time to catch up

I can't believe it's been so long since I've written and so much has happened...of course, that's the reason I haven't had much time to get on here. Thanksgiving was wonderful, we all had such a nice time. I went to Mary's baby shower Saturday and it was nice too. I'm glad so many people came to show their support and love for her and the baby. I feel ashamed when I think of the unkind things I've heard some people in our church say about her and her situation. Who are they to judge? We all sin, some sins are just more visible than others. Anyway, there was a good turnout for the shower and she got a lot of nice things for the baby, so that's good. But I spent most of the time trying to comfort Lynda because she was so upset about Leah's surgery. If the cancer was down near her rectum they would have had to cut it and she would have had a colostopy (not sure if I spelled that right) bag, which she did not want but the decision would have fallen on Lynda, which of course stressed her out to no end. Well, praise the Lord--the surgery was yesterday and all went well! I am so happy about that. I was at the hospital in the morning and got to see her before the operation. She seemed to be in really good spirits, joking around and just being herself. Ed and I went back up last night, but she was still in the recovery room. Lynda was fussing about trying to make sure she called everyone. Ed tried to get her to take a break and relax and eat, but of course that did not happen until all the calls were made. Anyway, I am just so thankful that everything went ok. She's not totally out of the woods yet because she still has to go through chemo and all that, but at least the surgery went well and they got most of the cancer out. God certainly does answer prayer. Not that I didn't believe that before, but it's nice to be reminded every now and then, especially when it seems sometimes like my prayers fall on deaf ears.
I read Terri's blog earlier and I feel so guilty. She wrote about the tithes and giving being down so much, possibly because of Christmas approaching. I wish there was something I could say or do to convince Ed that we need to tithe. I do it with my own money, but I get so little since I don't work. I've mentioned it a couple times to him but I know he's convinced that it's something we can't afford to do, but it's something we have to do. He seems to have backslidden so much, it makes me so sad. I think the only reason he goes to church any more is because of the girls and me, and he doesn't want to do anything there but sit and warm the pew. I know the thing with Alicia and the nursery hurt him a lot, but honestly he wasn't very interested in church long before that happened. He constantly feels like he has to prove himself, and he compares himself to other guys all the time, feeling like he doesn't compare to them because he doesn't make a lot of money. I've tried to tell him that success isn't measured in money, pointed out all the verses in the Bible that talk about not being greedy, that where your treasure lies there your heart will be also and the one about it being easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven (one of my favorites!) but it's no use. I think he was taught all his life that it's important to have a nice house, car, and clothes and so those things are very important to him. That's definitely one of the advantages I have that I grew up poor--I know I can be happy without money and lots of material things. Anyway, I know he has to learn things on his own, he needs to be convicted and turn back to God--all I can do is pray.