The Shack

This past week I enjoyed a very fun trip to Shipshewana, IN where we enjoyed a day of shopping at the flea market. For those of you who have never been, I highly recommend it. It's great fun and there is no end to the interesting and sometimes crazy things people try to sell there. During our two hour ride down we spent considerable time talking about good books we had recently read. Several members of our gr0up mentioned the book, The Shack by William Young. While none of them had actually read it they all said it came highly recommended and one person even had a copy at home that was in her "waiting to read next" pile. I had a gift certificate to Family Christian Bookstores so I stopped by there and picked it up. It was incredible. It is a work of fiction but I found myself wishing several times that it was real. I even had to go back and check several times to make sure it wasn't real. Although it is a work of fiction it is chock full of theology, but it's so well written that you don't feel like you are being hit over the head with it. You just end up being amazed at how profoundly well the author explains some of life's most difficult experiences and God's relationship to us within those experiences. I was moved beyond words by some of the images in this book and am anxious to share the thoughts and ideas presented in this book with others. I highly encourage anyone who sees this to read The Shack. For more information you can check out the book's website. I hope that reading this book will bless you the way it has blessed me.

As Requested...

Per the requests we received after the previous post, here are pictures of Jake with his first haircut, taken while horsing around on our bed.

Here's the sideview, as he high-fives Lisa, with Abby doing something ridiculous in the background.

Here's where I can't think of anything to end the post!

A New 'Do, Part Deux

Saturday was a day of haircuts, as 60% of our family got shorn.

In the morning, Jake got his first haircut, at the Alger Barber Shop, by the one and only Harm Faber, who has now cut the hair of at least one member from 5 generations of our family - Jake; me, Nick, Dan and Greg; Dad and Uncle Dan; Grandpa Dekker, and Grandma Dekker's dad, J.C. Lobbes. I believe I have that correct, but there may very well be more people I could list. Jake did quite well once he settled down on Lisa's lap with a pacifier and the toy mouse that Harm keeps for kids. He looks much more like a little boy now, as opposed to an infant that happens to be a boy.


In the afternoon, inspired by Jake's haircut and Abby's transformation a few weeks ago, Annika wanted to get in on the fun (and she needed a trim anyway). She got much more than a trim, however:


A few of us (including me) had the initial impression that she looks like someone we know. Any guesses?

Finally, in the evening, Lizzy buzzed me shorter than I've ever been, since birth. A couple times my hair clogged the trimmer. It's nice not teaching in the summer and then messing around with my appearance. My current goatee is only 2 and half weeks old, too.


Finally, we finished painting our living room last week. Here's the "before" picture, after the wallpaper border came off. I called the color "peach vomit," although it looks yellowish in the picture.

This is the finished product, Woodlawn Juniper, with new crown molding. The flash makes it look much lighter than it is. That should make a better background for the Dekker family Christmas photo if we gather in our living room again this year.

Surprise Prayer Request

Last night, after I helped Abby say a prayer that wasn't unintelligible, Annika's bedtime prayer went like this:

"Dear Lord, thank you that we can go to Frederick Meijer Gardens tomorrow, and thank you for everyone in the world, help all the people that are sick to get better, and the people that are injured to get better, and, ummmmm -- long pause as she thinks of something to say -- and help Tiger Woods to get better with his knee surgery. Amen."

I had the US Open on this past weekend (and multiple times I was stunned at what I just saw, mostly when Tiger made improbable shots and putts), and I even got Lisa to get mildly interested in the outcome on Sunday. Annika is well aware of who Tiger Woods is, and yesterday afternoon I had my most recent Sports Illustrated, with Tiger on the cover. I mentioned to Annika that he ended up winning on Monday, and she was happy for him. Then I mentioned that he was having knee surgery and couldn't play the rest of the year, and she got only slightly irrationally mad about that. Anyway, it obviously stuck with her. We'll see if her prayers are answered.

Who Dat?

Mike and I have thoroughly enjoyed listening as Jake is quickly picking up more and more language over the past few weeks. It totally cracks us up to hear him talking in practical baby gibberish sentences as he goes about telling us his thoughts with varying pitch and volume. Some of his newest words include: shoes (when he wants to go outside), dis? (this), and our new all time favorite: whodat? (which is his name for Grandma and Grandpa). We were a bit confused by this strange name for Grandma and Grandpa until Mike pointed out that the first thing we do when we see a grandparent is to point and say to Jake, "Who's that Jake? Who's that? That's right, it's ____!" Apparently we're talking too much and all he's catching are the first two words! So now, when he sees one of his grandparents, he excitedly exclaims, "whodat!" Well, at least we know he definitely recognizes them and is happy to see them!

Toss the Toaster

Probably the strangest thing we inherited in our new house was a toaster built into the wall below the window by our kitchen table. The toaster pulls out like a drawer, around knee height. We tested it once, and it heats up, but doesn't pop up and turn off. On Tuesday morning I was home with Jake and Abby and went upstairs to brush my teeth. When I came down I noticed a burning smell. The gas dryer was running so I thought it might be that, but the smell was strongest in the kitchen. After a minute I discovered the toaster was on, still retracted in the wall. Abby said she didn't push the switch down, so it must have been Jake (it goes down pretty easily). I don't know how long it was, but it was burning hot. I pulled the toaster drawer out and opened the window above it to let it cool down. We have the instructions to it somewhere so I went over by our computer to look for them, in terms of disconnecting or removing the cursed thing (that's the 2-syllable "cur-sed"). While I was looking, Jake suddenly started screaming - he had made his way back over to the toaster and burned himself on it, as I hadn't blocked it off. Amidst his crying I tried to figure out where he burned himself, but I couldn't find anything on either hand, and eventually he calmed down a bit and started playing again. About 20 minutes later I found the burn - a bright red vertical line from the middle of his lower lip and down his chin. That panicked me enough to call Lisa, and we eventually got him to the doctor. We've tried to keep some bandaids on his chin, but that's only been somewhat successful. None of this has lessened his love of pacifiers, either, so it can't be too bad. Ultimately, he should heal up without any noticeable scar, but this is certainly the worst negligent father incident I've ever had (don't worry, I've finished beating myself up over it).

A New 'Do

On Tuesday, Abby went with me to get her hair cut. Getting it cut short is something we always talk about with the girls but they usually end up begging us not to do. Annika, in particular, is always worried that she'll look like a boy! Abby, on the other hand, agreed to give shorter hair a try. So, here's her new look. Doesn't she look fabulous?