Washing Feet: An Example of Service or Something More?

Jesus Washing Peter's Feet by Ford Madox Brown 1852-6 So, during supper, fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power and that he had come from God and was returning to God, he rose from supper and took off his outer garments. He took a towel and tied around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and dry them with the towel around his waist. - John 13:2-5 Today, in 2024 A.D., we don't give much thought to these few sentences. The impact of the activity of Jesus is lost on us because a) We wear shoes everywhere. Many of us even have "inside shoes" and "outside shoes". b) The Church's liturgy (as popularly practiced) often misses or lessens the importance of this event (pro tip: it's not simply Jesus giving and example of serving others). Contrary to what we see in the movies, the roads in the time of Jesus weren't all covered in perfectly placed cobblestones or silky, fine dust. If r

Day 4

We made it to Seattle this afternoon (evening? jet lag...) after a very uneventful trip, which is a good thing if you're traveling with 2 small children. We are staying at the Ronald McDonald House and are very thankful to be here.

Catherine is at a reduction of 60% today and towards the evening it looked like she was feeling hungry. She actually hasn't eaten very much in the past couple of weeks, but on Day 3 (yesterday) she started licking food again. Today on the airplane she went back to one of her old favorites, puff cereal. She ate 8 or so. Then at supper tonight she licked and took teeny bites of a small peanut butter sandwich cracker. She did this for about 20 minutes and I would say she had about 1/8th of it. It's not a lot in quantity, but it's amazing if I look at what she was doing 3 days ago. So, we are cautiously optimistic!

Tomorrow we begin working with Karen. I will update then.

Thank you for your continued prayers!

Comments

Anonymous said…
Jocelyn Mainard passed on your name. We have an almost 6 year old son with Down syndrome who was tube fed for 3 years. We did our own weening program at home, lots of encouragement with food, lots of being hungry, and a few pounds lost, but he gained it all back when all was said and done. Mostly we just stopped day time tube feeds and fed only from bedtime to 4 am. May God give you patience and may the Holy Spirit encourage you daily in your journey. Feel free to call us for support, we prefer phone to e-mail. 503-654-5810.

In prayer,

Linda Hungerford
Anonymous said…
Hi, this is Ben the Dad of David. Have lots of options for her to try. I remember David survived on Goat milk, then Peanut Butter and now Guacamole is a major portion of his diet. If he won't eat something, we put Guacamole on it! (He doesn't really like Peanut Butter now, but with the high fat it was a blessing for him at the time.)
I remember when we finally stopped. I took the kids camping and left the pump at home. We kept the Mickey Button in just so I could give him extra water.
Blessing on your journey.
Ben Hungerford
Nicole said…
Thank you Linda & Ben for your prayers and words of encouragement!