welcome to spiceland.

Check out our new layout! Erin finally spent some time putting together a well-made website, instead of that hack job we had going before! We moved the search box to the right, and added a jumpbox where you can quickly choose between categories. Or click “This Site’s Referrers” to see a list of websites that link to thespicelands.com and how many visitors we’ve gotten from them!

Our blog now lets you subscribe to specific notifications by category. For instance, all of you who don’t care about stuff in the “Tech Stuff” category can sign up to receive notifications about posts in the other categories, but not “Tech Stuff.” To do this, just click the “Unsubscribe” link in one of the notification emails and then re-subscribe. This time, when you do, it will ask you to select the categories you want to subscribe to. Just press <CTRL> as you click to select more than one category!

God has personally touched me several times in my life. I don’t know His purposes for my life, but I want to be open when he calls again. Until then, I’ll do my best to be a good husband, a good father, and trying to keep His will above my own.

There have been several times when I have been positive of God’s presence and that he was personally speaking to me. On each occasion, it was personally moving but didn’t seem to be of interest to others. Because I thought that, I don’t know if I’ve mentioned any of them to many people, even those close to me. Here are a few:

When I was in middle school, I had a strong personal interest in spiritual things that lead me to take a class that ended in Baptism. I felt God throughout the learning process, but certainly on the day of baptism. I rarely use this as an example, probably because it seems so mainstream. I expect others to yawn and think “of course he thinks he felt God when he was around a bunch of folk leading him towards baptism”. Regardless of whether people think that, for me, it was real. The most important aspect about this first close experience was that I read and talked to lots of people about it but I felt God’s acceptance as I internally dedicated myself to His purposes.

Since then, I have fallen away and come back several times being pre-occupied with my own interests and desires.

I had a similar experience since I met Erin. Again, the timing wasn’t unique, the ground did not shake, and no angels appeared. Nonetheless, I am certain that God was with me. I was talking to God quietly in prayer. In particular, just as before, I dedicated myself to Him, telling him that it was my desire to have His will be done, not mine. At that moment, I could feel is presence throughout me. I was much more aware of his presence than where I was or who was around. For whatever reason, I was brought to tears (from being overwelmed, I assume) and told Erin what happened, but no one else.

God also has interacted with my life. I’m sure there are lots of times that I think of right now but a few come to my mind. First, anyone who knows me knows how much I love Seiko. We were really upset last year when the doctor found the tumor that didn’t look good on her leg. Because of the type of tumor it was, the doc said it wouldn’t go away and that he’d need to take it off. We scheduled surgery for a week later. By the time of the surgery, we had posted it to this blog and did lots of praying on our own. The tumor shrunk into almost nothing and the vet said to leave it alone. It has since then completely disappeared! I was reluctant to proclaim it for fear of sounding crazy, but I am positive that God healed it. Whether it makes me seem crazy or not, I’ll let you think I’m crazy since God gave me more time with Seiko. My last experience that I want to share is just our most recent experience. When Tru got her erythema multiforme that turned her swollen, red, and itchy, we researched it online. We researched it enough to know two things (1) it could be dangerous, even fatal (5-10% chance had it gotten any worse) (2) it takes a long time to heal (3-6 weeks). Thanks to God listening to all of our prayers, she not only got better but healed in just a week!

I mentioned a few specifics. I am convinced that God has worked in our lives in lots of other ways, many that we didn’t even know. I’d guess that sometimes we’d think of His blessings as bad things because we wouldn’t know His reasons. For instance, there may have been opportunities that we missed by having Tru so early. These “opportunities” may have caused us to leave Huntsville, spend money, or do anything that might through us off course from God’s plan. I do not know what God’s use for us is yet, but hopefully that makes sense.

I’m not sure why I was motivated to post this blog entry. I had an overwhelming urge to post this but I don’t know why. I’ve got lots of people and relationships that I pray for. At the moment, I think often of a family member of mine who has recent health concerns. I know he believes in God and I don’t feel like I have anything unique to offer him, but still, I wonder if something with that situation is why I should be posting. I have numerous friends who I pray for. I have some friends who do not claim any sort of faith and I worry about their souls. Others claim to be Christian but they don’t go to church or mention God. I always think about how the Bible says “take the log out of your own eye before pointing out a splinter in someone elses” before I say anything. At a minimum, I welcome anyone to come to church with us, come over for a meal and discuss things, or especially, to point out any splinters that I might have. I don’t know if it is to open a dialog with one of them, to open a dialog with a random visitor that I don’t yet know, or for no reason at all.

I thank God for all of you willing to take the time to check out our “goings on.” I pray for you all and hope that you listen for anything God might say to you. Come over or call and talk about it if you like. If we can do anything, let us know. Give to those less fortunate (www.compassion.com). Also, know that God is in control. He has a plan for your life. Trust in Him, and all will go according to plan… His plan.

Thanks to everyone who remembered us while we were sick! Slowly but surely, we’re getting better. Erin got a steriod and a stronger antibiotic from her doctor yesterday, so she’s feeling much better. Tru’s all better now too, but we’re still watching out for Mike, who might be slipping back into his illness

After cousin Brady’s birth last year, Tru finally has a second cousin!! Lola Catherine Bartlett was born on February 10th at 1:22AM, after a labor of more than 29 hours. She was 8 pounds 3 ounces. Incidentally, Tru and Lola have the same middle name. They were both named after their respective grandmothers.

Pictures here!

Congratulations!!

Tru (kinda) figured out how to use crayons. Here is a short clip of her learning.

Tru Coloring

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I know the folks in Memphis got 5″ of snow the past couple of days, but we just got a “frosting”. When I first noticed I took a few seconds with the video camera. Shame on all of you for not taking any pictures and emailing them to me!

It’s Snowing (a little)

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I stumbled on an old video of my NSX. It may be the only one that I have. When I had it, I didn’t see the point of making a video to remember. Now that I know that we’ve been without for so long, its nice to get to see “her” again.

Old Clip of the NSX Before Honeymoon

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News: Erin is still sick but her temp has gone (sore throat). Tru is still sick but her temp is gone (runny nose and slight cough).

Tru and I played with the microphone. Here is a short clip of her saying some things. She does get kinda shy and try to eat the microphone. She starting saying “wuv you” and I tried to get but couldn’t quite. Warning: its cheesy since I am baby talking and trying to get her to say it again.

tru and daddy-enc.mp3

Update on Erin: Erin is at the doctors right now. She has a fever of 102.7 and a sore throat. She might have strep. I wish I could go with her but we didn’t want Tru near the germs

Michael

Oh no! Even Erin got sick! I don’t know if she has what I had/have or not. She has a small fever of 101 F. She had a hard time eating tonight because her stomach doesn’t feel good, and her throat is very sore. I didn’t have any stomach things or fever with my cold. Also in bad news, Tru is either still sick and getting worse or sick again. She’s had a slight runny nose and I figured her cold was lingering like mine. Unfortunately, her fever came back at 101 F also. Its Friday so I can’t take my girls to the doc I sure hope this isn’t another sinus infection for Tru!

At least Tru is still happy! Erin on the other hand … doesn’t feel so good.

UPDATE: Erin has Strep throat. She’s going to one of those 7 days a week walk in clinics today.

Michael

Thanks for all your prayers and comments! Tru is doing much better now. The steroid and benadryl have really helped a lot. Her rash is about 90% gone now, and all she has left are the bruises caused by the peteciae. The doctor said these could take a week or more to go away. She is still very cranky, so I think she’s still tired from her illness. At least she isn’t itchy anymore!

Attached is a picture we took of her holding a picture of what she looked like when she was sickest.

Tru finally has a diagnosis! She has erythema multiforme as a result of a an allergic reaction to amoxycillin. Erythema multiforme (er-a-THEEM-a mul-tee-FOR-mee) is a specific type of rash that is characterized by spots that look like three concentric circles: an outer red ring followed by a normal skin colored ring, followed by an inner red ring. Swelling causes peteciae (pa-TEE-kee-ah) (bright red dots underneath the skin caused by bursting capillaries), which causes the rash to turn from red to purple after time. Its most common between ages 3 and 20, and is supposed to be very rare under age 3. There is a form of EM that can be very serious, but that form is even rarer and characterized by lesions in the mouth, which Tru does not have.

She is on steroids now and seems like it isn’t getting any worse. The doctor says it will be bad like this for about 5 more days then it will last 3-4 more weeks but not as bad. That is a *good* thing because she’s really unhappy now from what seems like constant burning and itching. She’s also officially allergic to penicillins.

All, please pray for her. It breaks our hearts.

More pictures here.