Wilson Medical Saga

As I referred to a couple of weeks back, Connor both had his leg broken (by me) and had a tonsillectomy (not by me). And last Monday, I had knee surgery to repair my torn ACL, which I did not tear by going into a burning house and saving a mother and baby. Although if you want to believe that (or tell other people that you do, that's fine by me.)

Here's Connor recuperating from the tonsillectomy. The bucket beside him is what you think it would be for.

Me with my crown, badge, and trophy for being the #1 Dad on Father's Day.

Me with the kids before bed on Father's Day

Two Crips on the Couch together. That's me a couple of days after my surgery

Connor just before his cast came off on Monday.

The side view of his cast.

And now, here's the walking boot he's in.

Thankfully, all the recoveries are going well. Connor's basically over his tonsillectomy. There's still some healing going on. He's got two or three weeks in the walking cast. I've had all the stitches removed from my surgery as well as my brace has been unlocked and I'm officially bending at the knee. I started physical therapy Monday and will continue that for the foreseeable future. I'm eternally grateful for Sheryl suffering the medical drama that has been our lives for the last couple of months, and Kinsey has been an amazing little girl too.

We're thankful for God's provision in our life, both in a job that provides much-needed medical insurances, and for our church family and blood families being so close to pick up so much slack for our daily lives: meals, yard mowing, comfort, etc. We're getting better, thankfully, and hopefully that will continue.

Knee Surgery

For those of you who don't know, I had my knee surgery on Monday to repair my torn ACL. The surgery went well and I'm starting to put a little weight on it. I was fortunate that it was able to be done arthroscopically so my recovery time should be quicker than in other circumstances.

In addition to me, Connor's recovering from his tonsillectomy well and his leg is healing well enough that his cast should be able to come off next week.

Thanks for all the prayers for our family and please continue them for us, as well as Sheryl as she takes care of us.

"Love Your Enemies"

One of the hardest statements that Jesus ever made was his admonishment to love our enemies. To understand why this was so hard we have to remember the audience that Jesus was talking to. The Jews of Palestine at that point were an occupied people. Rome had been their overlords for decades and the dream of the Jewish people was for the promised Messiah to come and over-throw them.

So when Jesus tells his audience in the Sermon on the Mount that they are to love their enemies, pray for those who curse them, turn the other cheek and go the extra mile, he's not simply talking about loving and responding kindly to those who speak badly about us. What he is talking about here is a radical love that goes beyond loving those who love us; he's talking about loving people that seek our harm, that go against everything we as followers of Jesus might stand for.

In his book, The Sacredness of Questioning Everything, David Dark talks about perversion and not simply in the sexual manner that we mostly think about perversion in. He points out that anytime we reduce someone to a caricature or to a single dimension of who they are, we are perverting them, because we're not taking into account the whole person, created in the image of God. Whether that is a woman that we look at and think is "hot" or even someone we classify as a "terrorist," looking at a single aspect of someone and defining the person by that aspect is perversion. And the worst form of that perversion is deciding to hate someone based on that aspect.

And so, when Jesus calls us to "love our enemies," what he's calling us to do is to actively look beyond a person as an "enemy," and to see God in them, whether they do or not. Because it is only in love that a heart can be changed, and that is what Jesus came to do, to turn the hearts of people back to the God that created them.

YouTube Thursday: Total Eclipse of the Heart (Literal Version)

A couple of months back, I posted a link to the literal version of the classic a-Ha video, Take On Me, which I found pretty hilarious. And last week, I came across the literal version of one of the greatest "HUH?" videos of all time.

Bonnie Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart

Connor's Tonsils

On Monday, Connor had a surgery to take out his tonsils. He's had very bad sleep apnea as well as consistent sinus infections, and when we looked at his tonsils, he had very little room in between them because of their size, so out they came. Here are some pics.

Right after the surgery, still fast asleep.

Slowly waking up, but he really hated that gown, so off it came.

Eating a popsicle, getting ready to go home (he threw up the popsicle on the way home)

All in all, he was a real trooper. He drank well and as a result, we were able to get home by 1pm. He had a rougher day Tuesday, throwing up quite a bit, but by the afternoon had seemed to get over it. For those of you wondering about giving a child a tonsillectomy when he'd just had a broken leg, it actually isn't the worst time to have a broken leg. You don't want a child to be too active after the surgery, so with his leg, Connor can't be his normal active self. Now, I'm not advocating breaking your 3 year old's leg before surgery, but in this case it kind of worked out for the best.

I'd also ask for your prayers for me as I get knee surgery next Monday, but especially for Sheryl as she deals with me and Connor convalescing at the same time.

Connor's Leg

Connor's got broken by me on Wednesday at church on an inflatable slide.

Here's what his cast looks like.

YouTube Thursday: Han Solo, PI

Seriously, this needs no introduction. Han Solo as Magnum PI.



And now the comparison to original.

Last weekend, Sheryl & I took the kids to see the new Disney/Pixar movie Up. In the grand tradition of the Pixar flicks, it is a masterful movie that combines storytelling with film-making to actually make you forget that you’re watching a cartoon, because you become so involved in the story itself.

The movie starts off with a depiction of the life of the main character, Carl, in 10 minutes. He meets the girl of his dreams as a boy, and they marry, planning great adventures with each other. But, as it does, life intervenes, and the plans they made fall by the wayside as they deal with those inevitabilities. The conclusion of that 10 minutes is some of the most heartbreakingly beautiful film making that I’ve seen in a long time.

As a result of life, Carl becomes a fairly standard Hollywood “crusty old man with a heart of gold,” but because of the investment of the first 10 minutes, the culmination of his conversion doesn’t seem Hollywood-ized. It seems like a natural part of his character coming out. He meets up with Russell an 8-10 year old Wilderness scout, Dug a talking dog, a strange chocolate-loving bird-creature, and an adventurer who is darker than he appears.

The voice acting is up to Pixar’s usual high standard with Ed Asner and Christopher Plummer in major roles (I actually would have like to have seen them enact one of their final scenes.) There are some genuinely funny moments and some fairly scary ones. Kinsey loved it, but Connor found some of the scenes with the guard dogs to be pretty scary.

It really is a great movie and yet another one to go into the pantheon that Pixar is developing. On one hand, you wonder when the magic is going to run out, but after so many incredible movies, maybe it never will.

Kinsey's Birthday

Here are some various pictures from the weekend's festivities

Kinsey with her pink iPod

With her books she received from Uncle Paul and Aunt Sarah

Blowing out her candles

Kinsey's cake

Birthday Sunday

Birthday Sunday 2

Kinsey's gift from Gee

Happy Birthday, Kinsey

No time for a bigger blogpost today. Look in the upcoming weeks for a post on the selfishness of Christians regarding abortion and why it's easy to love your enemies when you hold the bigger gun.

In the meantime, I'll simply wish my favorite daughter Kinsey a happy birthday. She's 8 today and just a joy in mine and Sheryl's life. I love her with all my heart, even when she makes me want to pull my hair out. Happy Birthday, Princess!

You Tube Thursday: Jon Stewart takes on Dick Cheney... again

Former Vice-President Dick Cheney has been more vocal in recent months than at any point he was locked in his underground bunker feasting on the souls of the innocent (I might have made that last part of up).

Jon Stewart has always had a bit of an issue with Cheney. Here's one more example.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Dick (Uncut)
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Economic Crisis

Dress Up Pictures

Kinsey got a hold of Connor tonight. And dressed him up.

Timeout Pictures

Kinsey was put in timeout a couple of days ago.

She wasn't happy about it.