Rob and Anne Oglesbee

Check out a few of the new pictures of the kids.  The album includes miscellaneous stuff from this month, including their birthday party (those didn't turn out as well).

I came across a great podcast recently, unfortunately just in time for it to be canceled.  The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS) has a radio station in St. Louis at Seminary.  As part of its programming was a show that discussed current issues as well as Lutheran doctrine and their intersection.  Fascinating stuff.  Take a look at the archives here.  I don't agree with everything the hosts and guests proclaim, but as might be expected, its awful hard to argue.  Which at the very least leads to a lot of internal dialogue.  In particular, there was a series on the Funeral Liturgy in the Lutheran Church that was super interesting.

 

As to why such a great program was canceled, the short story is that it is a symptom of a Synodical rift that has been developing for quite some time. The rift is between those in the leadership who are trying to move the Church in the direction of the Joel Olsteen/Rick Warren Church Growth movement and those pastors who insist on the more traditional confessional Lutheran liturgy.  Another symptom of the rift was the controversy a few years ago with the Lutheran pastor who participated in a multifaith worship service with several non-Christians.

 

Anyway, peruse the archives.  If you are interesting in the program and would like to see it back on the air, take a look at a few of these sites (and sign the petition!).

 

Compilation site of info.

Sefia came home Sunday.  She's doing great, you wouldn't know she had surgery last week unless you saw the incision.  Although today she slowed down a bit.  Must have overdone it yesterday.  There are some new pictures in the album, too.

 

Thank you all for the prayers!  They've been answered the way we hoped.

Great News!!!!  Sefia went in to surgery today mid-afternoon, and it was pretty quick (less than 45 minutes).  They removed the cyst without any real complications and she is dozing (morphine drip through epidural).  The cyst had a little over a liter of fluid (blood) in it.  So it was most likely also the cause of her anemia.

 

She is doing well and will be in the hospital for several more days while she recovers.  Thank you all for your prayers, we had many people praying and it had a great impact.  God is good!

Well, Sefia is penciled in for surgery Tuesday afternoon.  Unless she gets bumped by a more urgent surgery (we were told this was likely).  It is more likely that she will have it Thursday afternoon instead.  We won't find out until Tuesday morning.  They will be removing the cyst from her abdomen.  It has probably been there for quite some time, but started getting much bigger in the last week or so.  It could have been congenital, or caused by a reaction to a parasite (the body will sometimes wall off a parasite in a cyst as one means of protection).  We still don't know if her anemia was caused by the cyst or is a separate issue.

 

Please pray for her and her doctors, especially Tuesday and/or Thursday.  There have been many many people who have been praying for us and offering support, and we are quite humbled by it.  Thank you.