Easter Weekend

It’s been a busy Easter weekend. The 24th Annual Ottawa Valley Easter Bible Conference is now over, and was enjoyed by all. Of course, it also made for a very busy weekend! This morning, one of the speakers was talking about Eli the Priest. Afterwards I was able to point out that Eli was of the line of Ithamar rather than the line of Eleazar. No wonder he had problems!

Today started with Karen making bacon and eggs, with toast, raspberries and coffee for breakfast. We had a roast chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy for lunch, with a raspberry, graham cracker, white chocolate and cream dessert. Karen has asked me why I always talk about the great food she makes. She said it makes her sound like a Betty Crocker. But the fact is she is great cook and keeps us very well fed.

We also did an Easter Egg Hunt with the two oldest children. Unfortunately Hannah is feeling a bit ill and went to bed early tonight. Karen was supposed to go out to the evening conference session tonight, and I was going to try putting Hannah down myself, but not while she is sick!

Seen on a Sign

"Is our government so complex that it can't protect the life of one innocent woman?"

Justice?

As I write this, Terri Schiavo is starving to death. She suffered permanent brain damage over a decade ago. She is not in a coma, as some news media have incorrectly reported. She does require a feeding tube. Her husband has appealed to the courts to have the feeding tube removed, and court after court has upheld this. It seems the right to die is the ultimate human right.

But lets consider some facts about this situation. She did not leave a living will affirming a desire to avoid life prolonging medical treatment. She has not decided to die; her husband is making the choice for her. Her husband is living with another woman and has 2 children by that woman. Since he is still her husband, we stands to be the beneficiary of about one million dollars, awarded to her by a court in order to provide for her long term care. This is the man who is making decisions about her right to die, and the courts have accepted this.

But let's engage in a little speculation. If Terri had been killed, who would have had the strongest motive? Her estranged husband who would be the beneficiary of a lot of money. The same court that is accepting her husband's right to terminate her life would likely convict him if he had chosen to do the job himself. Perhaps a court should take away the money from the equation and see if he is still as interested in her "right" to die.

Finally, do the courts have the courage of their convictions? They are willing to let a person starve to death slowly. Would they be as willing to order her life taken from her suddenly? Of course not. The liberal mindset is willing to let a person die slowly because it would hurt their sense of morality to accomplish the exact same goal in a shorter period.

To me it seems that we have a legal system, but we don't have a justice system. 8-(

Recap

The sermon in Renfrew seemed to go well. There was a good response. It was also a really nice day for a drive (well, Fall days are nicer with the leaves changing, but the roads were clear and it was bright and above zero).

Saturday

We went to Denny's for breakfast this morning. With Hannah along, it certainly was an adventure (2 parts new experience, 1 part trial). She was pretty good for the first part, but got fussy at the end. Still, it was nice going out. Then as a family, we made a brief visit to the library.

I was doing some reading in Romans this afternoon. Specifically, I am giving some consideration to the Christology of Romans. Yes, Romans is best known as the book that discusses salvation, but I tend to think that any book with a well developed Soteriology should have a strong Christology. Anyway, we'll see.

Tomorrow I'm speaking in Renfrew. I will be preaching on "What is Truth". This is a sermon I have given before in other places, but I really think it is one of the most important sermons I have given and I really think it will be a blessing to the folks in Renfrew.

I put up a gate in the hall to restrict Hannah's movements. Hopefully this will mean less running after her.

Karen made her beef dip, which is one of my favourite meals. She served it with a Caesar salad, and I had some really great chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

Hannah only had a half hour nap yesterday, so one would have thought she would have slept well last night. Alas, that was not the case. I went to bed at 10:30 and woke up with her at 11:00. She was up for about 90 minutes before we finally got her back down. I would have taken her for a ride in the van except it would have meant getting her into her snowsuit!

Joel and Reading

Bethany probably reads a couple hundred pages each day. I think she reads even more than I did at that age, which is scary! Joel is not as big on books, but is coming along. He decided to read the first volume in the Chronicles of Narnia (The Magician's Nephew) and is now more than 140 pages into it.

Bethany is still feeling under the weather, but was able to do her school work today. This is an unanticipated advantage to homeschooling - on days when the children are a little ill and we would not want to send them out of the house all day long, we can still school them at home.

Invitation

I received an invitation to attend a wedding today. Unfortunately I will not be able to attend because it is being held this coming Sunday in India. But it was quite thoughtful of the fellow to send me an invitation (a personalized email with a .pdf of the invitation card). Vad worked for me a couple of years ago, and has now returned to India.

Father of the Year

Bethany was still sick this morning, so I went out to church by myself. This evening, Bethany asked if she could go with me. I didn't think it was such a great idea since she still had a bit of a fever. But she cried, and as a devout Christian, I do feel a little guilty about telling my children they can't go to church when they are begging me to let them come. So I said yes. About 5 minutes into the sermon, Bethany was finished. I had previously told her that if she didn't feel well, we would leave early. Still, I'm kicking myself for giving in to her in the first place. Just because she cries, I can't give her what she wants, if I as an adult know it may be bad for her. You would think I would know this lesson by now! But I suppose part of life is learning those elementary lessons over and over again.

Sick child and tears

Bethany was feeling sick today, and had a fever tonight. As a result, I didn't make it out to a family gathering (celebrating Joel's and my Mother-in-Laws birthdays). Bethany is feeling better now, and actually ate all the supper I gace her, which is good.

Because she was sick, I let her watch more TV than usual. She wanted to see "Star Trek - The Inner Light". So we watched it together. Bethany thought it was hilarious to see me crying, but I always cry for that episode. Only one other episode of a show on television has ever affected me the way "The Inner Light" does. Of course, I always cry at the end of "It's a Wonderful Life" and "October Sky", but those are movies, not TV shows.

Trying to redefine economic reality

Four RCMP officers were killed at a marijuana grow operation in Alberta yesterday. Our Liberal government is saying they plan to strengthen the law against growing marijuana even as they decriminalize it. I have only taken one course in economics, but I know what happens when a government increases demand for something at the same time as trying to decrease the supply. The price goes up, and more people are willing to increase the supply.

Logo

I downloaded a free version of the "Logo" programming language. I am hoping to use it to start teaching my children to program a computer. Bethany is closing in on 9 years of age, and Joel just turned 7. This language was designed for teaching children. We'll see how it goes.

I read another chapter of "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" to the children. We're all enjoying it!

Karen's Mom got back from her winter stay in Arizona. It is nice to see her again. We invited her over for supper, and she ended up buying us Chinese food. It was a nice treat.

Politics

Our Liberal government is setting quite a legacy for themselves. Decriminalization of marijuana. Allowing same-sex marriage. Absolutely no restrictions on abortion. Now the party is debating decriminalization of prostitution. All this and the sponsorship scandal. And they have the nerve to suggest that they represent core Canadian values. Sorry, but these aren't my core values. What are they doing to help Canadian families, strengthen the economy and protect us? Sorry, but a stable society can't be built on a foundation of drugs, immorality and infanticide. A number of societies in the past tried it, but it is self defeating.

Snow

We got about 20 cm of snow today. Not a huge amount, but still not pleasant to shovel. I put in about 20-25 minutes of shovelling before supper. Right after supper, my neighbour knocked on the door and offered me the use of his snowblower. Wow! It powered its way through the snow.

At work, I have finished writing all my performance reviews. This is an annual activity that all Managers dread. Anyway, it's done for another year. One of the best Managers I ever met maintained that annual performance reviews are pointless. Good Managers give continuous feedback, and so employees should always know where they stand. On the other hand, bad Managers never give feedback and never deal with problems. Hence the annual exercise in forcing all Managers to give some thought to providing feedback to their employees.