Here are a couple of pictures of Anthony (a week old)…

With his Aunt Christina

Taking a nice afternoon snooze…

 

Young Anthony P. Sutherland lies sweetly sleeping.

A closer look at the babe…

Yes, its true, he eats, sleeps, cries a little, eats, sleeps, eats, sleeps some more… you get the idea

Thank you everyone for your interest, comments, blessings, and support!

Just in case you are wondering, no, this update does not contain pictures of babies at the zoo!

 

Yes, he did arive; and this is the first picture we have of him.

 

Are you curious about the statistics?

Name: Anthony Paul

Time of Birth: 9:53 AM

Weight: 7 lbs 3 oz

Length: 20 1/2 in

Head Circumference: 14 in

 

Parents? Well, lets just say that they are happy as can be, feeling blessed, trying to get used to the idea that the baby is not longer in its mama, thankful to God for everything that He has brought us through, and wanting to say thank you to everyone who prayed for us.

Now it is your turn… what do you think? Cute… or not so cute?

Some years ago, perhaps about15, I read a book by Hannah Hurnard titled Hinds’ Feet On High Places. I seem to recall an incident in the story where the Shepherd was talking to Much Afraid and asked her if He could decieve her. After an internal struggle she finally said that if it was possible He could deceive her. Not too long after the conversation the trail took a turn downhill towards a valley. At the time Much Afraid felt like all of the Shepherd’s promises to take her to the mountain top were being broken. She finally remembered the conversation about being deceived and decided to trust the Shepherd anyway. It was only later on that Much Afraid discovered that the path down was really the fastest way to get to her destination.

Why do I relate this story? I have discovered in the past several years that there have been times where I thought I knew how God was going to do something in my life. Sometimes I even stepped out in faith, confident of what God was going to do. Some of these times the result has been different than what I anticipated. At those times I have often second guessed the situation, wondering if I missed the leading of the Lord, wondering if I blew it somehow, feeling like I just don’t understand God and what He is up to. As time has went on I have further discovered that while I felt let down at the time, God had not deceived me. I may have misunderstood what He told me, I may have been confused because of the outcome I expected, but every word that God says is true and His purpose will be accomplished.

“God is not a man that He should lie…“

                  It’s a Boy!     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

             

                         Admiring Baby!

              

                

             

            

             

                            

                 Here is what I look like!   

      

      

                            Majestic!

      

Sorry you all will have to keep waiting for the baby pictures you are hoping to see. These are all the baby pictures I have for now. Lord willing our baby will decide to show its face before long. Keep us in your prayers. May the Lord bless your day!  

 Yes, we are still around! I’m sorry that it has been so long since we have updated you all on what is going on. We have had a VERY busy summer break. It is hard to believe that the summer is almost over already.

Philip had two months of summer break that we spent mainly in middle TN.During that period of time we had our first anniversary, did canning, Philip worked on the ambulance, at the barn shop, did a website,took a two week trip to Haiti, and lots of little things here and there for people.

We had a very lovely anniversary! We spent a few days together in a cabin in the Smokey Mountains.The Lord sure has blessed me with a wonderful husband! The first year is full of wonderful memories and times together! I’m looking forward to the rest of the time the Lord gives us together. A loving,caring husband is truly a great blessing from the Lord! How truly marvelous is a marriage that is centered around the Lord!

I was not able to go with Philip to Haiti this time because it is too close to my due date. He left for Haiti on July 26th and returned August 9th. It sure seemed to me like he was gone a long time. I spent the time he was gone at Papa and Mama’s, helping with all the canning and things that go on in the middle of summer. Virginia and Michael went along to Haiti also so it was good that I could be there to help out with everything. Keeping busy helped the days to go by. Philip will have to give you the update on the trip since I was not along. You will have to be patient though since he is back in school with a full schedule of classes. He got back from Haiti at 11:50pm Saturday night and class started Monday morning.

I know this post is kind of short and maybe a little rambling but I wanted to let you all know what is happening with us.Hopefully it will not go so long before you hear from us again.

I don’t know if you have ever heard that before. Usually it applies to someone doing a job halfway just to tide things over ’till they can do it right. In case you did not guess… that is what I am doing with this post. I just thought I would let everyone in xangaland who reads my blog know that I do plan to post about our recent trip to Haiti, maybe even more than one post, and I hope to include pictures. But…

Yes, I know, you did not really tune in to this page just to hear excuses; you are going to hear one anyway unless you prefer to think of it as a reason. You see, I have an immunology exam in Memphis tomorrow morning, soooo… the post will have to wait.

Until then,

Philip

I don’t know how you are when you have time to sit down and read. For myself I so seldom have time for leisure reading anymore that my first thought is ahhh, finally, some time to read; the next thing I think is, hmm… what shall I read this time? For me, a title at the top of a page or in the index of a medical journal often  helps me to decide if I should skip, skim, or read thoroughly. Now, you may ask, what does that have to do with anything? Well, its rather simple actually… all of that rambling was just to let you know that I am about to comment on the title of this blog…

Spring… I wonder what the word brings to your mind? I had several different thoughts almost immediately. I thought of a coiled piece of metal that is rather bouncy, you know, the thing they put under  vehicles and in pens. I also thought about a clear, small, cold, babbling brook coming our of a rock somewhere on a hillside, and, of course, I also considered the time of year when all of the dead winter plants seem bursting with new life. Just for fun, I went to www.dictionary.com and typed in the word “spring”. To my surprise, there were 45 definitions listed. So, if you are curious, now is your chance to go find out how all the word spring may be used!

I don’t know if you are like a fish nibbling at a worm yet or not. I have tried to make you at least a little curious, curious enough to take the bite and read the rest of what I am writing here. Yes, I actually would do something like that, something like try to get your attention so you want to finish reading. So, what did I actually mean by the title? I meant that it is almost spring here. Yes, in fact, time change has already occurred. I can never keep track of when it is regular time and when it is Daylight Savings Time, but I do know that in the Spring we SPRING forward. I looked at the calender, and I guess officially spring does not start until March 21st this year, and that is just around the corner. Anyway, the grass is turning green, and robins are out and about, and some days even are feeling a bit like spring!

Actually, I was thinking about how long it has been since I updated this blog. And I was thinking that Winter has flown by. And I realized that Spring was almost here. And now I wonder, what have I done this winter that will count for eternity? Better yet, what is my goal for this spring? Am I just aimlessly going through life drifting wherever the winds blow me? Or do I have a goal in mind, my eyes on a target; am I standing at the wheel, plotting a course, standing strait and tall in the storm, going forward, upward, higher, onward? Its so easy for me to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of business and forget that “without a vision the people perish”. I am becoming increasingly convinced that the most sure way of ending up in the middle of nowhere having compromised so much that we hardly stand for anything at all is to lack a vision and just try to maintain what we have. I believe that the Lord Jesus calls his children to always be pressing on, His Church is to be an ever increasing Kingdom which will have no end!

And if someone is reading this blog, and you are not one of Christ’s disciples, spring has a message for you too. Spring; I mentioned that it brings memories of dead things becoming alive. Have you ever stopped to realize that you too are dead apart from the life of Christ? I wonder, what is your objection to Christ. Surely it is not that in mercy He would take you from death into marvelous light! Surely it is not that you can find a fault in Him! Surely you will be without excuse and your own wickedness will be made manifest when you stand before Him condemned for rejecting the only source of life.

So, the next time you see a pen spring, or walk in the woods past some water dripping out of a rock, or even as you watch the winter give way to spring, the dead brown plants turn green and bloom, and when you realize that time is flying by, then – then remember Christ, remember new life, remember that indeed Christ’s Kingdom will grow and conquer!

Have you ever had one of those days where you had everything all planned out… you knew where you would be when, what you would be doing, and just how very much you would get accomplished? And then… Then… Then… your plans changed…

I suppose we have all had days like that. I know that I have had days like that; in fact, today was such a day. I worked for an ambulance service last night, got of at 8 O’Clock, and went strait to the bank only to sit in line for 1/2 an hour. I quickly got fuel at a service station, drove home, picked up my wife and a few other things and headed over to the shop (I had planned to be there by 9…) where I met my good friend and pastor at his mother’s house (she lives next door).  Brother Lawrence had called me and told me that she was not feeling well and asked if I could stop by. At this point in my story I think it behooves me to become a little cautious about the details I disclose (there are laws, known affectionately as HIPPA that govern the spread of a patient’s health information) but the main point is that she ended up going to  a local hospital and eventually on to a larger hospital for further testing and treatment. In any case, I spent the next several hours with my friend and ended up getting to the shop at 1 O’Clock this afternoon. Not quite what I had planned…

The way I see it when we are faced with situations like this we have two choices: 1) we can complain and pity ourselves or 2) we can rejoice in the sovereignty of God and that He is in control. Part of this is understanding that God had both our good and His glory in mind with everything He allows into our lives. I choose to rejoice in His goodness. I am also thankful for opportunities to support others when they are going through difficult times.

So yes, my day was different than what I had planned, but it was a good day.

   Yes, time has been flying by at an almost unbelievable rate. I suppose that by the time I am 50 I will realize that time was not passing as quickly now as what it will be then, and if God sees fit to give me even more time and I make it to 70, well, then I might really be beginning to have time in a proper perspective. So no, when I say that time is flying I don’t mean that I saw a clock being tossed out of the window; I mean to say that I feel like time is slipping through my fingers at an incredible rate – the minutes of are slipping past like grains of sand through my fingers.

I mentioned in my last blog that I would try to give you a little bit of information about my time in Vermont this summer. It is hard to believe but we have been back for almost 2 months already and I have not yet given you the promised story…

So, here goes an attempt and perhaps my memories will even be clear enough that you will not feel like you are reading through the foggy mist of the distant past .

On July 4th we took the opportunity to go visit a place called Wilson Castle. It turns out that it was a mansion built by a Dr. in rural Vermont in an effort to please his wife who was from England and used to high society. Her father provided the funds for building the house. The lady was still not happy since a rural area did not provide enough guests to entertain so she ended up moving back to England leaving him with the castle etc. The place is actually quite fascinating; there are many interesting pieces of furniture etc. inside. Most of the furnishings were made specifically for each room and tended to follow a theme including having the wood imported from overseas to mach the rest of the room. All throughout the house there are many beautiful stained glass windows that have not been touched since its construction (and I can’t remember when it was built, perhaps mid to late 1800s? I know it is over 120 years ago). In any case, the Dr. could not afford to keep the place (it also had fields, livestock, barns, servants, etc.) so it was finally sold off for very little. Around the depression it was sold again for a very small sum (even though it cost over a million dollars to build initially). Today part of it is a museum and the servants quarters are a house to the current owner who lives there some of the time. She is the daughter of the man who purchased it during the depression. Some of the rooms had fascinating artwork, others had musical instruments, others had artifacts from around the world. I was most certainly worth going and seeing!

Another day we went to Red Rock Park near Burlington Vermont. It is not a very big  park, but it is basically just some nature trails. We had fun looking around, walking, and taking pictures. One edge of the park borders Lake Champlain and there are some red rocks there, hence the name of the park.  While we were there we also took  pictures of flowers and squirrels, enjoyed the sights and sounds of nature, and enjoyed spending time together. (By the way, trying to get a close up of a squirrel proved to be harder than what I guessed, but in the end patience paid off ) There were quite a few sailboats out that day and we thought is was fun to watch them sailing along and not hear loud motors breaking the stillness. I hope the sign in this picture is large enough for you to read. I don’t think I have ever seen a regulatory sign with a message addressed to dogs before. Just in case you can’t read it I will quote it. “Attention Dog Walkers Pick up after your dogs and use a leash. It’s the law. Attention Dogs Grrr, Bark, Woof-woof, Good dog.” I must say that Bethany and I have both gotten several laughs out of that sign. If only the dogs knew that they were being talked too, and if only we knew what the sign was telling them. But I guess it doesn’t really affect me since I do not have a dog at this point in my life. But so much for my pet habits… they really don’t help you to understand what I did this summer!

Another evening we made the drive through some scenic rural parts of Vermont to a place called Texas Falls. It was interesting, photos don’t really do it justice. It is a series of three small falls, but the water was so clear and the setting so lovely that looking at a picture is a bit like thinking that a picture in a cookbook would give you a true sense of smell and taste. We had a nice time there and especially enjoyed the chance to be out in nature for a little while. Overall our summer was really a blessing. The class that I took went well, and I was very grateful for the help that Bethany gave me in the evenings and on weekends with my studying. I can say that we are both glad to be back in Tennessee and are looking forward to having some time to spend doing ordinary everyday things. It will also be nice to be close to most of both of our families and fellowship with fellow children of God.