Problems are for Solving

As most of my four readers (Hi, mom!) know, my wife is expecting. Today I was looking at my friend Rachel’s blog (she’s due in four weeks) and she had added a baby countdown timer.

I thought, “wow, it would be nice to have one of those for Little Engine” (that’s what we’re calling him until we know what his name is) and so–look to your right and you’ll see just that. The Sidebar Editor plugin made it really easy to add.

( Previous post here. )

I really like the game, and can’t quite pull off a win.  I finished a game today where I scored within 2 points of the winner, and I”m pretty sure this is my best finish yet. 

The other day I was talking to a friend around lunchtime about a house. It was important to my friend that the home be in a “safe� neighborhood. That was only days after I got an inquiry about another house that asked if the neighborhood was “safe.�

I know that I am weird on this, but I don’t believe in safety the same way most people seem to speak of it. I’ve only had my car broken into one time in the twenty years I’ve been driving, and it was while it was parked eight feet from my parents’ front door in an upper-middle-class neighborhood in the suburbs of a small city. My stereo was stolen in a “safe” neighborhood.

Since 9-11-01 it seems that people in the United States are consumed with this issue of safety but it doesn’t exist. It doesn’t matter what is done to protect us, people who are willing to die in the process of committing a heinous act will always be able to do so. There is no way to humanly protect everyone.

Every night when I put the children to bed safety is on my mind. That’s because we sing a short song that is the text of Psalm 4:8:

I will lie down in peace

In peace and sleep

I will lie down in peace and sleep

You alone O my LORD make me dwell in safety

I will lie down in peace . . . and sleep

God alone makes us to dwell in safety. There is no safety apart from Him.

I live in a neighborhood now that many people consider to be not safe. I sleep peacefully every night and fear no man—because God is watching out for me. Because he makes me to dwell in safety, I can lie down in peace . . . and sleep.

I’m selling a house I’ve owned since 1999 on the East Bluff. I’ve been renting it out to friends since 2002 and they’re moving over here to the University East neighborhood right up the road from us. It’s a lovely home waiting for the right person. I’m listing it for sale by owner for a bit until I get the front steps replaced and then will be listing with a realtor. The realtor commission will force me to be less flexible in the price–so act soon if you’re interested!

Here’s more about the house:

903 East McClure Avenue

Peoria, IL

Must see the inside of this gracious, older home!

Bedrooms- 4+ sitting room/playroom

Bathrooms- 2 full

*Hardwood floors throughout the house

*Easy walk to beautiful Glen Oak Park, Zoo, and Luthy Botanical Gardens

*Fully fenced yard

*Upstairs laundry puts the washer and dryer convenient to the dirty clothes!

*Double doorways between dining room, living room, and family room give an open, airy feel to the floor plan

This is a wonderful family house, priced to sell. Central air and furnace are new in the last 3 years, electrical has been updated to circuit breakers. Ready to move in, bring an offer!

We want to sell this house to you!

$55,900

Leave a comment here with a way of contacting you and we’ll set up a showing.

…but I’m pretty sure that no one but my mom has noticed.

There’s been a lot going on in my life, some of which will have to wait for later to tell the story, but here’s a few bullet points:

• Theresa is now 23 weeks along and both she and the baby are doing well. We are concerned that the baby may be settling into a breech position so please pray that he’ll keep his head down and we’ll avoid a c-section. Lots of time for repositioning yet, but after two breech babies in five births, we get concerned early.
• I’m still working out regularly. I’ve worked my way up to 35 minutes of cardio this week, and tonight I finished my 35 with enough energy to sprint once around the indoor track. (it’s only 1/13 of a mile so don’t worry about my heart failing)
• I got an Ipod Nano. I really like it—it’s much easier to use than the Palm Tungsten was for playing mp3s and audio books, and it’s way light. Only 1.5 oz. I cheaped out and only got the 1G model (you can get the Nano with up to 4) but it’s black and I got $100 off for renewing my audible.com membership. It holds 240 songs or the equivalent in audio books, etc. I already found several podcasts that I’ll be listening to frequently, and getting stuff onto the Ipod is so much easier than getting it onto my Palm.

That’s it for tonight. I’ll try to post more later this week.