Molly & Chiari Update 4.27.12

Here's the latest on Molly, with a bit of an overall recap because I keep getting questions that I have only answered in some places. Here's where she (and we) arel. I have been cautious about posting some of this because when improvements come, sometimes they go away again. But things, at least at this point, are looking up in all areas.

MOLLY'S CHIARI SYMPTOMS

Molly's Chiari symptoms have included brain fog (significant difficulty thinking about most anything), balance, muscle fatigue, being easily overwhelmed, and more. I can say today that all these symptoms have been slowly going away for a couple of weeks now and mostly gone! She is back at work at our local elementary school. It's still more difficult than before all this, but she can do it now. Because the symptoms are going away, she's also able to be more involved with our church. Just a couple of weeks ago the slightest bit of loudness or being in a conversation with friends could easily overwhelm her. She would walk out during songs because it messed her up. And then it would devastate her ability to do anything for the rest of a day. Now those moments aren't happening nearly as fast or often, during gathered worship or elsewhere. I'm still protecting her quite a bit until I'm confident she's stable in her health, but things are improving significantly and she is able to do a lot more. God is so good.

MOLLY'S SLEEP

Molly's biggest problem at this point is sleep. Bad sleep = worse symptoms all around. But praise God her sleep is improving too!

Until a couple of weeks ago, she only had a slightly better night's sleep here and there, but nothing to write about. And when I say "slightly," I mean she slept maybe a couple of hours a night, and even that was intermittent. Now she's about 5 days in to an improving sleep schedule. A few days ago she mentioned that she was sound asleep when the alarm clock woke her. That was the first time that happened in months. Typically she was not falling asleep, not staying asleep, and wide awake long before time to wake up (which was 5am!). Now, all elements of sleep are getting better. But this is the area of greatest concern at the moment and we are guarding her sleep schedule.

Just to be clear on a couple of things...

• MRIs: Nothing shown to be wrong. Nothing can be surgically fixed.
• Neurologist: Dealing with symptoms and sleep issues. Seems to have helped slowly but surely. Probably won't meet or change anything with these solutions for a while.

Thanks for all your prayers. Pray her health and sleep continue to improve!

Molly & Chiari Update 4.12.12

Update 4.13: Molly slept terrible last night. Terrible. She is exhausted. She saw her neurologist today. He is trying to manage her sleep, or lack thereof, and we have no idea whether it will work. Nothing has helped so far. We should know in a couple days. I'm not sure I've seen her this frustrated over her health since 2008. Thanks for continued prayers.

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Brief update (4.12): Molly had about 5 better days in a row after some significant time off of her part-time job at the school and a lot of rest. Still not great, but better. More functional in daily life. Some of her brain fog issues have gone away for the most part, though she has remained easily exhausted.

The last two days things have turned worse again. She's barely sleeping, and we can't figure out why. We assume it's making symptoms much worse. It's been linked to times of increased symptoms in the past. I'm taking her to her neurologist tomorrow morning in the hope he'll take this another step and figure out what, if anything, can be done.

We are hoping for answers soon. We are praying for God's help and healing, and for her to continue to place all of her hope in Christ when circumstances at times feel hopeless.

Molly & Chiari Update 4.5.12

MRIs

Molly's neurosurgeon has now seen her new battery of MRIs. He says from a surgical perspective, there isn't anything wrong. Spinal fluid flow is excellent. Decompression (space created for flow from first surgery) is still good. They thought a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) might help if there is increased pressure from too much fluid, but she's had that looked at twice in the past and it's never been an issue.

They don't really have any suggestions otherwise. It's basically out of their hands. And that means we don't have reason to believe surgery of any sort is even a thought, at this point.

So for the moment we are keeping with the strategy Molly's neurologist has in place to relieve some of the intense & overwhelming reactions Molly is having to everyday things through some medication. So far they seem to be helping. It may just be that life is a bit more intense for her, and we just deal with the symptoms. It may be that over time the symptoms will subside, and we are certainly hoping that will happen.

MOLLY

As I said, Molly is having some positive reaction to some medicine she recently started. I can say that clearly the last three days have been significantly better than the last 30-40 days. She has more energy, though it's still not anywhere near normal. Yesterday we went shopping at Wal-Mart to see how she would react. She was better than weeks ago, but after coming hope fell asleep on the couch. 

Today, Molly went to work. So far she is a little overwhelmed, but seems to be dealing with it ok the last I heard. She is going to call in a bit during her lunchtime to let me know how she's doing.

We are encouraged by the last few days, but still very concerned and guarding her time until we see if this is a genuine turn toward the better. 

OTHER

Our church and community has been so generous. We've eaten well as many meals have been provided for us. Bags and bags of groceries have been bought and brought to us. Steaks for the grill are marinading in the fridge as I type. We are blessed and thankful for the many local friends who have helped so much.

We are overwhelmed with the many who have prayed, called, written notes and emails, given gift cards, and blessed both locally and from afar. We love all of you and you have made this difficult time more bearable. We don't know if we may be seeing a light at the end of this tunnel for Molly's struggles or if things could turn worse again. But we know you all have our back, and we are very, very thankful.

Last word for now: We have seen our kids learn to pray and trust God better during this time. God has been good to us and is teaching us a lot. I want to talk more about that, but I'm not ready to yet. And we are confident that He will continue to bless Molly and our family far beyond our expectations. To God be all the glory. 

Molly & Chiari Update 3.26.12

As we continue to wait for some news of Molly's MRIs from her neurosurgeon, we decided it would be good today to have her see her local physician. She got to see Molly's symptoms in full bloom. Really bad. Lots of tension, emotion, frustration. But those things helped her doctor to see all that's wrong and the need to do more.

Molly had a blood test to check a number of things. Her neurosurgeon thinks it's possible there are other issues that are making her symptoms worse. It's at least worth a try.

Molly now has a neurologist appointment tomorrow at 11:20am. We are hoping that will offer some answers, or at least get some fresh eyes on her problems and see what comes of it. 

Just trying to keep everyone in the loop. Thanks for your prayers! Many local friends have been generous and supportive. Very thankful for that.

Side Note: Notice in the picture how Molly is gripping her knees tightly with her hands. She didn't know I was taking this, but she is continually experiencing that kind of physical tension and mostly can't help it. Thought it might be helpful for you to see something like that, which I didn't notice until after I took the picture. Also note, the room was decorated in Cubs paraphernalia, which means she's doomed to at least 100 years of frustration. :)

Molly & Chiari Update 3.21.12

MEDICAL

Molly had her MRIs done on Friday at the University of Wisconsin Hospital. They went relatively quickly, but it was a long day. Saturday we mailed the CD of the imaging to Dr. Frim at the University of Chicago Hospital. Hoping to hear from him today or tomorrow. I'll update when we know something.

MOLLY

As best as we can remember, the last 10 days have been the worst stretch of the worst symptoms ever for Molly, including the weeks leading up to her previous surgeries. Mentally for her this has been really difficult. She almost never finishes a sentence or thought without significant pauses to gather her thoughts. About half the time she just gives up trying to say it. 

She has very little balance. Extreme fatigue and weakness. She was so bad on Monday that when she got to work (part-time at local elementary school) a couple of friends in the school office saw how bad she was doing and had to drive her home. She's probably done driving unless things improve. She pretty much never walks anywhere unless she has something to help keep her balance. She's almost fallen a couple of times. 

As a whole, life itself is very overwhelming for her. Just leaving the house and being around anything that isn't very familiar causes her great mental stress and leads to physical tension. Her whole body will tense up very tight and see has difficulty stopping it. It's an internal reaction to things she can't control. 

With a couple of days off of work and staying home more, she's at least feeling a little less tension. The symptoms are still there, and she's very emotional. But we hope a rest might help.

ME

I'll be honest. I feel very frustrated. It's tough looking at my beautiful wife and see so much pain and frustration and sadness in her eyes. It's tough seeing her struggle to say even a simple thought. It was painful last week to see her near meltdown in a grocery store. I had to spend several hours last week dealing with doctors & insurance & hospitals on the phone and email because the hospital required something unnecessary from our insurance company. It was a total mess. In the end we got it straightened out. And I'm sure it was a simple mistake. But it made my week miserable.

GOD

We can't help but wonder about these difficulties and what God is doing. The things we are working on most in our church are the things we are finding most complicated now with Molly's needs and struggles. Spending time with others, even those we know the best at Doxa, is great strain and increases her tension, quickly leading to exhaustion and other symptoms. The spiritual warfare aspect of this seems clear. It's changing the way I'm praying.

We continue to talk and pray together about the goodness of God, His ability to heal and our request that He would heal Molly, and His power made perfect in weakness and the possibility of the weakness remaining rather than being taken away.

If you would, say a prayer for Molly and our family.

Molly & Chiari Update 3.7.12

UPDATE 3/7 at 4:20pm: Molly's MRI has been scheduled for 2:30pm on Friday, March 16th at the University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison. Last time it took just over 3 hours (if I remember correctly). 

__________

It's been a long time (over a year) since my last post on my wife's 4 1/2 year struggle with Chiari I Malformation. Find out about her diagnosis, symptoms, surgeries, and more in my series of posts: Molly & Chiari. Here's a brief, but important, update.

Molly's symptoms are returning in a significant way. This has happened before, as you can note from previous posts. A few times they have subsided. But they don't always, which is why she's had brain surgery twice. We live with the understanding that at any point something can happen that causes her spinal fluid flow to decrease and that would result in another surgery. Her stent could dislodge or clog. Scar tissue could form around it. Or maybe something else we don't anticipate.

Currently her symptoms are headaches (significant ones, some have led to vomiting), numbness in hands/feet, difficulty thinking or "brain fog," balance problems, continuous physical fatigue and weakness, nausea, waking without feeling rested, etc. She is easily overwhelmed. A trip to the store with all the colors and sounds and busyness can be difficult for her to endure. At times she has to find a quiet place and just stop because of the sensory overload.

This time around the symptoms have started and have kept increasing over a longer period of time. That may not mean anything significant and she may eventually recover. But it's bad enough right now that her neurosurgeon, Dr. Frim, wants another set of MRIs done. I've been emailed the MRI order just a few minutes ago and we will be working today to schedule an appointment as soon as possible at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. After reviewing those images, Dr. Frim will be able to see if something is wrong and if we need to make an appointment with him.

We'd appreciate your prayers for healing and strength for Molly. For comfort. For peace in times of great frustration. For a deep trust in the goodness of God. For me as I need to serve her well, help with the house and kids, help her shop, etc.

Thanks as always to the many friends (and many others we've never met!) who have been prayer warriors on Molly's behalf. To God be the glory.

Molly Update 12.17.10

It's taken a bit but we've finally found out about Molly's MRI. Here's an update on Molly & Chiari.

A. MRI read by her surgeon and it looks great. No problems. Thanks be to God that means not even a hint of need for or thought of surgery.

B. Molly's symptoms have progressively, though slowly, begun to normalize. Her physical symptoms were so bad at one point she had to break out her cane again. You probably wouldn't even notice anything if you saw her today. Mostly normal. Mentally there are still some issues. Brain fog, a bit of forgetfulness, lacking some focus at times. But those are better than before too.

C. Now, we are just hoping the symptoms stay away. We've asked the doctor about other things that may have triggered symptoms. A knock to the head or whiplash or falling or any number of smaller things can bring on symptoms. We believe what probably triggered Molly's are times of intense (even if brief) stress. Even getting startled can do it. I now try to make some noise when I enter a room where she is, because she can be easily startled and that can mess things up.

So yeah, I pretty much have lost all the fun of sneaking up behind Molly and having her scream in fear. That's no fun! :)

Thanks so much for your prayers. In many ways they have been answered. To God be the glory. 

Steve for Molly & the family

Phriday is for Photos 11.26.10

Danny in a waiting room while Molly was getting an MRI. It was on the 2nd floor overlooking a bunch of people working out at a sports medicine facility & gym. | My photography.

Coming Attractions 11.18.10

Here are a few things in the works...

1. Ads: You can see that I'm gearing up for some advertising on the right sidebar. I've thought about it for a long time & had some advertisers express some interest. I'm going to give it a go. It would be financially helpful for my family during tight times. If you are interested, click on an "Advertise Here" link. 

2. Links: I also want to add that whenever you see a link of mine to a book or music on Amazon with the Reformissiona-20 tag on it, that means I get a small cut for recommending it. It adds nothing to your cost. It's the same as if you went straight to Amazon. Essentially by buying products with my link you get same good price and help supply my book budget. I have no other book budget than this. Thanks for supporting it. And I work very hard not to just point you to anything in the hope of making some cash. I skip over recommending many deals that I don't personally want to recommended.

3. Reviews: I have reviews coming on Tim Keller's new book, Generous Justice, and Jim Elliff's reworking of Pursuing God. Both are great. Hope to get to both very soon.

4. Writing Projects: I have several blog articles in the works that have been fermenting for a while and that I'm excited about. I want to get a regular schedule for posting articles in the next couple of weeks. Look for that. I'm saying it publicly so I feel guilty if I don't get it started. :)

5. Phriday is for Photos: I haven't been very active in photography lately, but I'm also planning on getting it kicking again. 

6. Molly: I know it doesn't seem like a very cool "coming attraction," but expect more soon about my wife's battle with Chiari I Malformation. The blog has helped her to connect and minister to many women who are suffering the same things and scared. 

7. Tim Keller Resources: It's been a while since I seriously worked on my TK Resource page. Without doing anything a few things there look broken. I hope to get it back in shape for your resourcing pleasure.

Molly Update 11.9.10

It's been a long time since I gave an update on Molly, mostly because there has been nothing new. She has been great. That started to change a month ago. 

Over the last month Molly started to experience small, though not insignificant symptoms from Chiari. Read all the old posts on Molly & Chiari. Or check out an initial post from 2007 on what Chiari I Malmformation is.) On Friday she woke with a massive headache that caused her to vomit most of the day. Late Friday that was done, but other symptoms began and were full-on. She easily loses her balance, struggles to finish thoughts (brain fog), gets easily overwhelmed, has significant muscle weakness and some numbness in her arms and legs, and more. It's been consistently bad since Friday.

That's not a long time, and she has dealt with some symptoms from time to time and had them subside. That happened last year. But it hasn't been this bad since before her last brain surgery. We still are hoping and praying for the symptoms to go away, but they are bad enough that contacting Molly's doctor was necessary.

I emailed Molly's doctor, Dr. David Frim, at the University of Chicago Hospital. He responded today and said that it's time to initiate another evaluation. We are waiting for his assistant to respond and, we assume, make an appointment for us at U of C. We don't know anything about what tests that may require (MRI, spinal tap, etc). 

We have prayed for the symptoms/problem to go away, but were talking today about how God's power will be made perfect through her weakness (2 Cor 12). I'm assuming that's why she wanted me to use the above graphic for this post. :)

I'll post more when we have more info. If anyone can pray, please pray for God to be glorified through this, and to be merciful to Molly.

Also, if you can, pray for me as I will be spending a significant amount of time with her as she is losing ability to be out of the house for an extended period of time on her own. We ran errands on Monday and I don't think she could have done it without me there. This is on top of tough times in our church where money is tight and I'm busier than I've ever been. This is going to put significant strain on our family and we need His strength for all of it.

Thanks friends. We appreciate you.

Lots-o-Links 2.9.10

Brief Molly Update: Molly has been having some rough symptoms from her Chiari I Malformation the last 2 weeks. Day to day she doesn't know how she is going to feel. For the most part she keeps living and enjoying life and serving others as much as she usually does. In lots of ways she is looking to do more. What a lady! We are hoping the symptoms will just go away, and we believe they will in time. Thanks for praying for her.

I'm reviewing Gospel-Centred Life this week, Lord-willing. Already reviewed Gospel-Centred Family and Gospel-Centred Church.

Jonathan Dodson: 10 Tips for Missional Community Leaders

Jonathan McIntosh introduces us to the vision of Christ City Church in Memphis, his new plant. Maybe you or your church could help support this plant by my friend.

Christ City Church Vision Video from Rethink Mission on Vimeo.

Verge-alicious Stuff...

• I have a series of blog posts on Verge coming up.
• A couple of orgs mentioned: Grounds4Good, LifeTree Cafe, Help Haiti
• Alan Hirsch videos from Verge
• Post-Verge thoughts from Brent Thomas, Jonathan McIntosh, Brandon Hatmaker 

Francis Chan's animated video played at Verge: The Big Red Tractor...

The Big Red Tractor from Jacob Lewis on Vimeo.

Lots-o-Links 1.15.10

Praying for the people of Haiti. Please comment with your recommendations on where to donate to help, and feel free to include a link. Redeemer lists three ministries.

If you aren't reading Trevin Wax (Twitter) he's doing good blogging. His book, Holy Subversion, comes out soon. Worth checking out.

JD Payne, my church planting professor at SBTS, author, missiologist, is now on Twitter and blogging. I just got his newest book in the mail, Discovering Church Planting and look forward to digging into some sections that might help during our church renewal process.

Memphis is starting to talk about Jonathan McIntosh.

Mark Dever interviews Matt Chandler, pre-cancer diagnosis.

Brent Thomas is no longer the Baptist he never was.

Brief Molly Update: She is doing well, with no major symptoms or issues. Very blessed. 

Reflecting on Matt Chandler and My Wife

Please pray for Matt Chandler who undergoes brain surgery any minute, scheduled for 10:45am (central time). He writes this morning...

The last seven days have been some of the most interesting of my life. I have felt anxiety, fear, sadness and a deep and unmovable joy simultaneously and in deeper ways than I have felt before. I am grateful for this heightened sense of things. Today at 10:45 a.m. CST I will have a good portion of my right frontal lobe removed. I head into that surgery with a heart that is filled with gratitude and hope. (go read the whole thing)

Molly and I are praying during the surgery. 

Most of you know my wife has been through 2 brain surgeries. Molly's condition does not include the same level of concern that Matt Chandler's tumor brings to his family, friends, church and community. I know the difference between suffering with Chiari and the dangers of cancer -- my wife is living with the first and my Mom died of the second (breast cancer). I say all that to say that we can't fathom what the Chandler's have been going through and what's to come. Few of us can. But from my experiences of having a wife go through brain surgery, I can't help but reflect on what I went through from a spouse's point of view.

I remember the odd and surreal experience of sitting in a waiting room while Molly had "brain" surgery. Still hard to believe. I remember feeling alone. I remember the overwhelming joy and thankfulness of knowing that hundreds of people were praying for Molly before, during, after (and still ongoing). Many are complete strangers who connected with this website. I remember ideas jumping through my head in the waiting room as I knew nothing about what was happening during the surgery. I had to pray those away, those "what ifs" that I couldn't know and shouldn't dwell on. I remember getting good news of successful surgery only to know that going to ICU means serious concerns remain. I remember watching Molly's every breath, wondering why alarms would sound saying they are too shallow. I remember sleeping in my van and taking long walks through hospital halls. I remember a lot and still relive these things often. These experiences have watermarked every day after. 

I don't know all that the Chandler's will experience over the next week. Let me just offer two brief reflections on what we experienced... 

• There is nothing quite like knowing that you are one in a chorus of prayer for something or someone you hold dear. The internet, websites, blogs, Twitter and the rest are easily shrugged off by many who only respond to the worst practitioners. But for me (and I'm sure the Chandlers), events like this reveal how much technology can create pathways for a new kind of community, an expanded family of faith. It's something I'm very thankful for, and a reason I have often recommended blogging and Twitter and such to friends in lonely times in ministry and life. It might be good for you. Just be sure to share more than your thoughts and articles. Share your life too.
• It was a deep blessing to have our theology put to the test. I have a lot of education. I own many leatherbound books. I love the arguments and debates that theological education makes available, especially as we wrestle through ideas together. But seeing your spouse wheeled into a room where they will cut into her head with questionable results forces theology to be understood in reality and through experience. It reveals whether we truly believe God is in control. Whether our peace will come from laying our anxieties before him. Whether we believe our spouse is the treasure God intends. Whether God is truly a greater treasure for us than our spouse. It's God's mercy that we go through times where there is nothing to lean on but Him.

I'm done reflecting on our experiences and I'm beginning to pray for Matt and Lauren and the kids during this surgery. Will you join with me?

Lots-o-Links 9.16.09

Brief Molly Update: Molly has no issues on her new MRI/xrays according to her surgeon. So no surgery at this point. Symptoms will be treated medicinally, but it's a guessing game as to what to try and we aren't sure if the medicines will help. I should add that her symptoms, generally speaking, have improved a bit on their own over the last 6-8 days. We are very thankful things aren't continuing to get worse, and that no surgery is needed. But living with sypmtoms may be a permanent thing. Thanks for your prayers. I'll let you know if anything changes.

I hope in the next day or two to finally review Fight Clubs by Jonathan Dodson. I've been putting it off, and I've been rethinking some small group stuff in my own church and was doing some processing. If you haven't read this great gospel-centered book (55 pages) you can download it free and/or buy it at Resurgence.

Hopefully you are becoming very familiar with the great new missional resource, Rethink Mission, from Jonathan McIntosh. Check out his roundtable discussion on Leading from the Second Chair.

Stream the album from Volcano Choir: Unmap (including Justin Vernon, the voice of Bon Iver). It's really good. Also worth checking out is the Monsters of Folk album, streaming in full.

Always thankful when people write about how to help your pastor. A series of posts at Resurgence: Healthy Pastors.

Bad News: Molly's Symptoms Returning

Over the last 3-4 weeks or so Molly has gone from pretty much symptom-free to having nearly all of her symptoms from Chiari I Malformation return: numbness in hands/feet, strong headaches, some balance issues, some cognitive issues, etc. And of course along with that comes the frustration that everything in life becomes more difficult. Her surgery was in September, but blog readers know that it wasn'tuntil about 4 months ago that she actually had symptoms mostly go away. If you don't know what I'm talking about, go catch up on all that's happened to Molly since her diagnosis in June of 2007 and 2 brain surgeries.

So far things aren't as bad as last year, but symptoms seem to be returning in progression and the last few days have been the worst so far.  Please pray for Molly.

Lots-o-Links 6.2.09

Brief Molly Update: All is very well with Molly and her Chiari issues. Sleeping is pretty much completely normal. She is taking no meds, works out regularly, volunteers in the schools, etc. Life is pretty much back to normal. We are so thankful to God for His mercy and her health. For a while we thought there may be no more days like this. 

John Piper: The Pastor as Scholar

Resurgence: Re:Train (Resurgence Training Center) launches & Re:Sound (Resurgence Music) launching soon. Re:Bound (Resurgence Basketball Association, also known as The RBA) and Re:Lative (Resurgence Genealogy Project) still in the works.

John Frame: Questions to Ask a Film

Daniel Block: Gideon's Fleece

Jonathan Dodson: Confessions of a Failing Disciple

SBTS Towers: 3 Questions with Tim Keller

Art of Manliness: The Art of Summer Grilling

Molly Update 5.4.09

Sorry it's been so long since I updated everyone on how Molly is doing. If you don't know about Molly's struggles with Chiari I Malformation, you can catch up here.

Molly's last major remaining issue post-second surgery has been sleep.  For several weeks after surgery she barely slept at all.  Her neurologist finally found a solution by prescribing a couple of medicines that helped get her sleep patterns in order.  It worked wonders.  But then several weeks ago Molly became increasingly sluggish during the day, to the point of laying in bed or on the couch for several hours each day, often multiple times a day.  One day she got the kids off to school and went back to bed after sleeping for more than 9 hours the night before. Our joy turned to great concern again.

At that point Molly was determined to get off medication.  Her neurologist made the statement more than once over the last couple of months that Molly may be on medication the rest of her life.  We didn't buy it and became frustrated.  At the very least we needed to test to see if she could sleep on her own.  Molly needed hope and wasn't hearing it. 

I'm pleased to say that a few weeks back, in the midst of her restless days, Molly was able to go completely off her daily medications.  Within a day or two of stopping the meds the sluggishness went away.  She regained a ton of energy and was still able to sleep at night.  It appears that what the meds did to fix her sleep pattern at first began to overcompensate and made her extremely tired.  She is now as active and energized as ever.

She still has nights where she just doesn't sleep well and sometimes will take an occasional sleeping pill the following night to recover.  But we are very pleased to say that Molly, generally speaking, is sleeping on her own and is off all daily medications.

Let me add that Mol had a recent sleep study, soon after stopping the medications. It revealed two important things. First, Molly nevergot to the deepest level of sleep. That might be a bigger deal but for the second thing.  Molly is at 88% efficiency in sleeping.  The neurologist was pretty happy with that. And that's in a hospital room with wires attached to her!  So hopefully the deeper, more restful sleep will eventually return. But for now the test seems to reveal that things are pretty darn good, and most mornings she feels pretty good.

Thanks again to all who continue to pray for Molly. I was blown away by the number of people I met for the first time at The Gospel Coalition who asked about Molly and said they were praying for her. My blog readers have all been such good friends to us, and we are grateful for you.

Lots-o-Links 3.31.09

Molly Update: Molly is very, very tired.  Every day she sleeps about the right amount of time and feels like lying down for the rest of the day. She can't nap well and never feels refreshed or energized. It's very frustrating for her. I regularly walk in the house or walk upstairs from my office and find her on the couch or in the bed. Her attitude is in the right place but her body just won't keep step. Calls to the neurologist and medication adjustments continue.

Links...

Curator: An American Beer Garden. If wishing made it so.

Listen free to the new Great Lake Swimmers album, Lost Channels, at Paste.

Seth Godin: Ignore Your Critics

Jonathan Dodson: Is beauty in the eye of the beholder?

Tim Chester: A review of Rob Bell's Everything is Spiritual

Donald Miller: Advice on writing from Stephen King. Unfortunately Miller spells it "Steven" which should be another piece of advice on writing. While we are on writing, what about cut and paste writing?

Kevin Gregg is the Cubs' closer, not Carlos Marmol. It's not as sexy to set up, but Marmol has been good at it.

Rapping flight attendant...

Lots-o-Links 3.17.09

Molly Update: Mol has been tired lately. Meds help her sleep, but she has just been dragging. We'll see what the neurologist says next appointment. No results on her neuro-psych test...other than Molly doesn't know jack about Madame Curie and can't do mental math as good as our 6 year old. Fortunately for her I married her for her body and not her mind. :) And yes, I had her permission to say that.

Jonathan Dodson: The Missiology of St. Patrick
Resurgence: Vintage Saints - St. Patrick

Devotional Christian has potential.

On March 26th Mark Driscoll will be on Nightline with Deepak Chopra and others discussing whether or not the Devil exists. That should be fun.

DA Carson: Portraits of Jesus in John's Gospel

Stephen Nichols: Jonathan Edwards' Apologetic In Theory and Practice

Tim Chester: Mission Planning in Acts

Resurgence: Interview with Matt Chandler (3.9.09)

Found at Culture Making: "Given what we have since learned about life in the concentration camps, why would anyone in his right mind waste time and energy writing or playing music? There was barely enough energy on a good day to find food and water, to avoid a beating, to stay warm, to escape torture—why would anyone bother with music? And yet—from the camps, we have poetry, we have music, we have visual art; it wasn’t just this one fanatic Messiaen; many, many people created art. Why? Well, in a place where people are only focused on survival, on the bare necessities, the obvious conclusion is that art must be, somehow, essential for life. The camps were without money, without hope, without commerce, without recreation, without basic respect, but they were not without art. Art is part of survival; art is part of the human spirit, an unquenchable expression of who we are. Art is one of the ways in which we say, “I am alive, and my life has meaning.” "

Finally Tonight, Jesus...

Lots-o-Links 2.19.09

Brief Molly Update: She is doing really well. Scheduling a neuro/psych test for the late summer and a sleep test in the near future.  Otherwise, all is relatively well.

Are you going to The Gospel Coalition 2009 Conference? C'mon!  I'm one of the speakers at Band of Bloggers.My topic is "What is the place for art and culture in Christian blogging?"  As you know if you've read Reformissionary for long that I'm very fond of music, photography and poetry. Should be a good time.

A summer Chicago Tea Party? Interesting CNBC video...

I'm hooked on the eyeballing game.

Marvin Olasky: Prodigal Sons: Part of the evangelical problem is knowing which brother we are

Everybody talkin' Calvinism. Scot McKnight. Alvin Reid.

Planning a Mars Hill sermon series.

Have you seen The Legend of Speedo Guy? Good stuff. Yes, Joe Thorn actually found something in sports that I hadn't heard of.