January, 1999
OK – I’m a
procrastinator. I’ve admitted it,
confessed it, and, most importantly, forgot about it. I joined a local chapter of PA but I keep putting off
attending. The family joined the local
support group of PEONS (Procrastinator’s Effects On Neighbors & Spouses)
but we can’t seem to get there either.
Perhaps this is good material for a New Year’s resolution.
Sometimes
there are benefits to taking one’s time at a task - one of which is not
the increased postal rate.
Nevertheless, we’ve already read all the great letters and seen the
pictures from friends and family. We do
appreciate the cards, letters, and pictures and truly enjoy reading about the
things happening in your family.
I
am continually amazed at how removed my generation is from the previous
generation. That fact expresses itself
most often when our family (the untypical baby boomer family) is out somewhere
and we get the inevitable stares and expressions of disbelief about the size of
our family. Many of you know exactly
what I mean. Sometimes people need
reminding that they once had a lot of aunts and uncles or that they themselves
had more than the modern average of 2.3 siblings. But in spite of their own life experience and memories, they most
always conclude that day to day life for us must be something very different
from what they could even begin to imagine.
However,
day to day life is really not so different from our fellow boomers – we just
have a little more volume than others may. At least that is the conclusion I
have come to based on years of coming home in the evenings to virtually the
same family scene. It kinda reminds me
of the movie I didn’t get to see but heard a little about – Ground Hog Day.
Arriving
home is usually somewhat romantic and serene.
Our house is situated on the opposite side of the property from the
entrance gate. The drive across the
property is nice and Monica’s collie, Daisy, always meets me at the house with
Lassie-like barking and enthusiasm. Right
out of a Lassie movie. No sooner than the car is stopped do equally enthusiastic
creatures of the two-legged species greet me: ‘da boys and Allison.
Clarke
(7) scans the interior of the car for sacks and packages in hopes of a surprise
from dad. Anything I have must be
thoroughly explained as to contents, purpose, and owner. Clarke has discovered the usefulness of
money. His quest for wealth has stirred
some early entrepreneurial visions and accounting skills. His favorite service for which he charges is
polishing my shoes. He has also found
profit from mowing a share of the lawn and helping us paint grandma’s
house. He may not be thrilled about the
jobs but he enjoys collecting. I mean
this guy is relentless until paid in full!
Clarke wants to be a policeman when he grows up.
As I’m
climbing out of the car, Micah (9) is the first to report all the things
that have happened around the house during the day. Who did what, when, to or with whom, and to what degree of
trouble it caused them from mom. Carrie
and I think this to be an incredible talent of his since he is the one of all
the kids who can disappear unnoticed for hours on end. It’s not that he is quiet or anything like
that. It’s just that he gets engrossed
in a book or something else that’s caught his attention and he’s lost to the
world until one of us notice his absence.
Micah is our analytical thinker.
He usually doesn’t ask questions out of plain curiosity, but after
having mulled it over for sometime beforehand.
For example, it was weeks after Andy’s birth and conversations about the
cause of Downs Syndrome before Micah was ready to discuss chromosomes – what
they are, where they come from, and what they do. Micah wants to be an astronaut when he grows up.
Between Clarke
and Micah, poor Evan (5) can seldom get a word in for himself. It’s not that he is quiet. On the contrary, he is quite active and
inquisitive. Ownership is a big deal
among the three boys. It matters not
what it is, only who owns it. Evan has
discovered that the best resource of neat things to own is from the various
trash cans around the house. Since it
is his chore to empty the trash cans around the house every day or so it’s not
unusual for Carrie to find something lying around the house that she was sure
she threw away several days before! Be
assured that it’s not good enough to throw it away again for it will certainly
show up again when and where you least expect it. Evan wants to be as big as Wesley when he grows up.
As
we all walk toward the house Allison (4) turns and races off barefoot
for the door calling back over her should, “I’ll beat you – beat you!” In that regard, she is following closely the
footsteps of her mother and oldest sister – competitive and strong headed. She
loves to hold Andy though Andy is getting old enough to be tiring of the extra
mothering. One of Allison’s favorite
activities is story telling. Honestly,
I’m not sure where she gets her ideas but they’re always intriguing,
suspenseful, and usually someone dies.
But her bend toward fictional fantasy doesn’t leave her without a
presence of reality. When recently
discussing a catechism question with Lindsey about original sin and the effect
of that on all mankind, Lindsey asked, “What state is man born in?” Allison, with a quizzical look at Lindsey,
answered matter-of-factly, “In the United States” (the correct answer being: In
a state of sin and misery). Allison wants to be the big sister when
she grows up.
Entering
the house, the aroma that greets me betrays that Monica (11.95) is
putting the finishing touches on dinner.
She has mostly taken over the duties of cooking. As with Lindsey, we have had some
interesting entrees and horrible disasters.
But for the most part she has done very well. Monica continues to collect an array of animals. She bred Daisy this year and had her first
litter of puppies. She sold five of the
six puppies to capitalize her upcoming horse business. She is the main reason we have 35 chickens a
cackling, 9 guinea hens a squawking, 6 doves a cooing, 2 dogs a barking, 2 cats
a meowing, and a horse on backorder. Monica
wants to be a horse owner before she grows up.
As I walk to
the bedroom, I greet Wesley (13) who is parked in front of the
computer. Wesley was blessed with a
care package of great computer parts from a gentleman we met in New Mexico who
builds computers for a living. In
addition, he took a Visual Basic class this year and really enjoys creating
little software adventures that annoy the other household users.
Wes
continues to have his outside duties around the farm including feeding the
newly acquired and ever hungry wood-burning stove we installed last month with
split wood cut from around the farm.
He’s grateful for the wood splitting set he got for Christmas.
He continues
to be interested in ham radio. He is
currently studying for the first leg of his license. He has a great voice for
amateur radio – one that is loud enough to offset the need for an amplifier and
one that is changing. That’s right, he’s at that point where he doesn’t know if
his voice is coming or going. I
remember a little of those days. Poor
chap – I’m afraid I see a lot of me at that age in him. Pray for him. Wesley wants to be a programmer when he grows up but may be
out of a job before he begins if smitten by the Y2K bug.
Lindsey (14.95) is
nearby supervising the production of dinner while standing at the piano
pounding out her latest piece. Lindsey,
too, appreciates the conveniences of computers and the Internet. She was able to accumulate many resources on
Downs Syndrome from the Internet as well as other interests she has. But most of all the Internet has afforded
her the means of shopping while preserving herself as a keeper at home. That’s
right, online shopping – especially Ebay – has become a source of entertainment
(or distraction, depending on your point of view) around the house. At Ebay you don’t just shop for things - you
bid for things and that is where the real fun is found.
But of course,
she doesn’t spend all her time in front of a monitor either. She remains to be very active in the
training and schooling of our little ones.
She still enjoys sewing and her skills continue to develop. She is in the market for one of those really
fancy (and expensive) sewing machines.
Her writing skills really blossomed this year after taking a writing
class. She along with Wesley and
Monica, continue with piano lessons. In
addition, she and Monica are teaching Micah and Clarke piano basics. With so
many piano students and the piano situated in a major traffic area, there is little
time that the piano isn’t in use. Of
course, Lindsey enjoys reading and is particularly motivated by a good
theological debate. I try to make sure
she and I are on the same side of any debate.
Lindsey is looking forward to getting her driver’s license soon and wants
to be able to see over the steering wheel when she grows up.
Just as I’m
approaching my bedroom, Melody (2) runs across the living room and down
the hallway carrying the newly acquired white cat (thanks to the Jensens and
Parkers). The cat is just one of any
sundry things that Melody has taken a possessive liking toward. Far be it should any dare intrude on her
newly discovered property rights for she will loudly state her protest. Melody has certainly come out of her
introverted shell this past year. She has joined the ranks of the rest who
unhesitatingly express their unqualified opinion of whatever might be going on.
She and Allison are the first set of consecutive girls in the family. It’s a hoot to see her and Allison playing
dolly together and role playing the different persons of the family. Melody wants to graduate from the baby
crib to the bunk bed with Allison.
Horrors!!
In
the bedroom, Carrie (41) is sitting on the couch nursing Andy while studying
her dayplanner for the next day’s requirements. Andy (5 mos) has put on quite a bit of weight as of late
after a slow start after his birth. We
are thankful that he has been spared the heart and respiratory problems that
are common for Downs Syndrome. In fact,
he has stayed very healthy and well thus far.
His muscle tone is coming along real well; he’s quite attentive and
always ready to flash a toothless grin at anyone who will stop long enough to
pay him a little attention. Andy is
beginning to show some interest in what everyone else is getting to eat that
he’s not. Accordingly, I think Andy
is looking forward to his first tooth coming in.
By
the time you read this, Carrie and I will have celebrated our 20th
wedding anniversary. YIKES!! 20 years certainly sounds like a long time
but it sure doesn’t feel like a long time.
Carrie is not one to let a lot of grass grow under her path. Just the past year she added a nice car port
to the end of the house that she remodeled the year before, adding a
utility/school room, 2 much needed bathrooms, and another bedroom to our living
space. She is currently at the
beginning of moving another house onto the front corner of our property,
painting the exterior of my mom’s little house, and painting the interior of
our house.
But that’s
Carrie. She’s the happiest when she’s
caring for and developing her domain.
Since we married she has remodeled the interior of two houses, moved and
remodeled our current home and birthed 9 babies. In the middle of those projects she home schools the kids,
gardens (with little success), landscaped our home and surroundings, trolleys
the kids for a few activities, trains and disciplines the little ones, grocery
shops, sews drapes/ curtains/sundry things, and does all this in time for me to
come home to a relatively peaceful and orderly home. Pretty remarkable when one thinks about it. Carrie is doing exactly what she would’ve
wanted to be doing when she grew up except she never really thought about
it. On the other hand, if she had
thought about it, well, she probably would never have done it!
As for me (44.95),
much of my physical and emotional energy seems spent on financing all this
activity. But that I do gladly and with
time still found to do a little writing (as well as the Home School Digest
watch for the Texas Home School Coalition’s quarterly and the August edition of
Sproul’s Tabletalk), a little speaking here and there (perhaps next stop
is Corpus Christi in April), and the privilege to pastor our little
church. That seems enough to keep me
out of trouble. I still haven’t
figured out what I want to be when I grow up.
So much for the affairs of my
familial community. On a larger scale,
our national community begins the New Year embroiled in history making
controversy. Public promiscuity,
birthed in the ‘60’s sexual revolution, has found its expression in the highest
office of our nation through a representative of the generation that was
stripped of all objective moral values when God was expelled from the public
school system. The moral depravity of
our society flagrantly evidences itself from TV, radio, and print. Just today the kids and I listened to a
radio ad that began with the idea that you might want to look better naked
(Perhaps so, but who’s going to see??!!??).
And that’s
just the problem. Our children are
being desensitized at a younger age by increasingly promiscuous and atrocious
violence committed by increasingly younger offenders. Then we have to hear about it over and over in increasingly
explicit terms.
Most of the
annual letters you and I receive center around the accomplishments and
character of the author’s children. We
know that the success of our children tomorrow is built on the successes of our
children today and we desire to celebrate those successes with our closest
friends.
So lies the
success of our nation tomorrow in the rearing of our children today. The plague of moral and ethical relativism
that is a scourge of our nation today can only be cured by a generation who
determines that man can never be a lawmaker unto himself but, rather, embraces
a source of law and order that transcends man.
If you accept
my premise as true, or at least as reasonable, then one must wonder who is
going to effect the necessary change in the way our children are being reared
and trained to think. The government
school system? I wouldn’t bet on
it. Goals 2000 and school-to-work
curriculum only confirm what a lower Texas court declared some years ago: The
children belong to the State (a State that is decidedly atheististic). Perhaps the Church then? I don’t think so. When was the last time your church recited the 10 Commandments? Can you even find them on a wall somewhere?
No, we cannot
afford to think someone else is going to train our children to think and act
righteously if we desire to see our children effect a change in the course of
our nation. The course of our nation is
now in their hands. Our duty is to
equip them to effect the correct and just changes in our legal and economic
systems and that according to the one and only objective system of law and
order – God’s Word.
To me, THAT is
a worthy New Year’s resolution. May it
be so resolved.
God’s grace to you & your
family this coming year & for many more,
Pat & Carrie Hurd & Family
401 Pepper Lane
Weatherford, TX
76088
817-596-8725
PhurdWford@AOL.com