we feel inadequate in our relationships to them; we hide behind anger and hatred because in some deep recess of our personality we do not think we are good enough for them.
The ability to love ourselves is the foundation of loving others and God.
By Brennan Manning
Excerpted from 'The Importance of Being Foolish' with permission from HarperSanFrancisco.
Two curious phenomena dapple Christian life in America today. The first is our tendency to criticize more than compliment. Listen in on conversations in coffee shops, living rooms, and churches. Pay attention to the pundits and the newsmakers. We tend not only to begrudge the value of others but to appear downright sad when a person is praised. Many hypercritical Christians quickly deny the presence of any value anywhere and overemphasize the dark and ugly aspects of a person, situation, or institution at the expense of their noble and valuable facets. They delight in exposing the flaws and imperfections of others and glory in the absence of goodness. Senator William Fulbright of Arkansas once commented on this insidious tendency in the news media: "That Puritan self-righteousness which is never far below the surface of American life has broken through the frail barriers of civility and restraint, and the press has been in the vanguard of the new aggressiveness."
The target may be the national government, the local police force, or the coffee shop waitress. It matters little. The focus is on the limits of reality, on what a person or institution is not. Shortcomings and character defects are cause for celebration because they allow us to feel superior and even noble. On the day of my ordination my father said to me, "Remember that it's impossible to overestimate the worth of anyone." His words fly in the face of our tendency to underestimate the worth of everyone.
The second phenomenon is not unrelated to the first. It is what might be called the preponderance of the negative self-esteem. Self-esteem consists of how we see ourselves reflected in the eyes of others. This in turn conditions our perception of the world and our interaction with the community. As Christians, those of us with negative self-esteem see ourselves as basically unlovable. We negate our own worth, are haunted by feelings of inadequacy and inferiority, and close ourselves off from the value of others because they threaten our existence. The exaltation of another is experienced as a personal attack. When a colleague is appreciated, we become upset and irritable, belittle their motives as vainglorious, and decry the perniciousness of personality cults. We say to ourselves in effect: "I am a clod, a wrong person; I'm in the way, nobody cares." In group gatherings we feel like intruders. We sigh, "Nobody loves me."
Negative self-esteem would not be so damaging except for the fact that we interact with others in terms consistent with our own self-image. We select from reality only those aspects that confirm our own dim view of ourselves. We single out the dimension of a situation that points to rejection. In a simple conversation with someone close to us, their lack of enthusiasm confirms what we already suspect: "I am a bore." On the street we pass a person whom we value. He ignores us. That night when we go to bed we ignore the pleasant, even beautiful experiences of the day and instead go to sleep dwelling on the one incident that enhanced our negative self-portrait. Consequently, every such encounter becomes a total proof or disproof of our entire being. Every incident becomes a blanket condemnation of self and a reaffirmation of worthlessness.
In order to love our neighbors as ourselves we must come to recognize our intrinsic worth and dignity and to love ourselves in the wholesome, appreciative way that Jesus commanded when he said, "Love your neighbor as yourself." The tendency to continually berate ourselves for real or imaginary failures, to belittle ourselves and underestimate our worth, to dwell exclusively on our dishonesty, self-centeredness, and lack of personal discipline, is the influence of our negative self-esteem. Reinforced by the critical feedback of our peers and the reproofs and humiliations of our community, we seem radically incapable of accepting, forgiving, or loving ourselves. In his opening address at the regional charismatic conference in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Father Francis McNutt touched an exposed nerve when he said, "If Jesus Christ has forgiven you all your sins and washed you in his own blood, what right do you have not to forgive yourself?
The ability to love oneself is the root and foundation of our ability to love others and to love God. I can tolerate in others only what I can accept in myself. Van Kaam writes, "Gentleness toward my fragile precious self as called forth uniquely by God constitutes the core of gentleness with others and with the manifold created appearances of the Divine in my surroundings. It is also a main condition for my presence to God."
Ironically, our self-loathing too often leads us to damage the self-esteem of others. Andrew Greeley writes:
God's mission in the world and his mission in his relationship with the individual believer is essentially a mission of overcoming self-hatred. For self-hatred is a barrier to love. We hate other people not because we love ourselves too much but because we are not able to love ourselves enough. We fear and distrust them because we feel inadequate in our relationships to them; we hide behind anger and hatred because in some deep recess of our personality we do not think we are good enough for them.
Heather This AM....
Talked with Heather about an hour ago. She is up and running.. well sort of. She is in room 513 at SMC. 405 742 5513 is the number to her room direct.
She is feeling tough. They have had her up and walking this am, and have taken her cathater out.. however it is spelled... sorry, mom!!
Paul is tired. The chairs they put in the rooms can be used to sleep in if you want and from spending many nights with Dad I learned you could throw a sheet or towel on the floor next to the wall and it sleeps better than a chair that does not lay flat.. haha.. but anyway... She will be there for sure through today and maybe get to go home tomorrow... or Saturday. Ann took Madison to work her day care this am and by to see Heather... Madison slept most of the night. She might have done better if Grandpa and Grandma would have let her alone, but we kept getting up to check on her.. haha.. finally about 4:30am Grandma got up and she woke up... and it was ON from then on.... haha...
Andrew is off to OKC with Chris and Jen to water park there for the day....
Don't know what else.. but for now.. this is it.. haha... enjoy the day... s
She is feeling tough. They have had her up and walking this am, and have taken her cathater out.. however it is spelled... sorry, mom!!
Paul is tired. The chairs they put in the rooms can be used to sleep in if you want and from spending many nights with Dad I learned you could throw a sheet or towel on the floor next to the wall and it sleeps better than a chair that does not lay flat.. haha.. but anyway... She will be there for sure through today and maybe get to go home tomorrow... or Saturday. Ann took Madison to work her day care this am and by to see Heather... Madison slept most of the night. She might have done better if Grandpa and Grandma would have let her alone, but we kept getting up to check on her.. haha.. finally about 4:30am Grandma got up and she woke up... and it was ON from then on.... haha...
Andrew is off to OKC with Chris and Jen to water park there for the day....
Don't know what else.. but for now.. this is it.. haha... enjoy the day... s
Today's Quote - Welcome
There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.
-Edith Wharton
-Edith Wharton
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