Hi all! Thanks so much for your many well wishes! I thought I would attach a few pictures from our first day with our new little friends. Lina and Daphne greeted their new siblings with enthusiasm, and Nana had to start practicing her two baby hold. Anyways, here they are, and ain’t they sweet? We might just up and pop with love. 
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Monthly Archive for November, 2007
….of Chloe Lynn Geddes Jankovic and her twin brother Titus James Jankovic tonight at 11:30 and 11:44 P.M.
Chloe weighed in at 7 lb. 2 oz. and is 19 inches long, and Titus weighs 7 lb. 9 oz. and is 20 and a half inches long. He was the gentleman and let her go first.
Both are beautiful and healthy. Mama was superb and fantastic and Luke is the award-winning, hands-on birth coach. Our thanks to a wonderful nursing staff at Gritman, especially Kim Foote and Eda Browning, the babies’ doctor John Grauke, and Rachel’s obstetrician Ric Minudri. What an impressive and kind group of saints.
All praise and thanks to God!
I just wanted to take a moment to be pleased that I finished the Christmas stockings! True, none of the ends are woven in, and none of the hanging loops are done, and mine is only about five inches long so far, but who cares? I’m done! I almost expected my water to break as I was closing the last toe – the stockings being the one thing that I had to finish before the babies come. I started Luke’s a long time ago, thought I didn’t like the pattern part way through and stalled out. Then, in a binge of knitting righteousness thought I should finish it anyways. I did, and then actually liked it. Starting out to knit four kids stockings seemed unreasonable, so I thought I would just do one or two this year. As soon as I was working on Lina’s, the pressure was on to finish Daphne’s before the babies came. Daphne would stand at my knee and say “what you makin’ mama?” – Lina would fill her in that it was her Christmas stocking, and Daphne would say “and me stocking mama, and me!” So I pretty much did a knitting sprint through those two, and then decided to try the twins too. Now, it doesn’t really matter if I don’t get mine done (it will be the same pattern as Luke’s, but in the girl colors). YAY!
When women are eager to conceive a child, they must beware a few common temptations. Of course desiring children is a good thing and we ought to ask God for good things. But as you seek the Lord’s blessing of children, don’t lose perspective on the blessing He has already given you, and that is your husband.
A husband can begin to feel pretty beat up if his wife is unhappy about not conceiving. One husband I know of told his wife that he was beginning to feel like a stud service. Now that sounds pretty crude, but it is telling. The marriage bed should be a place of delight and rejoicing, and you don’t want it to become performance oriented. This puts undue pressure on the joys of lovemaking and can make a husband feel like a failure. Even if it is not technically his fault, he can feel responsible for his wife’s unhappiness in not having children.
In some cases, where couples have been “trying” to get pregnant and just getting themselves stressed out, I suggest they just pitch the calendar and the charts and go back to the beginning of simple enjoyment of one another. You want children to be the fruit of your love, not the product of stress and strain.
William Wilberforce writing about his wife:
“I believe her to be a real Christian,” he wrote, “affectionate, sensible, rational in habits, moderate in desires and pursuits, capable of bearing prosperity without intoxication, and adversity without repining.”
This is from David Vaughn’s biography of Wilberforce, published by Cumberland House, titled Statesman and Saint.
With Christmas coming and Thanksgiving behind us, we are now seriously in the Holy-Day season. And along with the exhilaration and anticipation of celebrating Christ’s birth can come some serious logistical challenges. For example, who is going to celebrate where? And when? As a covenantal community who rejoices in family and generational faithfulness, what do Papa and Nana (or Nina and Poppy, or whatever) do about having all the kids over? And what does each individual family unit do about going (or not going) to Grandma’s? I’m not pretending to solve any dilemmas here, but I will give you a few suggestions or guidelines to help out.
First, for the grandmas out there, myself included: The principle is always to set your children free. This means setting them free from manipulation, emotional appeals, demands, and expectations. And I understand that this is a tall order, especially at Christmas. Remember how you felt way back when you were first married? Did you ever feel the pressure of wanting your parents’ and in-laws’ approval? Did you ever feel their criticism? Do you remember how much you didn’t like that pressure to perform and how you vowed you would NEVER do this to your own children? Well, here is your opportunity. Make your home a place where your children WANT to come.
Daughters and daughters-in-law among you out there, here is my exhortation to you: Honor your husband and honor your parents and in-law parents. Bless the gray heads in your family by bestowing your children on them (in doses they will enjoy). The glory of old Continue reading ‘Christmas & Family’
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