Here are a few of Todd's first birthday. I'll have to add more later from Gran's house!

Elf Trulys

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Word of the Day - actually yesterDAY

Smoshmellow- pron. (SMOSH-MELLO)
Used in a sentence while eating a S'Mores: "Gimme a smoshmellow hug momma!"
Then he said, "Gimme a shockwit hug momma" (The chocolate is dairy free and made by Enjoy Life Foods...it's very good. Tastes just like the real thing...wish we could find some non-dairy cheese that tasted like the real thing!)
Then he moved onto the Graham crackery crust, "Gimme a gwayum quacka hug momma!"



A Smoshmellow is a Marshmellow in Jackish.

Jack and Daddy went on a camping trip this weekend with Jason and his daughter Ali, and Caleb and his son Joshua. I hear it was all kinds of fun! Jeff says a good age to take your kid fishing is...NOT 2 3/4 years old.

Some September Pics!

Our morning walk...I love this wagon so much you'd think I wanted to ride in it!



"Why do you think she keeps telling us to smile and look at the camara...i hope these don't someday ruin my chances of being President."


Wishin he was out in the pool!


(Jack is potty trained...we're still working on putting our underwear on by ourselves.)


We've had these shirts forever. They are finally getting to wear them. Yes, Jack is saying, "I don't want to smile for the cramra...Toddy quit being cute and maybe she'll stop taking pictures." Todd's reply, "Whatchoo talkin about Willis?"

Stay tuned for a picture caption contest on the next post!

Heroes

My oldest brother Jimmie is stationed in Kuwait right now and just sent us an e-mail and some pictures of some pretty exciting visitors that came to give the soldiers a morale boost.

Easy Company in person! If you have not seen Band of Brothers, I highly recommend renting the 10 part mini-series and watching. It is excellent, and I'm not really a war movie kindof girl!

Here is his e-mail.

Hello Everybody,

I want to write this down because I want to remember what these men told us when they meet with us. The USO brought the "Band of Brothers", the real 101st Airborne Division Easy Company 506Th Parachute Infantry Regiment to see us. Not all of them but those who could make it.

Major Dick Winters was to ill to attend he is 91, Lieutenant Buck Compton was recovering from surgery. Here are the guys who came up to see us and talk with us. Staff Sergeant William "Wild Bill" Guarnere, Sergeant Edward "Babe" Heffron, Sergeant First Class Don Malarkey, Sergeant Forrest Guth, Corporal Clancy Lyall, Sergeant Amos "Buck" Taylor. They actually came to see us here at Kuwait Naval Base September 17, 2008.

They introduced the group. They were all seated in a packed out tent, in front of Navy, Army, Coast Guardmen. The HBO people had a trailer or movie takes from Band of Brothers. We watched the trailer.
Then they started by introducing each of the Band of Brothers. They started with Clancy Lyall he had stayed in the Army served in combat in Korea, and in 1954 Vietnam. Clancy had on a white wind breaker with a large Screaming Eagle 101st Airborne patch. Clancy said, "Thank you", to all of us and said he believed in what we were doing. He was proud of us.

"Wild Bill" was next and he had on a white wind breaker with the same logo as Clancy and Babe had on. Bill had on a hat you see golfers wear sometimes. The hat had Army jump wings on top of it. Bill is from South Philadelphia and has such an outspoken and colorful character. His portrayal in the movie is very accurate. Bill lost one of his legs in Ardene's forest Belgium. Bill started out by saying, "Thanks to all of us" He said, "I love you guys for what you are doing". Then he began to cry saying we were his hero's. He was reminded of his youth by us and we were just like them then. He could not finish what he wanted to say. He said come back to me.

"Babe" Heffron was wearing the same type windbreaker as Clancy and Bill. Babe had on his WWII issued garrison cap with the Airborne symbol over the left eye. He had it cocked sideways over his right eye. That hat and the way he wore it is something a combat veteran earned the right to wear anyway he wants to. Bill had set the tone of the first part of meeting when he began to cry. Babe said that he had nothing to say right then. His eyes were watering up and he was deep in the emotion of what Bill had spoken.

Amos Buck Taylor had on a khaki blouse that soldiers wore in WWII. Buck thanked us for everything we were doing. He was proud to be here with us.

Don Malarkey one of the top NCO's in the 506Th was dressed in the white windbreaker. Platoon Sergeant stripes on the jacket. Don said do not listen to those cry baby democrats keep up the good work. Everybody got excited and broke out into applause.

Forest Guth has served with 506Th PIR and then stayed on to serve with the CIA. Forest said that he was glad to be with us and thanked us for serving.

After these guys spoke with us we got to ask questions. One question was what did you do for morale while you were deployed.

Wild Bill said we hung out with the Broads. He started talking about England. He said there was a place you could go in London that had women of the night in the square. He said you would walk alone and they would light a cigarette lighter to show you their face. One of them ask Wild Bill do you want to have a good time. Wild Bill said how much, the women said six pounds. Bill said we came over here to save your ass not to buy it. He was very funny.

Another question was about one of their most memorable moments. Babe said I got a Dear John letter from a dame named Doris. I let on like it was not that serious. He said I did not tell her it was all that. You know you cannot let them know this kind of stuff, talking about Doris. He said that later on they got on board this military aircraft and he noticed the name Doris on the fuselage with a painting of a woman. He said they took off he went to sleep and Bill woke him up and said you know the name Doris is on the plane. Babe said yes. Bill said we are probably going to get blown out of the sky. Bill said he asked the crew chief who Doris was. The crew chief said the Captain's girl was Doris. The Captain came back and said who is asking about Doris. Babe said me. He told the Captain a dame named Doris wrote him a Dear John letter. The Captain said Doris was his wife from southern New Jersey and they had two kids. Babe said that is not the same Doris I know. Later this year 2008 Babe and Bill wrote a book. In May they were doing a book signing he heard a voice in the back of the room say Babe. Bill spoke up and said it was Doris. Babe had written about her in the book and she brought a copy up and asked him to sign it after she kissed him. Babe says she keeps on calling him and he can not get her to stop.

Babe said the most memorable moment was when he returned home. "I kissed me mother"!

Forrest Guth said that he had a sweet girl that he made an arrangement with. He asked her to wait on him until he got back from the war. When he got back they meet in New York. She was working in the opera as a singer. He married her and they are still together after 61 years.

He then told how he was visiting the hotel near the opera. There was a man there dressed in a European style hat fur collar on his jacket, always wore leather gloves. He always appeared to be well dressed. The hotel had a ladies group that meets there. From time to time they would talk to him because he was in uniform. One day the man tipped his hat saluting Forrest. Forrest said at first he did not understand why. Later he learned that the man was from Belgium.

In Operation Market Garden paratroopers dropped in to Eindhoven from the sky ending a four year occupation of the German Army. The people called them angels because they dropped in and freed them. The people of that country even to this day are thankful. Forrest said that they go there from time to time are treated with such great respect. Forrest said that he knew that the man did no know him but he did know the Screaming Eagle 101st Airborne Patch, and the award that the Belgium government gave those men was a maroon colored landyard for their acts in freeing Belgium.

Another question was about supplies and food were they ever hard to get. Babe answered this question. He said one time the men were told in Belgium that they would have a break and get to rest under shelter. The shelter Babe's squad got was a barn without a roof. There was a dike nearby and Germans were on the other side.

One night while they were asleep in the barn a sentry ran in and said the Germans are coming over the dike. Babe said he jumped up and could not find his other sock. So he put on one sock and his boots and they repelled the Germans. He came back and could not find his sock anywhere. So after about a week he asked for supplies through a division supply officer. The supply officer told Babe sure we will be down with supplies soon. Babe said to this day I ain't seen that SOB.

Babe said, I went on with one sock and I did not complain. He went on for weeks switching one sock from the left foot to the right foot to keep from getting trench foot. He told his men if you are having some problem then do not complain or I will sock it to you.

Well I have more but I wanted to send this out as an email. I think this was the greatest booster to our morale while we were here. With the exception of being able to talk with people you love over web cam. I have been able to talk to my sweet bride of 30 years over the web cam. So I have it great compared to these guys this Band of Brothers. They are very humerous and seem to know each other so well. I thanked each one of them. I got my Kevlar helmet signed by each one of them.

That generation of Americans made such a great sacrifice. My grand parents were part of that generation. On my fathers side of the family Great Uncle "Red" Belton Carver 30Th Infantry Division, two of his brothers served and Red did not come home. My mothers side was her Dad my Grandfather Whitfield with 3rd Army Patton's men. Well I could go on.

I am glad that I have been able to serve with these men here in the Middle East. I have 43 men. So far so good. They are not any different than the Band of Brothers. They have it a little better than our brothers and sisters to the north of us in Iraq and Afgahnistan. But all in all I am proud of them Navy, Army, Coast Guard Port Security Unit 309, Australian Army and Navy here at Kuwait Naval Base.

Not too many days ago terrorist attacked the U.S.Embassy in Yemen. Just hours from where we are. An American citizen an 18 year old girl was killed. She had just gotten married. The attack was from small arms fire AK-47, then Rocket Propelled Grenades, then they detonated a vehicle born explosive device and attempted to detonate another, before being repelled by security forces. Our enemy are extremist they are driven by hatred and that will never overcome us. They have no sense of love for life. Just this mindless demonic desire to please a god that really is no god.

I know my God to well. He is with us. Not that he chooses sides. But he knows what we are up against. No weapon formed against us shall prosper. We are prevailing here and we will continue to do that as long as God is willing.

Jimmie


Jimmie is the tallest, handsome one in the middle of the back row.

They call it T&A surgery...Really!

So here we are in recovery 7 hours after Jack's tonsillectomy & adnoidectomy. The surgery went well. We were in shock when the doctor came back in 20 minutes after we left them. Jack on "goofy juice" was just as silly as he is without it, but he didn't mind the goodbye as they wheeled him into surgery. It was all done in 20 minutes. They called us back to post op so we could be there when he woke up from surgery. Coming out of anethesia can be rough, but he slept through it. Thankfully! Otherwise it's general mahem: fits, crying, vomiting..yeah for none of that! We thought the hard part was over and we somehow got out easy.

Fast forward 7 hours: (Mindy is having a flashback from last week: "I cannot express to you more to be on top of the pain meds, and the nausea medication. Otherwise if it hurts going down the first time you'll never get it down him." -nurse from ENT's office)
That's all fine and good, but we're having to rely on the nurses at the hospital to bring it to us. We missed the window the first time and it hurt going down, so now not even a spoon full of sugar will help this medicine go down! Poor little thing. So now starts the mahem...fits, screaming, crying, spitting medicine out, and yes even wanting to vomit. Poor little thing.

However, I know that this is routine and it's not open heart surgery. There can be minor complications, but we have so much to be grateful for. A little perspective -flashback to this morning- while we were waiting for Jack to come out of the anethesia, a couple came in to wait on their son to come out of anethesia. He was a baby, not more than 5 months old, although he was covered up so I can't be sure of his age, he was still little enough to fit in a carrier car seat. He had major reconstructive surgery from a cleft lip and palate. Neither of his parent spoke any English and there was noone there to translate for them.

When we walked in and saw Jack just after surgery he was snoring very heavily, even gasping for breath, but the nurse could tell me, "That's normal, the snoring will go away once the swelling goes down." And then while I watched him fight to catch his breath I could say, "So you're sure this is normal?" to the nurse who could then reassure me, "Yes it is. He's ok."

But this sweet couple didn't have that luxury. They could look at their swollen little baby, with his new swollen stitches, and hear his cries knowing he was in pain and scared, but not hear from the nurses, "This is normal, he's going to be ok." That broke my heart, not to mention that sweet little momma who was seeing her sweet baby's new face for the first time, hearing his cries, and not knowing if he was ok. I went to her and put my arms around her, her husband holding their baby with tear in his eyes telling her in Spanish, "He's ok mama, he's ok." I can't imagine what she was going through, but my heart went out to her, and brought my heart lots of perspective.

It's just a little T&A surgery. That's what they call it here. No. I'm not kidding. We've got a few days of irritability, crying, general unhappiness. Worst case scenario we'll be back at the hospital if Jack gets dehydrated. This couple has atleast 2 more major surgeries, and from what I know about those surgeries the mother will have to inflict pain on her baby as she rubs his lips between her fingers to keep him from too much scar tissue. It has to hurt if it's to heal.

Perspective.

Word of the Day

Jack's word of the day today is Wobspuds (pron. Wob-spuhds)

According to Jack who has a little trouble with his L's and R's at this stage...a wobspuds is....




Lobster...that's right Lobster. I make him say it over and over again. And I laugh really hard. He laughs too and thinks it's funny that I think he's so funny!

Where I'm From

I am from homeade cornbread in old cast iron skillets, from peanut farmers and mill workers in the deep South to Middle America Idaho, Nebraska, and Kansas all at the same time. I am from Crystal Burgers, and "Cokessss...CASHHHH".

I am from streets named after flowers. I am from pride in watching the new house go from concrete slab, to studs, to brick in 1980. I am from parents who still live there today and worked hard to make this simple house a home. I am from a hallway nook between bedrooms where we waited out storms with Barbie, Ted (as in the bear), blankets and pillows, and inseperable sisters. I am from never knowing what it's like to live without a dog in the house.

I am from the cool, crisp, St. Augustine in grandma's front yard that welcomed many feet.

I am from pretending that Gretchen the schnauzer was either JAWS or Toto after the annual CBS Special. I am from every holiday New Year's to Christmas being at Grandma's house. I am my dad's favorite...he says that to all the kids. I am everything my mom did right. I am from a smile that never stops, from VanSlykes, and Carvers, and Turners.

I am from those who are eternal optimists, encouragers, and others who were quick to anger. I am from 2nds and even 3rds. I am from what I suspect is a long line of egg shell walkers.

I am from "if you don't believe he's not comin'", and "you can do anything you set your mind to". I am from a "ROUST!" every 5:30 a.m. on Christmas day.

I am from being taught about my loving heavenly Father, who gave His only Son as a ransom for my sin. I am from emotional Easter Sundays remembering my Savior on the cross. I am from going to church camp every summer, and VBS too. I am from sometimes hot and sometimes not. I am from God working out his plans no matter what. I am from sinners and saints. I am a sinner, yet I am being sanctified as we speak. I am from realizing there are just some things you cannot possibly do without God - no matter how hard you set your mind to do it.

From the toddler girl in the hand sewn red coat who went to the farm with her grandfather. Who when her grandpa lost sight of her, was found in a the field with the cows that as momma's themselves must have known she was no threat and did not bring her any harm. And the teenage boy who went to see Jerry Lee Lewis and on the walk back home was stopped by non other than the The Killer himself who drove up beside him asking for directions. I am from that teenage boy who gave him the wrong directions...on purpose.

I am from a large box of pictures that have never made it to the photo album, adored none-the-less. I am from "momma what did you bring me on your trip?". I am from a Van Gogh or is it banjo?, and memories in the mind that not even a picture could give worth. A girl can hardly ask to be from more.

I totally stole this from The Mitchell's blog. Go here if you'd like to do one yourself!

Long time, no......

I know, I know...i'm lousy at this blogging stuff. Time is not on my side. No, it's not.
What are we doing? Breathing treatments most of this week. Ahhhhh! Calgon take me away. Again, no pictures. My excuse...new technology...cannot download from that darn dvc. So maybe you can just "imagine".

Here's one: Today we must take the Integra Title to the insurance adjustor to pick up our check....it was on the table last night??? What happened...."Jaaack...do you know where daddy's keys are? And the paper that was next to them?" Yes, here they are. And the paper??? Where is the paper (title & Power of Attorney). I signed them and put them in the mail box daddy. See here it is. Scribble scribble scribble. Well, atleast he "signed" the back and not the front.

Or here's one: Mommy trying to get saline solution up a 9 month old's nose.

Or how about this one: (We're still trying to learn to share) Here's the scene: Jack wearing smashed up cowboy hat...Elle wants cowboy hat...takes it from Jack...Jack wants cowboy hat...starts whining. Mommy goes to get Elle a green cow"girl" hat. Elle wears hat for 5 seconds and is done. Jack says, "Elle here's your hat. Elle says: "I don't want it." Jack says," But Elle here's your hat, you want to wear it." Elle says, "No i don't." Jack says, "Yes, you want to wear it!" Elle says, "No i don't." This goes on for oh a few more seconds when Jack decides to throw two plastic boxes at Elle's head because she no longer wanted to wear the hat with him.

Say cheese!

Our 4th of July

We had a fun 4th travelling to Gran & Grandpa's house and watching the neighborhood parade. Jack played in the pool and sprayed Grandpa and daddy with the water hose!Todd got to meet Aunt Jo & Art. We got to see 2nd cousin Jolie and who is 3 days younger than Todd. We haven't seen her since Christmas...not counting checking the Blankenship blog daily for new pics of her! Thanks for the memories ya'll! We know how blessed we are, and yes...someday we're gonna miss this. We're just taking each day, and minute for the gift that it is!

Brothers!

Yesterday we had a picnic outside in the yard. The boys are growing! Todd LOVES Jack, he lights up everytime Jack walks by. Jack "loves his baby brudah" too!
Favorite Jack word right now, "boosk" translation caboose. Used in a sentence, "Mama, I'll be the boosk...you be the engine."
Toddy weighs 19# 1 oz. as of a week ago yesterday, and has 4 teeth, 5th is on it's way. A lady I met at the doctors office said both her kids had their teeth early. All of them by 1, including the 2 year molars! We haven't started Toddy on solids yet since our family is prone to food allergies, but are planning to start them within the next few days. Jeff has the rest of this week off so we are looking forward to getting some stuff done in the house, and spending some quality family time together!

The Word

....is sooooo good!

I want you to close your eyes after you read this. And see it in your mind's eye.

But for you who revere my name, the sun of rightousness will rise with healing on it's wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall.
~Malachi 4:2

I can see it, as clearly as a picture. How sweet it is!

My 5 month old!?!?

My little big baby boy slept through the night last night for the first time. 6 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. Which means I'll probably be up with him all night tonight. What a big boy. I put him in his Johnny Jump up today and he had a blast. He's sitting up (on the couch) while I sit beside him. He still falls over when reaching for a toy or just gets tired of holding himself up. No real rolling over. Jack felt no need to roll, and I kinda think that's what Todd is doing. Jack could do it at this age, but just didn't. Todd rolled from tummy to back the other day, but doesn't do it on a regular basis.

Todd is getting to have quite the personality. He's a feisty little thing. He's starting to grunt and growl when he isn't getting his way...which is usually only when I put him down for a nap. He grunts, goes stiff, cries some crocodile tears, I leave and he's usually out in about 5 minutes or less.

Jack is starting to push the limits with Todd. I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with, "not knowing his own strength", and everything to do with the fleshly desire to beat up the little thing that came in between your momma and daddy time. Mostly he's just trying to see how i'll handle it. Sometimes I fail, get impatient, and yell. Other times I do the right thing, breathe deeply, and pray, then hug him a little more that day. Motherhood is THE most transforming journey I've ever taken.

Best Friends Forever

At 2 yrs 3+ months Jack will absolutely not cooperate when a camera (or cramra -- his pronunciation) is near. I guess he's all pictured out!
These pictures show Jack's BFFs.
The year Jack was born there were 4 January babies in our Sunday School class. 1 is not pictured as he is no longer a member at FBD, so we don't get to see him.
Here are the 3 amigos:
Jackson (1/14/06), Ben (1/30/06), and Jack (1/4/06)

Making up for lost blogging time!

So here are a couple of pictures I took last night while watching our best friend's little girl Elle. Jack is obsessed with older women. ;) wink wink. They look as though they are playing together in the pictures. But Elle has gotten to the age where Jack's a little nuisance. :) She was actually doing puzzles and Jack says, "I want to sit beside you Elle." Then proceeds to not crawl up beside her, but in his clumsy 2 year old way, climb up over her, messing up her puzzles etc... needless to say her thoughts on the nuisance were confirmed I think. I got out the camera & Elle said, "Are you gonna take a picture of us?" I said, "yes." She said, "why?" I said, "because you guys are cute and little now and you're not always going to be this way, so I'm take pictures to remember."

Note conductor hat...when Jack wears it he's "Ductor Jacky" as in CONductor. When Jack wears his cowboy hat he is "Cowboy Jack".

Note also the lovely PBK quilt layed/laid?? over the ultra hip C&B couch. Why? you ask, Do we have a blanket over the couch...well I'll tell ya. When we were sans kids, and livin it up with two incomes we decided to buy this couch. WE LOVED this couch, and when we went to order it from Crate and Barrel (from a guy who OPENLY hit on my husband in front of me I might add) the only color on display was white. Well as much as we would have loved a white couch to go in our white room, we quickly decided it was probably not the best decision since we had two dirty furkids at the time and I was pregnant with Jack. So we chose another color from a 2"x2" fabric swatch. We took the swatches home to see them in the light it would sit under, and decided on the blue. But that 2" swatch made that blue fabric look oh sooo much darker. When it was delivered we gasped! Yes, gasped! Because we knew that the furbabies would be sure to rub their dirtybird bodies up against it and get it un-blue (in other words...brownish blue). And they did. But then we had Jack...and Jack being the spitter upper that he was we quickly covered the couch with the quilt. It will probably be there until the boys are 18 and out of the house...then we'll be ultra hip sans kids again. How sad.

AHHH Technology

So, it's well past Easter and you have not seen Easter pictures. Ahhh technology. We have a new camera. A digital video camera that takes stills. Unfortunately our computer for some reason is not reading the minidisk that the pictures are saved on. Our old digital camera is pretty much obsolete and the battery is very hard to find. When we finally found a battery, it doesn't get nearly the charge the original batteries did so we are constantly running out of batteries. This is the very reason for lack of posts...but i've taken a few cute pictures on the old camera this week. Toddy now weighs a whopping 18# 12oz. as of a drs. appt. yesterday. We (Jack, Todd, and I) caught a nasty cold this week. I was giving Todd ibuprofen and read the back to see the dosage...Ask Doctor for under 6 months. BUT since Todd weighs what he does he can get the dose that goes for 18-24lbs. At 4.5 months he weighs what an average 7 month old weighs. CRAZY! That still only makes him 95%, he's 95% on height too, so not just big, but tall. This weekend we will dedicate baby Todd at church, and have the family over for a dairy free baked potato bar. Mmmm mmm! And now for pictures...

One of my heroes

I'm not a huge country fan, but this man is officially one of my heroes. His latest release proceeds FAAN (The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network). This organization I hold near and dear to my heart. Most of you know Jack has anaphylaxis to dairy, egg, & beef. FAAN is full of those who have blazed this path before me, and those families that have just been diagnosed with deadly food allergies. They are definately a helping hand for me, and are a huge part in getting the word out about these food allergies. Not to mention the research for a cure! Support FAAN! www.foodallergies.org

The 2 year old milestones

Potty Training and Big Boy Beds are some of the milestones for a two year old. We started potty training a couple weeks ago, and ordered Jack's big boy bed yesterday. It will be here in 4 to 7 days. We ordered one for Todd as well, so that when they share a room the beds will match. Our plan is to put the bed up and in the room in addition to the crib, so he can get used to it being there. Then when he starts asking to sleep in the big boy bed, we'll start the transition. That will include saying, "Jack, there are rules you must follow in order to sleep in a big boy bed...." I can't believe it. They are both growing too fast. I am trying to savor every minute with them because I know before the blink of an eye they'll be turning 18. The past 2 yrs and 4 months have been amazing to say the least. Here's a picture of the new bed.

Murphy's Law Day

Hee hee....well that was yesterday. Early yesterday morning as I was stretching and waking up, it was as though the entire right side of my back cramped up and I couldn't move. Thank goodness for Ibuprofen...or else Jack may have been in his highchair until daddy got home that evening....but oh...that's not all. Jack's allergy doc. decided they wanted to see him, so we tried to sneak a nap in for Toddy before we left. At lunch, woke up Todd, loaded up the kiddos and left. By the time you park and walk into the bldg we were almost late...so I was hurrying..practically running. The wind was gusty yesteray and it was taking Todd's breath away, so i stopped quickly to pull the visor over his face, and when I did I stubbed my left pinky toe HARD on the stroller. "Ouch!", and trying to play it off I turned around to the man who was directly behind me and said, "Yeah, that hurt." As if he asked. He laughed, and I thought to myself..."well i'm pretty sure it's broken." Still trying to play it off like I'm ok, I tried very hard to walk normally into the hospital, but I couldn't. I limped uncontrollably. I laughed to myself and thought, "I'd be laughing if i just watched someone do that." I wiggled it once i was in the doctors office. Shooting pain shot down my foot. Yep it's broken. It's nice and purple today. Maybe I'll take a picture for the blog. If I can ever figure out how to download our pictures from the video camera, you can see them. Stay tuned for Easter pictures, and a broken toe. TTFN

The Intensity of Christ’s Love and the Intentionality of His Death

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By John Piper March 19, 2008


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The love of Christ for us in his dying was as conscious as his suffering was intentional. “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us” (1 John 3:16). If he was intentional in laying down his life, it was for us. It was love. “When Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end” (John 13:1). Every step on the Calvary road meant, “I love you.”

Therefore, to feel the love of Christ in the laying down of his life, it helps to see how utterly intentional it was. Consider these five ways of seeing Christ’s intentionality in dying for us.

First, look at what Jesus said just after that violent moment when Peter tried to cleave the skull of the servant, but only cut off his ear.

Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?” (Matthew 26:52-54)

It is one thing to say that the details of Jesus’ death were predicted in the Old Testament. But it is much more to say that Jesus himself was making his choices precisely to see to it that the Scriptures would be fulfilled.

That is what Jesus said he was doing in Matthew 26:54. “I could escape this misery, but how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?” I am not choosing to take the way out that I could take because I know the Scriptures. I know what must take place. It is my choice to fulfill all that is predicted of me in the Word of God.

A second way this intentionality is seen is in the repeated expressions to go to Jerusalem—into the very jaws of the lion.

Taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.” (Mark 10:32-34)

Jesus had one all-controlling goal: to die according the Scriptures. He knew when the time was near and set his face like flint: “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51).

A third way that we see the intentionality of Jesus to suffer for us is in the words he spoke in the mouth of Isaiah the prophet:

I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard;
I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting. (Isaiah 50:6)

I have to work hard in my imagination to keep before me what iron will this required. Humans recoil from suffering. We recoil a hundred times more from suffering that is caused by unjust, ugly, sniveling, low-down, arrogant people. At every moment of pain and indignity, Jesus chose not to do what would have been immediately just. He gave his back to the smiter. He gave his cheek to slapping. He gave his beard to plucking. He offered his face to spitting. And he was doing it for the very ones causing the pain.

A fourth way we see the intentionality of Jesus’ suffering is in the way Peter explains how this was possible. He said, “When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly” (1 Peter 2:23).

The way Jesus handled the injustice of it all was not by saying, “Injustice doesn’t matter,” but by entrusting his cause to “him who judges justly.” God would see that justice is done. That was not Jesus’ calling at Calvary. (Nor is it our highest calling now. “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” says the Lord, Romans 12:19.)

The fifth and perhaps the clearest statement that Jesus makes about his own intentionality to die is in John 10:17-18:

For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.

Jesus’ point in these words is that he is acting completely voluntarily. He is under no constraint from any mere human. Circumstances have not overtaken him. He is not being swept along in the injustice of the moment. He is in control.

Therefore, when John says, “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us” (1 John 3:16), we should feel the intensity of his love for us to the degree that we see his intentionality to suffer and die. I pray that you will feel it profoundly. And may that profound experience of being loved by Christ have this effect on you:

The love of Christ controls us . . . . He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)


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