Duty (Quote)

“It is a terrible thing to be happy! How pleased we are with it! How all-sufficient we think it! How, being in possession of the false aim of life, happiness, we forget the true aim, duty!”   ― Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

-ak

Spring Again

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Spring always does something to me. When the warm wind blows from the south like a "wave of unreasonable happiness" and a green blush is resurrected on earth's face in a creaturely imitation of its risen Creator, I feel the irresistible magnetism of an entire hemisphere engaged in a vivacious act of wild revelry: the JOY of LIFE. It comes like a thief in the night, not to kill but to resuscitate and say, "It's good to be home!"

The rain leaves puddles of sky in the roads, like celestial confetti, so that the dark silhouette of terra firma seems but a crust sandwiched between the fire-lit skies of two different worlds above and below my feet, and the flaming sky-filled potholes become portals betwixt the two. I walk home balanced on the crust, the purple shadows emitting a backdrop of peace, and the sun's last rays setting the windows of home ablaze in a passion. As the sunset changes hues, the curlews whirl overhead with their woodwind song, the ground releases its deep earthy notes, and the spring peepers strike up a chorus, all to remind the world that it's really alive, to feel the blood and breath inside and BE JOYOUSLY ALIVE.

King's Christmas Letter 2011

{This is the King family newsletter for 2010-11, since we skipped last year. Mom wrote it beautifully, and she writes about little Isaac for those who depend more on yearly letters to catch up with us. She points them to my blog here for the full story. I will link to Isaac's story in the letter, so you don't have to wade through my entire blog to find it. We are so blessed gloriously above all that we could ask or think, and the Lord's mercy and goodness have followed us all year as He has graciously lead us in His footsteps. I hope you too have been drawn ever nearer to our loving Savior this past year. Merry Christmas! - Audrey}

Christmas Blessings from our home to yours!

From prison, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote,

“Life in a prison cell may well be compared to Advent. One waits, hopes, does this, that or the other-- things that are really of no consequence--the door is shut, and can only be opened from the outside.”

On Saturday, our family headed to the mountains to cut a Christmas tree and celebrate Jed’s birthday, but first stopped by the little cemetery to see Isaac’s new gravestone (it took awhile to get because I could not agree on just one scripture-- I wanted to put Genesis through Revelation!). Dusting the snow off of the small, shiny slab, we smiled to see the name and tiny footprints of our little boy along with Rev. 21:4 etched in the granite. We thanked God again for His goodness to us, and this reminder of how much we need Him. This is why He came, and we have much to celebrate. We serve a risen Savior! God is with us! I am reminded of when I was very pregnant with Isaac, and Wyatt (with his limited capacities) seeing my tears, patted my belly and said “No worry baby,” -- he understood. There is no worry or fear that Jesus hasn‘t covered so we might have joy. In the words of Bonhoeffer:

“We call on the name of the One who alone conquered fear, captured it and led it away in a victory parade, nailed it to the cross and banished it to nothingness; the name of the One who is the victory cry of the humanity that is redeemed from the fear of death-- Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified and lives. He alone is the Lord of fear; it knows him as its Lord and yields to him alone.”

Jeff and I just celebrated our 25th anniversary-- he surprised me with a trip to Victoria, BC. We had such a fun, sweet time together. We really shouldn’t wait another 25 years! At least Jed figured out we are married-- when I was due with Isaac, he (then 5) asked me when Jeff and I were going to get married! (Maybe with the 8th on they way, we should think about it? J) Jeff is a wonderful, Godly, tender-hearted husband and daddy, and I remember seeing him with Isaac, and what a picture of Christ it was to me. Jeff and I are so thankful to see our oldest children able to work together on projects, their God-given talents complimenting each other so beautifully, and their passion for truth binding them together. We will also never forget the strength they were to us during our time in the hospital with Isaac, and their strong witness as they joyfully took over in the NICU, bringing the light of Christ in a tough place to be. Nor will we forget grown sons on their knees saying “I love you” and “I’m here, little buddy” over and over to a helpless little baby bearing God’s image...the girls cherishing every moment tho’ their mother-hearts were breaking... tears, but JOY.

Right now, we are busy filling backorders of J.D.’s documentary (after two years of filmmaking, he finally “wrapped” it up in September). Someday he should do a story on making it as it is such a testimony of God’s faithfulness. Since the release, he and Cody have been on the road quite a bit for speaking engagements, radio shows (interviewed by a presidential candidate on one), magazine articles, etc. Visit his website at: www.cryingwolfmovie.com, and read the review by Jim Beers who worked under both the Reagan and Clinton administrations. Please keep J.D. in your prayers; he has taken a bold stand for truth and as the accolades swell, the opposition may as well.

For those of you who may not know about our time with Isaac, God is good, there is much to tell. For now, please do us the honor of visiting Audrey’s blog where she beautifully shares a bit of our journey (many of her thoughts are also mine). www.audreykk.blogspot.com

Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift-- the one that can never be taken away-- all that really matters! Each of our lives is but a nano-second in light of eternity, so let’s keep making it count!

In His hands, and with all our love,

Laura for the King family

40 Days For Life

40 Days For Life just kicked off this week. It's a peaceful prayer vigil taking place all across America and Canada; together Christians are crying out to God around the clock in front of Planned Parenthoods in hundreds of cities until October 31st for the end of abortion in our land. 40 days for life in the midst of 365 days of death by abortion.

We attended a kick-off event here in Billings where various pastors from various churches spoke on the spiritual warfare to be waged in these next 40 days. We lit candles, and walked in the September dusk to the front of Planned Parenthood. Its sign glared at us in the night, but its light was nothing to the light of each heart. The prayers started. And they continue...

If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. - 2 Chron. 7:14

Let's be the generation of Jacob, "the generation of those who seek Him, Who seek Your face." - Psalm 24:6

Let's pray the Lord will say to us what He said to King Josiah:

"Because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you," says the LORD. - 2 Kings 22:19

Recall what the King of Judah did: "And he defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire to Molech." - 2 Kings 23:10

The Molechs of our day are the false gods Convenience, Affluence, Fear, and Self. And children are sacrificed to these every day through the fires of abortion. Little image-bearers of God are being destroyed by the father of Lies who hates the image they bear.

So let's cry out to God for those whose cries may never be heard, for repentance and revival starting in our own hearts, for the deceived women seeking abortion, for the cowardly men leading these women, and the priests of the temples of death to be given grace and repentance. For light and truth to triumph over the darkness and lies of modern-day child sacrifice. For God's glory to wave over the death mills and turn them into havens of life. For each of us to see ourselves more clearly, and our own need for God's grace.

May it be.

Texas in July: The Baby Conference

July kind of flew by there, didn't it? It has been a good summer thus far, because God has carried us thus far. I don't ever want to lose sight of His goodness and mercy; if I just remember to look and see them always following behind.





For the past few weeks, we've been busy roaming to and fro throughout the earth - well, not really. But for my Mom's birthday, she, JD, Hannah and I did go to San Antonio Texas for Vision Forum's Baby Conference. It was a Historic Summit on the Triumph of Life in a Culture of Death. There were so many passionate godly men and women speaking; it was such a breath of fresh air to hear them so boldly and humbly speak truth to a culture that doesn't want to hear it. The theme of the conference rang loud and clear through the voices of those men and women: the joy of life!

It is called the Baby Conference.

My bro JD and sis Hannah.

The topics included: the sanctity of life, obeying God and trusting Him with the amount of children you have, the history of the long war on babies, the history of The Pill and how it has radically affected our culture, bio-medical ethics, the dangers of viewing children as pets and pets as children, a hopeful theology of miscarriage, adoption, even epistemologically self-conscious baby names! It was so excellent, refreshing and timely.

A happy statistic of the conference. :)

Doug Phillips of Vision Forum.

With our journey with Isaac still so fresh in our hearts and minds, it was like reliving a lot of what we went through in the hospital. In the bio-medical ethics sessions, they spoke of the care of the aged and "unfit"; we could insert Isaac's name into each sentence. The issues facing our culture in health care, and in attitudes of the populace toward the weaker of God's image-bearers are frightening, but hearing these things being biblically thought through and powerfully proclaimed gave so much hope. Let's be the generation of those who seek His face and live our lives faithful to His Word and consecrated in every area to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! That's how the world will be changed. Live Coram Deo, before the face of God, and the world will follow.

We really had a wonderful time and met some very neat and godly people. We also were able to visit dear family, and last but not least, enjoy some amazing Mexican cuisine.

Shrimp stuffed with jalapenos and cheese, and wrapped in bacon.
Decadence? Yes. Deliciously so.

June Days

The temperature outside is near perfect on this peaceful June day. Silver clouds lightly veil the sun, and the slight breeze touches the green prairie grasses like an old friend. You'd never know we had severe thunderstorms and tornado warnings a few days ago. Thankfully the worst of it missed us here. Here, we smell the freshness of the rain and hear the awesome peals of thunder, feel the shake of its fury and see the flash of its power. Yes, Jesus brought the rain to the prairies and to our lives, and we're all the more vibrant because of it. Someday, the days will be more than near perfect. The fury of the storm will be calmed, and the Sun of righteousness will rise with healing in His wings. And I think June will be eternal.

Tomorrow, Isaac would be 2 months old. It's hard to believe that it's been that long, or hasn't been that long. Everyday we miss him. Tears sneak up on us, even though we know they're always there. It's a new experience for us, life under a teardrop. It's not really a bad thing; it's where we're at. It's sanctifying, when grief lays it's hand on your heart. Maybe we are being molded into the image of Christ a bit more, because He was a Man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. But we don't sorrow like those without hope, no! For the JOY set before Him Jesus endured! No, we rejoice in the Lord always, with grateful hearts. At least, by His grace we try. He is faithful, and He is the same, yesterday, today, and tomorrow.




It's the balm of Gilead when other human hearts enter the Jordan with us, when we hand pictures around and smile and tell of the ways God moved through their prayers. Thank you for reaching out and listening with your hearts. It's so good to share the earthy humanity and the heavenly beams shining through the cracks in our earthen vessels. God is working in lives; we just heard more confirmation of it yesterday. Continue to pray for the doctors and nurses who, as one told us yesterday, may have seen God's love for the first time through our time with Isaac. Maybe it is a fresh ray of hope on a near perfect June day.

Isaac Samuel Triumph King

My littlest brother Isaac would have been one month old today.

He left us for heaven 18 days ago…it seems like a moment since, and yet it feels like ages of the earth have rolled past like the tears down our cheeks. God only gave us 12 days with him here. Soul-trying days. Sweet days. Days I wouldn’t have missed for the world.

Let me backtrack to where I left off...

I don't know who may read this, or if you are experiencing something similar, but if you or someone you know is going down this road, please take what we have learned to heart...

We knew we were up against a lot just with the fact that my little brother had Trisomy 18, but also because the medical community does not value life as we do. They do not see every person, no matter how small or "incompatible with life" as bearing the image of God. Life is sacred because humanity in all it's forms since the birth of mankind is stamped with Imago Dei, even if it is a marred image. And that's what my parents fought to defend. But we got weary; we didn't catch things that now looking back, we ache to change. The day we moved out of the NICU and into a hospital family room, Mom caught them ordering Isaac off his heart meds. My parents stopped that, but they didn't catch that without consulting us the doctors also decided to not give Isaac the protein and lipids in his glucose/electrolytes IV. Instead of seeing Isaac's value and personhood as long as his life endured, they saw a sick baby that was going to die soon anyway. Mom realized this a week later, and we thankfully were able to have a feeding tube put in him. He would fuss before feeding, eagerly suck away at his little pacifier during, and get comfortably sleepy afterwards. We are still heartbroken and sick when we think of him not getting the nourishment he needed for those days... So PLEASE question everything, stay on your toes, and let them know that you are the one to call the shots.

When we moved into the family room, Isaac left his heart rate/breathing monitor in the NICU. We asked if we could have a monitor, so it would alert us if we were sleeping and he had an apnea bout. The doctor couldn't understand why we would even care. There were no monitors for Isaac available to take into our room, so we became monitors for him. Since we couldn't bring him home, we brought home to him. For the next eight days, we older kids stayed at the hospital with Mom and Dad, and Isaac never left our arms for more than 5 minutes. Around the clock, for around the next 200 hours, we cuddled heaven. We lost sleep, but it is a small thing to miss when holding eternity for a few moments in time.






Who knew the eternal imprint those beautiful, fleeting clubbed feet could leave on our aching hearts. We miss him so much. We miss cuddling him, the weight of his baby self in our arms, speaking Psalms to him and saying “I love you”. I miss slipping my finger into his clenched fist and feeling his grasp, kissing his head and that sweet baby smell of new life.











God took Isaac Home from the hospital on May 5th under a peaceful sky rosy with sunrise. Our little lamb went straight from Mom’s arms to the everlasting arms of the Good Shepherd.

But we are thankful. How could we not be when the Lord proved Himself so strong, faithful and gracious on our behalf? He showed us that it wasn’t Isaac’s heart that needed healing, it was ours. And He is giving us healing, sanctifying and purifying us through the swift arrival and departure of Isaac Samuel Triumph King.

Now thanks be to God, who always leads us in TRIUMPH in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. - 2 Cor. 2:14

The Lord did answer our prayers to heal Isaac - even if it wasn’t in the way we in our short-term vision sought. Through Christ's triumph over the grave, Isaac has triumphed! No more tape, no more tubes, no more poking for IVs. Isaac is free.

And the Lord will continue to free us as we walk this long road with empty arms. It’s a good thing we walk by faith and not sight, because we wouldn’t be able to see where we’re going through the tears sometimes. We don't know all the "whys" of God's ways, but He has revealed 3 promises we can cling to: that this is for God's glory, for Isaac's good, and for our own good. Though it's hard to see through the fog of our short-sightedness, His promises remain as good and solid as the road beneath our feet, stretching on around the bend.

O fill us, Lord, with dauntless love;
Set heart and will on things above
That we conquer through Thy triumph,
Grant grace sufficient for life’s day
That by our life we ever say,
“Christ hath triumphed, and He liveth!”
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

-from "Now Let the Vault of Heaven Resound"

One Day, we’ll hold Isaac’s hand again, perfectly healed, and all around will be the fragrance of New Life under an eternal sky. The King will make all things right, wipe away every tear, and we will live and reign with Him forever!





We’ll carry you in our hearts until then, Isaac.

~Audrey, Isaac's big sister

More Pictures of Isaac

An Update on my Unborn Sibling

I'm not sure if life is ever safe or easy, but it's always good, because our God is always good.

For over the last 8 months, we have been eagerly awaiting a new blessing straight from God's hands - Mom's expecting again! It's been 5 years since a baby has been in our home, and we found ourselves so stoked about another member of the family. :)

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,
The fruit of the womb is a reward.
~Psalm 127:3

In December, almost all of us went to the sonogram and saw the little one moving around; the tiny arms and legs wouldn't stand still, like he's so excited about just being! "See guys, look what God did! Look how fast I can move these feet!" It was so beautiful to peek into the hidden place where God knits together his masterpieces.

Last month, during Mom's routine appointment, the doctor discovered a heart arrhythmia. We didn't know what it meant, but we wanted to give it over to the Lord. A week of uncertainty passed. Then a day before Will's birthday the doctor confirmed a DRV (double right ventricle) and hole in the heart, as well as a missing or underdeveloped corpus collosum (in the brain), and the little feet appear clubbed. These seem to point to something like Trisomy 13 or 18. Just the shock and pain at finding out that we may have to say goodbye to this beloved child as soon as we say hello is so heart-breakingly hard, but being so close to Mom's due date, Dad and Mom have had hardly any time to figure out details and logistics. There are so many unknown factors that are making this difficult.

Our heart's desire is to savor the time Mom has to carry this precious little soul, rest in God's sovereign goodness, and wrap ourselves in His promises to carry us and work all things to His glory and our good. We are confident that through our Lord Jesus Christ we will triumph, come what may, because He has already won. It doesn't take away the pain, but it gives so much hope, comfort, and purpose, to know Jesus wept, yet for the joy set before Him he endured, and gained the victory!

We feel so blessed to be given this gift, so grateful that we can treasure this baby that doctors deem "unfit for life". We cherish each day, knowing that each day our country "disposes" of 4,000 of the least of these through the abomination of abortion. Just maybe these little ones are here to advance the Kingdom, leave a legacy and testimony to the sacredness of life, to sanctify us and touch others, and glorify God Who ordained His praise from the mouths of babies, even if it only lasts one breath.

The due date is approaching so fast. Last night I put my hand on Mom's tummy and felt the little one moving. Life. A little hand or foot bumping my hand. Little One, do you know how much you are loved by your family?

Right now, we are wanting to rest in the Lord, and get well from some colds, hopefully before the baby gets here. He (we're all pretty sure "it" is a "he") is due on the 20th of this month, but could get here any time. We are waiting, looking forward to meeting and loving on this beautiful little boy, and seeking brave hearts for the unknown, knowing that He has gone before us...He will provide.

Thanks so much for your prayers, good friends. We cherish you!

In our great God and Savior,

~Audrey