I Know It's Been a While...

Okay, so some of you are probably wondering why I (or any of us, for that matter) have not blogged in a while. The answer? For everyone else, they seldom blog. For me? Well, it could be attributed to a lot of things. We have been very, very busy and some things … yea, things … have happened. What kind of things? Interesting things. Good things. Not-so-good things. Just keep reading.

First, some great news! My sister, Michelle, gave birth to a healthy baby girl this past Thursday. This has been a day long coming and we are all just so excited and happy that all are well. The baby weighted seven pounds seven ounces, was 21 inches long, and named Brianna Elisabeth Jo. If you wish to learn more, visit this blog.

Now some interesting news… This past month, it was decided that I would no longer be serving as the preacher for the congregation where I have served the past six and a half years. There are obviously more details but we believe this is the Lord’s way of telling us to move on to another phase of our lives. We are not sure what that phase is but are pursuing several options and hope to know before long.

In fact, this past weekend, we visited a congregation for part-time work which was a lot closer to family (hers and mine) and may have some promise. We shall wait and we shall see. I have an interview later this week and another appointment next month. Shawna is pursuing options as well. Please pray for us as we make this transition.

Now the not-so-good news: In our travels this weekend, we got to visit with Shawna’s family. Her brother has a son (Nick) who JT looks up to in a dramatic way. The two of them know how to get into trouble. Over the holidays, they went up to shoot mice in the feed loft of the barn with Nick’s BB pistol. JT enjoyed it so much he bought his own. They went up this past trip to do more, came in for dinner, and Nick and his family left to go home. Then, the fun happened. Nick called Shawna to inform her that a BB ricocheted and hit JT in the back of the head. We pulled JT in and found they had been hiding it since they came in for dinner, about four hours. We saw the wound and felt what we thought might be a BB between the skin and the skull. We thought also it might be a knot in the head from the wound. We just weren't sure. In any case, we thought it might be a good idea to get him checked out so we took off to the hospital at 10:30 PM.

They x-rayed and the BB was certainly in his head. Here is a picture.

The ER doc decided that he would try to remove it but could not get it out. He recommended that we see JT’s pediatrician at a later time assuring us there was not any real immediate danger. We saw the pediatrician earlier today who referred us to a pediatric surgeon who said that he thought we could leave it or take it out. He said it was our choice. JT opted to keep it. Shawna and I agreed. The doc said if we have trouble, we can remove it at a later time. It only cost me a total of $130 to find out we are not going to do anything at all. Oh, well. At least we know JT is safe.

For the record, JT was aptly punished for the deception (among other things).

JT’s new nickname is BB head. He may not like that.

-J