Joy in the Journey

Journey Chronicle: Long Skirts for Sale

Amanda Evans — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 23:48:15 GMT

I recently discovered New Creation Apparel. Their large selection of modern-looking, beautiful skirts has me drooling over my keyboard! They are mostly quite long with lovely flairs and panels and they're all reasonably priced. Their selection of attractive maternity skirts makes me want to be pregnant again! As a company, they work closely with a number of suppliers, mostly small family-run businesses, which helps keep prices reasonable. Next time I'm shopping for a skirt I'm going to keep them in mind! In a Shoe is hosting a give-a-way though them.

Journey Chronicle: A Winter Moment

Amanda Evans — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 19:16:00 GMT

Going outside is quite a process: shoes, coats, hats times four. Sometimes I get the process started before I stop to look out the window. Then I find myself standing on the porch watching the rain come down with three children all bundled up, buckled in the stroller, and excited about going outside. But happily water doesn't make us melt and there's no prim nanny waiting for us at home to say, "Children who get their feet wet must always take their medicine." So we venture out anyway feeling just a bit braver and slightly reckless as we stomp in puddles and race the little rivers down the side of the street.

Photo Album: Flying with Chris

Amanda Evans — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 01:08:13 GMT

Journey Chronicle: Green Beans for Esther

Amanda Evans — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 22:12:03 GMT

Usually Esther is asleep during meal time. This works out great for me because I'm not ready to start feeding her solid food. But occasionally she wakes up early and is quite excited to be a part of whatever food business is going on.

Yesterday she woke up right as I was putting dinner on the table. I dished out the children's plates, hoping she would fall back asleep. But she was insistent. As I sat down to nurse her, she saw the table spread with dinner and her siblings heartily digging in. Though she can't speak with words, her body language was pretty clear: "Mommy! Feed me some of that food!" Quickly she finished nursing, but had not forgotten what was going on in the dining room. First we tried letting her daddy hold her, giving nibbles between bites. He wasn't moving fast enough so I set up our spare booster where both of us could feed her. She gobbled down maybe a spoonful of green beans as well as a few grains of rice, intently begging for more the moment each bite was down her throat. Pretty quickly though, she wasn't so desperate.

Soon enough she'll be sitting with us for every meal, impatiently waiting for another spoonful while I try to get my own bites in edgewise. She'll have to learn sign language for "please" and "more." And she'll get those stinky, chunky diapers. No, I'm not quite ready to move on to that phase yet!

Movie Review: Gran Torino - 3 stars

Amanda Evans — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 04:59:03 GMT

Walt Kowalski is a man from a bygone age and after his wife dies, all he has left is his 1972 Gran Torino. His boys have grown and gone leaving plenty of hard feelings to go around. A veteran of the Korean War, he faces his prejudices as one by one the houses around his fill up with Hmong (Asian) immigrants. Then Sue, the smart and sassy young lady next door befriends him and he finds himself mentoring her misdirected younger brother, Thao. Suddenly Walt is not alone anymore and his life takes a direction he never would have guessed. Ending with a Christ-like sacrifice, this movie made me appreciate how God uses us—despite our faults, mistakes, and sins—to accomplish His purposes.

While the themes were excellent, we found parts of the plot to be quite contrived and some of the symbolism seemed a bit cliche. As a result this movie did not get full marks, but we still would highly recommend it. On a cautionary note, there is strong language throughout and a couple brief scenes contain some gore.

Movie Review: Shawshank Redemption - 5 stars

Amanda Evans — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 05:32:12 GMT

Set behind bars and high stone walls, Shawshank Redemption is a movie about hope. Upstanding banker Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is sent to Shawshank prison in the 1940s to serve out a double life sentence after being framed for the double murder of his wife and her lover. Decades pass, but Andy refuses to let horrible experiences get him down. Instead he gets funds from the state to expand the library, assists all the guards with their taxes, helps some of the inmates further their educations, and plays a gorgeous Italian opera over all the prison loudspeakers. Recounted from the point of view of "Red" (Morgan Freeman)—a young hothead whom years in prison have wizened and aged—this story tells it like it is and it's not always pretty. Some scenes are very hard to watch but the movie makers created a perfect balance between heart wrenching tragedy, awful corruption, humorous situations, and touching beauty found even in such a drab place. The end result is a powerful film in which hope triumphs over the institution.

One can hardly expect a movie set in a place full of criminals to be clean, so take our cautions seriously. This movie is not for children. It is especially full of foul language. However, nothing is needlessly put in and the whole thing is well worth watching.

Journey Chronicle: Five Years

Amanda Evans — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 07:07:54 GMT

Zachary, my brother-in-law, is getting married to Hannah on March 13th. Six days later marks our fifth anniversary—wow! It's hard to believe that our son Joshua turns four this month, and that Lucy and Esther fill our days with hugs and laughter. God has blessed Amanda and me far more than we deserve.

Five years. . .five years filled with dramatic changes, going from single to husband to father. Going from carefree to cost-conscious to mildly concerned about finances. I can no longer drop my life on a whim to go on a road trip; I have to actually plan a vacation (and sometimes wonder if we can actually afford one). But God is so good; He is teaching us to lean on Him, and consistently shows us His grace and presence.

Five years. What will Zack and Hannah’s fifth anniversary look like? Beyond that: what kind of world will my children inherit?

I believe I’m a realist—yes, a realist with his head usually stuck in the sand, but still a realist. And I see that we live in pretty hard times: our country seems more blatantly anti-Christian every day. Our government has become overtly socialist (if it wasn’t apparent before, our current President has made that quite transparent!). The Senate is currently discussing government takeover of health care. Here in Oregon we’re voting on two tax measures that, if passed, will probably do a lot of harm to small businesses, mine included. They may well pass. But you know what? I’m not worried. Our God is big. He is sovereign, and He knows what He’s doing. read more

Photo Album: Thanksgiving

Amanda Evans — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 23:45:05 GMT

Book List: Eli's Book List 2010

Eli Evans — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 16:29:37 GMT

Yearling - Marjorie Rawlings
Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe
Moby Dick - Herman Melville
Aeneid - Virgil
Orthodoxy - G. K. Chesterton
Fallen Angels - Walter Dean Myers
World War I - Richard Maybury
World War II - Richard Maybury
Bruchko - Bruce Olson
God's Smuggler - Brother Andrew
Brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich - Alexander Solzhenitsyn
Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage - Alfred Lansing
Knowing God - J. I. Packer
Chestnut King - N. D. Wilson
Son to Me - Peter Leithart
How to Read the Bible as Literature - Leland Ryken
Struggle for Africa
Book of the Dun Cow - Walter Wangerin
Book of Sorrows - Walter Wangerin
Sophie's World - Jostein Gaarder
Hunt for Red October - Tom Clancy

Photo Album: Zoo

Amanda Evans — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 22:39:48 GMT

Photo Album: Reformation Night

Amanda Evans — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 01:31:54 GMT

Journey Chronicle: The Weather and Everybody's Health

Amanda Evans — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 18:54:50 GMT

Usually around September I start looking forward to sweaters, rain, tea, curling up with a good book...you know, all those fun cold weather things. But this year the thought of it being cold and dark made me sad. Apart from two or three weeks of miserably hot weather, I really enjoyed this summer. I was not ready to give up my tank tops and bare feet.

But God had pity on me. He kept the weather warm and beautiful well into October. We did have some dark rainy days, but they often cleared up by the afternoon and the candles that I would light to brighten the mood looked pathetic against the rays of the setting sun streaming through my dining room windows.

Then December and the darkest time of the year loomed around the corner. I got out the Christmas lights I already had and purchased more. I hung lights in the dining room, I stretched them across my big windows in the living room, and I hung them on the tree we brought home. God laughed at my efforts and gave us the sunniest (and the coldest) December I can ever remember. I think we had blue sky from horizon to horizon for two weeks straight. There were days I didn't even turn on my little lights because it was so bright outside.

I'm sure God didn't orchestrate the weather just so I would be happy, but whatever the larger ramifications of His plan are, I sure am thankful that it included some sunshine for me. read more

Photo Album: Lucy's Second Birthday

Amanda Evans — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 20:22:24 GMT

Photo Album: Newport Vacation

Amanda Evans — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 18:51:57 GMT

After working hard all summer (all year really) Eli was ready to take a break. He took us to Newport, Oregon, with the goal of resting, relaxing, and spending time together as a family.

Photo Album: Esther's Baptism

Amanda Evans — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:45:17 GMT

Journey Chronicle: Cookie Cutter Kids

Amanda Evans — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 21:00:19 GMT

So far I've gotten each of my babies' portraits taken at two months. I have them up on the piano and when you look at them side by side you can see how similar they look!

Photo Album: Esther's First Eight Weeks

Amanda Evans — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 21:22:40 GMT

Journey Chronicle: Breath of Life

Amanda Evans — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:57:33 GMT

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. (Gen 2:7)

I love rocking my baby to sleep. First she squirms and squawks, bobbing her head around as she tries to stay awake. Gradually her body becomes heavier and her limbs go limp. Her head rests on my shoulder and then I can feel her soft breath puffing gently against my neck. Normally I don't like to feel people's breath, but hers is so subtle I only notice it when the moment is quiet and still. Rhythmically I rock back and forth and rhythmically her breath caresses my neck. It won't be long before the rhythms of life carry us on, but right now I'm savoring this peaceful moment.

Photo Album: Summer

Amanda Evans — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 19:48:14 GMT

Journey Chronicle: Moments to Make Mommy Laugh

Amanda Evans — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 19:10:12 GMT

All three of my newborns have been spitters. Only Joshua did the whole projectile thing, but Lucy did her share of spitting up and it's not an infrequent occurrence to find me mopping up the floor or my shoulder after Esther's overflow. Today, when I was burping Esther after one of those plentiful morning feedings, Lucy came up to give her a hug.

"Careful, Lucy, Esther might spit up on you," I warned.

Lucy quickly backed up.

I continued patting the sweet, innocent baby's back and Lucy watched from a safe distance. No spit up manifested itself so Lucy's love of her sister overcame her desire to stay clear of the danger zone and she decided to risk it.

The moment she got close, Esther burped and a warm, wet, white trickle started at Lucy's shoulder and flowed all the way down the front of her nightgown. The look on her face was priceless! Of course she started crying but I couldn't help laughing as I cleaned it up. A few minutes later Esther spit up again and Lucy jumped back, anxiously examining her clothes.

Motherhood is a messy, earthy job. I spend my day (a big part of it, anyway) wiping bottoms, washing faces, kissing owies, and mopping up spit up. Certain ancient philosophers (and some who aren't so ancient) would have me believe that none of this matters. They would have me look forward to the day when I can fly away to some spiritual paradise where my soul will be free from all this yucky stuff. But Jesus Christ, the Word who from the beginning was with God and was God, came down here to Earth and lived among us. He took on one of these unclean bodies and kept it when He was raised from the dead and ascended to His eternal throne. I think this job that involves so many different bodily fluids is somehow a holy one. This stuff I do read more

Photo Album: Esther's First Week

Amanda Evans — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 23:21:18 GMT

Journey Chronicle: Summer

Amanda Evans — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 19:56:00 GMT

At three weeks old Esther warms my heart with her smiles. Her grins light up her whole face. She will watch my face intently when I talk to her and replies with adorable little cooing sounds.

I've been enjoying these first few weeks of her life. Many of you will remember the intense pain I had while nursing Lucy. My biggest hope and prayer was that this time around would not be nearly so bad. Thankfully the Lord heard my cry again and it's much better! One side healed up within a week and the other is no longer pure agony. I think it will be all better before the baby's a month old. Thank you very much to those of you who prayed specifically about this concern!

Esther has been a very good baby. She sleeps soundly at night and even went for nearly eight hours last night! She likes to eat about every two hours during the day so I've had a hard time working in a nap for myself, but as long as night time is so good, I'm happy. Joshua and Lucy both love her to pieces and want to give her hugs and kisses every time she wakes up. Most other times they're happy to ignore her.

Having three kids has been less of an adjustment than I expected, though I'm still trying to take it easy resting, playing, eating smoothies, and using paper dishes. Joshua and Lucy have been doing a better job playing together instead of just getting on each other's nerves. Of course, when I let them have free reign of the backyard (mole hills and wading pool included) why should they complain? read more

Journey Chronicle: Esther's Birth Story

Amanda Evans — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 18:23:05 GMT

When I wrote the post entitled "41 weeks and 5 days..." on Friday morning, I had no idea that 8 hours later I would be holding my newborn. In fact, I was dressed in a pretty dress and the kids were wearing party clothes because I was assuming that we'd be going to a dance planned for that evening after all.

The contractions of Thursday night had lessened, but they didn't disappear. I talked to Mom about what was going on and called Dr. Ed on her recommendation. Both said to try and get some rest and keep them posted. Shortly afterwards I went to the bathroom (a frequent occurrence) and was encouraged to find a bit of "show." Maybe all these contractions were doing something after all!

At 1:00 I put the kids to bed, ate a light lunch, and laid down. But there was no sleeping through these contractions. Each one came over me like a rushing wave and I felt like I was facing a charging bull. "Just grab the bull by the horns," I kept telling myself. Just when it felt like the bull would get away from me, the pain would ebb away and I could breath a sigh of relief. But they were still around ten minutes apart.

After about two or three hours a really strong contraction hit and I sat up suddenly feeling nauseated. A wave of emotions flowed over me and I felt like weeping. The moses basket was near at hand and that precious sight brought tears to my eyes. This felt familiar. I remembered feeling just like this during transition with both Joshua and Lucy. Suddenly the time seemed right to get people coming. read more

Photo Album: Esther Louise Love

Amanda Evans — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 00:12:02 GMT

Article: Letter to Esther

Amanda Evans — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 04:28:34 GMT

Beloved Daughter,

We cannot see your face and can only guess at your personality as you kick and roll in the womb. We don’t know who you are or what you will become. We do know that you always greet each morning with a burst of activity, wiggling vigorously as soon as your mother wakes up. When you were smaller, you would move so energetically that it felt like you were dancing. Now that you’ve grown to fill your warm, soft world, you don’t have as much room to frolic. Instead you stretch and roll, stubbornly pushing against the boundaries. Soon enough the walls will be gone and you will have all the space from the solid ground underfoot to the wide sky overhead to stretch your legs and dance. Looking at your mother’s belly is like seeing the cover of a book, feeling you squirm is like reading a brief prelude. Soon the pages will turn and Chapter One will begin. Esther Louise Love will enter this world.

We give you your first name to commemorate the story of Queen Esther. Filled with romance, intrigue, feasting, fasting, hangings, and courageous deeds, her story is one of the greatest in all of literature. But more than that, it is a glorious epic illustrating God’s sovereignty as He expands His kingdom into all the nations.

Set against the backdrop of the Persian Empire, this story takes place when God had given His people over into the hands of their enemies. But as the Jews left the Promised Land, the words of Jeremiah the Prophet went with them: read more

Journey Chronicle: She's finally here!

Amanda Evans — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 04:26:19 GMT

Esther Louise Love—the newest member of our family:

Born July 24th, 2009 at 6:44pm.

Weight 7 lbs. 11 oz.

Length 20.5 inches.

Read her name letter here.

Journey Chronicle: 41 weeks and 5 days...

Amanda Evans — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 17:22:59 GMT

I had planned on being late, but I didn't expect to go as far as two weeks past my due date. Yet here I am, still taking pictures of empty baby clothes.

I had my 41 week doctor's visit on Wednesday, hoping of course that he would say something about being dilated and ready to go any day. We started with an ultrasound. Blurry images of leg bones, arm bones, a circle for the head and another circle for the chest flashed across the screen. But she was big enough that we couldn't see very many features. Dr. Ed found plenty of fluid (in the small areas she wasn't filling up), and he was happy with the blood flow through the umbilical cord and the oxygen flow to the brain. Next he checked for dilation. I was about 50% effaced and quite soft, but not dilated. "You're safe to go as long as another week," he determined. He did give me a mixture of herbs (Mitchella, Rubus, Cimicifuga, and Viburnum), though, to help get things ready. Labor might, of course, begin sooner, but based on how healthy and comfortable the baby looked, he wasn't willing to do any kind of induction before next Wednesday.

And so I wait.

I began taking the herbs right away and they are definitely having an effect. I've had increasingly uncomfortable contractions intermittently throughout the day, but I really feel it at night. Last night they were on average 15 minutes apart and they usually woke me up. By 4:30 I was too uncomfortable to lay down so I moved to the recliner. About an hour later I had to sit up and breathe through them. I only hope they're actually doing something! read more

Photo Album: A Hike in the Columbia River Gorge

Amanda Evans — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 19:40:44 GMT

Photo Album: Granny's Memorial Service

Amanda Evans — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 23:29:50 GMT

Photo Album: Preparing for a New Baby

Amanda Evans — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:46:50 GMT