Author Archives: Seth Grotzke

Celebrate Life with us!

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Today is the day that we celebrate life. We celebrate the life of Tanzen who is adding another year to her life. And we celebrate the life of Crystal, who has received one more good gift from the Father above, the gift of breath, thought, feeling, and smile.

It was three years ago today that Tanzen entered this unprotected world, and it was three years ago that Crystal almost left it. But she didn’t.

So we celebrate. We pray a prayer of thanksgiving to the Maker for he has seen fit to give our family another year.

3/13

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3/14

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3/15

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3/16

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Weakness

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Weakness

I have a friend who sends me a quote every day from Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening. This one was particularly challenging:

“Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.” (Ephesians 3:8)

…The fuller a vessel becomes, the deeper it sinks in the water. Idlers may indulge a fond conceit of their abilities, because they are untried; but the earnest worker soon learns his own weakness. If you seek humility, try hard work; if you would know your nothingness, attempt some great thing for Jesus. If you would feel how utterly powerless you are apart from the living God, attempt especially the great work of proclaiming the unsearchable riches of Christ, and you will know, as you never knew before, what a weak unworthy thing you are.

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Those pesky time zones

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One of the 21st century problems we face is instant communication. Not long ago, communication was limited to email. Before that there were scheduled phone calls and hand written letters. Before letters…pigeons?

But today we have iMessaging and FaceTime. I can text people in the States the same as I text people next door, for free, at any time of the day.

So where is the problem? The problem is that I live 6-9 hours ahead of many of those who are receiving my texts or answering our FaceTime. Once, we FaceTimed my parents at 10 am our time, which was a respectable hour for us. Their 3 am alarm clock was not quite so respectable. We are sorry.

So how do we capitalize on instantaneous communication (truly a gift from God) without suffering from sleep deprivation caused by the pinging, beeps, buzzes, and 80’s hair band ring tones?

Enter Do Not Disturb.

The following is for iOS users. Those using Android can figure it out on their own.

Go to Settings

Click on “Do Not Disturb”

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Set your Scheduled time for times that work for you.

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This way I don’t feel badly for sending you a text before lunch when you should be hitting your REM cycle.

Keepsakes – to keep or not to keep

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We are in the throws of evaluating what we keep and what we toss. It is sometimes a very painful process.
Here is the flow chart that we came up with for choosing what keepsakes we pack in our limited space on the plane to Spain, what we keep in storage here in the States, and what we pass on.

Accessories of keepsake<Keepsake<Using/Playing with Keepsake<the Giver of the Keepsake

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Let me introduce you to “Play Elli” (left), “Part-of-the-family Elli” (center), and “Mommy’s Elli” (Right)

 

Tied to keepsakes are a host of other accessories. Crystal has a doll from her childhood, and everything that comes with a baby. (I am actually confident we could raise Tanzen with fewer accessories than most dolls have.) Those bibs, strollers, and bonnets are all nice, but the doll trumps the accessories. In the pile of accessories, we could actually lose the doll. So when in question, the accessories get the boot first.
Then the keepsake itself comes under consideration. What type of value have we assigned to it? Does it remind us of something significant, or are we just holding on to it because we have always kept it? If it carries no emotional weight, it has become dead weight.
Following the evaluation of the keepsake, we then look at whether it will continue to remind us of something significant and eventually mean something to Tanzen. Can it be used or displayed? This doll will remind us of nothing if we never see it, and it for sure will hold limited value to Tanzen if she never sees it or plays with it. So, if it cannot be displayed or used, why are we holding on to it?
At the end of the line is the person to which the keepsake ties us. A doll is special because it connects us to the giver, or even ourselves at a certain time. That is where the true value lies. A doll is about $.05 of plastic and cloth, but its value is incalculable when we recognize that holding that doll reminds us of our grandparents and playing in their living room. That is what the keepsake is there for, and we cherish it.

We don’t want that memory to be lost in the pile of excess.

The missing number

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Do you know that feeling when you are walking down the stairs in the dark and think there is one step left…and there isn’t? That is what it feels like when your new host country has 9 digit not 10 digit phone numbers like the USA.
**Life just doesn’t seem complete when the numbers don’t add up.

120

 

Bats are evil

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The other morning Tanzen and I were listening to the song “O Come, O Come Immanuel,” and I was explaining that people prayed for Jesus to come and rescue them, and we pray today that Jesus would come and rescue us from evil, and bad people, and our sin. And Tanzen said, “and bats. Bats are icky.” Yes. Bats are part of the “evil.”

 

#LessonLearned

Fearfully Safe

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A friend shared this with me from Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening:

“The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power.”

— Nahum 1:3

…Dear reader, what is your state this evening? Can you by humble faith look to Jesus, and say, “My substitute, thou art my rock, my trust”? Then, beloved, be not afraid of God’s power; for by faith you have fled to Christ for refuge, the power of God need no more terrify you, than the shield and sword of the warrior need terrify those whom he loves. Rather rejoice that he who is “great in power” is your Father and Friend.