Birthdays, Batons, and Bouncy Castles - Oh My!

June has been an eventful month for the Dilleys!  We started the month celebrating our little man's second birthday (can you believe it?) Ethan is very into Dinosaurs lately, so we threw him a Dinosaur-themed party, complete with a Dinosaur cake!  He loved turning two and had a great time eating, opening presents, and spending time with his family.  
 

Ethan's Dinosaur Friends

 

 Blowing out the candles!

Not too long after we celebrated Ethan's birthday, Chris and I celebrated our 6-year anniversary.  It is amazing to look back at our lives six years ago and to see what the Lord has graciously done in our lives.  We kept it simple with dinner and a movie, but, honestly, we love to sit and talk, so it was the perfect date!  I feel incredibly blessed to be married to Chris and am honored to be his wife!

 Date Night!

I was also blessed to be able to participate in a special event at our church a few weeks ago.  As some of you know, my former youth pastor, Patrick McGoldrick, was recently diagnosed with ALS (see post here).  This year, as we honored the last graduating class under his ministry, our pastor surprised Patrick with a tribute to his ministry and a charge to keep running hard after Christ.  Lining the auditorium, a student from each graduating class under Patrick, from 2000 to 2012, passed a baton that read "Keep the Pace" - a reminder to keep running hard after Christ.  I was incredibly honored to be the representative for 2002.  As the baton was passed last to Patrick, we were all humbled by what Lord has done and continues to do through the ministry of Patrick and Dena.

Finally, as school wraps up this year, Emma, Ethan, and I visited my Dad's class on Field Day, and were able to do something we had never done before - jump in a bouncy castle by ourselves!  The school had rented several large bouncy castles for the students, but during lunchtime they were unoccupied and Emma and Ethan were able to jump, jump, jump!  

 Bouncing Away!

Video of all the fun!

And June isn't even over yet!

Hogwarts, Class of 2025

It seems like just yesterday I was writing about Emma's first day of preschool, and now I am writing about her graduation.  Yes, I am one of those Moms who loves all the ceremonies and celebrations - even in preschool!

The day of her graduation was an eventful one.  We began the morning at the pediatrician's office with Ethan who somehow managed to perforate his ear drum (he will be fine, but he gave us quite a scare).  Then, I took her to National Coney Island where she enjoyed, what else but a Coney Dog!  One of Emma's favorite treats is going to a restaurant and getting a hot dog, so she was very excited.


Then, we picked up Nani and headed to her last day of preschool.  We had a great time playing on the playground and cooling off with some Popsicles.  Finally, it was the moment we couldn't believe was here.  Her teacher, Mrs. Grashik, called her up and handed Emma her diploma and read from a sheet with questions they asked her about Kindergarten.  We have gotten several of these sheets this past year about various topics (How to Cook a Turkey, Holiday Questionnaire, etc) and they have all been pretty humorous.  This one was no exception!  Pay particular attention to the last two questions:

That's right, magic!  We have absolutely no idea why she has magic on the brain, but she is most excited about learning magic in Kindergarten.  Look out Harry Potter, Hogwarts has a new student!

Nonetheless, we are so proud of our Emma.  It is amazing to see how much she has learned this past year in school and we are so looking forward to seeing how much she will learn in Kindergarten.  We are also so thankful for her wonderful teachers, Mrs. Grashik and Mrs. Kehrig and all the time and energy they poured into her this year.  Their patience and love for learning made Emma love school even more!

Four years ago when I held that beautiful little baby in my arms for the first time, I could not have imagined how much joy she would bring to our lives.  What a blessing it has been to see how the Lord has grown her into such a smart and beautiful little girl and we are so thankful that the Lord has entrusted her to us.  We love you, Emma, and are so happy we are your Mom and Dad.  Look out Kindergarten, here comes Emma . . .

Emma graduating!

 

Nani and Emma

 

Mrs. Kehrig, Emma, Mom, and Mrs. Grashik

Take My Breath Away

One of Chris' favorite 80's songs is "Take My Breath Away" by Berlin (I can hear hear him singing goofily as I write).  Unfortunately, for me, it has become recent reality.  A few months ago, I came down with pneumonia (see post here).  After being treated with steroids and antibiotics, it went away quickly and I was thankful to be well again.

However, last week I started having difficulty breathing again.  My chest felt very tight, and it got worse Sunday after I sang in choir.  It took my breath away, and not because of the Holy Spirit (although it was an awesome song)!  So, I made another appointment with my doctor and she ran some tests to see what was going on.  My lungs are still free of pneumonia, but after a Pulmonary Breathing Test (PBT) she came back into the room looking very concerned.  For a non-smoker with no history or family history of breathing problems, the results were not good.  My lungs are not functioning as they should.  To start, I am now back on a steroid regimen and have a rescue inhaler.  Next, my doctor is recommending a pulmonary specialist and a CT scan.

Was this the news I wanted to hear?  Not really.  As a wife and mother of two rambunctious children, I was hoping for a less serious diagnosis.  However, I am learning again and again that God is sovereign and that His ways are not my own!  I can trust in Him because he is perfect in every way and because He has proved His grace and goodness in my life again and again.  Even in this trial, we have seen the many blessings that God has given us.

So, I am resting on His promises and praying for grace to trust Him more.  Mercifully, the steroids and inhaler have opened up my lungs and my breathing has already improved!  Please pray that I would not have an allergic reaction to them (as I did last time on a different type of steroid), and that the side effects would be alleviated; my joints ache pretty severely and my appetite is gone, which is problematic because I need to eat more when I am on them.  Also pray that God would grant Chris and I wisdom and discernment as we adjust and re-prioritize my daily activities. 

I was reading in Job this morning, and was encouraged and convicted by Job's response to the great calamity that the Lord had allowed in His life.  He says:

“But ask the animals, and they will teach you,
    or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you;

or speak to the earth, and it will teach you,
or let the fish in the sea inform you

  Which of all these does not know
    that the hand of the Lord has done this? 

 

 In his hand is the life of every creature
    and the breath of all mankind."

Let us trust in the hand of the Lord for he is sovereign and over all things! 

Patrick's Sermon: The Sovereignty of God

Last Sunday, my former Youth Pastor and friend, Patrick McGoldrick, preached a sermon on the sovereignty of God.  Patrick was recently diagnosed with ALS (see post here), and to hear him tell his testimony of the Lord's sovereignty and working in his life was humbling, encouraging, and challenging.  

This may have been the last sermon that Patrick is physically able to preach.  However, his testimony of God's grace and goodness can be seen in his daily life and in the many lives of those he has ministered to throughout the years, of which mine is one.


I encourage you to watch this video and be challenged.  We so often take for granted the ability to physically preach the Word of God - do your words preach Christ?  Do you take every opportunity you can to tell of what a wondrous and holy God we serve?   

"I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching...As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry."

2 Timothy 4:1-3, 5

For some of you, you may watch this and empathize with Patrick's testimony.  Do you know the Lord?  Or are you trusting in "man's ways"?  I encourage you today to confess your sins, trust in Christ as your Lord and Savior, and live your life for God's sovereign ways! 

"If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved."

Romans 10:9-10 

A Long Overdue Letter

I grew up a church kid. God graciously blessed me with parents who love the Lord and who value the importance of being members of a local church. In our case, that local church is Cornerstone Baptist Church. I have attended Cornerstone since I was 6, and to say that the men and women of Cornerstone have been used by God to change my life is a gross understatement. There are so many precious servants of the Lord, from the Senior Pastor to my Sunday school teachers, to whom I am forever grateful to for showing me the love of Christ in their ministry and lives.

There is one person in particular, however, that God has used to indelibly change my spiritual walk. That person is my former Youth Pastor, Patrick McGoldrick.

I first met Patrick, Dena, Paige, and Parker when I was a sophomore in high school, and was instantly drawn to their family. Like many youth pastors, Patrick is gregarious and full of humor, but what really characterizes Patrick is his intense desire to see the name of God glorified through the Gospel of Christ. Sure, there were plenty of fun games and activities for us to participate in, but Patrick never failed to point us to Christ. He challenged us to share our faith, took us on mission trips where we could do so, identified our spiritual gifts and nurtured them, and taught faithfully from God’s Word. I could write pages upon pages of how my time in the youth group under Patrick and Dena’s ministry has forever changed my life and how I am incredibly blessed and honored to have been a part of their ministry.

What has impacted me the most, however, has been their response to a life-altering trial. In December of last year, Patrick was diagnosed with ALS. ALS is a degenerative disease with an average life expectancy of two years. Many would receive this devastating news and question the goodness and faithfulness of God. Instead, as Patrick and his family stood in front of our congregation to relay the news, he spoke of a loving and sovereign God who is still good and worthy of all glory.

Patrick, Dena, Paige, and Parker – it has been ten years since I graduated high school, and it has taken me too long to publicly express my thankfulness to you for your love and instruction in my life, but I want to honor you now.

Patrick, on Sunday you will preach from the pulpit for what may be the last time, but your ministry is far from finished. Even if the Lord chooses to take your speech, know that your entire life resounds with your love of Christ and His Gospel with a deafeningly loud steadfastness. You have never wavered from your call to serve the Lord and His people. You challenged me and countless others to follow hard after Christ and then led by example. I cannot express what a blessing it has been to have been a part of your ministry and to now be called your friend.

Dena, there is not a memory of Patrick serving in the church that does not involve you standing faithfully beside him, encouraging and serving as well. The door to your home was always open, your shoulder was always there to cry on, and you never missed an opportunity to share about the love of Christ. You are truly the embodiment of a godly woman and you have shown me such love, grace, and encouragement that I am a better wife and mother today because of your example.

Paige and Parker, as I look at you today, it is surreal to see how much you have grown – physically and spiritually. Your lives are living testimonies of God’s blessing upon your parents’ faithfulness to raise you in the fear of the Lord. Keep running hard after the Lord, follow Him with everything that is in you, and know that you are never alone. Our God is so good and gracious and He will not abandon his children.

Finally, know that there is not a single prayer uttered in the Dilley household that does not include one or more of you. And although we cannot comprehend the pain of facing death and of losing our spouse and father as you do, we weep with you over the pain you are enduring during this valley. But while we weep for a time, we rejoice in the knowledge that this earth is not our home and that Christ will return again to redeem His people.

We know that your service to the Lord was never done for recognition or accolades and that your aim in life is to bring glory to God and not to yourselves, but we are so thankful for what God has chosen to do through you. Chris and I truly find it hard to express the indelible mark you all have had, and continue to have, on our family’s life. We love you. May God continue to be lifted up as we await his glorious and triumphant return.

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To follow Patrick's story, visit https://patricksstory.wordpress.com/

The Secret Garden

During our anniversary trip to Cincinnati last June, Chris took me to Barnes & Noble to pick out some new books. I thoroughly enjoy their Classics series (they have great footnotes, end notes, and commentary), so I usually head straight for their special section. As I stood in front of the display, scanning for my next find, I saw The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, and immediately snatched it up.

Like most, I have read The Secret Garden before, but it has been a while. My love of the book actually comes from my Dad. Growing up, my Dad had the soundtrack for the Broadway music, The Secret Garden, and, to this day, I can still hear the beautifully haunting medleys (Listen here for the opening number, "I Heard Someone Crying").

The plot centers around a young girl, Mary, born and raised in India. Her parents, not exactly thrilled to be parents, ignore and leave her in the care of an Ayah (Hindi for Nanny), and she becomes so terribly spoiled, that, "by the time she was six years old, she was as tyrannical and selfish a little pig as ever lived." Almost as soon as the book begins, Mary is orphaned when an outbreak of cholera plagues her household and everyone she knows has died. She is whisked from India to England to live with her uncle, Archibold Crane, and a new mystery begins.

Upon arrival, Mary soon discovers that Misselthwaite Manor is full of secrets. She learns that her late Aunt Lily tended a beautiful garden somewhere on the grounds, but had been killed after a branch she was sitting on while pregnant broke and fell. Then, while exploring the Manor one rainy day, she hears a faint crying that the household servants tell her to forget. Being curious, she eventually discovers Colin, her sickly cousin (born premature from his mother's fall), shut up in his room and tended to in secret. Colin, like Mary, is spoiled and a terror to anyone who dare bother him. Mary, not intimidated by her cousin, begins to visit Colin and a friendship begins.

Finally, she discovers her aunt's secret garden, and with the help of her governess's brother, Dickon, she begins to bring the garden back to life. During her life in India, she had been sickly and rarely went outdoors, but her new project transforms her physically into a healthy little girl and changes her sour attitude into a kind and happy one. Amazed by her own transformation, she believes that Colin could experience the same kind of transformation if he too could spend some time in the "magical" garden. With the help of Dickon, Mary begins to bring Colin to the secret garden and, in the end, the boy whom everyone thought was crippled from his mother's fall walks to his father (Archibold Crane) for the first time in his life.

When you read, The Secret Garden, it is clear why it is a classic; Beautifully written, it is an intriguing story of a spoiled and lonely young girl who is changed for the better when she begins to care for someone (Colin) and something (the garden) other than herself. Though written in 1911, The Secret Garden is a story that is still relevant. There are still children who are "terrible" because their parents in large part ignore them and give them whatever they want. There are still people who's negative attitudes contribute to what physically ails them. Frances Hodgson Burnett does an amazing job of describing how the depravity of some people, even children, can show in their physical appearance.

However, when you read stories and literature, even ones that seem as benign as The Secret Garden, it is important that you read with discernment. As Mary's health and attitude change, she attributes this change to the "magic" of the garden. This "magic" is then referred to over and over as the story progresses. I first thought, "Well, maybe Burnett is using 'magic' and 'imagination' interchangeably." Upon a little research of Frances Hodgens Burnett, it is clear that this is not what she meant.

Burnett was very much influenced by Mary Baker Eddy and Christian Science movement, which believes that illness was an illusion and that positive thinking could overcome any so-called illness. Sound familiar? In the book, both a sickly and negative Mary, and especially, Colin, are physically healed when their negative thoughts begin to transform.

There are many things wrong with this assertion - first, we know that illness is real. There are many of our friends and family who are dealing with very real, very serious, and sometimes incurable disease. It is insulting and ignorant to assert that it doesn't exist. Secondly, it is a heresy to assert that positive thinking alone has the power to heal. There is only one Healer of our bodies and souls, and that is Jesus Christ. Not to say that positive thinking and a good attitude doesn't aid in physical illness, but, as Christians, we know that we are not in control (thankfully) and that it is the Lord who sovereignly controls our lives and health.

So, does the claim that The Secret Garden "is generally credited with being a Christian Science book" (1) surprise you? To be honest, I was! When I read the book as a young girl, I really had no concept of the Christian Science religion and really wasn't discerning enough to put two and two together. Even as I read the book again as an adult, it took some research to explain my dislike of her use of the word "magic" as it related to the healing.

Now that I know, will I forbid my children from reading this book? No! Why? Because we live in a world filled with bad and dangerous ideas about God and life. I will read this book to my children and have a discussion about what is good in this book and also about what is incorrect. We miss out on a lot of teaching opportunities when we run away from what we should be teaching our children to confront head-on Plus, if I ran away from every Great Book that was theologically incorrect, I would run out of books to read pretty quickly. I am not saying that all books are worth reading, but some, like The Secret Garden, are wonderfully written stories with lots of heart and imagination that provide great opportunities to teach our children (and us) about who God is and what He does. Happy Reading!



NOTE: If you want to be a more discerning reader, but don't have time to research a classic book or its author, Barnes & Noble's Classics editions have great introductory sections that give background on the author, the history of the time it was written, and even a timeline of significant events in the author's lifetime that include personal, literary, and historical happenings that help you to understand the story even more. You can purchase The Secret Garden here from Barnes & Noble for only $3.99 or get the plain book version for FREE for the Kindle here.

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(1) Vivian Burnett, The Romantick Lady, 1927, p.377

A Presidential & Pneumonic Update

As many of you know, it is cold and flu season. After about 3 weeks of a nasty head cold and encouragement from my family, I finally made an appointment to see the doctor and was diagnosed with pneumonia. Immediately, I began a medicinal regimen and was put on bed rest until my breathing improved. My wonderful husband stayed with me the first half of the week, then my parents for the latter. I am so thankful and grateful for all of their help, support, and "gentle" reminders to rest.

Lord willing, my breathing will be much better by the time I am finished with my medicine (it has already greatly improved) and my strength will return soon. Please pray for patience and discernment as I attempt to return to a normal schedule. Many have advised that pneumonia can involve a long-term recovery and I want to be careful of doing too much too soon.

On a lighter note, it is Primary season, and I thought you would enjoy a little update from a previous post. I was gifted with a Barack Obama Chia Pet for Christmas, and finally have grown the seeds. As promised, Barack has grown! Here are some recent photos that I thought would make you smile...."Yes, We Can!" And remember, get out and vote in your state's primary!

After 1 Week



After 2 Weeks



After 3/4 Weeks - it looks as if he is starting the growing process again (there are new seeds at the bottom)