Nate starts his 9th year of college

Classes started today at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary. I was glad to back and am looking forward to another full semester towards the title of Master of Divinity.

This semester I have the following classes:

1. Exegesis of the Gospels. In this class we read the gospels in the original Greek. We translate them into English, discuss alternate translations, and talk about the meaning of the text.

2. Archaeology. Here we go over the various discoveries that archaeology has unearthed that is related to the biblical narrative. We also talk about manners and customs that were prevalent in biblical times. In this class I have to give a presentation that deals with literacy in the ancient world. (I have to give it on Anna's birthday).

3. Homeletics. Here we will discuss the ways in which you preach/teach at special services. We will discuss weddings and funerals and other joyful/not so joyful events.

4. The Christian Minister & Ministry. In this class we will discuss the various ways that a minister is to conduct himself at home and in ministry. I am sure that we will talk about the importance of family worship, seeking counsel and accountability and other things. (Maybe they will get my big rear end in a suit after this class....naah!)

Not all of the men that attend the seminary want to be ministers that have churches. There are those who want to do missions, chaplaincy, teach, counsel, and other things as well. So the classes such as the last two will also have sessions that deal with these career paths as well.

I hope that the semester goes well. Keep me in your prayers as well as Lydia who becomes a "grad school widow" for the next couple of months again. Also if anyone wants to help pay for my education they may. Send the checks to:

Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary
c/o Nathan Eshelman's tuition bill
2695 Leonard Street NE,
Grand Rapids, MI 49525 USA

You can also pay by credit card by calling them at:
p:616-977-0599

I look forward to being back in school and I look forward to adding one more semester to my nine years of post-highschool education. The life of the forever student is never done!

Family Traditions

Many families have traditions that are imperative to keep. They have traditions that they like, some that they hate, and some that they have no idea why they do them other than pleasing the matriarch of the family. Here are a few that many families have, but with little idea as to why:
Why do parents tell their kids about Santa Claus and where did this come from?
Why do families hide Easter eggs and force preschoolers to search for them?
Why do you HAVE to eat pork and sauerkraut on New Year's day?
There are many others, but I would like to talk about a family tradition that Lydia and I have begun for our family.

In the Reformed and Presbyterian churches infants have been baptized in gowns (dresses) for hundreds of years. These gowns are usually family heirlooms that are passed down from one generation to the next. We being a first generation Reformed family have no such gown. Owen was baptized in our gown that is part of our new family tradition that we hope will passed down to our grand-children and their grand-children as well.

The baptism gown that we have was made out of Lydia's wedding dress. Linda Lanning took her gown and used most of the train and the dress and removed the trim and the sleeves and used these on the gown. Both Owen and Anna have been baptized in this and, as I said, we hope that it is passed down.
Here is Reverend Lanning holding Owen. Owen cried when the water was sprinkled upon his head. It is always a great sight to behold the church growing in the normal covenantal way...Through the birth of children.
Here is Lydia, Owen, William Bonner, and his mother Heidi. The gown that William was baptized in was his great-great-grandfather's. It is well over 100 years old and was first used in the Netherlands in the Netherland Reformed Church. (They are obviously not first generation Reformed as we are!)
Here is our family with Reverend Lanning. I remember that when Anna was baptized she looked up at Reverned Lanning and smiled a huge smile.
Here is a close-up of the dress. Notice the detail.
Here is a picture of the whole thing. It is very long..About four feet in length. We are grateful that we have begun this tradition but we are more grateful for the tradition of baptism and the meaning that it holds for the church.

The baby wearing revolution

Here is Lydia's new sling. It is from Hotslings and we think that she is going to keep this one. She had tried three or four types in the past and has not been satisfied with these for diverse reasons.
This Hotsling is reversable so that she can be boring in beige or fabulous in floral; depending on her mood.
The sling has a padded hem so that little Owen has something to rest his arm on. Anna can also use it. She will be in an upright position and it frees Lydia's hands for things that she needs to accomplish.

Owen is really content when he is in the sling. It seems that babies do well with this method of carrying. Slings are really great for things such as reflux and colic as well. Many pediatricians recommend "baby wearing" as a method of infant parenting.

For more information visit these sites:

www.hotslings.com

www.thebabywearer.com

www.theslingset.com

www.zolowear.com

www.mayawrap.com

www.kellymom.com/parenting/sling.html

www.rockinbabysling.com

www.freehandbaby.com

Fonn Mor at the Gardens

Tuesdays in the month of August at Meijer Gardens are concerts in the outdoor amphitheatre. If you are a member of the Gardens they are free to attend.

Last evening we packed up the Volvo and headed out the Gardens with a few friends to enjoy some Fonn MorCeltic music as well as good food and fellowship. The Pickerings, The Urbans, The Vedras, The Jaquith, and we all met there in order to get good seats and to enjoy dinner on the grounds before the show.

Here are a few pictures from the event:

This picture is of Meijer Gardens from a distance. I did not take this picture, but put it here for all to see how beautiful it really is. With your membership you have access to many great events that are held here through out the year. It is really a great place to visit. Besides the gardens they also have a scupture park that includes sculptures by Henri Moore, Alexander Calder, and even DaVinci's famed horse. (Ask James Eshelman about the horse...he's seen it.)
Here is the band that played last night. They were Fonn Moor, a Celtic band. I thought that they were fantastic. It was a glimpse into our Presbyterian heritage to hear the old fiddle and drums.
Here Anna is testing her trust in Noah Vedra to see if he will help her across this rope bridge that is in the children's garden. She made it. This picture is in a giant tree house that is so much fun. (This bridge creeked a little when I crossed.)
This is the family of the esteemed Professor of English and Milton scholar Dr. David Urban. Notice the smile on David's face. This is the result of having too many Starbucks coffee drinks. (David, I would hope that you realize that these are a huge waste of money.)
Here is Justin (pronounced Yustin) and Marion Pickering. Justin was upset because we brought some food from Sam's club and not Costco. He is the manager at the Grandville Costco and does believe it to be far superior to......everything. Justin and Marion also joined the Gardens yesterday and now have full rights and privledges to the events afore mentioned.
Here Paige and her date, O-O are enjoying the company of Lydia. Lydia is teaching them a lesson on the proper way to peel an egg. Owen does not seem to be as interested in this as Paige is.
Here Adam Vedra is monitoring the two rascals around Seth. Anna and Noah really enjoy playing together and I think that they were ganging up on little Seth.

I think that Anna and Noah are ready to go home. After a great evening we walked back to the car to find some people talking next to it. Both Anna and Noah kept saying "uh oh". They did not like the idea that people were loitering next to their vehicles. All was well though.

Notice the back packs. We fill them with toys so that they have a lot to do and what do they want to play with? The other one's toy. Some things cross all generational boundaries. We said our good-byes and we planned for next Tuesday and we headed for home.

Resting in the park

Sometimes it is nice not to have to cook on Sundays but instead to pack up a picnic basket and go to the park for a light lunch and enjoy the surroundings. The Bible talks a lot about nature and how it stands as a witness or testimony of God and his care for his creation.

It is amazing that you can forget about all of this in the business of life. Sometimes it is good to sit with family and to be able to speak about the handiwork of our heavenly Father. This is what we did Sunday. Here Anna shades her head from the sun. She loves to wear hats.
Because she thinks that eating is only for fat people, Anna instead dragged the picnic bag around while Paige, Lydia, and I ate. Owen was sleeping like a good boy. (Or as Anna says "goo-boo".)
Here is a view of downtown Grand Rapids from the river. Riverside park is about five minutes from downtown and is a very beautiful place to go for reflection and recreation. This is a favorite spot for my parents to picnic when they come to visit.
Here Paige is enjoying a brownie while Lydia holds little O-O. Notice the egg carton. It is Eshelman tradition to bring hard boiled eggs on outdoor eating events. (That is what we call picnics....eating events....wow.)

Here is another view of the river as well as our picnic location. Anna and I walked along the river while the ladies and O-O discussed the intricate details of Sabbath observance. It was a lovely afternoon.

A charity fundraiser for James W. Lanning

We all know that feeling: trying to better yourselves by going out into the real world and earning an education. For some of us it has been a long journey of trial and error. Take
me, for example, I have been in school my whole life and still do not have enough degrees behind my name to drive a Jaguar. Oh well, education is about more than that.

Let me tell you a sad, sad story.
A great friend of mine, who is a Comptuer Nerducation major has had a falling out with his computer. James W. Lanning of www.jameswlanning.com has lost his computer. The poor old girl just up and died.
In deaconal charity, his close friends, Mark and Janna threw a party to raise funds to replace James' computer.

This came as a great surprise for James, who has been seeing the world through new eyes now that he is forced into the fresh air, and more importantly, the work force. (One must raise his own funds as well.)

Let me share some of the great highlights of the evening as a bunch of nerdlings come together to help out a friend in need. (I offered to give him one of
my computers, but he said that it "wasn't good enough!")

Here are some of the highlights of the evening.

Lydia was not able to join in on the fun, so Anna was under the care of her dear old dad. He told her that she was able to eat whatever she wanted to. (We all know that love is demonstrated in the abundance of food!) Anna refused to eat food but she was more than willing to eat Janna's cookies and brownies. (Her mother would be proud.)
Paige Jaquith, who refuses to join the world of the blogosphere, was not interested in raising money for James, she was more interested in buying something of her own....friends. (Paige, I believe that our contract is up at the end of this month.) Maggie, who is a blogger in transition, has deleted her former blog (Don't write yourself off yet) and is in the process of beginning a new one. Her new one is called "In Praise of All Things Eshelman". Man, that sounds interesting. Maggie was a $150 donor for this evening's event and in-so-doing received a cheap toaster as a thanks.
James is thanking one of the many donors that has showed up this evening. Here he is thanking Melissa VanTimmeran for her gracious gift of $75. James knows that when you are a charity case, $75 is worth every penny. (Does that even make sense?) Melissa, on a side note, will be leaving next week for Pittsburgh, PA to continue her music education. She will be attending Providence RPCNA while she is in Pennsylvania.
Here John Sikma, the Chief Executive Officer of JWS, discusses his donation with Loretta. JWS has given a tax deductable $500 to the James W. Lanning welfare fund. JWS is one of the Lanning's dot-com rivals. (John misses the competition.) Loretter was unable to donate to this event because she is not sure if she will have a job as of next week. It came to her boss' attention that there was company criticism going on on her blog. (I withhold the address to protect her.) Loretter is hoping for her own little fundraiser as well.
Tickets were sold to the general public for our entertainment. . Elton John performed many of his famous songs that deal with gayness and Princess Diana for the pleasure of the crowd. He was able to bring in over $500,000 in revenue for the James W. Lanning welfare fund. We were glad that E.J. could come and donate his time to us. Thanks Elton!
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What's that?
Oh.
I know.
Okay. Okay...
Truth is that this was not a fundraiser for James. This was a party that the Jurries had. Reason: because. Nothing Else. I hope that the story was enjoyable. (Celebrity was impersonated.)

More pictures from the Jurries' Party

Notice Melissa VT's burger: bun, burger, ketchup, 20 pickles, a whole tomato, a head of lettuce, fifteen pounds of onion, mayonaise, and a top bun. Wow!
The famous Not Liberal, commonly known as Steve convinces his friends that his ideas are far superior from their's and that one day all will bow to his supreme authority on politics.
I did not drink. I just look the part. Promise.
John Sikma is here dabbling with the idea of lighting this table decoration on fire. Within minutes of this picture he ignited a napkin and then exclaimed, "I didn't know a paper product would burn!" (smart.)
Here Janna poses for a shot in full knowlege that her baking abilities are enough to keep this party going. Mark and Maggie stare into the cool night air from the corner.

What a great time.

The Mysterious Oh! Oh!

Many people say, "Oh, you ALSO have a son."
I then respond, "Of course I also have a son, his name is Owen."
Then Anna blurts out, "Haaaaaahhhh, Oh! Oh!"
You see, this is her pathetic attempt at annunciation, which is fine, of course, she is not yet two years old and a mere suckling according to biblical standards. (Non-sucklings started at about age five according to ancient scholars.)

"So what is your son like?," the person will continue to ask.
"Oh he is a fine specimen, and has a terrific persona!", I then exclaim with ecstasy.
"Really? Oh, due tell..." the person asks with an intense need for the continuation of the story.

"Well, Oh! Oh!", as Anna says, "is...

Why of course, Owen is a lover of all things German. That is of course, all things German past and present. He loves the Reformation, he loves Martin Luther, he loves Lufthansa, he loves German beer that runs down the throat and delights the soul. Owen is by all means a Germanophile. He loves his mother-and to love mama, you must be a lover of all things German. If he were not a suckling, I would take him to the Schnitzelbank for a Jagerschnitzel and some black forrest pie.
Owen is also a man of the future. He holds a lot of hope and by his look, he is quite futuristic. Owen is the future of the Eshelman name, a future communicant in the church, a future leader, husband, father. Owen helps to hold the future of this country, will aid in the future of this world, and will be held accountable for how he handles this task.
Owen is disgusted by all things annoying. This is true of all annoying books, people, places, ideas, objects, buildings, and personalities. He struggles to be nice to all men, but as he says, "It's a struggle" (The english translation of: cooo, gee-la, coo.) Right now he is annnoyed most especially with Michael and Debbi Pearl. He thinks that long beards are creepy.
Owen is a studious boy. He seeks to do the right thing and that begins with knowing the right thing. As Owen always says, "You can't have right practice without right understanding." Owen seeks to buy books though, he does not dabble in libraries. He told me once, "Papa, it's important to have a wealth of knowledge to hand down to your children." Owen is one smart cookie.
Most of all, Owen is a boy. A little, cute, and loveable boy who has needs that parents have to meet. He needs to eat, have his diaper changed, be clean, and be held. Owen is a boy. A boy who over the next years and decades will prove himself. Owen is our son.

The wedding at University Church: University of Chicago

So it seems that everything that Lydia and I have done as a family of late has included weather that makes fat people sweat. Friday was no exception. We had a wedding down town Chicago (at 5 pm, hmm, rush hour) that was held in the University of Chicago's University Church. This church is old South Congregational which was built in October of 1860. (Now air conditioning was not invented until 1904.)

The church was absolutley gorgeous complete with rose windows and flying buttresses. It was stone from floor to roof and had those great old mahogany benches that no church in their right mind would use today due to morbid obesity! One interesting thing that I noticed about the church was the only profession of belief that was posted was the fact that it was a nuclear free zone. For those who know their American history they are disassociating themselves from the University. For those who have no clue: google University of Chicago & Nuclear.

The service was short and to the point: love each other and you fulifill the law of Christ. (I Corinthians was the text...word to brides to be: use a different text...too predictable.)
We sang 'Be Thou My Vision', which was nice, and then an African style drummer played and sang the Lord's prayer.

The reception was at "The Cultural Center" which was an enormous villa style retreat that stands on the banks of Lake Michigan. The party was held in the solarium, and it had large picture windows that overlooked Lake Michigan. Anna and Oma walked on the beach, and she was very excited to show off her Arian granddaughter.

Here are some pictures for your enjoyment:

Opa (aka "Wahoo" or "Gramps" or "Unkes") and Anna after we found off-street parking that was about a block from the chapel. Opa was a bit nervous leaving his new Lexus SUV parked on the street. (It was on blocks when we got back....just kidding.)
Papa shares a kiss with his rising star who was a hit on the dance floor. (Imagine all those old Dutch women dancing the night away.)
Here is Tina with Anna and Lydia. Tina is the bride's sister. She went to Calvin with Lydia and I (and grew up with Lydia in Blue Island). She got married last year on her husband's family's 40,000 acre ranch in Nebraska amidst a field of Sunflowers. (She is a lot of fun.)
This is the bride Candice. She lives in Boston and is also a Calvin grad. She worked at Four Friends while in school. (Yum...mochas.) Now she is a teacher in inner-city Boston public schools.)
This is not the bride, even though she looks pretty hot. Oma was dressed "casually" (according to her standards), but was stunning as usual. If Germany had a queen...I know who it would be!

An evening at Ashbrook

The pond at Ashbrook in the Malysa's back yard. This is where we fed the koi.
Here is Anna helping to water the flowers. (Landscapers CANNOT do as nice of a job as Irmgard does at horticulture.)
Anna has NO FEAR when it comes to confronting the pet cougar. She thinks it is a "kitty."
Anna and Owen cuddling on the chaise.
Anna and Lydia playing the piano.


After the reception, we came back to Larry and Irma's house for the night. As usual we were met with accomodations that were above and beyond what would be required. (Maybe that is why they are the entertainers of choice in their neighborhood.)

We had a really great time being with them. Here is a list of things that we enjoyed:
1. old Scotch and Sprite
2. Oberweis dairy (Oberweisdairy.com) ice cream.
3. A lot of Fox News and discussion about how liberal Allen Combs is.
4. We fed the koi at the pond
5. Anna had a confrontation with the pet cougar.
6. We helped Oma water the flowers.
7. We went to Costco (Larry stocked us up....thanks dad!), and Larry tried to convince an old women that Larry and I were "together" in order to get a free sample of dog food.
8. Lydia and Anna got to play the antique player piano.
9. We just had a really great time together.

See you soon guys!

Its pronounced zoh-ology, not zoo-ology.

For the second year in a row The Community Mental Health has provided a "free" zoo day that is open for all those that provide mental health services as well as those who receive mental health services. (Basically, it is the biggest provision of poor client/clinician boundaries in West Michigan.)

The temperature was an un"bear"able 92 degrees, and the humidity was so high that you could taste the animal sweat in your mouth. Nevertheless, it was a great time. Anna was a cowardly "lion" when it came to some of the animals: such as the camel. On the otherhand, she was more than willing to approach other animals: such as the mountain lion. (bizarre, I know.)

Aunt Heidi and Aunt, by proxy, Paige joined us for the fun. We all had a really great time seeing how our tax dollars are put to use entertaining the mentally ill.