Eric and Lisa

I went to the BMV this morning to renew our license plates, and when I walked in, there was only one chair to sit in. I had Ian with me, so I just set his carseat in front of me and rocked him while he played with one of his toys. There was a couple sitting to my left that were immediately enthralled with him, and commented over and over how healthy and happy he looked. When I began to ask them about themselves, they shared that they had seven kids between 2 and 23 years old! The mother remarked how important it is for at least one parent to be heavily involved in a young baby's life -- that it makes such a remarkable difference in their emotional development. I told her how I tutor freelance, and that even that little bit of time outside the home is difficult to work around Ian and his needs (especially since I'm nursing him). She encouraged me to continue to do what's best for my son, even if it's harder for me. I knew that, but I really needed to hear it from someone else. Sometimes I feel this pressure to be providing more for my family monetarily (especially when things are really tight), but in reality, the best thing I can do for both my husband and my son is to be a good wife and mother. If I feel that that entails keeping the current situation as it is, then that's what I should do.

About this time, Ian started fussing because it was time for his nap. The couple next to me whispered to each other, then the mother leaned over and offered me her number slip, which was just about to be called. "Here, switch me," she said. "Your little boy is more important than me being able to get out of here quickly." I resisted, but she insisted, so I thanked her and took her slip just as the number was being called at the desk. My transaction went quickly, and when I was done, the couple was still sitting there, waiting for their turn, which was still about fifteen minutes away. I thanked them again and walked outside, thankful to God for such kind and compassionate people. Who knew that a visit to the BMV could be encouraging?

The past couple of weeks, Ian and I have been going to the IU Optometry School once a week to help out with research on babies' vision development. Today, Ian had a VEP (Visual Evoked Potential) test done to measure his level of acuity. In the VEP, electrodes were mounted over the visual part of Ian's brain, kind of like an EKG, but attached to the back of his head. He sat in front of a television screen where a pattern of lines was presented. A toy was dangled in front of the television to attract his attention to the center of the screen. The visual evoked potential is the electrical response of the brain to a simple patterned stimuli. The VEP stimulus alternates: the black bars become white, the white bars become black, and the stripes become narrower and narrower. In a ten-second trial the gratings go from very wide to very narrow. The big ones make big signals and the small ones make smaller signals until you can no longer distinguish them from the ongoing electrical activity of the brain. A calculation was then done to fit a line to the data in order to come up with an estimate of acuity. It was a really interesting test, and apparently, Ian is right on schedule for babies his age. It was cool to see on the graphs at the end of the experiment how the visual portion of his brain reacted strongly to the wide, dark lines, but had less activity while the thin, light lines were on the screen. Below are two pictures the optometrist took during the experiment. You can click on them for a bigger view.

--Lisa

Well, it's been about three weeks since I've updated this thing. There's been a lot going on:

-- On July 9th, we had Ian dedicated at our church, Evangelical Community Church here in Bloomington. My parents came down for the event, as did Eric's parents, Rob and Anne, Mamaw and Papaw, and Eric's uncle Keith and Aunt Vicki. We had a great time with all the family.

-- On July 13th, Eric turned 27! He got a leather tool belt from me, a Goo Goo Dolls CD from my parents, and money towards NCAA Football 2007 for PS2 from various family members. The rest of his birthday money, he'll put towards whatever comes up that he wants.

-- On the weekend of July 15-16th, we went up to Michigan for a Parham family reunion (family on my mother's side), and then down to northern Indiana to Eric's parents lakehouse to hang out with his aunt and uncle some more. Uncle Keith, who is a Lt. Colonel in the US Army, is likely to be shipped out to Beirut, Lebanon sometime in the next week. This had been planned long before all the mess started between Israel and Hezbollah, and we've been hoping that he wouldn't have to go, but it's looking like it's still a possibility. Keep him and his wife Vicki in your prayers.

-- On July 20th, Ian turned exactly three months (thirteen weeks) old.

-- This past weekend was our first free weekend at home since Ian was born -- can you believe it! We've been doing a LOT of travelling, and a lot of family has come to visit us as well. It's been nice to spend so much time with people that we love, but it was also nice to have a completely free weekend in which to fully relax.

That's about it! We're quite happy and content with life right now. God has blessed us so richly.

--Lisa

I've been reading St. Augustine's Confessions lately, and in Book I, in the middle of one of his worshipful descriptions of God, he said this phrase, and it really rung true with me. Yes, God is very often hidden from us. Whether it's because of our sinful nature that causes a rift between us and Him, or simply because He sometimes chooses not to make Himself known to us as completely as we would like, He is a mystery to us. We may never fully understand His nature or actions...and that's as it should be. If we knew everything about Him, why would we need to seek Him? What purpose would there be in pursuing a relationship with Him? Without that constant struggle in life, what would there be to live for? It is His hiding that makes us long for Him more.

Yet, He's also "intricately present" -- with us in every minute detail of life. He is there when we wake up in the morning, as we go about our day, and as we sleep at night. He is there when we are laughing or crying, rejoicing or hurting, acting or contemplating. He is there in our memorable days and our forgetable days. And the best part is, He cares. He cares about those days of struggle when we feel so lost and alone. He cares about those days of triumph when we feel like we're on top of the world. He cares. And He is with us.

He is indeed hidden...but He is also intricately present. Praise God for both.

--Lisa