be alert

I was reading in the Gospels yesterday and Jesus was talking about how He would come back at an unknown hour.  He uses numerous parables for examples (homeowner and the thief, the bridesmaids and the lamps, etc.) to show how no one could ever know when the time will come.  He goes on and on about how it will be when you least expect it and no one knows the hour.  Then, He tells us to be alert and always ready.  But, how is one to be ready for something when they have no idea when will occur?  How can you be prepared, but not expecting the event?  To throw a further twist in the story, Jesus also tells us that there will be signs to show when He is coming back (the moon and sun will become darkened and the stars will fall).  So there will be signs, but you won't know when it's coming, but you should always be ready for it?  Confused, I am.

have to balance out the productivity of this afternoon...

Hey there gang! Here's a quick update from the world of Jennifer. New job is still great, I'm learning a lot everyday. The owner/head doctor is a lot of fun and really brilliant. He's taught me and Ruth a lot about casting people's feet to make orthotics. I'm learning more about feet than I ever thought I would, lol. I see patients about 1/3 of the time (trimming back their nails and thinning/smoothing them), then the rest of the time I help Ruth with ordering orthotics and work on medical records, paperwork and computer stuff. The clinic administrator is smart as a whip too. She knows so much about feet/ankles as well as computer stuff. She wants to train me to be the IT person so her time's freed up for administrative duties. The rest of the staff is great, everyone works hard but has fun doing it. Most Fridays I have gotten off early too, to avoid overtime.
In baby news, Jennifer and Erik finally had their baby! Ben Samuel Murphy, born 7/11 @ 2:09am, 8 lbs 3 oz. He is so perfect! Andi, Amanda and I were at the hospital with her parents and sister and his parents when he was born, which made for a rough day the next day with only 2 hours sleep. It was so totally worth it though. Poor Jennifer, she had a ROUGH time. She went into full labor around noon on the 10th after being at the hospital since 2 am that morning when her water broke. She started pushing around 10pm and after 2 1/2 hours he hadn't come out, so they went in and got him via c-section. She was wiped, a whole day of no food and pretty much 2 days without sleep. She's amazing. I got to see them the next day and she was up and walking. I got to witness Erik dealing with a newborn, which was precious. I feel honored and privileged to be able to see his first moments as a father and see the look on his face as he gazed on his son in the first hours of his life. I look forward to seeing what great parents he and Jennifer will be and see how God grows them in this. I'm also super-ecstatic to be a part of this little man's family and see the man God's making him to be. He's already been at work for 9 1/2 months and I love what He's done so far!!